Author's Notes:

Sorry about this chapter. For me, it was awkward and confusing for me to write, but I wanted to get another rough draft out. I do have an announcement though. I have decided that I will do rough drafts of each chapter, until I've completed the story altogether. After that, I will put all of my effort into make each chapter into my final image. You can reread the chapters after that to see how much the story has changed, because it will, but I'm not going back until I am finished with the story. Everything that happens, will be staying there until I get back to revising it. So yeah... This chapter will be a bit awkward to read, and it might jump around a LOT.

Daniel’s eyes shot open. He was covered in a cold sweat, his heart trying to escape it’s prison called his chest cavity. He blinked, rubbing his face. He knew he just had a nightmare, but he can’t remember what it was. His mind draws a blank. The dream was slipping away from him as seconds tick away, until he was just laying there, trying to remember anything about the night terror. He had a hunch. He could feel it was about certain mares, marriage or some form of engagement, and wasted time. He sat up, cumbersome as it may be in the armor he wore, and he slowly shuffled himself to his feet.

The top of his helmet hit the ceiling, and he remembered he had to duck down to avoid brain damage. He looked at the bed, and found it barren of anything. The bed was made, sheets straightened. He pulled the visor down to look at the time. It was almost two in the afternoon. Daniel sighed, and started to take apart the large armor. After a good ten minutes spent on that, the human made his way to the bathroom. Doing his morning business, he finished up and went back to the bedroom, and grabbed new clothes. Feeling comfortable in his new clothes, the human walked downstairs. No sign of anybody in the home. He cocked an eyebrow, before remembering the previous night. Stepping outside, he watched the pegasi moving around the clouds. Each was dark and heavy-looking, and he predicted a large storm to come on later today or in the evening. Daniel started to think back to earlier, about his nightmare.

‘Maybe something about me waiting for so long to propose to Flutters?’ He thought. He hummed and walked towards Ponyville. He bit his lip as he tried to think about how he would do everything, and decided that it would also be nice to propose to Pinkie. He then backtracked on how he would do everything.

‘Maybe… A night spent among friends and I just do it?’ He thought warily. He had no experience about how couples proposed to each other, and he wasn't back on Earth, so he can’t just look up the information. He decided to wing it and go along with his premature plan. He could see the edges of the town popping into view and wiped his face of any evidence. Tomorrow, he would try to keep it secret, and go to Canterlot, to a smith, or a jewelers. He would go to the smith in Ponyville, but anypony sees him walking out of that and they will start to ask questions, and rumors will spread. His plan was too fragile for any rumors to be tossed into the mix. He sighed as he reached the first few buildings.

‘Damn it… I don’t know what to do...’ He said, almost despairingly. Pushing everything aside, he started to walk to Sugarcube Corner. The large building stuck out in the middle of the town, and he made a beeline to it, through all of the side streets and alleys. Sugarcube Corner didn’t look too busy, so he decided to take a peek inside. A few ponies were standing around, with Mr. Cake standing at the counter, talking to another stallion. Daniel stepped inside, ducking down so that he didn’t his head. Without the armor, he was still tall enough to hit his head on the buildings in Ponyville.

“Hey Daniel! Pinkie and Fluttershy’s in the back if you were here for them.” Mr. Cake said. Giving him a nod of appreciation, Daniel stepped behind the counter as the two stallions conversed with each other. He opened the door to the kitchen and looked inside, and saw an interesting sight. Pinkie and Fluttershy were kneading dough, but were steadily kissing each other, both with a blush on their faces. He could obviously see the both of them using tongue. Both of them looked ready to take it to the next level.

‘Oh wow… that is hot...’ He thought heatedly. He cleared his throat as his cheeks flared up, and two gasps met his ears.

“Oh hi Danny!” Pinkie said, as she made her way to him, pulling him inside. The doors closed behind him, and he looked at the both of them. Fluttershy entire face was red, and Pinkie still had a red tinge on her cheek.

“Hello to the both of you…” He murmured, shaking his head as he could feel his cheeks flaring up even more.

“H-hi Daniel…” Fluttershy said, her face steadily turning back to its butter yellow color. He gave an awkward cough.

“Um… Well, I was just checking in, seeing how you two were getting along… I guess I can get going and let you two get back to your… baking.” He said, slowly backing out the door. He turned around, and he could tell everyone was staring at him. He could also feel his blush coming back, his face turning red. The two stallions that were not Mr. Cake smirked.

“So how was it?” One of them asked. Daniel could tell his face was going to be entirely red, so he stepped out from behind the counter and made his way out the door. He took a deep breath and started to walk towards the library. A few ponies shot him glances, but most just ignored him, used to the behemoth of a human. He made it to the library and knocked on the door.

“Just a minute!” He heard from behind the door. He took a step back, as he started to think of lyrics for a few songs he hadn’t heard in forever.

“Oh hi Daniel!” Twilight’s voice cut through his train of thought.

“Hi Twilight. Can I come inside?” He asked.

“Sure! Just… ignore the mess.” She said. He shrugged.

“I’m used to a large mess.” He said as he stepped inside. He took a look around. All of the books were in the same order, everything in the same spot as it was when he last visited the bookworm. His earlier plans came back to him and he bit his lip as he browsed the selection of books.

“Um… Twilight? Do you have any books on… proposals, or marriages?” He asked. She looked up, her eyes wide.

“A-are you… thinking of proposing to Fluttershy and Pinkie?” She asked in a hushed voice. He gave a silent nod.

“I just want to keep it under wraps. I didn’t want to ask around town… because you know how bad the rumors get here.” He said, grimacing slightly. She mimicked his actions.

“I know exactly how you feel. Sorry Daniel, but there’s not one book about marriage or proposals in the library.”

“Well, I figured I could just wing it. Do it over a small get together with friends. I need to go to Canterlot though…” He murmured.

“For what?”

“I need rings for proposing, and I don’t want to go to the smith here for obvious reasons.” He whispered. She nodded. “Well, I’ll get out of you hair now.” Daniel walked towards the door, opening it.

“You be careful, and take care!” She called after him as he closed the door. He tried to think about anywhere he could go to today, and sighed.

“I guess I can make a trip up to Canterlot.” He said to himself, as he made his way to the train station. He bought a ticket and waited for the train. It arrived ten minutes late, but he wasn’t a stickler for time tables, so he just boarded the train and waited for it to start moving. He pulled out what bits he had.

‘Thirty bits. I would need more to complete the transaction.’ He said to himself, as the train pulled out of the station and started to pick up speed. The trip took three hours. He stepped off of the train and into the station, looking around. He couldn’t see any obvious blacksmiths of jeweler stores, so he moved towards the nearest guard. After asking a few questions, the guard gave him directions to the nearest jewelry store. He looked at the exterior of the store before stepping inside. A couple was looking at necklaces, and he stepped towards rings. He looked for rings that complimented any part of the mares, but he was no expert in gems, or jewelry. Then, he saw a canary yellow diamond and platinum ring. Right beside it was a silver necklace with a pink topaz in the shape of a heart. The ring was one thousand and two hundred bits, the necklace was eight hundred bits. He bit his lip, as the jeweler took one look at him and smiled. It was an older mare, probably in her late fifties or sixties, with a slender build, graying blue hair.

“Hello young dear.” She said. Her voice was sweet and smooth, like honey.

“Hello ma’am. I am interested in these two pieces,” He said tensely, “Can you hold them for me for today so that I can return and purchase these?” He finished. The older mare smiled and nodded, putting each in a small blue case.

“Proposing to two special mares I see?” She commented. He nodded silently, impressed by the mare’s intuition. “I’m sure they’re lucky to have such a handsome stallion propose to them.” She smiled lightly.

‘I doubt you can consider me a stallion. I’m not even a pony. I’m not human. I’m my own species.’ He thought sourly.

“I’m not so sure…” He murmured as he turned away and out of the door. He bought another ticket and waited once more for the train. Another train running late, this time by a whole two hours. It was somewhere around seven o’clock when he finally boarded the train, and ten o’clock when he reached Ponyville for the final time that day. He made his way home, with both mares sitting in the living room, waiting for him. They were laying on the couch, leaning against each other, when he walked into the door. He sighed. While it was a short day for him, he was emotionally taxed.

“Hello Danny!” Pinkie said, jumping up. Fluttershy let out a squeak and fell onto the couch. He looked up.

“Hi.” He said, his voice lacking any sort of emotion at the moment. Both mares frowned.

“What’s the matter Danny?” Pinkie asked.

“Nothing really, just getting over… everything that’s happened… I just feel numb right now… Everything I’ve done, I’ve seen…” He murmured.

“Oh, it’s going to be alright Danny! The numbness will subside after a few days and you’ll be back to your normal self!” Pinkie said, jumping onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“I guess… Ah well… I’m going to go to bed…” He murmured, hugging both of them. They smiled, but he could tell Fluttershy’s smile was sad. He went upstairs and lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling for an undetermined amount of time. He could hear both of them talking and laughing together. He closed his eyes.

His memories of how he used to be and how he is now popped into his head. He could see himself happy, joyful, and full of emotion, then himself emotionless. He could see himself smile, then himself with a frown. He sees himself sad, depressed. Everything he said that was positive seemed forced. Every chuckle was empty. Anything he showed that would be happy never reached his eyes. They became grey pools of endless voids. The bright red eyes he had previously were stolen away. He could see his eyes slowly turning electric blue. His skin becoming gray, his skin mottled with his own color. He covered himself in alien armor, with alien abilities, his body twisted into a monster of steel and bone.

The powers he displayed in the gryphon kingdom came back to him. His arms turning into razor sharp blades. Everything he’s done since the interdimensional teleportations has been like out of a video game. His strength is not his own. His reflexes were too quick for his mind to keep up with. His intelligence was far superior to what he had previously. He could feel his arms turning as he slept, but payed no mind to them as he continued to compare himself to his previous… happiness. It seemed like he was always ready to keep moving forward, and not look at what his actions did to the rest of the world.

‘Ignore everything… You are still normal… Just keep moving forward...’ A voice whispered into his ears.

‘Getting married is one of the most rewarding things to do...’ His addled mind said to itself.

‘Just get the money from the next room, go back to Canterlot, and propose to the mares. There’s nothing that will go wrong with this...’ The voice whispered. It seemed like his mind was screaming at itself, as if something was trying to force itself in, and his mind was fighting back, but it was uncoordinat-

“DANIEL!” He heard screamed at him. His eyes shot open, and he sat up. Both Fluttershy and Pinkie were standing on the opposite side of the room, staring at him with teary eyes. He looked confused for a moment, then looked over his body. His arms were…

“No…” He whispered. His arms were the blade and spear from the gryphon kingdom. Both mares were staring at the weapons, and at him like he was a freak. He could feel his mind picking at itself, telling him to do the obvious thing. He wanted to fight back, to tell them that this a part of him for a long time, but he stood up on its own.

The mare’s gave a scream and ran out of the room, like he was some sort of monster...