--

"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.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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*

4. ... 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

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!