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.

Tic.

Tic.

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.