1 month.

1 month.

"Danny...Daaaanyyyy"

Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke.

'Stop it' he thinks.

Poke. Poke. Poke.

He groans.

Poke. Poke.

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

Poke.

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

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

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

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

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

'Fun is the last thing I need'

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ding.

Daniel asks Pinkie,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

No. It's something else.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What makes this a comedy again?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"This, I SWEAR IT!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That sounded..sultry.

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

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

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

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

"Boop."

Boop?

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

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

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

"Boop!" she bumps his nose again.

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

"Boop?"

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

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

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

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

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

"Sleepover, duh!" He replies,

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

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

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

What a strange predicament to be in.

"No."

"..."

"Why?"

Why?

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

Why Pinkie?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He will not be in danger..

He will not leave her.

Author's Note

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

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

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

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