The Moon was slowly making its descent, along with the stars, to allow the warm and refreshing Sun rise in the sky to announce another day for all the ponies in Equestria. The sky was cloudless and welcoming for the new celestial sphere, as it made its ascent in the early hours.

In the Royal Palace of Canterlot, Luna was preparing to have breakfast before heading in her room to take a well deserved nap, after taking care of the night and laying down its representative in the skies. On her way to the dining hall, she bumped into Celestia, whom was reading an early letter of her most prized student, Twilight Sparkle.

“Oh, I’m sorry ‘Tia, I wasn’t looking where I was going. How fare you today?” said Luna with a warm smile.

“Be at ease sister, I am the one who was careless...” said Celestia, closing the letter. “I just finished rising the Sun and I got a new friendship report from my student, even though it is quite early. Probably her assistant forgot to send it yesterday, he does that sometimes” said Celestia, giving a soft chuckle.

Luna smiled and waved goodbye to her sister, continuing to the dining hall, smirking as she thought of the wonderful assortments of food that awaited her arrival. Her stomach growled in approval.

Everywhere in Equestria ponies were waking up and preparing for another wonderful day to spend with their friends and their families. But not all were happy to face a new day.

In an unfriendly neighborhood in Manehattan, which was occupied by nothing else but the poor, lived a lonely pony. As the first rays of the sun entered the ghetto, the first to awaken with a sigh of disapproval, was Tony Redmane. He was a tall, but thin earth pony, who had, despite his name, a pale white coat with a black mane and tail. His cutie mark was that of an iron glove which held a fire orb within its grip. He looked over to the window and frowned. This was another of those days… days that he would have to go back into the big city, to try and find some food, maybe steal some bits, an item, only to ensure his survival. But there was a question lingering within his mind, restless after so many sleepless nights.

‘Why? Why do I keep trying? It’s not like something will change anyway…’ he muttered under his breath. Taking a quick glance around him, he placed his eyes on his wristwatch, the only thing he had left from his parents. ‘Parents... did I even have them? If I did, where are they?’ He shook the thought off and took the watch and placed it on his left wrist, and went into the city.

Multiple skyscrapers were dwarfing him as he went unabated at a canter on the streetwalk. Some pedestrians gave him an odd look, being poor meant you didn’t have the luxury of taking care properly of yourself. He ignored them as he went further into the metropolis, throwing glances left and right to find something to snatch. On the other side of the street there was a newly opened bakery, named “The Milky Way!”

‘Hmm, a new bakery? Do they ever learn? I guess I will take what I can…’ he said to himself as he ran across the street, earning a few swears from angry carriage drivers as they stopped immediately to avoid a collision. Arrived at the scene, he stole a quick glance inside. A yellow mare with soft purple mane was preparing a new batch of sweets and pastries.

‘This is too easy…’ he smirked as he entered the bakery, his presence not being alerted due to lack of an entrance bell, like all other shops have. Eyeing the mare up and down, he saw a broom which stood by the entrance. Picking it in his mouth, he silently came closer to the unsuspecting mare.

‘Hmm, she is quite a hotie…’ he said, with a sly grin on his face. ‘Too bad I can’t have some fun with her, but I have a job to do.’

Ka-thump!

The mare fell to her knees, her face contorted into a broken scream as she tried to take a glance at what happened. Before she could turn around, she was hit again. Blackness.

“Sorry missy, but you found the worst spot to open a bakery in, my turf. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”

He went into the kitchen to search for his well deserved food, and maybe some money in her jacket. Wandering in the kitchen, he found what he wanted: fresh cupcakes on the kitchen counter. His hunger got the best of him as he leaped at the tray of cupcakes and devoured them heartily, unaware of a menacing shadow closing in on him.

‘So hungry! As much as I hate to do this, but I won’t take any of their money… She seemed such a nice girl. I should have probably just asked her for some—‘ His inner thoughts were suppressed immediately as he felt a blade digging into the side of his neck. Panicking, he dove the other way around, spun uncontrollably on the kitchen floor and took a look at his assailant. It was a tall green unicorn, which held a large kitchen knife with his magic, taking aim at the pony on the floor. At HIM.

“You sick bastard! How dare you hit my wife!?” the stallion shouted from the top of his lungs, glaring daggers at a now shocked earth pony who was starting to panic.

Holding his right hoof over his wound to stop the bleeding, he watched in horror as the unicorn stallion charged again, this time goring him around his hindquarters. Screaming in agony and powered by an adrenaline surge, he bolted out of the shop through the rear door, running away from the enraged unicorn.

‘This can’t be! I can’t die!’ he angrily shouted at himself for being careless. ‘Of course it was too easy! He was probably in the storage room.’ He started to feel cold all of a sudden and stopped behind a wrecked carriage in the alley. Only then did he realize that he was shaking uncontrollably from the blood loss. Taking a peek through the alley, he could make out the shape of the stallion that was looking for him. He had bloodlust in his eyes, as he continued his search for the earth pony who dared harm his wife.

‘This is not good at all, at this rate I’m going to die if I don’t do something’.

Gathering whatever forces he had left, he left the cover of the carriage only to bump straight into the enraged unicorn. Into the dizziness that had come over him, he could make out some of the unicorn’s words.

“ … you won’t… nopony anymore … son of a…”. Blackness.

***

“Hey everypony! Look! It’s the homeless colt again! Hahaha!” several colts and fillies laughed at him from the school yard, where he had been staring for some time, through the fence. With tears in his eyes, he bolted off and hid in a side alley. Why. Why can't I go to school, make some friends... I want to become somepony in life… Somepony... Nopony.
He cried.

***

He suddenly shot his eyes open. He was in a bed, staring at a ceiling that he presumed was white, but with no true light source in the room, he didn’t bother. Looking around the room, he found out a tall window, in which he could clearly see the Moon.

‘What?’ He looked at his wrist watch. ’It’s already midnight!? But… what happened?’ To his left was a III Drip Blood bag and another one, which he presumed was a sedative. Rising his head slowly, he could discern the figure of a pony inside the room, on a chair sitting in front of his bed. It seemed asleep. Something was off. The mane, the color…

‘It’s the mare from the bakery. What is she doing here? Did she come to pity me? Or to chastise me.’ He gave a soft chuckle at the last thought.

His commotion stirred the pony resting in the chair, causing him to look straight into his eyes.

“H- Hello there…” the mare stammered, tears forming in her eyes. “I’m sorry for what my husband did to you, but he is kind of overprotective.” He didn’t say a word, he was speechless to the situation.

‘I am certainly dreaming right now, she would not have—‘

“He was pretty upset when he found me lying on the kitchen floor, but he had no right to try and kill you.” She suddenly got up and walked up to him. “Although you didn’t do quite a good thing yourself, sneaking upon me and hitting me” she said, with a serious tone in her voice. “But I can see that you were desperate. You should have just asked, I wouldn’t have minded if I could help somepony like you… “ her voice softened, soothing him.
“I… I am s-sorry… miss” he looked down to his hooves. “I didn’t want anything else but to eat something, I didn’t mean any harm.”

She came closer to him and drove a hoof through his disheveled mane. “It’s okay, you are lucky I found you two before things would have gone worse. What’s your name?”

‘My name? She’s asking for my name? Why? Does she want to turn me over to the police?’ He sighed. ‘I wouldn’t matter anyway’

“M-my name is Tony” he said, in an uneasy voice.

“Nice to meet you, Tony. I am Margaret, the proud owner of the bakery” she said with a warm smile, to which he chuckled lightly and smiled.

"Nice to meet you too, Margaret." He took a nervous glance around him. "I can't see your husband, w-where is he?"

"Oh, he is at work, but he was here earlier, to check on me. He still seemed pretty upset, but after I assured him that I was ok, he calmed down and told me that he is sorry he got this far."

Tony shifted slightly in his bed sheets. "Ah, well, he..." He was at a loss of words when he realised something. For the first time in a few months, he talked to somebody, and it wasn't swearing or throwing threats left and right... it was a genuine friendly discussion. Friendly. "Sorry, but I am a little bit tired, so I think I will try and get some sleep. You should go home, you don't have to stay here, especially after what I've done..." his ears fell.

Margaret gave him a nod. "Alright, but expect me and my husband to be here in the morning. We would like to talk with you about something. But, for now, rest at peace. Don't worry, we didn't turn you to the police" she gave him a reassuring smile, to which he blushed.

"Al-alright. G'night then..." he smiled sheepishly.

"Good night." She picked up and left the room silently, leaving the young stallion to his own thoughts.

'Tommorow morning, eh? Sounds interesting, as long as that crazed unicorn doesn't try to cut me up again' he chuckled. Closing his eyes, his mind drifted into another dream... another nightmare. His past.

***Author’s note: This fanfic is meant to be a blend of “Iron Man” and another surprise movie, which will be revealed later. Original story.

First fanfic created by me, I would like some constructive criticism on the speed of the action, the events, the emotions, everything that could help me improve. Also, I would like to find a pre-reader, that could point out mistakes in grammar and punctuation, as well as the flow of the story.

Thank you for your time!***

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