Shining Armor stood alone in the middle of the street. All around him was Ponyville, with no signs of any other pony. Above, the sky was gray. Not cloudy or dark, but actually gray. As if all the blue had been taken from it. The road under his hooves was rough and uneven. Cobblestones were cracked, and some were even missing. The rest of the ground was mostly dirt. Occasionally there was a clump of dead grass or weeds sticking out. The buildings were boarded up, the windows and doors all covered. Paint chipped and peeled from the walls.

"Hello!" Shining called out. His voice echoed and echoed, but got no reply. "Rainbow Dash? Rarity?" His ears twitched as he looked around. "Twiley?"

There was no answer.

"They left you," a voice whispered from somewhere. Shining Armor turned in the direction of it, but only saw another building.

Although... were the windows blue? Green? Before he could be sure, they were black and empty once again. Well, the parts of it he could see through the boards that is.

Turning away, Shining Armor found himself now standing in front of Sugarcube Corner. Much like the other buildings, the windows were boarded up and the paint was peeling. However, there were still holes in it from the giant ants, and the front door was missing.

"Pinkie!" Shining Armor called out as he ran for the door. If any pony knew what was going on, it would be Pinkie Pie. She was friends with everypony in Ponyville and would know what was going on with them more than anypony else.

Stepping inside, Shining Armor saw a Pinkie Pie sitting by the far wall.

"PINKIE!" he shouted as he ran toward her. As he got closer, he noticed that she was all wrong to be Pinkie Pie. Her mane was not its usual puffy self, and Shining Armor realized that her coat was not actually pink, but gray. The realization made him slow down, but he still moved toward her.

"Pinkie?" he said again as he reached her. Reaching out with a hoof, he touched her on the shoulder.

As soon as he did, "Pinkie" crumbled. There was an ear-piercing wail as the pony turned to a shapeless pile of dust.

"They left you," the mysterious voice said again. "They will always leave you."

"Who's there?" Shining Armor shouted, turning around. "Show yourself!"

There was only silence as everything became still. There was nothing else here.

But maybe there was something upstairs.

Shining Armor turned toward the stairs and went to climb up them.

And up.

And up.

And up.

Walking across the... front lawn for lack for a better term... he made his way to the front of the cloud house.

"Dash?" he called out as he reached the front door. "You home Dash?"

Rainbow Dash was supposed to be The Element of Loyalty. She always said that she would never leave a pony hanging. So there was no way that she would leave a friend behind.

Shining Armor knocked.

The door creaked open on its hinges.

Shining Armor stepped inside.

The door slammed shut behind him and knocked the stallion forward, face first into the cloud made floor.

The entire room turned dark as the clouds went from white to nearly black. Lightning flashed and danced along the walls as thunderous booms filled and echoed through the hallways. A freezing wind came blasting through, hitting Shining Armor and shoving him backwards. Despite his best efforts, he could not get a hold of anything to keep from being pushed.

"They aren't here for you," the voice called out.

Shining Armor hit the door and broke through it, the clouds puffing around him as he went. There was a second where he seemed to be floating in the air before dropping.

With a grunt of pain, Shining Armor landed on top of Carousal Boutique. Slowly, he wiggled his way down along the slope toward the edge. After getting a firm grip on the awning, he swung over the side and lowered himself. Now on the path of the second (or was it the third) floor, Shining Armor made his way toward the window. The glass had been shattered, and shards of it still stuck up, looking like the razor sharp teeth of a predator. Still, it was either go in through there, or try to climb down to the ground.

Taking a deep breath and bracing himself, Shining Armor stepped into the boutique.

"Rarity?" he called out as he went inside. "Sweetie Belle?"

There was no answer.

Calling out again, Shining Armor made his way to the stairs, heading down to the main room. The air smelled stale and musty, the wallpaper was torn and hanging loosely, and the stairs groaned with each step he took.

At the landing, the floor and steps tilted, turning the stairs into a slide. The shift caused Shining Armor to slip, his chin hitting the wood as he started to skid down. Despite his best efforts, he could not get a good grip to stop himself. His hooves could not get purchase on the polished wood, and he could not get a hold of the banister.

Fortunately, there was a rug at the bottom, so his landing was not too hard. Although it was unpleasant. The rug was soaking wet and falling apart. It also smelled of stagnant water and mold, which made Shining Armor cough. Wiping at his face, he got up and walked toward the main show room.

Standing there was a familiar white form with purple.

"Rar-" Shining started, but stopped, remembering what happened with "Pinkie Pie."

However, it was too late. The thing that he thought was Rarity turned around, revealing it had no eyes, and walked toward him. It was larger than Rarity, larger than him even. Probably around the size of Big Macintosh. As it got closer, Shining Armor realized that it was not even an actual pony. It was more like an over-sized sewing dummy. The white was actually the fabric covering it, with parts of it discolored and patched together. the mane and tail were swaths of cloth, same color as Rarity's except for the moth holes and dark stains.

The thing's mouth opened, revealing a massive collection of sharp objects creating an array of uneven teeth.

"None of your friends are around," the voice whispered. "When you need them the most, they will always abandon you."

The figure lunged at Shining Armor, its "teeth" the last thing he saw.

Shining Armor eyes shot opened as he woke up. Unfortunately, nothing else seemed to respond. He could not turn, could not lift his head. At the moment, it did not feel like he could even breathe.

Finally, Shining Armor was able to move. Gasping, he sat up, trying to catch his breath. His body felt soaked with sweat, and his heart pounded in his chest.

He was in his room, in his bed, in his home, The Golden Oaks Library in Ponyville. Everything had been just as it was before he had gone to sleep.

"Everything's fine," Shining Armor whispered to himself. "It was just a bad dream. Everything's fine."

After climbing out of bed, Shining Armor grabbed the sheets and blankets, pulling them off the mattress and balling them up. He would have to wash them later. Making his way downstairs, he tossed them into the basement to take care of later before continuing on to the kitchen. Before anything else, he would need coffee. Since his battle with Discord, he had been drinking a lot more of the stuff than he used to. Which made sense since he had not been sleeping as well since. Although this had been the worst night so more.

It also looked like he was going to need to get more coffee beans if he was going to keep this off.

"Shiny?" a familiar tired voice called out from behind him. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I should be asking you that," Shining Armor answered, turning around to face his sister. "You should be in bed Twiley. You got school in the morning."

The filly rubbed at her face as she tried to stifle a yawn.

"I thought I heard you," Twilight said, "so I came to see what was going on."

With a smile, Shining Armor walked over to his little sister and pulled her into a hug.

"Nothing for you to worry about," he told her. "Just a bad dream is all. Go back to bed."

Twilight Sparkle tilted her head and stared up at her brother. Her eyes narrowed as she studied him. It had been a look Shining Armor had seen on his sister's face before, normally when she read or was told something that did not seem to quite add up the way it should to her.

"Really?" she asked.

"Really," Shining said. "Now back to bed."

Twilight stood there a moment longer, still staring at her big brother. Only when another yawned forced its way from her mouth did she break eye contact.

"Fine," Twilight said. Turning, she left the kitchen.

Shining Armor watched her go, then turned his attention back to his coffee.

It was going to be another long day.

Author's Notes:

Golem by MadHotaru (deviantart)

A good idea of what he saw near the end of the dream. I would have preferred one without Rarity in it, and think there was one that showed such a creature fully, but couldn't find it. Unfortunately, googling "My Little Pony, Sewing dummy, monster" didn't give me any usable results.