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[revokes]

[ this video is going to start in a disorienting way. the device is moving and rather rapidly, at that. ]

so three things.

[ and then, a loud thud as iron man lands. the mask is pulled back and beneath is - well. you're all used to tony stark by now, right? ]

firstly, these guys -

[ he looks back - the robots of the iron legion are flying behind him and out of view ]

are still off limits. if you see them flying, don't engage. they won't stop. they have one route of patrol and then they're come back to the mansion. I've seen some of you trying to talk to them. it's pointless. I haven't programmed them to answer back.

[ seems useless, really. robots having lengthy conversations. ]

secondly, the war thing. big fun. I love the whole preparation thing we have going on. if you need anything, shout. I'll see what I can do.

[ oh and - ]

thirdly. I'm running a little behind schedule but despite the weird paradox of time and space, my aunt had her birthday this week and she really would love a few hearty 'happy birthdays', presents, songs. she loves songs. adores music. her name's peggy carter, you know, about this height, dark hair, British accent.

[ he's still moving as he talks ]

cake and soda in the kitchen, guys. no alcohol though, she's only seventeen. gotta keep to the rule book.

[ and then to add insult to injury, you might catch a quick glimpse of the kitchen and the stuff on the counter before he logs off. ]

Comments

[mucked]

It's -- complicated. [ that's putting it mildly. ] But I don't think the codename is all that secret for him. Back home or here.

[ still! she wouldn't be surprised if they made comic books. they did for steve, didn't they? ]

He knows I find the whole thing unbearably gaudy.

[bibliocorn]

Well. I suppose it makes sense these sorts of people have to exist somewhere.

[Comic book hero lands. Didn't Twilight and the girls get sucked into one, once? He's sure he remembers them mentioning something like that. ]

Ah, so this entire- party is largely to get on your nerves? In that case, I'm even more amazed that you're not hiding a body.

[mucked]

[ -- you know, there's something satisfying in realizing she's got a bit of a reputation. her smile turns a touch wolfish. ]

What use would there be in hiding the body? No, if it came to it, he'd have to be left on display like a cautionary tale to the public.

[ she discusses the possibility so lightly. almost affectionately. ]

But men like Stark have to be handled. Crack down too hard and you only encourage them.

[bibliocorn]

[You enjoy that, Peggy, it's well earned. He laughs. ]

Oh, I see, you'd want to send a very clear message.

[Sunburst considers that for a moment. ]

Ye-ees, I know the type. It sounds like you have your hands full with him, especially with all [he gestures with a forehoof ] this.

[mucked]

You know, he's not all that bad. [ and perhaps that's the surprising part. by far and large, howard has been worse. ] Besides -- he has the advantage on me. He's known me for about forty-some years longer than I've known him.

[bibliocorn]

[Well, that's confusing. ]

That's- I'm not suite sure how that works? Is time travel involved?

[mucked]

Not quite. [ luckily, she's been here long enough that it's no longer quite so odd to explain these circumstances. ]

Instead, Wonderland is to blame. I was brought here from one year. He was plucked out of our shared world from quite a different one. In my point in the timeline, Tony Stark hasn't even been born yet.

[ a beat. ]

But I know his father.

[bibliocorn]

Ohhhhh.

[Interesting.]

That's fascinating! So Wonderland can pluck people from different points in time? That's...something to keep in mind, should anypony else from my world ever show up. Especially when the points in time can be so vast.

[mucked]

Indeed. [ she pauses; only briefly. ] In fact, everyone here from my world is some seventy years ahead of me. I am, it seems, the outlier.

[ a quirk in the corner of her mouth. ]

Mister Stark, here, tells me I'm like family to him. [ ... ] He certainly gives me a headache like family would.

[bibliocorn]

Oh, wow. That must be...very confusing. Do you try to avoid spoilers for the future, as it were?

[He imagines they'd he hard to escape, all the time, especially with so many people from the future hanging around. ]

Suddenly, all the strange effort on this party makes a lot more sense.

[mucked]

I'm told I should avoid them -- [ and here her attention wanders, as though she's looking (almost hopefully) for a face in the crowd. ] But I'll be the first to admit I'm not great at following advice from others.

I pick and choose my spoilers, as it were. Some seem more important to know than others.

[bibliocorn]

[He turns his head, trying to follow where she's looking. ]

Hmm, I could understand that. I think I'd be too curious for my own good- even if the future ended up not so great for me. Still- everything works out in the end usually, so I don't think it would harm me so much.

And if we go back home with no memories of this place at all, there's no harm, no foul.

[mucked]

[ her eyes snap back to sunburst. ]

Not everyone sees it that way. [ good lord, she can almost hear something warm and friendly her voice as she says it. peggy quickly clears her throat; she puts on a more serious tone. ] Some folks can be quite bull-headed about who learns what about their futures.

[bibliocorn]

[He caches that tone, Peggy, but he decides it would likely be wiser to not draw attention to it. He chuckles. ]

I think people an be quite bull-headed about a lot of things, where Wonderland is concerned.

[mucked]

Is that so? [ she turns mock-playful, as though doing so might cover her small and hopeful distraction. ] And whose feathers have you managed to ruffle since arriving?

[bibliocorn]

Probably a few. Usually when people like to point out the obvious unicorn thing and I admit I tend towards sarcastic comebacks these days with that.

[There's only so many times you can say you really do exist with a smile on your face. While you're blatantly existing. ]

[mucked]

Incredulity often deserves a sharp slap on its wrist. [ peggy's head bobs a moment. ] Mine too, I imagine. If I've earned it.

[bibliocorn]

It does, but don't worry. At least you talk to me like I'm a person and not, you know, an animal. Big steps, those.

[mucked]

Yes. Well. [ she clears her throat. ] I'm certain it'll sound like small potatoes in comparison but -- back home, I'd long ago learned the rare value in being talked to like a person.

[ it's not quite as drastic, perhaps, as what sunburst is experiencing here. however: ] Small-minded people aren't used to seeing women in my line of work. Quite often, I'm something of an oddity in the eyes of my colleagues.

[bibliocorn]

It's a lesson you'd hope most people should never have to learn. Unfortunately, it's all too common when someone has to deal with a being unknown to them.

[Sunburst's brow furrows, because that makes zero sense to him. ]

Really? Equestria is a matriarchal society, so mares in important positions is the norm. It's hard to imagine a world where it's the opposite. After all, you're very capable, you should be judged on your skills above anything else.

[mucked]

[ matriarchal, eh? now, that's a curious thing. peggy could wax on about what it's like to claw for recognition back home in '47 -- but she's not really comfortable discussing her struggles so openly.

she does, however, allude to them in how she asks her next question: ]

-- Is it truly the opposite? Do you ever feel, say, overlooked because you are yourself not a mare? Invisible?

[ there's no ulterior motive in the asking, however harsh it sounds. hers is a genuine curiosity. ]

[bibliocorn]

[He shakes his head. ]

Not really? I mean, stallions aren't really in any positions of power, aside from the prince consort for the Crystal Empire- but I certainly don't feel lesser for that. We can still make a good lives for ourselves- and the mares that rule and protect us have earned that right. Becoming an alicorn- the ruling race of pony requires a pony to do a great act, and it's that act which transforms them into a princess. Only one in known history has been born one- and we're still trying to work out how that's happened.

[mucked]

[ you know, she's still a bit suspicious of it. it's not that what sunburst describes is any way bad in and of itself -- but just swap a few words, mares for men for example, and peggy can already feel her blood heating.

but that's not a soap-box she's prepared to take. for now, she simply says: ]

What about your soldiers? Who is allowed to fight? [ a beat. ] Have you even got soldiers?

[bibliocorn]

[Sunburst doesn't notice, of course he doesn't. ]

Oh, of course we do. We face threats to the nation every year or so, it's kind of vital we protect ourselves.

[Not that the soldiers DO much but still.]

Anypony can be a member of a guard. The prince consort of the Crystal Empire is the head of the Equestrian Guard, so most of them go through him at one point or other. Of course, for very big skrimishes, Princes Twilight and her friends usually do the major fighting, but that's less because they're mares and more for the fact together they can wield the friendship magic that really gives a kick.

[He pauses, adjusting his glasses.]

Yes. I know. Friendship magic. It's...a thing.

[mucked]

[ she watches his pause. she evaluates his words. she knows, she supposes, how it sounds when someone is tiptoeing around someone else's shock. their disbelief.

and, yes, disbelief is absolutely something she feels. but she knows better (now) than to voice it. luckily, she's more than a little accustomed to hiding her instinctive reactions in favour of curated ones. ]

I've found that there is a great deal I might never have anticipated were things before I came here. I don't see why 'friendship magic' should be the strangest of the lot.

[ except, truth be told, it kinda is. but only because peggy is herself so leery of friendship in the first place. ]