Tony was in the middle of fighting some big, butt-ugly monsters of unknown origin or name when he took a vicious strike to the face. He was thrown thirty feet and landed on his side, bouncing twice. He felt no pain. It occurred to him that this wasn't normal and that he should probably be dead, when the princess of the night vaporized his enemies.
"Tony, what is this?" She asked as the dust cleared, debating whether to be confused or scared for him.
"Am I dreaming?" He asked, receiving a nod. "Then it's probably my demons coming for me."
She raised her brow, but didn't push further, "We have little time, you are needed elsewhere."
"I'm asleep, what do you want me to do?" He asked, deadpan.
"There is no time to explain. Quickly, we must go." Her horn began to glow, and with a flash, their surroundings changed.
They stood in Fluttershy's cottage, it was dark and darker stains covered much of the walls. A distinct scent permeated the air, one Tony was unfortunately familiar with. It stank to high hell and brought back bad memories and buried guilt. The stench of rotting flesh. Sound began to clear up, haunting creaks and heavy footsteps echoing through the home. Tony felt a shiver go down his spine when he heard a familiar but distorted voice call through the once welcoming abode.
"Fluttershy," it crooned mockingly, "come out little filly. You're the last one."
Tony was admittedly more than a little freaked out, in fact he was downright terrified. "Luna, what-"
She cut him off, "This is Fluttershy's dream. We have had to pull your consciousnesses together. The fear you feel is not your own, but hers. Help her, quickly. We cannot intervene." The princess disappeared.
Tony resisted the urge to cower in a corner as he slinked for the stairs. He couldn't tell where the footsteps were coming from, and didn't want to find out. He crept up the stairs, flinching at every tiny sound and movement. He peeked over the top of the stairs, looking for a sign of his host. Bloody, distorted footprints led away from the stairs, entering every room and wandering through the halls in random directions. Tony made a dash for Fluttershy's room, immediately seeing a lump in her sheets. Footprints tracked all across the floor, and Tony wondered how whatever was searching had missed her.
In one move, he threw the sheets back and covered her mouth. Her muffled scream made the heavy beats stop before restarting, faster than before. Her eyes were shut tight and she had tensed every muscle in her body. Tony didn't wait for her to get up, he roughly threw her over his shoulder and ran for the room across the hall.
A hulking mass of evil passed the door, its bloody robes and leather book the only connection to a certain banished magus. He watched as the creature shambled into the room and examined the disturbed sheets. As silently as he could, he carried Fluttershy down the stairs and out the front door. Closing it without a sound, he set her down.
"Fluttershy, open your eyes. You're fine, I've got you." The pegasus was crying freely and refused to peek. "'Shy, look at me." She recognized his voice, and focused on his face. "See? You're fine, relax."
She hugged him tightly, reluctant to let him go. She finally did when the door was smashed and the most terrifying laughter Tony had ever heard rolled through it. He looked back just long enough to see it reaching through the door before he cut three of its fingers off. It retreated with a grunt, but not for long.
Fluttershy was scared again, fixated on the poor recreation of Carter. Tony leaned across her line of sight, "'Shy, wake up! Wake up now!" She stared at him like he was crazy; it occurred to Tony that she didn't know she was dreaming. "Fine, then. Run! Fly! Get out of here!" When she made no move, he picked her up and threw her up. Reflexively, her wings caught her and carried her higher. Tony took off, trying to wake himself up. He jumped and landed on his neck in the creek, nothing. He couldn't even feel the cold of the water. He cut a hole in his hand; again, he couldn't even feel it. After trying everything he could think of, he ran for the deformed monster calling, "Luna!" It laughed and hit him with a punch that should have killed him on impact. Instead, it threw him through the air and straight through the bridge over the creek.
There was a flash and he jerked awake. It was still dark outside, and he grabbed a weapon as he went for Fluttershy's room. It was more for comfort than anything else, the dream had disturbed him. He opened the door to her room to find her sleeping fitfully. He put his hand on her neck and called her name, "Fluttershy, Fluttershy wake up."
She jerked awake with a gasp and sat straight up. she looked around the room and focused on him. She held on for three seconds, then collapsed into his arms, shaking. When prompted to speak, she sobbed, "He got all of them, he made them scream like nothing I've ever heard and then said he wanted me to go last so I could watch. He wanted all of them to know it was my fault!" She regressed to all-out bawling as she finished.
Tony held her and let her cry into his chest. She clung to him like a lifeline. After ten minutes Tony adjusted off his feet, lounging on the bed as Fluttershy rested her head on him. Every time she started to drift to sleep, she would jerk herself awake and force her still-teary eyes open. Eventually, it started waking Tony back up when he started to drift off.
"'Shy, I'm right here. No one can hurt you." He whispered after she woke him up for the umpteenth time.
She laid her head back down on him, "You're a good friend Tony." She whispered as she finally drifted off.
Tony was suddenly fully awake. He thought for a moment he had heard wrong, but knew he hadn't. He thought back to home, counting the people he considered friends and pondering how many thought of him as a friend. Maybe two for each, which was more than he had expected. He had never had friends for reasons he had already explained and had never dreamed of it ever changing. He idly rubbed behind Fluttershy's ears and smiled as he finally drifted back to sleep.
They both woke up late, the sun well into the mid-afternoon positions as they stirred. Tony rolled off the bed, eyes dry and blurry. He ran a hand over them and stretched with a yawn. He took his time leaving, he was more afraid of the dream than he cared to admit and was sure he'd find something unpleasant waiting for him in the hall. He told himself he was being stupid and shoved his way through the house. He briefly checked his room and left the house.
Tony made his way to the stream and threw some water in his face hoping to wake himself up a little more. Too much had happened in the last week, he was stressed out. He took another minute to calm himself before once again entering the forest to find his stalker.
Once again, Sam was right inside the trees. "Sent your letter. Knowing them, they should be here today."
Sam nodded, "Good."
"Cat? Any comments?" Tony tried. Nothing. "Great." Tony turned on his heel and left the forest. He went back to the cottage and lounged in the grass until he heard Fluttershy exit.
"Morni- um, Afternoon Tony." He hummed his hello and returned to watching nature. It wasn't long before Twilight came up the trail with a purple, bipedal, lizard trailing beside her. He watched them from inside his hood until they reached him.
"I got your response, Tony." Twilight said, pulling a rolled parchment from her saddlebags.
Tony regarded the creature before him as he unrolled the letter. He skimmed the smooth writing; They would be there shortly, they had guards with them for obvious reasons, thank you for your swift response to my request. It held much more than that, but Tony ignored it. He had the information he wanted. "Thanks." He turned to the...other...thing. "Who're you?"
It looked startled that he was addressing it. "I'm Spike." It said, extending a closed fist. "I'm a dragon."
Hm, small dragon. "Tony. I'm human." He bumped the tiny fist. Spike nodded and sat down, idly picking at the grass and trying to pretend he wasn't staring at Tony. Twilight laid next to him on her back, staring at the sky and stray clouds.
They waited in silence for the royalty to arrive. Well, Fluttershy didn't; she was talking to her animals. Anyhow, it was just as the sun began to go down that the princesses appeared on the trail with a platoon of guards behind. Tony stood and the others followed suit. He waited for them to approach, he wasn't about to make his life harder for some stuck-up royals. No matter how trivial.
They exchanged greetings and pleasantries. Celestia addressed him. "Thank you for responding so quickly."
"I make it a point to finish what I start." He responded, hoping it sounded ominous and put her off.
"Yes well, where is the creature? You said it wished to be 'introduced'?"
Tony looked to the tree line, "Don't look now, but three of your guards are unconscious." Celestia never took her eyes off him, but Luna was quick to confirm. There weren't actually any unconscious guards, but Tony found it funny to test it anyway. "Kidding. I'm not exactly sure where he is, but I can take you to him, or bring him to you."
"Would you be so kind as to bring him here?" Celestia asked.
Tony nodded, "I'll be right back." He set off into the trees in search of his armored acquaintance.
I'm seriously sorry for the huge gap in uploads. I'll see if I can crank out three or four chapters in the next week or so, they're pretty much written, just awaiting the final stages of proofreading. Do enjoy!
