Time to Think

Chapters

Time to Lay
Time to Wake
Time to Pray
Time to Break
Time for Pain
Time for Light
Time for Disdain
Time for Plight
Time to Seize
Time to Creep
Time To Appease
Time To Sleep
Time For Mistakes
Time for Distress
Time For Hardaches
Time for Progress
Time To Mend
Time to Rend

Time to Lay

2 months.

2 months

"Agh.."

Daniel groans and leans back in his chair, cradling his forehead with both his hands, slowly lunging forward trying to grasp the pain and tear it away. It's to no avail, though the pain grudgingly fades and incentive to open his eyes again comes. Leaning his head on his right hand, he sighs and mutters under his breath.

"Fucking-...ugh."

The headaches have been growing less frequent, but haven't begun hurting less for the past month. Medication hasn't been effective, just as the ponies theorized. His body size in proportion to their own made the medication very ineffective, not to mention the significant species gap. He pleaded with them that where he was from, animal and pet medication was not much different to regular medication for human, but they didn't want to take that risk that if and when it came to the point he needed them, they would end up a bust anyway. Now they won't let him near any more medication in fear of doing more harm than good, there's some merit to those kind of words, ponies are similar to the ones he knows; but by far they are radically different from them. They talk after all.

Daniel slowly breathes in then back out, trying to think with the remnants of pressure-like pain throbbing in his head. Trying to focus on that one moment, those few marginal few seconds, that one tim-

Thunder strikes in the distance, he momentarily gets spooked from the noise, a storm is coming tonight and all he can think is that he hopes another rolling headache doesn't come again. Noise and vibration doesn't mix well, it hurts enough already and he fears how severe it'd probably be. He tries but quickly forgets whatever he was trying to focus on. He audibly sighs, angry at losing the first coherent thought he's had in the past hour.

He looks towards the window, watching for any sign of rain, seeing nothing so far but wind and dark weather. Faint signs of thunder dance in the distance, high above the mountains; the wind is blowing his way so it should come soon to Ponyville. Reaching his hand down his chair's leg, he grasps a small magazine on the floor and skims through it. No TV means no immediate entertainment, so he has to make his own. Not that it's been any different ever since.

Spotting several local ads, he reads through the back end of the magazine, particularly looking for any sort of odd jobs to do in the meantime tomorrow. Time's been passing slow to him, a little too slow, he wants to spend some time out in town rather than penned up in this temporary home. Upon finding nothing particular suited towards his 'skills', he folds it and drops it back near the chair leg. Leaning back, he lays his head back and stares behind him, spotting the fridge in the small kitchen with his upside-down point of view. Perhaps something to eat, just something to do.

He props himself back up onto his feet, standing high above the small chair made for ponies and walks over. He hears the floorboards creak from his weight, he's not overweight, but this home was not built for someone like him. It's too bright, and overall small. It's layout is something in a family home. Daniel makes his way to the fridge, basically leaning down to look inside as he opens the door and skims through the various leafy foods and ingredients. He mumbles a list aloud,

"Tomato, lettuce, celery..." All leafy, all green, a natural part of the pony diet. A plus and a minus for him, he can't eat meat nor can he reference to meat-related types of food, the closest probably being veggie burgers. Healthy, but not always the most appetizing things to eat, the overwhelming greens can become a bit sickening. He wonders why even they don't just eat grass straight off a field at this point, he ponders and settles on the looming thought,

'If they have a society, I guess they have their own food quirks. Hay burgers, pff.'

He sighs, perhaps he shouldn't be so stereotypical. Ponies are similar to the ones he knows back home, but they are still drastically different, only sharing traits. Not satisfied with the amount of veggies at the front, he moves further inside with his arm and feels around the back end. He mumbles aloud again,

"Jam, molasses, peanut butt-"

He's interrupted by a foil-like crushing noise, he feels a bag of something. He pulls it out and to his surprise it's a bag of chips with a large rolled up note taped to the top. He yanks the note off and reads it to himself.

'Heya Danny!'

It's Pinkie. He's confused upon reading it in her voice after figuring out it's her mannerism, but is considerate and continues reading.

'Heya Danny!

Those weird doctors said you shouldn't eat anything abe-nor-mal? '

She seems to have had trouble spelling it.

'Like chips, soda, greasy, sweet food, desserts or fizzy stuff because they said they might 'affect your physical condition in the study' or something. I told them you know better than to lounge around the house all day and snack on chips or sweets!'
She must not have realized at the time he ate all the cupcakes in her fridge, a small discrepancy given their past. He continues reading her note.

'Soooooo, I said 'The hay with this!' and snuck you a bag of wheat chips in your fridge when they weren't looking. Don't worry, they're not the grainy kind; they're the roasted in the sun kind with brown sugar, they're sweet and crunchy and all wavy~! <3 '

She drew a little heart beside the end of the sentence.

'Hope to hear from you soon after the whole doctorologist thingy- He chuckles at reading that part.

-you still haven't told me what your birthday is, so I want a heads up at least~!'

-Pinkie Pie ~~<3

Daniel smiles, warmed by the consideration given by Pinkie, though there's the circumstances of literally lounging around the house all day, she inadvertently had that part come true to it's fullest. Daniel opens her gift and takes a chip in his mouth, tasting hints of brown sugar indubitably, though the actual texture is a bit grainy anyway. It tastes of a sort of sun chip back home, though this is more or less made for indoor instead of outdoor consumption. He closes the fridge, laying the note back on the counter and returns to his seat slowly picking away at the delicious, albeit small, bag of roasted wheat chips.

The thunderstorm has picked up significantly, the wind has started to effect the trees outside and light bits of precipitation has started to gather. The thunder, unbeknownst to him has become more frequent, he sees a flash outside and counts the seconds before the sound comes. In a monotone tone he says out loud,

"One, two, thr-" The thunder sounds.

"EEEP!"

He hears a shrill scream from outside after the initial thunder, for a moment he thinks it might just be him hearing things, he listens for anything else to confirm. He hears nothing after a few seconds, then seeing another lightning strike in the distance, he counts again reluctantly.

"...one, tw" It strikes.

"EEEEP!!"

It's higher pitched, he then hears a soft collection of knocks at the door, it's someone at the very least and not a figment of his imagination. He sets down the chips and gets up and speed walks towards the door, peering through the peephole with his right eye. He asks out loud, seeing a distinct familiar figure.

"Hello?" He sees a familiar yellow color cowering near the porch, it's Fluttershy? Why is she out here in this weather?

"Fluttershy, what are you-" He sees another flash in the distance, counting the one second, he opens the door on the second second. Thunder sounds and crashes in the distance, she instantly makes a grab for his leg and holds tightly with a closed mouth whine.

'She's scared of thunder..right.' How could he forget? "...uhh." He's not sure what to do, so he asks the obvious question to this situation.

"Fluttershy, what are you doing out in this storm?" She slowly opens her eyes, upon realizing she's gripped onto his right leg, she steps off of him and blushes softly while collecting herself and her embraced forelegs. She stutters, meekly apologizing to him.

"O-O-Oh s-sorry Daniel, I-I was just v-visiting and-"

Another flash. Daniel doesn't want to hear her shrill out in the open so he kneels and closes her ears before the sound echoes past them. She feels soft, though very slightly wet from the moisture in the area. She still minimally jumps, but doesn't make a noise. He asks politely and conservatively for his ears,

".. I think you might want to come inside." He stands and opens the door wide open, waiting for her to respond in a minimal way, the minimal way being a shy shuffle towards the middle of the room as he closes the door behind her. Fluttershy glances back towards the window, her eyes dart but slowly calm over the lack of severity in thunder and the comfort of the indoors. She stands near Daniel's chair as he sits, simply asking a familiar question.

"How do you feel?" She turns her head slightly for some reason.

Daniel mutters, a bit confused as he gazes back at the small pony gazing towards himself. "Huh?"

She blinks, asking again with a little more hesitation with him facing her as well.

"H-How do you feel? Are you o-okay?"

Daniel answers her passively. "Yeah, I'm doing fine. Just got a headache half an hour ago, but it's passed."

She suddenly asks, "Do you want some tea?" She asks so sudden with the same expression as when she asked how he felt, Daniel questions the speedy response.

"What?" He turns to face her again, she looks intimidated slightly as one of her ears lower and her eyelids do the same, she asks more considerately and comparitively less assertive.

"W-Would you like me to make some tea for you?" She waits with the same expression, it's a bit...odd to him.

"..uhh, sure.. but I don't have any tea mix in the kitchen. So—" He's quickly interrupted by her.

"I brought some."

Daniel looks puzzled at her, not sure what to say. He momentarily and impolitely thinks, 'Good for.. her?' as he's genuinely not sure how to answer her. Fluttershy waits for a few moments, realizing the awkwardness in her readiness to answer.

"O-Oh uhm..I-I'll go make some." She turns towards the kitchen, he suddenly notices she actually brought saddlebags he didn't see before. She hides her eyes with her hair, recently she's changed her haircut to something much shorter, they barely cover much of anything in reality.

Daniel sits back and wonders what's gotten into her, she comes over just to ask how he feels then offers to make tea; bringing her own tea. She prepared at the very least, he brushes it off with the knowledge that she's very caring and would do this for anypony or animal under her care. Though Daniel is way beyond her means of care, so this comes as surprising as a sudden gesture of goodwill. He didn't call anyone over nor has he gone out for the past day or so, maybe she's worried by that fact?

Daniel looks over the back of the chair towards the kitchen, watching her prepare the tea. Surprisingly she already has a pot of water on the stove with a tea bag on the side, she just flips on the gas and the flames slowly ignite and start to heat the underside. This seems...strange, even for her. Just a few minutes ago she was cowering on the doorstep and now she's in the kitchen making tea for his now non-existent headache. He decides to ask her about it, he gets up almost stepping on the chip bag and walks over to Fluttershy, the creaking floorboards give him away behind her. She gets a bit spooked,

"O-Oh!" She stares up at him, blinking twice, saying, ".. uhm, the tea will be done in a few minutes. You can just sit and wait.. " She looks up at him, with a tiny smile. He feels warmed by the gesture and the expression being given, but he still feels compelled to ask her something else.

"Is everything alright, Fluttershy?" He asks honestly, yet her smile goes forms into a small frown, she replies with her eyebrows furrow with a confused expression.

"Y-Yes, I just wanted to make sure you were alright. I want to make you some tea in case you get another headache.. I don't want you to be in pain." She sound innocent enough, albeit she didn't explain her initial motive in the first place.

"Oh..well." He replies warmly, continuing. "Thank you Fluttershy. I'm glad to have someone, er, somepony to want to take care of me when I'm hurt." He kneels down to her level and goes for her hoof on the pot handle, gently grasping it and looks to her now widening eyes. She blushes lightly when he does so, Daniel continues his train of thought. "You don't need to take care of me anymore. I appreciate it, I really do.. I want to make that clear." He slowly lets go of her hoof and reaches for the stove knob, clicking it into the off position. She looks disappointed at the act, but it slowly changes into her previous considerate and caring smile when she sees his expression, seeming sincere.

"O-Okay.." She blushes again, treading her hoof slightly on the floor out of slight embarassment.

Daniel stands, stating and referring to a very related topic. "Pinkie had the same idea, though she kind of went a different way."

Fluttershy looks at him, seemingly puzzled. He turns and prepares to sit again back in the chair across the room, reaching down to his chair's leg he picks up the chip bag and holds it up as he lies back. Fluttershy squints to see what it is, eventually stepping towards him for a closer look, the label looks familiar. She sees it a roasted wheat chip bag, the kind that has brown sugar, a local favorite. She purses her lips upon seeing him eat from a chip bag sent by Pinkie, hearing the crunch and apparent delight on his expression, her mindset focuses on that in particular. He suddenly glances at her in suspicion, seeing in the corner of his eye her pink mane and her green-hued eyes as she changes her expression almost instantly into a surprised/startled one just as he turns.

Feeling it's a fitting question, he casually asks "Want one?" She blushes unexpectedly at the gesture, slowly shaking her head with an affirmed excuse.

"I-I already ate, thank you.." She thinks it over instantly, replying back as his hand starts to retract. "B-But I can have ..o-one..if you want me to..~"

Daniel turns to her and reaches into the chip bag, thinking little of it as he holds a chip out towards her. She lowers her eyelids, looking at him though he's just blankly looking at the ceiling, blissfully unaware of her kind of expression. Closing her eyes as she takes the chip and slowly whisks it away from his hand with her teeth, Fluttershy opens her eyes again hoping for him to stare back at her in a similar way. Sadly, she gets no such response, making an inaudible huff as she eats the chip. It's otherwise sweet, in her mind it's a literal bittersweet.

Daniel glances over to the window, seeing dusk and it's already ever-present fog accompanying the thunderstorm. He realizes Fluttershy has been remarkably calm throughout her short stay, though the majority of the area outside the house has been greyed out from the following fog and approaching night. He finds this odd, since today's weather in the first place is supposed to be sunny all day, at least according to the Pegasi weather schedule he'd been given in today's paper. Daniel considers Fluttershy's sake and asks her a fitting question, taking note of the consuming darkness outside, a likely fear she has to deal with.

"It's getting late, I don't think you want to stay here before it gets worse and darker outside." It takes a moment to register, but she hears and looks toward the window, seeing the light-consuming dusk. She huffs, suddenly turning her expression around into a tone he doesn't quite recognize.

"I-I don't want to go out alone." she looks at him with a show of slight fear, he suggests,

"Come on, I'll walk you home. Your animal's will get worried t—" She interrupts him suddenly, seemingly prepared for such a response.

"They're at the vet's. They're getting their yearly immunizations and I'm supposed to pick them up in the morning." She looks at him with the same expression, he's as puzzled as he was earlier. He stutters, being suddenly derailed off his suggestion and reasoning to her personal life duties.

"O-Oh, well..we should probably get you home anyway. You have to get up in the morning an—" He's interrupted again, the excuse coming off as a bit more valid.

"I-It's a little late to go out.. and cold.." She looks like she shivered a little, he's unaware of any draft present in the house. Daniel sighs upon realizing that he doesn't even have an extra coat for her anyway to accommodate for a trip home, nor does he have an umbrella for the assumingly approaching rain. Rarity didn't expect him to stay that long to tailor enough extra clothing during his stay in Ponyville and he didn't bother to pick up an umbrella because during his stay the weather is supposed to be clear, his laziness having gotten the better of him this time. Daniel yawns, the dark is starting to invoke sleep on him. Upon seeing this, Fluttershy coyly joins in and does a very soft yawn. She very lightly and quietly suggests while subtly petting his lower leg, encouraged by his similar display.

"M-Maybe we should go to bed." Before he has a chance to refute, she takes steps towards him and grasps the chip bag with her mouth and walks towards the kitchen, throwing away the assumed gift from Pinkie.

"...." He's not sure how to answer such an action, but he's not sure if he can anyway. He feels his forehead and leans back, saying to himself. "This is going to be a long night.." He moves to stand and gets a little dizzy, thinking he should wait it out he holds his head and waits for his vision to clear of the colorful and blurry images. Fluttershy glances over and asks out loud from behind the counter, noticing his hand in her peripheral grasp his forehead.

"Daniel, are you okay?" He lightly smiles back and prepares to say something, trying to assure her he's fine. "Yes I'm fi-" He hears a faint ringing sound and Fluttershy mouths something else, but he can't hear it. The dancing colors aren't going away, he feels them pressure his eyes and his head starts to ache badly.

"Fffff...fff...-" He tries to make out the word as pressure in his head crowds and shoves them aside, he can barely see Fluttershy and her yellow coat, blending into the background as an incoherent blur. She mouths and outright yells something at him, it just comes out muffled as if they were underwater, it doesn't feel right but he can't express pain in this state. Her eyes look mortified and she bolts over, she gets closer, then higher. Then higher. And even higher. Suddenly the ground gets higher. So close, in those last few seconds. He falls on his front over the chair and flips onto his back staring at the ceiling, having lost his ability to stand and keep balance. Something high pitched and muffled is heard through this seemingly infinite void, a blur of pink and yellow blend with the other colors, dancing along with green and blue of the ceiling, back and forth as they adhere to the background like glue.

Blue.

Dark Blue.

Dark Grey.

Silver.

White.

He sees white. He sees light red. Dark Red.

Dark colors.

Black.

He feels a warmness roll over all of his body before everything goes fully black, losing consciousness.

"Dan! Look at me! L-Look at me!!" Her hooves clasp the side of his head as she tries to meet each other's eyes, but he's no longer awake or aware of what's going on.

"S-Say Something!...Anything!!" She repeatedly pleads panicked, to no avail as his breathing simply shallows.

".. I'm sorry Dan.. Dan please wake up.. p-please.." Fluttershy tugs at his shirt one last time before she comes to terms with what's happened.

It happened again, but she couldn't stop it.

Author's Note

The meaning behind the 'Sad' tag will probably come sometime later as another chapter, as it will probably fit in the next one even more. There -IS- backstory to these two and I -DO- want to post it. Something that speaks deeper than the impression Dan gives -now- compared to back -then-.

And just to make it clear, this is not Dan from Dan Vs.

This representation of Fluttershy is supposed to be a variant of Flutterstalker/Stalkershy, but very toned down. Less watching and waiting for sexualized view; instead more shy and determined, like regular Fluttershy but more obsessed than overly obsessed. I tried to make it implied more than anything, would personally prefer no NSFW content at all, unless the situation in the story needs it. (Yeesh).

I'm on and off with many things I do, so may either dabble a few lines or complete half of it at once, I'm not consistent on that specific aspect but I -am- eager to continue. If I can help it I will continue with a few more chapters, especially if people end up liking the path it's going. Would like some light criticism as well if possible, either on the way this ended or just general tips as I'm new to this site but I'm not entirely new to writing stories.

Time to Wake

"Wake up."

A gasp of air, Daniel breathes in, his heart is throbbing in his chest from panic. He's facedown on the ground, trickles of dirt lay on his cheek and chin, he brushes them off and props himself on his elbow. Looking around, he sees nothing but forest and darkness, obscured by the thick tree line above blocking the sunlight. With limited range of sight, Daniel takes a moment to breathe and stop his rapid heartbeat. Blood rushes to his head momentarily, his heart settles.

Taking one knee, he inspects the area. Thick bushes, dark green and moist, the trees loom and seem to have warped throughout the area. They're not coherent, leaned in various directions and the branches span out seemingly to just cover the sun with their thick bundles of ever-spanning leaves. The forest floor is scattered with strange plants, curled and thorny as if wound up like a rope to catch something with the wispy plant fibers, the thought unsettles him. Bundles of dead branches loom and leaves hang over existing branches with no leaves, their appendages mostly bare save for the thriving ones on the forest ceiling blocking out the light. He asks out loud,

"Hello?" He hears himself muffled and he doesn't know why. He asks out loud again, concerned by not being able to her himself,

"Hello? Is anyone out there?" he's still muffled and he feels the back of his head, feeling something foreign clasped on his head. Taking both his hands, he yanks it off.

Upon inspecting it, it's a pair of what looks like dark blue construction ear muffs. Why is he wearing ear muffs, he doesn't hear anything, he thinks about that for a moment.

He doesn't hear anything.

The forest is dead quiet. He turns and looks around once more, concerned by the eerie silence, if this is a forest he should be hearing birds or something. But it sounds dead silent. He has another concerning thought, what is he doing here? Disturbed, he thinks,

'Wait...why -am- I here? How did I-I don't remember.'

Inspecting his clothes that he's wearing, he sees he's wearing a worn out greyish denim vest, underlain with a light grey long shirt, along with grey denim pants and low ankle boots. He feels as if he's dressed for some sort of construction work, but he doesn't remember anything like that. He checks his pockets, his vest, undershirt, then pants; nothing. He finds nothing identifiable, though he remembers a name. D. It starts with a D. He tries to focus,

'Daniel?' the thought moves around in his head. Is that his name? Must be.

His name's Daniel, as far as he knows. He gazes upward, trying to spot some scaffolding he may have fallen from, but there's nothing above him nor is there any sign of disturbed vegetation like broken branches along the forest floor. Something feels wrong, he feels like he's being watch but he doesn't know if it's the quiet or the forest. His heartbeat speeds back up, he's not okay.

"Hello! Is anyone out there? My name's Daniel and I don't kn-" Interrupted by the sound of leaves, he turns to his right and spots movement inside a bush. He remarks out of fear,

"..the fuck is-" he sees yellow eyes pop out of the bush, a prickly and disjointed four legged figure steps out from the bush towards him.

It's a wolf, but it's figure doesn't completely match up, it's kind legs have smaller solid appendages with what look like leaves and little thorns. Several gaps are throughout it's body, it's made out of large branches and twigs, held together by who knows what. It bears it's teeth made up of sharpened twigs and it's incisors that consist of fragmented rocks to a point. It viciously barks, scraping together it's teeth. Daniel drops the muffs and turns to bolt, stumbling over a low bush.

All that's going on in his mind repeatedly is,

'Fuck fuck fuck fuck'

He's interrupted by a large impact of force to his back, the wolf has easily caught up with him and tries to go for his neck. He wrestles on the ground with it, the wooden and fragmented rock teeth tearing into his arm and splicing open his sleeve and forearm with bits of wooden shrapnel splintering along the wound. Finally settling on his right forearm, the wolf grips on and tries to yank him off his feet when he regains his footing.

"Get the F-"

He pulls back, tearing his forearm open even more. He wounds his right leg back, trying to get better footing, but he chooses something more practical. He kicks it in it's wooden chest, it's ribs splinter open and it lets go with a pained whine.

"-UCK off me!"

He stutters and fumbles as he steps back, holding his right arm, he's bleeding from several puncture wounds and the underside of his forearm is torn open. He stumbles to his side, getting ready to bolt again, to his horror he spots several twigs get dragged to the injured wolf and form back from it's damaged chest shape. Paused in horror, he gets a mound of force knocked against his back, another wolf tackles him and balances itself on his back, similarly trying to bring him off his feet and get a hold on his throat. It grips onto his right shoulder and repeatedly yanks, it's own teeth imbedded under his skin. Daniel falls on his stomach, trying to get a hold on it, he grips a gap in it's neck of bundles of twigs and yanks it down off his back. Tearing a wound open on his shoulder, he tries to hold it down with his cut open forearm, holding it down by it's neck. It repeatedly snaps at him, it's paws trying to push him off, but he has the weight advantage here.

Trying to crush it's neck, he hears splintering, along with monotone pained whines, it's neck splinters and slowly cracks apart. He tries not to take his chances, using this opportunity to roll off it and bolt away before both of them have the chance to recover.

He runs and stumbles into a clearing, trying to keep watch for more if they're in a pack, he can't handle anymore in his condition. Upon seeing a clearing, he tries to make a break for it, noticing a drop off point at the end, something to break their line of sight. Running to the edge, he realizes it's far more of a steep drop than it looked.

That one moment, those few marginal few seconds, he realizes the drop off is deeper than he thought it was. It's a near vertical drop and he steps back.

A wolf takes this opportune moment to tackle him, sending them both down below.

He tumbles down the drop, the wolf loses it's grip and tumbles, pieces of it's wooded body splinter and break off from the momentum and eventually there's no wolf left halfway down the slope Daniel bounces and rolls across several little bumps in the slope, he tries to tuck himself in but eventually the momentum and impacts are too much to take and he starts to ragdoll. He opens his eyes for a moment and sees something grey, met with black and a sudden feeling of warmness. He's momentarily thinks he hit his head on a rock on his way down, he feels nothing as his body's momentum stops as he slides to the bottom of the slope onto some flatland, he lies on his stomach with a rasp of breath. Daniel can breathe, but only so barely, he dares not wonder why or look down towards his chest to see why that is.

He feels something wet on his right, he leans himself on his right side and peers at the liquid, it's blood he's laying on and his bleeding arm he's staring at. It's leaving his head, his mind fills with worry but he can't do much about it. A mixture of red and grey mix, making a dark mud-like mixture of brown and dark red. The blurriness starts to set in, the adrenaline starts to wear off, he slowly seeps out of his adrenaline-fueled state and knows he's bleeding out from a head injury and possibly the deep lacerations in his neck and arm. He doesn't make the effort to prop himself up or move his arms, nor does he want to try to call for help, he momentarily speculates that his ribs may be fractured. Even worse, he can't move his right leg.

His head may be too but he doesn't know, he can't know, and as he slowly closes his eyes and tries to get up he knows he won't know.

Letting the silence take over his breathing, the forest lays silent again, but something else overlaps the sound of his breathing.

The wolves have come to finish the kill perhaps? The trouble he's been as prey has been a short but worthy chase.

He feels pressure on his side, on his head, on his arm, but no pain expresses itself. The pain has seeped from his senses, somehow as the adrenaline also fades. A thought keeps bombarding his head,

'Fight it Fight it Fight it' but he's not sure what he could do.

He slowly starts to drift out of consciousness as the blood loss has been too great, he sees nothing but colors as he loses perception.

Blue.

Orange.

White.

Purple.

Pink.

Yellow.

And finally black.

Tic. Tic. Tic.

Tic.

Tic. He hears nothing but ticking.

Tic.

'Make it stop.' he thinks.

Wait, he's hearing ticking.

Tic.

It's annoying too.

Tic.

He furrows his brow angrily and grunts, he can feel pain and it's momentarily overwhelming as he wakes. He breathes in heavily, but it stopped by sharp pain in his side, he wheezes and tries to grasp it with his right arm. It feels lightly grainy, his arm. He slowly feels it with his left arm and it's covered in something. He stops to think,

'Wait, I can feel'

Realization at last, he slowly starts to get his perception back, trying to get it through his head that he's awake. Opening his eyes, he immediately sees light and it blinds him, he winces and covers his eyes with his right hand. The grainy texture scratches the right of his eye.

"Urgh.." He groans and he feels something grasp his arm, his last thought remnants scream 'wolf' and he lunges at it with his left arm with a pained fist. It makes contact, a soft clump sound on the wood floor and he sits up. His body feels stiff, fatigued more like it.

Wood floor? He tries to get his perception back, he's in a room; why would there be a wolf?

He covers the top of his eyes and peers outward, to his right, seeing something yellow on the floor. He listens, he hears...crying. He shakes his head suddenly, trying to get a clearer view, bad idea. Blood rushes to his head and he sees dancing colors, pressure envelopes his head and clamps down. In a few moments it subsides, the pain seeping in is unbearable, but goes as quickly as it came. He winces then focuses back on the floor, seeing a...creature, on it's back. It's yellow and has four appendages sort of like a horse, but they're not toed, they're flat and a little...odd. It has a pink hair color and suddenly it stares back at him with it's large green-ish eyes, what looks like tears at the edges start to form and it quickly gasps repeatedly. It's holding what looks like it's cheek and it's lip is quivering, it's pupil's constrict.

It looks scared.

She looks scared.

"..W-Wh-..." She just stares back at him, trying to say something but fumbling from shock. He doesn't know what to say or do, what did he just do? He tries to say something, opening his mouth but instead decides to inspect the room. The walls are a light brown, the furniture is a wooden green with several cushions strewn about the floor, the room is littered with tiny bird houses, boxes, and other little walkways for what seems like might be small animals. Birds or hamsters? A bag of something is near the door, with a picture of a robin, probably some type of bird feed. He looks to his arm, wrapped in a bandage with light traces of blood along where the wounds originally were, he gyrates his shoulder and feels the grainy bandage rub against his cheek, she..bandaged him, he thinks. He tries to move himself out of bed, realizing his leg has been splinted, he stops dead as he sits on the tiny bed. How bad was he hurt?

She still stares at him, a little less frightened, instead watching him look around and think. He asks,

"You helped me?" he's not sure what to feel other than guilt. She closes her mouth and blinks, slowly nodding. Yeah, here comes the guilt.

"..I...I'm sorry, I thought you were..uh." She looks confused, did she know he got attacked or did she just find him there? He attempts to kneel, but the splint doesn't keep the pain away and he loses his footing, catching himself on his left arm. He sits, offering his right arm though it's significantly more weak. She looks to his hand, then back at him, wondering whether to trust him or not after hitting her. She holds her hoof out, he gently holds it and pulls her up so she can sit, still holding her own cheek. She may have a bruise, he can't remember how or tell how hard he hit her.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were one of those...uh, things. Those wolf things." he tries to apologize and explain. She replies,

"Timberwolves?" Her voice sound..soft. Daniel replies,

"Uhm, yes. The wolf things made out of wood or something. I got attacked by I think a pack of them." He holds up his arm, though he wishes not to remember it in detail, he continues,

"You bandaged me up and-" he looks to his leg, "-put a splint on me?" She shyly nods, looking at his arm.

"You had some bad cuts and you got dirt in them, I-I thought they would get infected..." She scoots herself closer and puts her hoof on his arm bandage.

"Does this hurt?" she softly asks as she applies a little bit of pressure, it does hurt but not as much originally. He answers her,

"No, not as much." She smiles at this reply, simply saying,

"Good." She then promptly scoots away, he doesn't think she trusts him but she looks glad to know he's okay. He asks promptly,

"...uh, does your cheek..." she furrows her brow, darting her eyes away, slowly nodding. She replies,

"I-It's okay, you were panicked and you d-didn't mean to I'm sure.." She sounds a little intimidated and unsure herself, Daniel guesses she may have never been hit before, but that thought disturbs him if he ends up being the first. She slowly takes her hoof off her cheek, there is a bruise but it's not as severe as it might have turned out to be. It seems she may have caught the edge of his pinkie when he made a fist, there's more pink than red, only small trickles of purple. The only plus is that it's not severe enough to swell.

"Again I'm sorry for..that-" he apologizes again, she looks fragile enough as is, "-those things were v-" He pauses, wincing. Colors are starting to bounce around again, pressure clamps down on his head and he struggles to form the rest of his sentence as he grits his teeth,

"V-...V-Vis..."

He holds onto his head with both arms, it feels like his brain is twisting and rolling around in his head. She looks worried as she promptly gets up on her legs and rushes over, asking,

"W-What's wrong, is it your head?" she's met with only wincing. She continues,

"I-I'll get you something." She rushes towards a cabinet next to a fireplace, rummaging through several little boxes. She eventually bites onto something and rushes over, holding a strange pill bottle-like container in her mouth. She bites on the lid, it looks formed for their species use, the bottle's cap pops open. Fluttershy tries to hold one of his hands and yank it away from his head, yanking to try to get him to make an open palm. She says with the bottle still in her mouth,

"O-Othen your hanth." she yanks and yanks, but he's still too strong for her and doesn't budge. Her eyes constrict upon realizing she'll have to wait for this to pass, if it does. She sets down the bottle and pets his left shoulder repeatedly, saying,

"You'll be okay, y-you'll be okay.."

A few seconds pass, the pain seems to subside and the colors stop dancing around the room, she slowly comes back into focus. Daniel looks somewhat exhausted regardless of how short he had to endure it, he angrily says,

"My fu-fucking head..." as he grips his hair in fists. He leans his back against the bedside, feeling the trickling pressure slowly fade. It felt like 300 pound weights crushing his head from every direction. She seems to ignore that remark, mostly due to not understanding the word. She insistently says,

"Take this." she nudges it with her nose and adds to it, "Take two, I'll get you some water." She starts to speed walk away, presumably going to get some water. Daniel takes this moment to examine the bottle, some sort of...oh wait, it's in English. Why is it in English? He reads it regardless,

'Ketamol'

'For mild to moderate body pain or headaches. Take only two a day every 6 hours, do not take with alcohol or if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant during a 2 week period.'

'Side Effects include (but are not limited to): Mild Digestion Problems and the Trots.'

She comes with a glass of water on a plate, Daniel looks and seems intrigued on her balancing skills...and quite frankly her jaw strength. She doesn't seem to have hands, so he guesses she has to use her mouth for a lot. She holds it up, he takes the water and the pills and drinks them, suddenly asking,

"What are 'the Trots'?" She just stares back at him, confused.

An awkward moment of silence comes and passes. He opens his mouth and she interrupts,

"Diarrhea."

She then continues to stare.

"...okay." He says, rubbing the back of his neck. Awkward question at awkward time. She's not asking why he asked, but she asks something else a bit more fitting,

"W-What's your name?" she tilts her head, a look of curiosity and worry. He answers,

"It's also Diarr-..." He stops himself and corrects himself embarrassingly, "..u-uhh, it's Daniel." it's all he can recall. She replies back with a tiny smile,

"I'm F-Fluttershy. It's nice to meet you Daniel." Fluttershy? Strange name, then again she is a strange...creature, horse? He feels compelled to ask,

"Uh, odd question." as if there wasn't one a minute ago, he continues, "Are you a horse?" She tilts her head, furrowing one brow questionably.

"I'm a pony. U-Uhm, Pegasus." she says, fluttering her wings to show him. Daniel leans a bit back, somehow not having seen the appendages, guessing he focused more on her bruise and eyes more than anything. They look...interesting.

"Oh...huh." She in turn asks,

"What are you?"

This feels a bit late for introductions, but he answers,

"I'm a human, I'm not sure if you've seen something like me before. I haven't seen anything like you before." he's not exactly what to show in turn, so he stands instead, towering over her.

She stands up, her approximate size from her height being just above his waist. Her ears flop and her eyes slightly widen, did she not expect him to be this tall if she dragged him here? He takes the hint and sits on the bed, feeling his forehead, saying,

"Before you ask me more, I can't say much. I don't remember anything other than my name and- " he feels the top of his head, realizing he dropped the construction ear muffs back in the woods, "-oh. Never mind, I must have dropped it running from those wolves. Don't worry about it, it wasn't important..I think." She tilts her head innocently.

Of course it was, it's the only clue to who he is and he decided to drop it..well, he -did- drop it running from wolves. Until he figures out otherwise, Daniel it is, it has a nice ring to it. He stands and says to her,

"Well, Fluttershy. Thank you for helping me, I appreciate it but maybe I should get going." the thought crosses his mind, right: He's talking to a yellow and pink Pegasus half his size that saved him from dying from 'Timberwolves'. Reality strikes. He looks concerned, he asks,

"Fluttershy...where exactly are we?" She promptly answers,

"In my house." innocently enough. He reiterates,

"No, I mean -where- are we?" She answers reluctantly,

"W-We're in my house, next to the Everfree Forest." She waits for him, seeing he's not satisfied with just that, she continues in greater detail. "We're in Ponyville, a town in Equestria that is a kingdom ruled by Princess Celestia.." He chuckles silently.

A princess ruling a kingdom? Preposterous! At least in his head. Yellow and pink talking pony; right. Beyond this point he should probably take whatever he's told from her seriously. She continues,

"I work with Ponyville's animals...u-unofficially. It's my job and cutie mark." she warmly smiles. Cutie mark? He asks,

"Cutie mark?" this is starting to sound a bit more girly by the minute, though he's not one to judge at this point. She answers,

"Oh-Oh, uhm, it's a magic mark you get on your flank when you find out your special talent."

Magic: Check. She seems to be overjoyed to share this, she smiles more and continues,

"Mine is taking care of animals, look." She shyly moves to her side, showing her rear end, it has 3 pink butterflies on each side with the shapes and colors seemingly imbued in her fur.

Pink Butterflies: Check.

Girly to the max.

'Not one to judge, not one to judge...' he repeatedly thinks to himself. She shyly asks,

"Do you have a cutie mark? Or do you not have them?" too innocent. Daniel answers,

"No, we don't. Well, we have tattoos, but those are a little bit more painful." She tilts her head, wondering what he means, but takes his word for it seemingly. He asks,

"Can you fly with those wings?" She duly replies,

"Oh, of course I can." She spreads her wings and flaps, slowly floating to his eye level, smiling. She flies a bit close and touches noses mistakenly.

"S-Sorry, I-" she's interrupted by a sudden noise.

A knock at the door, met with a shrill 'eep' in response from Fluttershy, she drops to the ground. She then sheepishly retreats to the door, opening the door. She says in surprise,

"Oh, Twilight! U-Uh." she seems mildly surprised. She continues,

"I didn't expect you to come so soon, um.." she steps aside as she pets her hair, "Here he is, he seems to be doing better..." she mumbles a few words she apparently didn't hear. Daniel sees a purple unicorn with a matching mane and bright highlights walk inside, apparently 'Twilight'. She stares at Daniel, observing him and studying his body with her eyes. She says plainly,

"I see." and steps towards him. A tape measure flies out near his face, he gets spooked and ducks, seeing a blob of purple glowing stuff around the object. He remarks,

"Let me guess, magic?" Twilight smiles and briskly answers,

"Mhm!"

Unicorn Magic: Check.

The tape measure stretches along his arms, a notepad and pencil scribble away as Twilight observes his body, she writes strangely fast...with magic.

"Leg out please." Daniel shrugs and holds out his good leg, Twilight starts measuring and her magic shrinks down his pants to his leg to show his leg shape. She then promptly lets go and brings out a book from her saddlebags, flipping through it to somewhere in the middle. Daniel leans to his right and reads the title,

"A Guide to Common and Uncommon Mythical Creatures in Equestria and Beyond, Volume III"

She whimsically mutters,

"No, no..no, oh gosh no." as Twilight then closes the book with a swift slam. She proudly stands, saying,

"I...don't know what you are." that proud stance looks defeated. She explains to both Fluttershy and Daniel,

"You resemble mostly a primate, monkeys; or more precisely a chimp. But you don't share the same features. Not short, not hairy, not the same facial structure; plus you're able to speak." She steps around him with a determined expression, repeatedly tugging at his clothes, accidentally gripping onto his buttocks and pinching it. He briefly jumps, stuttering,

"Hey! Watch the hands- uh, magic. " She replies,

"I'm just checking, just checking. Just clothes, right?" Daniel assuredly nods. Twilight seems slightly satisfied, asking,

"Alright, well what -are- you?" Fluttershy steps in,

"Well he said he's a human, I don't think he knows why he's here. I found him in the Everfree forest while..well, I found him." she seems to avoid whatever tangent she was saying. Daniel adds on,

"I got attacked by, what, Timberwolves?" he asks, continuing, "The things attacked in a pack and tackled me down a slope." he holds up his bandaged arm and his splinted leg to Twilight, continuing on,

"Hit my head on a rock or something, started bleeding out." Fluttershy interrupts and states,

"You weren't bleeding from your head, you only hurt your leg, shoulder, and arm."

Daniel looks confused, he's pretty sure he hit his head on the way down, he remembers blood trickling out from his head and laying on a puddle. He asks for her to confirm,

"Are you -sure- I wasn't bleeding from my head at all?" she assuredly nods. Then why does he have this rolling headache coming on and off? He hurt his head, he knows that. Was he mistaken and just dazed or? He doesn't know what to think and just trusts her, she was there, he was unconscious. He must be mistaken, he feels his head and doesn't feel anything abnormal. Twilight states,

"Maybe we should get you to a doctor, though I don't know whether to bring you to a doctor or a..vet." she must still be stuck in the chimp thing, though he guesses she's technically right. He recommends,

"Maybe we should get her a bandage too." Twilight looks confused, tilting her head with a 'What?' expression. Fluttershy looks concerned as Daniel continues,

"She has a bruise on her cheek, is not swelling, but-" he's interrupted by Twilight,

"What??" she looks towards Fluttershy, trying to get a look at her face and body for any sign of this bruise. Fluttershy looks like she's covering her cheek with her hair, after a few odd moments of avoiding eye contact, Twilight eventually tugs her hair out of the way with her magic. She glares over to Daniel, she looks angry.

"Grrrr." she takes a step towards him, Fluttershy tries to intervene,

"T-Twilight, he didn't mean it. H-He was still panicked when he woke up, he thought he was still being attacked. Honest!" she tries to plead, Daniel looks surprised, she hid her bruise? It seems this is why. She doesn't seem to take his confused expression in the way he meant to convey it. Twilight yanks on his shirt's collar, slowly pulling him down to her eye level, he catches himself on the floor with his left arm. She sternly says,

"You don't hurt my friends, she was just trying to help you." she glares at him for a few moments, letting go. She closes her eyes and sighs angrily, continuing,

"I don't want anyone else being hurt-" she opens her eyes and looks back at him face to face, "-is that clear?" she seems to have taken this very personally. Daniel tries to assuredly nod, a little intimidated of her 'technique' if bringing him down to her eye level. Fluttershy tries to soften the conversation,

"I-It doesn't hurt anymore Twilight. Please just calm down, he didn't mean it." she puts a hoof on her arm, trying to calm her down, it seems to work for what it's worth. Twilight replies a little calmer,

"Look, we'll bring you to a doctor if you think you got head trauma. Fluttershy says otherwise but we should get you checked anyway. Come on." she turns around and waits for them both, Fluttershy volunteers,

"I-I'll go too." Twilight acknowledges and they both start to walk outside.

Time for a stroll..he guesses.

Twilight and Fluttershy seem to guide him around a very..girly looking town, is brightly colored, or at least in hue. He sees several other 'ponies' in the distance, though it seems both Fluttershy and Twilight are guiding him through unpopulated areas where he can't be seen. He remarks,

"I guess this is 'Ponyville' ?" Fluttershy looks up to him and nods, not saying anything else along the way.

The place still looks small, not built for his size. And colorful, not in the way he likes but it's definitely unique. Eventually they walk from behind a building to the front of what seems like a doctor's office, given the obligatory sign in front with a red plus. He ducks underneath the door frame as they enter, the place still looks small, his head is only 2 feet away from the ceiling. There doesn't seem to be anyone else inside other than some sort of secretary reading a magazine in a little booth, she's chewing blue gum and blows a bubble. Twilight walks up, asking,

"Hello? We'd like to see Dr. Burgundy." the secretary looks to her, the bubble pops, replying,

"I'll ring you up in a minute." She glances over to Daniel, to which he just replies with an awkward small wave with his bandaged arm. The pony seems to just stare it him confused for a few seconds, talking to Twilight,

"This is a doctor's office ma'am, pets aren't allowed in here. There's a vet just around the block." Daniel looks disgruntled at her, a little insulted. Twilight feels the top of her forehead, annoyed and pleading,

"Just get Dr. Burgundy please." The pony blows another bubble and pops it, pressing a little button near what looks like an intercom, saying,

"Dr. Burgundy, patients coming in now." another voice speaks from it,

"Yes, thank you Lime. Send them in."

Lime? She's light blue. They hear a small buzz and a door near the booth opens, Daniel follows Twilight and Fluttershy into a doctor's office. Several pictures of what seems like pony anatomy are strewn about the walls, they have an odd bone structure is all Daniel can think of. There seems to be a male pony sitting in a large leather chair, must be Dr. Burgundy. Now that Daniel thinks about it, isn't that a name for wine?

Twilight and Fluttershy sit in small seats, Daniel gently lowers himself on the low seat and his knees tower next to his chest. Bit too small. Dr. Burgundy looks up at them, then stares at Daniel, saying,

"I'm a doctor, not a v-" Twilight interrupts,

"He's not an animal. Dr. Burgundy I want you to perform a check-up, at least as best you can." Dr. Burgundy replies sternly,

"I am not a vet Miss, Twilight Sparkle, is it?"

Sparkle? Sparkle: Check.

Daniel replies disgruntled,

"I'm not an animal, alright?" Dr. Burgundy, settles in his chair, stating,

"Alright, point taken." He gets out of his chair on all fours, going through a medical cabinet with several medical instruments.

This will take a while.

Half an hour passes, here comes the piece they've been waiting for, Burgundy says,

"Hold this up to your front, close to the skin as possible please." He hands Daniel a large flat plastic plate, following his orders and holding it pressed against his body, Burgundy aims some sort of X-Ray fixture on a wheeled cart. He pulls a lever, a flash flashes throughout the room, Daniel's body feels a little tingly. That..didn't seem safe.

After a minute or so of waiting, Burgundy comes back with an X-Ray of his body, stating,

"Well this creature has an odd body structure, simply fascinating, if a bit lanky." Daniel tries to ignore that comment. Burgundy continues,

"Hmm, well it appears your leg bone has been correctly set in place, by Miss Fluttershy doing I presume." Fluttershy nods without an expression, listening solely just for answers. He continues,

"However I can't seem to find any sort of fracture in your skull, or even any noticeable damage along your head. It appears you may be mistaken after all, dazed or not, it would show on here." He pats the x-ray light assuredly. That's...good? Daniel seems to vividly remember those last moments, maybe he just landed in a mud puddle or..something. Burgundy asks,

"Now, would you two ladies mind if I bring, Mr Daniel is it? For a full body examination sometime in the future? This seems fairly exciting, I know some colleagues that would absolutely adore a study of this new found creature."

Daniel looks angrily at him,

"Does no one take me seriously? Ask -me- if you'd like." Daniels feels a little apprehensive, is detectable.

Burgundy looks at him for a few moments, asking,

"Hmph, well alright. Would you like being accepted for study?" Daniel shrugs, not knowing what that entails. Body examination doesn't exactly sound pleasant. Burgundy tries to assure him,

"I doubt it'd be painful." Assuring... "We have a policy on non-lethal study with newly discovered species, as Miss Sparkle knows I'm sure." Daniel feels the back of his neck, trying to think. He guesses it'd be better if they got to know his anatomy before anything else bad possibly happens, he nods reluctantly saying,

"Uh..sure. If I'm going to be here then I guess it'd be fine if your 'colleagues' take a study. " Dr. Burgundy claps his hoof on his desk,

"Acceptable I'm sure, it will take some time to contact them, but I shall address Miss Sparkle for a heads up on their arrival. Or Miss Fluttershy if she is not available."

This is starting to feel like a parent thing, how he addresses Twilight and Fluttershy. Time to walk home he guesses. The thought crosses his head as they all leave the office, where exactly is his home going to be? Fluttershy seems to take notice as they walk down an empty alleyway, asking,

"Is something wrong?" they continue on through the town, Daniel replies,

"Yeah, I don't know where to stay. I appreciate the care, but I don't know where to go at this point." She looks away as he finishes his sentence, shyly suggesting,

"W-Well..you can stay with me if you'd like."

Huh. Daniel feels the back of his neck with his bad arm, flinching as he does so, replying,

"Uhm..sure. Though I don't want to be a burden so when I'm up and running I'll try to help as I can. I..don't know where to go at this point anyway."

Twilight rolls her eyes, she knew it'd come to this point, she always gets attached to injured animals she finds, seems to be no different with Daniel. She adds in,

"If you're so dedicated to it, can introduce you to the rest of my friends. Though I don't know how they'd react to you, probably think you're some hairless chimp." Daniel looks down at her, she looks back, remarking,

"Their words, not mine."

Clever Twilight, she seems nice though. Back to Fluttershy's house, then.

Back at Fluttershy's cottage, Daniel takes a seat on the stretcher he was originally resting in. Twilight explains,

"I guess we'll start introductions tomorrow, is getting a little late. " She glances out the window, is already dusk, she continues, "I better get going, Spike will get worried if I'm gone any longer." Spike? Is that an ironic name or is that some other pony? Daniel doesn't bother asking, Twilight has already left. Now it's just Fluttershy and Daniel, he takes the hint that he shouldn't just stare at her and lies back in the stretcher, trying to spread the small blanket over his body to not much avail. Fluttershy walks over, softly asking,

"G-Going to bed?" She seems excited, strangely. Daniel nods while laying his head on the small pillow, he hears her clear her throat. What's she-

"Hush now, quiet now

It's time to lay your sleepy head.

Hush now, quiet now

It's time to go to bed~

Drifting, off to sleep,

Leave the day behind you,

Drifting, off to sleep,

Let the joy of dreamland find you~"

She sounds...heavenly. Daniel's not sure what to think, so he just closes his eyes, this feels strange but relaxing. He says as he yawns,

"Auuuhhh...goodnight Fluttershy." She smiles and replies back,

"Goodnight Daniel."

Then it's silence. Just...silence.

Tic.

That's not silence.

Tic.

That's a clock, is it morning already? Daniel rolls over on his side, feeling something wet. He holds out his hand and feels..grass. Damp grass.

What? He rubs his eyes, opening them slowly and he sees..forest? He's back in- He opens his eyes and sits up, he seems back where he originally started it seems. He feels the ground and his arms and legs. He..still has the bandages and splint. He sits back up, how did he get back here?

"The f- how did I get back-" He calls out,

"Fluttershy? Did you bring me out here or-" he stops as he glances into a clearing, there's his construction ear muffs he dropped when he ran from the timber wolves. He tries to stand and props himself on his feet with his knee, investigating the area around it. Nothing...suspicious in the very least. He bends down and picks it up, examining it. Well, this is it alright, but how did he get back here? He turns around and looks for any movement, there is none, he puts them on and snaps his fingers, the sound muffled. Is he dreaming or is he back where he was before, was it just a dream or-

"Hush now, quiet now..." He hears a voice behind him, he suddenly turns and listens. He calls out, hearing his muffled voice,

"Hello? Fluttershy?" No reply, he hears it again,

"It's time to go to bed..." it's behind him again, he turns again and is feeling anxious. He yells out,

"Hello?? Who's there??" Another voice,

"Driting, off to sleep..." it's not Fluttershy. It's male and has static to it. He tries to examine it, it's to his right now, he turns and runs in that direction yelling,

"S-Stop messing with me!" He hears something familiar, behind him again.

"Hush now, quiet now..it's time to lay your sleepy head..hush now, quiet now, it's time go to bed..."

That's not her voice. He remarks out loud,

"What the fuck is thi-" he realizes what's making the noise. He yanks the ear muffs off and throws them on the floor, he hears his voice scream in static from the ear muffs as he backs away.

"HUSH now, QUIET now..
It's time to lay your sleepy head...
HUSH now, QUIET now ..
IT'S TIME TO GO TO BED...
HUSH now, QUIET now ...
Don't want the monster hearing you...
Hush now, quiet now...
The one inside your head.."

Suddenly a wave of pressure clamps down on his head, agonizingly bringing him down to his knees and gripping his head and hair. The headaches come back, but feels more like something is crushing him instead. He hears repeatedly as his head feels like it's ripping itself apart from the inside,

"HUSH now, QUIET now ..."

"Don't want the monster hearing you..."

"HUSH now, QUIET now..."

"The one INSIDE YOUR HEAD.."

The pain amplifies every time the voice screams 'inside your head', he feels a stabbing pain throughout his head and feels warm liquid flow down the right of his face. He drags his hand grudgingly to his face, drenched in dark red liquid he starts shaking from shock. It keeps repeating inside of his head, over and over,

"HUSH now, QUIET now..."

"Don't want the monster hearing you..."

"HUSH now, QUIET now..."

"THE ONE INSIDE YOUR HEAD.."

"DON'T play, with the darkness..."

"They do love some games as well.."

"DON'T play, with the darkness..."

"Else you go to..."

Hush now. Quiet now.

Don't let it hear you.

Don't let it get out...

Author's Note

Ironically enough, yesterday I got to experience 'The Trots' and rolling headaches, so..yay? Was why this was delayed until today. Is currently 4:20 AM.

Will continue later today, still a bit of a headache so I'm surprised I could finish this at all. May edit sometime later as I work on the next one today.

Time to Pray

1 month.

1 month.

"Danny...Daaaanyyyy"

Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke.

'Stop it' he thinks.

Poke. Poke. Poke.

He groans.

Poke. Poke.

One hand up in the air, waving for a 'stop' gesture.

Poke.

He lifts his head, grudgingly staring at a certain pink pony. He remarks,

"You're persistent, I'll give you that." He's just met with an unfazed smile from Pinkie. She comments,

"And you're a grump, but that doesn't mean I'll just let you be one!" Daniel sighs, sitting up and rubbing his head, getting his bearings all over again. Sugarcube Corner, excitable pink pony, what could go wrong? Barely any sleep due to nightmares, he barely remembers why he came over, he asks,

"What is it Pinkie, are the twins bothering you or-" she interrupts,

"Nope." Another smile, she continues, "I thought you could use a day of fun for a change." He intolerably thinks,

'Fun is the last thing I need'

Still unfazed by his glaring, she hops away over the counter and leaves him to lay on the table. Daniel takes this moment to lay his head back down on his arms, is short lived as he feels a rasp thump on the table. He lifts his head again, seeing a pitcher of red liquid. He lifts an eyebrow quizzically. He tries to lighten up, she's trying to cheer him up at the very least and he figures he might as well roll with it.

"Alright Pinkie, what's your game?" She answers with a smile, her eyes shut,

"No~ No games. I just brought you some cranberry juice that you seem to love so much." She grips the handle with her teeth and pours into a glass, filling it next to the brim and nudges it with her nose next to his arms. Daniel whimsically smiles, not sure whether to feel entertained or grateful, trying to explain,

"Thank you Pinkie. I've just had a bit of trouble sleeping lately, don't let me bring you down." He picks up the glass, takes a sniff then a sip, adding on, "Surprised that you remembered I like cranberry. You don't even like it." It tastes sour and a bit bitter, something she doesn't seem to enjoy or tolerates. She retaliates subtly,

"Well, maybe you could take me up on a little something in return." Perhaps this was a game after all. Daniel sets down the glass, questioning her motive, asking,

"What do you want me to do for you Pinkie then?" She giggles unexpectedly, replying,

"It's not for me." she takes a seat and leans across the table, staring at him eye to eye, "It's for YOU." She sits back down, adding on,

"You could use some more fun in your life, moping around in your house all day oughta' be boring." Daniel comments,

"You think I'm dull?" She replies, still unfazed by his aim to discredit her,

"Nope, just think you could use a little more bounce in your step. Or legs, or..something." Splinted leg, remember? Daniel rolls his eyes, humoring her,

"Well what is it Pinkie?" he seems impatient, her confidence shows a small crack but is undetectable with his tired attitude anyhow. She suggests,

"Maybe a movie, or a picnic. I dunno~ Something we can both enjoy without you getting your socks in a bunch." He hasn't heard that phrase before. She adds on again,

"-Has- to be something funny, I can't take the sappy stuff." Emotional? He doesn't expect it from her. Wait, didn't she just suggest a movie -or- a picnic? She's assuming movie.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, I didn't come her to-" he suddenly realizes he forgets why he came over in the first place. He feels a little imprudent. She takes the not-so-subtle hint and finishes for him,

"Come to help me move stuff?.." she looks a little hurt. Daniel tries to apologize,

"I'm sorry, I just- I just haven't been in my right mind for a while. I honestly barely remember coming here, is there anything to move right now?" she blankly nods, taking her hooves off the table, slowly walking away. Daniel takes a moment to pull himself together before following her, past the counter, to the back of the store in a garage-like storage room. Pinkie pats the top of a large cardboard box, explaining,

"Is a mini fridge, to keep the twin's bottles cool." Daniel grips the bottom edges, asking,

"Aren't you supposed to-" he grips and lifts up the box, is moderately heavy, he continues, "-to keep bottles warm for babies?" Pinkie bounces outside of the storage room, whimsically explaining,

"Oh, Poundcake likes his milk cold, Pumpkin likes her's warm; just how they are~" Feels like an odd trait. Daniel sets the box down on the store's counter, leaning it to it's side and opens the bottom, setting it upright and slides the box upward so it sits upright. Removing the foam guarding the mini-fridge, he inspects it, seems decent. Taking the instruction manual, he sets it aside after skimming through it. He asks,

"Anything else I need to move?" She gladly answers,

"Mhm~ The bottle warmer now." She hops back into the storage room, this seems ridiculous to get two separate things for warming and cooling bottles. Daniel steps to the door frame, Pinkie bumps into his stomach, holding a significantly smaller box in her mouth. She passively apologizes,

"Whoomphs." as she sets it on the counter as well. She takes her own initiative and opens it, is some device that looks similar to a coffee pot.

Ding.

Daniel asks Pinkie,

"Uh, Pinkie?" she tilts her head, listening, "Do you guys have a coffee maker?" She happily nods, saying,

"Yup. Why, do you want some?" Daniel nods, simply saying,

"Yes, please." Pinkie smiles warmly, hopping off into the kitchen.

A few minutes later while setting up the mini-fridge and plugging in the bottle warmer, he hears a few high pitched beeps. Pinkie walks over slowly from the other room with a mug on a plate balanced on her back, warning him,

"Careful, is hot. I don't know how you like it so I went with Black~" Daniel picks up the mug, sniffing it, is definitely a little bitter but better than nothing. He blows on it and takes a sip, sweet and bitter at the same time. He has an overwhelming feeling of chaste, why has he never asked for this before? He seems to take solace in the coffee a bit too long, Pinkie puts her hoof on his leg and remarks,

"Uhm, Equestria to Danny." He pops back into reality, apologizing,

"Oh, sorry. Just..relaxing. And can be a bit more awake now, thank you Pinkie." She smiles with a subtle 'squee', vaguely insinuating,

"Soooo...you'll come with me~?" Daniel takes another sip, raising an eyebrow. She explains,

"Movie?" she tilts her head, she looks zealous. Daniel happily sighs, saying,

"Yeah, sure Pinkie." He holds up his cup, adding on, "I can stay awake now. Hey Pinkie, do you drink coffee?" A caffeinated Pinkie, now there's a thought he ponders in his head. Pinkie rubs the back of her head, answering a little nervously,

"Oh, no. It kinda makes me sleepy, I don't ever need to take it~" Hm, surprising, given her ecstatic personality at times. Daniel's suddenly surprised as she jumps on her hind legs, her hooves go over his right arm and she drags him down to her level, taking a sip from his coffee mug.

"Hm..nah. Too bitter, not enough cream." She flicks her tongue in and out from her closed lips, trying to get the taste out of her mouth. Daniel just stares at her, a little uncomfortable of her boldness to drink straight from his cup. He stands back upright, trying to dismiss it entirely,

"Al..right. Well, when do you want to head out Pinkie? Don't you have work later?" She explains,

"Nope~ The Cakes are closing early today, something about a client cancelling early. Shame on them!" she continues, "They're watching over the kids, so the mini fridge and the bottle warmer should help them too thanks to you~" she subtly congratulates him, though it doesn't register as much as Daniel's mind floods with caffeine. He detects micro amounts of buzzing, must be it kicking in.

No. It's something else.

Pressure clamps down on his head, he starts to shake and tightens his grip on the mug, he slowly winces and bottles up the pain visibly by wounding his body up. Pinkie looks up at him, worriedly asking,

"Danny? Danny are you-" he breaks the mug from his pained grip, spooking her, spilling hot coffee on his hand and it promptly burns his skin as it splashes on the floor, he catches himself on his left arm against the counter trying to keep himself standing as several vivid colors bounce around his eyes and disorient his senses. Daniel grunts, trying to grip his head with his burnt hand, the head pain overlapping the pain emanating from his skin.

"P-P-.." he tries to say her name, so she doesn't have to worry, but it fuels her even more. She stands on her hind legs, trying to pull him down.

"Sit, sit Danny!" she says seriously, she jumps up off her hooves and yanks him back downward by his arm, onto the floor. The pressure starts to subside, the pain from his hand moves up in severity, he grips his hand after losing his grip on his head. Pinkie takes initiative and tries to help him up, repeatedly suggesting,

"Hand, hand in the sink. Go, go, go, go!" Daniel complies, silently but surely pacing himself to the sink in the kitchen, he turns the water faucet on and lets cold water splash over his hand. Pinkie rubs his arm, trying to calm him down, he seems to be shaking still. She says,

"I-I heard Twilight talk about your headache problems, but I didn't think it was -that- bad.." She still looks concerned, but relieved it seems to be over. Daniel tries to calm her,

"I-It's fine, it comes and goes but the doctors say it's nothing medically wrong. They..kinda don't know why I have them. " That comment doesn't seem to help. He reiterates,

"It's nothing -too- bad, it only lasts for a minute or so. It's only bad if I'm doing something, it doesn't do anything else except for a bad headache." He tries to shove those thoughts of his nightmares that repeatedly say why that is. Pinkie rubs his arm, asking,

"Are you sure?" Daniel assuredly nods, it's been going on for weeks, but it isn't the worst thing in the world to him. He tries to add on,

"Besides, a headache isn't going to keep me away from going to a movie with my friend." Pinkie warmly smiles, but frowns a bit upon looking at his hand, splotches of red have appeared on his skin. Is mildly burnt, Pinkie didn't make the coffee piping hot, but definitely took it's toll. Daniel pokes his burnt hand, flinching, is nothing major enough for blisters. One more thing to take care of.

"Don't suppose you have any bandages on han- er, hoof?"

A few hours pass, is around 2:00 and Daniel's waiting outside Sugarcube Corner, examining his bandage. Combined with some aloe it hurts a lot less. Going to be a bother when the skin starts to peel though, as far as he remembers about burns. He hears a ringing sound by the store's door, is Pinkie manually ringing the bell usually used to signal customers walking through the door. Daniel takes the hint and walks over, asking,

"Ready to go?" She nods, trotting up beside him and asks,

"Sooo...comedy?" Seems a bit cliché. He asks,

"Anything action oriented? Or..Adventure?...no? I'm paying, so I at least want to know what we're going to watch." He feels around his pockets, the biologists that wanted to study him gave him a cash advance in turn the for volunteering, so he for once has the option to treat somepony with his own money.

They discuss several genres on the way to the theater, eventually somehow settling on a romantic comedy that's based on an action-packed true story.

"Maybe the marketing team had trouble or something. Seriously, who mixes that many descriptive titles?" They make small chit-chat and critics over several movies as they wait in line. The ponies nearby don't seem to take much notice to him anymore, Twilight made it basically a PSA to introduce him to the town, they mainly just glance and just treat him as any other now.

Better than being called a hairless chimp. Their words, not his..

The two continue past the booth, walking into the theater, taking their seats. The room looks a bit devoid, only a dozen or so ponies and even fewer couples are present. Maybe they marketed to a niche audience on purpose, didn't seem to help their sales though. Pinkie sits in her seat upright, like many others. Daniel still finds the seats too small for him, though he manages to pick a seat suited for what he assumes a griffin, is a bit spacier and he can fit. Pinkie takes notice and scoots over beside his new seat, nudging his side as the movie's ads begin. In a deep narrator voice, he hears it announce,

"In a world, where the deep pits of Tartarus has been unleashed, 3 heroes rise up against-" Yawn. He'll give credit, narrators know how to announce it, premise seems a little exaggerated though. Pinkie seems more excited than him when it comes to the movie ads.

A few minutes later, the movie finally begins, starting off with a panning shot of a crevasse imbued with green lightning striking in the background, a pony bound in chains at the summit of a mountain.

An hour later, the main heroine yells at the villain,

"Was this all part of your plan??" The villain replies,

"I'm not trapped here with you, you're trapped in here with ME." This feels familiar for some reason. " If you want to leave, you have to work -with- me!" The other hero yells,

"And you think we'd just let you be free from your prison, while we trap all the others again? Is that what you think??" The villain replies again with a sinister smile,

"We all must face compromise. Just your compromise is more...unnerving." He silently laughs. " RELEASE ME YOU FOALS!" The third heroine yells,

"Never, we'll find a way out with or without you!"

What makes this a comedy again?

Pinkie's buried in her seat near what seems to be near the end of the movie, the main heroine and the hero are at a cliff in Tartarus, the hero begs to her,

"Please, let me go.. you all need to leave this dreadful place and save Equestria from his reign. My sacrifice will -not- be in vain." The heroine pulls him closer and hugs him, whispering,

"I-I'm sorry...I-I love you..." and kisses him, letting go mid-kiss. Pinkie squeaks, squeezing Daniel's right arm as tiny forms of tears gather in her eyes. She silently squeals,

"O-Oh, how sweet of him but oh- so horrible, it's just-" another pony goes 'shhh' in the background. Daniel turns and tries to pick out the pony who did that, but can't spot him/her. Don't start a fight Daniel, don't make a scene..

The movie drags on to the end, the two heroines stand triumphantly at a cliff's side, near what seems like an old version of Celestia's castle. The other heroine tries to comfort the main one,

"His sacrifice was needed..to save Equestria." She turns around to an erected statue of the other pony hero, holding up a shield against the villain. The main heroine nods, saying,

"We shall face him when he returns." She grips her sword on her side and pulls it out with a quick rasp from the scabbard, stating the final words before the screen goes black,

"This, I SWEAR IT!"

Credits roll, Pinkie's buried in her seat, she's cleared of her silent crying but is still overjoyed over the end.

"Ohh, looks like a sequel in the making~! We know what to watch next time~" Knowing that fact, Daniel just thinks it'll be out by next year or sooner.

The two exit the theater, Pinkie seems ecstatic still, trotting happily along on the way back. She comments,

"Aw, that was nice, what a twist when they had to turn the villain in and the hero guy turned out to be the real villain! Who would have guessed~!"

Is she kidding? Everyone in the theater could see that twist coming from a mile away, or at least in his view. The glowing green eyes were a dead giveaway when he kept eluding the heroines. Ah well, next year to confirm it, he guesses.

Pinkie suddenly rubs her cheek against his leg as they approach Sugarcube Corner, saying,

"That was also nice to get to watch with you..~" She looks up to him expectedly, Daniel coyly rolls his eyes, trying to act reserved. He replies,

"Yeah, yeah. It was nice, I just don't get how it was supposed to be a comedy. Didn't seem too funny, especially when they butted the other heroine off a cliff when they thought -she- was the villain and-" Pinkie nudges his leg, giggling,

"Don't ignore it silly, you had a great time didn't you?" She looks very sure of herself, almost annoyingly so, but he can't deny it. He replies more honestly without dodging the comment,

"Yeah, it was a nice time Pinkie. Was very nice with you there especially." He smiles, trying to hide the fact he mostly looked at her most of the movie. He only picked up the important bits when she got a little emotional at parts, or when the audience made some audible noise. Pinkie continually nuzzles his leg, Daniel resists the urge to pet her, he interrupts her nuzzling,

"Uhm, Pinkie, we're here." She opens her eyes, seeing Sugarcube Corner and the Cakes closing the store early. Mrs. Cake is just beginning to turn the Open/Closed sign when she spots them both, waving down Pinkie and waving her over to come in. Mrs. Cake then retreats to the back, presumably to move the inventory out of the displays.

Pinkie tugs at his pants, dragging him over by the door, he simply follows. She says,

"It was a nice day to spend with you Danny." she stands on her hind legs, gripping onto his left arm and pulls him down to her level. She suddenly rubs her cheek against his, especially using her nose to rub against his, she continues,

"It was a -really- nice day to spend with you Danny..~" He's speechless, unsure of what action to take, he instead moves his right hand along her cheek, ignoring the remnants of pain remaining in his hand. She looks puzzled, probably expecting something else, she stares intensely at his eyes. He moves his hand up her head, past her mane, and gently scratches behind her ears. She slowly closes her eyes and smiles, her blushing intensifies, he seems to have hit a sweet spot with her.

"M-Mnn.."she makes minute noises silently, pursing and extending her lips, she appears to really like being touched there. She takes both her hooves and holds onto his right arm, her eyebrows furrow slowly but pleasurably, she has a soft closed-mouth grin. Again unsure of how to respond, he just tries to toy with her,

"You seem to 'really' like being scratched there." He continues, suddenly stopped by her hoof pushing against his arm,

"S-Stop teasing me Danny and just...M-Mnnnyeah right there..l-lower.."

That sounded..sultry.

'Evacuate, evacuate!' is all he can think, he gently tries to pull his arm away but Pinkie has him in a grip. She lowers her eyebrows, asking in the same sultry tone,

"..Why'd you stop there?.."

'Abort, abort!' his mind floods with warnings in response. Confusingly, his worrying is met with a high pitched giggle from Pinkie, she cheerfully says in more of her usual tone,

"Oh I'm just kidding silly dilly~" she leans in and nuzzles her nose against his cheek once more, pressing her nose against his, a direct closeup to his eyes. She whimsically says,

"Boop."

Boop?

"Boop?" he asks. She replies, simply,

"Boop!" She bumps her nose with his again. He curiously asks again,

"...boop?" She playfully says again,

"Boop!" she bumps his nose again.

Is this her way of showing affection or something? Strange, strange pink pony. Daniels moves his arms down under her warm armpits, Pinkie chuckles a little, he stands and holds her up, saying,

"Boop?"

She blushes, not expecting the gesture of meeting at -his- eye level off the ground. He stares intensely at her, she doesn't seem to have a response to this, so she just laughs nervously.

"Heh, ah, h-heh..I..uh.." He sets her down since she's looking nervous, he triumphantly says,

"Boop." He'll play her game, at least for now, seems like he's won this time. Pinkie just giggles, saying,

"Aww, but seriously I had a -really- nice time." She looks up at him with her large blue eyes, "You know, tonight doesn't -heave- to end just yet~" Not exactly sultry, but it still sounds..questionable. He decides to speak up this time,

"Pinkie, do you realize how, er...suggestive that sounds?" She rolls her eyes mischievously, nodding. She adds on,

"Sleepover, duh!" He replies,

"We're a bit too old for that. And it's kinda not late at night." He doesn't even know her age, come to think of it. Or how their aging works. She dismissingly waves her hoof,

"Pff, you're never too old for a Pinkie Pie sleepover. Fiiine then, maybe just spend some more time with me~? " Daniel sighs and gives a passive smirk, replying,

"Yeah, yeah. Sure, you've treated me to a nice day so far, if you don't want it to end you can -try- . " Pinkie happily hops inside, Daniel following shortly after, curious what a 'Pinkie Sleepover' entails.

What a strange predicament to be in.

"No."

"..."

"Why?"

Why?

"Why...Pinkie and not..?"

Why Pinkie?

"..Why would he...how dare she-"

Fluttershy looks from afar, having listened in on them when they came over to Sugarcube Corner. Daniel was supposed to be at his temporary home hours ago, why was he out with Pinkie?

Why didn't he say something, why didn't -THEY- say something? She made him a surprise lunch outside his house and waited for him all afternoon to come back for the surprise and now it's gone and spoiled.

Why can't he appreciate what's given to him, why can't he appreciate -her- ? Doesn't he know that his headaches could seriously hurt him? What if he got a headache while walking down some steps, or if it escalates somewhere he can't get help at? Why doesn't he understand he's under constant danger because of his condition?

It's up to her to keep him safe, follow him and make sure he's okay, make sure he's not in danger and won't need to go far for help.

He will not stay out of her sight for long..

He will not be alone ever again to die in some pit..

He will not be in danger..

He will not leave her.

Author's Note

Well, the 'trots' and headaches has subsided for myself, so I'd say this turned out well at the very least. Will be starting the next one later today or tomorrow, depending on how my condition turns out. I wonder if anyone's been picking up the not-so-subtle messages with the titles?

Weirdly I had a derp moment where I kept thinking too much about 'won't ' near the end and kept thinking it wasn't a word. Similar to how you say one word so many times and it starts to lose it's meaning. So just decided to type 'will not' instead. Strange mind I work with.

I honestly couldn't resist having some tender moments with Pinkie. Who can resist this face?

https://derpibooru.org/645765?scope=scpe43bc430ca75a8e707307e91d798189bd3cf48155

Time to Break

1 month, 1 day

1 month, 1 day

"Can you hear the monster?"

"Can you hear it hiss, fester, roll around in your head?"

It sounds grotesque.

"It wants to get out, why not just let it out?"

"Are you scared of what might happen?"

It sounds unnatural.

"Are you afraid?"

"Are you afraid of the others seeing it get out?"

It sounds like an abomination.

"Why hide it?"

"Why hide me?"

"Why would you hide yourself from them?"

"..."

It angrily yells like a siren, deeper and raspier.

"WHY WON'T YOU LET ME OUT?"

A mass of force strikes him in his stomach, down on the floor Daniel is a ragdoll. On his side he tries to hold himself back up, but his arms feel like jelly as he lays on his right arm trying to keep himself off the forest floor. He squints, desperately trying to close his eyes, his body feels numb and unresponsive. Dark, he closes his eyes, all he sees is the dark.

"You think you can hide from yourself?"

A kick to the back of his head, he sees red streaks go across the dark.

"You can't hide from me." A familiar voice, himself, he peeps open one eye and sees himself standing beside himself. He glares down at himself, his mouth blends in with his skin, it ungulates as he speaks with his grotesque voice ,

"Wake up already, you insufferable prick."

He kicks him in the throat, Daniel opens his eyes from the blow, something else familiar greets him.

"Woop!" Something just tackled him from on top of his blanket, he has a feeling he knows what. He stretches his arm upward, flipping open the blanket, covering a familiar head shape. Pink hair stretches from the blanket's edge, she says muffled,

"Hello?~"

As playful as she may be, Daniel doesn't seem in the mood for it. He yanks the blanket off her roughly, sternly saying,

"Pinkie, it's near midnight already. Go. To. Bed." he tries to remind her, "You have work tomorrow." Her hairs ruffled and jumbled, almost fluffy if it would happen to be thicker. She whimsically retaliates with another viewpoint,

"Nuh-uh! This is -my- sleepover, -you- can't tell me when to go to bed silly~ Plus I can make up any work I miss easy, I'm a hard worker." He partially plays along,

"Alright, but you can't tell me when not to be a grump.." he lies back down on his improvised bed, consisting of 2 layers of thin blankets with a pillow and one thick blanket on top for a cover, still an odd experience to be sleeping in Pinkie's room, but it seems comfortable enough. She puts her hoof on his shoulder, asking,

"Aw, did you have those one of those nightmares again?" Daniel tries not to acknowledge it, he doesn't want it resurfacing. Pinkie pleads,

"Come on, you can't get over it if you can't vent it." She repeatedly rubs his shoulder with her hoof, to no avail. She closes her mouth impatiently, determined to get him to share.

"Hmph, fine!" She walks off, to Daniel's liking. He tries to fall asleep, but it's short lived. As he starts to drift off to sleep a few minutes later, he's met with something rubbing his cheek. He mumbles angrily,

"Pinkie, stub rubbing me.." she doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon. Daniel opens his eye, glaring at her with one eye, she's holding a taped up coffee mug. Wait, she seriously fixed that? He asks amazed, but still annoyed,

"...seriously?" she pokes him again, silently insisting he drinks some. He props himself up with his right arm, ignoring the burn pain under the bandages.

"That's not how that works Pinkie, if I drink that I'll be asleep all day tomorrow." He wipes his face, not willing to tolerate her at this hour of the night. Well, she got him up at least. Met with an insistent Pinkie, he feels like he's not going to get any sleep tonight. He doesn't feel like he could just suddenly leave either, she's being annoyingly persistent but she'd take that personally if he decides to leave after last night together. Time to tough it out, it seems.

"Fine." He picks up the coffee cup, silently inspecting how she taped it up, guess it wasn't shattered, just cracked in very few pieces. Daniel takes a sip, isn't Black, she made it sweet with seemingly a bit of cream. Perhaps she tried to get him in a better mood, not a -bitter- mood. Ironically she asks,

"Better?" Daniel simply answers,

"Somewhat." He refuses to admit he feels better, taking sip after sip; tastes like hazelnut. She takes it as a sign of good faith and tries to reel him in,

"Sooo..what was it about?" Daniel sighs, taking another sip. She looks determined.

"I just want to help you Danny, just work with me please?" she asks, her eyes look sincere. Confound these ponies and their oversized eyeballs. Daniel sighs, explaining,

"I've been having nightmares, this..thing keeps saying it wants to get out, trying to convince me to let it out. And it keeps beating me, trying to get me to let it out of my head." Pinkie asks a question,

"Beating?.." Daniel answers with a gesture, pounding his right fist into his left cupped hand.

"Yes, -beating- me. And each time it gets worse." Her ears flop downward. He feels the front of his neck, adding on,

"When you tackled me awake, was the moment it kicked me in the neck." she asks again,

"What is 'it' ?" Daniel tries to explain it as best he can,

"It looks like me, but it looks...horrible. It doesn't have a mouth, and again it keeps beating me every night trying to get me to 'let it out', and it screams at me in my voice but it sounds so... fucking unnatural and terrifying." She looks confused, it doesn't appear 'fuck' is in their vocabulary. She asks a golden question,

"Fucking?" he's caught a bit off guard at her voice, realizing he hasn't said it in front of her before. He tries not to say it in front of ponies, but he can't help it thinking about that 'thing', it brings him back to his original mannerism out of fear. Admittedly he's not sure how many words he shares with ponies, especially all the slurs and insults he knows, he's afraid to ask Twilight on how similar their species 'vocabularies' are.

"Yeah, don't repeat that Pinkie. It's kinda obligatory or..something. It's sort of like an insult, or describing something obligatory and insulting at the same time." It's tougher to explain than he thought, for him it seems to have originally been a given, but for her it's just a new word.

"Fucking coffee?" Ergh, it's cringe worthy. Daniel pleads,

"Pinkie, please stop saying that..it's weird coming from you especially." She smirks, stretching her odds out as far as possible. She stretches her jaw saying it,

"Fuuuuuck." Daniel wipes his face, pleading again, a bit more annoyed.

"Pinkie. Stop it. "

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-" he holds out his hand and covers her mouth. He holds one finger to his mouth, strongly trying to convey for her to be quiet. She seems to take the hint, nodding slowly up and down, he releases his hand and sighs. He's awake now with those few sips of coffee, now to deal with Pinkie for who knows how long. He looks out her window, hearing trace amounts of rain pouring outside. He comments,

"Looks like rain." She slowly walks over, shutting her window to prepare for any heavy rainfall, which by the sound of it they very well may be. Pinkie comments as well,

"Weird, we're supposed to get sunny days all month. To make up for all the condensation that was built up for, like, a month before. They got all disorganized, Dash told me all about it but I kinda..didn't listen." No surprise there. Hm, he doesn't know 'Dash' very well, despite her apparent closeness with all the other ponies. Not enough time socializing with Rarity and Dash it seems. Applejack he's only met once, and she was busy anyway. Pinkie chooses this moment to reference back to a few minutes ago,

"Well..do you feel a little better now that you talked about your nightmare problems?" She looks hopeful, Daniel answers her honestly,

"No, no I don't. You just know vaguely what I keep seeing." He closes his eyes and breathes through his nose, adding on,

"But I appreciate your concern Pinkie, I really do. It's just getting harder to deal with it, it seems like you guys are the only thing keeping me sane at this point."

She seems to take that with a mixed expression, but she still smiles none the less. It says enough for them both. Daniel yawns, not sure what to do now. Pinkie seems to take the hint and stands, taking a few stretches, walking out of the room again. What's she up to now? She comes back holding something in her mouth, some kind of small foldable wood table. She sets it down, extending the legs, it clicks in place as she sets it upright. She exits the room again, her tail flicks on the way out.

"..." He's not sure how to interpret this. She comes back with two wine glasses clasped in her teeth, she sets them both down, Daniel decides to comment on this escalating situation,

"Uhh..Pinkie, you're not bringing wine up here, are you?" She smiles, and simply answers,

"Nope!" she trots back outside the room, the heck is she doing then with wine glasses but no wine? Is this some kind of mind game? She walks back inside the room, holding a bottle of tinted liquid. Daniel doesn't look amused, he calls her out,

"Pinkie, that's wine." She sets the glass bottle on the little table, answering his accusation,

"Nuh-uh, it's cider. I'm no liar~" Isn't cider non-alcoholic? Come to think of it he doesn't know, nor does he care. He doesn't know if he's ever drunk any, but he feels very familiar with alcoholic drinks, sort of like nostalgia though he can't remember it. She pops the cap with some sort of pony-oriented bottle opener, it doesn't make a pop sound, just a silent fizz noise. This seems like an odd occasion for a drink, literally a drink. In her bedroom. On a rainy night. Alone.

In heinsight, maybe he should have thought about this before joining in on her sleepover..alone.

Daniel sighs, pouring himself a glass and her a glass of cider. He smells it, it doesn't smell bitter. Well, now or never. He takes a quick swig, it goes down rough, but the second sip goes down smooth. It doesn't smell alcoholic, nor does it taste it, perhaps Pinkie's more innocent than he gave her credit for. Daniel asks,

"Any particular reason to bring cider for a sleepover with a friend you barely know?" He takes a sip, she also takes a sip. Pinkie answers,

"It's been sitting in the cupboard for years, I had to use it sometime, 'ya know?~" She playfully takes a lick of the cider in her glass, Daniel tries to remember how to hold a wine glass in general. Pinkie's got an exception, she has no hands, he has no excuse. He settles with holding it between his fingers, he strangely feels like Rarity, overthinking this. He comments,

"I'm surprised ponies would even make alcohol, to be honest you guys don't seem the type." Sip. She sips as well, moodily answering,

"Hmph, well we have livers too you know! Why let it go unused and unloved? Ohh, poor little liver, I would appreciate you~" she playfully rubs her belly with her hoof, giggling to herself silently. He thinks he heard a snort somewhere in there.

"I also mean you specifically Pinkie, I mean you like parties right?" he looks to her for confirmation, he continues without it since it's obvious, "You've never had a drinking party, or just a party with some booze?" She explains while lapping up cider inside her glass,

"I've had a few, but they were made solely for adult ponies and super special parties. I try to make my parties family friendly most of the time, so no booze for everything, especially not where little fillies could find 'em." That sounds strangely responsible for Pinkie, more mature than he gave her credit for. She explains further,

"I'm not a drinker either." She giggles, continuing, "Besides, I'm already addicted to parties and sweets, I can't have one obsession overlapping the others~" And there goes that maturity she just gained. He asks,

"This counts as a 'super special' party with just the two of us in here? I don't see any others in here." He glances around just to rub it in, he continues with his question,

"It's only us Pinkie, not exactly 'super special'." He takes a sip again, she answers in a subtle sultry tone,

"Well, we -are- in my room~"

Daniel spits up a bit of cider back into his glass, not sure he heard that right. Pinkie just silently giggles, toying with him again, she so does love that doesn't she? She smiles, adding onto her previous comment,

"Plus I can do that all night if I have to~" she takes another sip, she's halfway down her glass with all her playful licking and in-between sips. Daniel just decides to chug the rest of his, pouring himself another glass. He asks her about the movie,

"Did you seriously not see that twist coming?" it takes a moment for her to register what he's talking about, she answers,

"Oh! That, uhm, no I honestly didn't." She gestures for him to pour her a glass, which he eventually does, no hands and it's polite to do so.

"Mm, thanks~" She takes another sip, she looks a little bubbly. Daniel asks, unsure of what answer he'll get,

"Pinkie, why do you think your friends helped me so much this past month or so?" This comes as a surprise, she doesn't seem to have expected it. She momentarily ponders, explaining,

"Well, they're all super nice. Fluttershy's the Element of Kindness, so that was a biiig plus for you. The rest of us mostly took it from there when she said you were trustworthy and nice, and you turned out to be a nice guy anyway, so you kinda just blended right in with us." She warmly smiles, she sounds sincere.

"Oh, well thank you Pinkie." He feels warmed by her comment, asking even further,

"What'd you think of me when you first met me?" He takes another sip of cider, she does as well as she thinks back on it,

"Well..you were still injured at the time so I lightened up a lot for you, you weren't very expressive back then compared to now. To be honest, I kinda expected you to be a grump." She takes a sip, adding on, "But you were kind, so I warmed up to you and you eventually were more open with me. You're not the first to not want to be my friend, but you certainly wouldn't have been the last, I'm sure." He's not completely sure how to understand that last bit, but he's met with an equally deeper question,

"So..what'd you think of me when you first met me, Danny?" she quizzically gazes at him, waiting for more of an immediate response. He takes a moment, along with a sip, to answer,

"Well I was still touring the town with Twilight when you popped out of nowhere, to be honest I originally thought you were crazy. Still kinda think you're crazy." her smile dies down a bit, he adds on with a smile, "But I'll admit, I like -your- kind of crazy." She perks right back up, he continues,

"You're were a kind of radiating ball of optimism I needed at the time, was broken in more ways than one and you and your friends helped me get right back up. Still are, honestly. But you? You helped me learn to hold a smile, even when things go awry. So..thank you Pinkie."

She squeals with her mouth closed, flattered, holding her mouth shut trying to stop herself.

"A-Awwww, thank you~" She takes another sip, her glass is about done, so is his. The bottles already halfway done with, but they continue in conversation none the less, he refills both their glasses and they continue on with conversation, from their first conversations to the latest news they could discuss.

The bottle is about empty about 15 minutes later, Daniel asks,

"Well..which one of us should have the, uhm, honor?" Pinkie waves her hoof, dismissing it entirely and seemingly lets him have the last go. Down the hatch, he takes the bottle and takes the last gulp straight from it. He yawns, a little tired, surprising the coffee didn't last that long. Pinkie yawns as well, stretching her arms, her right ear flicks a little as she blinks repeatedly.

"Auuhhh...let's-let's put this all back." She stumbles pulling back one of the folding legs, the clicks sound and Daniel holds both the glasses and the table. He feels a little off balance, maybe they should go to bed. A quick gaze at the window before they head downstairs shows it's still raining, seems to be trace amounts of thunder way out in the distance. Pinkie flicks on the lights in the hall, down the stairs, to the kitchen. Pinkie opens a cupboard, a little trash bin with a large trash bag is labelled with one of those office name tags,

'Recyclables Only'

She gently places the bottle down inside, careful not to break it, closing the cupboard door. She holds out her hooves to Daniel, gesturing for the table, he hands it to her and she folds it a second time somehow and sticks it inside the cupboard as well. Daniel takes some initiative and heads to the sink, ready to wash the two wine glasses. His mistake, warm water, back to cold. No, that's...hot. Cold. No, is hot, go to cold. Was it that one or the other, he's mildly confused as he sponges the inside of one of the wine glasses. Pinkie decides to hop up beside him, reaching for the other glass.

"N-No! You're -my- house...uh, roomguest..It's -my- responsibility!" she slurs her words, what a silly pink pony. Daniel resists, poorly arguing with her,

"Well you cleaned up the rest, it's -I- ...me? Me or I, whichever one, that should do it.." He leans to his left, trying to keep out of her reach. He holds her back with his right arm, he extends his left arm past the counter to keep it far away from her, soap drips near his elbow and he slips to his left along with Pinkie who's gripped onto his right arm. They land on the floor, Daniel somehow keeps the glass intact whole on his back, Pinkie tries to climb over his chest to reach it. Not wanting to give up his duty so easily, he lets it down gently and it rolls away out of her reach. She's not pleased, she stares at him with a very mild disdain-like expression, saying,

"Th-That was -mine- !" Daniel sloppily smiles, remarking,

"No, not anymore." Insistent Pinkie is a determined Pinkie, she noodles her way past his arms and grips onto the glass with her teeth, quickly jumping over to the sink, looming over the sink water as Daniel gets on his feet to try to intercept her. They appear to be at an impasse. Daniel puts his hands up, trying to coax her down, saying,

"Pinkie, let's talk about this.."

She retaliates,

"No! Isth -my- glasth, is my sthob!" She suddenly lets go of the glass with her teeth, it pops into the sink and sinks to the bottom. Daniel looks defeated, Pinkie has a wide smirk on her face, she playfully says,

"Ha! I, got-" she looks at their difference in stature, quickly remedying it by standing on a nearby stool to meet him at eye level. She continues,

"I gotcha! I am the best..er..est, at that, yes!~" Daniel peers at her, moving in closer and trying to stare her down. Pinkie joins in the challenge, staring at him, they're nose to nose.

"..."

Intense.

After a few seconds or so of intense stare downs, they both smile and lightly laugh, their competition to clean two glasses got in the way of so much of their fun. Pinkie looks back at Daniel with a smile, vice versa with Daniel looking at Pinkie, they mistakenly bump noses as their turn toward each other. Pinkie mutters,

"U-Uhm...sooo.." Daniel stutters,

"Y-Yeah..I.."

Bit awkward, they both step down, Pinkie blushes for some reason, Daniel as well. Pinkie tucks the stool back into it's place, Daniel places the glasses on a dish rack. Job well done, seemingly. Daniel sits down on the floor, still dizzy, Pinkie joins him feeling the same. Pinkie mutters,

"M-Maybe we should...should go to bed.." She yawns, Daniel fittingly does the same,

"Auuuhhh..yeah, maybe we...should.." Daniel closes his eyes, the night and apparently alcohol rich cider has taken it's toll, Pinkie closes her eyes and leans against Daniel, mumbling something else,

"Errmm...mmph..I..ehn.." Daniel slowly lies down on the floor, Pinkie following suit, gripped onto his chest. Sound and drunkenly asleep, the two embrace each other in their dazed and ditzy states while unconscious. Pinkie nuzzles herself into his chest, trying to keep warm. Daniel tried to mutter 'goodnight' but didn't have the energy in him.

"Goodnight? Is that all you had to say?"

Pinkie?

"Ha. How rich. You two drunkards are worthless."

That's not Pinkie.

Daniel wakes up, Pinkie's gripped tightly to his chest, they're still in the kitchen on the floor, he's a..bit more aware, but who said that? He sloppily asks out loud,

"H-Hello?" No answer. Lightning flashes from outside, spooking him initially, a second later he identifies it and calms. Is someone else in the store? Daniel gently tries to pry Pinkie away from his chest, succeeding with only a minor response from Pinkie, she stretches outward trying to grip something, settling with nothing and frowning a little, curling back up in her sleep curl. Daniel steadily works his way back up to his feet, slowly looking around the front of the store, checking for any movement. He looks behind him, towards the sink, just as he and Pinkie left it, soap in the water and all. Glasses are still in the dish rack, dry by now.

"Hehehe. Out here."

It's from behind, lightning strikes and he sees a silhouette of a person outside against the lightning. Not a pony, a -person-.

Dear god, is he asleep or awake?

Daniel stares at the window, reaching his shaking hand over to a drawer and skims through it, trying to find a sturdy handle. He grips onto something, he pulls it out and it scrapes against the drawer's wood frame, a large kitchen knife. Daniel takes a few steps towards the front of the store, holding the knife with a backhand grip. He calls out again,

"If anyone's there, s-say something now or-" he hears himself speak, but it's...-that- thing.

"You think you can scare -me- away!?" Lightning strikes, spooking him again. It speaks in it's distorted and grotesque voice again, but it sounds closer, -inside- the store.

"Put down the knife you fool, before your hurt yourself."

It's to his right, over by the front door. Lightning strikes again from the other side of the store, a shadow emits and it's his own. Daniel angrily says,

"Where the fuck are y-" Lightning strikes again. That's not his shadow this time. Daniel swipes at the air blindly,

"Hyea!" catching nothing in it's blade but air. Pinkie is disturbed in her slumber, she rubs her eyes, silently murmering,

"H-Hmm?"

She slowly stand up, losing her balance at first, she stretches and stands back up. Seeing Daniel's silhouette against the darkness. What is he doing?

Fluttershy's outside, after waiting for hours outside, she's awoken by Daniel's 'hyea' and stares back into the building, confused by what she sees.

Pinkie and Fluttershy look at Dan swing again.

'Is he carrying a..knife? Dan, what are you doing!?'

Daniel yells out angrily, "WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU, YOU MON-..M-..MO-..M-MON-.."

Pressure clamps down on his head, his brain constricts and his thoughts blur. Dancing colors dance all across his eyes, as if mocking him, they blend in and color the entire store in a bizarre and disturbing show of bright colors. He hears his voice once more,

"Let me out...it's not so hard."

Daniel holds onto his head with both hands, the knife still gripped in his fist and he tries to let go, but he can't. He hears the voice mock him with it's grotesque voice again,

"..it's not so hard...it's just a shame you make it so hard on yourself."

Daniel starts to feel dizzy, he desperately tries to move his hand, but he can't.

"LET ME OUT!! LET ME OUT, LET ME OUT, LET ME OUT!!"

It repeatedly screams in his head, the final phrase makes him lose his motor control, he falls forward onto the blade. Pinkie's the first to realize it. Fluttershy is the last.

"D-Dan...DAAAAAN!!"

"D-Dan...DAAAAANIEEEL!!"

"NO! D-Dan..did you...t-the..the...kn-..the kni-oh g-god.."

"N-No D-Daniel, I'm s-..I'm so sorry..I-I couldn't...I-..."

Author's Note

Well, this was...eventful.

It's around 11 PM so I'm heading to bed. I'm surprised this got done today, will try to continue the next one tomorrow morning.

Just a heads up, there's 4 more chapters to go, this is in for the long run only if you are! I like the motivation I've been getting, I did not expect this many views this far! Almost to the 300 mark!

I am very thankful of the people who have read thus far, as a first time fimfiction member, am happy to get this much feedback on my first story posted on here! Do feel free to comment, would love to hear some input as well, not just story-related either.

Time for Pain

1 month, 2 days.

1 month, 2 days.

"Get him on the stretcher, gently now."

"One..two..three!"

Daniel tries moving his hand over to the knife, trying to pull it out. His hand is held down by a male pony in scrubs, sternly saying,

"Calm down and don't move." Daniel ignores him and repeatedly tries to grip the handle sticking out from his stomach. The male pony clamps down on his right arm, saying again,

"Don't. Move." He gestures for another to help him hold Daniel down, a female pony with a medical mask holds his left arm. Daniel tries to overpower them, his left hand manages to get past the her and he grips the handle, a surge of pain hits across his body, he flinches and is met with another EMT assisting the one to his left. The male pony to his right says,

"Put him under."

A pony looms over his head, wearing goggles and a medical mask, laying a soft plastic mask over his nose, he breathes something in through the mask. He starts to feel dizzy and closes his eyes, feeling a slight pricking pain along his right elbow. He hears remnants of conversation, an emergency siren blaring and muffled in the background.

"NO!!" He hears a shrill voice scream from outside, repeatedly screaming,

"L-Let me go!! LET ME GO! Let me see him!", a male EMT yells,

"Keep him stable, and don't let her in here, she stabbed him!"

What?

Daniel forces himself to sit up, the knife cuts deeper into his abdomen and his mind races from the pain, streaks of red dance around his eyes as it echoes throughout his body with such severity. He screams in pain, a sporadic amount of beeping beeps repeatedly, his heart is racing. The EMT yells out,

"I thought he was put under!"

The one with the goggles and medical mask yells out,

"He -was- !" His limbs are consequently held back down in place, several straps are around his wrists and his ankles. The female pony straps the last, holding his chest down so he can't lean back up. The one with goggles drains liquid out of a glass vial into a needle, ordering the others,

"Hold him still." Several hooves hold him down by his shoulders, a pain pricks through the right of his neck, he tries to move his head but is held in place by 2 hooves. He feels faint, the ponies start to blur together, several blotchy colors dance around them and stick to the background. A mix of dark red and grey stick to the male pony's face, his face blurs into something..else.

"His heart rate's dropping, get him some fluids." The female EMT hooks up a light blue plastic bag with clear liquid to an IV stand, connecting the tube attached to his right elbow to a clasp on the bottom of the bag. She gently bites the pony-oriented release valve, liquid flows through the tube, entering his bloodstream. A wave of coolness flows throughout his body, the contrast of his eyes brighten and he opens them wide, disturbed by this sensation and the ponies blurred and grotesque faces. Their eyes warp and blend in with the shape of their skull, abominations.

The female pony looks to him as he stares at her, horrified. She says to the others,

"He's still awake? Put him under again, his heart rate's going up." The monitor beside her starts beeping erratically, but starts to die down as fluids enter his blood. Daniel looks down to see two EMT's patting the stab wound with the knife still imbedded in his stomach, the blood almost seems overwhelming for him but they seem calm. One of them says,

"Blades too deep. It might tear something vital open if we try to pull it out." The male pony determinately says,

"Leave it, we don't have the equipment for it. Wait until we get to the hospital. Just keep him stable, she stabbed him pretty good..and put him under already!"

The mask goes over his mouth again, adrenaline kicks in and he starts hyperventilating, trying to get himself back up, being held down by several leathers straps on the stretcher. The pony in goggles says,

"Whoa, whoa, calm down buddy. We're trying to help you!" He feels faint but he's more than awake, he feels fear, staring at the monstrosity trying to say they're helping him.

"We're here, go, go, go." He feels movement, they're rolling down a walkway and he's rushed into a building, the lights are bright and white. One, two, three, four, five lights, turn.

"Prep a room for surgery, he's getting sporadic. Make sure to get that knife out and treat whatever might be torn open in there. Go by approximation -carefully-, we don't know his anatomy." He's rolled down a hallway and eventually into an open room, the ponies pick him up by his stretcher and set him down on a table, he's staring up at several bright lights. Another male pony asks,

"Why isn't he put under?" He's quickly answered as Daniel's covered with some sort of green cover over his chest. The female pony answers the doctor,

"He seems resistant to the anesthetics." The male pony duly answers,

"Then give him the strongest anesthetic we've got, he can't be awake for this." Daniel begins to hyperventilate again, his heart rate rockets up again, trace amounts of blood flow from the knife's blade edge, spilling out of the wound slowly but surely. The female pony pets his head, pleading,

"Relax, we're trying to help you." She repeatedly pets his head, holding him still as another pony pricks a needle to the back of his neck. Pressure clamps down not in his head, but his neck, is unbearable and he yells out in critical pain; the ponies forced to forcefully inject him next to his spine to put him under. He head butts the female pony out of fear, she holds her own forehead, wincing as she steps back and lets two other nurses hold him down as the other finishes the injection.

Everything feels faint. The world starts fading, the abomination's voices blur and deepen in pitch to his horror, but he can't panic. His limbs feel numb and his mind starts to fade, is he dying? He's met with something else rubbing against his head, then a horrific voice counting down.

"10...9...8...7.." He loses consciousness as it says 6. Everything goes silent again. No voices, no abominations staring at him and mutilating his body. He pleads into the dark void.

'No more games.'

'No more pain. '

'No more of their help.'

'Please. No more.'

Beep.

'No more..'

Beep.

'Please..'

He leaves his eyes closed, trying to cry and say it, but he can't.

Beep.

'Stop mocking me.'

Beep.

'...stop it..'

Beep.

'Cut it out, you fucking monster..'

Beep.

'Cut it out!'

"If you so wish.."

A clear stabbing pain into and out of his stomach, a swift yank shoots severe pain in and out of his stomach, he opens his eyes with a gasp of breath. He hears it again,

Beep.

It's a heart monitor. Daniel calms his breathing, his stomach in such pain he's forced to indefinitely. Seeing himself in what looks like a medical bed, he tries to calm himself, his stomach hurts so goddamn much. He grates his teeth, shedding a few tears silently as he looks down. The knifes gone, but it still hurts so badly, he tries to desperately put two and two together as the pain in his stomach fades back and forth from subtle to severe. He closes his eyes, trying to ignore it, but he can't; it stings like it's still there.

He takes several quick rasps of breath, trying to calm himself down, his increased blood flow makes the pain throb. He opens his mouth, letting out some air, gently trying to breathe softer.

'God fucking damn it, this hurts..'

Daniel can't keep it out of his mind, the pain feels unbearable even without the knife inside, it feels like something's warping inside him.

"Relax." A familiar voice. It sounds soft.

"You'll be alright.."

Fluttershy sounds next to him, looming to the right of his head. He moves his head assuredly and opens his eyes. It's not her.

It's an abomination, it warps her voice then warps back with his, grotesquely. It's conforms and bends, it's face keeps blurring and conforming into something else. He closes his eyes out of fear agaim, it says anyway,

"No one can hurt you now..."

He opens his eyes again, the same room, the same pain, but he's met with something else lying next to him. It's Fluttershy, her head is laying on his right arm, she's asleep. Daniel looks at her closely, the underside of her eyes are dark, she looks spent. He looks around the room, he's definitely in the hospital, like in his dream; but why is he-

He remembers suddenly, the knife, the EMT ponies. And all of his struggling, why did he do all that? He thinks to maybe sit up, but his stomach pain keeps him at bay, other than Fluttershy sleeping on his right arm. It still hurts so much. Tempted to wake Fluttershy, he gently moves his left arm over to her, gently shaking her shoulder. He whispers,

"..Fluttershy.." she grumbles, she looks weathered beyond what he's ever seen from her before. Looking closely at her eyes, it looks like she's been crying. Daniel sighs, knowing this must have wrecked her knowing that this happened, it's not surprising she's here after that whole ordeal. He pets her head, she squeezes his arm tighter, burying herself in his side; it seems to comfort her and her eyes seem to relax. Watch her head, his stomach still hurts. She seems to nuzzle herself in, but she starts to wake up slowly but surely. Rubbing her left eye, she looks toward him staring back at her. Daniel just looks at her, not sure what to say,

"...hi."

He's met with a near instant hug, she clasps herself around his neck, holding him close enough that his face is a little buried in her mane. He's caught off guard, though he honestly shouldn't be surprised by her show of affection. He moves his left arm over her back, maneuvering past her wing, petting her back trying to calm her,

"It's okay, I'm..alright." His stomach hurts like hell, but he tries to hold his composure for her. She doesn't seem to listen, just keeping her solid grip around him, she starts to slowly tear up and cry. Daniel doesn't know what to do other than pet her back and gently rub up and down.

And so he does, for several minutes, letting her cry. He thinks it, since she doesn't seem to listen,

'It's okay Fluttershy, I'm okay. You're okay.' She just continues crying, he can feel her tears soak into his shirt collar and start to soak his neck. The moments interrupted by Twilight opening the door on the other side of the room with her magic, she stops when she sees Daniel rubbing her back, Fluttershy crying clasped to his neck. Twilight walks over, flustering Fluttershy when she says,

"Thank goodness you're awake." Fluttershy retracts herself, shaking a little, but she looks a little calmer. Twilight takes some of her own initiative and grabs a tissue box on a table on the other side of the room with her magic, wiping her tears with the floating tissues. Twilight continues midway wiping her,

"The doctor's said they weren't sure how to take it out, they were afraid they might have hurt you more than they helped you." She looks towards his stomach, speaking in more of a concerned tone,

"I looked at the surgery mid-way through..I think they did. They told us you're resistant to our medicine, so they had to make their incisions and stitches quick. They weren't sure what would work well with you, so a lot of what they did was.." She looks uncomfortable, adding one more word,

"Rudimentary." She says a bit more seriously,

"You're under medical watch for the next week to see how you turn out, it's going to take even longer for your wound to heal."

Daniel sighs, looking at the ceiling. He asks,

"Anything else I need to know?" Twilight looks down, she looks hesitant but she says,

"Pinkie's been accused of..assault with a deadly weapon. They think she stabbed you."

What?

"What??" Daniel sits up, immediately met with a splitting pain in his stomach, he winces and lies back down. He can't help but cry out,

"F-Fuck!...agh.." Twilight says sternly at him,

"Lay down, don't try to get up! You can't walk and you won't be under the hospital's watch." She continues,

"Pinkie was accused of stabbing you, you both were tested positive for a blood alcohol level of zero-point-one-two. She wasn't even sure herself of what you guys did at the time, she went into shock. And Fluttershy.." Twilight looks down to Fluttershy, still sitting in her seat beside him. She continues,

"..Fluttershy was the same but a little worse. A couple of EMT's had to stay and calm her down, the-.." she seems to have trouble saying it,

"-the guards came and took Pinkie after. She kept begging to see you, but she was denied twice. Fluttershy won't say anything, she.." Daniel guesses,

"She might be traumatized..is that it?" Daniel takes a guess, he appears to be right. Twilight nods in confirmation, stating,

"The guards won't accept her word for it even if she said anything, since she's considered emotionally unstable right now. You won't be out for a while, so I thought I'd visit and check on you two. Fluttershy's been here all of last night and this afternoon, I don't think she slept until she got to see you in bed after the surgery."

Twilight brushes her hoof against Fluttershy's cheek, moving her mane to see her eyes, she just stares at the floor with her near dead and tired eyes. Daniel sincerely asks,

"Is Pinkie alright?" Twilight tries to lighten the tone, answering,

"Yeah, she's okay, just a little shaken and...uhm, hung over. She's at the police station right now in temporary lockup." Twilight seems really uncomfortable saying that, perhaps she never thought she'd have to involve her friends in such places. She continues,

"They were going to push their own verdict if you didn't say anything today, so I'm glad you're up. Well, awake." She takes a chair and sits near Fluttershy, asking,

"What happened?" Daniel tries to sum it all up,

"I went to the movies with Pinkie, I walked her home after and she invited me inside for a..Pinkie Slumber party." Twilight interrupts,

"Aren't you two a little old for-"

That's what he said to her! Daniel lightly coughs, she takes the hint and lets him continue,

"I went to sleep with her in her room and-" Twilight glares at him surprised and disapprovingly, her mouth's a little open and she covers it with her hoof. Daniel adds on, flustered,

"What? Oh! N-No, nononono! Not -THAT- kind of sleep!" As he fumbles his words, a bit of pain in his stomach cuts him off, he holds his side and winces. Twilight simply comments,

"Uh-huh...just..move on, I don't need to know the..details. Ugh.." When did this turn into -that- kind of conversation? He continues regardless, he can explain it later he presumes,

"Pinkie and I argued for a little while, I shared that nightmare I told you and Fluttershy about with her. Pinkie saw me grumpy trying to go to bed so she brought me some coffee, she managed to keep me awake and she went downstairs and brought a bottle of cider up with some wine glasses."

There's that disapproving look again.

"...well, we drank and talked for a while. When the bottle got empty, we.." his memory is a little fuzzy, Twilight looks a little uncomfortable with the pause there. Daniel remembers, trying to kill that pause,

"..we headed downstairs to put away everything, we kinda fumbled around and we wrestled over who would wash the wine glasses. I slipped and fell on the floor, Pinkie landed on my chest and we.." He tries to remember, Twilight interrupts,

"Stop, just..stop." She closes her eyes, putting her hoof to her face in disbelief. Does she think it's too mushy or is it what he thinks she's thinking? She takes a moment to prepare for what she expects to be something -else- and says,

"Alright, go ahead." Daniel sighs,

"Anyway..we ended up asleep on the floor. I woke up to someone in the store, I thought I heard someone and it kept coaxing me to follow it. I grabbed a knife and was ready to pounce on whoever broke in. It sounded like that thing that's been stalking and beating me in my nightmares, so I kept swiping when I saw it's shadow. I got that..headache and froze, I tried to let go but I couldn't and I fell over, passed out, onto the knife." He feels his stomach, the blade was deep in there.

Twilight was writing this all down with her magic, he must not have noticed. She says,

"This should be enough for them to let Pinkie out, they'll take -your- and -my- word for it. I knew she wouldn't do that, but they wanted proof." Daniel nods, adding on,

"I know she wouldn't, I guess the EMT's assumed so. Drunk or not." Daniel looks to Fluttershy, she's gone. She must have left while they were talking, he gestures to Twilight, she notices it too.

"Huh, maybe she went to get some sleep and some food finally." Twilight blinks,

"Oh! I almost forgot." With her magic, she floats a box by his bedside, is a box of..something. Candy bars? No, protein bars of some sort. She continues,

"The doctors recommended you eat these, they're easy to digest." She peels back the wrapper with her magic and snaps it in half, it has the texture like a granola bar. Daniel grips onto one half, taking a bite, tastes grainy but has a hint of honey. He passively says,

"Eh, not bad. How long do I have to eat these?" Twilight answers,

"Uh, 3 weeks." Oh boy, hospital protein bars for 3 weeks straight. She adds on,

"It kinda depends on your condition, if no more problems pop up you can go if you can manage to walk and pass their stress tests. But they recommend you don't walk or run for at least a week or so, the stitches might come undone or you might accidentally rip something as it's healing."

Comforting...but understandable. Twilight looks uncomfortable, saying,

"I..asked how bad it was. They said they weren't sure if you'd make it past the first night, the blade was deep in your abdomen and we don't completely know your anatomy. A stab in the stomach, at least as we know it, means a...pretty slow and painful death. Either from rupturing an organ and spreading toxin through your blood, or you die from internal bleeding..The doctors speculated a lot before they cut into you, so it took some time I don't think they had. I don't know if you remember, but you kept waking up. One time even during the surgery, but you were numb as far as we knew, I don't think you remember." Daniel confirms,

"No, I don't remember. I only remember waking up when they kept trying to put me under." He then remembers something else,

"Uh, Twilight. I may have head butted a nurse. I kinda went berserk because.." he shakes his head, shuddering at the thought. She feels the back of her head,

"Yeah, I know. They explained it all, you struggled with a lot of the EMT's on the way here. They said you looked scared and you panicked, but you didn't intentionally try to hurt anypony. Just struggled a lot." Daniel explains,

"I must have been out of my mind, everyone looked like...-that- thing in my nightmares I talked about. They kept talking to me, they had no mouths or eyes and they kept..undulating the muscle mass where their mouths should have been..." Daniel looks visually disturbed, Twilight puts her hoof on his shoulder and tries to comfort him,

"You were panicked, it must have triggered some of those memories from your nightmares." She speculates, but it seems the most sound, it seemed so real to him. He asks her,

"When do you think Pinkie will get out?" She duly answers,

"Well I have your statement and my statement, so probably tonight or tomorrow morning. Give or take. She was worked up over you too. She kept begging me to let her see you, but my hooves were tied. At least now she can maybe have some peace of mind, I don't think she knows how your condition is now, so she'll be relieved I'm sure." Twilight smiles, saying,

"Maybe you should expect a visit later. I'll tell her not to jump you or anything, the wounds kind of..still fresh." Not as sweet as she probably meant it to sound, but he's pleased with that answer. Daniel thanks her,

"Thank you Twilight, you take care of yourself." She smiles, remarking,

"Yeah, you too. I've got a bit of paperwork to fill out to get Pinkie out, wish me luck." She walks away with her notepad, leaving the protein bars in reach. Daniel sighs, taking another bite, trying to keep happy like Pinkie has taught him.

He's been up and down for the past few weeks, he's been feeling down and his life has been constricted so many times in his nightmares, he doesn't even think he's had one dream since he's been here. He worries so much about his sanity when he sees the monster trying to break his mind. Trying to break him down. Trying to let itself out. Trying to break his reality, seemingly trying to break into -his- reality.

He closes his eyes, ready to sleep. Ready to meet what's to come, what he has to face.

"Well."

"Looks who's come."

"Afraid of being awake as much as being asleep?"

A swift knee to the stomach, Daniel goes down, a critical pain rings through his stomach and the rest of his body. Down on one knee, he looks up to the abomination, with it's warped and contorted face, it says in his own grotesque voice as it kneels down face to face.

"You're not asleep Daniel." Daniel mutters in severe pain,

"Don't...try...to fool me.." It replies,

"You've only fooled yourself, I've done nothing to you." What about that knee to the-

"GAH!" another strike to his stomach, a kick, finally brings Daniel's down onto his stomach.

"But now you've forced my hand." Several other voices join in, the miscellaneous EMT ponies who transported him to the hospital before, hold him down again. Their faces are warped and contorted, they have no eyes or mouth, just various muscle mass undulating underneath their skin. They repeat what they've said before, flipping him onto his back,

"I thought he was put under!"

"He -was- !"

They grasp on and hold down his limbs, the same EMT ponies converse in a grotesque and undiscernible language, their 'mouths' continue to undulate.

Daniel looks up, seeing his monstrous doppelganger, it's warped eyes looks happy. It mocks him, kneeling down again,

"They can't help you in your sleep, Daniel. You know how to end this." It stands and continues, not letting him get a word in,

"But so do I." It lifts up it's leg and aims for his neck, stomping on his neck, but it doesn't meet with it. The abomination looks back down, his left hands free and he's holding his doppelganger's boot away from his neck. The monstrous EMT ponies fittingly repeat their last quotes,

"I thought he was put under!"

"He -was- !"

The EMT ponies fade and dissolve, Daniel grabs onto his doppelganger's foot with both hands free and twists, it stumbles but fades as well once it does. Daniel props himself back on one knee, he ignores the scar and pain the monster has given him and stands up. The abomination fades back into reality across from him in the black void they stand in, holding the knife that was originally inside him. Daniel's scared, but he determinately points to it,

"You're not real, no matter how much you want to be."

The abomination fades and reappears, swiftly punching him, knocking him down on his back again. It kneels and grips the knife with both it's hands, stabbing downward towards his stomach again, Daniel catches his wrists as they stare at each other face to face. It continuously pushes downward, the blade's tip meets his skin and slowly punctures. Daniel tries to hold it back, struggling with the abomination, it mocks him,

"So you decide to fight with yourself to try to prove your point?"

It jabs a section of the blade into him, Daniel pushes the blade back out, his blood rich across the edge. Daniel pushes upward with all his strength, eventually the blade faces upward, the abomination's strength gives out and it fades, Daniel's left holding the knife. He stands and inspects it, seeing his own blood strewn about the flat end. He drops it, letting it fall to the black ground, it fades as it clangs and spills his blood across the invisible floor.

He closes his eyes and opens them, seeing himself back in bed with the protein bars. Not believing it, he says out loud,

"They've given me the will to fight against you." Daniel turns to his right, seeing the abomination standing beside him, looking down at him.

"We'll see about that."

Author's Note

Oi, again eventful. Daniel's finally found the strength to fight against his 'nightmare', but we'll see what comes next. I may work on the next one in a few minutes, still feel a little peppy after...

I broke the 300 view mark, I feel so honored. Ahhh :D

Edit: I JUST finished writing this, just saw over 8 favorites pop up in my feed as I refreshed the page. Motivation!

Again I'd like to thank the people who have read thus far, is more to come soon, there's a bit more to explore. Just thinking of the number 300 and the amount of people in my mind makes me so giddy, I appreciate the views more than I can show or convey on here. So thank you, all of you for your motivation!

Please feel free to comment, I see a lot of numbers, but I'd love to talk to people 1 on 1 as well. You're more than just numbers to me!

Time for Light

1 month, 3 days

1 month, 3 days

Tic.

Clock.

Tic.

Stop it.

Tic.

Daniel covers his head with one of his spare pillows, it's 5 AM and he's just woken up from a much less agonizing nightmare. Apparently the antagonizing the abomination does in his head advances his inner clock 2 hours, all the way to 7. But since it's spent significantly less time trying to break his psyche, he's left waking up early. Odd gripe to have.

"Uggghh I'm so bored."

Tic.

He glares at the clock, thinking,

'Stop mocking me'

Tic.

Daniel grabs his pillow, chucking at the clock, it duly falls down and it's plastic face cracks, it continues ticking for a few seconds then ceases it's function. Well, he's going to have to pay for that later. Later. He sighs, continuing his morning routine of staring at the ceiling. Beige. How...beige. Maybe a dark egg white. No? Maybe quartz. Daniel starts humming, looking out of the window from his bed, seeing the hills way in the distance. The sun -just- begins to peak over the hills, reminding him of Twilight's explanation of the Princess. Celestia is it? He's still astounded she's able to raise the sun, even with that unicorn magic of theirs, it seems impossible. He sighs.

Land of magical ponies, right. How could he forget? He's gone a bit far from that phase, in the beginning he felt like he must have still been dreaming, but as the weeks went by it was more and more evident this is as real as it gets. Pegasi, Unicorns, Alicorns as Twilight has taught him about, and much more. Dragons, magical creatures, mythical creatures, it seems amazing but he hasn't had a chance to explore the world. He's been pent up in Ponyville of his own doing, he takes solace here, it sort of feels like home; aside from his temporary one that's just a remodeled family home. Suddenly, a knock on the patient door, through the tinted glass he can see a vivid purple tail. Daniel says out loud,

"Come in!" Is Twilight, she leans in from the doorway,

"Morning Dan." She seems cheery to call him that, she explains why in her tone,

"Guess who came to visit?" Daniel remarks playfully,

"A repair pony to fix the clock?"

"It's P- wait, what?" She looks confused, looking down at the clock by her hooves she raises her eyebrow with passive anger, asking,

"Wha- did you break the clock??" She's nudged, she continues after being distracted,

"Ahem, uh, no. It's P-" a familiar looking pink pony slides out from the door, sliding on her stomach to beside his bed,

"It's Pink- ow, ow!" She feels her head, wincing a little. Daniel looks happy but confused, extending his right arm down to her, asking,

"Pinkie, are you alright?" She stands up on 3 legs, holding her head with her left hoof,

"Mhm, I still got a..nnn..hang ov-..!" she looks at him, suddenly overjoyed and tightly grips his arm, nuzzling into his forearm. Twilight says while walking over,

"Told you she'd be happy and...err, you know." Pinkie silently squeals, not giving up her grip. Daniel feels force to say,

"Pinkie, you can sto-" She seems to take the hint, albeit in the wrong way. She lets go of his arm and instead hugs his head, overjoyed again to nuzzle his face, she squeals a little harder and Daniel's met with a face full of her messy mane. He tries to gently pry her off, to no avail. Twilight rolls her eyes, trying to ignore their apparent way of showing affection towards each other and looks away respectfully. He mutters, trying not to accidentally breathe her hair in,

"P-Pinkie."

She hums,

"Hmm?~"

"I-I can't breathe.."

"Mmm.."

She doesn't budge. Faced with a lungful of fluffy Pinkie mane, he does the only thing he knows, he moves his hand along her neck and moves his fingers to behind her ear. Scritch scratch. Her ear flicks, so does her tail, she makes some odd noises like the night before,

"N-Nnn..ahh..mmm.."

Twilight hears Pinkie makes the noises. Seeing Pinkie clustered near his head and blanketed with her mane, his hand behind her head, she does the most sensible thing and assumes what she thinks she's seeing. She thinks to herself,

'O-Oh sweet Celestia they're kissing. Uh, uh, uh, uhhh!'

She panics, ducking down and crawls towards the door, a little flustered at the sight and tries to get outside of this situation. After Twilight exits the room, Daniel finally manages to get Pinkie to let go as she focuses solely on the pleasure spot behind her ear. Her hooves on the bed, she tilts her head slowly but surely to the right, her eyes relax and she bites her lip. She says in her old sultry tone,

"M-Mmmnn...Danny~" he stops scratching behind her ears, she stares at him with those lustful bedroom eyes. He playfully rubs his nose on Pinkie's, saying,

"Boop."

She leaves her sultry bedroom eyes aside, she plays their game, nuzzling him back,

"Boop!"

Nuzzle.

"Boop."

Nuzzle.

"Boop!~"

This goes on for several minutes, before Pinkie resumes hugging his head and decidedly nuzzling has cheeks again. She says.

"Oh, I missed you Danny~" He sighs, appreciating her words and the fact that he can't breathe again, saying,

"I missed you too Pinkie." He scratches her ear once, she lets go for a moment and gestures over to her hair, he grasps his neck and makes a silly choking motion. She giggles, saying,

"Oh, yeah. Heh~ I just got out from jail, I didn't have time to fix my mane. She eases off his neck, elbows still on the bed, she pats down her mane and tries to straighten it out. Still ever fluffy, but is more confined now. This time he takes her in and grabs her head, holding her cheek to cheek, feeling her thing fur against his skin.

"Aw~" she returns it with another nuzzles, but she looks a bit more serious as she asks,

"So, uhm, how'd the surgery go." Daniel's caught off guard, answering,

"Oh. Well the doctors said I'm under medical watch for a few weeks. They want to see if I heal up properly so I'm going to...be here for a while." She looks sad, asking,

"Oh, does that mean you can't go out..?" He answers,

"I assume so. I'm not even supposed to walk for a week, they want to wait until this-" he gestures over to his stomach, "-starts to heal properly." She looks to his stomach, curiously asking,

"How bad is it?" Looking back at the area, he realizes he hasn't even seen the stitches or how the wound looks. He answers her honestly,

"I don't know, I kind of don't want to look." He continues, "I can't anyway, but it definitely still hurts. It's still kind of fresh."

He moves his hand over the area, applying a little bit of pressure, it stings and he winces. Pinkie holds his arm, her eyes convey that she doesn't need to see it. She gets a bit more personal,

"I-I actually didn't know if I..did that, you know." Daniel looks to her, a little confused by that statement. She continues,

"You know we..uhm, drank a little." A little? Pinkie, you two drank an entire bottle. Daniel remarks with a small smile,

"Pinkie, we drank a bottle of cider, which you apparently didn't know was alcoholic. Little does not begin to cover it." She rubs the back of her neck with her hoof, explaining,

"Yeah, that was..my bad. I don't know what to look for in bottled cider, which ones alcoholic and which ones aren't." Probably the ones that say they contain alcohol. Daniel pets her head, which she seems to enjoy very much, saying,

"It was a nice night with you Pinkie, regardless of the...well, end bit." He smiles, adding on,

"I'd love to go do something with you again later, -" She warmly smiles, he unexpectedly adds on again,

"- if the doctors weren't so worried that my stomach would explode." Her smile immediately dies down, her ears flop and she looks a little sad.

Wrong choice of words. Daniel tries to retract,

"I-I'm kidding Pinkie, my guts not going to explode." He hopes. "I'm just trying to say I'd love to go somewhere with you again, but I can't for at least a week." She tries to brighten up a little, comforting him,

"At least you're okay now." She lovingly rubs her nose against his once more, he asks,

"Was your 'incarceration' time a bad one?" She answers,

"Besides no contact with anyone, it was a little..short." She cracks up once, it's clearly a little shocking for her to have be there, he tries not to press the subject and asks another question,

"How'd the Cakes take our little slumber party?" Pinkie stays in the previous similar tone, explaining,

"Uhm..yeeaah..they're never letting you spend the night again." ...well. Bummer. Daniel remarks,

"That seems a little harsh." Pinkie speaks seriously,

"You were stabbed in their store with one of their deluxe cake cutting knives, they took -that- harsh." Who the heck manufactures cake cutting knives that sharp? Daniel simply says,

"Alright, point taken." Pinkie looks a little sad, having to admit it to him. Daniel moves his hand to her cheek, she blushes lightly, staring at him patiently as he says,

"Well there's always a Daniel sleepover." She perks right back up, he duly asks,

"Pinkie, when the hospital releases me from medical watch, do you want to come over for a-" She immediately hugs his neck, at least he can breathe this time as she does it. Pinkie nuzzles into his neck, he feels something wet. Is she? Daniel's not sure how to react, she suddenly says muffled in his shirt collar,

"M-Mhm! Phy lophe shu!~"

Did he hear that correctly?

She moves her head away, composing herself, she has a tear in her eye; Daniel promptly wipes it away with his finger. She says,

"I'd love to~" A quick nuzzle on each other's noses and it's settled, though he doesn't know when that'd be, he can certainly hope it's soon.

1 month, 1 week

1 month, 1 week

Walking with a heavily modified cane walker, Daniel slowly starts to walk, his legs buckle but he manages to keep himself upright for a few seconds as he works his way down the hallway. A white nurse pony with a light hued pink mane stands by should he fall, Pinkie stands at the end of the hallway, snickering.

"Twilight, Dashie, look! Daniel looks like an old pony!~" She snickers and falls over laughing, Rainbow Dash joining in on the laughter. Twilight tries to ignore their immaturity, yelling out,

"Come on, you can do it!" With their demoralizing laughter?

Daniel sighs, grudgingly taking steps forwards. His stomach is hurting less and less, but he still can't bend over without wincing, or without looking like an old man to Pinkie. Oi vey!

1 month, 2 weeks

1 month, 2 weeks

Daniel speed walks outside of the hospital, in new clothes Rarity has tailored for him, his old clothes were worn out and she found this as a suitable challenge. In a stiff, but fitting jogging suit, he speed walks alongside Pinkie, herself encouraging but playfully hopping ahead of him. She says,

"Come on, you gotta push yourself!" Twilight yells from the benches in front,

"Pinkie, give it a rest! Let him walk at his own pace and-" Daniel briefly bolts toward Pinkie, she looks surprised and scared,

"D-Danny I was just kidding, you don't have to if you don- whaaa!" he picks her up by her armpits and holds her up, smiling. He playfully remarks,

"Boop." She smiles, nuzzling his nose in return with a light blush.

Twilight smiles in the background, surprised at his dedication. Fluttershy looks out from her own hospital window, seeing him hold up Pinkie and walking. With a bitter smile, she's glad to see him walking..with Pinkie. Encouraged. By -her-.

1 month, 3 weeks

1 month, 3 weeks

"Aww, why nooot?" She sounds disappointed. Twilight explains for Daniel,

"He's got to go for examination Pinkie, this is what he's been waiting for." Daniel explains,

"It's not like it's like a private thing, she can come with Twilight." Twilight explains further,

"It's a -full- body examination." Right. No clothes. Scratch that. Daniels explains,

"I'll be back soon, I promise." Pinkie smiles, asking a golden question,

"For a 'Daniel Sleepover' ?" Twilight rolls her eyes, they're too mushy for her liking. Daniel smiles and confirms,

"Yes, I'll be back for it." He steps on the train along with Twilight, they both wave at Pinkie as the train departs the station. Pinkie closes her eyes and smiles, saying to herself,

"He'll be back.." she sniffs happily.

Daniel feels a bit of pressure on his head as he steps inside, taking a seat beside Twilight.

"We'll see about that."

Author's Note

Warm feels? What is this madness? Urgh. Argh. Bleh. Dead. Daniel's gotten a break for now.

I felt mushy just typing all the dialogue, will continue the next chapter tomorrow morning. This one was significantly shorter, as it's meant to be a transition piece. You can interpret Daniel and Pinkie's closeness however you perceive it, I mostly meant for them to be close friends with elements of mushy c: I mean who can resist scratching the ears of this face?

https://derpibooru.org/641087?scope=scped0a28ce2a09780b2772fa47cd99a9ead544b7be4

I feel compelled to..play something tonight, again will start a new one in the morning. Significantly longer one if I can help it.

Again, thank you to all who have read thus far, I feel honored with the favorites and views, I really do. It -really- helps for motivation, you have no idea!

Time for Disdain

"E-Ergh..." Danny holds his head as pressure clamps down, Twilight duly responds by dragging him down into his seat, asking,

"Headache again?" He doesn't reply, but luckily they're in an empty cart and no one can be disturbed. She holds his head gently with her magic, he's wincing but he looks awake, she turns him to her and tries to assure him,

"Calm, calm..it'll be over in a minute." She's noticed the patterns, it comes and goes but never lasts past a minute or two. He doesn't look assured though, Twilight's left wondering if he's seeing her like that thing in his nightmares again. He's talked about it and he says he's been trying to get over it in his dreams, but this is the first one in at least a few days. Daniel releases his grip over his hair, staring at Twilight in disbelief. She asks,

"Uh, better?" He nervously nods, shaking his head. Was that a yes or no? She assumes yes as she shuffles back in her own seat, using her magic to float him over a magazine. She informs him,

"It's only a half an hour long ride, relax a little." He seems to take that to heart and takes the magazine, skimming through it and finding an entertaining enough section. Twilight opens a journal in her saddlebag, filling in another page with details using her magic, noting down Daniel's behavior. She's been taking a lot of notes of how he's been for the past few weeks, aside from his apparent closeness with Pinkie and recovery, he's been seemingly stable along with Fluttershy. Notes for the biologists in Canterlot; they requested that she take notes, though in hindsight she should have told Daniel about it. The 'delays' have been for more observation time, she frowns upon finishing writing the last sentence, feeling like she's lying to him. Twilight glances over to Daniel from her book, he's leaned against the window seat and seems to be reading an excerpt from a recent movie. He chuckles and says to himself,

"Ha, I knew it." He glances over to Twilight, she looks back into her book and acts like she wasn't looking, whimsically asking,

"Hm?" Daniel didn't seem to notice, he explains,

"That movie me and Pinkie watched, check it out." He holds up the magazine, underlining a quote with his finger from the director. Daniel says,

"Told her they'd make a sequel, it's not much different from where I'm from." From where he's from? He's only led on with them on 'Earth', nothing else. No names, no addresses, not even any areas of interest. Twilight decides to probe further, asking,

"Oh, and what's not so different from where you're from?" Daniel explains critically,

"Big budget, average plot, looks great, but plays out poorly. Sometimes they focus too much on action or other things. I weirdly remember something about a bay, or a pier. Explosion, then the heroes drive off of that bay...bay, bay. Bah, that sounds too damn familiar. Something about Bay." He seems to give up on the thought and continues reading the magazine silently.

Twilight silently brings out her journal again, writing down his explanation about his movies and apparently a bay or pier? It didn't turn out to go anywhere, Daniel seems to continue reading the magazine past the movie excerpts, Twilight opens her own book and reads. She's too focused on Daniel to read anything coherently, she glances back at him again and he looks very passive, occasionally observing outside the window as the grass and trees zip by steadily. Are all humans like this, as whimsical and passive as him? She has her doubts, she assumes he's very different from the rest of his kind, if there are any anywhere. All the before-talk about cars, planes, jets, how ponies aren't like how they are here. Dull but still as expressive, what's that supposed to mean? Are they gloomier or just have trouble expressing themselves?

Daniel glances out of the window, their train is approaching a station, he asks a little confused,

"I thought this was a one-way trip?" Twilight's distracted with her lingering thoughts, but replies after taking a moment to register they've stopped,

"Oh, this is a station along the way. I didn't say it was a one way trip, was just a train ride to there." Did she say one-way or is he mistaken? Thinking back, it may be him. Several dozen ponies come off and come on the train, seemingly several families. Some board their cart, they take a few secret looks at Daniel. The ponies in Ponyville know him well enough, the ponies out here don't however. Good thing she requested an escort when they reach Canterlot, the high class ponies might..ogle a little.

A family of two, a mother and filly sit on the opposite double sided seat, the filly looks bored while the mother looks occupied with her makeup. She scoots down her own seat back and forth, her mother silently gestures for her to stop and the filly meekly listens, deciding instead to inspect the train cart. She turns around and spots Daniel and tilts her head, curious about the foreign animal seemingly reading a magazine. Twilight tries to ignore it, but she's staring clear at Daniel, examining his body and most notably his hands. Her fur is a light beige, her eyes a lightly hued velvet and her mane a highlighted pale blonde. She meekly says,

"Hello..." Daniels looks around confused, spotting the large eyes staring at him in front of him, her hooves clasped tightly to the faux leather seat. He glances over at Twilight, she doesn't know what to say, so Daniel says shyly,

"Uhm..hi there." He does a little wave, the filly smiles, curiously asking,

"What are you?" Twilight looks towards the mother, she's still occupied with something else, not paying attention to her child. Daniel's not sure if he should be talking, but he says,

"I'm a human." She incorrectly repeats him,

"Hooman?" Daniel nervously smiles, answering,

"Oh, no. Human. Hue-man." She meekly repeats,

"Ah, sorry. Hyuuu?" Daniel nods, she continues, "Hyuuu..min." Daniel answers,

"Yes, 'hyuuuu min'. He mistakenly repeats her mannerism and stretches the word too, the filly silently chuckles to herself. The mother hears her child chuckling, saying an apparently pre-prepared apology as she turns towards them,

"Oh, I'm so sorry. She's so curious around-" She stares at Daniel, he nervously waves again. This feels familiar somehow. Twilight assures her,

"No, he's not a chimp. He's a.." she glances over to the filly, she looks worried, she tries to play along,

"He's a 'hyuuuu min'." The mother lifts an eyebrow, a little skeptical and frankly not sure how to feel, but her child chuckles at Twilights comment again. The mother comments,

"As long as he doesn't bite..go ahead sweetie." Daniel rolls his eyes a little peeved, reminded of being treated like an animal from animals. The filly happily hops over the seat, the mother sternly reminds her,

"Just stay in your seat sweetie, don't keep rocking back and forth; behave."

The filly happily nods to agree, further asking Daniel questions, upon questions, for the next half an hour; introducing herself as 'Letti'.

"Do you like it here?" Daniel simply answers,

"Yeah, I really like it here." Letti asks further,

"Do you have any friends?" Daniel answers her, counting with his fingers to show her a better representation,

"Well there's my good friend Twilight here, there's Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack." The filly eagerly asks another question,

"Do you like them?" Daniel makes a small laugh, answering sincerely,

"Yes, I like them -very- much." She asks,

"Do you -like- any of them?" She mischievously glances over to Twilight, she looks to Daniel with a light blush and darts her eyes. She answers for Daniel,

"No, we're not..together." She feels a little uncomfortable at the thought of -liking- Daniel, he has a wonderful personality, but she doesn't want to grow too attached. She doesn't seem to take the species difference into account though. The mother tells her daughter upon hearing that answer,

"Letti sweetie, don't ask too many personal questions. Them -liking- each other is their own business. Say you're sorry." Letti meekly looks down, apologizing to them both,

"Sorry.." Twilight tries to ignore the mother's comment, trying to compose her flustered expression. She lets Daniel take it from here as she stuffs a magazine to her face while she does it. Letti continues asking,

"Where are you from? I'm from Manehattan." Daniel answers, noticeably unsure,

"Uh, I actually don't know..I guess you could say I'm from Ponyville, I live there. I remember 'Earth', but I don't remember where I was there." The filly seems a little puzzled at that answer, Daniel doesn't feel like answering that kind of question and instead asks her,

"Well where are you and your mother going, stopping by Canterlot for a visit?" She smiles and answers,

"Nope, we're heading home." She points with her hoof out the window, pointing at..water? Twilight pops her face out from magazine, looking out the window as well, confused. She sees a bay and a distant silhouette of buildings. She gets out of her seat and says out loud,

"Wait, what??" She's confused, they were on the train to Canterlot, why are they heading towards Manehattan? The mother looks over her shoulder, asking,

"Is something wrong?" Daniel asks,

"What, this isn't Canterlot?" The mother answers for Twilight, still staring out the window in disbelief,

"No, Canterlot is 200 miles that way.." She points in the opposite direction they're heading in. 200 miles?

"W-Whaa..?" Twilight's amazed she had this much of an oversight, in complete disbelief over her mistake, she wipes her face with her hoof. Daniel asks,

"200 miles? We're -that- far off?" He looks confused, staring at Twilight. Letti joins in too, not sure what to think of their disbelief, she blankly stares at Twilight, waiting for her to answer him. Twilight's not sure what to say, speechless, saying,

"I...made a mistake." She smiles nervously and tries to lightly laugh, but she just looks down; knowing she made a biggie mistake. Daniel tries to comfort her,

"It's alright Twilight, we can just take a train back." She sighs, that's true. She looks outside, commenting,

"Well, they're gonna be mad that we're late, but better late than never.." The train pulls up at the station, several ponies with suits litter the area, Daniel looks at the buildings in the distance and says,

"Feels familiar." Twilight raises her eyebrow, asking,

"It does? You've been here before?" Daniel shakes his head, puzzled a little by his own comment, continuing, "No, the buildings look familiar. I've never been here before." Is a strange thing for him to say. The mother stands up, gesturing over to her daughter, saying,

"Come on Letti sweetie, time to head home." Letti smiles, hopping off her seat beside her mother, waving at Twilight and Daniel.

"Bye Danny, bye Twilight!" They both wave politely as the mother and her get off the train. Twilight scoots out of her seat, Daniel follows, walking outside of the train they look around and Daniel personally takes in the familiarity. Following silently behind Twilight to the ticket booth, they both wait in line for another ticket. Twilight floods her mind, determined to get it right,

'Canterlot Main Station, 4 PM, Canterlot 4 PM, Canterlot 4 PM' Their turn in line, she determinately requests,

"4 tickets to Ponyville, 2 PM."

Wrong.

Wrong..

Wrong!

She puts her hoof to her face again, she corrects herself slowly,

"Scratch that.. 2 ticket to Canterlot. 4 PM."

Right!

"I'm sorry, but that's not possible."

What?

She glares at him, confused, spurting out loud again,

"Wait, what??" The pony in the booth explains,

"Track reportedly got torn out, train got derailed because some fools decided to leave a cart parked on the track. Nopony got seriously hurt, but all trains to and from here to there have been stopped and returned indefinitely. Take a look." The pony points past her, a train that left in the direction of Canterlot is pulling up backwards back to the station. The ponies aboard yell and complain on the way back, one yells out they have a business meeting in an hour.

Twilight rests her head in the booth counter and groans, annoyed at the amount of delays they're getting. Daniel pats her back, asking the booth pony,

"How long until the tracks are fixed?" He answers,

"Well they have to move the train first, get a crew out there to do that. Then have to get transport for the individual carts, the actual train engine, and THEN-" Daniel interrupts for Twilight's sake, she lightly bangs her head against the counter in complete disbelief,

"How long, short answer please." The booth pony rolls his eyes,

"A week at the least. Sorry folks." Daniel taps Twilight's shoulder, she gets the point and walks with him away from the station. She angrily groans,

"Uuugh! Great, even more late now." She sighs, "Let's find a place to stay then.." Back to delays then..

As they walk through the city, Twilight notices Daniel look at everything peering his eyes, he's never been here before. Why is everything so familiar to him? She asks as they reach a crosswalk,

"Are you alright? Another headache?" He assures her,

"N-No, no. Just that this place feels..eerily familiar. The buildings and..roads. They all do.." He gazes at the building's sides and looks into stores, he can't get over it. Ding! The crosswalk sign lights up, Twilight yanks his shirt with her magic as they walk down the crosswalk. Several multitudes of hammering can be heard, as well as a..jackhammer? Daniel looks to the street corner, a scaffolding as a frame around a construction site, several ponies are scattered all across the property, basically brandishing plaid shirts and construction grade equipment. Tearing up a foundation of a previous buildings, the ponies use jackhammers and sledgehammers to knock down and chisel away remaining exposed supports and underground foundations. A male pony lugs over a jackhammer and reaches into his pocket, pulling out goggles and...ear muffs.

Daniel freezes in place, Twilight continues on assuming he's right beside her.

"Don't fuck up..don't fuck up...you -need- this.." His voice echoes throughout his head, he thinks,

'Shut up you monster.'

But it's not the monster, he's not having a headache, it's his own clear voice. It's talking to someone.

"I won't mess this up, I can't. I promise you."

They feel cold in his stomach, those words. They don't feel true, they don't feel like he meant it. He doesn't believe himself, he starts to feel empty and his stomach starts hurting for some strange reason.

Twilight makes it across, suddenly becoming aware of her missing companion. She looks back at Daniel, he's frozen staring at the construction site. She yells,

"Hey! Daniel, move!" He snaps out of it. His senses come back and he hears several ponies, most notably a taxi pony pulling a taxi cart, yelling at him in a thick accent.

"Hey, blockhead! Watch we're you're going, get out of the road you schmuck!" Daniel runs towards Twilight, the pony drivers grudgingly drive on, Twilight pulls his short down to her gently with her magic,

"Daniel, what are you doing?? You're supposed to -cross- a crosswalk, not stand in it!" She looks furious, angered that he could have been seriously hurt if the carts weren't waiting for him. He answers, looking saddened and a little confused,

"I..I-I'm sorry, I just.." He glances over to the site again, but looks away, not wanting to feel empty again. He shakes his head, walking in the same direction they were originally headed in. He says,

"L-Let's just go..the hotel's around the corner, right?" He continues on without letting her answer, Twilight determinately trots after him. Concerned, she asks,

"Daniel, what's wrong?" He answers her quickly,

"Nothing, don't..don't hang on it. I just..got distracted."

She doesn't believe him. She tugs at his shirt collar as he speed walks forward, he gags as he stands back in place,

"Gah!" Twilight asks insistently,

"Daniel. Please. Talk to me." He looks back at her, inadvertently also looking at the construction site. Twilight notices his fixation, she stands on her hind legs and waves in front of him, snapping him out of his seemingly in-depth gaze. Daniel feels his forehead, saying,

"Twilight, I'll talk about it later. I just..I just really need to get away from -here-. It feels wrong and it..it makes -me- feel wrong." She notices he looks disturbed or scared, seemingly a mix of both. She rubs his arm, trying to be a caring friend,

"Alright, but..we'll talk about this later. Let's just get ourselves a room then." She compromises, she guides him down the street as he slowly works his way out of his weird mannerism. They round the corner, spotting the hotel she looked up on her way out of the station. She can't remember the name, a bellboy waits outside the door as they approach, he duly opens the door saying,

"Afternoon ma'am and-..er." Twilight waves her hoof, conveying Daniel to,

'Forget it.'

He takes the hint and walks with her inside, the bellboy pony looks confused. They both head inside, the overall interior screams five star class, Daniel brings out his wallet. He jokingly remarks,

"Well I was going to get a souvenir or two..but I guess this'll do." Twilight would have offered to pay, but she didn't bring any money for the trip. She didn't expect to get stranded so far away from their initial destination, she knows Canterlot extremely well, and even some of the on-duty guards know her. Just lucky Daniel deemed to think ahead. Getting a room goes over smoothly, albeit he had to pay for a week and that's expensive enough as it is.

Taking an elevator together, Twilight looks at Daniel, he's staring at the endless mirror. He waves his hand and opens it, wiggling his fingers, he moves his hand across from his right to his left. So childish.

Ding.

Elevators arrived, Twilight looks to the left and right, repeating the room number they were given,

"202, 202.." She spots 202 and trots over, sighing in relief

"Well, we can finally relax now." Daniel speed walks over, tugging his roomkey clasped to his belt loop and inserts it into the lock. With a left turn, it clicks, he pushes.

Door's stuck.

Twilight looks down, she looks defeated again.

"Never mind."

Daniel tries to budge it open with his shoulder, to no avail. It's not budging.

"Grr.." He sounds a little angry as well. He adds on,

"I'll break it down if we have to." Twilight puts her hoof on his leg, probably wisely discouraging,

"Please don't make us lose the security deposit, let's just get someone to-" Daniel backs up until the hallway, determined to open it. Twilight holds his collar with her magic, sternly ordering him,

"Daniel, stop it." He sighs and walks over, he feels defeated now. He says,

"Fine, let's go get someone." He leans his back on the door, it opens and he falls backwards into the room.

"Whaaa-!" He falls square on his back and lands on an object, sending a sharp pain all across his back and he flinches.

"Gah, f-fuck!" He rolls onto his side and grasps the object, a small grey door stop probably left by the previous tenant. Twilight stares at it intensely, grasps it with her magic, then promptly throws it in a trash bin in the corner of their hotel room. She sighs again, saying,

I just wanna lie down, we walked all around the city to get here. I just want to go to bed." She steps inside as Daniel inspects the bathroom, it looks -very- neat. Twilight stops dead in her hooves, staring into the middle of the room. Daniel peaks his head out, noticing her staring into the room, he asks,

"Twilight, what's the problem now?" He standsbeside her and sees it.

They've only got one bed.

"Fuck." Daniel looks surprised at her. She deemed it worthy..

"Where is he?"

"Where are they?"

"They were supposed to be here hours ago.."

Fluttershy taps her hoof on the train station deck, the station for Ponyville looks strangely empty.

"Even Twilight doesn't say anything, how could they-" She sniffles, feeling a little betrayed. She tries to assure herself,

'It's okay, it's okay. Twilight's responsible, she'd look after him if he got into trouble. I'm sure they're jus staying over late..yeah, they must be.'

She looks to the booth pony, trotting over and she asks out of curiosity,

"Is the Ponyville train running late?" The booth pony answers her,

"No, got derailed earlier this afternoon. Tracks closed for repairs."

Her heart sinks, she mumbles angrily.

"Twilight...h-he was supposed to be saf-....how could you.."

"How -dare- you."

Author's Note

Plot twist!

http://youtu.be/pX613U_DWzE?t=1m3s

This is also how I (realistically) tell my stories, only not with the godly voice of Stamper <3 c:

But seriously, I kind of enjoyed writing this not-so-pleasant-for-them experience. :D Will continue the next chapter either later today or tomorrow morning, still a bit early to call it a day.

I have a feeling I might make a few more chapters at this pace, I feel like 8 is too short for how it's going so far. Still a lot to explore, and as you can see, a lot of 1 on 1 time to be had.

So..yeah, might be a lot more to come. I again appreciate all the feedback and comments, positive or negative, it helps with deciding what comes next and what's okay and not okay for any viewers. Keep it coming, at the time of writing this I see the views are at 383. Almost at the 400 mark! So much motivation!

Time for Plight

1 month, 3 weeks, 1 day

1 month, 3 weeks, 1 day

Tic.

Tic

'You again...' He thinks to himself.

Tic.

Daniel grabs a pillow, met with an angered tone,

"Don't even think about it!" She whisks the pillow away from his hands and levitates it above out of his reach, Daniel states annoyed,

"I need that you know." She retaliates with more of a sound argument and annoyed tone,

"You wouldn't have wanted to throw it then, would you?" He darts his eyes away and replies a bit embarrassed,

"Yeah, I guess n-" He's interrupted as the pillow limply drops onto his face, he's on the floor next to the bed with a nostalgic sight of a bundle of blankets he's lying on. Only this time, they're a little fancier and don't smell like sugar, as appealing as that'd be right now. Twilight huffs air through her nostrils, she tones down her attitude, looking over the bed and says sincerely to Daniel,

"I would have gladly given you the bed you know.." Daniel jokingly smirks and remarks,

"Yeah, but you didn't."

She looks fittingly irritated at his blatant mocking of her good gesture, she takes the pillow again and bops him over the top of his head with it. Darn unicorns and their freaky magic. He extends his arms and blocks the next blow, pleading sincerely,

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! You looked stressed is all, so I set up shop down here." As more and more time goes on, Daniel starts to realize that he's -below- their stature a majority of the time instead of towering -above- them like he should at his height. She releases her magic's grip, letting him continue talking as he places the pillow back behind his head. As he lies back down, he asks,

"You looked really stressed earlier, what was that all about? When we found out the news and when we came inside here?"

She turns away in the bed and stares at the ceiling, contemplating what to answer with. She decides to be honest with him, saying,

"I don't take making mistakes well... It's one of my fears, especially big mistakes." Twilight takes her own bed's pillow and covers her face with it, practically smothering herself, knowing she won't get any sleep at this rate. She mutters something muffled beneath the pillow's inner fluff, probably something moody, which Daniel seems to not delve into about. He vaguely says,

"I know the feeling." He's inadvertently giving her more bait, which she subconsciously bites onto. She uncovers her head, her mane a mess. Twilight inquires,

"How much was this room again?" Daniel looks away, answering,

"Four hundred.."

She looks surprised, just laying back down and closing her eyes, knowing she'll end up paying it back later. She suddenly realizes something, asking further,

"...four hundred for the room, or four hundred for the week?" Daniel stretches his right arm, placing his hand over his face, he wipes it and sternly suggests,

"You can stop worrying Twilight, it's already over with." She looks unobjectively at him and adds on,

"I'll pay you back at home, alright? When we get back..don't let me forget." He's tired of her asking about the pricing and just waves his hand, turning himself away in his little makeshift bed, closing his eyes. He doesn't care, just so long as she doesn't worry about it. Twilight seems satisfied, if a bit conflicted with his answer, turning away in her own bed and brushing away her messy mane with her front leg. She thinks to herself before she closes her eyes,

'I'll ask him about it tomorrow..I can't let this slip away.'

Something feels wrong. Something doesn't feel right..something is out of place. That balling feeling in his stomach returns, it's not pain but a pressure he feels in his abdomen, feeling uneasy and a bit nauseous. Daniel opens his eyes, he's sat down holding his head between his legs, something's amiss. The ground's black, he knows this feeling, he's in his nightmare again. He balls his fists, knowing the abomination can't be far behind; he stands and looks around the black void. He says,

"Come to mock me again? To try to bring me down?" He taunts it, wanting it to come at him again, he's started getting tired of this same routine over and over, almost every night, though it hasn't visited in a while. He has to fight back, he -has- to, to make it go away. It's just nightmares, nothing more, they can't harm him. He holds out his arms with open hands at his sides, taunting it out loud once more,

"Well? What're you going to do now?" He hears something grumble behind him, he turns around with closed fists at his side, he sees something else as startling. He sees the cab pony, his face and the passenger's face warped and bent about the base of it's skull, it yells out at Daniel like before in the street with a gross variation of the pony's voice,

"Hey blockhead, watch where you're going! Get out of the road!"

It's voice warps and deepens and pitch throughout the sentence, the passenger says nothing. The moment Daniel thinks about stepping aside out of it's way, it fades into the void like everything else. He sighs, realizing it's trying to taunt him using today's sights and problems. He half expects a monstrous Letti to appear, but he's met instead with a sidewalk fading in, the same Twilight yelled at him to go to, but it's empty. It chose later in the day this time. Daniel looks angrily at it, deciding as he's thinking,

'I won't play your game..'

It suddenly speeds towards his feet, stopping suddenly as the edge knocks the front of his boots, he trips and falls forward onto his stomach onto the pavement.

'Fuck you..' he thinks angrily, pushing down with his open hands, making himself stand back up. It won't give him the choice, it seems. The scene looks familiar, he realizes it's trying to guide him to the construction site earlier. He suddenly feels uncomfortable, compelled to get away but he doesn't know why. He puts his hand in front of his eyes as scaffolding starts to fade in, he doesn't want to see it. He hears a voice, the abomination,

"LOOK. AT. IT." Daniel feels a mass of force hit him in the back, trying to get him to look as he falls forward, this time onto dry dirt. He continues to cover his eyes, his stomach feels queasy and he tries his best not to look. The feelings overwhelming, he doesn't want to look at it. The abomination yells at him again,

"LOOK AT IT!"

He feels a force to his right leg, he flinches and it forces him to open his eyes, he's not in the dirt anymore. To his relief he's back in the hotel room, it's morning and-

"AGH!" He grabs his lower right calf, pain ringing throughout his leg, he just kicked the bed's edge and hit it on his calf. He painfully says out loud,

"F-Fuck.." Twilight peeks from the bathroom door, brushing her teeth with a complimentary toothbrush, she mutters with toothpaste in her mouth,

"W-Wath is ith?" He yells out, answering her,

"My f-" He corrects himself, he -should- be saying that a lot less. He continues, "My leg, I kicked and it woke me up..ugh.." The pain starts to die down, he hears Twilight in the bathroom spitting out into the sink. She walks back out, her mane brushed and back in order, himself still a mess. Daniel kneels and props himself onto his feet using the bed, it's wrinkled again. She looks a little irritated, using her magic to make it again. Daniel remarks, limping slightly as he walks past her to the bathroom,

"Shouldn't a maid be able to do that?" She ignores his comment, folding up his own strewn about blankets as well as he enters the shower, closing the small door to the room. Halfway during, he thinks,

'What did I pay for if -she- does the maid's job..'

He exits, washing himself off with the small towels, pretty much just hand towels at his size. Daniel looks at himself in the mirror, staring at this stomach scar. The stitches have healed by now but it still has plenty remnants of healed over skin, the incision bordered with pink and a very light shade of red imbued in the flesh. He puts his hand on his scar, feeling the edge and running his fingers along it end to end. He doesn't feel much of anything now, but-

Twilight knocks on the door, interrupting his pointless examination of his scar, saying confidently, "We're going. We're -not- staying for a week, train or not we'll make our way back." She doesn't say how though. He thinks angrily to himself,

'Then what the heck did I pay for??'

They make their way down to the lobby, he gestures for -her- to go to the manager. He says,

"You wanted to leave early, you go ahead and tell 'em.." She rolls her eyes but silently agrees, talking to the manager and checking themselves out. She tries her best not to think about the pricing, not asking how long they booked the room for. Making their way down the street, Twilight tugs at his shirt as they're about to round the corner. She twitches her head to her left, gesturing him insistently to look. Daniel refuses subconsciously, focusing on the crosswalk as it's about to turn green. He suggests,

"Twilight, you wanted us to go. Let's -go-. " She gets impatient and grasps onto his collar with her magic, turning his torso, he balls a fist at his waist annoyed at her as he gags,

"Gah! Why'd you do th-" He looks up above her, seeing a scarily familiar area, scaffolding. Is he asleep again or? He darts his eyes back down at her, her face is normal, she just stares at him and gestures again to look. Daniel looks again the construction site, the ponies barely having made much progress, laying down more foundation. He closes his eyes, feeling the balling in his stomach again, he only opens his eyes when he hears a familiar disturbing request,

"Look at it." Twilight says insistently, copying the same words the abomination had said briefly in his very short nightmare. She's trying to get him to continue from yesterday, wanting to know why he was so fixated on it as it seemed to have sparked a reaction before. She probes with a question, with an open journal at the ready,

"Dan, think hard. What do you remember?"

He stays silent, staring at the scaffolding and it's construction workers, he blocks out her question. Twilight waves the journal in his face, seeing him stare blankly at the site, he looks frightened. In his mind, everything is a blur, but pressure isn't clamping down on his head, everything else is fading away with only the construction site remaining. The balling pressure in his stomach grows, he can't look away, he feels something he can't put his finger on, but it's strongly working it's way through his stomach to the rest of him. He starts to fall backwards, but his knees collapse and he lands on his hands as he slowly sits down, eyes still glued to the scaffolding in particular. He grabs his legs, looking past them, watching the ponies as they work.

"Dan, Dan." She waves in front of his face, not sure what to make of this type of reaction. She starts to worry, but writes down these notes in her journal anyway, trying to keep up with his behavior. She asks again,

"Dan, how do you feel?.. What are you looking at over there?" Twilight sits down beside him, trying to match his line of sight, spotting a leader among the construction ponies instructing several and pointing at a support beam. Dan suddenly mumbles under his breath,

"They're 1 foot thick...not counting the rebar supporting inside.." She thinks to herself,

'...what?'

Confused about what he just said or why he said it, she thinks back, what the heck is rebar? She ponders quickly while writing down what he just said, remembering rebar's a support for concrete. Twilight looks to confirm, seeing a manager direct several others somewhere on the second floor of the scaffolding, as they knock down one of the few remaining supports. Some gruff male ponies pick up and drag away the debris by hoof, hauling them away in small carts. Twilight asks him, though he seems to be in some sort of trance staring at them,

"...does this all look familiar to you?" She hopes to have a breakthrough, but he just sits there, staring. He doesn't look frightened anymore, but he won't stop staring, Twilight starts to get worried. She nudges his arm, trying to snap him out of it.

"Can you hear me? Dan." She resorts to grasping his shoulders and giving him a light shake, he seems to drift out of the trance a little with a quick few blinks, a little back in reality. She asks again,

"Dan? Why do you keep st-" Daniel interrupts,

"..I did that.." She looks confused, and rightly so, him pointing at said ponies hauling debris away in carts. She asks, putting some thought into it,

"Was..this was your job?..I mean, before Fluttershy found you?" Daniel lightly nods, holding his head in his palms. Twilight writes down this note, Daniel answers,

"From what I think I remember, yeah." He remarks angrily, "Pay was shit too.." He grips his hair, angry at the memory, but lets go shortly after straining his head. Twilight resists her compulsiveness to add -that- vulgar note, writing down the rest. Twilight inquires,

"Anything else? Anything?" She's at the ready to write down anything else, a little eager at his openness, albeit him being a little frustrated for some reason. Dan pleads with her a little annoyed, his hair in a mess,

"Twilight, please stop asking me about..this." He tries to shun any further memories, the balling seeping back into his guts. He figures he's said enough, but she seems to want more. Twilight insists,

"Think hard, I need you to work with me, it's for your own good." Dan thinks to himself angrily,

'You're not a fucking therapist..' She insists again, explaining,

"Look, I'm writing down everything you say and remember because..you need help. Some special kind of help."

Does she think he's crazy? Daniel looks offended, standing and pointing focused on her, the rest of the world seems to fade back into the void and the edges of his vision seems to blur. Twilight steps back, looking at his finger, then back at him wondering what exactly he's doing. He exclaims, hushed under his breath,

"I don't need -help-, what I need is to not be pestered to remember something when I don't -want- to remember." Twilight argues, saying,

"Don't you -want- to remember how you were before Fluttershy found you, and how you got here? I want to know because-" she's rudely interrupted, Daniel remarks,

"Not this!" He points at the construction site, he explains further unable to explain the emotion he's feeling, "Remembering this is making me feel...I don't know, it feels like something's trying to wiggle around in my stomach and work it's way out, but.." He seems to calm a little, but not in a better way, looking frightened again. He wipes his face and stays silent, realizing the world is fading out again, Twilight's face starts to change.

'I'm not asleep, I'm not asleep, I'm not asleep..'

He tries to calm himself down, telling himself in his mind not to act crazy, the thing in front of him isn't real. Twilight's not a monster, neither is all this black void trying to envelope his sight. Meanwhile Twilight stares at him, wondering what's going on through his head, maybe she should explain further. She places the journal back in her saddlebag, saying,

"Alright, we'll.." She compromises, so much wanting to get more out of him, but she sees he's going to breakdown at this rate. "-..we'll go if it upsets you this much." She looks to him, determined, adding, "I want to show you what I gathered these for. It's..not a doctor, I promise." She thinks to herself,

'At this rate maybe I should consider that too..'

Daniel closes his eyes, trying to take in those words. He agrees in his mind, though not saying it,

'Fine, fine..' He shakes his head, the void and warped flesh enveloping her face starts to fade at the thought of her promise. Something just doesn't sit right with him, he's thankful she can understand that. Twilight grabs his arm with her magic, insisting for them to start walking. Daniel calms a little, and thinks to himself, wanting to say it.

'Don't stress yourself over me Twilight, I don't want you ending up stressed the way I do..'

After half an hour of walking later, they reach the train station, but it seems mostly scarce. Daniel comments on the fact while looking around,

"You think there'd still be ponies rioting over there not being a train coming in for a week." Twilight darts her eyes away, saying nervously,

"Yeeaaah.." She thinks,

'What the heck is taking them so lo-'

To Daniel's surprise, he hears a train horn blare from down the station. It's coming from the opposite direction. Daniel points with his right hand on his waist,

"Err, Twilight..train." Twilight finds this a good time to explain, she pokes his leg to get his attention and says,

"I sent a letter to Ponyville last night using, well.." She flares up the magic around her horn, continuing, "They decided to help with the repairs, so it got fixed a -lot- earlier." She smiles and continues, "Train's been running to and from all morning." She gestures around the area, conveying there's very few ponies compared to yesterday. Daniel turns and faces the train, simply asking,

"They seriously got the track fixed in a night?" Daniel walks over to the door and grips the handle, opening the door.

Suddenly something familiar and pink pops out and leaps out, attaching itself to his face. He yells out, shocked,

"GAH!" He falls backwards onto the train station hard floor, a face full of pink fur too much to take, he hears a familiar high pitched squeal as he moves to try to yank it off of himself,

"Eeeeeeee!~" Twilight rolls her eyes whimsically, amused by the sight. She answers,

"Well, they had a little help.." A little pink pony as help? That all?

"Ha! Told you that's the first thing she'd do." That overly confident tone sounds familiar. Muffled by the layer of pink mane around his face, he hears another voice,

"Pinkeh, 'ya can get off of the feller now. Gotta let 'em breathe." Daniel asks out loud, still muffled by the pink pony seemingly trying to assimilate with his face with her nose,

"Dersh, Erplejick?" Applejack insists again, gesturing her hoof to her left side for her to move away,

"Pinkeh, let 'em breathe!"

Consequently Pinkie hops off his head, Daniel gasps a little, dazed by the amount of minor nuzzling he just got underneath the bundle of pink mane.

"Beh!..Augh.." He coughs, smiling at the fact he sees them all step off the train, minus Dash and Fluttershy which fly out of the train's windows, though Fluttershy seems to choose to remain quiet. Rarity doesn't seem to step out, but Daniel focuses on the other four. Daniel sits up and stands, addressing them all,

"Whoa, didn't expect any of you to come. Or..all, apparently! Rainbow, Applejack." He nods to acknowledge them, Dash asking,

"Sooo, did you two enjoy your night together?~" She tries to tease, to no real avail with either Daniel or Twilight. Dash seems disappointed by this lack of reaction and blows a strand of her mane out of her face instead, in a manner defeat. Twilight steps in and says sincerely,

"I'm so glad you all could make it!" She examines them all, noticing one missing out of the bunch. "Where's Rarity? I don't see her." Applejack answers a little moodily,

"She's still sleepin', the trip interrupted her 'beauty sleep' or somethin' so we just let her sleep it out in one of the cars... Also didn't bother lending a hoof when it came to haulin' some track out. " Applejack's interrupted by a sleepy, if not still elegant voice from the train's window,

"Oh, don't act so boorish, Applejack." Rarity softly starts to yawn, her mane only slightly a bit out of disarray from the trip. She kindly asks,

"Aaauhhh..hello Daniel, how are you this fine morning?" Daniel feels the back of his neck and answers nervously,

"Uh, surprised more than anything now..heh." Pinkie smiles and asks him with a hopeful expression,

"Did I surprise you~?" Daniel smiles and nods, adding on,

"Yes Pinkie, you did surprise me pretty good." Pinkie smiles widely all the same, her ears perk up and one twitches, obviously pretty happy to see Daniel again, despite it only being one day. Applejack smiles and rolls her eyes,

"Alright 'ya two, you both can get to know each other on the train. Twilight, you had somethin' important to do with Daniel, 'member?"

Twilights nods, pulling his sleeve and conveying she wants him to come onboard. She explains,

"Yes, and we need to go right away. We're late enough for your, well, 'appointment' in Canterlot. We better get going, we can all talk on the way back."

They all step back on the train, Pinkie takes a seat next to Daniel and clings close. Twilight's about to sit opposite from them, upon seeing Pinkie start getting her ear scratched by Daniel, she very subtly slides back out of the seat, thinking to herself,

'Nope, nope, nope, not getting stuck in the middle of that again..'

She's still thinking she saw them kissing weeks ago. She leaves them alone in the train car, Pinkie jumps up and holds Daniel's head close as she gets continuously scratched behind her ear. She makes the strange noises again, closing her eyes and softly asking in a comforted trance,

"Mmmnnn..how are you Danny?.." She takes some solace in the mild luxuriance he's giving, she lowers herself down and lies on her back along his lap. She looks up with her bedroom eyes, he remarks,

"You know, the longer I spend here, I realize how much I sleep on the floor.." He sees she's serious, he eventually picks up on it an answers honestly,

"Uh, I'm fine Pinkie. Especially with you all here to keep me company on the way home." He runs his hand along her head and down her mane, she all the while smiles warmly and wiggles a little, getting comfortable with her head on his lap. She turns her head away, he knows what that means. He runs his fingers through her mane and back down behind one of her ears, Pinkie mildly wiggles and smiles, enjoying the feeling through her body language as he resumes scratching the lower part of her right ear. Daniel jokingly asks, a little entertained by the physical response,

"You really do enjoy that don't you?" He stops scratching to wait for her to respond, she just takes a soft grip of his arm and holds his hand in place. She answers with a semi-seductive mutter and a display of same vibrant blue bedroom eyes,

"Aaahhnn..more than you know..~"

'..alrighty then, I'll just..continue..' He can't take those blue eyes looking at him like -that-, he darts his eyes away and resumes scratching behind her ear, eventually she closes them and relaxes in his lap again. She gently but steadily stretches her hind legs out, rubbing her thighs against each other as she continues to wiggle and get comfortable, Daniel sees them rub against each other and starts to get nervous. He tries to address it as he continues to scratch,

"Uhh..Pinkie." He suddenly hears the train whistle sound, he feels the whole train car shake and it seems the train begins moving. She turns her head towards him with her eyes closed,

"Hmmm?..~" He continues with the question,

"What, uh, what are you doing with your legs?.." She opens her eyes again and stares with her bedroom eyes, answering,

"Sretching..~" He panics on the inside, he laughs nervously trying to stop the building sweat starting to come up across his face,

"Ah..haha..so that's what you're doing.." He's surprised by a tugging force to his shirt, he's brought down a little lower, forced to put one knee on the seat. She pulls him down insisting,

"Lie with me..~" He thinks to himself,

'Uh, uh ,uh!' This feeling feels familiar, he beginss panicking his mind. 'P-Pinkie, the others are on the train too in the next car over, control yourself!' he screams in his head. He tries to pull away but she has her hooves wrapped around his neck, she keeps staring at him. A familiar, but unexpected voice asks out loud across the train car suddenly,

"Pink, Dan!"

'Oh dear god, don't let them see us..' It's Rainbow, just entering from the other side of the car across from them. He tucks his legs in on top of the seat and ducks, trying to stay out of sight with the backs of the seats blocking her line of sight of them. Pinkie seems to snap out of her sultry tone, she's about to say something out loud to address her friend when Daniel suddenly covers her mouth to stop her. She blushes as he thinks to himself,

'See what you did, see what you do when you want to do...-that-, here? Shush you inglorious pink pony..' They both stay silent as Dash asks out loud again, confused not seeing them in the train car,

"Hellooo? Where are you guys?" She leans slightly to her right, trying to spot them, but to no avail. She sighs, walking back into the other car, disappointed that she couldn't tease -them- a little. Daniel takes this opportune moment to whisper disapprovingly at her,

"What are you doing? You want them to catch us like this?" She smiles underneath his hand and gently nips his hand, saying,

"Oh, Daniel, I didn't expect you to be this..f-forward..~" There's the bedroom eyes again..

He's dumbfounded, whispering to her,

"Me?? What about you!" she silently giggles and answers,

"I just wanted to lie down with you silly~" She stretches out her legs, they're between his legs as he's on all four's over her while she's lying on her back on the long seat. She explains further,

"The ride here took a few hours, so I got all stiff.." She stretches again and retracts her legs, rubbing them together again and saying in her sultry tone,

"B-But I didn't know you wanted to lie with me like..like -this-..~" She thinks to herself, exploding in her mind while trying to stay calm and collected on the outside as she gushes at what she thinks is him coming onto her.

'ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!!~ Doesn't he know that everypony's in the other car?..~"

'Abort, abort!' he yells at himself on the inside.

He didn't mean to instigate a move on her, confusing her teasing and toying with his mind for -her- making a move on -him-. He explains nervously,

"P-Pinkie, I think your misunderstood my intent..I-I didn't mean to imply so strongly that I wanted to..erm.." He looks down, he realizes he's on all four's hovering on top of her, having covered her mouth while they're alone in the train car a minute ago. Perhaps he should have checked his own body language first before criticizing Pinkie's so silently. She replies a little nervously,

"I-I don't mind if that's what you mean..h-heh..~" She pulls him closer with her hooves around his neck, their noses about to touch and her mane so elegantly crushed beneath her head and back, blanketing the seat. Daniel's heart begins racing along with Pinkie's, both trying to stay collected and calm, both also about to explode from the inside from varying emotions. He feels her warm breath against his face, she can feel his overwhelmingly sized body hovering just above her, both stay silent and just stare at each other; confusing their own intents and body language for something else.

"Danny..~" She clasps her hind legs gently on his waist, locking them in on top of each other.

'..Oh boy..' he thinks.

'..whoa nelly..' she thinks.

Author's Note

Plight. By definition: a dangerous, difficult, or otherwise unfortunate situation. Often used to describe a specific type of problem or ongoing problem on a global or individual scale.

Whichever part you decide to associate that with is your own choice. :D End bit is definitely an..unfortunate situation to be in, but not the definition above.

Sorry for this being a few days late, some stuff I had to take care of and I couldn't put myself in the mood to write for the life of me. Couldn't find the time to get myself into a theme especially. Chapter was originally supposed to end a little more 'eventfully' to sat the least, but I figured something a little bit more implicit could replace it after it being able to think on it.

Interesting note, not once yet have I detailed Dan and Pinkie kissing once. Just a lot of hugging and nuzzling. A boops! My favorite line for this chapter is,

"Daniel asks out loud, still muffled by the pink pony seemingly trying to assimilate with his face-"

I also learned that I broke 500 views, so am happy on that note :D Thank you all again for reading thus far, will try to be a bit more attentive in the near future. Will try working on the next chapter in the morning. Is currently 11:10 PM at the time of writing this message.

Time to Seize

'Oh god..' floods in his mind.

'Ohgosh..ohgosh..ohgosh..' rapidly fills her thoughts.

Knock.

'What?' the question pops in his head. What was that? Daniel glances up at the window, seeing a familiar and distinct blend of colored hair smushed against the window pane, trying to peer inside.

'What the f—'

Dash is outside the window, flying alongside the train trying to get a better view and skim for her friends. She peers inside to see if anyone's there, managing to make out Daniel's clothing color. She thinks to herself as she places her hooves above her eyes to block the reflection, 'Ah! Stupid sun.. Oh, there you are! And Pink-..'

Dash's eyes flare up in surprise and she backs away from the window when she sees Daniel on top of Pinkie, Pinkie's hind legs clasped around his waist. Daniel pushes down and sits up in a panic, Pinkie still clasped around his neck and her legs around his waist comes along for the quick jerk back upwards.

She snaps out of her train of thought and asks nervously, "What?.. What is it Danny?" She doubts herself, thinking she's done something wrong that made him sit up, pondering at him staring towards the window. After a few tense seconds of needless worry, she glances in the direction he's staring in and her heart sinks as a flicker of panicked thought sparks at the sight of the oh-so familiar rainbow mane. 'Dashie??' Pinkie lets go of Daniel immediately and scoots away, trying to back up their previous advances.

Dash holds her mouth closed with her hooves and flies backwards, somehow still keeping up with the train as she gets flustered. Waving her front legs side to side, she panics and spurts out loud, "Nononono, d-don't let me stop you!" She glances to the right, seeing them rapidly approach a railroad sign. She ducks the oncoming sign and flies speedily to the next car, trying not to freak out over the sight of her friends clasped on top of each other. Daniel thinks, 'Oh god dam- why the heck did she go outside to look inside!' He sinks in his seat, embarrassed at the whole situation in a whole.

Pinkie asks Daniel nervously, "D-Do you think she saw?"

Daniel looks at her without moving his head and remarks, "Yes Pinkie, I think she saw." . He immediately regrets his decision to say it like that and scolds himself, 'Shut up Daniel, shut up..'

Over in the other car, Applejack and Rarity are reading some magazines, Twilight is across from them reviewing her notes she's prepared thus far in anticipation for the body examination. She mutters under her breath as she flips through the journal, "..Abomination..construction...work laborer.."

Thunk.

Twilight looks up from the journal, hearing a thick bump noise from somewhere nearby. She asks Applejack, "Did..you hear that?" Applejack nods and they hear it again.

Thunk.

"Ow!" Dash yelps as she bumps into the window pane again, trying to enter the wrong train car. She mistakenly thinks she left this window open and that this is the car she originally left. Applejack promptly gets up from her seat and approaches the origin of the noise as Rarity picks up on it as well. Opening the window, she narrowly misses a large streak of blue from striking her in the face. Apparently faced with a closed window, Dash decides to use brute force to get through; Poorly.

Dash rolls along the train's wood floor, she groans as she rolls into the wall upside down from the little crash, her hind legs facing upward and her wings ruffled. Rolling herself right side up and shaking her head in a daze, she gets her bearings back. Applejack scolds her as she walks over, "The heck are 'ya doing outside the train? 'Ya know there's a skylight, right?". She can't seem to resist questioning her friend's logic, despite seeing the blue Pegasus tumble through the window. Ignoring Applejack's comment, Dash decides to blurt out to them all,

"Guys! I saw Dan and Pinkie..err.." She rubs the back of her neck, thinking over what she had just seen. Rarity raises her eyebrow in mild curiosity, the other two questioning what she's trying to say and why she seems flustered. Twilight puts some of her prior knowledge to work and assumes that Rainbow just spied on them kissing, an expected behavior with Rainbow's curiosity. Twilight scolds Dash, using the beginning of her name to convey she's serious,

"Rainbow, you need to leave them alone. They're close and you shouldn't be spying on them kissing; acting like a curious little filly." Twilight adds a comment in her own head, 'I'm weirded out by the whole idea of it too, but you don't see me spying on them..'

Dash tries to explain, unwisely trying to say it without saying it, "No, they weren't kissing! They were..uhmm—" The overzealous blue pegasus starts to doubt her decision to blurt it out like that. Regardless, she feels compelled to continue, "..Daniel was—". She starts to regret saying it like that, too late for that.

Twilight eggs her on, probing for further details, "What? What were they doing?" She gets impatient at her stuttering.

Dash finishes her sentence, "Dan was on top of Pinkie, it looked like they were going to..heh.." Twilight interrupts Dash's explanation, her face a blush with red as she yelps out loud.

"What!?"

In the other car Daniel hears Twilight's familiar 'surprised' tone, consequently sinking down lower into his seat. Pinkie hears her as well and sinks down into her seat, thinking, 'Ooookay they know, eep..' She feels embarrassed, Dash having to see her and Daniel that way; though they haven't made any actual physical contact during that little embrace. It ended before it could even start. She scoots away from Daniel and holds her arm, feeling trace amounts of shame although they didn't do anything wrong in her eyes.

In the other car with the others, Rarity covers her mouth and inadvertently fuels Dash's discovery, "Oh my..I didn't think Daniel would be that brash."

Applejack discovers her friend's view on it and admits, "...Oh! Ah didn't think of it like that." Applejack picks up on what she meant by on top of each other taking her friend a little too literal. Though she seems equally as uncomfortable with the discovery.

Dash unwisely decides fuels her own gossip with a very short comment, "I know, right!"

Twilight shakes her head, not wanting to think about it like that. She tries to force it out of her head, she pleads to Rainbow, "Rainbow, stop. Just..stop talking please." She tries to gather her thoughts, simultaneously trying to keep them all in line and out of their easy-to-instigate candid conversation; despite her efforts, her mind is not exactly clean about it either. Attempting to stop their gossiping any further, fueled by Rainbow and her curiosity discovering something inappropriate going on in the other train car; Twilight opens the door to the neighboring car with her magic and decides to have a little talk with Daniel.

Dash expects to come along or spy again, fluttering her wings to fly, she tries to follow. However, a now vigilant Applejack bites onto the end of her tail and holds her back as she starts to get off the ground. Applejack yanks her back down to the floor with her tail between her teeth, remarking to Dash while closing the door behind Twilight, "Ah think you've done enough there missy.". Dash looks disappointed.

Daniel hears the hoofsteps approach, Pinkie scoots away again to distance themselves a bit. Neither of them bother to look to see who it is, it's quickly identified by a serious voice addressing Daniel.

"Dan. We need to talk."

Twilight stands beside long seat, looking over to Pinkie near the window. Pinkie darts her eyes away once they make eye contact she rubs her arm again, a little ashamed at their apparently inappropriate display being found out. Twilight jerks her head to the right, gesturing for him to get up and follow into the halfway walkway between the train cars. Daniel complies silently, keeping his eyes to the ground, tempted to look back at Pinkie.

But Twilight closes the train door with her magic as he steps inside the confined space, isolating them away from each other. She asks him directly, "Dan, what were you two doing in there?" He feels the back of his neck, trickles of sweat still from those tense moments on top of Pinkie.

He answers before Twilight feels the need to ask it again more insistently, "I was with Pinkie and we were.." An angry thought sparks in his head, 'Fucking Dash..ugh..' as he tries to finish his sentence. Twilight interrupts him before he can continue, she flares up a little in her sternness.

"You two can't be doing that, especially on a public train. There are other ponies on board." she argues.

He sighs and angrily thinks, 'Of course you'd assume that. Same as Rainbow probably.' He tries to explain, though he doesn't think Twilight would believe him when he starts. "Twilight, Pinkie and I haven't even—". He stops himself again mid-sentence, the realization feels jarring. It's true, they haven't even kissed once the entire time they've known each other. Can he call that a relationship that calls for it? She's been so supportive and friendly, she was especially during his recovery, but does friendliness and supportive call for that? The thought rattles in his head as Twilight cuts off the sudden pause.

"Uh-huh." She sounds disinterested in his excuse. She closes her eyes in frustration, interpreting his pause as a sign of guilt instead. Twilight comments along the lines of it, "Then why does Pinkie look like she's ashamed in there?".

Daniel blurts out the excuse, "Wha— Because Rainbow decided to spy on us! Of course we'd be embarrassed if we just got spied on! Pinkie and I were just—"

She interrupts him, "Laying on top of each other?"

Daniel freezes at her attentive response, he doesn't have a rebuttal for that. Is she assuming -that- or otherwise? He doesn't have the chance to think on it as Twilight says sternly to him, still assuming they were going to do much more than just kiss, "I think it might be best if you two sit separately on the way back.". She attempts to reason with it, realizing she sounds a little unfair. "Dan, you're going to be physically examined by some biologists that I've personally taken some lessons from. They need you to be as level as possible with your mood and body. Among other things, I need you to be level headed." She puts her hoof on his right thigh and pleads, "I might have some help with your nightmares too. I promise, it's not a doctor, but it's something important for you. Just work with me."

He mutters, "Fine, fine. Just..I'll sit in another train car. Just please explain it to Pinkie, she looked like she was..expecting something." He puts his back to the wall and scoots past her into the next train car, actually populated by other ponies onboard; they were closer than he thought. Daniel keeps on walking until he reaches a seemingly empty train car, somewhere down near the back end of the train. He feels like he needs to calm himself, for whatever reason Twilight wants him to do it for. Twilight duly follows his request once he's out of sight and goes back inside the train car with Pinkie, still sat near the window holding her arm like a young filly waiting for punishment. Twilight tries to sympathize and explains,

"Pinkie, I told Dan you two need to be separated. At least until after the trip to Canterlot, I don't mean to separate you two like this, but it's for his own good. I don't mean to make you think I'm condemning you two, honest." She places her hoof along the end seat and paws at the faux leather material, gesturing for her to follow as she continues, "Come on, I'll explain it to you with everypony else in the other car." She sounds a little moody saying that, taking a mental note to remember to scold Dash not to poke her nose into somepony else's personal business in the future.

Pinkie glances over and asks hopefully, "Really?.." Twilight perks up a little smile and assuredly nods. Despite Pinkie's self doubts that have popped up for the past minute or so, she knows she can trust her friend. She scoots out of the seat and obediently follows Twilight, accepting their separation thinking, 'If it's for his own good, okay then..'.

Daniel eventually finds a seemingly empty train car and sits near a window seat, he decides to lie back along the stretch of the seat and just think. He momentarily decides, 'I can't be mad at Twilight..' as he sighs. The whole of how he's gotten to known her is smart, decisive, if a bit adorkable by his own description; but he knows she doesn't mean to be cruel about it. He ponders, 'Wonder what the help is supposed to be. What's it supposed to be if it's not a doctor, medicine?' It doesn't effect him as far as he can recall. He places his forearm over his eyes and tries to blanket everything out, he might have been thinking too much about this when she explained the reasoning for their separation. He mutters angrily to himself, commenting on his own indecision of not asking Twilight more about it,

"Probably should have fucking asked her then.". He's surprised by a soft voice asking him something in turn.

"..what should you have asked?"

He moves his arm and sees a familiar set of green and blue hued eyes staring down at him from the top of the back of the seat. Fluttershy tilts her head and waits for a response, she looks oddly calm for hearing him swear. Daniel exclaims, "Oh! Er, hi. Sorry, I'm just..a little stressed."

She quietly asks, "Can I sit with you?" Daniel's surprised at her request, but he doesn't bother to question it with enough already on his mind.

He answers her with a simple yes, "Yeah, sure." He scoots himself down the seat and pulls up his knees to leave her some room to sit. As spacy as a train seat is, they're still not made for his size. Fluttershy walks around the seat, scooting herself inside and tucking her wings in. She pulls her hind legs up and sits up, placing her hoof on his forehead, to Daniel's surprise. He glances up at her and she just very lightly smiles when they make eye contact, Daniel starts to feel a little uncomfortable.

He asks her, "Er, Fluttershy. Just curious, why are you all the way back here?"

She seems bemused, but she answers calmly, "It's quiet." How innocently simple. He doesn't have a chance to speculate her simple answer, as she in turn asks, "Why are you back here Danny..weren't you sitting with Pinkie?"

He assumes she knows of Pinkie and Dan's little embrace, as the others seem to know thanks to a spying blue pegasus. He explains, "Twilight said Pinkie and I should be separated for the trip back, so I guess I'm just back here waiting out the trip." She gently strokes his forehead without inquiring further, Daniel's a little curious of her behavior, but otherwise calmed by her display of subtle care. He knows she's caring and like this with her animals especially, he assumes she's just curious.

She slowly darts her eyes away and admits something, "I..I was waiting for you guys to get back, I thought that whole train de-railing incident had you two on board.." Daniel looks back up at her, she looks sad as she continues to recall it, "..I got mad at Twilight before I learned that it was -after- you guys left and you two weren't on that train.."

Daniel explains that gap in time, "Yeah, about that..Twilight booked the wrong train and we went to..what, Manehattan?" He's unsure if he's saying that correctly, but he continues, "We learned about it too by the time we got off and tried getting a train back. The train ticket pony told us that it'd be a week until they got it fixed, so we stayed at a hotel. Was short lived, Twilight told me we were leaving in the morning. Surprise, surprise, you guys came aboard the train." He half smiles explaining that last bit, he's glad to have seen them on board when it arrived.

She darts her eyes away and meekly explains, "I know.. I got Twilight's letter first.."

She got the letter first? Daniel raises his brow and asks, "You got the letter? So she sent it to you?"

She nods and continues petting Daniel's forehead softly, sharing a little more, "I calmed down a little..it was dark and I was a little out of it at the time. I went to Applejack's first and we got the others..she said we should do something, so we worked all night.." Daniel feels grateful, though he doesn't get a chance to say it as he notices her smile a little. She adds on, "I was relieved to know you two were okay." She scoots away and gently lies back, laying her opposite beside his.

Unexpectedly, she rubs her nose against his cheek, she meekly reiterates her previous statement with a shy little smile, "I was glad to know you were okay..".

Daniel sighs with a smile and reminds her, "Fluttershy, you don't need to worry about me anymore.". He moves his right hand up and gently pets the top of her mane with the upper part of his fingers, she flinches a little, but doesn't pull away. She's not as accepting to physical contact as Pinkie, but she seems to understand the gesture all the same and lets him continue. Daniel explains, "Apparently Twilight has something that could help me with my nightmares..whatever it is. I'll be fine, I trust her.". She doubts it silently, thinking objectively,

'Don't lie to me..you keep getting hurt over and over again..and each time it just gets worse..' She feels a balling pressure in her stomach, an overwhelming feeling of guilt.

She grasps his hand with her hooves and pulls it to her chest, holding his hand in place without saying another word. Daniel flinches at the action, but she weakly holds his hand there. Daniel thinks to yank his hand away from her, but he stops himself upon remembering how she was not too long ago. 'Course she would have been worried..' he thinks to himself. 'Repeating severe headaches, nightmares from an abomination that stalks my dreams, a knife to my gut..'. He realizes how she must feel, she patched him up from a broken mess, only to see him gradually get messed up all over again.

He closes his eyes and lets her hold onto his hand, he can faintly feel her heart beat on the top part of his hand with it held so close, she lightly hugs his wrist as she feels subdued. Daniel can't tell if she's trying to comfort him or if she wanted him to comfort her, but he just stays silent all the same. 'Maybe she needs this..' clicks in his mind as she starts to stroke his hand.

Fluttershy thinks objectively, 'If they won't care for your well being..then I will.'

She nuzzles his hand and continues her inner endearment,

'I'll never let you go..'

She gently guides his hand over to her left cheek, she feels sensitive to his touch as her cheeks run pink from contact. She furrows her brow as she thinks determinedly,

'..I won't let you get hurt..'

His hand feels soothing against her fur, she feels like he's trying to silently console her. Her heart starts to beat rapidly as she lowers her eyes, her head rushes with feelings of compassion and tenderness. Her mind racing, her heart starts to go a flutter as her breathing begins to shallow. Fluttershy lightly touches her lips against his palm, a subtle kiss as an unseen sign of her affection.

She gently nips a finger.

'...You're -mine- to care for.'

Author's Note

Is short, needed to learn how to improve on formatting. Hope it came out well. :D Thank you to KitsuneNoYomeiri for providing some criticism and tips, I hope to improve further down the line and perhaps reformat the previous chapters once the story is concluded to make it easier to read for others.

Will probably work on the next chapter later today if I can, have been up all night, is currently 8:24 AM at the time of typing this. So I'm heading to bed. Been in a bit of slump, mostly personal stuff keeping me away from the site other than the apparent need to reformat, but nothing to worry about at all.

Have this cute little picture, to everyone else that has watched and read thus far. I've gotten over 660 views, and have been getting a few more favorites for the past 2 days, so I'm happy :D Though will admit that as I write this, the 22 views have been my own since I've been bouncing back and forth to edit the chapter. I still thank you all that have read this far!

So simple, but I love this picture below. https://derpibooru.org/337398?scope=scpeb1611568b53faa68bb8386a624282b6a5cf57a45

One of my favorite lines to have typed is still Pinkie leaping onto Daniel's face, seemingly trying to assimilate. This picture gives a good representation of how I imagined it as, but on the back of an anon's head instead of on his face.

https://derpibooru.org/355505?scope=scpeb1611568b53faa68bb8386a624282b6a5cf57a45

Time to Creep

1 month, 3 weeks, 2 days

1 month, 3 weeks, 2 days

"Open mouth, please." the male unicorn asks.

Daniel obediently opens his mouth wide, the male unicorn grasps his head gently and places a tongue depressor on top of his tongue. 'This feels cliché ' he thinks to himself as the grey unicorn examines the inside of his mouth, gently pulling back his head with his grey colored magic as he lies back in a dentist-like chair.

The male unicorn comments, pressing on Daniel's front teeth, "Hmm. Dr. Pharn, do you see what I see? Right here." Another approaches, a blue hued female unicorn with a light silver colored bobbed mane, examining his teeth. She replies to the male unicorn,

"Indeed. Central incisors, similar to the make of some small mammals, though they're more thin and they're not flat like our own. He has canines as well, possibly made for tearing rather than mashing or grinding. Molars in the back, as per usual." She gestures for the male unicorn to step aside, she takes over and gets a better look from his position. She peers, addressing Twilight as she continues to take notes of his teeth, "Miss Sparkle?"

Dr. Pharn pulls back his head unexpectedly, Daniel partially closes his right eye, a little discomforted by the sudden action.

Twilight's attentive as usual, quickly replying to Dr. Pharn, "Hm?" Twilight trots over beside her and observes Daniel's mouth, overlooking his discomfort. Dr. Pharn asks Twilight as she releases Daniel's head from her magical grip,

"Are you aware that he shows signs of being an omnivore?" Twilight looks suspicious at her tone, she answers regardless.

"Yes, but he told me about that ahead of time, a little after he arrived. And before you ask, yes he's been on an all veggie diet since he's been here. I kept it on him a little strictly..minus a few sweets. I couldn't help that." Daniel feels the back of his head, Dr. Pharn may have yanked out a hair or two. Dr. Pharn replies to Twilight in a passive tone

"It shows." Dr. Pharn seems impartial with that answer, she pulls his head back again a little less rashly and examines his canines in particular. Dr. Pharn decides to ask Daniel, "Does your species always eat meat, or do they dabble with vegetables when meat is scarce? Vice versa? What is your intake compared to your species overall?"

'What?' He feels confused at her various questions, it takes a few seconds for him to register what she just asked. He answers her, "I guess we ate both. I don't think we ate one or the other solely, no idea how much I ate in comparison though. I can't remember being with anyone else or eating with anybody else." A depressing thought, but he's mostly gotten over the thought of having no other human contact by now. Dr. Pharn seems to accept that answer, she asks something else,

"And how do you feel, having a solely organic diet?" That seems rather personal, she gets more specific. "Internally I mean."

Daniel glances upward towards the ceiling, answering as she gets ready to write down what he has to say. "I'd say healthier. Can't say I'm used to the idea, but I don't remember how meat tastes like honestly." An odd thought to be reminded of, the majority of what he's eaten so far has been veggie food, the only odd one out being hay burgers which tasted eerily familiar. He explains, "I know beef's a thing, same as chicken and pork."

The doctors seem calm as he explains this, he thinks to himself, 'Guess they want me to be thorough, regardless of what they eat.'

Dr. Pharn inquires, "And did you have anyway of...hunting said animals. Preparation?" Does she think he's primal or something? He's not exactly a predator by any means, if anything he figures himself prey since he got swarmed by timberwolves when he first arrived. He remarks, entertained by the idea,

"Heh. Yeah, I leapt on wild cows and pigs and carried them off into the night, eating them whole and raw in a cave."

Twilight's ears lower, both a little uncomfortable and confused at how he decided to answer that kind of question. Dr. Pharn writes down his ill comment, Daniel notices her write it down and shakes his hands side to side. He tries to explain, "Oh, nonono, I'm kidding! I'm kidding!"

Twilight places her hoof on the bridge of her nose, she says to Daniel upon realizing he's kidding with them, "Dan, please take this seriously." Dr. Pharn simply erases the comment, backing up Twilight's request,

"Yes, this is important. Though I wish we could stay longer, it's important that we can get as much information as possible for future study down the line."

Twilight feels the back of her neck, apologizing for the seventh time in the past hour, "Yeah, sorry about that. I booked the wrong train.."

Dr. Pharn replies, flipping through the previous notes Twilight has gathered over the past few weeks, "It's quite alright Miss Sparkle." She examines a page closely, adding, "This should be more than enough for now, you are much more informative than you've given yourself credit for." She faces Daniel, asking another question as she prepares to write down his reply,

"Daniel, do you have a description for the opposite gender of your species? Any different physiology, features?"

'Huh..' He hasn't seen a woman in who knows how long, but he describes one crudely, "Uhm. Thinner, longer hair." He gestures to the top of his head, he continues, "More curved around the waist, a lighter voice, just like either of yours'. It's not much different than you'd expect."

Dr. Pharn suddenly places a notepad on his chest with a pencil, she requests, "Could you please try to show a representation of a female of your species?" A strange request, but he can't blame them for his crude verbal description not being enough. He sighs, taking the notepad in his hand and the pencil in the other. He sits up and comments,

"Not exactly much of an artist.." He tries to recall a girl's body, starting with a head and working his way down from there. Down to the curve of the shoulders, arms, down the stomach to the curve down the waist. He tries to be precise, but as he says, he's not an artist nor is he good at drawing in his opinion. He erases several incorrectly curved lines, working his way down from the thighs down to the sloppily drawn feet.

'Ugh..'

He's not satisfied with his results, but he hands over the notepad to Dr. Pharn none the less. She examines the crude depiction, glancing several times over at Daniel to compare his physiology to drawing. She holds it up to his face with her magic grip, pointing with the pencil at the lady's chest, asking him, "What is this?"

Daniel chuckles and half smiles, explaining, "Those are breasts. Crudely drawn ones, but breasts none the less.."

The three seem puzzled at his apparent humor regarding it, realizing they don't quite have the understanding of what breasts are in comparison to their biology. Dr. Pharn tries to remedy the confusion, asking,

"Teats?"

Daniel half smiles, "That's..one word for it." He's unsure of how to explain it, he feels a little uncomfortable at their odd reactions with such a significant biological difference. 'Wait, do horses even have breasts?..' He feels weirded out by his looming question in his head, he shuts it out and just tries to forget. Twilight looks especially puzzled, she passively rolls her eyes, correctly assuming it's a male thing their species may share in common with a visual stimulant of some kind.

"I will assume that they provide the same function as teats, albeit they look a little crude for a biped." Dr. Pharn comments on the depiction. He's left wondering if she's talking about the drawing or his depiction. She continues, asking a question. "I will also assume the female of your species has similar genitals, opposite of your own. Would that be correct, could you show a representation of that as well if you can?"

'Bleh..' The thought nauseates him a little, she seems pretty brash to request that. Daniel comments a little nervously, "Yeah, I'd rather not.." He thinks objectively,

'I can barely draw a person and you want me to draw that?..' He feels this has escalated quickly, though it's a physical examination so maybe he shouldn't be surprised at such questions. Dr. Pharn flips a page in her notepad, peering at some underlined quote from Twilight. Dr. Pharn replies,

"Hm. Alright, we can save that for another time." She closes the notepad and requests, "Well, let's get as much underway as possible. Please if you would, take off your shirt." Daniel's eyes widen at those words, but he silently complies, not exactly much to hide. He sits up and pulls at the front of his shirt, lifting the edge over his chin, he wriggles his arms out and pulls off his shirt, setting it aside. He looks down, seeing his fairly average body build and the knife scar strewn across his upper stomach.

"Hm, yes. We heard about your little..incident." Dr. Pharn says as she examines his chest. The male unicorn in the background finally says something after so long of Dr. Pharn taking charge.

"We got some medical notes upon our request from the hospital in Ponyville. From our understanding, you seemed resistant to our medication in general. Even some extreme methods of anesthesia seemed mild in effect, according to their reports of your struggling while on the way to the hospital."

Dr. Pharn starts drawing a very detailed mockup of his chest along a stretch of whiteboard on the wall, taking careful notes on the spot he was stabbed. "Assuming some common physiology between our species, they had some surgery to assess and attempt to sew up any internal injuries you had gotten." she says as she levitates a marker and points along the scar depiction on the whiteboard. "Thankfully, and very fortunately for you, the blade had pierced through some thick muscle and narrowly missed any major organs. It was very close to what we assume to have been your aorta." she explains.

"Er, what's an aorta?" Daniel asks, as he doesn't know what that is.

Twilight uncomfortably answers him before the doctors have a chance to, "Dan, that's an artery in your abdomen. Uh, stomach area. A major one that branches to your legs, arms, and head. It carries all the blood throughout your body, what she's trying to say is that it would have been.." She looks very uncomfortable finishing her explanation,

"It would have been immediately fatal if the blade had pierced your aorta, you would have bled out internally faster than any pony that would have been able to get help.." Daniel feels a sense of dread wash over his body, his arms shake and his skin goes pale as he comes to the realization that he would have died immediately if the blade had gone a little to the left or a little to the right.

"...oh.." he replies sheepishly, thinking to himself, '..fuck..' He's visually disturbed, Twilight notices the dread on his expression and tries to reassure him.

"But you're fine now Dan..you're back on your feet and all well." She places her hoof on his leg and tries to smile, but he seems to be in inner turmoil, coming to terms with his very good fortune. Dr. Pharn interrupts their little moment, professionally.

"We only have an hour, respectively. Daniel, would you mind indulging us?" Daniel snaps out of his train of thought and nods, asking about it.

"Sure..what is it?" Dr. Pharn simply answers,

"The full body examination part of today's session. I advise you to take off your pants, if you would so oblige." She waits for him to reply or at least respond in someway, but he's motionless.

He's speechless. It takes a moment for Twilight to register what that entails, her face goes ablush with light red and she takes her hoof off his leg as she shuffles away from him. She embarrassedly asks Dr. Pharn a question.

"Uh huh..hah..should..should I be there for that?.."

"If you'd like to, Miss Sparkle." she simply answers, the words sound awkward with Daniel's perception. He places his hand over his face, flustered at her question as he thinks objectively against Twilight.

'Twilight, for all that's good and holy, just please stop..' No avoiding the inevitable, he uncovers his head and sits back up, he reaches downward for his zipper. Twilight's eyes widen, she smiles with a shocked expression and she stutters out a funny noise.

"Ahh—Wahaha..!" She makes the funny noise and stands on her hind legs, putting her hooves up in the air; her face ablush with red again. Shuffling away from him and to the door, she makes her way outside the room. Daniel breathes a sigh of relief, he undoes his pants button and fills their request.

45 minutes later

45 minutes later

Daniel steps out of the medical office, he zips up his pants having gotten his clothes back and his business taken care of. Twilight sitting across the hall reading a book.

'Well, typical Twilight.' He walks on over, in some fancy doctor's office waiting room. He half expects to see Lime but she wouldn't be way up here. He waves and informs her of his concluded business.

"Twilight, guess I'm done here." he explains. He reaches into his back pocket, handing her the notepad from earlier. "Er, they wanted me to give you this back."

She grasps it with her magic, inspecting the inside contents, seeing them having highlighted several excerpts and adding some notes. 'Huh, guess they made copies.' she thinks to herself as she looks up at Daniel.

Twilight smiles, she stands up from her waiting room seat and gestures for him to follow. "Dan, remember I said I might have some help for your nightmares?" She looks eager for a response, enough so that she doesn't wait for him to reply. "Come on, I booked you a special room." Sounds vague the way she says it. Daniel looks suspicious, she rolls her eyes happily and insists again, "Just come with me." She trots off to the outside of the building, Daniel thinks to himself, 'Back to hotel rooms?..well at least I'm not paying.' He's surprised he remembered at all, perhaps she did?

It's night in Canterlot, the trip back was short, but it took a while to get everything organized again with those biologists after being a day late. Daniel follows Twilight through alleyways, past a few markets and behind stalls. This feels familiar and he easily finds out why as he thinks,

'Another town, another thing to hide...oi, I doubt they'll get used to me though.'

He doesn't plan on staying long, Canterlot looks nice, but Daniel's eager to head on home after he's done with Twilight's apparent solution to his nightmares. She seems to be implying it will at least. Eventually he follows Twilight to what looks like a castle gate, a couple of royal guards are posted, clad in golden armor and armed with pointed spears. Twilight trots on over, speaking something in a gate guard's ear, surprisingly they open the gate shortly after and she gestures for him to follow as she walks inside.

'..fancy' That's an understatement, the castle looks amazing, if a bit mild in it's color scheme compared to a lot of other things he's seen. The guards seem disciplined to some degree. When they see him alongside Twilight, they don't seem to stare whatsoever; Hard for him to tell if it's politeness or something they're trained to do, watch without watching directly. Several tall corridors and marble-clad hallways later, she stops at a room's door, the frame clad with a brownish-red wood finish. Pinned to the door is some sort of plaque, it says in a fancy font,

'Reserved'

Daniel looks down at Twilight questionably, he gestures over at the door, he looks baffled at what he thinks she's conveying. Her smile dies down, seeing his assumption, she corrects his weird thoughts and loosely explains to him. "I know it sounds weird, but I just need you to go to sleep." Her magic envelopes the doorknob, a gentle twist slowly peeks the door open with a soft click. Daniel still looks at her, confused as whatever she's trying to do. He sees a royal-looking large queen-sized bed, the top frame clad with a thin silk cloth cover.

"So not helping.." he says.

She gets impatient and just decides to push him inside with her magic, he stumbles a little as she stands in the door frame to say, "Please Dan, just go to sleep. I'll come see you in the morning, okay?"

Daniel huffs air through his nose, he puts his hands up in the air, conveying 'whatever!' as he takes a seat on the bed. To end whatever thoughts he might still be having, she promptly leaves and closes the door behind her. She rolls her eyes and starts walking away down the marble hallway, she mutters under her breathe with a sigh, "Ugghh...guys." She dismisses his behavior and decides to take out the notepad the doctors gave back from her saddlebag, she begins skimming through the pages to review the previous entries she's written and the additional notes they've added. She's surprised when she reads an excerpt, written specifically to her from the doctors. She mutters to herself as she reads it,

"Daniel healthy...optimal conditions for study...observation duties given to...me until further notice?"

She blinks, Twilight's surprised that they'd give her that duty to do, but she feels determined as she accepts the challenge. They're not going to be in Canterlot for long, so it's up to her for the rest of the study! At least that's what she takes it as. "Hmph, alright then!" She flips through the next few pages to look for any further instructions from the doctors.

Unfortunately for her, she finds something she didn't expect. She yelps aloud as she sees a drawn depiction of an appendage.

"W-Whaaa—!!" She drops the notepad and steps back, her mind smitten with the image. Her right eye twitches, she sporadically smiles and kids herself with a laugh as she repeats a phrase to herself..

"Ah..haha..I..didn't see that..I-I didn't...see that..." Denial.

Meanwhile, Daniel lies back in bed and follows Twilight's previous suggestion and settles himself in bed. A familiar thought looms in his head, he remembers and says aloud to himself, "...probably should have fucking asked.." He wipes his face, he has the feeling again that he's thinking too much about it. Tucking himself in, he lays his left arm beneath the large pale white pillow, getting comfortable. He just wants this day to end. Thoughts rattle in his mind as things start to fade into black, but none he can seem to put coherent thought into.

Tic.

Tac.

Tic.

Tac.

Tic.

Tac.

'..great, there's a damn clock in here too.' He can't seem to get away from them. Daniel tries to ignore it, he figures he must not have heard it before in the room.

Tic.

Tac.

Tic.

Scrape.

He listens again, anticipating the next tic, but it doesn't come. He thinks objectively, 'That wasn't a clock..'

Scrape.

He's not in bed either. He opens his eyes, back in the void that envelopes his nightmares, on the ground and lain on his left arm. He says aloud, "...fuck." as he realizes he's having a nightmare again. Daniel rolls himself over and stands, trying to observe what the abomination has to offer this time.

Scrape.

He turns around, hearing the scraping noise from behind, he sees nothing but blackness and the rest of the void. He hears a giggle, followed by a familiar voice,

"Nyehehehe, come here~!" It's Pinkie's voice from behind him, but he figures not to trust it, he doesn't like the idea of it warping her out of everyone he knows. He thinks objectively, 'I'm not looking.'

She asks aloud again, expectedly her voices starts to warp into a grotesque lower pitch, "Daaaannyyy~!" She calls out to him from behind again, "But I need you.."

"Fuck you.." he mutters, angry that it's trying to mess with him like this with her. Her voice warps to her usual higher pitch, requesting,

"Danny..I need you to help me with something..." she implores him, her voice sounds like her usual high pitched voice. Daniel resists the urge to look, she pleads again.

"Danny...please?.." She begs again. "Danny?..why are you ignoring me?...don't you want to help me?"

Daniel starts walking away, he doesn't want to be messed with and fooled into a jumpscare by a nightmare, as twisted and sincere as the Pinkie pleading to him sounds. He starts speed walking into the darker part of the void, half expecting for him to be abruptly stopped or jumped at by the monstrous sounding Pinkie from behind. Her voice fades as he walks farther and farther away, he keeps ignoring her repeated pleas to come over and help her. Daniel keeps thinking to himself, even if it sounds obvious when he thinks it.

'That's not Pinkie, that's not Pinkie..'

He stops walking as he sees a familiar yellow hue come into existence, sitting up and faced away, stroking something repeatedly in it's lap. Something else starts to envelope the empty space it's emptily stroking, is a familiar pink. Daniel peers, trying to put it together, he eventually gets drawn in and takes a few steps closer and sees something weird.

'..Fluttershy?' he questions the shape and colors, is definitely them.

Fluttershy's sat down, Pinkie's lying in her lap sideways, Fluttershy seems to be repeatedly stroking her head like she was back on the train with Danny. He expects this to be some weird twisted trick, he turns to look away, but he hears Pinkie's familiar voice again,

"Danny.."

Against his urge to look away, he glances over. Fluttershy still faced away and obscuring his view, though it seems apparently obvious that she's petting her head. Pinkie asks again, her voice sounds emotionally crushed and devoid of emotion.

"...why won't you help me?..."

Scrape. He hears something tear.

Pinkie's body spasms repeatedly, Daniel steps back and hears her choke and gurgle, her hooves continue to twitch for a few moments before she just stops moving. Fluttershy continues to seemingly keep petting her motionless body, he's disturbed by this combination of sound and visual horror, he tries to remember that it's not Pinkie and this isn't real.

Suddenly Fluttershy's ear twitches, she slowly turns and faces him, her face strewn with warped flesh and mass underneath the featureless face and skull. His skin starts to crawl as she strokes Pinkie's head and says in a grotesque pitch with Fluttershy's sincere voice,

"Hush now, you're alright.."

Fluttershy turns her body and faces Daniel with a knife below her hoof, Pinkie's limp body rolls over from the motion, her eyes motionless as Daniel sees the streak of red flesh torn across her neck.

He takes a step back at this grisly display, shaking a little. He stares at the abomination posed as Fluttershy, her warped mouth starts to undulate, repeating her twisted words,

"It's okay...you're alright.." The warped flesh begins to tear across it's mouth, he can hear it rip like a piece of fabric. He takes another step back as her head slowly starts to vibrate from the action, something starts to poke out of the torn flesh where the mouth should be. He quivers at the sight, he knows what it is, he closes his eyes before it jets out of the tear in it's flesh.

"Rebar.."

Tear.

Scrape.

Crick.

Crack.

Snap.

Thud.

He gasps, he's awake, he's back in bed. He feels a pressure beside him, on the bed beside him, something's there. He opens his eyes, seeing a set of green and blue hued eyes staring down at him with a warm smile.

"Are you okay Danny?.." She tilts her head, reassuring him.

"It's okay." She places a hoof on his forehead, her eyes lower and she warmly smiles.

"You're alright.."

Author's Note

And so the obsession begins! Sorta.

This picture seems to come to mind..

https://derpibooru.org/156491?scope=scpe671deece1eb0a3bca0f9922efa405d065f8b18c9

Will probably work on the next chapter later today or tomorrow, gotta sleep for certain raisins (reasons). I also have an idea of what story to do next after this concludes, have had to draw the preview picture myself for reasons (raisins).

I'll double check on the chapter later, give some feedback if you'd like whoever reads this :D Again, thank you to the people who have read thus far. Again thank you KitsuneNoYomeiri for some formatting tips!

Time To Appease

2 months, 1 day before the fall

2 months, 1 day before the fall

'Danny..'

'Shut up.' He angrily thinks.

A soft voice says, '..come on, look at me.'

'Grr..' he gets angry, he feels a pressure on his neck. It whispers in his ear, it's voice distorted and grotesque.

"Look at me."

A stabbing pain shoots through his neck, he flinches and gasps. He wakes up from his quick little nightmare, picking up his neck from the back of the seat, sitting awkwardly on a bench in the park. Feeling the side of his neck, he figures he must have fallen asleep in an uncomfortable position. He takes a look around while his eyes adjust in a radiant kind of blur, it's still early in the morning. The bright and clear sunlight stings his eyes as he peers and tries to recognize the background.

'Park..hmph.' He tries to piece things together, why's he out here? He hears an eerily familiar voice ask him something.

"..Danny?" Fluttershy asks, Daniel feels something touch his right arm, he glances over and flinches at the sight of her. A split second moment of fear shoots through him, until he realizes it's not what he expected it to be. Fluttershy scoots away, here eyes widen and she darts her eyes at his hands, nervously asking, "W-What? What is it?.."

Daniel shakes his head and tries to shake out his blurred vision, it was obscuring her face into what he thought was an abomination sitting beside him. He yelps, still in the moment out of fear.

"Fuck me, you scared the shit outta me.." He wipes his face and rubs his eyes, the blur starts to fade away as he steadily wakes up from his ill-tainted nap. Fluttershy's a little conflicted on what to say, she scared him? She holds out her hoof to try to comfort him, she pulls away and just decides to ask him something.

"Did..did you just wake up from a nightmare?" She feels a little saddened by this, she suggests upon feeling a little out of place in his current state. "Do you want to go home and go to bed maybe?.."

He thinks objectively, a bit of his anger seeps through. 'You think? I don't want to go to sleep..' He uncovers his face and looks over to her, she picks up on his subtle anger, her ears go down as he asks a question.

"Fluttershy, no offense but..what are you doing out here?" Regardless of his intent, she does take offense from his tone, though she doesn't try to highlight it in fear of sparking some more anger. She simply just looks at him with her pleading eyes, but shortly she answers him anyway.

"I..I was wondering why you were sleeping..so I came over and just wanted to check with you." She sounds innocent enough, he tries to calm down.

Daniel wipes his forehead, he thinks to maybe stand up and stretch a little, his limbs are starting to feel fatigued. He slumps forward and leans his head on his hand, propped on his right leg. He doesn't feel okay, it's not guilt, but something else keeps enveloping in his head. Not pressure, but something else creeps in. He closes his eyes, trying to focus on the emotion, trying his best to try to identify it. He feels dizzy for a moment, he flinches and picks his head back up, he's starting to fall asleep sitting down.

'Ugh..' He should be listening to her, she's only trying to help, even if it feels like she's going the wrong way about it. He glances to the right and addresses her,

"Fluttershy, I'm sor—" He freezes and locks up, seeing the familiar warped flesh along where her face should be, the background starts to phase and distort similarly to the twisted pattern along it's underlining skin. It ungulates as she speaks in a varied warped pitch, Daniel stares at her as his arms and legs freeze in place. It tilts it's head to the right and holds out it's front leg, something starts to jut underneath the skin on it's neck and he looks away as he hears an eerily familiar tear.

"..get some sleep Danny..I'll join you.."

He flinches and slaps it's front leg away as it touches his lap, he opens his eyes and looks back at it. It's not what he expected, again.

"A-Ahh!.." She holds her right hoof with her left one, thinking he just rejected her offer, if a bit violently. She stutters out, feeling ashamed and a little scared of even asking it, "I-I'll just go..if you want me to.." She doesn't wait for him to answer, her inner feelings start to crumple as her fear of rejection creeps in; she scoots away and prepares to leave. Daniel composes himself, trying to excuse his physical response against her. He holds out his hand and tries to pet her, she flinches and puts her shoulders up, guarding her neck from his touch as he apologizes.

"..I'm sorry, I just kinda..hallucinated a bit. I fell asleep for a minute." Seeing her bottle up, he decides to go for her head, the only spot he's familiar with from so much petting with Pinkie way back when they were more able. He peers, seeing something very different about her. Feeling the side of her mane, he asks her while very lightly tugging the bang on her right.

"You..got a haircut. Manecut?"

He questions his vocabulary, trying to change the subject with his discovery. She shifts her focus to his hand, her skin crawls not from fear, but from a bubbly feeling in her stomach. Her ears lower as his hand moves down her head, she feels submissive, letting him continue his odd tangent. She closes her eyes as her wings start to very slightly unfold, her head tilted to her left side, feeling his warm hand against a thinner part of her mane. She answers him, trying to hold herself back.

"Y-Yeah..I just got it this morning.." She begins relishing the warmth, her head started to feel cold despite today's sunny weather, the warmth of his hand feels foreign but strangely soothing. Her ear flicks, her heart starts to go aflutter again from this limited contact as she subtly gets excited again. She feels consoled again, but grateful that he was attentive enough to notice something different; she starts to forget her earlier endeavor entirely in favor for her current feelings. Fluttershy tries to resist the urge to grab his hand again, Daniel suddenly decides to ask something; strangely aware about how she must feel with her short cut mane.

"..and you're not cold?"

He doesn't think he's ever seen her with a short mane, or much of any of the other ponies he knows with any alternate hairstyles other than Pinkie with her long straight hair, only at least once. Fluttershy fails to resist the temptation as she meekly lifts her left foreleg and grasps his wrist, leaning against his open palm with a sense of bliss. His hand on her normally covered fur, she answers him with more of a sensual drive as he strokes the side of her head.

"N-No..not anymore..~" She lightly smiles, her mind floods with suppressed feelings that she's conflicted on whether or not to say, show, or act on. She decides to hold back and instead think it out, unwisely letting him continue to caress her left cheek.

'Stop teasing me..' She glances up towards him, wondering why he rejected her if he just does this anyway. She continues to ask herself another question, trying to piece together his behavior. 'Why..why are you doing this..to me..' She doesn't understand his intentions, he never does this with Twilight or the others, he didn't even do this when he was under her care. She feels conflicted, trying to decide whether to stop him or tell him how she feels about what he does, beyond his lies regarding his nightmares.

'Don't..don't be cruel..' She silently pleads to him, eventually closing her eyes as the combination of her heart and racing mind overlaps her better judgment. He interrupts her thoughts, his hand moves to her perked ear.

"A-Ahh.." Sensual feelings creep back in, her ears twitch in response, slowly lowering as she starts to feel submissive again. Lingering thoughts still try to deny her feelings. 'S-Stop it..I can't..mnmn..~'

All the while, he thinks completely separate thoughts, wondering if he should head home, especially with her pressuring him to go. She's determined, he realizes that as he sighs and suggests a compromise.

"Fluttershy, I'll head home and try to go to sleep..I just won't promise you that I'll stay asleep." He says honestly, which is a bit sad when he recollects it shortly after, "I can't help that..alright?" He looks back at her, still ever oblivious to her body language.

"..Oh..o-okay...~"She's tempted to nip his wrist, she wants to show him how she feels so badly, but her goal of getting him to agree to sleep overlaps her more sensual drive finally. Her thoughts die down very slowly, she lets go of his wrist her front legs start to shake as her mind tries to convince herself to do otherwise.

'Hug him..hug him..' Taking a silent breathe in, she steps down from the bench, stumbling a little from subtle anticipation as she breathes out. She softly coughs and continues with a soft smile, "I'll check on you later..just please try to sleep.." Embarrassingly she flicks her tail, she trots off with a light blush from her impulsive body's action. Daniel's left to lay in peace, at least for a minute until he either takes a walk to Sugarcube Corner or back home. After a moment of weighing the cost and gains, he shakes his head, stands up, and makes his way back home a little ditzy. Mr. Cake doesn't scare him if he'd insist or threaten to make him leave, he's hardly intimidating with that big chin of his and the odd voice he has. However, Mrs. Cake does. He'd hate to be reminded they work at a bakery, and she's within arms reach of a rolling pin.

'Joy..' He's disgruntled by the set of circumstances he's been given, but he told her he'd go try to sleep, even if he really doesn't want to. 'Poor thing.' He thinks. She just tries to help, like every one else, but she can't; not in the way she keeps trying to push him to. Daniel glances back behind him, seeing her disappear behind a few bushes, presumably heading home herself.

'You're starting to scare me..' He's not entirely sure why she is, nightmares painting his friends as abominations aside.

2 months, evening after the fall

2 months, evening after the fall

'Ugh..' A familiar feeling washes over him, he jolts himself awake, thinking he's just fallen asleep. Strangely, he's in his bed over the covers with his outer shirt strewn about on the nearby dresser. He rubs his eye with his right hand, picking up his head off the extended long bed's pillow and tries to sit up.

"Agh..!" He goes down on one knee off the bed, his head starts throbbing and it forces him down onto the floor. He hears a small patter of clicks and clacks, eventually he hears his door open as he closes his eyes wincing. A soft voice says,

"Danny, go back to bed please.." It's Fluttershy, she pleads with him as she walks over and tries to nudge him back up. Instead she feels his hand on her chest, his eyes are wide and he looks afraid as she looks questionably at him. "...Dan, what's wrong?.." She doesn't look right, her face blended in with warped flesh beneath the skin, the top ungulates minimally mimicking her tone. He closes his eyes and pulls himself back up himself, he figures he must be dazed to see her like that.

'I must be..' He shakes his head, feeling that familiar growing pain, but he tries his best to shut it out as he lies back in bed trying to regain his bearings. He asks a golden question.

"Oi." He stretches his neck, he was laying down oddly. "How long was I out?" He seems to ignore her question entirely.

Fluttershy answers him simply, forgetting his lack of politeness. "Uhm..a few hours..you fell and hit your head." She puts her hoof on his forehead, he keeps his eyes closed at least until the creepy sight-altering problem goes away. He peeks, a little disgruntled at his ever-dropping ability to take care of himself.

He assumes she's ever ready should that problem have arisen at some point, he's in favor of that assumption when he glances towards her mane, slightly in disarray. 'Great. Fuck me..' He lies his head back and closes his eyes again, he knows she must be stressed like he is, they share that much in common at least. She's a bit subtler with that type of feeling though. Fluttershy lightly smiles and pets his forehead softly, her heart starts to beat aflutter again, feeding her mild sense of affection.

'Stop it Flutters..stop it..' Trying to shut out any inappropriate thoughts, she changes the subject matter with an offer. "Daniel.." She hasn't used that variation of his name in a while, she continues. "..would you like some cranberry juice?" She tilts her head impulsively with a warm smile, having picked up that he's easier to reason with when Pinkie does the same. It seems to work, he goes along with her offer, sighing a little visually annoyed at something.

"Yeah, sure." He places his right forearm over his eyes, a feeling of deja'vu washes over, it quickly leaves as fast as it came. He thinks objectively, 'Not like I'm going anywhere..especially with you here.' He's not sure how to feel about that line of thought, she's been visiting a lot to check on him, but now it seems she got her wish to take care of him. Albeit, he thinks she would have preferred if he let her willingly. Fluttershy takes her hoof off his forehead, making her way outside of his room at his cue.

'Hmm..' She ponders as she walks past his chair in the small living room, she's read a bit of the magazine he was reading, not much else other than movie reviews and miscellaneous news. 'He's a little more open now..' She just wishes he would have let her inside to watch over him on better terms other than him passing out. She grabs her saddlebags with her mouth, making her way into the tiny kitchen as she places them on the counter. She planned ahead for this with tea, though she hasn't had the opportunity since it'd get cold by the time he'd wake up. She opens his fridge mistakenly, looking for ice in the freezer, instead she spots a small sealed pitcher of dark red liquid. A quick sniff of the top and she confirms it's cranberry, she takes the handle in her teeth and places it on the counter. She mutters to herself, looking into it's contents.

"Oh..Pinkie brought him some.."

She had a container filled with cranberry juice in case he felt thirsty when she came, should the tea had failed to coax him up. She finds Pinkie's gesture thoughtful, but she's otherwise conflicted on how to feel about it, especially about the chips; he's supposed to stick to healthy food until his next appointment with those biologists. 'Hmph.' She tries to dismiss it, she doesn't want to get jealous of one of her friends, so she focuses on her objective at hand and gets a glass from his cupboard.

"...hmm." He's not one to leave a mess, but she can see he hasn't been dusting around at all inside the house or in general around the kitchen. She places the glass underneath the faucet and washes it out first, placing it back down onto the counter clean and pours some of the cranberry juice from the pitcher into the glass just below the brim. She gets curious and sniffs the container, not satisfied with just that, she takes a small sip from the glass and identifies the taste.

'Sweet.' He likes his cranberry unsweetened, from what she remembers, she assumes Pinkie can't help herself with it because of her love of sugar. Fluttershy starts to feel what she best describes as annoyed, she's not used to the feeling, unwisely she instead acts on it. 'Pinkie..why do you do this..' She pours the glass into the sink and washes it out with the faucet, pouring her own container of unsweetened cranberry juice instead as a replacement. She takes a plate out from the cupboard and places the glass on top, she pulls up her saddlebags from the ground and goes through one of them to find something she came here for. '....erm.' She can't seem to find it, after a minute or so of rummaging, she finally finds the familiar shape buried beneath a recipe book she had tucked away. She bites onto the pill bottle's cap and lightly twists it with a crisp snap sound. She slowly empties one if it's contents, a large cylindrical-like pill from at least a dozen others still inside.

'...maybe I shouldn't do this..' She has her own doubts on whether this is right or not, doing this against his will or against his knowledge of it. A sense of guilt starts balling up inside her, she keeps telling herself she means well. 'It's for his own good..it's for his own good..' She takes a deep breath, picking up the pill lightly with the edge of her lips, being careful not to accidentally taste it as she pulls open a utensil drawer. She places the pill into the glass and she sees it start to fizz and dissolve into the cranberry juice, she stirs it with a spoon from the drawer to dissolve faster. She lightly taps the glass, a clear ding noise as she glances back towards the direction of his room, wondering to herself. '..maybe I could save this for another day..he'll be better in bed and..with me..' Her desirous wants start to peek out, her heart starts going aflutter at the thought of him smiling and hugging her, his hands around her, in an embrace for two instead of a one-sided one. She glances back towards his room again, her thoughts start to flood with tender images, she mutters an inaudible noise as she tries to hold back.

"..mmm..mnn.." She doesn't know what to do, or how to block out her desires, both of them she wants and both of them she can get. She thinks about that last bit. 'I..I can maybe get..that..from him..' She wonders how open he'd be to that kind of idea, she's suddenly beginning to anticipate the question as she lightly nips onto the spoon's handle. 'N-Nnn..~' Attempting to weed out her ambitions, she repeatedly envelopes the spoon handle gently with her lips, eventually just biting onto the end as she starts to rub her legs together. Not being able to control her body's subconscious intention to abrade her thighs sensually, she mutters something she doesn't mean for him to hear.

"Mnn..Danny..~"

She's interrupted by his familiar voice of concern.

"Hey!"

She drops the spoon from her mouth and clasps her forelegs together in embarrassment, bundling up thinking he just saw her, she's spooked by the spoon falling onto the floor and making a semi-loud clanging noise as the ends softly ricochet off the floor spilling a few droplets of the drugged cranberry juice. Daniel continues with his call,

"Uh..you alright in there?" He's starting to wonder why she's taking so long to pour a glass, does she not realize he has a pitcher already with some in the fridge? He's tempted to get up and tell her she doesn't have to get some if she doesn't want to, but he's interrupted by a nervous voice calling back.

"Yes!..uhm..I'm okay! I just..dropped something.." Fluttershy shakes her head, her face ablush with red with her inappropriate thoughts of herself and Daniel, her stronger urges having taken over for a minute there. She shakes her head and decides. 'I..I'll do it..' She takes the plate in her teeth and places it on her back, subconsciously balancing it along her lower back instead as she walks back into his room with a nervous smile. She tries to compose herself, trickles of compulsion still making her back legs shake as she approaches his bedside. Daniel looks over, apparently he's tucked himself in to below his armpits with his arms over the covers, which he instantly ruins as he slowly leans up and grabs the glass. She tilts her head, worried that he may find something amiss, but she's pleasantly surprised when she's met with a warm feeling down the left side of her head and along the back of her ear.

"Ahh..~!" She couldn't hold that noise back, she hears Daniel say something sincere.

"Thank you, don't know how you knew I had cranberry though. Guess you know me better, huh?" That's one way to put it, as she blushes meekly at his grateful comment.

He takes a sip, bitter how he likes it, he takes a few small gulps and places it on the bedside table as he continues to pet her ear. To him, it seems like all the ponies he's met like that, albeit he wouldn't try to be physically in contact with Twilight or Applejack, afraid he'd either get hind legs to the chest or a magic strike to the gut. Either way he figures it may be worth it if they'd crack a smile, or at least tolerate it at least once, they're all good friends and he's better at showing than telling in his opinion. He doesn't know how Rarity would feel, he assumes she may be a germaphobe and might not like touching in general, but maybe a thing for another time when he's hopefully more able.

'Bleh.' He starts to feel a little dizzy, he assumes it's the lack of sleep paired with him making the bad decision to get comfortable, he starts to worm his way out of his bed to Fluttershy's mild disapproval. She tries to take it in stride, debating on whether or not to say something to him. Daniel lies back in bed over the covers, one leg over the other as he places his hands over his chest with fingers interlinked together. He closes his eyes for a second, starting to get a little more dizzy than he thought he'd be. He lightly shakes his head, trying to jolt himself quickly awake, to not much of an effect. He's befuddled as he feels a pressure lean on his right arm, Fluttershy leans in and tries to resist her urges, but it seems too tempting to pass up. She starts thinking of her sensual desires lightly again, but they strike her a little deeper with him so close. She mutters again, seemingly not caring if he hears her or not.

"Mmm..mnn.." Her body acts on it's own as she starts to rub her hind legs together again, her tail flickers as her heartbeat picks up from her body's signals. She closes her eyes, trying to block out and resist. 'Danny..~' She can't take it, she doesn't want to hold back, she wants to jump in with him and she's torn between her desires. She huffs a quick gust of air out of her nose as her ear flicks, her forelegs from alleged weakness. She lies her head down along his stomach, taking a small sniff of his clothing as she nuzzles into his side, compelled by a vivid feeling swimmingly comfortably inside her head. She lifts her right hind leg momentarily, trying to climb up in with him, but she resists her strong urge as best as she can. Unwisely, she inadvertently keeps giving into a few, triggering more to want and desire more. Her right leg twitches, her urges start to take over as Daniel seems to drift off unwillingly out of consciousness. Daniel wipes his face repeatedly, trying to get a foothold onto his reality, slowly but surely failing to keep it consistent.

Fluttershy's mouth open slightly ajar with her tongue peeking out, she faces towards his lower body as she lies on his stomach, her forelegs down towards her stomach and somewhere elsewhere sensitive. She mutters silently as she slowly closes her eyes, her mind racing with passion and traces of lust.

"D-Danny..~" She feels tranquil and excited, more than she's ever been used to. She continues, her voice rasp with traces of a familiar zeal. "Ahh..a-ahh..~" She huffs again, her urges growing stronger, she lifts her right leg; silently relishing the combination of her lower abdomen and leg muscles stretch after being pent up for so long. She climbs onto his bed and bstarts lightly shaking, the feeling of utter embarrassment and eagerness overlapping her fear of rejection. She says, her eyes feel heavy as she lowers her eyes.

"You..you'll.." She gets shy at the very last moment, she finishes her sentence strongly, with an eerily familiar phrase.

"..you'll be alright..~"

Author's Note

Edit: Whoops, accidentally posted a comment instead of an Author's Note....oopsie.

I'll sum up what I wrote. I got a bunch of delays at home, nothing to worry about, had to fix a big mistake from going on and off of editing and adding onto this chapter as it got all jumbled up.

I'd like to thank you all who have read and stuck by this far, especially the people who have watched me :D I appreciate the feedback and favorites, is very motivating to expand and improve.

I often seem to link pony-related pictures when I reply to comments, so will start putting them down here. My head canon (like many others) is that pony's like to be scratched behind their ears, this link below shows that perfectly, even better with Pinkie! I imagine the expressions much like this when Daniel pets and scratches a pony, namely the 5th and last panel! Is so cute~

https://derpibooru.org/502747?scope=scpe733d88054ea5554768afe52c863c3f6a7ec98cc7

Time To Sleep

"Hush Now, Quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head~" She sounds soft and caring, if a bit out of place with her timing.

'Fluttershy..' He doesn't want her to start, as nice as her intentions might be to try to sing him to sleep. He doesn't want to go to sleep, but she seems to continue to push it.

"Hush Now, Quiet now—"

He thinks objectively, momentarily. 'Great..' She continues with her singing.

"—it's time to go to BED." That last word lingers with anger, as if she gritted her teeth when she said it. He wonders to himself, 'Why is she angry?' Daniel debates on whether he thought that or said it accidentally. As he opens his eyes ready to ask her if she's alright, he sees something unexpected standing above his chest.

"Drifting..off to sleep.." It mutters it's words in it's varied pitch voice, mimicking Fluttershy as an abomination in a pony-like figure, it lies above him with it's warped limbs to his sides in deformed shapes. He can hear a sort of creaking, a light grinding metal sound as it tilts it's head, mimicking her behavior like earlier. Staring at him, inches away with it's non-existent eyes; it continues it's eerie variation of her lullaby as Daniel closes his eyes, his limbs frozen in fear as he can hear it's flesh ungulate with a subtle moistness that makes his skin crawl.

"Leave the darkened life..behind you.." Daniel doesn't dare to turn his head, it continues with it's eerie chatter. "Drifting..off to sleep.." Daniel can feel a burning pain where he knows his scar is, he pleads to himself in a blanket of fear as it feels like his wound is re-opening.

"Please god..make it stop.." The abomination, despite it's supposed position over his chest while he's lying on a bed, he can hear it below his right ear; behind him.

"Let the joy of dreamland—FOUND YOU!" He feels something jut into his stomach, he yelps in pain as the bed seemingly disappears, he lands 2 feet or so onto the ground on his back, holding his stomach. To his surprise, he feels no blood and can't feel an opening, he starts to hyperventilate as he repeatedly pats his chest to make sure. Daniel holds his head and listens as he gets up onto his knees, waiting for it to strike again if it does. He's afraid; he's back where he doesn't want to be. He tries to shut it out, shut the fear aching in his body, his mind tries to motivate him to stand up as his legs shake.

'Get up...Get up.' He follows his own advice and attempts to stand, his knees wobble a bit but he manages to balance himself. Placing his right hand on his chest, he closes his eyes and tries to calm his breathing before he starts to panic. He takes one breath in, hearing footsteps behind him, one breath out. One breath in, he hears something else, one breath out.

That breath isn't his.

Feeling a precise strike to the back of his head, "GAAH!" he grasps his head as he stumbles forward onto his stomach, the abomination's pacing choosing to get immediately violent. Dazed, Daniel tries to worm himself away using his legs to push himself away, he's surprised when he feels the blood rush from his body straight to his head. He's left upside down, grasped by his ankle and lifted off the ground, trying to piece together what he's experiencing from his sudden assault along with his sudden new orientation. He blurts out, still closing his eyes, jumbled up from the feeling of being forcibly hung upside down. "Oh fuck me.."

He attempts to wriggle his way out of it's grip, he decides to open his eyes and looks up suspiciously as it seemingly just holds him up in place. He kicks and puts the bottom of his foot beneath it's neck and kicks; No dice. It doesn't budge, and it doesn't seem to like his struggling. The abomination steps to the left and roughly lets him go with a weak toss onto the ground. Daniel lands on his shoulder, he rolls over and gets on one knee to face it, it's body is in it's usual shape; a copy of his own body and clothing with a warped head with waves of flesh strewn about it's non-existent face. Disturbingly, it's right wrist snaps backwards and what seems like rebar slowly starts to poke it's way out from the stub, rapidly jutting out as if it was being hammered out. Daniel repeats his same panicked maneuver, this time on his feet, backing away slowly as it starts to take steps towards him; brandishing it's rebar-like arm as a weapon to it's side.

Unexpectedly, his back hits against an invisible wall, he thinks 'Oh, fuck you!' as he panics at the sight of it approaching closer. The void doesn't appear to be in his favor, warranting more of the nightmare's needs than his own, Daniel hugs the invisible wall with his back ready for what's to come, namely the rebar spike that's replaced it's hand. He suddenly hears something a little jarring, another voice yell out with an echo that sounds like thunder, it spooks him and seemingly the abomination as well.

"Enough!"

The void shakes in the wake of the female voice, the abomination slowly turns behind it, Daniel picks up his head and looks as well at a tall figure with four legs approach the abomination with a steady pace. Daniel suddenly feels the invisible wall seemingly disappear, he stumbles a bit from hugging it, but he keeps looking onward thinking to himself, 'Is that a..pony?' It doesn't seem so, the figure's too tall to be a regular pony, pegasi, or unicorn. Evidently it seems to be a mix of all 3 as it steps out of the darker part of the void, it's head wrapped with a dark cloak and a horn through the opening hood, large wings unfold and spread as the cloak seems to untangle itself and fall to the invisible floor. Yeah, that's a pony; a tall one at that. A name comes to mind, but he can't put his finger on it.

It comes into view into the void's light , it's in an overall shade of dark blue with a long flowing spectral-like mane flowing like a flag, despite no wind in the void. Daniel assumes it's a she, analyzing her long body structure and the curves along with it, not counting the eyelashes and what seems to be her mane curving along the top of her head in a freelance-like style. 'The heck is she..' She seems to be walking clear towards the abomination. Strangely, she stops in front of it and stares at it clearly in it's non-existing eyes, saying to it passively,

"Deep seeded." She peers and continues walking, Daniel expects her to bump into it, but she instead seems to phase and walk clear through the abomination, it's grotesque body warps and falls apart at the disturbance in it's physiology. Daniel backs up again, thinking to himself as he watches the pieces flop onto the floor and seemingly disintegrate. 'That is.. un-nerving..' He didn't expect that to happen, nor is he sure what to be afraid of now; the abomination or the pony that just seemingly killed it. She addresses him as she approaches him.

"Sir Daniel, I presume." She stops in front of him, he's not used to being talked to by someone this tall, she sounds oddly regal in her mannerism.

He illogically replies to her, "You.. are the first thing I've met to meet me at eye level." He seems strangely intrigued by her size, not having met a pony of this height before. He's used to looking down instead of forward, a force of habit he's grown used to.

She doesn't seem to have expected that kind of statement, but she instead stays collected at his strange reply and continues, "You are of what Twilight spoke of you." It takes a couple of seconds for him to register what she just said with her strange dialect, she continues. "You are a tad, sarcastic? Is that correct?" Does she not know the definition of sarcasm? He thinks to himself, 'This is..weird.' as he thinks on it, she looks oddly familiar with her blue color. He musters out a question as he ignores her question, "I'm guessing you're..Lunar?" She raises one of her eyebrows, her lower brow with a light touch of what seems like light blue eye shadow that blends lovingly well with her overall body color. She replies, confident in her answer.

"I will assume so." He guesses she means the sarcastic question instead of referring to the previous question. "You may call me Luna, Sir Daniel." She assumes he knows her description, Twilight having told him after her initial attempt to help him back in Canterlot failed, it seems he's forgotten her explanation though. He feels.. off on how to feel, one moment cowering in fear from the abomination, the next confronted and conversed by a tall blue pony with wings and a horn. He steps away and shakes his head, she seems to read his body signals and answers him without him asking the question. "I can assure you that you are asleep, but I am not a dream."

Daniel can't help but feel amused by that statement, as serious as it sounded. 'Is that supposed to be a self-proclaimed compliment or something?'

He then quickly realizes he should be a bit more respectful when he remembers Twilight's lesson to him about basic pony history, especially Luna, when she and someone named Celest can raise the sun and moon at will. He panics in his mind when he recalls the specific ability to banish someone to a celestial body, like the moon or possibly the sun. 'Oh fuck, did I just insult a god..' He puts his hands up, trying to be friendly and understanding about it, but instead comes off as awkward. "Ah..haha, I'll take your word for it." He then starts to wonder if she can read minds, if she can raise the moon, why not that?

She raises her eyebrow again, curious about his choice of words and how he said it. Daniel feels a little at ease, enough to ask her something else. "I'm guessing you're Twilight's..solution? Err, Princess Luna?". It feels strange to address her that way, but she answers him regardless of his feelings about it, used to the royal title.

"Yes. Though perhaps we should both apologize on our..absence. You have not been asleep consistently for a long time." She seems to have only been able to help him when he would go to sleep, though his fear has been keeping his incentive to sleep at a minimum. She glances around the void and states, "I shall free your consciousness, it seems..clouded." She closes her eyes, a blue magic glow infuses and floats about her horn, suddenly the black around them begins to seemingly tear itself apart. 'Oh shit' he thinks to himself, watching the background drastically change, the black void tears away and disintegrates to reveal a light blue and white background to this area.

"Whoa.." He's a little astounded, the area becoming vividly brighter instead of cloudy and confined. The black void comes up and seems to segment away, Luna suddenly opens her eyes, both flash with an extreme glowing bright white. Daniel backs away from her, remembering the irrational pony god fear. Her magic envelopes the tears floating in mid air, suddenly they all disintegrate as she focuses; leaving the area in a much more soothing light blue and white with a low ankle-high white fog. He asks himself a question aloud, "Was this place always this.. bright?" Luna closes her eyes and they seem to flash back to normal, her magic dissipates and she lightly smiles, answering his sarcasm.

"This is your consciousness, Sir Daniel. Or at least a confined part of it, as best as I could describe to you." Again with the Sir title, he's not used to it. Daniel comes to the realization that he's been struggling with this abomination in his consciousness, though he doesn't know exactly what that entails. Back to the whole pony god standing next to him, he asks,

"Did you just..get rid of that thing?" He seems hopeful in that question, he expects a happy answer to his seemingly resolved problem.

Instead, Luna shakes her head, disapprovingly saying, "I can not fix what isn't broken. Just as the same that I can not make a problem go away with just a thought, this is your mind."

He asks in his meta mind, 'What? Then what are you here for?' Daniel asks aloud instead.

"Then..what did you just do? Didn't you just kill, or get rid of that..thing?"

She plainly states to him without dancing around the subject, "I can not get rid of that part of you." Daniel freezes at that answer, what did she just say? She continues, "You need to face your fears, even if it disturbs you so." She glances at him, hoping he'll pick up on what she's saying. Sadly, he does not, and she is forced to have to explain it in further, but not in anymore comforting detail. She gives her explanation, "You are repressing memories, Daniel." She steps towards him, facing him directly. "And that thing you describe is an embodiment of those emotions, from those memories."

She looks uncomfortable, seemingly angry as she explains further. "Anger. Hate. Resentment. All powerful emotions that you've tried to forget." Daniel takes a step back, his head starts to feel weird as she explains it further, Luna glances to the right for some reason. Daniel looks over too, seeing the abomination standing across from them, without it's rebar hand; it's just standing there watching. He feels uncomfortable, but Luna continues, giving her insight as she stares at the abomination. "It seems that another part of you won't let you forget."

Disturbingly, the abomination repeats a line said by Twilight in it's twisted pitched version. "It's for your own good.."

He thinks to himself 'The fuck is this?' He steps back away from them both, he thinks she's crazy, messing with his head and encouraging that thing to torment him some more. Daniel says objectively, "Get that thing the fuck away from me." Luna looks down and closes her eyes, she looks annoyed at his response as she suddenly bangs her hoof on the light ground. Daniel feels the floor shift, he nearly falls over as the scenery changes to a strangely familiar setting, what looks like a small home.

"Whoa!..waahh! The heck are you—" he recognizes the place, it's a small apartment. "..wait, this is my—" He's interrupted by a splitting pain, bringing him down to his knees. It's not pressure, but a precise stabbing pain enveloping his head, forcing him to yelp in pain as his ears ring. "A-Agh.." He grits his teeth, the scenery starts to wobble and eventually starts to dissipate away as he struggles on the ground.

Luna focuses, seemingly keeping the scenery stable with her magic as she walks over, explaining to him his situation. "You don't even realize you're doing it, that is why it keeps hurting." Her expression changes to a sympathetic look, she speaks a little softer. "Daniel." She looks down at him, waiting for him to acknowledge her, he glances up as his head feels like it's splitting in half; somehow managing to catch her words. "You need to remember. You need to make yourself remember." She uses her magic to barely pick him up by his shoulder, she finishes her grim explanation as he seems to regain his footing on his own. "Or else you'll keep torturing yourself."

'The fuck is wrong with you..' His head throbs, he suddenly feels compelled to ask aloud as he comes to a realization. "...the fuck is wrong with me?" The splitting pain seems to die down immediately as he calms, having room to think about what she's saying. He places his right hand to his face, thinking things over and over again as he peeks through his fingers at the background. "Ugh.." He feels sick to his stomach, something feels wrong.

He knows this feeling, it's the same he's had when he went with Twilight to Manehattan and he got entranced by the construction site, where he realized he used to work before in a similar setting; He's remembering. The scar on his front starts to burn inexplicably as he looks around the apartment, he tries to ignore the burning as he recognizes the place, recognizing the small kitchen, the couch, the LCD TV that he bought at a yard sale. People, cars, work, his schedule, his room, his—

"Danny."

Daniel freezes, hearing a familiar voice, his stomach balls again lower into his abdomen. He turns around and looks, seeing a familiar face, it's not what he expected. It's himself, sitting on the couch, his hands between his legs while sat leaned forward. Daniel listens, he hears the voice call out again.

"Hey, Danny! You're late, what's up man? You there?..come on man, pick up the phone!" It's his answering machine on a tabletop, the other Danny stays sat on the couch grudgingly. Daniel asks aloud at Luna, "What is this?.." She doesn't seem to want to answer, allowing him to just look on as she stands afar from the scene.

"I can't cover for you, alright? Just call back to work when you get this."

The machine makes a high pitched beep in confirmation of recording the message, the other Danny seems to just sit there indiscriminately ignoring it. Daniel walks over in front of the couch and takes a look at himself, crouching down to get a better look. He looks angry with dead eyes, staring at Daniel, but more specifically at nothing directly in front of him. Daniel steps away and takes a look around, objects begin to change, things seem to have broken; the apartment's a mess. He takes another look at himself sat on the couch, he spots something eerily familiar clasped in his right hand, a wine bottle. It looks almost empty.

'What the..' Has he been drinking?

Tic.

With himself being so quiet, he can hear a clock above the small fridge in the mini kitchen ticking away. Suddenly, the other Danny stands up and yells angrily, which echoes throughout the small room. "SHUT UP!" He throws the bottle at the clock which phases clear through Danny's body as he instinctively ducks. Both the clock and bottle break, the clock falls off it's hinge and lands on the floor, the glass in it's face cracks from the impact and a shard breaks off along with the shattered wine bottle pieces that scatter all across the wall and floor. Daniel steps back, disturbed seeing him self act this violent at such a subtle thing, the other Danny suddenly starts weeping and goes down on all four's crying on the couch. He looks like a mess, rightly so with everything else broken or damaged in the apartment. Daniel thinks, trying to piece things together, asking aloud.

"Was this..how I was?.." He feels uneasy, adding on. "...is this how I am?" He starts to feel empty, that balling feeling in his stomach feeling like it's hollowing himself out. Suddenly, Luna steps in and addresses Daniel.

"We need to go back further, Daniel." She stomps her foreleg on the ground again, the floor and background whisks itself away, Daniel feels disoriented as he realizes what the background has changed to. It's actually not much different at all. It's the apartment, in better shape and intact now. Daniel looks around the room, the couch is turned the other way towards the tv, he sees the other Danny watching a movie of some kind from behind. Daniel walks forward cautiously and walks around, observing his much calmer self. He suddenly sees something else which makes his stomach drop, he hears a soft voice call out.

"Danny?.." The other Danny looks down to his right, a girl lying down along the stretch of the couch, lying on a throw pillow beside his lap. She continues, with his attention grabbed. "Do you think maybe you could change the channel?..it's kinda loud.." The other Danny smiles and reaches for the remote, changing the channel while also moving her long black strands of hair out of her face.

He apologizes with a light hearted smile, "Sorry..did I wake you?".

She softly nods, closing her eyes and shuffling herself deeper into her sleeping position on her left side. Consequently, the other Danny lowers the volume on the tv drastically, eventually just turning off the tv altogether. He places his hand on her cheek, gently stroking it as she softly smiles, she lightly slaps his hand and joyfully asks him to stop. "Danny! Stop it! I'm trying to sleep..I have classes tomorrow."

The other Danny puts his hands in the air, passively complying and says, "Alright, alright. No action movies for me, and apparently no cuddling.." Perfect bait, that she seems to knowingly take.

She gently reaches up and grabs his right hand, pulling him down and says to him face to face. "I didn't say that..fine, fine." She lightly kisses him along his lips, he kisses back and sits back up, letting her lie back down. He offers,

"I'll drive 'ya if you want, I don't have work until later tomorrow."

Waving one of her hands beside her hip, she goes along with it. "Okay, just..please let me sleep. I have to be there early, classes are around seven." She settles back in, tucking her left arm partially beneath her side for warmth, the couch apparently is comfier than it looks.

The other Danny leans back and places his arms along the top of the couch, asking one more question, "Seriously? Wait, seven AM or seven PM? You think it's safe to be out in the park that late?" He's uncomfortable about by that kind of class in general, they mostly take place outdoors.

She doesn't seem to want to deal with his worries again, though she seems to enjoy their little banter back and forth with her meek smile she's hiding, she puts her right hand up and spreads her fingers, muttering. "PM. Night. With a group Danny.." The other Danny puts his hand outward, holding her hand in his own, she seems to follow where he's coming from and holds each other's hands. A loving moment, if just a passive one to have when living together as a couple. She says some sincere words, some that makes Danny's heart go aflutter.

"I love you, Danny..~" The other Danny leans back down and kisses her once more, replying with a warm smile.

"I love you too, Grace~"

That word. That name. It feels wrong for him to remember it. It feels wrong to feel solace from hearing her words. Daniel feels his stomach with both of his arms, the scene starts to de-saturate and blur as he feels sick to his stomach, eventually it all disappears into one big blur. Luna walks beside him, observing the situation and commenting on it.

"You had a lover." She glances over to him, she seems strangely calm.

Daniel tries to compose himself, his stomach feeling like it's tearing into itself and rolling around with the remains, asking her a golden question as he comes to terms with learning his past through these strange flashbacks. "How did I go from..this, to what I saw?" Luna looks down, telling him honestly.

"You won't like it. I don't like it." She looks at him square in his eyes, speaking honestly. "But you need to see it." She stomps her hoof once more, the background shifts and blurs as it changes, Daniel's prepared and stays balanced this time, albeit it's still a jarring experience. He's suddenly in the dark, outside of his apartment, seeing the other Danny and Grace step outside down from their apartment building's front steps, both clad in heavy padded coats. Daniel assumes they're cold, the other Danny steps around a car, which Daniel seems to recognize all too well.

Danny shuffles around the car and grabs his keys from his pants loop, unclipping the key ring, he opens the door and leans inside. He leans toward the passenger seat, clicking it's own unlock button as he almost falls over the arm rest. Grace opens the passenger seat, stepping inside and closes the door beside her, she rushes Danny a bit.

"Come on, we gotta go, we gotta go! I gotta be there in like 5 minutes!" She takes her backpack off of her coat, unzipping it and checking the contents inside. "I..think I got it all." Danny whimsically thinks, 'Oh yes, she thinks she has everything'. He tries to dismiss his inappropriate thoughts. She zips it back up and places it on the car floor, Danny sits in the driver's seat and closes the door beside him. He explains to her, seemingly a little angry.

"Sorry, locks don't work right..I got a raw deal on this stupid Corolla." Grace replies passively, "Well.. at least we have a car. Come on, we gotta go Danny, I was supposed to be early and I overslept!" Danny complies and puts the key in the ignition, it spurts a few times as the headlights flicker, it doesn't seem to want to start. He keeps trying, saying aloud.

"Come on..come on you piece of.." It finally spurts once more and the engine revs, he looks behind him and backs the car up steadily as he looks for oncoming traffic, eventually pulling away down the street. Driving through the city streets, Danny decides to ask as they stop at a stoplight, "Park, right? South or West end?" Grace quickly answers him, "West end. Just..watch it, I want to hurry but I don't want you speeding." It seems she doesn't want a speeding ticket this late at night, she complies and points clear down the street, assumingly at the park's edges in the distance as they pull away from the streetlight. Danny sees the green light in the distance, he's undisturbed as the path seems clear, it turns yellow as they're about to pull up at the park's entrance. A thought flickers in his head, 'Shit..fuck it.' as he puts his foot the pedal and tries to make the yellow light and turn quickly before it turns red, no cars are pulled up from their point of view. He figures they're late enough as is.

The car's gravity suddenly shifts to the right, their orientation takes a new angle as the car flips to it's side and Danny's door collapses inwards, their airbags deploy as they skid momentarily on their roof and the front window pane cracks and shatters from the weight.

A truck from the left had the same idea.

Daniel closes his eyes as the scene fast forwards, he hears sirens start to blare from the distance, seeing the white and red flashing. He blurts out, holding back tears, "Enough.."

Luna glances at him, he repeats his previous request. "..I've seen enough.." He turns away and starts walking away, eventually the scene starts to dissipate back into the cleaner light blue void, but smidges of black void tendrils begin forming again around them as he holds his arms when he starts to shake. He sneers as he begins to lightly cry, ripping on himself.

"I'm such a fucking idiot...I'm such a ..fucking.." He gasps and sniffs, the blackness begins to form around them again as he gets steadily more upset and angrier. "I didn't want her to get hurt and I..just..." He releases his arms and punches to the right, hitting an invisible solid mass that seems to ripple and encourage the blackness to envelope into his consciousness faster. "I made such a big..a big.." He drops down to all four's and tries to finish his sentence.

"..such a big fucking mistake.."

Daniel looks to his left, the other Danny in the same pose, holding his head, drunkenly angry at himself as he weeps on the couch. The other Danny said it before he could. The scene sets back in, rapidly progressing back to shortly after the other Danny threw a bottle and began weeping on the couch, where Grace used to lay. Luna sounds disappointed as she repeats one of her previous quotes, more fitting now than it was before.

"Hate. Anger. Resentment. Where do you think that had gone?" She stomps the ground again, Daniel doesn't bother to try to get up as the scene blurs sometime into the morning, back into the apartment. He watches from the ground as he hears a familiar sound.

Ring-ring. Ring-ring.

The other Danny rolls himself beside the couch, hung over from drinking last night, he works his hand over the couch towards the table and grasps the phone's handle. 'Ugh..fuck me..' He works his thumb over the button, a small beep as he asks sloppily out loud. "Ugh..hello?.." The person on the other end sounds concerned.

"Danny, dude, get over here. You're going to get fired if you miss another day, your grieving days are up, you have to get over here now. I know it's hard, but you need to get over here." His head aches, pressure starts to clamp down as the voice on the opposite end finishes their request. He manages to word out, "Yeah..I'll be..ergh, right there.." He presses the button and mutters again, "..fuck me.." he has to go to work in this state or else. He stretches his arms, he slept in a bad position and frankly he feels like a mess, he heads towards the small bathroom to shower and get dressed for work.

"This is..fucking..bullshit.."

The scene shifts rapidly to the sidewalk, bright orange signs and plastic protectors clad around the edges, Danny's supposedly helping put up some scaffolding as the rest of the crew build some main supports beside them, them already starting to lay down rebar and intertwine them after they laid down concrete slabs. He thinks objectively, seeing his behavior as a mistake since he hasn't been showing them he can do it responsibly. 'Course they'd trust me with it...and I fucking show them I don't care about my progress..fucking idiot..' Danny's head is throbbing as he walks up the wooden planks upwards, he can hear countless saws and trucks coming in and out of the site. He heads to his work area, at least 2 stories high as they begin to lay down some support for the scaffolding itself, he grabs a nearby pair of ear muffs to muffle the sounds in the background and a nail gun above a portable tool chest. He feels nauseous, being this high with his current condition, his head still hurts.

"..."

He stays silent as he kneels and takes several planks and nails them together parallel to an opposite board, beside a thin steel plate to keep them supported for future walkways. He thinks of his usual schedule, his due pattern he's learned. 'Plank in place..parallel..balance..trigger..' He puts the nail gun to the plank and pulls the trigger, a crisp spurt of the mini rotor inside spikes the nail clear into the plank and through it, the nail head stops it. Danny lifts it out of place and places it to the opposite end, repeating his due process in his head, his mind feels dull.

'Place..parallel..balance..' He pulls the trigger, another nail shoots through, then another on the corner. Another to the other corner. Something feels wrong. He moves to the next one, placing the plank again, repeating his pattern. 'Place..parallel..' He pulls the trigger too soon, the nail goes askew into the wood plank, almost missing entirely. He mutters, upset with himself.

"Fuck." He slides the nail head into the rail at the bottom of the nail gun and yanks, forcibly pulling the incorrectly placed nail out. He mutters to himself again, angry at his simple mishap. "Another fucking mistake." He feels empty, he gulps as he finishes, continuing on with his work as he thinks over his words over the next hour.

"Another.."

'Place..'

"..fucking.."

'..parallel..'

"..mistake."

'Balance.'

He drops a board and it falls down below, ricocheting across one of the rebar supports facing upward and settling between them, like a game of Plinko, only laid flat. He doesn't have a chance to yell out to watch out to anybody, but luckily for him it seems no one saw, not that he'd doubt them feeling the need to yell at him anyway. He bangs the bottom of the nail gun against the plank below him, angry at himself again. Danny just decides to sit, setting the nail gun aside as he just tries to think. 'I'm not able to do my job..' Setting his knees upward and his elbows on his upper knees, he holds his forehead with both of his hands, trying to figure out what to do as levels of guilt start to infest in his stomach. Unwisely, he starts to give in to his emotions, he balls a fist and grips onto his hair and yanks, it hurts but he doesn't seem to care. Opening his eyes, his heart rate increases, he stands up steadily and starts walking with the nail gun in-hand.

"It's my fucking fault." He mutters to himself. "It was fucking me.." Things start to blur, his head starts to feel the familiar pain, pressure clamps down as the background steadily paints itself in vivid colors and plasters it. He starts walking down an incomplete walkway, another worker yells at him to warn him.

"Hey..hey that parts not stable! Hey!" The worker stands up and reaches outward, gripping onto the back of Danny's vest, Danny suddenly turns the nail gun towards him. The worker lets go and puts his hands up, slowly backing away as several others come over to try to coax him down. One of the others with protective goggles in the back puts his hands forward, pleading to Danny to put it down.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down buddy. We're trying to help you!"

Danny walks off towards the edge of the unfinished platform, he can feel the wood start to bend. He looks at the other workers, pleading for him to calm down, repeatedly saying to lower his nail gun. Angry and depressed thoughts flood his mind, it screams at him repeatedly. 'It's your fault..it's your fault..it's YOUR FUCKING FAULT SHE'S DEAD' In the moment, Danny drops his nail gun to the other workers' momenatary relief, it falls down the 2 stories, the handle getting caught on a piece of rebar facing upward. One of the others try to coax him further, as it's becoming slowly apparent what he's trying to do.

"..come on..don't make it so hard on yourself." A worker gestures for him to walk back, putting his hand forward then scooping back repeatedly. Danny shakes his head and starts to tear up, pathetically saying to all of them, certain about his choice.

"You can't fucking help me.." The workers shake their heads, repeatedly wording no as he takes a step backwards.

Daniel looks away as his former self makes impact, the rebar jutting clear through the top of his stomach. Daniel places his hands along his scar, it burns with a fiery intensity as he looks back, seeing the other Danny lightly grip the rebar and slowly go limp as the life drains out of him. Daniel falls backwards, landing on the ground staring up at the consciousness now becoming the void again; his feelings influencing it's current state and enveloping it in black. He comes to the realization and says it aloud, he doesn't care if Luna hears it, he feels compelled to say it.

"..it was my fault..it was my..fucking..fault.." He closes his eyes and starts to weep, quietly crying to himself as Luna fades away the grisly sight of the other Danny, impaled on a rebar piece where his scar now exists. She closes her eyes, feeling sympathy for his rough reality check and how he must feel. She argues in her mind that it's a cold way to show him, but he had to know if he was to get rid of his nightmares. She asks him, despite his debilitating depressed state he's in.

"Do you see what the other part of you wanted you to see?" Luna picks him up again, but he doesn't seem to want to stay standing. His limbs feel numb and cold as he just flops over back onto the ground without incentive to stand. He feels dead inside as he thinks over her words minimally, 'The other part of me...that thing..' He opens his eyes and looks up to his left, seeing the abomination just stand there, he understands now.

His hate. His anger. His resentment of his choices. The part of him that hates himself, a part that wanted him dead. That didn't want him to hurt anyone else. It wouldn't let him forget, hate is too strong of an emotion to just simply forget. Luna knows it and tries to connect with Daniel with her knowledge on the matter.

"I know resentment all too well.." She looks up towards the black enveloping his formerly clear mind, she continues. "..but we must move on and forgive ourselves for our mistakes. Anger will cloud your mind and keep you grounded." Luna puts down her hoof and gently tilts his head upward, he sees the black nearly enveloping the light and blue above. "You can not let anger cloud your judgment, like it did before. Or you'll become something.." She looks towards the abomination. "..else." Her eyes, she's remembering her own monster she had become before, for once Daniel notices her visually sad.

Daniel rolls onto his stomach and pushes downward, he keeps thinking over his actions before, he fell so far. Not just the fall, but he fell so far away from how he was because of guilt. Because of hate. Because he was angry at himself. He didn't want to live. It was angry.

He still is.

"I can't forget.." He states as he stands up and closes his eyes, finishing his statement as he faces Luna. "..but..I can forgive.." He gulps, he feels at ease as he turns towards the abomination, trickles of anger spur inside of him as he approaches it. It's been torture, it's been trying to force him to remember all this time, but he wouldn't because of how it's made up with. Hate, anger, resentment towards himself. The abomination simply stares at him as they face each other, Daniel holds out his hand towards it's chest and puts his hand over where the scar is, instead the abomination's body warps as his hand touches. It falls apart with one last quote, words that will stick with him no matter what.

"It was your fault."

"...I know it is.." His consciousness starts to fade, the background starts to de-saturate as Luna starts to walk away, her job done to guide him. He's resolved his problem, but he will have to live with the truth of it. And he thinks he'll be okay with it, as he lets out a semi-happy tear, he smiles as he starts to cry hysterically.

'Urgh..' He feels immediately dizzy and falls backwards, upon impact, he opens his eyes.

He's awake, to a fairly unusual sight; he sees a yellow creature asleep clasped to his side, her mane's in a mess, but she otherwise looks very comfortable as she sleeps. Looking around, he's awake in his room and it's sometime late into the night, maybe somewhere around midnight; he's not sure. He whispers, realizing he's awake.

"Flutter..Fluttershy.." His right arms been clasped onto, so he gently shakes her shoulder with his left hand, her closed eyes starts to twitch as she wakes up. Daniel assumes she must have been asleep for a long time, she quietly yawns as she blinks a few times, she looks up in a bit of mild surprise.

"...oh.." She mutters, shyly still clasped to his side. "..hi..D-Danny.." She darts her eyes away, her cheeks ablush with red as she stays clasped with a sense of fear at what he's going to say next. Her thoughts flood with, 'Please don't notice..please don't tell me to go away..p-please don't pet me right now..~'

He quickly panics as he sees her face, clad with the abomination-like head, he thinks 'Oh fuck me' as he grips her neck, thinking his nightmare isn't over. She gasps as she's lifted upward, her eyes explode in fear, he's seeing something she doesn't understand and she flares her wings, squealing as she's held by her friend off the ground. Daniel stands up, still holding her by her neck, he sees the abomination, not her. He pulls her to his face and says angrily,

"You're..not..ME."

"Hu..h-huh..!"

She's afraid.

Author's Note

Whoa, that was a lot to type, but happy with the end result!

PLEASE provide feedback in the comments, would love it and feel like I need some, is mostly imperative really. I will say this is not the last chapter, as the ending implies.

Is currently 1:50 AM at the time or typing this, spent the past half an hour overlooking the chapter, making sure I didn't make the same mistake as before. Also at the time of writing this, 838 views :D Again, thank you all of you who have read and followed this far.

Please, if you can, the people who follow and/or not follow who just happen to read this on a whim. Comment below on how you think this chapter went, whether the decision to reveal the above was fitting or not, or otherwise with your feedback!

Edit: Whoops, forgot the link to the cute! In this case, only mildly concerning.

https://derpibooru.org/658326?scope=scpe4590d708800806e02f8dc7fe031ab522568d5307

Time For Mistakes

"I'm sorry.."

"Huh-uh.."

She silently cries while held by Daniel, she tries to push him away, confused on whether to take his embrace or just push him away for hurting her. Her thoughts flood with conflicting feelings behind them, trying to tell her to hug him back or reject him for what she thought was originally rejecting her violently.

'Please..don't..'

She tries to push him away, he seems insistent on holding her in place. '..why are you so cruel..' Fluttershy's confused, one moment in love, interrupted by the sheer look of hate from her friend, then held against the wall being choked. Now he just want to hug her. '..why?..' she thinks as she lets him try to comfort her, her mind flooding with signals to either just bolt or just to submit and protect herself.

He sits along his bedroom floor, legs crossed, Fluttershy sat bundled up in fear on his lap as he repeatedly strokes the back of her head. She's hurt, he knows she must have some bruising on her lower jaw; she detests internally, keeping her head buried in his neck with silent tears rushing through her frightened closed eyes. She hears him apologize, his voice sounds breathy as he seems to hold back tears of his own. He sounds upset, but concerned in a way she's not familiar with; He sounds guilty.

"I'm sorry..I didn't mean to hurt you..I didn't mean for..me to hurt you.." He recognizes his own words, they feel hollow to him compared to when he originally said it, his mind argues at this depressing sense of deja 'vu.

'I didn't mean to hurt you..I didn't mean it..' He puts his hands along her shoulders and pushes her gently away, trying to stare at her directly, but she doesn't seem to want to look at him. Her eyes dart away and seem to twitch in fear, the ears are flat instead of upward in their usual perkiness, Daniel can feel her body shake as she lowly gasps between her audible crying. He tries a last resort, moving his hand to her left cheek to try to comfort her in the way he knows she and Pinkie likes.

"H-hauh.." She flinches and closes her eyes, moving her head to the right side to avoid contact, her front forelegs come upward to protect her head as she can feel his hand slide slowly past her left cheek. She pleads repeatedly in her head instead of aloud, her mouth quivering too much to be able to say it, very slightly ajar. 'D-Don't..'

Daniel takes this opportune moment to explain to her what happened quickly, before she breaks down emotionally. "Luna.." Fluttershy instantly recognizes the name, she glances over to him for a moment as he continues. "..she helped me remember, and helped me resolve the problem with that thing. That abomination." Fluttershy cautiously listens, her head still turned away, she starts to perk up as she feels his fingers settle around the back of her left ear. "..I.." Daniel's unsure of if he should explain that part with Grace, he might explain it to Twilight, but not her. He rushes ahead and just states plainly and simply. "I should be fine now. Just..I still saw it when I woke up. You looked like it and I..reacted." Her cheeks flood with trace amounts of pink, she looks like she's stopped crying, but Daniel doesn't feel any better as he looks towards her neck.

"..I'm sorry for doing..this, to you. I didn't know it was you." It feels awkward, but necessary to ask as he inquires at the slightly purple sight along her neck. "Does it.."

She assuredly but cautiously nods to answer him, for some reason Daniel lightly smiles while shaking his head. He speaks, he sounds a bit hysterical. "I'm such a fucking idiot." He runs his hand down near the bruising along her neck, his smile drops, as does his tone. "I always fucking act before thinking things out." He suddenly lays his forehead down on her's, closing his eyes as he apologizes to her again. "I'm sorry..I didn't mean to hurt you like I hurt someone else I once knew.."

Fluttershy's unsure of how to respond, so she instead picks up her fore legs, it manages to catch Daniel's attention. He grasps her hooves unexpectedly, interrupting her indecision to act; he's acting very weird and she's not sure whether to hug him or hold him back, her mouth slightly ajar as she hears what he has to say.

"..just.." He closes his eyes again, sincerely saying, "Thank you."

Lightly blushing as those words register, her mind starts to spark with loving inkling as she realizes he's holding her hooves and they're face to face with each other. Daniel continues, keeping direct eye contact. "Thank you for being so understanding." He smiles, continuing. "I don't know anybody else would have been as understanding as you if they were to be with me, or be stuck with me." He moves his hand down to her chin, just above the bruising, he lifts her head up a little to face him.

Her mind warns her with conflicting signals, she gets nervous internally as they both seem to get into position for a kiss. 'Uh..D-Danny..are you going t-to..uhh, uhh..!' Her face glows pink from anticipation/nervousness, unwisely she assumes he's about to kiss her as a grander show of apology or confession; she lowers her eyes and slowly extends her lips as preparation for this false tender moment. Instead, she feels some other loving feeling, her ear twitches as her eyes do the same; it's not a kiss, but something else tender.

"Mmn..nnn..~" She doesn't try to hold back the noises, she wasn't ready for them.

He's petting her and scratching below her chin like he did with Pinkie, her mind floods with loving thoughts and with more base motive behind it. This feels familiar, as it should, as she grasps his wrist again to encourage him to continue.

"D-Dan.." She tries to signal for him to continue, but he instead stops, curious about her use of the other variation of his name that's more casual. He asks, wondering what's wrong based on her sudden change in behavior; admittedly he didn't have confidence that she'd accept his show of respect.

"..what is it?" He feels her grip tighten, as much as it can without opposable thumbs. She requests directly, in a bit more of a sultry tone he's uncomfortably familiar with.

"...lower..~"

'..err.' He's not sure how to respond, so he passively just continues and goes with her request, aiming lower with his petting; taking mind to have it beneath the bruising, no doubt he knows it's still sore. He tries to suggest something, being reminded of the bruising as he glances lower towards her body, she subtly takes interest in his glancing.

"Maybe we should get you something for..well, this." He points closely at her bruising, realizing it must still hurt, it wasn't a gradual turn of purple; it was immediate after he grabbed her, he could hear her audibly choke. "I still have some aspirin, though it's not good for me, it should be fine for you." He gently places his hands on her side, gesturing for her to step off his lap so he can stand. She meekly steps aside as he does so, Daniel leaves his room and goes towards the kitchen's top cabinets. The floor feels cold, as it should, it's still some time in the very late night. Rummaging around for a bit, he spots a pill bottle on the counter beside her saddlebags, he calls out to Fluttershy.

"Oh, did you bring some?" He picks it up and inspects the contents, they're large pills, so apparently not. '..huh.' He hears some light clattering on the floor down the hallway, she suddenly flies over and nervously suggests against something.

"Uhm..you don't want to use those.." She looks a little saddened, passively thinking to herself as she grasps the top of the pill bottle with her mouth, whisking it away out of his hand and placing it on the counter. 'I..couldn't hide it..' She explains, "Those are..anesthetics.." she darts her eyes away nervously as Daniel fittingly looks confused at her statement, she continues on with her explanation. "Well..bear anesthetics."

She looks up at him with a worried expression, pleading; fearful that he'll get mad at her basically drugging him. "I-I didn't know what to do to get you to sleep, you just wouldn't sleep and you looked so miserable..they couldn't get you to sleep, like Pinkie, or Twilight, or—" She feels his hand on the top of her head, she bundles up and squeaks as Daniel tries to reassure her before she gets any more nervous, running her mouth like Pinkie when she gets excitable.

"Alright, alright, I get it." He lets his hand off her head and reassures her while meeting her eyes, she looks back up in what he guesses must be a confession of guilt. "It's fine..I understand why you had to do it." He glances over to the pill bottle, subjectively commenting on his own reply in his head. 'Think I just would have appreciated a heads up or something..' He asks her, curious about it, albeit he sounds a little demanding as he speaks. "Where the heck did you get bear anesthetics?" He picks up the bottle and starts reading the label for information. She explains to him, calmed by his assurance that he's not too mad at her for her strange method to get him to sleep.

"Well..I work with a lot of animals..when natural remedies don't work, I sometimes have to use medicine as a last resort..I try not to.." It seems like a simple enough explanation, she works a lot with animals, she did seem awfully ready with aspirin when they first met. He thinks subjectively regardless, 'Right..what kind of situation calls for these?' as he reads the name out loud.

"Diolarxamine. To be taken internally, recommended method: Hide in food." He takes that in for a moment, assuming the method it describes. "..uhh, I'm guessing that was mixed in with the..cranberry juice, wasn't it?"

She shyly paws her right front foreleg along the floor; he takes that as a yes as he twists the cap back on the pill bottle. "Alright..well I'm grateful for the intention, just.. not the execution." He's being honest, though luckily it doesn't seem to rustle her in any noticeable way. He rattles the bottle, around four or so inside as he places them respectively back into one of her saddlebags. He notices something else, the cranberry juice container she appears to have brought. "Oh, huh." He holds it up and smiles, a little in disbelief. "Sheesh, you really do think ahead, don't you? Thank you." He places it on the counter, looking downward he sees a warm smile; Fluttershy seems happy at the acknowledgement he gave, humming two quiet words.

"..you're welcome..~"

Thinking back on the task at hand, he sifts through the upper cabinets, grasping a significantly smaller pill bottle beside the wooden cabinet door's hinges. Reading the bottle and correctly identifying it as basic aspirin, he takes out a small glass cup more fit for her size and reaches for the container he left on the counter. He asks, being cautious over the fact he got drugged with it. "Err..there's none in here, right?"

It doesn't seem to register at first, but she quickly answers, given a few seconds to think it over with a little stutter in the beginning. "Oh, n-no, I put it in..uhmm..after. I promise there's not any in there.." She doesn't seem confident with her own choice of method to necessarily knocking him out, she didn't know any other subtle way if there was one, short of injecting him directly with some kind of strong tranquilizer; something she'd hate for him to see coming. Daniel continues with his should-be short endeavor, pouring the container's red contents into the glass, he gently slides it over towards her while emptying two small pills beside it. She looks at the glass and sniffs it passively, Daniel feels a bit awkward as he watches her lick the counter to pick up the pills into her mouth, taking a long sip of cranberry juice between her hooves along with it.

'Oh..huh.' He sometimes forgets he's in a world inhabited by magical talking ponies, two months of interaction with them seems to have made him forget his strange situation; their body limits especially, such as simply picking objects up with their mouths with the lack of hands or fingers. Unicorns seem to have it much easier when it comes to physical limits due to their magic telekinesis ability, he's suddenly reminded of how Twilight seems to love to bop him over the head with things when she gets annoyed with him, Daniel's starts to get distracted back into his sarcastic line of thinking. 'Hmph. She seems to love physical comedy.' He prefers action movies, albeit the last one he watched was with Pinkie and it still felt generic, other worldly or not.

'...Pinkie.'

He suddenly turns and looks towards the window, thinking to possibly visit her now in his more well rested state, he realizes the futility as he sees it's pitch black outside his home. 'Damn.' More than likely very early in the morning, so she's probably well into sleep like everyone else. Daniel wipes his face as Fluttershy places the unfinished glass in the refrigerator, lightly poking her tongue out of her lips, she forgot the cranberry juice was unsweetened. Noticing his mild look of concern and/or disappointment, she asks him while unsure of which of the two he seems to be conveying.

"Danny..are you okay?" She tilts her head, remembering the response method she got to work earlier, it works again as he feels inclined to answer her a bit quicker and seemingly more informative.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He looks back towards her to be polite. "Just that now that I can sleep, I thought to maybe visit Pinkie, bit late to do that now though." He glances back towards his room and continues. "Maybe in the morning." Daniel stretches, Fluttershy can hear the audible pop in his arm as he stretches his chest outward and back inward with his arms on the opposite front and backside. "I guess we should head back to bed, not going to stay awake all night now that I can sleep."

She smiles, noticeably overjoyed by his suggestion. She replies acceptingly, "Oh..okay..~" as she picks up her saddlebags in her teeth and trots off towards his room to settle in a little better.

Daniel tries to call out, "Wait, I didn't mean—" she disappears behind his door frame, he gives up on it and sighs. 'Guess she'd spend the night to make sure I'm okay..' He assumes that's her reasoning, placing the pill bottle back into the cabinet. He unwisely argues internally instead of aloud towards her. 'I don't have another bed Flutters..'

Back to their apparent impromptu sleepover, he mutters one last question before they head to bed, evidently in his own bed.

"Is she going to be sleeping over the covers or.." He's quickly answered quietly as he sees her under his bed's covers, he kindly requests, "Fluttershy.." She blushes and gets what he's conveying, she tucks herself outside of the covers, hiding a warm smile while feeling a little ambitious.

"Dannyyyyy~" A soft voice calls out to him, he tries to ignore it, it seems familiar. It calls out again, seemingly cheery; is that Pinkie?

"Urgh.." He hears a clattering noise, seemingly trying to stay silent. 'Fuck' he thinks he's asleep again, back into the nightmare. He opens his eyes suddenly, taking a quick panicked look around. It's not what he expected.

"Oh..good morning." Fluttershy tilts her head happily, standing in the bedroom's doorway, frowning a bit once she sees his expression. "Oh..I'm sorry..did I wake you?" He just woke up from sleeping, the rooms blurred as usual, but he notices the blur start to blend with her face. He blinks unsure of what he's seeing, it seems to clear up as quickly as it began, maybe he just got his senses back together? The feeling's not familiar, waking up without seeing that thing watching him, without it torturing him trying to force him to remember. He huffs, faced with her concerned expression, he explains.

"Oh, no, no. You didn't." He lies, seeing just a split second of what seemed like the abomination in pony form envelope over her, though he feels it's more appropriate as a white lie since it was so short-lived. "Just not..used to the feeling of waking up." Is true, as bad as that sounds when he recalls what he just said. Taking a look around the room, it seems to look normal now, he can hear birds lightly chirp in the background beyond the window; his paranoia seems to have gotten the better of him he hopes, making him think he saw what he expected to see. Figuring he should stop doing that, he thinks 'Acting instead of thinking..I gotta stop that.' he stretches and sits up on his messy bed in his long boxers and a plain white t-shirt, taking and breathe in then out to calm himself.

"Wha—" He sniffs the air, he smells something familiar, it seems out of place. He turns to her and asks, "Is..something cooking?"

Fluttershy warmly smiles as she answers him, "Oh.. I'm making you breakfast..~"

"..oh." He didn't realize that she'd do that, the smell looms throughout his room, presumably throughout the house too. Listening closer past the door, he can hear a faint sizzling with the smell of what seems to be frying potatoes and something else. He didn't realize he had oil for cooking, maybe he didn't look for it when he moved in; He realizes something as he thinks back on that fact, asking her directly. "Uhh..Fluttershy, I don't think I have any potatoes. Where did you—" He's interrupted by the eager pony, she gives a gleeful smile as she answers him.

"I went to go get some things when I realized you didn't have any..~" Her ears perk up as she realizes she should be watching over the stove, she can smell it getting crispy. "Oh! Uhm, I'll be back in a minute." She meekly shuffles away, he assumes to the looming smell of something cooking over a skillet.

'I'm perfectly capable of doing that on my own..well, now I am.' He assumes she may have taken his laziness with preparing food into account, at best he usually likes going out for a bite to eat in the morning, though he's a little concerned by the length of effort she had to fulfill her gesture. He mutters, disappointed in her invalidating his ability to head to Sugarcube Corner for breakfast as an excuse to visit Pinkie.

"Well I can't exactly say no now.." It'd be impolite to refuse it now, so he moves to his closet to get dressed, preparing for his apparent surprise breakfast. Meanwhile in the kitchen, Fluttershy watches the hash browns sizzle alongside the eggs, a spatula clasped in her teeth; her mind flutters with warm thoughts as she waits for the right moment to flip them.

'Yes! Yes! He got up okay..' She flips the eggs over, feeling accomplished being greeted with his less indecent behavior, he didn't panic like every other night before he tried sleeping. 'He's better now..~' She scoops up the eggs and places them on a plate, watching the hash browns sizzle as they are just about brown enough. 'No more nightmares, no more lack of sleep..~' Flipping over the hash browns, she continues with her line of thinking. 'Now he can stay awake, no more trauma, no more worrying, no mor—' It strikes her suddenly, realizing something else.

'..no more visits..'

Fluttershy's ears lower as she places the hash browns on the plate, she can faintly hear Daniel exit his room and come closer towards the kitchen to investigate the looming good smell. '..oh.' She darts her eyes towards the plate and meekly says to him, "Uhm..here you go." Her saddening thoughts are interrupted by a familiar warm sensation near her head as she turns to turn off the stove, her ear twitches and embarrassingly so does her tail, an uncontrolled bodily response. 'H-Haaah..~'

"..thank you, I know you didn't have to make it, but I appreciate the gesture." Liking the apparent fond reaction, he gives one more little scratch by the tip of her ear, it twitches again in delight as Fluttershy's heart goes aflutter upon contact. She thinks to herself, encouraged by his show of appreciation, especially his apparent physical kind.

'..if he wants me around longer..I suppose I should stay..~' Her ear lightly twitches as she detects the absence of his hand, he's turned away and pulled a chair over to the counter instead of sitting by the small table besides them. Taking this as a show of affection, she continues her line of thought, '..if he likes the company..' Her eyes lower as Daniel lovingly smiles to himself, noticeably enjoying the hash brown when he takes a quick mouthful.

'...if he likes my company.' Her mind encourages her to push onward, 'Be bold..be confident like Pinkie is with him..' as she pulls up a chair beside him, shyly sitting upright. She's reminded of how Pinkie's not afraid to be bold, taking a drink from his cup when he seems to warrant it, she hugs him without a doubt that he won't reject it, pulling him down to her own level when she wants a face-to-face talk or interaction. All things that Fluttershy can't do with anypony because of her own mildly deprecating shyness. Fluttershy's stomach burns with anticipation, she tries to work up the words when she notices he doesn't have a drink.

The counter's not that high, it's not built for someone his size, so they're at about equal height when they both sit down. She takes advantage of this and shyly addresses him, scooting closer just below his eye level a foot away. "Danny.." He glances over after taking a small mouthful of scrambled eggs, he silently savors the taste, noticing she must have put a smidge of butter and salt to enhance the flavor of both the eggs and potatoes. He swallows before replying, trying to be polite in front of his kind yellow friend.

"Hm?"

"Uhmm.." She tries to work up the words, her inner endearment starts to make her nervous from how much it wants to say beyond the initial request. 'Ask him!..ask him!' Putting her hooves on the counter, she asks him with a low voice.

"Can..can I.."

He raises an eyebrow, confused on what she wants to do or ask. A thought sparks in Daniel's mind, 'Has she eaten yet?' as he glances towards the remaining part of his breakfast. '..huh.' He detests the gesture, it might be a little too much to offer, but he hasn't done anything nice for her all night or all morning; thinking back on it, he hasn't all week. He decides to offer it, feeling bad spotting the bits of purple still around her neck from last night's unfortunate incident, he stabs the fork's prongs into a bit of egg and holds it in front of her. She blinks and darts her eyes towards him, her cheeks run ablush with pink as Daniel offers her what she wanted to ask to share together.

"Er, do you want a bite?..you made it anyway."

Fluttershy shudders, not expecting him to offer instead, her heart goes a flutter and she starts to panic internally. 'Oh my..oh my..~!' Resisting the shaking starting to buckle her forelegs, she takes her own advice to be confident with her approach; she slowly nods and extends her head to eat some. She closes her eyes as she clasps her teeth on the fork, pulling the egg steadily off the prongs, subtly attempting to look appealing while doing it. Instead, it looks a bit odd to Daniel, the situation accounting for the majority of it. Apparently they're sharing breakfast now, he tries to dismiss his wandering thoughts, reminded of himself acting instead of thinking as an ongoing problem he'll have to get over. He dips his fork and scoops up a bit of hash brown, eating the bit, methodically offering another bit to Fluttershy afterward. He's trying not to think too much of it, as to him it seems silly but kind to do so, reasoning 'Well she made it.' as he continues their back-and-forth sharing.

She gladly takes another bite, her ears perked as her face feels warm, silently savoring his amount of attention and care he's giving to her in turn. She silently hums, 'Mmm..~' as she takes another bite from his fork, taking split second glances at him when he takes bites of his own.

'He looks so happy..~' she happily thinks, watching closely at his lips.

Daniel takes another bite of egg, he's about done, evidently Equestrian sized meals are very small compared to his usual intake. Fluttershy offers to him, after taking the last bit of hash brown off his plate, "Uhmm..I can make some more..I mean, if you really want..~" She means to try out a new pancake recipe, combined with bits of cinnamon and maple to enhance it, she's sure he'd love it even more. Sadly, Daniel thinks objectively, stating to her,

"Thank you Fluttershy, but I think I should head out about now." She looks at him, confused at what he means, focusing on his choice of words. 'Don't..you like it?' Daniel continues, placing his plate into the sink to wash later himself, "I really want to visit Pinkie, it's about time I think that the store would be open." He confidently thinks to himself, reminded of the obstacles he'll have to get around to do so. 'Mr. Cake isn't keeping me out this time! Except maybe Mrs. Cake..' She still scares him when she's angry. He feels like he's given enough appreciation, he's eager to see Pinkie again after so long, delay after delay he's had as an excuse.

Fluttershy simply mutters, "Oh..okay." She puts on a semi-fake light hearted smile, encouraging his sudden decision. "I'm.. sure she'll be surprised.." Daniel puts two fingers to his forehead and flicks them, some sort of farewell salute as he walks away, Fluttershy blankly stares at the plate in the sink as she hears the front door open and close.

Their little moment together ended as soon as it began, sooner than she expected, sooner than she wanted.

She silently mutters, "Hmph." silently as she glances towards the sink, she thinks to wash it herself, she lightly smiles at the possible response she'd get from him. 'Maybe some petting..some hugging...~' Her mind floods with mental images of them closer, the kinder gestures they'd give each other in turn for each other's kindness. '..maybe something else..tender..~' Her eyes lower as she says to herself, an ambitious smile following shortly after, tilting her head while lost in her tender thoughts.

"...he'll appreciate that..~"

She paws the faucet handle to the left side, water starts to flow into the sink. Determination spurs in her chest.

"..I'm sure he will."

Author's Note

Edit: Oh damn, I didn't realize this has 930 views at the time of writing this :D Is currently 8:24 AM, compared to the time below. Awesome! Thank you!

Well this is a bit late, but better late than never. Quite eventful!

Been unwisely sleeping in for the past few days, not anything necessarily bad, just perfect temperature combined with the cold of the room and the warmness creeping in from outside..heh. So just been doing that a lot. A big bit of evidence to that being that at the time of writing this, it's 5:45 AM, so I'm heading to bed in a bit. Will probably work on the next chapter later today or early tomorrow..give or take my messed up sleep schedule.

I tried to take careful care to nor try to type in a dazed state, overlooked quite a bit now and fixed a few mistakes. Again, thank you to all that have read thus far, I appreciate the feedback in comments especially! :) Either for motivation or just general feedback, it's good to get some comments.

For today's cute picture, I found something interesting, which is evidently coincidental in the depiction of the beginning of this story!

https://derpibooru.org/265577?scope=scpe5268a527eed508677ba34ce904fd1a86f583b91b

Reminds me a lot of Daniel's situation in the 1st and 2nd chapter, the depiction of injuries. The image above is actually from a fanfiction, I haven't read it, but if you'd like to out of curiosity, you can find it here :) It looks immensely popular, and based on the comments, very engaging. So feel free to read it if you'd like!

http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36257/cheating-death

Time for Distress

3 hours later

3 hours later

Nip.

"Stop it."

Nip.

"I'm warning you.."

Nip.

"Grr."

Daniel gently grasps and holds up the green reptile to his face, his eyes slightly askew away from each other, Daniel can see him seemingly contemplating the wonders of the universe and the frail grain between the reality they call home. The beyond, perhaps a spectral veil enveloping the world; invisible to their own eyes.

'..I might be overthinking this a bit.'

Gummy confirms this by lightly nipping his wrist. Afterward, a soft toothless mouth gently presses down pressure along his right thumb on the tabletop. Daniel comments, running his left hand along his scaled back, surprisingly rough for such a small creature,

"You know, for a baby crocodile, you seem pretty calm." After petting Gummy, his purple slit eyes seem to go askew into opposite directions in response, slightly off center. Daniel simply replies, correcting himself to the small silent reptile. "Fine, alligator.. whatever." He playfully thinks, 'Crocodile, alligator, same thing.' as he waits seated in Sugarcube Corner, interacting with Gummy until Pinkie's shift ends for lunch. Daniel keeps the one-sided conversation going, repeatedly stroking Gummy's rough back as he stares into his off center eyes, trying to tell whether he can understand him or not like all the other animals around.

"I hope she realizes you're going to grow really big, with really big teeth when you get older." Gummy nips his finger again, Daniel frowns at the baby alligator's natural instinct to bite. "And I really hope you stop biting by then.." He finds it odd she chose an alligator as a pet, though admittedly he's never seen a full grown one here in real life, he suspects they may be gentler compared to the ones he once knew of back home; wherever that is.

"Hm."

Daniel takes a sip of the vanilla milkshake on the table with a straw, lovingly prepared by Pinkie while she's in the middle of working the shop and handing customers their orders; at least the Cakes let him stay if he's a customer, he doubts they would want to make a scene in the middle of a work day. He tries to make the glass last as long as possible due to it's small size, the decadent taste killing his time to stay with that excuse, he has too much incentive to finish it; he can taste faint traces of caramel mixed in, presumably by Pinkie as a little treat. Daniel smiles, glancing at her across the room talking with a customer about what he thinks is some kind of catering order, the natural glow of her personality shows as she optimistically speaks with a natural smile to them.

'She seems so happy.'

He briefly told her when he arrived that he should be fine from now on, she was ecstatic when it clicked that he'd have more time to spend with her, though they'll have to wait; duty comes first, or at least work. Pinkie takes a few glances over as she trots back and forth from table to table, unbeknownst to Daniel, she's also been glancing towards the clock in anticipation for a break.

'Come on, fifteen more minutes~' The time slowly ticks away, minute by minute, an observant Pinkie Pie watching it tick second by second, occasionally spotting Daniel converse with Gummy similar to how she does. 'I doubt he understands him as much as I do~' Daniel confirms this by holding Gummy face-to-face, saying insistently to the small reptile.

"..tell me your secrets.."

Nip.

Gummy's eyes simply go askew again. It doesn't seem to end any faster with them staring at the clock or Gummy.

Tic.

Daniel silently grumbles, remembering the previous night's events, thinking them over as Pinkie's break draws near. He ponders in his mind, trying to get some logic as to why he feels a little angry while hearing the clock tick.

'Guess that's why I don't like clocks..'

He remembers the previous night, his drunken angry past-self saw it as mocking him, making him take in the silence. Grace was no longer there, the apartment was quiet, the blood pumping through his head wouldn't even drown out the ticking. The incessant ticking. Daniel subconsciously balls a left fist beneath the table as Gummy lies prone on his right hand on top, he intensely stares at the clock as he thinks it over in detail, eventually ceasing the hostile thoughts towards the clock relating to the bad memory. He figures it isn't the time nor place, but he can't help but have the thought linger, he eventually decides to share it all with Twilight later in the day when he's able; he should do it now, but he sees Pinkie as a priority. Daniel glances over towards the counter, a pink hue past it, it doesn't look right.

Daniel closes his eyes and rubs them, the background starts to blur into something he's uncomfortably familiar with.

'..what the..' It seems to have passed as quickly as it came, he's now seeing a happy pink pony tilt her head and smile in response to him looking over at the same time she happened to. He returns the smile, he can't help but feel warmed by it, she looks sincere; though she's not aware of what he thought he saw. Pinkie suddenly gives a wide open mouth smile, putting her forelegs onto the counter, biting and pulling the shoulder strapped apron carelessly onto the counter as Mr. Cake walks through the gate-like door behind her.

Trotting merrily along to his table, she smiles as she spots Daniel holding Gummy, commenting with a gleeful tone, "Aww, are my two main buds hanging out~?" She gently pats the top of Gummy's head, his eyes slowly blink out of synch and reopen the same way, nipping Daniel's wrist again as he sets him back onto the table.

"..sorta." He still questions whether or not she realizes how big he'll get in the future, but he knows she's not naïve, he's an alligator; not an iguana. Daniel moves his right hand across to her left cheek, mildly petting the side of her head, similarly gleeful. "Ready to go?" With a quick excited nod, Pinkie and Dan leave for the movie theatre, Gummy left to his own misadventures. Slowly climbing off the table, to the seat, to the floor, Gummy slowly but surely waddles his way into the back room as his owner goes for a little outing.

The two make some simple conversation along the way. Pinkie starts off asking what she feels is an overdue question as they see the Ponyville theatre in the distance. "So, how've you been~?" Daniel answers her honestly, staring towards the theatre entrance in anticipation, excited to finally fulfill what he's promised her to do for weeks. He makes a fake flat expression as he says,

"Hmm, I've been better.." Pinkie looks quizzical, detecting the slight inkling of his sarcastic speech pattern. "But I'm with you now." He lowers her right hand and pets her behind her left ear, massaging a sweet spot she oh-so loves. "So I'm just fine."

"Mmmnn~" Pinkie lovingly responds by lightly rubbing her left cheek along his thigh, her commonplace show of affection he's gotten to learn over the time he's spent with her. Entering the line for tickets, Daniel asks a golden question.

"Well..what'd 'ya wanna see?" He skims the sign, Pinkie looks up due to her shorter stature; Daniel reads out a few movie titles that have a comedy tag in them as he silently wonders, 'How old is she anyway?..'

"Merci And Me; That Ain't So Gak;" That one sounds familiar for some reason, he continues reading them aloud. "Lovin' Ain't My Style; 32nd Date for the 33rd time. More Over, Left Over; A Case of Sips;" He chuckles silently, commenting on them with a smile. "They sound so out of place." Daniel looks down towards her, asking, "Well, what'd you like? I don't exactly know how they go, so.." He hasn't gotten to see the most recent movies or read about much, his lack of sleep keeping him unable to do so, he decides to pass it off to Pinkie to choose. Her curious blue eyes skim the sign, he can see her tongue peek out from the side of her mouth, it's hard to tell if she's thinking or just wants to make a silly face to make him smile. Either way, she suggests a title.

"Uhmm..maybe 'Merci And Me?' " Daniel quickly skims through the mini-description, is some kind of romantic comedy starring a couple from Manehattan that meet each other when the male unicorn protagonist slams into her window after making a makeshift wing suit. He thinks 'Weird..but unique, kinda.' as he nods, accepting it as an option. After a minute or two of the line moving forward, they both ask for tickets at the same time.

"Two tickets for 'Merci and—" They catch each other in the middle, the theatre booth attendant understands and charges them 18 bits, they both stay silent at each other as Daniel pays for them. Entering the theatre, he sees Pinkie's eyes light up at the selection of sweets in the display case, it seems they've gotten a re-stock since the last time they visited a long while ago.

"Oooo~!" She hops over to the display and names to the young teenage cashier several candies, most notably Chocopos and Sweetie Lolos, which resemble chocolate malt balls and a small box of lemony candy; taking the small advantage that Daniel's paying for their little treat together. Daniel calls out to the teenage pony, pointing some snacks out alongside Pinkie.

"Err, two medium colas and..a large popcorn please, along with those she called out."

He looks down towards her, still admiring the newer selection of candies, Daniel gives a small smirk as he thinks, 'She does love her sweets.' He passively wonders if ponies can have diabetes, or if they even share a majority of those kind of diseases with humans; he leaves the thought behind as it seems evidently not, he smiles with the knowledge that Pinkie would have been long gone by now with her sugar intake if that was the case. She certainly isn't sluggish. Daniel gets handed the tub of popcorn, handing Pinkie the small foldable cardboard tray with candy and drinks as they skim the back of the theatre for the right section to head to.

"West side? Or— Ah." Daniel spots the section and takes a sharp left, entering the darker side of the theater, his boots and her hooves meet a soft black rug with dark yellow decaled patterns along the majority of it. Daniel quickly says, "I got it." as he pulls open the door for her, she slowly walks inside, careful not to accidentally let go of the sodas and candy; making her way up the incline upward in the dark with Daniel in tow behind. Looking to the left, spotting Pinkie sit in a mostly unseated row, he takes note at the amount of ponies inside; most of them seem like couples, the theater seats look populated, he takes a mental note to study more on the movies the next time they go.

Pinkie whispers loudly to him, unsure if he could see her more obvious pink color in the darkness, "Psst! Danny~! Over here!" She lightly taps the seat to the left of her as Daniel makes his way to her, scooting just past a couple, one he can recognize; Daisy and Clover maybe? He has a hard time remembering the townspeople's names. Taking a seat to the left of Pinkie, he sets down the popcorn along his right leg within her reach, Pinkie has already put their sodas in her seat's cup holders. Her mind starts to fill with warm thoughts as Daniel makes himself comfortable, or at least tries to with the size difference between human seats and a pony-sized seat. Pinkie notices him shuffling in his seat and folds the armrest downward, he can finally spread his right leg to sit more comfortably, he quietly thanks her as he adjusts to it. He didn't realize those theatre armrests could fold inward.

"..Oh, thanks Pin-" He's interrupted as she scoots over and lays her head lightly on his right shoulder, closing her eyes and taking it in; they're watching a movie together like he promised, no more nightmares, more time for them to spend together finally. Pinkie lightly nuzzles his shoulder as she herself gets comfortable, Daniel simply moves his right arm over her head and holds her close with his forearm to her side, familiar with this kind of cuddling.

He thinks 'She's sweet..' as he lays his head on her's, feeling her ear flicker and lightly tickle his neck with it's soft tuft of pink fur, unsure if that's intentional or not for her to do that.

Eventually, the movie starts rolling along. Only a few key moments in the beginning manage to make Daniel laugh, Pinkie as the more latter form, being able to distinguish some more comedy styling's than he's able.

"Whoa, oh gosh! Not in the eye! Oh, OHHH! IT BURNS! OHWHOAUGH" The protagonist accidentally squirts oil in his eye and sets the dining room on fire, to the dismay of the female lead, she grabs nearby curtains and hastily tries to pat the growing flames down. Pinkie silently giggles at the scene as the male protagonist rolls along the floor, Daniel stays in disbelief in the scene with a smirk thinking. 'How the heck did he do that? Haha.'

Around an hour passes, the movie progresses more into the romance, a bit more sappy to what Daniel's used to. Pinkie seems to be able to handle it better, evident by her squeezing Daniel's arm as the movie couple leans in for a kiss, but instead bumps noses in embarrassment.

Pinkie suddenly gasps , recognizing the familiar action. "Hey! Danny, Danny~!" She hugs Daniel's arm to try to grab his attention, he's got a vague idea of what she's going to say and glances down towards her, she has a playful expression; one he's too familiar with as she picks up her head and nuzzles her nose against his.

Boop.

'Ah, haha..right.' He's almost forgotten she does that. Not wanting to discourage her affectionate tendencies, he returns the nuzzle with his own nose and whispers,

"Boop." Starting a chain, Pinkie nuzzles his nose again and exclaims, again.

"Boop~!"

Giving a passive sigh, Daniel continues to humor her cute little show of affection, returning nuzzle after nuzzle, back and forth for a while.

Boop.

Boop~

Boop.

Boop~

'Okay, that's enough..' After several minutes of booping, Daniel ceases and continues to watch the movie, Pinkie still wants to play to some degree. Puffing one of her cheeks, she nudges his arm to convey she still wants to, his expression doesn't seem to change. Pinkie lowly grumbles and stays grasped to his right arm, staring at his eyes from below.

She thinks, 'Hmph..' as she glances off towards the screen, the movie couple getting noticeably more physical with their display of affection, something she wants to do. 'I wanna do that..' She glances up towards him, his eyes seemingly glued to the screen, she subjectively thinks 'Aww..come on, I haven't seen you in days!' while looking for a sign that he'll want to participate. She ends up turning away grudgingly, a little saddened by his lack of enthusiasm; he doesn't seem to want to show physical affection.

Pinkie feels him tap the top of her head. As she's glancing up towards him curiously, something suddenly presses against her lips. It's not what she expected.

Daniel smiles and whispers, "Boop." while poking a Chocopo malt ball against her lips. Her disposition seems to lighten up, she gladly opens her mouth and nips it out from between his fingers, savoring the chocolately taste as her thoughts warm up to his more jovial mood.

"Mmm..~" She rubs her head against his shoulder lovingly, being periodically fed chocolate malt balls as they continue to watch the movie, they seemed to have missed the more intimate tidbits while they were distracted by each other's little antics, but Pinkie doesn't seem to mind. 'He's so sweet to me~' She nips another malt ball. 'Eeeee~!' Her cheeks turn pinker than usual as she washes it all down with a large sip of cola, Daniel doesn't seem too keen on snacking as she is, he's been trying to follow the movie and it's odd plot to no success. He whispers a question to Pinkie as he takes a handful of popcorn into his mouth, repeatedly bouncing several questions off of her.

"He has magic you know, how come he can't just fly that way? Also apparently a pet chicken, the guy's a scientist.." He questions his recollection of the movie's events. "..or biologist..or something. He should be able to figure out aerodynamics."

Pinkie giggles silently to herself, entertained by his straight forward solution to a comedy movie's problems, she simply comments "It's not that simple~" as she pokes her snout against his cheek, signaling she wants another malt ball; a request that Daniel so happily fulfills.

The movie progresses with the male protagonist on a clif, the scene feels familiar, though Daniel forgets the exact reason as to why. The male protagonist exclaims,

"Alright! The final test! The wingsuit shall prevail, I just know it! After countless trials, failures, and..err, fires, I shall make history!" With a final leap against the cliff, the protagonist drops straight downward from the cliff. Pinkie gasps and squeezes Daniel's arm in surprise, audibly the rest of the audience reacts in a similar way, Daniel remains silent. Going by prior knowledge of some movies, he subjectively thinks 'It's a romantic comedy..he's not gonna die. Sheesh!' as he gently pets Pinkie's head to calm her from her exaggerated display of emotion. Her forelegs tense up and squeeze his arm tighter as the protagonist drops, suddenly the back wings of the wing suit flip open and he goes sailing off into the distance, to Pinkie and the audience's relief. Pinkie lowers herself into the seat and watches the protagonist fly off above the tree line, he gets stuck and snatched on a branch, he hangs downward and upside down right beside the female lead, his goggles strewn incorrectly across his face. The female lead smiles and puts down the binoculars she was originally looking at him afar with, pulling off his goggles, she plants a kiss on his lips as he smiles nervously.

"Ah..haha yes. I ..may have miscalculated the trajectory a bit."

The male protagonist falls out from his wing suit harness and quickly stands back up, walking away with the female lead as music begins to play, signaling the end as the movie credits begin to roll. Pinkie smiles and rubs her nose against Daniel's cheek, trying to signal him again for something. Daniel duly reacts, reaching for another malt ball to feed her before they get up to leave, but instead pats the top of an empty Chocopo box; the box is empty now. Daniel seems disappointed and apologizes to her, "Sorry Pinkie, we're out of—" Daniel's interrupted by her forelegs wrapping around the back of his neck, her expression shows a familiar winsome look.

Pinkie hums "...hm?..~" as she not-so-innocently tilts her head, it becomes apparent she didn't want another malt ball; she wanted his attention. Her eyes peer as she keeps her smile, her tone changes to a familiar one. "..can I have a Lolo~?" It sounds sultry.

"..sure." Daniel cautiously reaches for a Lolo in it's little yellow colorful box on his lap, gripping a lemony Lolo between his fingers, he holds it up and it's immediately nipped away. "..alrighty." Daniel tries to calm her by petting behind her ear, to his dismay, it seems to further her train of thought as she asks,

"Danny..~?" Being impossible to Daniel to ignore her, he glances back towards her as she continues her question. "..are you having fun with me?..~" She's hopeful in what he'd say, building confidence in what she wants to do, what she wants them to do together.

It's not what he expected. He sees an abomination, Pinkie clad in warped flesh, warped in with the theatre seat with various crevasses and lining across the broad side of what used to be her chest. The crevasses open and close like large mouths, she grotesquely repeats her question as they speak in unison.

"Did.. you have fun.. with me..."

Daniel yells, but is instead surprised as he opens his eyes and gasps, his heart's racing. Breathing rapidly and panicked, he quickly feels his surroundings, expecting himself to be in bed after a nightmare, but it's somewhere more obvious instead. He's still in the theater with Pinkie.

"Errrm...myeeehh...~" Pinkie wiggles a little on her back, having fallen asleep somewhere halfway through the movie, comfortably snuggled with her head on his leg, barely disturbed by his sudden gasp.

Daniel whispers "Jesus.." to himself as he tries to calm himself down, did he just fall asleep too or hallucinate something? He places his hand on her stomach, gently trying to wake her up, momentarily worrying that she may suddenly turn on him.

"Pinkie..Pinkie.." Glancing towards the screen, he realizes it's the end of the movie anyway.

"Myeeehh..5 more minutes Ma.." She wiggles a little, comfortably settled with the back of her head on his lap. Daniel doesn't want to cuddle, as happy as that might make either of them right now, so he keeps trying to provoke her to wake up.

"Pinkie.. please, wake up." He looks around, seeing the audience start to leave. Oddly, they're not the ones he remembers from before. Eventually she starts to wake, but only barely, she rubs her eyes with her right foreleg and stretches her limbs out, her hind leg twitches as it stretches outward.

"Aaaaauuhhh~" Failing at picking up on her surroundings, she mumbles while still half asleep, looking up at Daniel. "Oh..good morning Danny..~" Does she think she's still asleep or it's actually morning? Daniel sighs, not wanting to make a scene, especially with their little outing together. He half-assedly pokes her snout and explains simply as he gestures for her to stand,

"Movie's over, we kinda fell asleep..I think." He's unsure himself exactly what happened, all he can seem to piece together is that she fell asleep and he freaked out over apparently nothing. Pinkie's eyes open a little wider, reality setting in to her tired mind, she grasps his wrist and he pulls her back upright. She asks while stretching,

"Auuhhh..what time is it?"

Daniel simply shrugs, he doesn't own a watch due to his irrational disliking of ticking, he figured it may be a subconscious thing with clocks; so he never got one. Both stay silent as they stretch and leave their seats, Daniel taking the popcorn tub and empty soda cups, Pinkie taking the half-empty candy box in her mouth as they walk down the dark walkway exit. She mumbles while half-smiling, spilling the box into a trashcan in the theater's lobby.

"Howth loth thid- Pleh!" She changes the subject, noticing the darkness outside the theater's entrance. "Uhm..maybe I should get home.." She realizes she missed her shift, well past a lunch break time slot. Daniel correctly assumes what she means as they exit the theater, also noticing it's nighttime, coming off as a bit too bold and ironically a little cynical as he comments on her predicament.

"You shouldn't be afraid of Big-Chin..I'm sure he'd understand you being out this late." He subjectively thinks, 'They're not your parents Pinkie..you're an adult.' It suddenly strikes him again that he doesn't know her age in comparison to his own. '...I think.' He's trying to make her feel better, but it doesn't translate well as she doesn't know who he means by 'Big-Chin', admittedly his humor comes off a bit more crude compared to her own. She asks a golden question, reminded the movie's over.

"Uhm, Danny?..~"

She steps closer to him as they continue walking down the empty streets, he acknowledges her request to listen with a simple, "Hm?" as she nudges his leg with her thigh.

"Did you like it?" She's being a bit vague, Daniel's forced to just guess what she means.

"The movie?" he guesses. Simply tilting her head, it appears so, he answers honestly and a bit critically. "Was..average." He puts his right hand into his pant's pocket, continuing. "Story could have used a little fleshing out, didn't translate well, at least for me." Daniel rubs the back of his neck, not knowing if the hallucination or quick nightmare was actually an ending to the movie or not. "Could say I didn't understand the ending.."

"Mmm.." She rubs against his leg, used to his usual criticizing of movies, but that's not the answer she's fishing for. She smiles, hoping to get a more specific answer, tilting her head as she reiterates her question.

"Did you like the time we spent together?..~" As usual when faced with a tilted head and curious dinner-plated sized eyes, Daniel responds a little faster and more open, sharing a smile with her as he looks down to two bright blue eyes.

"Yeah." He nods happily, adding. "I loved it." Her ears perk up at his choice of words, her mind sparks as she repeats the word in her head.

'..love? Love?~' She tries to be more specific as she sees them approaching Sugarcube Corner, realizing her time's running out, at least for tonight.

"You..loved it~?" She nuzzles his leg, trying to get more emotion out of him, Daniel simply repeats,

"Yes, yes, I loved it." He can't resist the large loving blue eyes staring at him, he speaks sincerely as he stops in front of the shop's entrance, surprisingly the shop's still open at the time of night. Maybe they stayed up for her? "I'm glad we spent today together.." He kneels down to her and holds out his hand, she lovingly accepts it as he grasps her cheek, her eyes widen with anticipation as her mind screams at her to do what's on her mind.

'Do it, do it! Do it before he does!~'

"Pinkie.." They look at each other straight on, her eyes widen as her lip quivers, she's at the ready to spring forward. "..do you want to go out agai—" Pinkie suddenly leaps forward and clasps her hooves around his neck, Daniel feels a small wet texture slide across his lower lip to the tip of his nose, it feels warm and quickly cools when it touches the cool night air.

Liiiick

'Wh-What the??' He closes his eyes as the wet texture goes away, he opens one eye and realizes what she just did. '...err..' It's not what he expected. She looks like she's on the verge of tears, holding her mouth shut gently with one of her hooves, Pinkie holds back the urge to squeal as she desperately tries to keep herself quiet.

"Yes.." She lets out a barely audible squeak, holding her mouth still, slightly muffled. "Yes.. I'd love to~!" Pinkie gives one more quick hug and nuzzle to his neck before walking off towards the door, she calls out as she trots inside and locks it.

"Good..goodnight Danny~! I'll see you tomorrow~!"

Daniel silently waves at her as he stands back up, touching his nose with his hand, still a little jarred. He asks himself something aloud before half-smiling and walking away towards Twilight's library in disbelief and confusion.

"Did..did she just lick me?.."

"Lalaalaa~"

Fluttershy hums a song aloud as she organizes several tidbits of Daniel's home, the subject of the hour being his limited human wardrobe, trying to separate the ones he's most comfortable with from the kind he might take out for special occasions. Unfortunately for her, Daniel seems to wear what's fitting, such as a sweater or coat when it's cold or wet, so there's not much to separate other than casual or handy.

"Hmm." She hums as she hangs up a few of his shirts, instead separating the ones that Rarity has made for him as substitutes from the older hand-me-downs he seemed to have come to Equestria with. "All these are so old.." She smiles, thinking to herself 'Maybe we can go shopping together..just for something new is all..~' as she closes his wardrobe, taking a look at his bed.

"..oh." She suddenly realizes he hasn't come home all day, she assumes he spent some time with Pinkie.

She thinks objectively "..or maybe he got caught up with something else." and passively hopeful he got distracted with something else, maybe for something to eat instead, muttering to herself "He hasn't been eating well lately.." Fluttershy's ears perk up at the thought. "Oh, maybe I could make him a healthy dinner~! Something he'd love~!" She takes a gander out the window, seeing it's night, thinking 'Oh..right.' as she decides saves it for tomorrow. Fluttershy steps out of his room, having done all she could do for the past hour, walking to the front door to now evidently wait for him to get home.

'He's awfully late..' She tries not to worry about him so much, he's a full grown human, he can take care of himself. Her thoughts warm as she reminds herself of his nightmare problem being resolved. 'I..I helped him after all..he should be fine~'

Thunk.

"Ah?" Fluttershy looks towards the door having just heard a noise from outside, like someone just tapped the door. Her mind sparks with the keyword 'Danny~!' as she trots over to the door, trying to be kind and let him in to see what she's done for him. She addresses him aloud as she starts to open the door, "H-Hi Danny, I tidied up a little, I hope you don't mind tha—" She's surprised as she sees no one at the door.

"..uhmm." She peeks outside and looks around, asking aloud, "...Danny?" No answer, she assumes 'I guess I was hearing things..' as she listens for anything else, just hearing crickets and frogs bellow and chirp in the distance. She calls out once more.

"Danny?.. a-are you out there?" It's gotten pretty dark so soon, it feels like it's only been a few hours since he's left, but it's already so hard for her to see beyond the porch light. After waiting another tense fifteen seconds or so, she meekly walks back inside and closes the door behind her.

"..huh.." She's confused on who that was, if anybody, the local critters usually just knock and wait by the door if they have something to say to any local residents, even out in the forest homes. Fluttershy looks around the house, trying to find something else to do while she waits for him to come home, but nothing comes to mind. She simply huffs and walks over to Daniel's living room chair, taking a seat in the more proportionately sized seat for him, something she can lie more comfortably with while prone. 'Mmm..~' She thinks tender thoughts as she nuzzles herself into the chair's soft material, taking the moment to get warm and think of her and Daniel lying together, just as comfortable as she is now. 'That'd be nice..'

Thunk.

Scrink.

One of her ears perk up as the sounds grab her attention.

Scrick.

Scrak.

She can hear something audibly push against the window repeatedly, it manages to wake her from her momentary slumber. A thought occurs to her, she reasons the noise with his overdue return home.

"Oh, did he lock himself out?.." She immediately assumes the latter. "..Oh, did I lock him out??" Her ears perk up in a panic, she leaps off Daniel's chair and approaches the window, ready to open the door once she confirms it.

She sees the familiar human-shaped silhouette outside the window, details obscured by the night time condensation in a sort of dark and warped shape, she apologizes audibly to it as it continues to tap the window with one if it's limbs.

"Oh, D-Danny! I'm SO sorry, I didn't realize that I lock—"

CRING

The window shatters and glass flies inwards, Fluttershy backs away in fear and stumbles backwards away from the dark figure as it climbs inside, she cries out a question as her throat forcibly shuts from shock and she falls onto her back.

"D-Danny..??" She hears a faint creaking, followed by something else.

Creak

Crack

Snap

Thud.

That's not Danny.

Author's Note

Suspense, oh the humanity! (or whatever pony-blended thing one can muster)

Oh sweet Treesus! 1000 views :') I feel accomplished, as much as one can be in this case anyway. I don't usually picture numbers when I read out statistics, I think people, as in a crowd. 1000 people read the story at least once? That's astounding to me thinking of how many individual people that is! Because I can not show my emotion well through text, I will supplement this gif instead.

http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view/970341/foaming-mouth-guy-o.gif

Thank you all who have read thus far, especially those who have given positive AND negative feedback. I do think I need both, so do continue commenting and sharing what you like and dislike! :) I'd love to read and chat a bit more if I can. I'll also be surprised if anyone finds the two references I put in this chapter.

This is pretty late to submit, I have an actual excuse this time, just had wisdom teeth removal a few days ago and anesthesia did not help the writing process. BUT I did get at least two new ideas for other stories while under the anesthetic effects..go figure? So that'll come later, but right now I have to finish this one and re-format the earlier chapters once it's done.

Will try to be a bite more active (still), the effects of wisdom teeth removal only last for a few days and only a week or two to heal, but it's nothing at all bad and I can still write beyond the initial two days. It's almost done by the way, at least two chapters beyond this one and perhaps an Epilogue chapter once the story is done if it seems fitting. :)

Here's the cute picture for this chapter, writing the short milkshake part made me remember an old favorite from Derpibooru. Being a change of pace, it's actually something with Rarity this time :p I find it adorable, she looks adorable as a cow~

"Moo~?" *sip*

https://derpibooru.org/607964?scope=scpe817c14c6ed9251160af9c7444bdcbdf03f04f207

At the time of writing this, it is 6:53 PM.

Time For Hardaches

20 minutes later

20 minutes later

"Go on."

Being naturally observant, Twilight continues to write down additional details on a notepad levitated via magic, commenting as she dots the end. "I don't want to speculate, but this is all kinda..out there." She reiterates her statement, a hint of disbelief leaks in her tone. "You make it sound like you died." She looks up from her notepad, subtly analyzing Daniel while he's slumped back leaned against one of the book walls as he continues to recall some more vivid memories for her to write down.

Daniel grimly reminds himself 'Tell her things that led up to it, not everything that happened, stupid..' as he tries to skirt away from personal memories, having shared some with Twilight inadvertently.

He adds to her grim insight, "In construction, we work with rebar frames for concrete supports. You know what that is?" Twilight assuredly nods, he continues. "..well I fell on that. And I think I—" Balling pressure resumes in his stomach. 'Ugh..' He's feeling that same way he felt before, guilt and dread, he can recognize the emotions now. "..I hope you realize what I'm saying Twilight, because it's really hard to fu—" He stops and tries to correct his vulgar language. "—look, it's just really hard say it." He shows visual signs of discomfort, closing his mouth and softly grasping his upper stomach, slowly reverting back into a hostile tone she recognizes.

'You acted the same way when I told you to remember last time..' Twilight's mentality shifts, trying to be more sympathetic as he starts to get hostile. "You don't have to say it Dan.. I think I know what you're trying to say." A quick glance at her notes, she can't help but say in disbelief, "I just can't understand the end of it." She re-reads the excerpt with his spiral into depression and the apparent suicide that followed after, trying to think back and piece together any form of explanation as to why he's here if that's the case. "It just doesn't make any sense, logically, or magically. You're not..well, you're here physically. " Placing her notepad on the table beside a wooden horse head bust, she gives up trying to think of an explanation all at once, giving a tired sigh as she makes in indecision.

"..I need to talk with professionals about this, especially Luna when I get the chance tomorrow. She knows more than me on dreams, or.. memories. I don't know what to call all this. I may even need some further guidance with this, but right now I just want you t—"

Twilight's interrupted by a young male voice, calling out from the door frame adjacent to her. A short purple and green decaled dragon walks in with a serving tray grasped in his claws, holding two coffee mugs on top up to Twilight, enthusiastically calling aloud despite her close proximity.

"Coffee's done!" He looks accomplished and proud. Not wanting to disappoint her eager young assistant, Twilight grasps both coffee mugs carefully via her magic and levitates one over to Daniel as he cautiously grasps the handle and blows on the light steam hovering above the hot liquid. He thinks 'Hmm. ' as he takes a sip, detecting traces of Hazelnut mixed inside, a sense of deja 'vu washes over him. As eager as Spike may be, Twilight catches a discrepancy as he takes off his pink apron, strews it upon a wall hook and leans with Daniel against the book wall, mimicking his laidback pose. She asks Spike something, her tone shifting as she comes to a conclusion.

"Spike, aren't you supposed to be in bed? It's late." She pulls the hot coffee mug away from her lips as she's about to take a careful sip, Spike can recognize the expression, Daniel looks away nervously to avoid her dark lavender eyes as Spike looks confused in response to her question. Focusing more on his own gesture, he blurts out an excuse while passively pointing a finger towards Daniel.

"But Danny said yeah to some, so I kinda figured I could.." He stops his explanation as Twilight raises an eyebrow towards Daniel instead, waiting for him to reply, knowing it's not possible for him to ignore a conversation literally beside him.

"..Dan." Her more serious sides shows, Daniel looks minimally meek, quietly muttering out his own excuse as he takes another sip of the hazelnut flavored coffee.

"Well, he offered.."

Twilight silently grumbles, placing her coffee mug upon the table beside the horse head statue, suggesting to Spike in a comparatively less negative tone. "Spike, I think maybe you should head to bed. I appreciate it and I'm sure Dan appreciates it too, but it's really late for you to be up."

Daniel momentarily thinks 'It's like 10 'o clock Miss Stickler..' as Spike audibly grumbles and walks up the stairs, defeated by Twilight's light persuasion, heading off to bed as she takes a grasp at her coffee cup with her magic again with an audible sigh. She continues her train of thought, taking a quick sip of coffee as she asks Daniel,

"Dan." She catches his attention, continuing. "Do you have anything else you'd like to share?" Her notepad levitates beside her, as does a quill; a notable example of her ability to multitask seamlessly. He ponders for a moment, bustling aching feelings start to erupt in his stomach as he worms the words out of his head.

"..yeah, I do. It's about Fluttershy." The dread aches, turning him visibly uncomfortable. "Kind of a weird thing." Twilight listens curiously, Daniel continues with an odd sounding statement to say out of context. "She may have drugged me a little."

"..define a little.." Twilight looks in disbelief, moreover bordering to confused at his odd statement, reiterating her reasonable request. "..did you say 'drugged'?"

Daniel's thoughts flood with regret, repeatedly telling himself 'I probably should have started with that first..' as he reluctantly answers her. "Yeah..with bear anesthetics."

"She did what??" She yelps as she places her coffee mug suddenly on the table beside the horse head statue, spilling a little over the edge, though she doesn't seem to care about that in particular. "She did..what—Why? Why did she do that??" Daniel suddenly feels a tug to his shirt, spilling a bit of the coffee from his mug onto the floor as he's suddenly yanked towards the ground.

"Wha—Hey!" Daniel yelps as he's forced onto one knee, Twilight orders him directly.

"Tell me how you are." He looks confused. "Do you feel anything in your stomach? Do you feel drowsy? Do you feel fatigued? Do you feel sick? Do you feel—" She's interrupted by Daniel, caught off-guard by her sudden decision to bring him down to her level yet again.

"I feel like I'm being interrogated.." He's not sure how to respond met with an over analytical Twilight other than badly-timed sarcasm as she analyzes and questions him repeatedly with her sporadic dark lavender eyes, concerned for his immediate health and condition. She orders him to do something again as she suddenly pulls him closer, face-to-face.

"Open your mouth." After a moment of reluctance, he does and his shirt is yanked backwards suddenly and she momentarily chokes him as she pulls her head away.

"Augh—Blech!" Offended by his mouth odor, she pulls away as her magic yanks him the opposite direction, forcing him onto his back with an audible thump. She yelps, huffing air out of her nostrils. "Wha—Something's wrong with you!—Ugh!"

Daniel puts his two cents into her insulting theory, breath having escaped his lungs just as soon as the coffee spilled onto the floor. He says quietly to her with the last gasp of breath in his lungs as she lets go of his shirt. "I just drank coffee, of course it smells bad you fucki—" He takes in a deep breath of air, relieved from the grip of her magic snare shutting off his throat, quickly deciding not to finish his redundant line of thinking. After a quick cough, he quickly recovers as he gets back onto one knee as Twilight seemingly recovers as well. Trying to calm her down, with an irrational fear she'll forcibly strap him down to a table in her current state, he says "Jesus, calm down! That was yesterday, I'm fine!" He readjusts his shirt, she seems to have stretched it out a little, her magic surprisingly strong when she puts her mind to it.

"Ugh..I'll see about that.." She shakes her head, readjusting her state of mind as she got momentarily dazed, grasping onto his head with her magic and walking to him instead. She comments aloud as she analyzes him, "Well you don't look sick.. not flushed other than—"

She suddenly realizes what she did as Daniel rubs his neck, she follows up with a small apology as she continues to analyze him silently. "Er..sorry Dan, I just want to—" She's interrupted, it's surprising. It doesn't sound angry, it sounds sympathetic. Daniel finishes Twilight's initial sentence, the tone is familiar somehow.

"You just want to help, don't you?" His tone sounds about as serious as her own. "Twilight." He affirmatively grabs her attention. "Seriously. Calm down."

She sighs, letting go of his head and dropping her hooves to the ground, encouraging him to explain further. "Alright, alright. Just.. explain it to me in detail." He duly does, sitting calmly with her on the floor as she seemingly takes a rag out of nowhere via magic and begins wiping a small puddle of coffee splattered along the wood floor.

"..well, I was just sitting in my house for the day, I had nothing to do and nowhere to really go, so I was just lounging around trying to stay awake. I got up to get a snack that Pinkie stashed in my fridge, then I heard a knock at the door. It was Fluttershy and she was.. sorta eager to let herself in."

She finds his choice of words peculiar, but silently lets him continue without referring back to it.

"She suggested making some tea, I said 'sure' and she went to go make some. It felt.. odd." He looks toward Twilight, stretching his arm which makes a small pop noise as his joint briefly stretches, continuing his explanation. "I told her I didn't have any tea mix, I definitely don't have teabags, I figured she'd let it go by then but she said she brought some anyway in her saddlebags. I don't find the gesture odd, I find that she was prepared for if I didn't have any, that's what threw me off a little. But I didn't think much of it, she's.. a very caring pony, you know."

'Maybe she has some drugs in there too..I don't know how many backups she might have had, but she said she meant well..' He dismisses his miscellaneous thoughts and reminds himself about the initial question, immediately diverting back to the subject.

"I told her she simply didn't need to care for me as much, so I said to relax and I turned off the stove before she could make some. I went back to my chair and ate some of the chips, I offered one to her and she ate one. I noticed it was getting late, the storm was moving in from the distance and fog rolled in blanketing the entire outside of my house, I figured since she's afraid of the dark and thunder that she'd want to head home by then." Daniel feels the back of his neck, a strange feeling creeping behind him as he recalls the odd experience. "..she gave some valid excuses, her at-home pets weren't home and it was too cold and late to go out without something to cover her, I don't own a jacket or umbrella. I don't remember which one of us suggested we should head to bed and—"

Twilight decides to interrupt his explanation at that precise part, placing her rag aside.

"..did you say we? " Daniel simply nods in confirmation, passively placing his hands behind his head, an odd sight for Twilight as she addresses it from an outside view. "..so you two slept together?"

'Oh sweet Celestia please tell me they didn't..ugh..' She inexplicably, at least to Daniel, clasps both her front hooves to her forehead and shakes her head for a moment, asking the more-than-oddly-timed question to his perception. 'He always makes it sound like everypony's on estrus..' The thought is concerning, enough for her to immediately divert.

"Just.. continue, please." She shuts out her initial assumptions and lets him continue his weirdly worded recollection, himself still seemingly puzzled by her initial response to the implications he's unaware she's making. Regardless, Daniel seems to take the cue and continue his explanation, Twilight assuming he'll get to the key point soon enough.

"..alright then. She suggested we head to bed, she just bit onto the chip bag and whisked it away before I could answer.. I don't remember what I was thinking after that." Daniel hangs his head a little lower as he explains the rest, or at least the tidbits afterward. "I went unconscious, that headache.. thing happened and I fell over according to Fluttershy. I didn't have nightmares, surprisingly. I just woke up with a sore neck a few hours later, when I tried to get up I collapsed to one knee and..well, she just came to the doorway and helped me up. Long story short, she offered to pour me a glass of cranberry juice, I guess she just assumed I had some. She came and I drank some, at that point I started to..head to sleep. I couldn't stay awake after drinking it and I dreamt what I just told you, that Princess Luna made me come to terms with..all that. My problems should be over now." He decides to be honest with her, having gone to her for this exact reason, he seemingly starts to plead with her.

" But I keep having some hallucinations, whenever I get tired or disoriented. It's gotten worse, but in a weirder way. It's not happening just when I go to sleep anymore, it's.. different? It sometimes happens when I'm awake.. or start to doze off." Daniel feels the back of his neck, explaining what happened prior to coming to the library. "You might not like it, but once I woke up, I left to visit Pinkie. We went for a date.." He's met with an odd look from Twilight. He attempts to justify it minimally with a simple valid excuse, this being his first time using the word date as he recalls back to events prior. "..look, I haven't seen her in days, I didn't have any sleep then so I didn't have time before. Besides.. I promised her I'd take her out again."

Twilight calmly sighs, matching his similar expressive tone and attempts to level alongside it. "Dan, I understand why you did it. And I'm sure Pinkie appreciates it coming from you, you mean a lot to her.. I just wish you came to me first once that happened." She raises one eyebrow, furrowing them as he meets with them. "You have a problem we're studying that messes with your perception, which made you hurt yourself before." She sits up straight and raises one of her forelegs, making a gesture he doesn't quite recognize. "Now, if you have something to say, then you should say it instead of acting on impulse."

Those words emanate a little closer to home than he likes, the balling feeling in his stomach resumes it's aching routine, only this time he knows why as he drops his head low; he's reminded of the incident, reluctantly addressing Twilight to it.

"..Twilight." He shuffles a little on the floor, placing one leg up in preparation to her probable response. "You're really not gonna like what I have to say then."

'She's gonna fucking hate me for this..just full on hate.' Accepting the most likely outcome and the inevitable physical consequence, he quietly breathes outward and mouths off the few beginning words.

"Twilight." She looks at him curiously, noting his uncomfortable gestures and body language as he shuffles his foot onto the ground as if he's going to stand.

'..fuck me.. I'm dead anyway. It's now or never.' His mind can't help but take that little bit of grim humor and irony as encouragement, he continues his candid confession looking clear towards her lavender eyes.

"..Twilight, when I woke up and panicked afterward, I—"

His sentence is interrupted by a light sound across the room, clearly audible through the aged-wood front door of the library.

Creak

"Huh?" Twilight words a quiet noise, confused by the sudden sound seemingly coming from her front porch as she leans to her right past Daniel in the way of her view towards it, her front door slowly creaks open centimeter-by-centimeter as a tidbit of information suddenly occurs to her.

"... I thought I closed that doo—"

They both spot something they didn't expect, slowly shambling through the doorway, unnaturally laden with a mis-step.

"Fluttershy?"

Twilight stands up from her previous sitting position and takes a step forward beside Daniel, confused by the sudden arrival but otherwise curious about her. "Oh, what are you doing here? It's a little.." Twilight stops her sentence when she spots Fluttershy simply walking in without taking notice to her or Daniel, seemingly taking careful and shaken steps inside towards the middle of the room, her expression looks perceivably blank; it's something Twilight recognizes, she's afraid.

"..Fluttershy." Twilight slowly walks over to her scared friend, stepping in front of her to take a closer look and grab her attention, something else catches her eye however. "Wha—" Twilight's eyes widen as she gently puts her hoof to Fluttershy's chin and lifts it upward, seeing light streaks of red across her cheek and the side of her head, small cuts and splices along her yellow coat; trickles of blood still lightly flowing from the seemingly fresh cuts above the large green scarf she has loosely wrapped around her neck. "My go—Dan, she's hurt!" The brief alert catches his attention and he immediately reacts, propping himself up by his already prepared knee and quickly walking towards them. Fluttershy reacts to his name as Twilight gently examines the side of her head, her eyes slowly looking upward at the concerned figure kneeling down beside Twilight, simultaneously examining as well. Twilight's tone sounds reasonably concerned, using her magic to brush away Fluttershy's mane for any other visible injuries as she questions what happened.

"Fluttershy, what happened?? Where'd you get all these cuts?" She doesn't seem to take any heed to her questions, her eyes fixated to Daniel's as he awkwardly tries to pat her head with one of the rags from earlier, her thoughts running with conflicting viewpoints and thoughts as Twilight constantly asks her questions and Daniel silently pats the blood away.

'...Dan—' The thoughts are interrupted by an aching feeling in her head, a clear and broad headache that seemingly cripples her as she closes her eyes and slowly loses her balance, her legs buckling as a result. Propped up consequently by Twilight and Daniel's physical support once they see her start to fall, she remains upward and stable enough to recover from her would-be fall, at least for the moment as the feeling painfully dulls.

"Fluttershy!" Twilight attempts to grab her attention forcibly, tilting her head slightly to the left careful to avoid further injury to face her, her eyes still fixated and paying complete heed to him instead. "Come on, answer me.." She notices the attention she's giving to Daniel and wisely suggests an alternative to her own efforts. "Dan.. ask her what's wrong, she won't listen to me.. "

Daniel duly listens to the authority figure beside him and tilts her head back toward him, her legs still shaking seemingly in fear, he addresses the most important bit he got interrupted from.

".. Twilight, before I do, I should show you something." Ill-timed but deemed necessary, Daniel removes the green scarf and lightly tugs, both are surprised as more tiny shards of glass show themselves imbedded in the folds. He takes a deep breath and makes one last tug, revealing the familiar show of purple and dark discoloration of neck, hearing Twilight lightly gasp in response to the sight.

'..why would you..' The thought flutters in Twilights mind for a moment, the initial response he was expecting doesn't come, overlapped by the present injuries her friend has undergone seemingly recently.

"..sweet Celestia.. " Twilight examines her neck, about to quickly ask what he knows, interrupted immediately before she could mutter the first word.

"Twilight, I did this." He attempts to be more specific with his ill-timing, lightly pointing along her head and the small cuts across the side of her face. "Not these, I didn't do this.. When I woke up before, I panicked and I.." He ignores the strong feeling, seemingly tearing his organs apart. ".. I choked her when I saw that abomination, to me it was clear as day..I only realized I was hallucinating after I did this to her.."

Fittingly, Twilight looks utterly confused at these large bursts of information with conflicting circumstances, between her cuts and bleeding paired with the bruising around her neck, it all seems like too much. Daniel continues his on-going explanation, focusing back to their unusually silent and currently injured friend beside them.

".. but I didn't hurt her like this." He puts his hand by her other cheek, coaxing her to look towards him, it works for a moment as he begins to ask her a golden question. "Fluttershy. What happened? Why are you bleeding?" Her lip trembles as her eyes lower, her lips lightly ajar as her cheek muscles begin to flinch. She looks like she's about to cry, light traces of tears gathering by her eyelids as a clear sign, Daniel tries to stem the tide and calm her by pleading with her again.

"Fluttershy, please, tell us what happened.." He sees the tears start to flow, his own insides start to ache at the sight, the combination of injuries beginning to overwhelm his own capability to stay calm. 'Answer me, damn it..' His audible and non-audible request comes through finally, Fluttershy closing her eyes and quietly sobbing, bits of tears mixing in with the still present cuts; she stutters her distressing information, afraid it'll come again.

"I-I.."

Her breath grows shallow and more rapid, her heart rate increasing as the unbecoming figure starts to obscure Daniel's face, she lightly gasps as it's eyes sink and warp into a flatter yet gross mass of beige-colored flesh. "H-Hauh!" She attempts to pull away from him, consequently falling backwards along her rump, Twilight and Daniel kneeling down to her level as he himself questions what's wrong. Fluttershy suddenly blurts out aloud, prompted by the visual and audible horror that an abomination starts terrorizing her with as she tries to speak. "E-Ehh.." It's varied pitched voice overlaps her own, forcing her to listen as the other two remain oblivious to her current condition, the abomination grossly mimicking Daniel.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

She shudders at the voice, the disturbing pitch subtly gargling. She repeatedly reminding herself of the truth, attempting to keep it as a constant, fueled by fear of the latter. '..that's not you..t-that's not you..' She starts to silently sob, an outside view showing her bundled up in a semi-fetal position crying on Twilight's floor as they both try to coax her out of her inner display of visual and audio horror. It repeats another overly familiar line, one that stems deeply as a promise.

"I didn't mean to hurt you.." She hears it's moist flesh rotate and ungulate as she keeps her eyes closed shut, pleading repeatedly and desperately against it, silently mumbling. 'S-Stop it..please stop..' It mimics Daniel again with another disturbing line.

"..I didn't mean it."

She suddenly feels herself get lifted, not violently, a more calming voice drowning out the audibly disturbing other.

"It's okay.. it's okay.." Petting the un-injured part of her face, he attempts to calm her given no other option than to move her somewhere more comfortable, following Twilight's otherwise silent suggestions.

Daniel lightly grips her back and her lower body with his arms, steadily lifting her up as she seemingly just sobs, Twilight directing him over to her own bed. The more calming voices sound distinctly different, though muffled like in water, the paranoia slowly starting to fade as she's placed onto Twilight's bed. Daniel keeps patting the side of her head to soak up the trickles of blood, light traces still present though otherwise clean, Fluttershy still being generally unresponsive to their requests and questions other than Daniel's physical gestures.

"I'll get her.. something, I think I have some first-aid downstairs." Twilight shakes her head at the lingering worry and attempts to shut it out, quickly trotting off downstairs silently, being careful not to wake Spike and distress him as well to the situation at hand. The thought lingers still, despite her efforts as she rummages through one of the cabinets beside a bookshelf, levitating aside several parcels and bundles of miscellaneous items and clutter in search for first-aid. 'I can't believe he.. no. No, focus darn it!' She shuts out her instinctual worry and focuses on Fluttershy's need instead, continuing to search for first aid.

Prompted by the now silenced abomination, Fluttershy quietly mutters something she tried to say earlier.

"I.." She starts to feel dizzy, the familiar pressure clamping down again subtly but surely, attempting to make her listen again as the abomination resumes it's audio torture with her eyes still closed. Daniel tries to coax her to say it, but she's otherwise preoccupied with the discomforting voice repeating a trigger phrase that makes her skin crawl.

"I should be fine now.." It sounds less varied, still distorted, but not in a pitch, the old phrase it's said sounds quieter.

She decides to open her eyes to inspect her immediate surroundings and sees Daniel staring right back down to her, in response to her looking back up, he's seemingly mouthing off something else her mind can't piece together; he's pleading but she can't understand what it is coherently. The muffled sound eventually starts to die down as the headache does in turn, she catches a small part of his plead.

"Come on Flutters.. speak to me." He still sounds muffled, but she can understand the words, the fact he's trying still warms her a little. Encouraged by his apparent support and use of her more at-heart nickname, along with seeing Twilight slowly approach with what she assumes to be a bundle of gauze, Fluttershy attempts to mutter the thing she tried saying earlier as she feels a slight stinging sensation along the side of her face.

"D-Danny.." She silently mutters, minimally flinching at the stinging sensation, Twilight cautiously and meticulously pouring alcohol onto a piece of gauze and lightly dabbing it on the open cuts to prevent infection. She grabs their attention, Twilight holding back the medical application to listen to shift focus to her words. Fluttershy wiggles her body a little, settling into a less awkwardly lain position, her head along the top of Daniel's lap instead of Twilight's pillow.

".. I.. I saw it.. " She hears Twilight mumble something, incoherent for the majority other than her being able to catch the words 'thing' and 'help', neither sound comforting. Daniel asks something else, the result being clearer but otherwise still muffled due to the dulled senses.

"What?" He appears in disbelief, unwilling to accept it, but still inquires about it with another question. "Did.. did it hurt you?" Fluttershy chooses just to settle her head into his lap in response to the question, feeling comfortable and overall safe despite her current and prior alarming injuries, expressing a mild surprise as she feels Daniel's hand brush along the side of her head away from her cuts. Daniel tries to coax more out of her, simultaneously seeing the need that Twilight's currently conveying, he continues to pet her lightly to keep her calm and open as he pleads something else related.

"Just stay still Flutters.. this is going to sting a little." And sting it does as Twilight applies some of the last dabs of alcohol, surprisingly ending fast as Fluttershy feels a light assortment of gauze be taped to the side of her head, presumably as a counter measure to the open cuts. Daniel asks the question once more, reiterated in a more specific form. "How'd you get hurt?..please think hard, Flutters."

In response, she simply nuzzles her nose into his thigh and settles in, comforted by the warmth compared to the cold outside she stumbled through for the past half an hour to get here. She shivers at the thought, but tries to recollect what happened prior to her arrival and during her scare. It's not hard for her to remember, the worrying, the fear, the fleeing, the pain.

"M-Mmmnn.." Her eyebrows furrow as she gets a little uncomfortable at the thought, otherwise comforted by the warm hand repeatedly stroking her head. Taking a few rapid breathes, she opens her eyes slightly and begins to explain her experience, piecing together tidbits herself. "I.. I was waiting for you.." Daniel stays quiet, silently acknowledging her statement. "..I waited for hours.." She nuzzles herself into his thigh again, laying her neck just over with her muzzle between his legs and beside his knees; an otherwise comforting display if it wasn't for the situation at the moment. She continues, her tone getting notably more displaced. "..I did some things around your house..to spend some time with.." She redacts her statement, her debilitating condition not holding back her embarrassment and light blush across her cheeks. ".. I did some things while I waited for you.. it was.. dark.."

She retracts her forelegs in slight discomfort, quickly shuffling them back into place once she's ready to speak again with her eyes still shut, in reality it's taking more than a minute between responses and continuations to Daniel and Twilight.

"..I kept wondering where you were.. where you went..y-you.." She starts to tear up again, Twilight takes notice and hands over a piece of sterile gauze to Daniel to wipe herself for her. It seems to encourage Fluttershy to respond faster as he wipes away the trickles of tears, gathering by her blue and green tinted eyes. "..y-you told me you were going to visit P-Pinkie.." She takes a small amount of initiative and wipes a tear gathering on her right eyes against his pants leg, he doesn't seem to take heed. "I didn't want to make you think I just left you.. I kept wanting you to walk through the door.. I heard something and I went to check. I didn't find you, so I came back inside.." She nuzzles her nose into his leg repeatedly, her voice sounding weaker and saddened to admit it. "..I'm so sorry.. I was just so tired, and—"

Her ill-fueled apology is interrupted by a tender feeling atop her head, Daniel running his fingers to the back of one of her ears, both them and her tail flicking and twitching to their natural bodily response.

"M-Mmmnn..~" Tilting her head to the side, she comfortably settles with the encroaching hand cupping her head lovingly, supporting it along his leg. Daniel quietly says to her, trying to calm her, her still being in an odd displaced sense of responsibility.

"It's okay Flutters, just.. please continue." He withholds his hand and she duly continues, after a brief moment of confusion to the lack of feeling it had brought. Her ears lower into a sort of submissive position, to Twilight's very subtle bemusement as the actions unfold, however effective as they seem to be.

"..I.. I went to lie down in your chair to just wait.. I started falling asleep, it was nice..~" Fluttershy keeps her eyes closed and gives a small smile, turning into a frown as she continues. "I.. I saw someone.. outside.." She begins to shiver again at the thought, the recollection of the figure. "..I .. I t-thought it was you.. " Her limbs bundle up again, the mere thought discouraging her from remembering, the encouragement prior forcing her to share the rest. ".. it wasn't you.. " She lets out a rapid breath, a small cry in fear. " H-Hauh.. it kept looking at me.. it broke through your window a-and came in.." Fluttershy starts to tear up again, the memory distressing her as she recalls it's face. ".. kept looking at me.. but it couldn't.. it .. it shouldn't be able to.."

Twilight looks to Daniel, worrying about this thing Fluttershy is describing, whether it relates to him or not; it's clear in her mind that it represents itself as a threat. Just as Twilight's about to request for Daniel to carry her off to somewhere more safe, Fluttershy interrupts her as soon as she starts her first syllable, grossly remembering something else.

"I.. I ran.. I ran when it kept looking at me.. it kept making such terrible noises..saying terrible t-things.. " She lightly brushes her injured cheek against Daniel's leg, now covered by some medical gauze to prevent as much pain, inducing more pressure rather than strain. ".. I ran into and fell over the chair, and everything went black all of a sudden.." Her limbs lightly shiver, bundling up despite her supposed safety with Twilight and Daniel. "I opened my eyes and I was still scared, so I.. " She pauses for a moment, vaguely remembering the event wrongly, trying to piece it back correctly. "I.. I.."

Fluttershy shuffles in place and speaks clearly aloud, feeling the gauze bandage as she comes to a sudden revelation.

".. I.. I leapt off the chair and I.. jumped through the window.. and I ran.. "

Twilight seems confused at this piece of information, asking for her to specify.

"..Fluttershy, please explain that, because you said it broke the window. Did you jump through a different one?" Fluttershy simply shakes her head, seemingly ignoring Twilight's question, continuing her recollection.

"..that window was broken, I know it was but.." She puts her hoof to her cheek and feels the texture, grainy and a little rough on the outside. ".. I still leapt through it and it shattered.." She starts frantically shaking her head, clasping her hooves to the top of her short mane, refusing to believe it wasn't real with how vivid it was and has been still. "No, n-no I saw it! It broke through and.. and.."

Twilight places her hoof on her head softly, calmly whispering to her worried and seemingly sporadic friend. "Fluttershy, it's okay. You're here now, we'll.. we'll go check for it if we can." Twilight glances over towards Daniel, who seemingly silently agrees with her plan, assuming she'll gather all the others for some sort of search party. "Dan, if you want to watch over her.."

He waves his hand, again silently accepting Twilight's plan as he starts to pet Fluttershy's ears again, addressing her frantic behavior. "Fluttershy, it's okay.. I'm here."

She feels a little at ease with the encouragement, willing to open her eyes a little to look at them both. She spots Twilight first, who nervously smiles as a show of care, Fluttershy gently rolls onto her back and looks upward towards Daniel to see the likely similar expression. She's mortified when she hears him speak, addressing her with a large mass of flesh undulating and amassing across his face, the visible features beyond sunken eyes have no distinction or definition; his face is blank and overridden by pulsating muscle beneath the blank skin.

"You'll be alright.."

Fear strikes into her heart, the sudden scare forces her limbs into action and she kicks upward with one of her hind legs as she shrilly screams, the mass of force hitting Daniel square in his face and forcing him off the bed onto the floor beside Twilight, writhing below with his hands cupped around his face; he yells an expletive of some kind, muffled by his hands and the shock of pain emanating throughout his face.

"AGH..!! Fuck..!!" He releases his cupped hands and sits up with help from Twilight, still dazed from the initial blow as Fluttershy's vision starts to clear from the utter blur it was when she looked at him. She sees something else mortifying. Something else she doesn't want to see. Something else, crimson red and strewn across the floor. Daniel looks towards his hand and sees traces of blood, he moves his hand to his upper lip and feels warm liquid slowly flowing downward, his sense otherwise momentarily dulled from the impact.

She broke his nose.

She doesn't want to believe it, she doesn't want to see it, simply mumbling repeatedly to herself at the sight.

"No.. n-no.."

Author's Note

Well this thing has been delayed to heck.

Enough that I've had to re-read the past few chapters to get briefed. That is ridiculous, I know!

A side note: After re-reading some of the past chapters, I have to say that the chapter 'Time to Appease' is REALLY suggestive. Enough to the point (and at a certain point in THIS chapter), in recollection, that I had to add the 'Sex' tag to the story. I had honestly forgotten how suggestive I had written it. :p

This story is still on hiatus, but I will have to go back-and-forth with this and 'FTL: Operation Restoration' when I'm not working on one or the other. I have to finish this!

THANK YOU to all the people who have read thus far, especially anyone who has stuck especially THIS far into the story.

Please provide positive AND negative feedback in the comments below. Whether I get a like or dislike, I'd like to know as to why! :) I like the feedback, albeit this has been delayed for a long while.

Edit: Almost forgot the end picture, it's been a while. I'm awfully fixated on pony-petting in this story, it's kind of a keypoint, so naturally I like anything related to such. A good visual of said petting is this, albeit Daniel does not pet a pony's back, myself having this odd headcanon as that being too personal of a spot unless they're okay with it. Much like petting ears!

https://derpibooru.org/649701?scope=scpe1062ec6bbe019523408a342881a08a005b8fba35

Time for Progress

"Agh."

Daniel struggles a little, the throbbing having started after the shock had worn off, a dull pain emanating throughout his face.

The kind, but observably careful nurse tilts his head forward when he starts to pull it back, re-affirming her previous suggestion as he sits in a hospital waiting room for treatment.

"Tilt forward and keep your head still, hun." The light yellow earth pony assumes the correct procedures would be the same with a human regarding a nosebleed, quickly rechecking her statement by tilting his head back in place while silently instructing him to hold a piece of thick gauze to the bottom of his nose, motioning with it gently clasped in her teeth.

"Huld vit thur jently." She muffles her own words with it clasped in her teeth, but Daniel understands the gist and grasps the gauze with his fingers, holding it as she instructs below his nostrils while the blood continues to slowly flow and stick to it. He observes his temporary caretaker as she turns to gather another bundle of gauze from the adjacent room across the hall. She has a yellow tone to her coat and a mix of light blue in her mane, as well as light touches of blue eye shadow to match, a distinct set of colors paired with an audibly familiar-sounding accent. Daniel is handed another bundle of gauze on his lap upon her return, and given another simple set of instructions. The nurse holds her hoof up to her snout, explaining.

"Just keep yourself tilted forward and replace it when it's soaked." The nurse gives an impartial smile, an attempt at comfort for such a late night visit. "We'll wait for it to stop if it's not a fracture."

She turns and begins to trot away, looking back towards him sat on some comparatively tiny chairs at his stature and size, her expression returning to impartial.

"I'll go get you some ice, hun. Then get to seeing if we can take an x-ray." The nurse heads out of view down the hall, leaving Daniel to wait for her return.

He thinks 'Great..' as he flips over the blank side of the blood-stained gauze, the blood flow slowing but still leaking. He rotates his tongue inside his mouth and can taste an iron-like residue sitting in his mouth; his own blood having seeped into the back of his throat a bit on the way to the hospital.

'Could have been worse..' He thinks back, quickly passing his judgment on the situation at hand.

".. fuck me. It's worse, now." Characteristically saying his thoughts aloud, an observer from the check-in section chimes in to his particular choice of words, a familiar palette of purple and dark lavender coming into focus in the corner of his eye.

"Dan, who are you talking to?" It's Twilight, but her tone has since improved from uneasy to troubled. Daniel answers honestly, and bleakly.

"Talking to myself—" He flips over the gauze inside out, preparing a new piece simultaneously when the time comes to replace the current bundle. "—but, that's nothing new." He attempts to lie back in his seat, with near instant regret as he feels trickles of blood come down to the back of his throat, forcing him to reel forward and cough into the gauze.

"--Eugh, fu--!!" He stops himself from blurting a common expletive aloud for any nearby hospital staff in the hall to hear, though they obviously don't know human swears. Twilight glances at him, waiting for any additions, but instead he apologizes for his awkwardness.

".. oh. Sorry. Forgot about the..." He points to the partially swollen bridge of his nose, lightly purple with very visible swelling beneath the skin. The answer sates her curiosity, she asks a vague question regarding his health.

"How do you feel?" Twilight quickly clarifies her answer as the nurse from earlier walks back into the waiting room, passively acknowledging her as she trots over to her patient with an ice bag hanging from her clenched teeth. Daniel has a brief thought on how being 'sterile' works with every pony, minus unicorns, using their mouths as make-shift hands to grasp things.

"Sorry for making you wait, but..." The rest goes unsaid, Twilight having given Fluttershy priority treatment compared to Daniel's injury. Twilight steps back to give the nurse some room as she props up one hoof on the seat, being able to reach up to his face. Daniel grabs the bag before she could instruct him on what to do next, placing it on the bridge of his nose, the pain slowly dulls as the blood's flow gets halted. He sighs lowly and turns to Twilight, answering her with a slightly nasally voice from the cool pressure over his face.

"Better now." He turns towards the nurse next and thanks her under his breath. "Thank you."

'I guess I should apologize for bleeding on the counter too...' The thought crops up from him thinking back to them first arriving with Fluttershy to this clinic, but it is almost effortlessly scooted away to the back of his mind.

Before she can reply, a loud-ish beep comes from down the hall, grabbing her attention. The nurse nudges the bundle of gauze on his lap closer toward himself, saying nothing that needs to be conveyed anymore, hopping off the seat and trotting away down the hall to a more likely needed patient.

Twilight blows air through her nose, answering a question she suspects he will ask anyway.

"She's doing... better. I don't know. She's still shaken up." Twilight walks up beside Daniel, sharing what she's been told as he waited outside.

"Her nurse said she shows signs of being emotionally unstable'." Daniel gives her a look, her having put some emphasis on that specific word, his expression lacking any sort of hostility. More of regret.

She clarifies, unnecessarily.

"She's still upset over what happened, and about what both of you did to each other. She kept asking to see you, but I told her you were fine and she shouldn't worry. They're trying to get her to relax and sleep." She glances her eyes towards the doorway entrance of the clinic, ending her explanation visibly uncomfortable. "I... I don't know how I'm going to tell everypony. About... all this."

Daniel doesn't relish the concerning and damning thought, about him having hurt her while having some sort of mental delusion. A welling pain gathers in his stomach as he attempts to calm himself down.

"Just...do what you gotta do, there's no changing what happened and what they might think of me. It's better they hear it from you, or me, than the hospital staff when they get here." He clarifies the statement in his own head.

'Or what they already think of me, actually.'

Twilight shifts her cheek to one side, almost defiantly.

"They should, but right now I want to find whatever it is that attacked her, and I'll need everypony else with me if it's as dangerous as it seems. I want to end this." She takes a familiar quadrupedal heroic pose Daniel has seen before, usually when referring to literature subjects or something intense of her interest.

"........" Daniel stays silent, coping and being unable to come up with words to convey what he's thinking, Twilight not noticing and picking off from where she left off.

"Just stay here, I'll be back in a bit, I need to wake everypony up for a search party." Twilight begins to turn, as Daniel asks her something abruptly.

"... Twilight, should I--"

Daniel's heart skips in a chilling surprise as he hears an abrasive response.

"No."

Twilight turns her head bolt upright, her expression unchanging from her seriousness a split second ago, looking straight to his eyes. Daniel peaks open his mouth, stunned for a moment, before finally closing it with no protest or hinted sarcasm in his next statement.

"... I understand." Daniel sits silently, peaking his head continually down, depressed.

Twilight takes a moment to comprehend what's been said, as well as picking up a very uneasy air being flooded into the empty waiting room, something she can't avoid or fix in such a limited. She tightens her lips in an emotion Daniel can not understand, before turning away towards the door, disappointed in herself this conversation has to end this way.

Her horn begins to glow a steady purple as she closes her eyes, brows still furrowed as she focuses on a location, her face shows a brief grimace before the room glows in a brief but stunning flash of light as she teleports away to a far away location. Presumably, towards one of the other girls.

Daniel holds his head low just as she leaves, grasping his forehead firmly with his eyes tucked in his wrists, trying to hold back tears as his breath heaves in and out silently. A looming thought enters his mind, a horrible reality he expects he will face.

This is how this ends,with her respect first...'

He slumps further in his seat, inadvertently grabbing the attention of the pony manning the front desk in a glancing notice, as he continues to dwell even further into his despair. Burrowing his fingers through his hair and trudged against the skin hidden beneath, he begins to shake at the thought of being vilified and disparaged by those who took him in.

'... everyone...'

The girls run hurriedly through the dark field, Twilight lighting the way brightly with her horn.

"Over this hill, come on!" She shouts, her attention grabbed by a blue streak speeding above. "What, no! Rainbow!" Twilight shouts aloud, running alongside the rest of the main six, Dash having already sped ahead with an overwhelming rush of adrenaline before Twilight could say anymore.

'Rainbow, slow down!' Twilight screams in her head, running alongside Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie through a darkened field a ways away, Dan's house not being within sight range of Ponyville at this distance.

Landing hard on the front deck of Daniel's small home, scanning along the perimeter, launching herself upwards with her hind legs and wings in tow, Rainbow Dash perches herself along a gutter line pacing.

"Come on, come on, come on." Rainbow mutters to herself impatiently, waiting for the others to catch up as she grows increasingly wary.

'If I get my hooves on whatever hurt her, I'll, I'll--' She tells herself this flustered mantra repeatedly, her thoughts calmed as Twilight enters within view, her horn glowing a bright purple luminescent hue with magic-- a spell of some kind that becomes readily apparent. Various indentations appear along the dirt path leading up to the walkway of Dan's home, showing layers upon layers of footsteps having been taken in the past, herself attempting to find traces of whatever may have been around aside from Daniel's.

"Twilight?" Rarity speaks up abruptly, calmly attempting to grab her attention as Twilight lowers her head downward, trying to hone whatever smaller tracks may have been trudged. Pinkie skirts around the bushes, scanning determinedly with as much intensity as Rainbow, taking a hidden lead as she peeks through bushes with Rainbow now skimming overhead the tree line.

"Twilight!" Applejack speaks in a more direct tone, immediately garnering focus, her finally snapping out of her focused zeal with the magic dissipating as well. "Tell us what's goin' on, what're we looking for?" She pleads, them all having been told barely any information in the rush she took gathering them all for a search party.

"Anything that could lead us to whatever came after Fluttershy, and what might have been terrorizing Dan as well all this time. Look for anything out of the ordinary." Twilight taking on a leadership role, concise and straight forward as they'd come to expect.

The two simultaneously nod, going separate directions in tow, Rarity employing a simple lighting spell to light the way while scanning the ground and Applejack pairing with Twilight as she continues highlighting steps in the dirt, finding multitudes of humanoid shoe tracks but no trace of anything unusual.

Applejack peers down at a scuff in the dirt, piecing together it's a hoofprint, extending her hoof out and measuring the distance between steps she determines it's some pony smaller than her at least.

"... hm." She takes a mental note, continuing their search.

Several minutes go by with them skimming the perimeter of the home with nothing found, Twilight leading the four as they begin to step to Dan's front door, ready to storm the front door. Twilight suddenly extends her left hoof to the side, looking down at shattered glass, following a trail to the front window a few feet away.

"Careful." Twilight warns, stepping carefully between glass pieces, the occasional shard shattering beneath their hooves.

'Fluttershy...' Twilight laments on what she sees, seeing tiny specks of red alongside several shards of class, evidence of injury that she had already seen on her friend. As she peaks open her mouth to comment on it, she looks back at the window, then back downward at the glass. Extending her hoof outward again, she motions her friend to stand back. Mildly surprised, they step back, perturbed at her sudden change of behavior as she furrows her brows upward sadly.

With magic, she picks up the pieces and joins them loosely together, placing them in a flat plane vertically along the broken pane and frame. Her eyes widen, discovering the many pieces are the majority of the window, but broken outward and not inward.

"That... that can't be right." Twilight mutters to herself, placing the many tiny shards in a neat pile scooted at the porch wall and out of the way of being stepped on. Her friends look to her expectedly, as she gives a reluctant addition. "She said something broke in, but that can't be right!" She looks worriedly into the home from the broken window, Rainbow having not been prompted, already goes ahead and enters Dan's home through the front door. Pinkie and Rarity step inside cautiously following her, Applejack stopping to examine the door, noticing a lack of any sort of scuff or scratch marks past the normal wear and tear of a door's regular use. Twilight steps to the front door frame, being stopped by Applejack as she blocks the doorway with her hoof.

"I can tell right off the bat something's bothering you, and more than you're lettin' on." Applejack having felt the tension hanging on Twilight, attempts to plead with her again, but is stopped as Rainbow begins to pull a recliner chair back upward-- Twilight stepping in to intervene in what she thinks had played out.

"Rainbow, don't just turn over Dan's stuff." She abrasively states, to slight confusion from Dash.

"What? I didn't do it, it was already knocked over." Rainbow explains, finally placing the seat back upward, heaved upward in tandem with her flying. Twilight looks perturbed, offering a short but concerned rebuttal.

"It was?" Twilight asks, to no readily available answer from anyone, putting that concern off to the side as she closes the door behind her and Applejack, with the wind outside having picked up, a click to the door lock seals it reliably shut.

"I'll keep looking outside." Rainbow states, as she flies cautiously through the now open window, back outside and into the darkness to scout from above. Now separated, but Rainbow more optimally fit to check the area around the house during their search, Rarity pitches in a comment; a note of concern over what physical scene they can manage to put together.

"That seems unlike young Daniel to do such a thing." Rarity paws her hoof on the wood floor, seeing a clear scuff and scratch mark. "Twilight?" She grabs her attention, pointing at two scuffs made by the bottom of the recliner, as it was seemingly dragged across with force. Twilight begins to levitate the chair in place, slowly dragging the chair just above the scuffs, it matching the striations parallel.

"That'd be that. So..." Twilight places her hoof to her chin, piecing together a scene.

'If something broke in with force from outside, it'd have knocked over the chair, and glass would have been all over the floor. But it's not...'

Pinkie begins to explore the rest of Dan's home, entering the kitchen, her ears perked and attentive for anything out of the ordinary. Keenly, she spots a saddlebag on the counter above, hopping on to her forelegs and gripping the bag in her teeth. Dragging the bag down, she places it onto the floor and inspects it's content, consisting of bundles of teabags and a crumpled piece of paper. Curious, Pinkie nips onto the piece of paper in her teeth and flattens it back into place with her hooves, she notices a humanoid figure crudely scribbled onto a very worn out page-- making out a humanoid head but little else other than very messy words written across the bottom like observations notes. Spotting the origin of the paper, she grasps a notebook pad tucked to the side. Something feels familiar to her about it, as she reads the contents.

'Wasn't his fault?'

'He won't stop talking in his sleep, making it hard to feed him'

'Maybe he's still distressed, or still in shock'

'He won't stop crying and refuses wake up'

The dates move on from weeks, back down to days at a time.

'Better now, still has trouble sleeping'

'Broken leg is healing, looks like I set it right, waiting on his recoverynow'

'Let litter of mice sleep in that fallen birdhouse, they seem happy'

'He woke up, he looked confused, his name is Dan'

'He's nice, but strange'

'He looks peaceful when he sleeps around me, but he always looks--'

Various smudges are strewn across and obscure whatever else is written, Pinkie flips over to the other side of the paper, noticing this is a page from a notebook-- the other side has been drawn and written and erased so many times over that it was indistinguishable.

She recognizes the writing, bearing Fluttershy's tiny writing style, they're reminiscent of notes she takes on sick animals, but the page seemed separated from her notepad. Unsurprisingly, this appears to be describing Dan, as Pinkie continues to read through the actual notebook.

'Why doesn't he recall anything?'
'Is it better if I don't bring it up?'
'I don't know what to do, I feel guilty somehow'
'I told him I'm here if he needs to talk, I hope he is okay'

The notes look smudged down several lines, Pinkie peering and barely able to read the rest. Twilight peeks in, noticing Pinkie on top of a saddlebag, specifically Fluttershy's saddlebag and watches silently as Pinkie continues reading, the notes more closely paired and along the same days.

'Had nightmares again, Angel woke me up to comfort me'

'Bad dreams stopped, dreamt of Harry, he was funny in it'

A little scribbled heart appears next to the line, the rest of them are within a few days of each other.

'Treated a cute bunny that wandered in with a sprained leg, but it left the next morning without saying goodbye'
'Visited Dan today, he seems better, introduced him to my friends'
'Had a scary nightmare again, I thought Angel bruised my cheek trying to wake me up, I don't remember anything'
'Drank some tea, am feeling better, Angel won't say it but I forgive him'
'Fixed a bat's broken wing, but it left in the morning too'
'Maybe some critters are scaring them off, shame on them'
'I asked Harry to sleep outside, but I don't remember telling him that, I felt bad so I'll make him a honey and maple sandwich'

Pinkie stops reading, becoming increasingly uncomfortable as she reads into the notes Fluttershy has taken, focusing on Twilight as she comes into focus out of the corner of her eye. She trots on over, noticing a distressed look on her face as Pinkie holds out Fluttershy's notebook outward open hoof.

"Huh?" She mutters, grasping the book. Twilight, flipping through and reading the same lines while levitating it, reads further as the notes get closer and closer on the same day.

'Visited Dan, he's getting along with Pinkie a lot, happy to see him integrate'
'Had a nightmare again, Angel didn't wake me up this time'
'Ran out of my feel-better tea, I asked my squirrely friends to sleep with me tonight'
'Squirrely friends said I twisted and talked a lot when I slept'
'I asked them what I said, they said I used swear words like Dan tries to hold back, but I don't know any though'
'I didn't know Danny swears'

Twilight looks concerned, motioning over to Applejack and Rarity to join reading.

'How long has this been going on?' Twilight thinks to herself, confused as to why this kind of mental anguish hasn't been shared with any of her friends as far as she knows.

They all continue reading, Rarity putting her hoof to her mouth in concern, Pinkie sitting anxiously, Applejack laden with uncertainty as she stands above them.

'Found the bunny from before with a sprained leg, asked why he left so suddenly'
'He said I told him to leave, but I don't remember it, I'm worried for Mister Bat now'
'My squirrely friends don't remember me helping Mister Bat'

A line looks roughly erased and smudged, the page ends the highlighted month with an ominous line.

'I don't remember treating a Mister Bat'

The front door of Dan's home suddenly shakes in the front room, breaking the silence of the house and causing the 4 to jump simultaneously in shock.

"Eep!!" Rarity eeks out a quick cry, Applejack and Twilight frozen in surprise as they turn their heads in the door's general direction, Pinkie's ears perked and alert as they all stand and slowly make their way to the kitchen doorway.

"What was--" Rarity whispers, but is immediately cutoff. Applejack attempts to say something as well, but is equally shushed by Twilight, Pinkie scooching low to the ground slowly out of the doorway.

"....." They all stand silently, waiting by the doorway, abruptly the door shakes again.

"That could just be RD, 'ya did lock the door." Applejack whispers to Twilight sensibly, but she retorts with a key piece of information.

"... but then she'd just fly through the window." Twilight's worry comes out as she says the line, coming to realize what she's just said as well.

Tensions heighten as they hear slow methodical steps along the outside porch, wood creaking as pressure is laid on the outside, Twilight listening closely to the creaks and how they sound.

'One step...another... another...'

Twilight's horn glows with a bright purplish energetic hue, determining whatever is outside must be bipedal, Pinkie lying flat against her back along with Rarity on the opposing side of the doorway. Spotting a dark figure creep in from the side, Twilight ducks her head behind cover, lowering her hoof down and back to her mouth with a shushing motion. She emotes with her mouth, as she hears something crawl through the broken window, slumped and with a noticeable presence.

"Five..." Twilight silently motions with her mouth, adding to it. "Four..." The others nod, ready to leap into action on cue, as they hear slow steps slowly approach.

"Three.... Two..."

Silence floods the room, as they anxiously await.

"..............."

A creak sounds, all four simultaneously leap out from the doorway as Twilight blinds the room in a bright light from her home, a loud high pitched noise sounds out and pierces their ears.

"YAAAAAHH!!" Fluttershy falls backwards onto her back, the wind knocked out of her lungs, as her friends come to realize whom they have encountered as she squirms dizzily on her back with flailing wings.

"Fluttershy!?" All four simultaneously shout, catching the attention of one wary pony outside, Rainbow Dash peeking in from outside and just as surprised at the sight. Unfortunately, the same can not be said for the yellow Pegasus pony, now scared out of her mind at the sudden shock as she begins to hyperventilate and grasping her chest while breathing through her teeth and nose.

"Haah, ahh, hauhh!!" She gasps, as she's raised from her back by Rainbow, now sitting upright.

"We're so, so sorry! We thought you were--" Twilight pauses, unsure how to finish this sentence, instead lightly petting Fluttershy's back in an attempt to calm her down along with Rainbow, Pinkie and Rarity fanning her face with Applejack's hat.

"Gyeh.. Hahh..." Fluttershy begins to recollect herself, asking under her hollowed breath, "W-W-What are you all doing in, hauh, Dan's h-house?"

Abruptly, RD chimes in, defiantly and direct.

"Are you kidding? We're looking for whatever hurt you! And Twilight said you were in the hospital! Why are you here?" Rainbow asks, continually petting her close friend's back trying to coax an answer. After a solid minute of support from her friends, Fluttershy manages to speak up.

"I..I thought Dan would be here. He isn't?" Fluttershy asks, confused, to the group's dismay after reading the many uncomfortably scribbled notes minutes ago she had taken and seemingly hidden. Twilight answers her, being the only one that can, and curious herself.

"He's in the waiting room, I wanted you to go to bed, and I asked him to leave you alone.... did he--" Twilight looks and sounds concerned toward her, but receives an equally concerning look and sense of tone and urgency.

"N-No, the receptionist said he left after you did, I took a nap, and checked myself out and--" Fluttershy tilts her head with wide eyes as Twilight respectfully interrupts her, believing it to be for her own good.

"Come on." Twilight holds Fluttershy by the shoulder, alongside her friends and escort her outside Dan's home and make their way back towards town.

An uncomfortable silence grows around them, Applejack and RD nearing Twilight, as Pinkie and Rarity stand beside Fluttershy in support, meanwhile she seems just as confused at the situation as a whole as the rest of them.

"...where is he, Twilight? What did he do to her?" Applejack whispers, concerned with a foreboding sense of dread. Her answer is none more comforting, Pinkie inadvertently picks up on this conversation.

"I don't know, maybe I was too harsh, I--." Twilight defeatedly answers, as they near the outskirts of Ponyville, stopping her worried line of dialogue.

'Dan, please don't do anything drastic.' She pleads to herself alone. 'For everypony's sake.'

Along the train lines, Daniel approaches a short stairway leading up to the wooden platform, stepping clear over onto it as he shifts a pack on his back, patting a side pocket dutifully pieced and sewn together by Rarity for his size, confirming a bundle of bits jangling inside.

'About 100 bits huh.' Dan laments to himself, trying to calculate how far he could go along the train line, only having Manehattan and Canterlot as a frame of reference for travel, both spaced very differently in terms of distance. As far back as he can remember, he didn't even pay for the trip to Canterlot, Twilight copped for that examination trip. He hadn't time, nor the mind, to pick up anything from home and feels forced to make due with what he could scrounge up on hand. Stepping to the ticket window, he spots a pony laid back sitting in a swivel chair, a light bronze-coated unicorn levitating a magazine with a light blue magic hue lazily as he hears him approach.

"Where you headed?" The pony asks, showing little concern or attention to the other individual on the opposite end of the ticket window, continuing to read with the magazine raised between them both. Silently grumbling at an awfully familiar sight back in his own world, he mutters to the rude ticket booth pony.

"... as far as the train can take me at this hour." He answers, holding back traces of emotion, but the pony picks up a different message from the exchange entirely with an amused outlook.

"Ha. What, getting away from the Ms?" The pony places down the magazine with a smirk, briefly turning to type the amount into a register before he spots the large part of a torso with Dan leaning down to be able to face the window. The pony jolts in place, surprised and having expected to see another pony, smiling nervously.

"Ghhk! Aha.. ha, uhm, one second please." The pony nervously folds the magazine to the side, tapping an amount into the register and printing out a ticket to a destination, speaking aloud to him.

"That'd be, uhh, San Palamino." The pony nervously smiles, a bundle of counted bits being slid across the glass opening beneath the pane of the window, the pony grasping via levitation magic and placing it on the counter cautiously as he slides the bits into the register.

'Why do I always get the weirdos?' The pony silently protests, as Dan picks up the ticket, stepping to the side out of view and sitting on an ill-proportioned bench now waiting for a midnight train to somewhere he's never heard of.

"..." Dan stays silent, clasping his head back into one hand on his knee, trying not to think about what may follow all this. Instead, focusing on using what he has to make a life separate from those he cares about, believing he himself is a danger to their safety.

'It's better this way, right?' He tries to reason to himself, time trudging along agonizingly slowly, as he's left alone with his thoughts and memories he'll have to try to put aside in what he deems a better outcome for his friends. The train nowhere in sight, as he checks the estimated times on the ticket for stops, surprisingly it should have been here by now.

'It's not like they'll miss much, they got along before, and they're...' Dan chokes up at the reality of it. '... stronger than I am.' But accepts it.

A realistically brief time passes, before Dan spots a light far off into the distance come into view, and begin to shine and highlight the station. He stands, stepping behind the painted border safety line, as the train blows it's characteristic air horns while approaching from a distance.

"A new life, huh..." He mutters to himself, feeling air brush past as the mass of the train slows and passes just past the platform, coming to a stop. The doors open on their own, a gush of hot steam shoots from the wheels, settling and rising upward from the gap. A pony in a train cap waits just outside alongside him, motioning for a ticket. Dan holds out the ticket, it appears the train pony is less judgmental of who rides, he surmises as long as they have a ticket. A piece is clipped off the ticket and handed back, this transaction complete, at least for this stop, which is a multiple stop ride.

Taking a deep breath, Dan steps onto the train car, seeing he's all alone inside.

'Course.' Spite runs through his head.

The belittling thought crosses his mind, as he takes a seat on the wide booth-like seats near the window, glancing outside for a few minutes, taking in the sights one last time. Ponyville lit up only slightly, home lights inconsistently dotted off or on in the distance, scarce miscellaneous lights lighting up the distant background as he looks into the commercial part of town. He crosses his arms, holding in emotions that continue to run through him uncomfortably, being compelled to look at his temporary home once more.

The train whistle blows, and the doors begin to close, separating him from his past life as the floor shuffles movement stirs. The wheels turn, the train making a chattering noise as it gets in-rhythm, it picking up a steady speed as Daniel watches the station pass by.

"..." Sitting silently, he watches landmarks pass one by one, spotting Twilight's literal treehouse library before finally the train passes Ponyville limits and he starts to see fields, eventually forestry, that obscures the way.

'It's... better this way.'

He affirms to himself, closing his eyes once more, the overwhelming drive to sleep overcoming his senses.

"Princess? W-What a pleasure!" A lab-coat pony speaks up from a worktable, alongside his co-workers, which all simultaneously bow before Luna, she seems less formal as she raises her hoof assuredly to them.

"There is no call for such formality. Stand, if you so please." Luna beckons them back onto their hooves regally, to slight confusion.

'All three of you should be asleep, rather, I should say.' Luna comments on their workload taking them well into the night, concerned for their sleep schedule versus their work schedule. One of them speaks up, being as polite as they can be to their highly esteemed but unexpected guest.

"I'm sorry for my forwardness, but, why have you graced us with your presence, your majesty?" One of the researcher ponies tuck a beaker and stack of papers to the side, tapping a seat by a worktable for the princess to sit, but to no return response from her.

"I wish to see what you have attempted to learn from our fair Daniel, I pray you may yet have found something of importance." Luna suggests seeing what research notes they have gathered, the ponies excitedly trot around the research wing of the building and each gather notes and drawn depictions of various parts of anatomy of this first human they have ever seen. Luna bows her head with a small smile.

"Thank you." She genuinely greets them, a sense of admiration and excitement flooding into the room, none of them having expected to come into contact with royalty or garner such attention for their research. Shuffling through the many papers, she reads what looks like a graph vaguely labelled 'Activity'. Luna asks aloud to one of them.

"What is this depicting?" She levitates the graph over to the ponies, the unicorn of the group grasping it with their magic, excitedly reading and explaining the contents.

"This is a measure of the Ser Daniel's brain activity, we ran him through a multitude of tests." The pony proudly explains, adding onto it. "But personally, I feel they weren't taken with a lot of accuracy, because our equipment is less compatible with his... unique biology." The research pony beside her looks mildly annoyed, belittling his work that he had done in front of the princess, keeping up a now strained smile in proximity to the princess. She adds on again.

"We very much intend to examine him again soon, with his permission of course, and--" The research pony is interrupted as Luna levitates a similar graph paper toward her again.

"Explain this, please." She politely asks, but it communicates as displeasure, the trio of research ponies beginning to look nervous. Another speaks instead, the previous one being awestruck, he grasps it in his hooves.

"W-Well, that is a test we normally give unicorns, we believe we may have picked up some unrelated spectrum data, as he showed more activity than we'd have expected, say from an Earth Pony, or a Pegasus. Since they lack any sort of magical prowess harnessed like Unicorns use, we assumed that--" The research pony is interrupted by Luna's commanding voice again.

"I am aware of this test, we use it to measure the initial aptitude of unicorns at my sister's school." Luna peers at it, worryingly. The third and final research pony, flies up to her with his hooves cusped at his torso.

"Princess, I-I'm sure we could refine our results, in given time and--" The pony is cut off immediately, Luna raising her foreleg.

"I wish you to take the test on me, while I sleep." Luna asks, but subtly demands, as the ponies look to her confusedly. The unicorn asking her to clarify.

"But.. princess, we don't need to see your aptitude, we know you are among the higher powered uni-- alicorns." The unicorn pony's hurried speech is halted, as Luna displays a determined expression.

"Please, humor me." Luna smiles warmly, the ponies scooting their legs nervously, unsure what to make of this strange display.

"O-Of course." The unicorn says. "We're on it!" The ponies excitedly and proudly say at once, spending the next half an hour setting up equipment.

Luna lies immobile on a stretcher bed, fast asleep, with a multitude of diodes and medical equipment pasted onto parts of her head and wired to a machine which reads brainwave activity.

Entering the dreamscape, Luna parts away the darkness through her lucid controlled state, scouring for a dream in particular she suspects to be active, searching for Daniel. In reality, the research ponies monitor her brainwave and magical output, showing a minimal variation as the needle writes steadily with only the faintest jitter. A research pony takes notes, saying aloud her observations.

"Reads as normal, as any pony, or alicorn... why did she ask us to do this?" She asks the others, as they simply shrug, they dutifully continue monitoring activity.

"Help! HEEEELP!!" Luna hears a cry from an adjacent dream bubble, spotting a young pale-yellow coated filly running, she enters the dream with fervor and observes the background. It's dark, laden with white tiles, and empty hallways, the young filly runs towards and accidentally bumps into Luna as she attempts to warn her.

"Oof!" The young pegasus filly rubs her head and eyes, spotting Luna towering above, and she excitedly stands up on all fours. "Princess Luna!" Her excited outburst is interrupted by a bellowing noise coming from down the white yet dark hallway, the filly hiding behind Luna's hind legs shaking.

"Ecccchhhhh..." A sloshing fleshy sound emanates from the hallway, Luna peering with her magic glowing bright blue along her horn, ready to banish this nightmare.

In reality, the researchers see Luna's readings spike, then irradiate steadily at an increased pace, the researchers continuing to take notes as Luna continues her encounter with a nightmare. Expectedly, Luna sees the silhouette of a pony, limping and jaggedly pacing toward them, Luna taking this moment to speak to the filly.

"What is that, little one?" She asks, moving her eyes but not her head down toward her, the filly timidly shivers and speaks.

"I-I don't know! I was dreaming, that I went to the carnival, then I was walking and when I turned I-I was here." The filly hugs Luna's leg, relying on her to keep her safe, her being pat on her head warmly by her protector.

"It's alright now. It wasn't your fault." The pony silhouette's head twitches in place while ghastly muttering loudly , stepping better into view, the filly closing her eyes to not see the monstrous creature, twisted around the neck with no facial features or ears to speak of. But in the shape of a pony with appendages, bruises present in large purple splotches, clashing with the fleshy texture of it's 'skin'. It speaks again, nonsensically, just as disturbingly.

"It's better this way."

Luna steps forward, the filly shivering in place, trying not to stare at the monstrous creature as the princess approaches it.

"Return to whatever dark pit of the mind you have emerged from!" Luna states, magic emanating and dispersing the many materials the background is made of, abolishing the setting as it fades away into miniscule wisps of conjured up thought and interpretation. The creature shakes torpidly, then actively, before finally being dispersed entirely by a decisive step from Luna as her eyes light up brightly to illuminate the darkness.

The researchers see a high spike in her brain activity, especially her magical activity, as it slowly comes back to a steady and normal reading.

The background of the young Filly's dream fades back into a carnival-like setting, playfully colored cobblestone tiles replacing the dirty and sterile setting, the walls disappearing and excited ponies trotting all around, cheerful and happy music starting to play. The young filly opens her eyes, seeing a happy setting once again, excitedly rushing to her protector and flying upward.

"Thank you, thank you princess!" She warmly hugs Luna's head, nuzzling her cheek against her's, merrily spotting the dream depiction of her family and rushing back towards them as they present a bag of popcorn to her. Luna smiles, but quickly returns back to the dreamscape, stepping through an existential plane back into the dream world where she can now look around once again.

"An unusual nightmare." Luna ponders about the specifics of that dream, assuming the young filly may have had some feeling of guilt manifesting itself in her dreams, but is interrupted again while looking for Daniel's dream by another cry for help, shrieking from a young colt. She has no time to peer into what's going on, running clear into the dream's existential plane, Luna shocked to see what she sees.

"AHHHH, AHHH!!" The young earth pony struggles, being held up by a pony-like monster, looking strikingly similar to what she just banished in another dream. She bolts towards the monster pony, it's chest opening up into a gaping tan-colored maw about to consume him, the pony struggling and crying as it nears his head.

He suddenly gets teleported out of reach and behind Luna, surrounded by a magic shield bubble, Luna taking a moment to observe the monster pony and more specifically the setting, it showing the exact same background of hospital tiles and hallways, the monster pony doesn't move from it's previous stance where it was holding up the pony. It instead, cricks it's neck, snapping as it turns to face Luna, it shuffles it's limbs back down to all fours and seems to stare, before finally saying something familiar.

"YOU'RE ALRIGHT NOW." It steps forward again, the pony stepping to the side, asking aloud at his savior.

"What in Celestia is that thing!?" Panicked and shaken, he sits upright and stays put, feeling safe in the shield bubble. Luna, however, doesn't feel so calm, actually giving him an answer.

"I.. I don't know what this is. How can you two be having the same nightmare!" Luna doesn't question the situation any longer, seeing this creature as a clear threat, she charges the monster with an inspired charge and impales it along her horn. The monster pony makes no more sounds as it burns away, becoming nothing but immaterial substance, as the dream fades to Ponyville.

In reality, the researchers watch her readings, seeing a familiar pattern, the research pony grabs her previous notes on Daniel and compares the two. She double checks it, then re-checks it, handing the notes and graphs to her colleagues as she makes audible observations.

"That can't be right, Duly, you sure you calibrated this right for the princess?" The unicorn researcher worriedly looks over her equipment strapped to her head, the research pony replies more calmly.

"Yes, I triple-checked it, not that this'd be any sort of danger to her or anypony for that matter, it doesn't do anything but read her vitals!" He reasons, but seeing the same thing the rest are seeing.

"Then WHY is she so distressed?" The research ponies scramble to understand these readings, comparing these brain activity spikes to Daniel's spikes, which were depicted very similarly. An abnormality they blamed on misaligned equipment that was incompatible, but it appears these 'abnormalities' they share.

"Take it off her." One research pony drops a clipboard and grabs the headgear attached to her, slipping it off along with the taped diodes on the sides of her forehead.

In the dreamscape, Luna senses a disturbance from her physical body, waving at the pony she just saved as his dream re-enters it's normal state.

Luna re-enters reality, waking up from her own induced sleep, blinking tiredly and rubbing her eyes. She feels as if she had a full night's sleep, despite the monstrous depictions of ponies she has banished. Her vision still blurry and out of focus, she keeps her eyes closed, rubbing her forehead with her hoof.

"What happened? Why did you stop?" Luna asks, commandingly. The research ponies look to each other, confused.

"I-I'm sorry princess, your brain activity and magic levels we're spiking, we thought you were troubled." The unicorn researcher apologizes, despite having done what they thought was the correct course of action. Luna, unexpectedly, chuckles to herself.

"I can handle anything the dreamscape can throw at me." She opens her eyes, the silhouettes of the researcher ponies coming into focus. "I assure you I am--"

Luna's heart skips a beat as she spots warped faces of the researcher ponies, guttural and bellowing phrases being muttered and obscured, deepened and pitched discomfortingly.

"Are you alright?" A silhouetted monster pony asks, as Luna flies upward with her wings extended and her magic ablaze.

The research ponies back up, nervously cornered against a worktable, as Luna's eyes glow with intensity and an angered sneer is present on her face.

"P-Princess!?" The researcher pony shrieks as Luna's horn colored hue becomes blinding.

A wave of magical energy disperses from Luna's horn, propelling waves of papers, chairs, equipment, beakers, and the ponies themselves off their feet and across the room away from Luna. The magical wave of energy passes through the walls, and out the window, shattering the building's windows and many outlooks, grabbing the attention of many ponies in the distance and multiple guards on patrol late at night nearby.

The room grows silent, as fragments of glass and equipment settle on the floor, Luna landing on her feet with her vision still obscured and her magic still bright an intense, she speaks in her royal canterlot voice, prompted to by this repeated encounter with these monstrous ponies.

"Begone dark machinations of the mind!! You do not--" Luna's vision comes back, her eyes widen in horror as reality sets in.

"... hah.. hah..."

She lowers back down onto her hooves, her mouth agape gasping, beginning to shake in the wake of her telekinetic blast she has wrought on these innocents.

A haunting phrase echoes in the back of her mind.

"It wasn't your fault."

Author's Note

Well this was a surprise, deciding to finish up this story, because it's been hanging out in the back of my mind for a time. Literally, been like 4 years.

Added to and corrected the grammar a bit from where I last left off this chapter, probably translates a lot after you read it past a certain point.

This. Was. Interesting. Because it's a neat peak at the past, and how much I've changed up how I write compared to back then! I tried to emulate how I wrote before, I hope it reads a bit better than how I structured everything before. Or if it reads just as it did before, welp, tell me and I'll see what I can improve.

Also, very unsure if I should go back and try to restructure earlier chapters of the story, or the whole thing, both because I'm apprehensive having to change it, and it'd take a pretty long time to re-read and fix all over again... heh.

Thank you to the few who may have stuck around to be able to read this, after being gone for a time (count it, 3 times now), nice to come back to something I've been meaning to come back to. I hope you may have enjoyed this extra chapter, and if you did not, well it's been a long time and there's a natural disconnect and I'll gladly accept if things are pretty different. Plus, to be frank, moved on quite a bit to how I was back then, so the translation would be spotty anyhow.

Also the whole, sad parts, and all.

Again, thank you to whomever reads this, glad to have entertained some people in the past, and hope I can try to continue to do the same in the future. If there is a call for it, or if I manage to get some inspiration, I plan to end this story with one more chapter-- this story is actually a bit too long for my tastes, and I have a fair picture on what separate story to make as a continuation or sequel. Because let's be honest, there's a lot of chapters, I don't want to add more with more and more characters.

More on this in a blog post, which I feel is better for explaining things more frequently than... not at all.

I feel this title says a lot by itself.

Time To Mend

The train wheels click and clatter as the train speeds through the night along the tracks to it's various destinations and stops, the occasional light illuminating the train car's wide seating specifically designed for ponies, as it passes the dirt and occasionally cobblestone laden roadway intersecting the tracks.

A train conductor pony methodically enters the car through a connecting doorway from another car, taking the opportunity to reach into his coat pocket and pull out a gilded pocket watch into his hoof, silently reading the time which is well into the night schedule-- and ahead of time for once, to his liking. Placing the watch back into his pocket, the train pony slowly steps to Daniel, which is slumped in the wide seat and on his side, taking up the majority of it due to his natural size, compared to ponies. The wide booth seating like a makeshift bed.

Politely, the conductor taps Daniel's leg as he lies in a deep sleep. Unaware he is asleep, he speaks aloud.

"Ticket, please." The conductor waits a moment, before realizing Dan is asleep, blowing air through his nostrils nonchalantly. This is a common occurrence on late-night shifts and train rides, but duty comes first in his line of work over letting ponies sleep, the train company taking steps to increase accuracy on quotas for ticket-handlers.

He places a hoof on his leg again, shaking gently and speaking louder, repeating the same request without a pause.

"Ticket please."

The conductor hears a low murmur come from the large bundled mass that is Danny, and steps backwards. Dan, rolling over and sitting up groggy with his vision out of focus, stretches and suddenly winces with pain-- having slept on his arm accidentally and it going numb. Despite this, the feeling of sensation comes back with spite, feeling like needles and a tight net is enclosing around his arm.

'Ow! Damn.' Dan thinks to himself briefly and shakes his arm gently, before being prodded on his leg again, turning to see a pony in a train uniform and hat with large mutton chops for a beard.

"Uh, sorry, did you want something?" Dan asks, half asleep and unaware of the situation at hand. The train pony pays no heed, simply requesting a ticket for a third time.

"Ticket please, sir." The train pony doesn't change his expression, simply holding out his hoof. Dan immediately comes to terms with the context of this exchange, patting his pants pocket and worming his fingers into one. Feeling a piece of paper, he grasps and pulls it out between his fingers, it is indeed the ticket. Dan half smiles, embarrassingly having been woke up for sleeping in a train seat, something that has not occurred for a long time.

"Aha, sorry. It's--" Dan pauses, his smile fading to realization, his eyebrows tensing up as he remembers why he's here in the first place. He coughs to clear his throat, trying to save face and dismiss the probable social faux pas.

"I'm sorry, I'm up now, it's been a long day, and--" Dan stops muttering to the pony, who has already taken the ticket and pulled a tag off the side of it, handing it back in his lap with a piece of information said with it.

"No need to say anything sir, your business is your own. I only need to clip the ticket." The pony nods his head impartially, stepping aside from his booth seat and makes his way to the adjacent doorway, leaving into another train car down the line.

"....." Dan sits silently, as he hears the train car doors close when the pony leaves, slumping his head into his hands and trying not to think about his ordeal. He fails as reality continues to cave in, trying instead to think about what to do at whatever new life he feels compelled to make for himself, separate from his friends. He sighs, deprecating himself repeatedly in his head.

'God damn stupid, dumb, idiot, stupid, stupid...'

This continues for a time, before the call of sleep begins to wane on his body again, forcing him to lie to his side, huddling closely to himself until he falls unconscious with bitterness flooded into his mind regarding his own actions.

"Danny!"

Pinkie cries out.

"Danny!!"

Pinkie cries out again, running through the dark streets of Ponyville, the odd streetlight lighting the way as various miscellaneous ponies look to her with confusion and concern over the amount of noise. Twilight spots house lights flicker on in many houses throughout the town and neighborhoods, ponies woken up by all the noise.

"Dan! COME OUT HERE YOU JERK!!" Another voice yells out loud, with clear spite and anger fueling the audacity and volume, Rainbow flying with a much higher speed and coverage compared to Pinkie, making rapid and sudden turns above the rooftops and around corners in search for Daniel with drive to confront and ultimately punish him.

Twilight bolts after Rainbow, attempting to keep up with stressed breath and lungs gasping for air, finally getting within range to effectively use her magic, Rainbow coming to a sudden and jarring halt as her wings are magically grasped along with the rest of her body. She violently struggles, looking down to Twilight with confused anger, continuing to attempt to wriggle free, flailing repeatedly with her wings tucked in.

"YOU'RE NOT STOPPING ME!! When I get my hooves on him, I'll, I'll-- !!" Rainbow continues to struggle, as Twilight dually wrestles to keep her in place, yelling back at Rainbow Dash as she starts to peak free of the magic hold.

"THAT'S ENOUGH! Everypony is upset, but you're not making anyone feel any better by blindly flying off trying to--" Twilight's magic fails to hold Rainbow, jerking herself forward and thrust unto the ground as Rainbow is subjected to the same disruption of momentum and falls to the ground without her wings extended to break the fall.

"Guh." Rainbow looks to a stunned Twilight. Clenching her teeth, she seeks the opportunity to get away from her friends, jumping back on her hinds legs, extending her wings again about to lift off. However, her action is disrupted by a rope flying onto and lassoing her torso as she kicks upward for a launch, holding her in place again as Applejack pulls her back down with all her might she can muster.

"Shtahp zhish right now, whad'dya shink you're gonna do--" Applejack gets dragged several feet as she reels Rainbow back, stopping her from flying off in blind rage in a frantic search for revenge, moving the rope from her mouth to her hooves. "I'm angry too! But you're acting no better than he did! NOW STOP TRYIN' TO FLY AWAY FROM US!!" Applejack yanks Rainbow back to the ground, Twilight assisting with another magical field as she trots beside Applejack, Rainbow continuing to struggle.

"I can't believe you guys are even trying to protect him!" Rainbow yells out in spite of them with tears building in her eyes, eventually being forced to hold still as they cautiously approach. Twilight tries her best not to yell, this situation having gone as poorly as she had thought, after explaining what Dan had done to Fluttershy before she could try to give additional context.

"That's not what we're doing, we want to find him too, but--" Twilight is interrupted mid-sentence as Rainbow weakly struggles, beginning to hurt herself trying to push past a stronger force, briefly but finally defeatedly holding still as her strength gives and she starts to wince. "--I'm not going to let you act on your impulses while like this!"

Twilight's eyes widen as she sees her friend in pain, releasing her magical hold.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to--" Twilight pauses as Applejack approaches her from the side, seeing Rainbow Dash tear up with a similar angered grimace, she stands and places a hoof on her chest threateningly.

"... we're finding him, and he's going to answer for this. Promise me." Rainbow's nose twitches as she holds back a sneer, struggling to hold in her anger, Twilight attempting to compromise by placing her hoof on her foreleg supportively while Applejack unties the lasso.

"We're going to find him, for better or worse." She speaks, solemnly but vaguely, a condition Rainbow is not pleased with at all.

Regardless, she appears to comply and places her hoof back down, turning her attention to Pinkie, which is still frantically searching down the street and questioning ponies. Rainbow holds back tears, turning her head dismissively and walking toward her, Applejack walking back to Twilight and whispering to her.

"I'd be lying if I said that I didn't want him to answer for all this. He's been doin' something to them, and I suspect you know more than you were able to say before she got all worked up." She looks Twilight in the eye with a stern look.

"I'm not letting this go either, y'hear?" Applejack says threateningly but with a more controlled lower tone, following to keep an eye on Rainbow Dash, Twilight shaking in place trying to figure out what to do while stressed herself and at her limits.

'This is... this is all too much! All my friends, and Dan, and--' Twilight feels she's within the first stages of a panic attack, before she sees Pinkie sit in place with her head held low, Rainbow placing her head on hers and bringing her in for a comforting embrace.

The rage-fueled pegasus having been pushed to the side to aid her friend, Twilight coming to a realization.

"..." She silently watches them for a moment before finally trotting over and joining them in a group hug, Applejack petting Pinkie's back as they hold her, Pinkie beginning to sob.

"Why, why did he do this to her, a-and why..." Pinkie sniffles and wipes her eyes, feeling her heart stress itself with a feeling of loathing against him being contrasted with the shuddering pain of being abandoned, the two clashing emotions wreaking havoc inside. Rainbow continues to hold her close, letting her cry with someone to lean against, Rainbow looking to Twilight worryingly.

'I have to stay strong and support them, no matter how I feel.' Twilight looks determined, nodding to Rainbow in agreement that they need to find Daniel.

'For everypony's sake.'

The peak of morning finally rises hours later, Twilight preparing a cup of coffee in the kitchen as she paces back and forth impatiently in the main room of the library, her ears perk up as the door flies open, Rarity walking in and speaking without a doubt Twilight is still awake.

"Applejack, Rainbow and Pinkie will be staying with Fluttershy and questioning her, I pray calmly, while we look for Daniel." Rarity states, turning her eyes to Twilight with concern. "Darling, perhaps it's time you've gone to bed, if... only for a brief time, it may do you some good."

Twilight, hearing a ding, ignores the suggestion and hears the pitter patter of little feet rush into the kitchen and rush back out, Spike holding a cup of piping hot coffee. Rarity shuffles her legs, raising a hoof and tensely attempts to explain away the situation at hand for him.

"Spike, we're-- I mean, we're only--" Rarity is interrupted by a highly audible sigh from Twilight, taking a careful sip from the mug she's been handed, levitating it toward her mouth and blowing on it. A small comfort, though Twilight would not be able to sleep anyhow even without it, deciding to stay up.

"He knows, Rarity. I told him." Twilight says uneasily, regretfully exposing Spike to this very adult situation that has been traumatic for them all, deciding this is unavoidable as a topic that he will eventually find out about anyway.

Spike speaks up, offering some insight, despite being equally apprehensive.

"Well, he couldn't have gone very far, right? I mean, he isn't exactly built for travel on two legs, and he kinda stands out." Blunt and to the point, Spike tries to think of it from a logical standpoint. Spike raises his hand to his chin, contemplatively, as Twilight takes another sip of the coffee after blowing on it again. Rarity abruptly walks past her and up the stairs to the second floor for some reason, Spike continuing on with his guesses.

"Maybe he took the train? That should be easy, right?" Spike smiles up to her, hoping to prompt a breakthrough and make her pick up what he's putting down, but is instead met with an agitated look. She tilts her head down, before looking surprised as Rarity levitates a blanket onto her back, turning to be met with a caring smile from her, Twilight compelled to smile too just as she was about to cave in to her own doubt.

She places her foreleg around Spike, giving him a hug unexpectedly, Spike momentarily confused but affectionately placing his arm around her neck with a softer embrace.

"Uh, so was that a good guess, or?" He chuckles lightly, unsure how to respond. Twilight replies for him, her determination and drive refilled.

"Yeah Spike, that'd be a good start." She taps her hoof on her chin. "Or maybe he took a balloon ride, or rafted down a river. Hmm." Twilight shifts her lips to one side, trying to calculate the distance between the time he's been gone, trotting on upstairs to grab a map. Levitating a bundle of paper and a map of equestria's local borders, she places them on the table in the middle of the room, rolling out and unfolding the map, muttering information she begins to piece together.

"Back when I took him to those researchers, they took several physical tests." She levitates a pencil and draws out a triangle, writing numbers down in each corner, continuing to speak informed tidbits of information out loud. "They told me he walks at an average of 1.5 meters a second, he's been gone for... about 7 hours?" Twilight hazards a guess, based solely on the last time she's seen him back in the hospital.

Turning her tongue outward from her lips, she dutifully grabs a ruler and measures many main roads, grabbing a local map and calculating distance, based on speed, against the time.

"On foot, he would have gone as far as the swamps in the Everfree Forest." Twilight tries not to think about that possibility, remembering Dan nearly got killed by timber wolves by his own description, still bearing scars across his arm. She continues to propose guesses, based on time and distance.

"He could have gone to the ruins, but I don't think he knows about them. Maybe he headed East through a path out of town to some rock ridges, or West, down the river." She rubs the side of her face, being overwhelmed. "Come to think of it, he may have been able to walk to the base of the Canterlot mountain by now if he picked up the pace, but if he wanted to go there, he'd probably just take the train..." She infers, solely based on Dan's laidback personality.

Twilight begins to calculate train arrival times based on stops, looking troubled, discovering many more variables to it.

"If he took a train, then that'll be harder, but depending on which train he took..." Twilight measures the distances again, using the equestrian map, not entirely sure which paths house railroad tracks and using estimates based on distance.

"By now he could be anywhere from West through the White Tail woods, to South in Appleloosa..." Twilight rubs the side of her cheek, trying to pick whatever one might be less time consuming for a search party, before Spike steps in to give his opinion.

"... well, I don't think he'd go too far." Spike hazards a guess, also based on Dan's personality and general attitude. Rarity however, doesn't pick up on this, asking aloud to him.

"Why do you say that, Spikey?" Rarity raises one foreleg, curiously, Spike making a similar pose to Twilight as she looks on just as curious.

"He's only been to like 3 places outside of Ponyville, right? He wouldn't know how far everything is, so... maybe he just went with whatever he could recognize as far enough? It doesn't feel like he's running away from punishment." Spike rubs his arm, knowing the similar feeling he guesses Dan might be feeling as well. "... just running away from his problems, rather than tackling them head-on." Spike shrugs, brushing off the feeling to be able to add more. "Maybe ask the train ponies around town, I figure he stands out enough for them to remember."

Twilight smiles warmly and grasps Spike with magic, nuzzling him deeper into the side of her face, proud that he's managing to stay more controlled than they are. Spike, however, starts to feel smothered and wriggles in place in an attempt to escape this hug.

"T-Twilight, you're kinda crushing me." Spike speaks sarcastically with a sly smile, eventually coming around and patting the top of her head until she decides to let him down.

"Yeah, we should start there. Rarity, ask the girls--" Twilight is about to relay orders, but is interrupted by Spike holding his hands to his mouth, Twilight ducking thinking he's about to burp. Rarity steps back as Spike lets out a blast of brief green fire, a letter propelling itself and resting on the table. Twilight grabs the letter via magic, unfurling the scroll and reading top down, her eyes widening.

"It's from Princess Luna, she wants to talk about Dan, immediately." Twilight folds up the letter, stepping out from her blanket, turning to them both and motioning her head for them to join her.

"Let's go get the girls." She states, looking serious, Rarity looking to Spike and back to her with concern awash over her eyes.

"But, dear, Fluttershy!" Rarity doesn't get to say anymore as Twilight adds on.

"She wants everypony, and she said she might have some insight. Come on, the faster we go, the faster we can continue tracking Dan." Twilight's determination is refueled yet again, hoping to get some answers and hopefully closure, if not for her, then she hopes for everyone else.

'We just need to stay strong.. stay together.' She affirms to herself, Spike climbing onto her back to ride her, as she trots outside the library with Rarity back towards Fluttershy's cottage.

'We need to stay together...'

"Next stop, Laaaaaas Pegasus!" The conductor yells out through the intercom excitedly, though the rest of the train is lightly populated, what ponies must be onboard are bound to be excited for a nightly trip. Dan is briefly caught off-guard, sitting cross-armed as he was daydreaming and staring out the window blankly.

'Did he just say...' Dan wonders, unsure if he heard that right, drawing parallels to Las Vegas as he shuffles in his seat to try to spot this 'Las Pegasus'. Strangely, he sees a stop along a large field, but sees no such 'City of Sin'as he knows it, instead spotting a large collection of hot-air balloons as the train comes to a stop with a mess of what he could describe best as tourists, approach the train with a multitude of party gear, t-shirts, and themed hats. Upbeat and oddly familiar music playing outside on speakers.

"Uh huh." Dan feels mildly perturbed, before ducking his head below the window and looking upward, spotting a large silhouetted city-like mass of structures up in the clouds, lit up as bright as the moon.

'...whoa.' He tries to stay calm, but is purely in awe that such a place even exists. His attention to the apparently popular tourist destination is interrupted by ponies walking into the train car from the neighboring one with a door, filled with a loud murmur of multiple ponies talking and reminiscing. The volume however dips, as ponies take notice of him, beginning to stare at the strange creature they haven't seen before, before finally taking their seats and acting like they didn't notice him to be polite.

Expectedly, none of them approach or seat nearby Dan, as he casually glances to them and actively resists the urge to shrug or say something.

'Take a picture why don't you.' He joyfully thinks with a smirk, before his eyes flash blindingly with a light shone into them in an instant, he rubs his eyes and tries to ascertain where that came from. Apparently, somepony took that suggestion in-mind and snapped a photo, a little Pegasus filly with a camera apparatus strapped to her shoulders and a tourist cap donned on. She peaks her head over the adjacent booth seat, looking with an admiring smile before another pony's hoof is laid on her head and she's thrust back down into her seat, with a stern yet hushed whispering directed at her.

"Don't do that, that's rude! You know better." Another pegasus pony, Dan assumes could only be this child's mother, nervously smiles and gestures with her hoof back at him in a shrugging motion. "Ahaha, I'm sorry, she's so excitable and just loves to take pictures of everything."

Dan smiles back, raising his hand from his cross-armed pose, waving it with a humored remark back at them.

"Heh, nah it's fine, I'm used to it." He waves back happily to the little filly poking her head above the seat again, she waves back before sitting back down and showing the picture she took to her mother, being hushed again with volume too low for him to hear what she said. This familiar feeling of being looked at is nothing new, though the awkwardness is still present, Dan is fine with excusing it-- he feels like he'd stare too if one of these ponies were casually sitting on a subway train, way back when.

The train doors finally close, the train beginning it's steadied pace again, the sight of the apparent tourist destination moving out of view up until they ride along a ways and take a small turn, moving Las Pegasus into view again. This time, from a wide distance.

"... no fucking way." He leans closer to the window, spotting what he thinks is a rollercoaster track, unintentionally swearing out loud caught up in his own excitement.

'They got a freaking rollercoaster!' He thinks excitedly to himself, starting to regret not stopping to see it up close, but this thought is quickly crushed once he remembers how expensive these kind of destinations are. Something he feels is no different here than it was back in his own world.

'Probably charge 10 bucks a head... or bits?' He's unaware of the exchange rate of bits to his equivalent of money, never having bothered to compare them, just having the farmer's market back in Ponyville to compare to. Even then, it was a barter system, so his knowledge is skewed regardless.

Some time goes by through the long trip, Dan picking up he's having multiple eyes staring back at him behind his back and it becoming increasingly uncomfortable. His worry is relieved as a food cart gets rolled in by an earth pony going booth by booth, offering snacks in a multitude of varieties, from boxed crackers and two layers below the main tray showing an assortment of sweets. Unfortunately, he fails to find anything specific to his liking, most of them being sweets barring some apples displayed on top.

'They sure love their sweets.' He thinks, unzipping his bag and taking out a bundle of bits into his hand, trying to ration his money out as long as possible until his unknown faraway destination. The cart pushed to his booth, he briefly skims through the displays, deciding on an apple fritter and a bottle of apple juice. Handing over the bits, he takes a fritter and bottle in-hand with a straw, taking off a solid half of it in one bite, pony proportions being smaller. Even the bottle of juice would considered 'small', but this fits him just fine as he quickly finishes the fritter and sips the bottle after inserting the straw.

Some thoughts pass through his mind, remembering Applejack because of the apple taste swimming through his mouth, feeling uncomfortable from reminiscing about some earlier memories when he first got introduced.

She was the first to actually offer him a part-time job, helping with farm work and simply picking apples, since he was so much taller.

Rarity offering to make him clothes since he only had the clothes on his back to begin with, which were torn to shreds originally.

Dan holds one cheek full of juice, unable to swallow it.

Rainbow excited about someone to discuss daring things with.

Twilight enthusiastic to ask questions.

Fluttershy proud to see him become accustomed to the world and her friends.

Dan painfully gulps the liquid down his throat, his cheek begins to twitch, a painful mass welling in his gut as he feels like he should choke on it.

Pinkie just glad to have met someone new, paying no heed or any apprehension to meeting and becoming friends with an entirely foreign creature.

'...god damn it.'

He shudders in place briefly, struggling not to shake, closing his eyes with a frustrated grimace, placing the bottle of juice between his legs and crossing his arms; splaying his head onto the top of his booth seat with his face toward the ceiling, resisting the urge to yell. He knows this will be difficult, with no solutions being able to smooth it over, believing they must hate him by now.

Begrudgingly, he attempts to go to sleep, wishing but lamenting to wanting to stay away from them. Not being able to avoid the memories of companionship he has just left behind, suspecting they will always despise him from now on. A reality he is coming to accept, and continues to reason to himself once more before drifting to pained sleep.

'It's better this way...'

The little filly looks over the seat with a camera raised, excited to see the friendly creature wave again at her for another photo op, her expression turning from excited to disappointed as she sees his angry expression while laid back, believing she made him annoyed. Her mother lightly taps her shoulder, not having to say to stop staring, as she slides back down into her seat sadly anyway. The filly yawns, taking off the camera apparatus and her hat, lying on her stomach with her head beside her mother, closing her eyes and feeling like taking a nap. She lies down, tucking her legs and tail inward, resting her head against mother's hind leg.

Her mother pets her mane as she drifts to sleep, no doubt tired from their vacation, she smiles warmly to her daughter, admiring her resting face as she whispers to her.

"Sweet dreams honey."

Author's Note

Spike, truly the MVP of this chapter. More on that later.

This took a day or so, was actually very unsure what to title this chapter, been a long while since I had to think of one (which will also need to rhyme), along with the next closing chapter.

I feel it will be obvious, still.

Thank you again to those who have read this far, it may be painfully obvious where this is headed, but I hope you may enjoy the 'ending' as it is planned when it does come out. I have been dropping hints, from the original encounter with Luna many chapters ago, to now tidbits of hints through the most recent chapters. Either way, this story will be finished, and I can start a continuation with some freshness to add to it with a separate set of characters-- and if not, well, I finished a story at least.

Thank you again :)

Unrelated: Look at how ADORABLE this pony is, found this wonderful little piece the other night while browsing derpibooru at midnight by the artist acersii.

https://derpibooru.org/1838151

Time to Rend

"Mmmnnnn...!!" The pegasus filly kicks her legs, face scrunching up in discomfort, her mother being momentarily woken up by a misplaced hoof hitting against her hind quarters with force. Shuffling to face her, she spots her legs randomly twitch as if running away from something. She yawns, rubbing her eye, assuming she's energy-high from their trip.

"Aw, honey, I told you not to drink so much soda before leaving..." Her mother whispers under her breath, concerned and petting her head carefully, failing to avert whatever dream she's having making her this way. She continues moving for several minutes, before her daughter finally lulls back into a lucid sleep, comfortably resting her head against her mother's leg, dreaming of the carnival they visited yet again.

"Hmhm, there we go." Her mother whispers again, pulling her closer, laying to the side on the booth seat, slowly moving her into a comfortable ball with her legs tucked in. The pegasus filly lies cradled against her stomach, snugly rested.

"Shhh, shhhh." Her mother whispers one final time, before falling asleep with her cradled close.

Hours pass while Dan squirms in his sleep, one final shock waking him up as the train's wheels deflect a stray object on the rails when it passes over a section, grunting in surprise at the noise and sudden of vibration.

".... ugh." He struggles to sit back up, limbs stiffened from the awkward angle he rested in, having fallen asleep on his arm again. Rubbing up and down his arm with his hand, he attempts to lessen the needle-like pain rushing through his arm as feeling trickles back.

'I can't wait to get to a hotel, or something.' Dan thinks, uneasy with sleeping on a train seat, fully aware it was not built with his size in mind. He hazily gazes around the train car, spotting other ponies still well into their sleep, and a select few apparently woken up by the same shock. The train conductor with the mutton chops was apparently not exaggerating that this kind of thing happens a lot, passengers sleeping while on long trips between stops. Equestria, in his mind, is bigger than he anticipated; Dan coming to the realization he didn't anticipate that by even taking a map.

"......." Silently fretting on this fact, Dan stands to stretch, not caring for the moment if ponies look down on his behavior as strange.

Unexpectedly, nature calls silently in his lower abdomen, Dan looking back at both exits to the cars trying to remember which way is a bathroom, hazarding a guess as he walks to one doorway and enters through it into another occupied train car; being careful to duck underneath it. He sees more seats, politely trying not to look at the occasional passengers sat up awake or still sleeping on-board, believing it may be another social faux pas while he exits through another doorway, remembering again to duck.

This reflex having had to become a learned skill, doorways also not built with his physiology in mind.

Embarassingly, he remembers this train doesn't have a restroom, bringing his palm to his face with an audible clap as they meet together with a clasp.

"Right." He mutters briefly to himself, turning to walk back to his seat, he passes a train conductor pony with a dark uniform cloth coat and distinct light blue and white striped hat. The pony passively nods his head as he scoots by Dan, making his way to the main engine to take over a shift, unperturbed by the unknown creature he is in favor of his work. Dan pays no heed, making his way back to his car, unwilling to try to introduce himself unwarranted.

He enters inside his train car again and spots the filly and mother from hours earlier lying together, the mother cradling her child as they silently slumber in a spooning-like manner. Dan smiles warmly, shaking his head as he steps by and sits back down in his seat, unable to help himself thinking something.

'So damn cute.'

Elsewhere in the very front of the train, the conductor pony in the uniform coat enters the main front engine compartment, housing the many functions that maintain and control the train. Tapping the yellow-coated pony in the same conductor uniform and hat sat in the main seat, believing he has dozily drifted into sleep while on duty, the conductor pony rolls his eyes and more adamantly taps his shoulder again.

"Hmm?" The sleepy pony rubs his own cheek, peering out to see the twilight of morning as it begins to twinkle in from the distant horizon through the front window, immediately forgetting whatever he was briefly dreaming about as he's forced to come his senses by his peer behind him. The beautiful sight illuminating the fog marks a new day to rise; or for him, to turn in, while he hops down from his seat and pats his hat back in place from it's jostled rested position off to the side, about to journey to the caboose to sleep.

His hat falls down as he tries to adjust it, and folds onto the metal floor panel below, he leans down to pick it up while glancing at the gauges monitoring the engine, he swerves his lip to one side of his face as he reads a gauge. Placing his hat squarely upon his head once again, he turns to the other pony and relays the information he's amassed.

"Steam output is low, I'll go shovel some coal on the way back--" He glances out the front window again, seeing a faint white silhouette be illuminated by the train's mounted spotlight well into the fog, his voice eeks out in a panic as he quickly grasps a triangular hangar attached to a chain in the ceiling; a loud ear-piercing train horn blares, emitting sound as a proximity warning to all those in and around the train. His replacement for his shift sits stunned at his comrade's sudden bout of panic, covering his ears at the startling activation of the train horn without a warning.

"Somepony's on the track!!" The panicked conductor shouts, his coworker leaping into action as the information reaches his ears, another train horn emitting a rumbling and thunderous wave of sound as he leaps to the controls at the opposite end of the cabin. Gripping onto an outward-facing red lever mounted to the wall, the conductor pushes in full force with his body weight, a grating metal clunk giving way as the train shifts backwards in momentum, metal brake pads being all simultaneously thrust into the wheel wells for a rapid slowdown. Sparks fly as the iron brakes meet the steel wheels, giving off the occasional pocket of light.

The force knocks many passengers out of and into other seats, a wave of screams and yells erupting from the many train cars as the ponies inside are awoken and thrust unto the floor or into another booth, lights flickering on and brightly illuminating the formerly quiet and dark passenger cars.

"Ghh--!!" Dan is thrust forward into the other seat adjacent from his, his face meeting the back of an opposite booth, the many panicked shrieks from the other passengers throughout the train forcing all aboard awake, confused and panicked.

"What, what's happening!?" One random pony calls out from the other side of the car, noticing the train is jerking to a stop, steadily but surely. The pegasus filly that was formerly sleeping with her mother worriedly flaps into the air, coaxing her mother to get up, lying immobile.

An audible chime from the large bell of the train rings with disconcerting frequency and repetition, piercing passenger's ears with noise; the operating procedure of the train after an emergency stop fueling the addled murmur, drowning out the filly's pleas to her unmoving mother.

Ding-Ding, Ding-Ding, Ding-Ding, Ding-Ding, Ding-Ding, Ding-Ding, Ding-Ding, Ding-Ding.

The bell continues to ring for a solid minute before finally stopping, heightening the background noise with a highly audible murmur of talk and worry, Dan pushing himself from the booth as he grasps his chest; the edge of the seat having hit him square in the sternum and forcing him to wince in silent pain on the floor.

"Guh..." He takes a breath hastily in, staring to the ceiling as the shock wears off, until all he can feel is the precise sharp pain squarely at his chest, his voice wheezing stilly as he breathes out.

The Pegasus filly flies over her booth seat beside Dan, shaking his arm with hallowed and worry in her voice.

"M-Mister, please help!" She continues to shake his arm, her mother not responding to her pleas to wake up, having taken the brunt of the impact as they were thrust out of their seats. Dan murkily gazes up at the filly above him, out of focus, blinking until her expression comes clear into view. A shocking sight as he sits up and feels his forehead, her continuing to tug with his jacket sleeve gripped in her mouth.

"What? What?" Dan asks briefly, noticing her attempts to tug him back up onto his feet, stressing her limited flying ability while she attempts to guide him to their seats in a hurry. Shaking his head to the side, he takes one hand to a knee and shakily stands, stumbling one booth over to see her mother lying to the side, her wings extended and splayed outward with a multitude of stray feathers strewn over the floor.

"....." Dan stares upset at the sight, believing the worst had come to her mother, before gathering up the courage to kneel down beside her. He turns over her head, putting two fingers up to the side of her neck before realizing he's very unfamiliar with pony biology, her daughter sitting anxiously beside him covering her mouth.

'Is that the same, or? Do ponies have jugulars??' He cups her face in his hands, deciding to listen for a breath instead of blindly search for a pulse. He leans in, quiet with her mouth perched beside his ear, worryingly she appears to stay silent while he listens.

'... No, no no-no, no, no...' Dan panics and begins to sporadically mutter it in his head, before hearing her mother breathe in weakly, her airway troubled by the angle. Dan breathes out in distressed relief, laying her head back down and tucking in her legs, cradling her head as he lifts her body up and back onto the train seat on her side.

"She's okay, I think your mom's just knocked out." Dan rigidly surmises, hopeful that is the extent of the damage as he watches her daughter leap onto the seat and hold back tears, himself also terrified that they both had assumed the worst thing at first glance.

Back in the front compartment of the train, conductor ponies climb out from the positions they were forcibly knocked into by the emergency brakes as the train climbs to a stop, a gush of compressed air flooding the wheel wells outside to cool off the friction-heated wheels, as a subsequent rush of steam gets blasted outward from the engine top to cool the engine. The brown-coated conductor places his hoof upon the seat, climbing back up to peek out the window, disoriented but dutifully checking their immediate surroundings.

"Oww... agh." He again glances out the window, seeing nothing as the sun continues to rise above the horizon, scanning the tracks. He points to his formerly tired coworker, whom no doubt is wide awake now, motioning out the doorway, relaying orders.

"Check for anypony outside, standard procedure." He orders apprehensively, believing they may have hit a stray pony on the tracks, or injured many passengers in the process of stopping for them at the very least.

The train rocks with scampering hooves as passengers sit anxiously or scramble about the train cars, a trio of conductors making their way down each car one by one, telling passengers to remain calm, one finally making their way toward Dan's car and speaking the same line while he enters with a raised hoof.

"Everyone remain calm, we had to make an emergency stop, we apologize for the inconvenience. The train will begin moving again once we are cleared for departure." The conductor pony explains, attempting to ease the rising tension before moving onto the next train car.

Outside, the formerly sleepy conductor pony grasps a lantern in his teeth and makes his way down the metallic steps, the train lying idle while inspecting it through the fog, stepping to the grey colored gravel covering most of the surrounding area that raise the tracks from ground level. Himself, tautly expecting to spot biological residue or blood from a mass that may have impacted the cow catcher, gulps in anticipation. The presence of blood being a telltale sign of an accident, a grisly sight he does not look forward to observing, but something he must check for before they give an all-clear to continue moving. Placing the lantern down to illuminate the small area, the pony leans in to inspect the rail guards, tapping the edges and grates for any signs of damage.

"... huh." The pony inspects the guards, finding no signs of dents or damage, stepping sideways to one side of the cowcatcher and glancing down below it, afraid to see if a mass is lodged between the wheels. Again, he sees nothing, to his surprise and relief, coming to believe whoever it was he saw must have gotten out of the way in time.

The pony hears something from the other side of the train, believing it must be his partner coming to inspect the damage as well, he grieves silently about having to file a report and inspect the wheel wells in detail at their next stop, a mess of paperwork and a definitive delay once they depart.

"I don't see anything." The pony spots movement in the fog to the side as it audibly makes more noise, the pony grasps the lantern in his teeth and picks up his head to face his partner. "Aye gesh thay moved in--"

The conductor pony comes face-to-face with a pale flesh-ridden pony creature, staring back at him with a pained grimace, displayed by folds on it's face with no visible eyes, nose, or mouth parts. He stumbles back in quick-witted fear, dropping the lantern to the ground from his teeth, the glass shattering with the flames cradled inside catching the oil, spreading across the gravel piles and creating a small liquid fire.

"No...No, no, no..." It bellows repeatedly, stiffly stepping toward the conductor as he cowers in place, it's limbs twitching to propel itself with stiff creaking sounds.

Inside the train, the other conductor hears a shrill scream from outside, distraught as he calls out into the fog inquisitively from inside.

"W-What is it??" The conductor pony yells out, unable to see far past the fog, concerned his partner had found something unpleasant in the wheel well. He waits for a moment, listening.

"....." The pony listens and still hears nothing, his body beginning to tense. Stepping to the platform, he hears a thud strike against the side of the train, making his heart jolt in quick surprise.

"Steamer??" The conductor calls out to his partner by name, spotting something move just beyond the fog. He hops on his hind legs and leans out the window from where the thud originated, peering outward attempting to get a better look.

A quick mass suddenly jumps out from the fog, colliding with the conductor and reeling both back inside, Steamer ramming into his partner to get away from the creature outside.

Steamer hastily scrambles back up onto his feet and bolts for the controls, pulling back the brake and rolling a wheel attached to a mechanism near the gauges, the train whistling with a hurried puff of smoke from the stack and steam erupting from the side compartments as the train begins to move again.

"Go, go, GO! GO!!" Steamer yells at his partner in a fright, closing the door to the outside and shuttering the windows closed with curtains, his heart pacing and beating out of his chest. His partner looks to him in disbelief, questioning the amount of panic that would warrant this kind of response.

"What was it? What did you see??" He asks Steamer, to no quick answer as he begins to hyperventilate.

"I-It was a monster!! It was, it was--" Steamer grasps onto his head with his hooves, shivering in his seat, beginning to remember what it looked like. A pony figure, but abominable and irregular, egregious to gaze at, judging and compelling him to panic and unrest.

He remains unwilling to peak his head upward again, his coworker repeatedly asking him to pick his head up and breathe slower, but he doesn't want to.

He doesn't want to look up.

He doesn't want to look up. And see the monster staring back at him.

"She's on the second floor." A nurse answer's Twilight's question, her and her friends again in an uncomfortably familiar setting, a hospital-- taking a wing chariot ahead of a train, they have expedited their path to Canterlot. Morning sun peaks well over the horizon as a new day rises.

Making their way through the long, sterile, and checker-patterned tile hallways, Pinkie talks quietly to Fluttershy as they navigate through. Twilight, unable to hear what is exactly being said as they pass through a wide doorway with swinging doors leading to another section, is surprised to be picking up hushed chuckles coming from them both.

"What could possibly be SO funny?" Twilight asks under her breath silently to no one, speaking her mind as frustration mounts at the thought, but unexpectedly she gets a reply from Applejack.

"Erm, could 'ya be more specific?" Applejack looks to her, clueless, lifting one of her forelegs hoping she will continue while suspecting she's regarding Pinkie and a previously overly sensitive Fluttershy. Twilight however, replies in like.

"... huh?" She bleats, both looking confused at each other, Rarity and Rainbow listening to the odd exchange as well.

"You said something about something being funny, Twilight." Rainbow recalls what she just said, Twilight turning in her lips, staying silent.

'I didn't say that out loud, did I?' She remains in silence, recalling something entirely different, believing she had kept that to herself. Unable to comment on this further, Twilight finally spots a luminescent blue tail peak out one of the doorways labelled 'ER Access', the six simultaneously look onward to the individual whom has summoned them.

"Huh?" Twilight emotes, before they rush down the hall and into the room, incidentally interrupting an on-going conversation.

"Princess Luna, I assure you their injuries are superficial, they have already expressed they don't--" A doctor in a white coat speaks to her, but is interrupted as the girls enter, "-- I... believe you have guests."

Luna turns to face them, giving a small smile, before returning to a more serious expression while she turns back to the doctor. Her horn continually silently hums with magical resonance, as if actively in-use.

"If you so please, I'd ask for you to leave us." She requests, to no sign of protest from the doctor, watching as he leaves the room without acknowledging the six as he passes. Stepping aside to survey the room, the group spots a trio of ponies lying in bed with bandages around their heads and limbs, laying silently with an uneasy rhythmic beep of heart monitors being echoed throughout the room.

Twilight approaches Luna, being straight forward with her line of questioning, asking what's on all their minds.

"Princess, what happened?" Twilight observes a Pegasus lying on her back, calmly napping, recognizing her and the others as researchers she had met prior in a meeting some time ago. Luna answers, failing to meet their eyes, hesitantly.

"I... am afraid I had lost my inhibitions for a moment, only for a moment." She pensively peeks at the ponies lying in medical beds, them all having been rushed to medical care after her telekinetic blast, Luna continuing to give off the air that she is mourning in some way.

"But that moment, was indeed crucial." She finishes.

Twilight and her friends stand bewildered, Fluttershy taking the first step toward them, leaping onto the bed with her forelegs and placing her hoof atop one of their foreheads softly. A natural instinct she can not help, she inspects them, as Luna peers behind the main group, patiently.

"Where is Sir Daniel?" Luna asks, expecting him to step inside from the doorway, but is met with nervous looks of indirect expression as she awaits an answer. Twilight, stepping forward, attempts to provide additional context, keeping quiet for the sake of the resting ponies in bed.

"He's missing, Princess. We were in the middle of looking for him, after he--" Twilight's stomach wells up, recalling the details she had been exposed to, disturbing her as she's reminded of some extreme events Fluttershy has been going through; mulling to refer to her while she inspects another pony lying in bed, there is a noticeable pause.

"After he hurt one of our friends." She imprudently refers to Fluttershy, well within hearing range, Fluttershy staring ahead blankly before taking her attention back down to her pseudo-patient.

"Why is she ignoring this!?" Twilight almost barks out loud, unexpectedly being met with the looks of her friends, having heard every word, obviously. She looks around to each of them, utterly confused.

"... what?" Twilight lacks sheepishness, which was not expected. Rarity, speaks up to break the odd silence.

"Twilight, you are being a tad loud." Rarity subtly suggests that she shouldn't yell, Twilight showing a matching expression from earlier, surprise and confusion.

"I don't think I was... was I?" Twilight refers to her statement referring to Dan being missing, and her description of one of her friends being hurt by him, unable to recall yelling that excerpt at all. The rest she recalls thinking, not saying, or at all yelling.

Luna stares intently toward Twilight, then back to Fluttershy, closing her eyes in silent contemplation.

'A troubling sign.' Luna silently laments, abiding to a frustrating pace she will need to take after observing this set of behavior from them both. Twilight attempts to brush past the awkward looks she is getting, addressing Luna.

"What are you doing?" Twilight glances to her horn, continually humming with energy, Luna answering efficaciously and direct. Unfortunately not in the way they are accustomed to.

"Preventing them from entering sleep, but allowing them to rest." She explains, lacking any sort of guided insight as they gaze upon her blankly, forcing her to explain as she steps closer beside Fluttershy whom is petting an injured unicorn, believing physical care is necessary despite them being asleep anyway.

"I am preventing them from being able to dream, or have nightmares, while allowing their bodies to rest while they recover." Luna's eyebrows furrow and bunch together, as if in pain from her own statement.

"It is... not something I am comfortable doing, but I deem necessary. It is taking an effort to maintain my focus without remaining in the dream realm." She softly takes Fluttershy's hoof and slowly removes it from the researcher's forehead, motioning her to step down, which she meekly complies to as she joins the group again. A peculiar display, as she didn't appear to do any harm to warrant such a denial.

The group silently observes Luna's actions as strange, but accepting she perceptibly has more knowledge on the matter to know what must be best for them, having familiarity. Twilight huffs, approaching Luna, apprehensive but confident enough to continue her proposal.

"Princess, I think it's best if I explain what I-- We, know to you." She rewords her statement mid-sentence, losing little pace as she takes a seat on a small stool in the corner, the others simply taking a seat on the sterile floor tiles. Twilight looks intently to Fluttershy, which meekly stands and joins in a seat beside her, looking uneasy.

"Please, do." Luna politely allows her to speak unhindered, joining the rest on the floor, taking a seat sat up. One more thought comes across her mind, as Twilight begins her recollection about Dan's story and the ones leading up to it, allowing Fluttershy to act as a witness, assuring her of her intent.

'If I am to help them, I must know the extent.'

The train rides onward closer to it's destination, noticeably faster than before to all, as the engine is kicked into full gear, the conductors working hard to keep up the pace with funneling fuel and monitoring for excess heat-- now believing they had encountered some sort of wild animal or monster, solely going by their colleagues take and experience with it.

Passengers lie awake, fearful that another abrupt stop may happen suddenly, the morning coming to a tense start as the train is flooded with murmur and tense talks. Dan sits alongside the Pegasus filly and her mother in their booth seat, the filly nudging into his thigh with the top of her head as she lies on her side, still frightened her mother may be unwell or injured in some unseen way. Dan sits silently, uncertain what to say or how to say it, believing his input wouldn't be an additive.

'You're okay kid, you just need to stay calm.' Dan thinks to himself instead of out loud to comfort the filly, affirming his stance that his input would be misplaced. His view changes quickly however, as the filly tucks in her legs and scrunches up her face with an audible whine, showing the beginning signs she's about to cry. Dan reacts in a subtle jerk motion, frightened more than her by the noise and her reaction, rubbing the back of his neck as he tenses up.

'What did I just say?' He thinks judgingly, but sighing and dismissing his own ill comment, acknowledging he's not doing anything productive by just staying quiet. Sighing, he places his hand atop her head and begins petting her mane by her forehead with his thumb, her whine stifling as she notices the physical comfort and hears him say something.

"You're... fine kid, calm down. She's alright, and you'll be alright." Dan looks to the side, scratching the underside of his cheek with his other hand, visibly uneasy and nervous trying to comfort someone again, realizing he forgot to shave before he left as he makes contact with very light but brash stubble against his hand.

'Damn.' He remarks to himself, looking down to check his backpack he hurriedly packed when leaving, interrupted by the sad filly looking up to him with large watery eyes. Dan freezes, again, unsettled by the sad eyes and possibly imminent crying. She eventually closes her eyes and reels back her head, beginning to turn back her worry with a pleased peeking smile, displaying behavior he can only compare to as a pet getting a better angle for head scratches.

"......" Dan continues on for a time before finally stopping, nonplussed.

'Ponies are weird sometimes...'

Half an hour passes without dialogue between them before a small outlet of buildings are finally spotted in the distance through the windows, the passengers on the train audibly eager to leave, almost as much as Dan is to put some distance from his current troubles. He lightly nudges the little filly sat staring at the window, murmuring quietly before her attention is caught, apparently having not been paying attention to realize they are coming up on a stop, as Danny maneuvers his arms through arm loops and secures his backpack to his back. Taking notice of their destination, she hops down from her seat, looking to her mother worryingly while considering taking her mane in her teeth to help move her.

'... right.' Dan takes the clear hint and stands only to bend down again, tucking his arms beneath her mother and hoisting her up in a bundle of limp mass in his arms, collecting her limbs closely to her torso to make her easier to carry. Her wings remain awkwardly tucked, visible stray feathers poking out from the otherwise smooth lining of her wings.

"I got her." Dan motions his eyes to the doorway, stepping aside from their booth as they both exit the train car, joining a small crowd of other ponies from the other cabin, giving strange glances as they watch them both disembark. Dan peers his eyes almost closed as the sun reflects brightly off the train station, blinding him momentarily as his eyes adjust and observe the background, the ground largely laid with sand and stylized flagstone-- the building a largely sandstone-built structure with modern amenities, to his own limited knowledge this seems a small stop rather than to something like Las Pegasus the train had briefly stopped at.

Dan is interrupted by the little filly flying upward and yelling something out loud, drawing his and another's attention.

"Auntie Silvie!" The filly speeds past a crowd of ponies to a line of benches attached to an outlying sand brick wall, catching the attention of an individual pony lounging with her head sloped back on the bench she is sat on, her anatomy looking particularly human-like in how it is splayed widely, before finally resting back into place as she sits up like normal and looks to the filly flying toward her.

"Oh, hey kiddo, where's your mom?" Silvie looks up to spot Dan holding the filly's mother, eyes widening as she immediately hops off the bench and extends her wings to glide to their position a few meters away, apprehensively stepping back at the sight of Dan as she lands-- still feeling compelled to ask an important question.

"Oh my gosh, what happened??" She asks, to the unknown creature holding her sister, whom appears out of it. Dan answers, unsure himself how to answer.

"The train stopped and she took a hard knock, I think she's just out." He tries to answer calmly, but a trace of worry still being audible, Silvie looking to her niece before hurriedly flying upward and extending her forelegs back and forth.

"Come on, let's get her moving!" Silvie rushes them both inside, select others around looking on to investigate the strange sight, most surmising the unconscious pony Dan is keeping a hold of is asleep rather than assuming the worst. A thankful response to have, however, the strange looks become more evident as more time passes.

Before becoming distressed to a bothersome degree, they are finally guided back outside into what looks like a unique pony town of it's own, aside from Ponyville. Dan looks back to the building as they reach the entranceway and reads a stone sign with an old-fashioned font, reading:

"SAN PALOMINO STATION"

The sun first shone warmly, but as it climbs steadily higher above the horizon, he realizes the heat is more than insignificant; remembering that this location was described a desert, the station likely being on the edge of one.

'This is the first place that ticket booth pony picked, huh...' He remarks silently, complaining only to himself as he's led away by this new mare.

Several thin signs on stone posts along the pathway to the station point in various directions, specifying the places to buy tickets and with guides to posted wall-maps and routes, something Dan only just realizes he should have tried to plot out beforehand. He sighs, frustrated once more at his lack of foresight, hearing an audible whine as the pony he's carrying begins to tense up and groan.

"Mnnnn..." Her brow furrows, gathering her awareness back as her body subconsciously reacts to the odd position it's in, before she finally unfurls her wings and begins to wriggle in confusion. Dan awkwardly attempts to place her down with slight panic, Sylvie turning behind to see her struggling and rushing to her greet her, her niece joining them as she happily anticipates a response.

"Ugghh..." Her mother rubs her head, hazily coming to reality as her own eyes adjust to the lighting, being spooked by her daughter rushing into her chest with a tight hug.

"Oof! Honey??" She peeks down to her chest, spotting the familiar excitable behavior she expects from her little one. "Uhm, dear, I--" She opens both her eyes and spots her sister and Dan standing above, looking between them both, unfurling her wings and inspecting them as they had felt increasingly uncomfortable. She stands on all fours to greet them both.

"What? What happened? Weren't we on the train?" She asks to them both, but only Sylvie answering.

"This fella helped carry you after a hard knock... apparently." She looks up to Dan, thankful for the help with it showing in her eyes, the pony's niece nodding to affirm the statement as true while huddling herself onto her mother's back.

Dan is treated to a peculiar sight, seeing the daughter begin to pluck out various feathers from her mother's extended wings in her mouth, her mother wincing and reaching to her back as the sensation starts to move from soothing to painful.

"I'll get it later hun-- ow! Ow!" She audibly chirps in a cry as her daughter plucks one more feather out of place, embarrassingly blowing the tuft of feathers in her mouth as they catch a breeze and flutter away in the wind, Dan left standing there perturbed by the display. It's something he's never taken into account as a Pegasus doing, plucking out-of-place feathers that are bent, but he's ultimately left feeling he still has plenty to learn even away from what he once called home; the thought being tucked away before he can lament on it again, focusing once more on the situation at hand.

She turns her attention to the creature she had previously met passingly beforehand, raising her hoof for a thankful shake.

"Well, thank you for your help, uhmm..." She hangs on the thankful note, curling up her leg hesitantly, not knowing who or what to refer to him as.

"Danny." He replies with a smile, kneeling down just enough to meet her eyes in a less straining position, taking her hoof with a brief shake up and down in his hand. "Or just Dan." He adds on, greeting some new acquaintances, the mother introducing herself happily.

"I'm Gracie Delish." She says her name, which immediately grabs Dan's attention, forcing him to shut his mouth, wistful at the mention of a terribly familiar name. His chest is overwhelmed by a pressure, his heart rate increasing as he can't help but clam up. She continues on without a pause, none of them picking up on the signs of woe as he brings his hand back to himself, Gracie looking to her sister.

"This is my sister Sylvie." Her daughter flaps her wings in a quick succession, prompting her to mention her as well. "And this is my daughter, Briskette." Gracie's daughter responds gleefully, rapidly flittering her wings while in-place, looking up to Dan as he tries to hide his pensiveness.

"Thanks for helping my mom!" She gleefully thanks Dan, who has turned away and begins rubbing the back of his neck, them believing he's simply embarrassed and sheepish as he's left to his own thoughts upon hearing a closely familiar name.

'That... shouldn't be much of a surprise.' He professes to himself, not previously thinking of the name being commonplace enough for him to hear a variation of it again at some point. He sighs, shunting the line of thinking before he starts to more visibly show emotion to them. He's asked a question by one of them, turning back and putting on a half-genuine smile, them believing he's merely being humble.

"So, where are you headed? Did you come back from vacation like my sis? Never seen anything like you before." Sylvie asks while pointing to his backpack, Dan forced to make up an excuse; though he consciously makes the decision not to lie to them about it while still staying vague. They begin walking, him taking their same route, being led away from the station into what looks like a half-modern town versus something like Ponyville which looked awfully traditional, by his limited experience with others like Manehattan which was scarily modern by his own standards.

"I just moved away from home, very suddenly, so... I'm looking for a change of scenery, kinda." They look to him, musing, but not prodding further as the adults can pick up on subtle emotion in his answer. Briskette however, doesn't pick up on the social cue, asking more questions with less tact.

"So, what are you? An ape, a really hairless skinny talking bear, or--" Briskette's excited line of questioning is interrupted by her mother ruffling her mane embarrassingly atop her head, this seeming like a common theme between this family and it's overactive child. Sylvie steps into the conversation, addressing Dan, herself amused at the raw display of childish questioning from her niece with a brief roll of her eyes.

"I think you better answer her, or she'll keep asking all day~" Sylvie eagerly awaits an answer as well, Dan amused by it, with an afterthought to follow it.

'She's not all that wrong on that first guess actually.' He pokes fun at her incidentally close estimation, replying to Briskette and the others.

"I'm a human. And I do have hair, kid. Just uhh, not all over." He shows off this claim by pulling back his short hair, which he realizes is also fairly oily, not having taken a bath or washed himself since the other day, bringing his attention back to the objective at-hand as he looks around.

"Oh, err, Sylvie." He grabs her attention, noticeably more frantic as they approach a crosswalk, them all travelling deeper into the brightly-sunned town of Palomino.

"You know of any hotels around here?" He asks, realizing he should look for a temporary place to stay while he attempts to try to aggregate even further away from Ponyville if possible. Sylvie turns her eyes away and looks upward, thinking to herself.

"Looking for someplace to hunker down?" She asks, not expecting an answer, recalling a mental map of the area with a hum. "There's a nice homey place at the North side of town, bit of a ways though. Also pretty expensive, if that'd trouble you a bit." She silently sympathizes from an experience she had when she was younger, moving away from home for a reason she's not fond of. Though the reason for Dan travelling is unknown to her, she tries to work out something in her head for him to follow up on, believing he must be a good sort, but lost in some way to be travelling so far away from the mainland with just what looks like just a backpack. Even more so, if a foreign species in unfamiliar surroundings, if not on vacation or running some specific errand.

Sylvie looks to Dan, whom she spots is reading street signs and observing many walkways surrounding them, demonstrating and confirming that he is indeed new to town. Dan catches sight of various pony-pulled carts stroll on by, establishing a blind direction to take should she have no other suggestion, Sylvie being perceptive and opts to stop walking while her sister and niece take their place at a crosswalk corner. Tapping his leg and speaking one-to-one with a knowing whisper, she attempts to be subtle, resulting poorly.

"I take it you're light for bits, and got no place to stay." She bluntly states, assuming correctly, looking to her sister and niece, pondering at a possibility of letting him stay for a bit with their family. Dan answers, somewhat embarrassed at the cutting yet accurate assumption she's made.

"It's that obvious, huh?" He scratches the side of his chin, looking away, not being able to look her in the eyes knowing she's asking affably and genuinely with no harm intended. A factor of many interactions he's had, and a result of his own lack of knowledge on various things common to Equestrian life and social structure. He continues, attempting to keep things still level.

"Yeah, it's something like that. Looking to move away for a while, and... think about some things." He answers again vaguely, but the message becomes clearer to her. She taps her mouth with her hoof, picking a destination she once knew, but has since stopped visiting.

"There's a taphouse I know, and it's only a few blocks from here, if you need some time to think." Sylvie suggests, looking up to him and watching his expression change from pondering to consideration.

Dan shakes his head and smirks, unexpectedly.

"Seriously, the first place you suggest to an unemployed guy is a bar?" He manages to laugh cheerfully with his palm on his face, Sylvie sharing the same sentiment and chuckling, Gracie and Briskette noticing them have a private talk and laughing with each other, leaving them be while Briskette shares a fact with her mother.

"He's got a weird lizard in his backpack, it's kinda cute!" Briskette excitedly notes, her mother taking it as a hint that she wants a pet, petting her daughter's head again.

"We've talked about this hun." Gracie replies, referring to a prior conversation they've had considering pets, as Dan and Sylvie continue with their own conversation.

"Ahaha, I'm sorry. If that's a bad pick, I--" Sylvie begins to ramble, Dan interrupting by holding up his hand down to her, showing little averse to the idea beyond making a snide comment.

"That's fine, just point me in the right direction and I can take it from there." Dan states, trying to keep the mood light, believing a drink may be a good thing to alleviate some stress at the very least.

Sylvie points in the direction of the opposite end of the street, motioning off into the distance where little buildings or ponies seem present, appearing to be near the edge of the town.

"Look for a grizzled sign that says 'Musty's Taphouse'. I didn't name it, so if you got a complaint, complain to Musty." Sylvie gives some basic directions with a hint of zest, looking back to her family, then back up to Dan again, feeling like she should extend a hoof out anyway.

"Well, Dan." She addresses him, mellowly. "If you need someplace to stay, we live on an outlet North from here, you can come visit anytime, sure my sis and niece would love it. Big two-story house, a wicked bad drawing of a pony with a wizard hat on the second story window pane, can't miss it." She flies upward to meet Dan eye-to-eye, extending her hoof out while hovering, Dan pensive at first at the forwardness, his initial cynicism being displaced as he's forced to think more humbly at the offer.

This kind of friendly behavior, outside the small circle of friends he had, being wholly unexpected. He hesitates, before finally taking her hoof in his hand and shaking it, thankful.

"Thanks, I'll remember that." Dan thanks her genuinely, as she perks up her ears and flies off over the street, meeting up with her family with one final goodbye wave aimed behind herself, followed by Briskette doing the same more gleefully over to Dan.

Dan waves shyly once more, before taking the same crosswalk they were on toward Musty's Taphouse, a destination he can only picture being as descriptive as it's title, knowing pony-borne names.

'Ponies really are weird sometimes...' He thinks, disparagingly once more.

'They really are.' He thinks once more, knowing that isn't a bad thing.

"I see." Luna focuses on the latter part of Twilight's recollection, having had little to discuss at key parts, asking more how they felt rather than learning of Dan's perspective.

"That is certainly a lot to go through, for all of you." Luna leans back with her eyes shut, looking distressed, before calming herself in an instant as she asks a question.

"Might I ask, dear Twilight, when was the last time you have slept? And your friends?" She asks, curiously, Twilight tilting her head in slight confusion, fully able to answer her query.

"I... haven't slept. I've been up all night, I think everypony has been awake, except for..." Twilight glances over to Fluttershy, which managed to get small pockets of sleep through the night, before being whisked away to join them again in the morning. Fluttershy freezes in place, uneasy as everyone in the rooms looks to her, Luna standing and walking over to her almost intimidatingly and overbearing above. Her heart beats slightly faster, anticipating stern words, though she knows she doesn't warrant it, reeling back.

Luna closes her eyes, turning down her head, letting her horn graze past Fluttershy's mane before finally making contact with her forehead.

"W-W-What are you--" Fluttershy's worried speech is halted as a flash of soft light beams from Luna's horn, her eyes begin closing as she her legs slowly give in, gently lying on the floor as she drifts into sleep.

Luna, oddly, smiles; the others looking puzzled.

"Princess?" Twilight asks, now noticing Fluttershy appears asleep, just like the other injured ponies in the room. "I'm sure you could have asked her instead of doing... that."

"You may have to join her as well, eventually." Luna hints, walking over to Twilight and bowing her head, Twilight visibly distraught at the proposition, before she adds on to her vague request which sounded more like a demand.

"I wish to try to explain this to you, but in a way you might better understand. I am afraid this will be quite surreal." Luna opens her eyes to look to the others. "Have any of you been in extended contact with Sir Daniel?" She asks, Pinkie raising her hoof enthusiastically, volunteering for this strange venture. Luna doesn't smile again, closing her eyes once more, returning to how she just was.

"Please, step beside your companion." She clearly addresses Pinkie, strangely with an air of formality, waiting until they sit by each other.

Her horn lowers between them, turning to one side making contact with Twilight, her eyes go wide before lowering, she begins to collapse onto the floor slowly, her body naturally resisting before giving in with her chin resting on her hooves. Pinkie looks down to Twilight, once more curious, before Luna makes contact and she befalls the same fate. Luna looks to Rarity, Rainbow and Applejack with a soft smile, bowing with her eyes closed once more.

"We shall return shortly." She greets, before her eyes open with a bright white, entering the dream world in her own eyes as blackness creeps in and assimilates the surroundings, blanking her out from the outside world as she enters the dream realm.

"Wah!" Twilight slips through the thin layer of mist hovering above the ethereal ground, Pinkie lying on her stomach and scooting across the floor, exclaiming loudly while Twilight otherwise struggles to keep her balance.

"Ohhhh, it's soooo soft~!" She rolls onto her back, continually rubbing herself against what she perceives as a fluffy carpet, kicking up mist as Luna fades into form in front of them.

"That is because of how you perceive it to be, as a soft surface." Luna states, her magic holding Twilight back in place, holding her still as she gains her balance back again. "The floor is solid, or at least that must be how you picture it." Luna nods, expecting Twilight to follow the instructions as she releases her magic hold, her cautiously stepping and tapping the floor while Pinkie continues to float across the ground on her back, now following her advice and picturing it as watery.

Luna doesn't address her, but is instead amused her imagination is so unhindered even in such a surreal environment to them.

Twilight, finally standing without resistance, asks Luna.

"Princess, what are you trying to tell us? And why take us here?" Twilight takes the opportunity to look around, the background inconsistent with it's size and fluidity, slowly coming to put together a guess as she recognizes the blue haze and seemingly endless environment. "Is this the dream realm?"

Luna quietly nods, letting her come to the conclusion herself, adding on.

"It is a plane where I can enter other pony's dreams. And it is how I protect ponies from nightmares, and help them confront mental anguish, that in turn may make nightmares." She looks off into the distance, watching various dream bubbles fly into place in front of her, Twilight and Pinkie making their way beside her and observing the small windows into dreams.

"This is... amazing Princess. I've read about your experiences, but I didn't think-- Uhm, Pinkie?" Twilight comments, greatly intrigued, while Pinkie begins to peeks her head into a dream bubble and spots a confused unicorn looking back at her, him reading a book in a log cabin by a fireplace and reclined back in a chair. She peeks from the ceiling corner, looking down at him, meeting his eyes.

"Oh, hi! Ooo, whatcha readi--" Pinkie is abruptly pulled back by Luna's magic as she closes the entrance to the dream, preventing her from interrupting another pony's dream further, placing her gently back down to the misty floor.

"I ask that you please do not interfere with their sleep." Luna smiles, petting Pinkie's head softly, instructing but immediately forgiving her as she nervously smiles and apologizes.

"Heehee, sorry." Pinkie observes the dreams from outside the bubbles, while Twilight gazes around curiously.

"Wait, where's Fluttershy?" She notices Fluttershy is absent. Luna looks off to the side and effortlessly guides a dream bubble beside them all, peeking into it they notice their yellow friend conversing with what looks Dan's silhouette, the setting being her house.

"She is dreaming about what is on her mind, as many do. Expectedly, it would be your friend, Sir Daniel. I wish to observe what may occur." She explains, as they all listen to the conversation going on between them, eavesdropping in a way.

'Though I feel as if this may go in a different direction.' Luna theorizes, recognizing the feel of this kind of dream.

"I'm going out to eat with my little critter friends, you look l-lovely by the way.. uhmm.." Fluttershy uncharacteristically and playfully coos, while packing a picnic basket with a container of juice, capped with a bundle of colorful cloth and grasping onto a blanket, unable to place it correctly inside. She places it back down, frustrated after a second attempt, before a Dream Dan suddenly leans down beside her and unpacks it himself, reorganizing it in an easier to package collection of snack goodies.

'Oh, thank you.. oh!' Fluttershy audibly thinks, Twilight and Pinkie and Luna fully able to hear her inner thoughts as her dream self stumbles over her own hesitation. The background becomes more hazy as Dan comes into focus, fading out of his black silhouette and into a visible form.

"Th-Thank you, Dan, I appreciate the help..." She taps her hooves together, the mood turning noticeably lightened more than it was before, Twilight and Pinkie and Luna continuing to observe with their own thoughts. It appearing Fluttershy is embarrassed, and trying to muster something to say.

'Please say it.. say it... say it...' She pleads, them not knowing if directed at Dream Dan or herself.

'There he is flirting again...' Twilight tries to manage to watch, while Pinkie unexpectedly but excitedly comments on it audibly, fully able to hear her thoughts as well.

"I dunno if I'd call that flirting, he does that with everypony." She happily surmises, while Twilight looks in confusion, realizing she heard her thoughts as she takes her hoof to her head and rubs it.

"What the heck is going on?" She mutters, a similar thing having been happening in reality, Luna answers her question, calmly.

"If you do not close your mind, your thoughts are free to roam in your sleep without inhibition. As profound as that sounds--" Luna raises a foreleg, coming to realize the concept of traversing the dream realm and it's effects is very foreign to her subjects, her being the only one able to do it. "--it is also as simple as it sounds, you are asleep still. And that is something I could discuss in detail another time, but please, I ask that you continue to observe."

Twilight, however, is left wondering what that means as Pinkie takes it in stride, continuing to pseudo-spy on Fluttershy with Luna, the dream continuing on with it's conversation flow, appearing to be a memory of some sort.

"Thanks, and no problem, thinking of asking to go out with Pinkie. You know, uhh... as friends, and all." Dream Dan adds flustered, Fluttershy freezing in place, a tense feeling rushing over her body in what she feels is disappointment.

"O-Oh, that's sounds lovely!" She almost shouts, though her naturally low volume doesn't appear to disturb Dream Dan.

'You've been hanging out with her a lot, with everypony a lot, a-and I don't want you to be overwhelmed...' She thinks considerately aloud, attempting to say it, completely unable as she pleads to herself once more.

'.. why do you even spend so much time with them anyway, I thought I was...' She chokes up on her own thoughts, looking pained.

The background turns blurry and the light outside her home's window beings to extinguish to nothingness as her self-doubt climbs in severity, Dream Dan's expression turning from indifferent to amused, with a garish stare. Then to anger, in an instant.

"... you got a problem with me meeting others?" Dream Dan digs deep, Fluttershy stepping back from her basket nervously, looking away from a representation of her own thoughts coming back at her in spite.

"N-No! I-I didn't think that! Of course I want you to be happy, b-but--" Her mellowed speech is interrupted as Dream Dan continues asking awful questions.

"Just because you know more than I think you know about me?" Dream Dan steps closer to her, the faded silhouette beginning to form again, a ghastly deep tone overcoming his voice, monstrous and cruel in nature, his body becoming encased in pulsing lesions and pale hair-less flesh.

Fluttershy eeks out another statement, trying to reason with it, futilely.

"Y-You wouldn't stop crying, a-and all those bad things you kept saying in your sleep, I... I wanted to tell everypony, and you, b-but--"

An awfully familiar sight, both to Fluttershy and Luna, as it convulses and steps closer to her with another malicious statement.

"I will NEVER forgive you for keeping it from me. NEVER." The Dream Dan shouts, echoing with distorted voices throughout the room, the floor and walls beginning to shatter and crack with splinters shooting out from the damaged corners, her cottage almost falling apart.

Luna breathes in, peering at the familiar creature, something she's had to face with Dan as he faced his past-- though this doesn't feel right to her somehow, remembering the dual nightmares she had to face prior that somehow leaked into her purview when she awoke, depicting similar creatures in pony form with the same setting and similar nonsensical messages to communicate.

She steps into the dream regardless, Twilight and Pinkie hopping in with her onto the wooden and cracked flooring, running to block the path between the monstrous depiction of Dan and Fluttershy.

"W-What?" Fluttershy peeks out to see Pinkie huddling closer to her as support, Twilight standing at the ready to blast it with magic, but mysteriously unable as her horn won't resonate correctly, finding herself unable to focus. She holds her breath, closing her eyes and straining herself, materializing a weak shield bubble and attempts to hold it over her friends.

"Nnngggh!!" Twilight clenches her teeth, startled as the creature makes a low roar and twitches in place, losing her composure. The magic shield bubble dissipates rapidly, unable to be held in place any longer and dematerializes, Luna stepping in front of her.

"Using magic in a dream is excessively difficult, do not strain yourself Twilight Sparkle." She looks to the monster, maddened by it's malicious behavior, believing this to be another extreme emotional and traumatic manifestation.

"This creature lacks thought, or awareness, it is but a reflection of your own worry, guilt, and ultimately your frustration." Luna explains, trying to comfort her that it is merely an apparition, though it becomes clear the emotions it represents are very much real. She approaches the bipedal human-like monster, it's previously featureless face begins to form folds that display basic hints of expression, raising it's 'brow' as if listening intently. Twilight silently observes while unable to assist, Fluttershy meekly standing up beside Pinkie, assured that it is not a threat by her staunch protector standing between them.

"And it will not go away unless you come to terms with it." She adds, as it begins to garishly gawk at them all, folds expanding and undulating beneath it's uneven skin, Fluttershy stepping back as she watches it's disturbing expression almost stare back at her.

'A familiar theme, it would seem.' She anecdotes, silently to herself, capable of keeping her own thoughts silent and composure honed to the task at hand.

"You, are nothing but entrenched anguish. Come, dear Fluttershy." Luna threatens it while calling to Fluttershy, fearlessly stepping towards it, her horn glowing brighter and illuminating the 'room' from it's forced blackened state back to her cozy cottage-- it's flesh beginning to fade while it convulses backwards almost as if in pain, retreating into it's now limited dark space.

"I.. I..." Fluttershy looks down, afraid to face the creature, taking minute steps before she finally works up the courage to walk at a normal pace, her legs beginning to buckle as she steps beside Luna. She looks down at her, silently nodding, turning her attention back to the monster.

"..a-ahhh.." She stumbles over her own words, looking up at it, it turning it's head with a tilt mimicking her own kind of demeanor. Something that brings up a semblance of annoyance with her, forcing her to speak.

"You.. you aren't r-real...b-but!" She eeks out a shout, bravely stepping towards it, Luna joining her in tandem and illuminating it again from it's shroud of black. It convulses in rapid succession, somehow remaining in-place despite it's uneven movement, the folds in it's expression showing a hint of worry as they both approach. Twilight and Pinkie continue to observe in silence, following behind, Fluttershy continuing with her slow but gradual march towards the monster.

"I.. I'm.." She looks down again, tensing her cheeks, a wave of frustration bubbling to the surface. "I'm.. mad! Mad that you didn't say anything!!" Her voice grows weak as tears trickle the corners of her eyes, strained while holding in a pained whine.

"T-That you let him go! And, and--" She begins to ramble incoherently, irate, repeatedly exclaiming that it is to blame; Twilight looking on in shock, having never seen her friend this emotional before in such an angry way. The creature convulses in place again, falling to it's knees, then on all-fours, distressed at the words she's screaming at it-- it's warped flesh beginning to peel and fall off onto the floor, disintegrating in Luna's eminent illumination while she allows her to speak her heart and mind out.

"That you let bad things happen to you!! That, that you didn't tell him NO! That you thought it was okay!! T-That you didn't say... you didn't... say..." Fluttershy's eyes flood with tears, flowing down her cheeks as she meets her forehead with the creature, holding her hoof to it's shoulder, her body language confusing and almost pleading to it.

Startlingly to the two onlookers, it raises it's decrepit and messy limb and rests it on her shoulder, revealing it is a pony beneath. The mass of flesh making up it's outer body falls and peels away to reveal a ragged and injured Fluttershy in it's place.

".. you didn't say 'I like you', in time..." Fluttershy finishes off her recited speech, crying beside the matching copy of her, itself injured with small slit wounds embedded with glass and her neck saturated with bruising in the shape of handprints.

It looks to her silently, beginning to cry as well, an embodiment of something that has been haunting her in the back reaches of her mind and conscience.

"Why did he do this to me..." It sniffles, being hugged by the original Fluttershy, continuing it's pained questions. "Why did he do so much to himself..."

The setting rapidly speeds away, the walls and flooring swapping to her back room where she keeps injured animals, the previous depiction of Fluttershy fading away, the group being introduced to a painfully familiar setting to Fluttershy.

Dream Fluttershy looms above Dream Dan on the floor, bandaged and blood seeping into his cot, murmuring in his sleep and constantly moving his head while she attempts to change his bandage.

"N-Noh, flease, thon't--" She tries to hold his head still, sat above his head with a bundle of gauze in her mouth, grasping it between her hooves desperately trying not to exert harmful pressure. Holding him in place, she nips the metal clasp holding the bandage in-place, it unfurls to reveal a gash wound to the upper right of his head through his hair.

Pinkie gasps, holding her mouth shut as she holds in a cry, reminded of another grisly injury she had to see him go through. Twilight rubs her shoulder and shields her from the sight, Fluttershy seemingly having no reaction despite the gory sight. She asks Luna a fitting question, as they all watch a frantic Dream Fluttershy attempt to heal a gravely injured Dream Dan.

"Princess, what is this?" Twilight asks, indignantly, seeing no good come from this kind of traumatizing experience anymore. Unexpectedly, an answer comes from Fluttershy instead.

"It's.. the day I took him in, and he wouldn't stop moving, and..." She watches her dream self get silently frustrated, getting a taste of blood in her mouth and spitting the soaked bandage aside, treating a very unwilling patient despite being unconscious.

"He was losing so much.. so much..." She struggles to describe the experience, looking away from it, depicted in front of her regardless.

Dream Fluttershy manages to get the bandage in place and wraps it, stepping to the side and leaning down to clip it into place, she observes the many pained expressions on his face, as if having a bad dream. She begins to sing, softly, trying to calm him down with her voice, singing a longer variation.

"♪Hush now... quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head. Hush now, quiet now, it's time to go to bed~♪" Dream Fluttershy warmly pet Dream Dan's head, cradling his head under her as she sits upright above, continuing to sing, hopeful.

"♪Drifting, off to sleep, leave the exciting day behind you~♪"

The dream her continues to forcibly hold his head in place, silently worried he will keep doing more damage by whipping his head around.

"♪Drift drift, off to sleep, let the joy of dreamland find you~♪"

The grisly look into the experience is interrupted by Fluttershy once more, forced to think once more on her decisions.

"I.. I don't know how he lived, and for a while I-I thought I had..." She looks to her dream self, fretting so much over an injured creature. "... that I did more bad than good, him being in so much pain, but I still... I still..."

She shakes her head, dispelling the notion that she should blame herself for caring, or allow him to live through the pain.

The scene rapidly changes once more during her statements, changing to much further during Dan's recovery period, still sat beside his head and petting him softly. Dream Dan awakes to the sight of Fluttershy smiling back, glad he's woken up once more and without tossing and turning in his sleep. She lovingly states, releasing her hold on his face, blushing while looking down at him.

"Welcome back, sleepy head~"

"No.. No!" She places her hooves firmly on the ground, unwavering from her belief. The dream pauses as the two meet eyes, Dan smiling weakly back at her, mouthing off silently.

"Thank you." He closes his eyes, slowly but surely going back to sleep.

"I did what I thought was right, and, and--" She gasps, suddenly running out of breath, her legs buckling before she's levitated gently down to the floor, almost collapsing from her mouth running faster than her body could keep up with; flustered to the point of exhaustion, despite being in a dream.

"Rest now. You have come very far, but you must pace yourself before you face your issues any further. I do not expect you to become well overnight, Dear Fluttershy." Luna encouragingly states, looking to the scene before her and closing her eyes, the background and setting fading away and returning to the dream realm.

"I pray that this has proved enlightening." Luna steps over to Fluttershy and extends her hoof out, helping her stand back up after catching her breath. Fluttershy meekly nods, wording out how she feels.

"I.. I kept excusing his behavior, because I thought I hurt him too, and.. I.." Fluttershy looks to Pinkie, beginning to cry again.

"You, you know how I feel... and I kept thinking these awfully, truly awful things about you, and I'm sorry for feeling that way about Dan, I-I mean, I--" Her muttering is cut off as Pinkie leaps onto her, knocking her down onto the misty floor, repeatedly rubbing her face against her friend's cheeks with her own face.

"I don't want you thinking like that!" She backs her head away, just enough to meet her eyes again, imploring to her. "I don't want any of us thinking anything like that again! I know you don't want it, and I don't want it, and I know Dan doesn't want it either." Pinkie chokes up, thinking about the fact Dan is absent for this tender moment, Fluttershy wiping her emerging tears from her face before they have the chance to fall, them both smiling warmly to each other, both feeling as though they know each other better now.

Fluttershy still feels apprehensive about sharing all the strangely malicious things she had thought before, silently concluding and accepting that this will be a topic for another time.

"....." They turn away from each other, begrudgingly knowing what must come next as they separate and stand up again. They both look pleadingly at Twilight, whom nods in silent agreement, knowing what they will ask.

'We have to go find and talk to Dan, for everypony's sakes.' The thought completely audible, she doesn't attempt to hide the notion, assured that staying together is still the best course of action. Luna smiles, about to dispel their induced sleep, believing her job for now is done.

"NEVER!" A voice yells, echoing throughout their pocket of the dream realm.

One yells, almost angrily at a pony in their entirely separate dream, while their dream fades into black, Luna duly hovering over their dream bubble to investigate this apparently emerging nightmare.

"Pirrraaghhc--FAAAARRRRRGH." The monster, in pony-like form, emits an ugly cry, repeating uncoupled phrases, alien and unwelcome.

Fluttershy's ears perk up in worry, her ears flop down as she hears it again.

A nightmarish flesh monster stands motionless, a gash opens up across the top of it's head and splits down it's face with a distinct ripping sound as it's torn asunder, revealing nothing but black inside, facing the view of the dream bubble and back at them. A rebar spike violently pierces through it's torso from it's back, emitting a distressing bellowing screech, the three languidly twitches and scream awake in a panic.

Luna momentarily loses her focus and accidentally releases them from their induced sleep, shook up by their synchronous yelp, quickly resuming the spell she has on the three others in medical beds before they go into a deeper sleep on their own.

"Ngh." Luna emits a hushed noise, shaking her head in a rapid flurry, taken aback by the rattle to her system them awaking so suddenly had caused. Her magic momentarily wavers, before humming again.

Twilight and Fluttershy shake back into reality, Pinkie rising oddly stiffly, appearing like cramps are coming on and she's trying to prevent them. Applejack walks up to her, suspecting she's in pain, tapping the side of her torso to no bodily response as she stares ahead blankly.

"Pinkie! You alright there?" She asks, waving her hoof in front of her up and down. Pinkie replies, her tone unsure herself, strangely reserved-sounding.

"... Uh-huh!" She smiles nervously, before her body begins to vibrate, the movements wriggling and moving down to her legs, herself buckling as if in fear. She is confused by her body's seemingly random activity outside of her control, but only briefly.

"Huh? Pinchy knees??" She asks aloud, wholly meaning to think it, not say it aloud.

"What in the hay was that?" Twilight yells questioningly, ignoring Pinkie's own behavior, focusing on them all being forced out of a dream by what appears to be the same nightmare creature Dan had described beforehand to her.

"Hm. Perhaps I should not have entrusted that such frightening sights would not effect you adversely." Luna reflects silently, pondering about the nightmare creature, which is what she had expected to only see in Fluttershy's dream, not in another's. The visuals looking strangely familiar, she taps her chin, glancing up at the ceiling.

'I haven't seen anything like that, since my--' She tries to piece things together once more, but Fluttershy snap points to the wide doorway leading out the room and hides behind the main group, Twilight quickly stepping in front of them in a ready stance with magic resonating in an agitated state, but she pauses and hesitates, seeing something down the hallway.

Pinkie joins, knowing the scary thing she has predicted has come to fruition, stepping behind Twilight.

"What is that?" Twilight alerts Luna, peering down the hall, spotting a faded and hazy short figure standing at the end of it; her vision still awfully blurred from being awoke so suddenly, she rubs her eyes as she's unsure herself what she is observing.

Luna steps beside them and sees a hazy figure, but following her eyes, not independently from her vision cone, what appears to be an afterimage imprinted on her eyes-- putting her initial thoughts to the side. She sneers, bluntly stating while assured from her own experience, remaining calm as she knows that it by itself is not real.

"You are mistaken, as it is merely an apparition of the eye, a common after-effect of waking up so abruptly. Especially after a nightmare. The effect should wear off momentarily, I had experienced it before as well, I myself am not immune to such an inane..." Luna pauses, seeing the expression on the three's faces not change, noticing the other's instead change to distressed as well.

Applejack speaks up, looking in the same direction, huddling with the rest.

"Princess... we can see it too."

Luna looks back to down the bright hallway, to see after-image begin to form into a pony-shaped silhouette, now independent from her vision. It gazes back, convulsing, tilting it's head in a coarse way.

'That... can not be.'

The taphouse rumbles and erupts with laughter and light chatter inside, a highly jubilant meeting place for many-a-pony down on their luck or looking to get the local word around Palomino, Dan waiting outside as the sun reaches mid day, trying to gauge the place. His experience highly limited, he wants to give a decent impression, something he had failed to have ever done back in his old life, as far as he can remember.

'... I'm overthinking this.' He declares, walking to the doorway of the bar, gazing up to the rundown and old sign plastered above, reading in a stylized and somewhat goofy font:

"Musty's Taphouse"

Dan fluffs out the collar of his jacket, still in the mindset of making a lasting impression if he is to stay in Palomino for an extended time or attempt to find a temporary occupation, finally ducking and steps through the colored pane glass door, paying extreme mind to not bump his head on the doorway.

As he enters, his senses are overwhelmed by a slurry of sweet and distinct smells wafting from the cool air inside, a few ponies and what looks like a griffin peering out to meet his entry in the far back corner. They stare, momentarily yet noticeably, before returning to their respective tables and resuming the steady murmur of voices echoing throughout the room. Dan tilts his head a bit, feeling his impression was decent, though he comes to the realization yet again that this isn't all that important in the long run.

The taphouse looks distinct, but what he'd expect, even in such a foreign land as Equestria is to him, it has some similarities he can pick out easily. A bar stocked with visible bottles on display, a rounded counter edging outward with surrounding bar stools seats, the corners and sides of the building plastered with private booths and open tables, laying littered with ponies and a few creatures he does not fully recognize. The walls decorated with myriads of background art, including what appears to be some documents on display within picture frames. The place, despite it's outward appearance, not sharing the same descriptor as 'musty' whatsoever.

Taking hold of the situation he has invented himself as being in, Dan walks on over to the counter, taking a seat on one end and being greeted by what he could only surmise, is the bartender.

"What're you buying?" He asks in a peculiar accent, something Dan would associate closely to a Bostonian accent, though the equivalent is out of his purview, the pony appearing to be consciously holding back his own dialect for some reason.

Dan replies briefly, playing it straight forward, listening to the upbeat jazz playing throughout the room from someplace.

"Something strong, and then something stronger." Dan reaches into his pocket and places a bundle of bits on the counter, the bartender looking none more intrigued at the overt attempt to be curt. Regardless, the bartender takes the bits and grasps two glasses and places them on a plate in one hoof, moving to a tap and pulling a lever until they're filled to the brim, him pouring something else to the second one and sliding them over nonchalantly in front of Dan across the counter. Dan nods and flicks two fingers across from his forehead, an unknown gesture to those who lack fingers or knowledge of his customs, taking a glass which is disproportionately small for his size and takes a sip.

He closes his eyes, feeling the sting immediately hit the back of his throat, he groans once to clear his throat and holds the glass up.

"Thanks. Oof." He takes another drink, already having gulped down half of the first glass, catching the attention of a team of gruff-looking ponies and a griffin on the other end of the bar he had seen earlier. One approaches, curiously, but confidently and opens with a question.

"Heyo, Danny boy, whatcha lookin' for?" The pony with slicked back hair and what looks like stubble addresses Dan, which is surprising to hear so immediately, Dan glancing on over and placing his glass back down to address him.

"Yeah?" Dan asks, piqued and taking another drink, suddenly coming to the realization he just spoke to him by name-- Dan chokes on the drink, spitting up the rest of it back into the glass, which visually disturbs the group enough to make them back off.

Dan motions to the pony repeatedly, before managing to grab his attention again, as he's about to awkwardly step away.

"Geh, aughm sorry... ahem! Agh. What did you call me??" Dan asks, exasperated by his choking fit, completely disregarding the unusually decent alcoholic drink he's just had, addressing the pony in front of him.

"Hey, yo, I didn't mean no trouble." He plants himself on a stool, raising his hooves up in a stopping motion, continuing. "I was just gonna ask if you'd wanna join our extra-species card game." The pony confirms this by pointing where his other companions are, all gathered around one rounded table, playing cards with bits and a collection of empty glasses stacked upon each other. Dan specifies, the pony having confused his behavior as being offended.

"What, no, I mean.." He finds the words, slightly flustered, attempting to keep his cool. "How'd you know my name?"

The pony smirks and glances down to his chest, pointing with a wide grin in disbelief.

"Uhm, buddy, it says so right on your pack's handle." He points at his chest, specifically at one of the shoulder straps. "And on the back, come to think of it..." The pony rubs his chin with the side of his hoof, almost tauntingly amused.

"....." Dan tries to hold in the embarrassment, having not noticed that when Rarity made his backpack some time ago, she put his name on it. And most likely on his other clothes, if they have tags, which he suspects they all do; including some unmentionables. He consciously tries not to look to confirm any of that theory, too embarrassed and twitching his cheek trying to hold back a nervous smile, instead electing to take it in stride. Poorly.

"... yeah! I know that!" He waves his hand high in the air, assuring the pony while simultaneously shooing him, politely. "No, I got it. I'm doing great, you go ahead, I might join you nice folks later!" Dan nervously motions him away, the pony looking weirded out, before stepping away with a brief confused look.

"Er, alrighty then. See 'ya around. I guess?" The pony steps back to his table, motioning subtly to Danny, then hearing laughter from the same table in the distance.

Dan rests his forehead on the counter with an audible thump, the bartender looking in the direction it came from, noticing the change in behavior and asking Dan a question.

"... would you like something a--"

"YES."

The bartender is interrupted immediately while trying to change the subject for the tame scene he had just witnessed, Dan almost shouting while unmoving from his spot; agreeing to whatever the bartender was going to suggest without a second thought.

"What're you looking for? If I uhh... should ask." The bartender pony asks vaguely, hoping he won't speak any further on the subject. He does however, asking something that has popped up in his mind.

"You know Musty?" Dan asks, curiously, while taking a sip from an unfinished drink.

"Musty? Well, yeah, he's the owner. He works out back, pretty much retired though. Why you wanna know?" The bartender's interest is piqued, particularly because Dan is unfamiliar to him, and probably many guests currently, his dialect peaking out slightly as a result.

Dan answers, finishing his drink in another instant, beginning to feel buzzed, this being the most alcoholic beverage he's had since some time ago drinking fermented cider with Pinkie. He's beginning to believe alcohol must be a lot weaker for him compared to ponies, for this much time to pass without much of an exaggerated effect.

"I got told by a friend to check out this place, apparently they knew each other. Mare named Sylvie?" Dan answers with detail, finding no reason not to open up to a bartender about his problems, unfamiliar world or not.

"Oh, 'ya know Sylvie? She used to be a regular, hear now she got outta medical school, now she's a therapist." The pony cleans out a mug in a nearby sink, characteristically wiping it dry with a cloth. "Probably wanted you to say hi." The bartender pony places a now clean mug on a shelf, exiting through a backdoor. Dan hears some yelling, then a hushed conversation, before being treated to the sight of an older-looking pony exit the backroom with a cane.

"Ehm, what's it? Who're you? Whatcha want with Sylvie?" The old pony asks various questions, staring at Dan, making his way slowly around the counter and lifting the divider attached to the counter at one end. He watches him approach, before he finally takes a seat beside him, watching him look him up and down curiously. Dan answers his previous questions, his hand being prodded by his cane, retracting his arm back in response.

"Uhm, Dan. Or Danny, whatever floats your boat I guess." Dan reels back slightly, being poked across his stomach by his cane, before the pony begins to laugh.

"HA! No need to get all fidgety son, I ain't gonna bite, those days are long behind me anyhow. Also the no-teeth thing, heh." The pony rests his cane on the counter, motioning to the bartender, him pouring what looks like a bottle of purple liquid into a mug and placing it close to him.

"Name's Musty, this is my place." Musty takes the mug, taking a solid drink with it clasped in his hoof, sighing with a hearty sound of contentment as he motions the bartender to pour another. "Come, tell me, what's your deal, huh?"

The bartender places the mug, more proportionally sized to Dan as a large cup, and leaves into the back room after confirming no one else is as the counter. Dan takes the mug and sniffs the top, smelling a hint of grape.

"Wine?" Dan asks curiously, before taking a lengthy sip.

'Definitely not wine.' He thinks disparagingly, confused by the non-alcoholic taste, but wincing at the strong taste as it clashes against his tongue.

"Course not, it's grape juice!" Musty takes another swig of the strong grape juice in his mug, placing it back down, already almost finished. "Can't drink no more, doctor says my liver can't take it. But let's look past the whole 'That's gotta be torture for you' spiel you're cookin' up in your noggin, I'm a decade sober and proud of it!"

Dan silently and awkwardly drinks the grape juice faced to the side, attempting to not make eye contact.

'I didn't ask...' He comments silently, unused to the feeling of being accosted by others, even if he is aware it's not intended to be malicious. Musty notices him not fully listening, tapping his lap with his cane to grab his attention.

"So... been invited by a dear friend of mine, eh?" Musty surmises Dan had been invited by Sylvie, intrigued and cheerful at the notion.

"Figure that oughta mean somethin's bothering you." He bluntly states, resting his foreleg on the counter and awaiting a response from Dan, looking non-plus at the apparentness of his troubles, riled by the dull effect of alcohol breaking down in his body.

"Why is that so obvious?" He asks, audibly annoyed, but calming down as he looks back to his old glass he didn't finished, beginning to reach for it. His hand is suddenly smacked by Musty's cane. Reeling back, Dan stands up and covers it against his chest, startled at the physical pain and action.

"Ow! The heck??" He yelps, confused. Musty impatiently taps the cane against Dan's stool, looking strangely patient.

"Sit down son." He instructs to Dan, which reluctantly sits back down, but scooting slightly away in anticipation of another old-pony cane strike.

"Whatcha looking for, exactly?" Musty asks, resting his cane assuredly back onto the table, awaiting an answer. Dan hesitates, saying what's on his mind.

"Just a drink, obviously." He answers somewhat sarcastically, dodging the question with his current setting and activity. Musty places his hoof back on his cane without breaking eye contact, Dan reeling back once more, getting the message more clearly.

"Uhm, well, I..." Dan sighs solemnly, remembering his own goal to minimize lies, if he's to stay around for a time. "Getting away from home." He gulps, explaining it in further detail.

"Far, far away from home, after doing something I'll probably regret for the rest of my life... even if I never meant to do it." He deeply sighs, glancing back at the drink Musty is intentionally trying to keep him away from. Adding to his somewhat vague but direct answer, Musty gives some words of wisdom, as the music permeating from a jukebox switches to something more mellow.

"Running away from your problems ain't no kind of life, son." Musty blows air through his mouth, taking his mug and drinking from it once more, finishing the remnants settled at the bottom. "But, I got the sneakin' suspicion that you know that already, but don't wanna look at it that way." He places the mug down, sliding it down the counter well out of sight, bumping against and resting beside his glass.

"Forgive my directness, I'm no kind of learn-ed deep-thinker like my friend, she's better with the whole... piecing things together part. So, tell me again if you don't mind: Whatcha looking for?" Musty asks, the mood turning from upbeat to somber.

"...." Dan leans down from his stool, looking down at the counter, attempting and failing to blank the world from his purview.

"I... want to get away from everything. Everyone, maybe." Dan contemplates living in the wild alone briefly, but remembers distinctly the many dangers of such a venture, glancing down at his covered arms below his jacket sleeves, knowing the scars that reside below from one of it's many beasts, trying not to remember the rest strewn across his body while he tenses up his hands into fists in frustration.

"Why'd you ask?" Dan asks in return, Musty looking just as ponderous.

"'Tis what I do, I ask what's wrong and listen, maybe give advice. More suited to Sylvie, but maybe she just wanted to save you time on making an appointment, eh?" Musty motions his foreleg at Dan, bumping his side amusedly, continuing on with his serious tone again.

"Son, I know what it's like, running away from your problems, trying to drown 'em out. Or keep them at bay, by keeping yourself away from 'em altogether." Musty attempts to sympathize with a vague and wide spectrum anecdote, to internal protest from Dan, starting to feel like he's being judged unfairly or patronized, ironically.

"But!" Musty brings attention to himself once more, clarifying.

"Feel like you need some time alone, hm? To reflect on some things?" Musty asks, taking his mug and peering into it, noticing it's empty once more.

Dan sits immobile for a time, before able to work up the words, being proposed and guided to something he's been wanting for a day and a half.

"Yeah, I am... someplace where I can get some time to think, I guess until I can work my way back up to go back home. It's not like I'll be missed--" He painfully remembers Pinkie, the hairs on his arms standing up, beginning to sweat in the otherwise cool room, failing to accept his own logic to it fully.

"-- missed much." He rubs his arm, feeling a chill coming on despite his jacket, as well as guilt, picturing her eyes.

'.. If they don't hate me still.' Dan silently adds, failing to push away that doubt from his frame of mind as Musty thinks.

"Hm." Musty taps his cane against his own chin, resting the bottom to the floor, stepping down as he comes to a conclusion, visibly pleased.

"I know one place. Be a short train ride, if you're really that willing to go out of the way." He propositions, Dan stepping down from the stool, about to reach for the glass still half finished, but hesitates at the last second and pauses in place.

"....." Dan stays silent, retracting his hand back to his side.

Unexpectedly, Musty chuckles with a wheezy laugh, noting his behavior, proudly.

"The important thing ain't so much the not partaking." Musty steps away walking with his cane towards the door outside the bar, followed by Dan, finishing off his odd but well meant lesson as he begins to describe his proposed destination to him outside.

"It's the knowledge that you try."

"Something... I had not expected." Luna audibly and nervously answers Twilight's previous question, her magic humming brightly and threateningly as she steps past the doorway to face the fleshy pony creature, unable to get a definitive fix on it in her sight, though it looms rather closely still.

'Why does this feel so familiar?' The question gnaws at the back of her mind as she approaches the creature standing at the end of the hallway, various passing medical staff stopping and backing into a corner in response to her intimidating presence, entering adjacent rooms or hugging the walls to keep out of the way.

"Princess!" Twilight yells out, focusing her magic and teleporting outside the shield bubble she has materialized, flashing beside Luna at the ready as well.

"I'll help, it's--" Twilight turns to face the creature, noticing it's no longer there where it was menacingly occupying. "What?" Twilight blinks, rubbing one of her eyes, seeing an after-image rapidly form and dissipate, bordering from originating from her vision and staying in place independently.

"How is that thing there?" Twilight notices a pony in scrubs, busy walking and staring down at a clipboard from the same end of the hall, step through the creature nonchalantly and with no reaction, fazing clear through it. She looks up to see Luna, buckling in place as she drops her clipboard, stepping back in fear and confusion. The reality of the situation dawns on Twilight, looking to Luna who is about to use powerful magic in the same direction, a realization that they all see something that is not actually there.

"... LUNA!!" Twilight leaps and tackles Luna's side before she can focus a spell, interrupting a spell she was about to cast, her confusedly looking back in the same direction and seeing the apparition fade and a frightened pony in it's place huddling down low to the floor.

"...." Luna steps back, looking down to a pained Twilight, having smacked her head to the side against a much sturdier body, straining her neck.

"I-I'm sorry Princess! But, I, I--" Twilight attempts to explain herself, but is cut off.

"There is... no need." Luna looks to the scrubs pony, trying not to face them as she hears their hooves clop against the floor, them running away after a brief pause. She acknowledges the pony ran away in fear, a painful tenseness forming in her gut at the fact.

"... I know now what we face, and I fear even I am not immune to it's effects." Luna helps Twilight up and they both make their way back to the ER room with the others, Twilight dematerializing the shield bubble, all this physical and mental activity turning out to be exhausting, despite her having slept for a short time.

A myriad of papers and books fly around the room via levitation, tucked inside a box on a dolly lying on the other end of the room, being displayed all in front of Twilight until she takes one and examines it.

"... oh! These are Dan's biology and psychology notes?" Twilight looks through several pages, reading familiar material, from notes from the very same researchers lying unconscious in the same room, ranging from extrapolations and theories about Dan's physiology and actual references they have tried to piece from their own. The papers consists of layers upon layers of notes, visual depictions, hypothesis', sketches, and actual taken pictures of Dan from various angles.

"I... don't see why you want me to look at this." Twilight flips over the book back to Luna's control, herself being handed another bundle of papers, including a familiar notebook.

"I think recognize this, these are the-- WAH!!" She abruptly yelps, being held back from falling down by her friends as she stands briefly on her hind legs, brought back down as she releases the notebook from her magical grip and it clatters to the floor with papers splayed over the tile floor.

'N-Not again...' She laments, rubbing her eyes repeatedly, garnering concern from her friends while Luna watches in mild confusion, Rarity speaking up.

"Darling! What's the matter?" She places her hoof on Twilight's side, herself incoherently muttering to herself, seemingly annoyed while Rarity picks up the notebook and examines the pages. She skims through various pages which consists mostly of words, before finally coming up on the page in question, her eyes going wide and shoving it with her magic into the side of Applejack's face.

"My... word!" She states, borrowing a Canterlot-ism.

"Ah--Hey!" Applejack barks at her and takes the notebook to read the page, surprised herself at the sight, though much more tempered compared to them both with her reaction.

".. next time, just say somethin', 'ya hear?" Applejack attempts to hand over the notebook to Rainbow Dash while avoiding eye contact, which is immediately refused as she looks away and flaps her wings, rising to the ceiling.

"I don't even wanna know." RD comments, flying above and out of reach. Pinkie, peeking over Applejack's shoulder to see what they are seeing, gasps happily; taking the notepad gently into her mouth and excitedly trotting over to Fluttershy.

She flips the page, pointing at a picture, Fluttershy's face and ears flushing immediately with red as she covers her face.

"He lied to me!" Pinkie says sadly, before clarifying. "Back when he said he didn't have a tail."

Applejack chimes in, being the only one willing to point it out, embarrassingly.

"That's er, not his tail, Pinkie." She clarifies, Pinkie pausing in place, moving her eyes to the ceiling in silent contemplation and realization, unsure what to do with the information unlike everyone else in the room.

'Oh.'

Luna, unsure herself, levitates the picture over to herself to look at the image, raising a brow and looking to the six, which are otherwise disgruntled or unassuming.

"... quaint." She sighs, unaffected by the sight, packing the books and notes back into the box on the dolly, inferring another method is needed to convey information rather than raw data, determined to put across what she has to share.

"Please, sit with me again." She requests as they all form a semi circle around her, awaiting her word, Twilight thinking disparagingly to herself once more.

'Why was it laminated this time?...'

"I did not want to believe it for myself, the possibility being so very... unlikely, but that creature that you have described in Sir Daniel's and your dear friends' dreams, and now as an apparition we have all seen in tandem; is an entity called a 'Shade'."

The girls look to each other, Twilight inquiring.

"A Shade?" She asks, allowing Luna to continue, which she does fervently.

"A Shade is a malicious embodiment of strong emotion, specifically, of trauma. It is limited to nightmares, tormenting it's victims, imprinted deep into their psyche." Luna breathes in, then out, formulating her explanation as simple as she can for the ponies before her, worried herself having to recall these details she had not thought of or had to recall for some time.

"It is dangerous, but it does not exist by itself, it is created. It is not cognizant, and can not think for itself, dedicated solely to the origin of it's creation. Dedicated to strong emotions, that cling to one by it's very nature, an effortless and inherent effect: Pain, anger, hate, guilt, doubt, loss, and regret."

She looks to them, pained.

"If it is allowed to dwell and express it's raw emotion, it may permanently mentally scar the individual it is created by, creating a vortex of unceasing torment that would allow it reign unhindered. It's most common result, it leads to schizophrenia and an extremely unsettling disconnect from reality, unhinging inhibitions." Luna tenses up her nose, closing her eyes, pained-looking while speaking, pausing while Twilight listens and asks a question.

"If it is another nightmare creature, then can't you...?" She assumes, correctly, as Luna replies.

"Yes, I can simply banish them before that happens." Luna stands, clarifying. "... clearly, as evident, from other ponies dreams." She shakes her head, confused by the distinction, this experience being new to her as well.

"I should clarify, a Shade does not exist by itself, it is a resulting amalgamate. But it's creation is not so simple, it needs an extremely broad range of control over a psyche to form. Something that is only known to develop in empaths, like myself." She gestures to herself, subtly.

Twilight's ears perk up attentively, perturbed by this fact with Luna she was not aware of. Luna shakes her head in denial, despite having nothing prompting her to reply with it in the first place.

"I am not empathic in the sense you may assume, I can not read minds, and that is a common misconception of the term. I am limited to my innate ability to traverse the dream realm, and the ability to navigate with those who willingly allow me to traverse their dreams." She snorts, briefly. "It is a feat that is extraordinary on it's own, but to my knowledge, is the furthest ability of empathic ability that has been recorded in Equestria's history. My sister is empathic as well, but to an entirely different degree."

Twilight looks on curiously, asking something she's trying to come to understand based on a statement.

"You said a Shade is only known to develop from Empaths." She pauses, thinking. "So are you trying to say that it came from you?" She asks, to another immediate reply from her with a brief shake of her head.

"I did not create these Shades, and I am sure my sister did not create them, having no such hold of the dream realm or ability to affect it. But I have noticed that there are several, which concerns me, a lot." She looks to the side, looking to the ponies still lying asleep in the medical beds.

"Why?" Twilight asks.

Luna looks down to Twilight, fixed in her tone.

"Because that means your friend Sir Daniel is possibly empathic, an exceptionally strong, but I pray an unwillingly rampant one." Luna steps close to the ponies lying in bed, sympathetically watching them sleep, placing a hoof on one's forehead which she had previously denied Fluttershy permission to lay a hoof on, her expression turning to distasteful. The reason becoming clear as to why she did so, wanting to keep Fluttershy separate until she has resolved her own issues.

"... and unless he can gain control of his own ability, or it is suppressed, he will be a threat to all that interact with him, and eventually all those within proximity of him. And I fear the worst, that should he allow a Shade to exert control of his psyche, fully..."

She gulps, afraid of the possibility itself, it being only a theory that was proposed when she was learning how to control her own abilities.

"The Shades he creates may become tangible, intelligent, eventually cognizant as they expand their influence and are no longer content to exist as illusions in the mind. Not only scarring those who sleep. But scarring those awake."

Several hours go by as Daniel walks on a particularly long stretch of dirt roadway, winding upward and downward through various rocky passes that once seemed far off, that are now towering to the side as he passes through a route that had been laid over with basic cobblestone long ago. Bipedal creatures like Daniel not in mind when they were laid, and even less so with the advent of steam trains and tracks, this among the many abandoned roadways in favor of speedier and more likely safer routes, as he realizes he just exited a desert.

'Really chose one heck of a destination, huh??' He snidely yells at himself in his head, feeling fatigued as his calves feel like they're on fire from the constant walking, stopping to sit under a lone dead tree with few red leaves and taking a moment to observe his surroundings which he finds strangely pretty, if still gray-toned.

'Train shut down for maintenance...' Another snide comment, aimed at the forcibly extensive journey he's had to take, not being able to take the train to it.

Around him faces what looks like a very wide valley, with relatively low mountains in the distance, spotting a distinct hint to what appears to be his suggested destination.

"... kay, just a little farther..." Dan whispers to himself, taking a few minutes for a breather, begrudgingly standing and taking a drink from a water bottle he had bought before leaving Palomino, an also proportionately small serving for his size. He shuffles his backpack, noticing it feels strangely lighter as if something fell out, but assumes it was the water bottle he essentially inhaled.

He comes upon a very long perimeter fence built low and near his stomach in height.

'Definitely made by ponies...' He assumes, gauging the size is appropriate for them.

Observing the fence's make, crude but functional, he can confirm it's farmland, though he sees no visible grass or long dug lines in the dirt to show it. Dan attempts to remember what kind of vegetable grows in these kind of conditions, but none come to mind, as he spots a distinct silhouette in the distance, what looks like a grain storage silo. A rustic look to it, he passes along a collection of rocks jutting out from the earth, the fence built around to accommodate the geological formation.

Continuing down the light path following outside the fence, resisting the urge to approach the silo by jumping the fence still believing trespassing is trespassing, he rounds a few boulders and sees a pony house dotted beside the silo, a wide circular inner fence loosely surrounding the building in disrepair.

'Is this place.. abandoned?' He begins to have second thoughts, observing the outside as barren and excessively dead-looking, still not finding any signs of crops or tall grass, or any grass. The only greenery within sightlines are a thick forest off into the distance along the valley hills, stretches of flat cracked and dry pockets of dirt spanning the entirety leading up to it.

Finally, Dan rests easy, approaching a sign by an entryway built into the fence, reading the old-looking sign above optimistically aloud to himself.

"Pie Family Rock Farm."

He pauses for a moment, taking what he just read in.

"....." He stays silent for an extended period, unable to process what he's read.

"... what?" Once more mumbled in absolute confusion.

Author's Note

Edit: Forgot to switch from Imcomplete to Complete, whoopsie.

Sorry this took so long, I specifically came back online because I had so much free time, which now had suddenly become limited. So, unforeseen delays all around.
If you're reading this and are viewer #37, congrats! You're technically the first viewer :D I still find that strange how the view count also counts the author views, and I'm surprised it hadn't been done away with. So the first 36 views on this chapter are not actual views, which is sad for me to gauge responses.
If curious, because I feel it's not obvious in read form, Daniel is not familiar with the pony naming nomenclature, so he is blissfully unaware that Pinkie's last name 'Pie' is her actual last name, unlike her other friends which mysteriously have no last name. *shrug*
... in hindsight, I really should have divided these into separate chapters. But, hint-hint, there are some tidbits of information dotted around hinting at something :) I'm curious if anyone can pick up on it!

Now, to say, I AM GLAD THIS IS DONE WITH. And timely enough for the weekend, though I felt it was finished earlier today, I wanted to fix some small mistakes I had made and missed on a second pass through. It, uhh, my surprise that this turned out so long as well.

And I'm unsure if I should fix the beginning half of the story chapters, because the grammar and sentence structure is all over the freaking place. I'd love some feedback on this, because I need some encouragement to warrant it frankly.

I want to, mostly, because of new readers who may stumble on the story would want something more cohesive and better structured to read into the story with. I feel I may work and restructure it regardless, but some agreement would help me decide and act on it sooner if that's really wanted :twilightblush:

Like I said, I'd like to hear some feedback, as this has been rocking in my mind for a long while :)

Thank you to any who have read this far, hope you enjoyed reading this end to this part of the story, the next story will be a continuation of this with more of a fresh start. Fresh, as in actually new to other people, and fresh to me, not being attached to something I abandoned for a long time!

Thank you again!