My better life

by Sharky White

First published 27th of February, 2012

Meet Sharky White. A man living in a world that has no meaning for him anymore.

Meet Sharky White, a man living in a world that has lost all meaning for him. After flying to Italy to suprise his girlfriend, he comes to her hotel and finds her with another man. Depressed, with a diamond ring in pocket, he then goes to the airport and recieves 3 consecutive calls, each bearing increasingly terrible news. Planning his own death, he boards his flight back to the U.S. but ends up somewhere totally different...

NOTE: Yeah, some of the beginning is still really poorly written. I mean technically the whole thing is, but those moreso than others. I'll be slowly editing from the start while I write forward, and edited chapters will be marked with a '*'. That way you new guys know why one chapter is less crappy than the one after.

I Don't Deserve Death*

I don't cry.

It's just me, I never cry.

That doesn't stop me from wanting to. I wanted to cry, but I was so destroyed I couldn't even summon a few tears. I walked down the the plane aisle looking for my seat with a dead expression. I had booked the earliest flight back to North America at 6:00 a.m. New York, to be precise. That wasn't where I lived, but it had tall buildings...

I would kill myself when I got there, I wasn't deciding, I would. I took my seat and stared out my window with the vacant eyes of a lost soul. Normally I would be happy about getting a window seat, but due to my current situation... I wasn't. I watched all the little cars that carry around luggage drive around from plane to plane as I thought about my life. I had a great life. I was smart, VERY smart. I graduated high school at the age of 14, and went right into a swell little college in Hawaii. As a result, I never really had friends. I was either a freaky nerd to them, or never around long enough to know them. This left my social awareness... lacking. Luckily I was instructed by my parents on proper social behavior, or I might be too odd. Anyway, at 16 I got a job and eventually saved enough for the down payment for my own house, goodbye dorm room. Not that I had a problem with my roommate, in fact I would've gladly had him share the house with me.

Had he not died.

That house had been the embodiment of all my hard work, I'm gonna miss it... but not as much as him. No time to dwell on that though. Finally, something really good happend to me. I had been four years into college when she walked in my life. Both of us were studying to be marine biologists. We had started dating and kept dating for 3 years. I was in love. My parents had tried to tell me she wasn't who I thought. I didn't listen. She had shown me this cute little show called "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic". I wasn't really into it at first, but I watched it so I could be close to her. I did end up becoming a happy member of the brony community thanks to her though. I spent so much time with her I even allowed my grades to start slipping. It didn't matter to me at the time, she was the only thing that mattered. Now I see how much of a fool I had been. Eventually, she had wanted to take our relationship to the "next level", but I refused because I had promised my parents I'd be abstinent.

Oh my gosh... My parents... I silently reminded myself. I hadn't even thought about them. Now the tears flowed freely as I mourned their deaths. Then I became angry. It wasn't fair that this all happened to me! Suddenly, I heard yelling at the front of the plane and looked up. A look of pure terror replaced my angry expression. I didn't know why and I didn't know how, but at the front of the plane was a man with a bomb strapped to his chest. Everyone was screaming bloody murder and praying like there wouldn't be a tomorrow. Which actually there might not be. I resisted the urge to slap the guy in front of me yelling, 'REPENT, REPENT!!!' Then the man with the bomb pulled out a gun too. A calmer part of my mind wondered how far airport security's thumbs were up their asses. He waved the gun around and everyone shut up really fast.

"Nobody move!" He screamed. I felt the anger return as I thought about how everyone here would be missed if they died. Everyone but me, because I had no one left. My parents and I were all only children and my grandparents had died while I was young. Knowing I was the only one with nothing to lose, I stood up to confront him. I rushed him and tried to knock him over and... I don't know. I never got close. He didn't look at me, but chose that moment to detonate himself. The last things I saw were two bright flashes.

Two? I questioned myself as I felt the explosion reach me.

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I groaned in pain with my eyes still closed. I...I survived? I questioned myself. If I did, I was only barely hanging on. My whole body throbbed in pain, at least the parts of it I could still feel did anyway. Great, I inwardly groaned, I can't even DIE! My breath came in short ragged gasps and I opened my eyes to see if there was an explanation to my survival. I looked down and checked my body first. I saw that I was severly bruised and burned. Not to mention the fact that my arms were covered in gashes. Not able to determine anything from my injuries, I turned to my surroundings. I looked around and saw tons of books and everything around seemed to be made out of wood. Then I felt something on my brow. Breath. I looked up and looked right into the biggest pair of eyes I'd ever seen. They looked oddly familiar, and were purple. Wait, purple? I asked myself.

"W...w...who a..are..." I tried to ask as a huge wave of nausea and diziness washed over me. The eyes backed away very quickly and were revealed to be attached to a small, lavender horse.

"He...hello?" she asked. I faded into unconciousness.

Waking in a New World

I woke up again a bit later, in a bit less pain than the last few seconds I could remember. I could move, albeit with some degree of pain, so I looked down at myself to see the extent of my injuries. To my surprise I was nearly covered in bandages. The parts of myself I could see seemed to have healed, even my burns had shiny new skin grown over them. I had to have been out for a while. I took an idle look around after inspecting myself and saw that I was clearly not in the same place I had been before. It was pretty obvious that I was in some sort of hospital, or at least what looked like one. Everything was bright white and spotless; the kind of hygiene and design one would expect for a hospital. Except everything seemed really... small. I wasn't even laying down on a normal cot, I was laying down on two tiny cots pushed together. There was even a line of small chairs along one of the walls.

For visitors I suppose I thought to myself, If only there were anyone left to visit m.... I stopped at the end of my thought as my gaze settled on the chair closest to my joined cots. In the chair nearest to me, the last one I had looked at, there was a sleeping lavender horse. The same one from earlier. I couldn't help it, it was just too weird. I screamed.

"WAAAAGGGH!!!" The little horse woke with a start and screamed right back.

"AHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"WAAAAGGGH!!!"

"AHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"WAAAAGGG..." I paused my scream to let out a few ragged coughs. "...ehm." after I finished screaming, I stared blankly at the little purple horse as she finished her screaming.

"AHHHHHhhhhh....." she slowly stopped as she realized I wasn't screaming anymore. Then she looked right at me and noticed my blank expression. "Why did you scream like that?" she asked, "You scared me half to death!"

"Y....y...you're a...a...talking horse..." I stuttered out dumbly. Her immediate response was to glare at me.

"Pony." she corrected forcefully. I gave a small nod, my mouth hanging open. She held my stare for a little while then looked away, clearly feeling a bit awkward about my unbroken eye contact. "Now that we've established the obvious, what in the name of Celestia are you?" she asked while pointing a hoof at me.

"Shocked beyond belief." I retorted. Glad to see my smart ass wasn't broken. She rolled her eyes.

"Fine, don't tell me." She snapped with a noticeably irritated tone. She hopped down from her chair and started to leave in a huff. When she turned around, suddenly everything clicked into place. I knew without a doubt where I was and exactly who I was pissing off.

"Oh wait! I'm sorry!" I practically screamed. The pony jumped and turned around in the same motion like only cartoon characters can do. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down despite the whirlwind of new questions whipping around my mind. "I'm called a human where I come from."

"Ooooh" said the pony, looking very interested suddenly. "Where are you from?" she asked quickly.

"Earth." I replied cooperatively. Then I freaked out a little and scooted back in my cots, pressing my back against the wall. "Wait...WHEREAMIWHATSGOINGONWHOAREYOUHOWDIDIGETHERE?!?!?" I shouted in a rush, completely forgetting the answers to the questions I already knew.

"Ummm... In order, The hospital, you are healing, Twilight Sparkle, nice to meet you, and I carried you." she replied.

"I'm like 3 times your size how did you carry me?" I asked, holding onto the one answer that made the most sense, minus the hospital and healing ones.

"Magic, duh." she snorted as her horn, which I was just now noticing, glowed and I felt myself float about an inch off the mattresses.

"Magic..." I breathed out the words gently as the torrent of questions filling my mind only grew..

"Eeyup!" she said proudly. I fainted again as I lost the capability to even think clearly.

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I was woken when a bucketful of water hit me in the face.

"I'MAWAKEDON'THURTME!" I yelled in a half-asleep jumble. When I regained my senses I glared at the lavender pony magically levitating a now empty bucket. "Why did you do that?!" I yelled. She looked shocked. Her ears dropped back and her eyes started watering.

"I just wanted to keep talking..." She mumbled. I immediately felt sorry.

Annnnnd cue feeling like a dick. I thought to myself. "Oh no no no, don't cry... I'm sorry... I like talking to you too." I apologized and wanted to reach over and pat her head, but felt like it wasn't a good idea. "What else do you wanna talk about?" I asked.

"What was it that made you so hurt when I brought you here?" She asked with tears still in her voice. I froze. How am I supposed to explain planes and bombs to a creature from a world of friendship. I decided to avoid it and turn this around on her.

"Well..." I said, pretending I was going to answer her. Then I faked a look of shock and yelled, "Wait! You brought me here?!" Her cheeks turned red through her purple coat. Once again, a random part of my mind drifted off into a realm of irrelevance and noticed that the red didn't blend with her fur, but rather stood out. I shook my head clear as she looked at her hooves. She then mumbled unintelligibly

"iwjsprctsvehd....." I didn't understand a word.

"I didn't understand a word of that." I informed her.

"I was practicing a new spell and messed up!" she confessed rather loudly. Which reminds me, there's been a lot of yelling... Why hasn't anyone run in yet?

"What was the spell supposed to do?" I asked. "and on a side note, why hasn't anyone run in to investigate the yelling yet?" She turned about five shades redder and gave an odd laugh.

"ah ha ha ha ah....Ummm all the staff are scared of you. That's why nopony is here..." She replied, very obviously dodging my first question. I decided to ignore the dodge for now. I figured the reason everypony was afraid was obvious, they've never seen a human after all. Then something occurred to me.

"Why aren't you afraid of me?" I wondered out loud. Her blush faded and she looked right at me.

"My spell was active long enough that I saw you stand and rush towards whatever caused you all that damage. I saw the look on your face, you were trying to save the other...humans is it? From whatever hurt you. Anypony with that kind of selflessness can't be bad." She stated matter-of-factly. I froze again. did she see the bomb? Oh my gosh I may have ruined this poor girl!

"Um twilight... you didn't see what hurt me... did you?" I asked, pure fear in my voice. She looked at me quizzically.

"No the spell only focused on you and your immediate surroundings. I could see how scared the people around you were...how scared even you were... It must have been terrible wasn't it?" She asked. She was staring right into my eyes. I really REALLY didn't want to lie to her, but it must be done.

"No it ah....wasn't that bad. I was um... ACTING. Yeah acting. In the play I'm supposed to get attacked and WIN, but I messed it up and hurt myself." Not a bad lie if I say so myself. She appeared to buy it, she even perked up and looked a little excited.

"Oooooh an actor?!" She squealed, "Are you famous where you're from?" I relaxed as my lie took hold.

"Hahaha do you really think I could be a famous actor if I can mess up a role so bad I hurt myself like this?" She continued on her little fan girl thing totally undaunted.

"Oh don't be so modest!" She squeaked, "Even the best mess up, like that one time my friend Rainbow...." She grew silent, her pupils shrank, and she jumped up really fast. "Oh my gosh I haven't even introduced my friends yet! They must be wondering where I've been the past three days!" With that she magicked the door open and dashed out, slamming the door behind her. I started laughing.

"I wonder how you're going to introduce us if I haven't told you my name yet!" I yelled at the closed door. This ought to be funny.

Meet the friends

Hey, just a warning. The upcoming dream is a little dark, I would tag it, but there won't be much more dark hopefully.

I had dozed off in Twilight's abscence. In my dreams the world became distorted and wrong. I was strapped to a table, all my limbs tied down and my head positioned so I couldn't look away from what I saw. It was Twilight. She stood over me scalpel in her magic grip. She spoke with maniac intensity. "Oh how I love experiments!" She cooed. "First we gotta see what is inside a human!" she squealed. The scalpel approached my abdomen. I tried to wiggle out of the way, but was held fast. the cold steel pierced my skin and I screamed. If my mind had any mercy, it would have allowed me to awake then. Instead, I was forced to stare as the scalpel cut a neat little square right in my middle. "Why are you doing this?!" I yelled in pain.

"For science!" She whispered in my ear. Twilight removed the seperated skin and gasped at what she saw. Where a normal person would have a heart, I had a black, shriveled, tiny, rasin-like blob. It hissed and legs appeared on it out of nowhere. It crawled up and sat on my face. It looked at me and hissed again. I screamed once more and was thrust into conciousness.

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I looked around and realized I had rolled off my bed and onto the floor. I was drenched in cold sweat and physically drained. I tried to push myself up and looked right at a pair of purple hooves.

"WAAAAGH!! DON'T CUT ME OPEN FOR SCIENCE!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I cowered against my bed. I slowly regained my senses and remembered where I was. "OH SORRY TWILIGHT. I HAD A NIGHTMARE AND YOU STARTLED ME!" I continued yelling, oblivious to my volume.

"WHY ARE YOU STILL YELLING?" She countered. I blushed and decided to use my inside voice.

"oh um... sorry... so uh... Where are these friends you were gonna show me?" I asked casually, trying to glaze over the fact that I had been freaking out.

"Why we're right here darling!" a voice proclaimed from the other side of the beds. I froze again. I decided to make sure this was real now instead of finding out later. I balled my right hand into a fist and smashed it into my face full strength. Blood. Eeyup I'm awake, and that REALLY hurt. Twilight didn't seem to thrilled with my action.

"Why did you do that?!" She screamed.

"What, what did he do dear?" The same voice from earlier inquired. I slowly stood up to my full height and turned to look at the newcomers. I saw an orange pony with a blonde mane and tail that were both tied at the ends with little rubber bands. She had three apples on her flank and wore a cowboy hat. Next to her was a white unicorn with a pretty purple mane and tail that she obviously spent a lot of time curling and maintaining. All three ponies gasped a little as I stood at full height. I looked around bewildered, searching for what had made them gasp. Then I realized they were all staring at me.

"What did I do?" I asked.

"Dear Celestia! He's as tall as, well Celestia!" The white one said. (yes I know she's Rarity, but I'm kinda enjoying the "playing dumb" thing.) I face palmed myself as I realized why the white and orange ones were shocked, but why Twilight?

"Geez, I knew he was big lying down, but standing...." Twilight mumbled. Ah that explains that. Then I got an entertaining idea. I put on a slightly evil smile.

"Hey Twilight, why don't you introduce us?" I asked with a small smile.

"Oh no problem. This is Rarity," she said pointing to the white unicorn

"Pleased to make your aquaintance m'lady." I said as I walked over to Rarity. I got down on one knee and bent my head as I raised one of her hooves to my lips.

"Oh what a proper gentleman!" Rarity said with a small giggle. Twilight gave me a small glare.

"ANYWAY," Twilight growled a little. "This is Applejack." She said pointing to the orange pony. She was giving me a wary look, problably worried I'd kiss her hoof too. Instead I walked over to her and offered a hand. She placed her hoof in it, still looking cautious. I then proceeded to shake her hoof up and down as fast as I possibly could.

"Well howdy there ma'am! Pleasure to meet you!" I said in my natural southern drawl. Yep I'm country. Laugh it up.

"Wwwweeeeelll IIII ggggooootta sssaayy Tttwiii," She tried to say as I shook her vigerously. I stopped shaking when I realized she was talking. "I sure could get used ta this feller." She said in a daze.

"....Right," Twilight grumbled. "Anyway, Rarity, Applejack this is....." Her eyes widened a little as she realized she didn't have a clue what my name was. "uh...um...oh dear..." Applejack and Rarity gave Twilight a little glare.

"Do ya mean ta tell me you've been around this feller for three days and ya haven't bothered ta learn his name?" Applejack scolded.

"Twilight, that is quite rude!" Rarity added in.

"Now now girls," I interrupted. I walked over to the deeply blushing Twilight and patted her on the head. "In her defense, I didn't bother to tell her either. So it's just as much my fault as hers." Twilight sniffled and looked up at me. I gave her a kind smile. "Now just so all of you know, My name is Steven White, but my friends call me Sharky."

"Now why would they call ya that?" Applejack asked. I grinned a little.

"Because I was studying to be a marine biologist in my world, and my favorite fish was a shark. So people that knew me well called me sharky." I explained.

"A Mareine Biwaht?" Rarity asked. I laughed.

"Marine not Mareine," I corrected. "A marine biologist is a scientist that studies and cares for all aquatic animals and plants!" Rarity and Applejack didn't say anything, but they both had the "Ooooooh" expression. Then I began to wonder why only two of the mane six were here. "Hey Twilight, surely a kind mare like yourself has more than just two friends, no matter how amazing those two friends are!" I said, flashing each of them a grin.

"Ooooh you take care of animals too!?" Said a very excited voice at the door. I slowly turned towards the door, prepared to meet my favorite pony. As soon as I finished turning a small yellow pegasus hit me in a flying hug-tackle. "Ooooh finally another animal pony!" She squeaked. Before I could react and hug her back, she had already bounced away from me. (Damn.) She looked down at her hooves and started whispering. "oh...I'm sorry...I was just so happy to meet another pony like me..."

"Don't worry miss! I'm totally fine with hugs, and I know what it's like to find someone that likes...the same...things..you...do........" I finished with a little strain. "Oh. I'm a human not a pony by the way!" I said trying to cover up my earlier slip. The little pegasus Then looked at me again and gave me a shy smile. Then she realized how tall I was and her mouth dropped open and she backed away a little.

"T..t...t...tall!!" She yelled. Well flutteryelled anyway. I guess she hadn't taken the time to look at my before she tackled me.

"No no, don't be afraid!" I said, just above a whisper. I dropped to one knee and opened up my arms. "Now how about you let me hug you back, hmm? If you don't mind that is..." She smiled at me again as I dropped and trotted over. When she reached me she hesitated a little, but I caught her in a gentle bear hug before she could change her mind. She was very stiff for the first few seconds, but she loosened up as I stroked her mane. She wrapped her forelegs around me and I had to try really hard not to fanboy squee. (I'M HUGGING FLUTTERSHY!!! LIFE COMPLETE!!!) She sniffled a little and jumped out of the hug suddenly. (Darn.)

"Oh my gosh you're still hurt!" She squeaked. I stood up and swayed a lot. Meeting them had made me completely forget how much pain I was in.

"Ummm, Sharky?" Twilight said, she sounded worried. "Should you be standing with your injuries?"

"Ummm no absolutley not!" I exclaimed right as my legs gave out and a wave of pain hit me. Twilight levitated me onto the beds. "Thanks Twilight..." I said through gritted teeth. Geez this hurts! "You're a good friend." Then she hit me with a wave of magic that put me to sleep.

"Thanks Sharky...." She said before I faded into the blackness...AGAIN!

Meet the friends part 2

I woke up again, This time it must have been night because Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy had all fallen asleep, and I could see the moon through a window at the end of the room. I nearly broke out in d'awwws. They all snore very softly in their sleep and their ears twitched a little. SO FREAKING ADORABLE. All the ponies slept in the guest chairs except Twilight. She had fallen asleep with her head on the bed next to my shoulder. She was standing on her back legs. I'm sure it wasn't comfortable, so I pulled her up on the bed gently placed her about a foot away from me. She kicked her legs a little, and I worried she had woken up. She continued snoring though so I relaxed. I'm so touched! These girls all decided to keep me, a newcomer they just met, company so I wouldn't wake up alone! At least, I assume that's why they slept here. Then I thought about how uncomfortable they must be, sleeping in chairs instead of their beds. Especially Twilight! I know now she's slept here at least three days. Spike must be worried sick! I thought to myself. I need to tell them to leave tomorrow... I sighed inwardly. Twilight must feel so bad about bringing me here... Wait... What if she sends me back?! I hadn't really thought about being here or staying here since I've got here, but know that I thought about it I knew two things, One: I'm not leaving. I have nothing to live for back on Earth, it was all taken away from me. Two: Twilight was problably going to try to send me back anyway. I began to panic. I was finally living in a world me and......her.... had always dreamed about living in! I'll be damned if I'm gonna let the fact that she's not here bother me! I haven't been here long, but this is awesome! All I've seen is a hospital room for the biggest part of my time here, and everyone I've met here is already showing me more kindness than anyone, other than my parents, has ever shown me. I froze again. My parents! Noooooo! I started crying as it finally hit me in full force. My parents died. I never even got to say goodbye... I must have been crying really hard because my sobs woke up Twilight.

"What's wrong?!" She half-yelled, half-whispered. I jolted as I realized I'd have to explain myself. I decided to try a lie first.

"Oh..*sob*..I'm just..*sniffle*..So happy to have friends like you and the others..." I managed to get out. Somehow I had pulled myself together enough to talk. She glared at me. I'm getting a lot of glares from her...

"Don't lie to me!" She warned. I sighed and gave another little sob.

"I...I..I was thinking...about my parents..." I choked out. She immediately looked very guilty.

"Oh no! You want to go back to your parents and your life in your other world, don't you?" She almost whined. I laughed through my tears. Ironic how she had asked that right after I had been thinking about it. She gave me a very funny look.

"My...my...my....parents...died..." I mumbled. I then broke out into a full-on wailing sob-fest. I'm pitiful. The others all woke very quickly and began glaring at Twilight like she had done something wrong. She probably would've been defensive at that moment, but she was too busy starting to cry with me.

"Oh dear... What's wrong Sharky?" Fluttershy asked gently. She trotted up to the bed. I couldn't help it. I grabbed her with one arm and Twilight in the other and pulled them to me.

"My parents are dead!" I sobbed Into Fluttershy's mane. She teared up and wrapped her forelegs around me. Twilight hugged me too and sobbed into my chest.

"Oh sharky...I'm sorry..." Sobbed Fluttershy. I should feel like a dick for making two ponies cry, but I'm so upset I can't bring myself to care. I tried pulling myself together, but it took a good 20 minutes. When I finally stopped Twilight and Fluttershy were still going strong, and Rarity and Applejack had tears in their eyes.

"Wh...why are you crying?" I said through my after-cry hiccups. Twilight looked up at me through her tears.

"Buh..because my friend's parents are dead!" She sobbed.

"But... you don't...didn't... even know them!" I said full of disbelief. How can these girls, who I've only talked to twice and only known for a day (counting only the time I've been conscious) care so much?

"That's true, we don't. But you're our friend and we care you! Nopony should have to go through their parents dying while they're so young!" Twilight whimpered. I gotta say, I really like these girls. They don't even know about the people that died, but they still cry...for me. I don't know any human that could say the same. Even I could only say "I'm sorry" when I found out my best friend's dad had died. (I hadn't known his dad. I did feel bad for him, but you know...) Their acceptance and emotion are both so powerful and abundant, they don't even seem to have a second thought about calling an almost complete stranger their friend. Wow...just wow... I didn't try to say anything else. I just pulled Twilight back into a hug and waved over Applejack and Rarity. They jumped up on the bed with us and joined the hug. We just sat there and hugged and cried for a few minutes. Then I had an embarrassing thought.

"Oh geez!" I shouted as I detached myself from the pile of pony. "I haven't showered in three days at least! I must reek! I'm so sorry!" I blushed as I realized how my scent must have been bugging them. They all wiped up their tears and looked at each other. Then they started giggling like school girls.

"Oh dear!" Giggled Rarity. "You've gone through so much, but you're priority is not wanting us to think you smell bad?! Even I'm not that self conscious darling!" My blush deepened as I realized how foolish I probably sounded. I was glad all the crying was over though. I remained separated from them on the bed, but I joined in on the laughing. As we laughed, I saw the sun start to come up and pointed it out to the girls. We all quieted down and watched the sunrise. I'd seen plenty of sunrises on Earth, but this one looked amazing even compared to the most beautiful there. The sun was just peeking above the horizon, and it washed the sky in orange and red hues. The clouds above appeared dark red, as if stained by berries. The sun reflected off snow that was on the ground at such an angle that it looked like the ground was covered in diamonds. It was breathtaking.

"Wow..." I whispered. Then the clouds made me think. Isn't Rainbow Dash supposed to clear those? Then I realized I hadn't gotten to meet her or Pinkie Pie yet. I turned to face Twilight. "Hey Twilight?" I asked.

"Hmm?" She breathed. She sounded totally content. I almost didn't ask about her other friends, but she had her eyes locked on me. It made me have to say what I was going to.

"Are there any other ponies you wanted to introduce me to?" Her eyes widened and she squeaked, jumped off the bed, and dashed out the door. (magically opening and closing it, of course.) Then I turned to the others that were on my beds. "Ummm... I like hanging out with you guys and all, and it was really nice of you to keep me company tonight, but don't you guys have jobs you need to get to? It'd be nice if you could stay, but I'd guess you're all busy mares."

"Ah'd normally be busy with ma apples, but the trees are all bare. Ah'm outta work fer now." Applejack said.

"I would normally be taking care of animals, but they're all hibernating or flew away for winter." Fluttershy mumbled. "And also I'd like to keep talking with you for now if you don't mind..." (squee! Fluttershy likes talking to me!)

"I've already released my winter fashion line and drawn the designs for spring way ahead of schedule, so I'm free." Rarity added. I grinned.

"Great! More time to get to know you guys!" I said excitedly. Then I realized It had been three days before I'd visited a bathroom. It's moments like this that make me glad I was born with a large bladder. "Ummm right after I use the little boy's room!" I shouted. "Where is the bathroom?!" All three of them pointed to a door on the left side of the room. I dashed into it and locked the door behind me. "Wow they have indoor plumbing!" I mumbled to myself when I saw the short toilet. It was pretty far from the wall, so I guess ponies stand over it or something. I relieved myself then pulled up my jeans. I then realized I had been wearing the same clothes since I got here. I exited the room and walked back in to see all three of them huddled in a little circle.

"Hi girls!" I shouted. They all fell back, startled by my yell. "Whatcha talkin' about?" They blushed a little, except Applejack.

"We were talkin' about where ya'd stay while yer here." Applejack stated bluntly. I laughed.

"Girls, first thing I would like you to know, there is no 'while yer here'. I want to stay." I waited for this to sink in. Rarity and Fluttershy smiled and jumped in a happy fashion. Geez these ponies don't contain emotions at all. Applejack however, seemed a little confused.

"Whadya mean yer staying?" She asked. "Don't cha miss your world?" I would have answered, but at that moment a pink bolt exploded through the door.

"Ohmygoshthere'ssomeponynewinponyville!" The bouncing pink pony shouted like a squirrel on coffee. "Ijustgottaintroducemyselfandgettomeetyouandthenwe'llbebestfriendsandI'llthrowyouawelcomepartybecausecomeon,whodoesn'tlikepartiesand--mnnnnffffff!!" Her rapid fire speech was cut short by a blue hoof being shoved in her mouth.

"Sorry about my friend here." The blue pony with the rainbow mane said. "She means well, but she's just so random." (OHMYGOSH SHE SAID IT!!!) Then she looked up at me and her jaw dropped. "T...t...tall!!" She squeaked. I laughed. Hard.

"Nice to meet you two!" I boomed, trying to scare her a little more. (yeah, I know I'm a dick.) "I'm Sharky, Sharky White. You are?"

"I...I..I'm" The rainbow one stuttered. I guess I shocked her pretty bad.

"Lemme guess..." I mused. "Your name starts with Rainbow." She gasped.

"HOW'D YOU KNOW THAT?!" She yelled. I walked over and waved her bangs in her eyes.

"Lucky guess." I lied. She regained her composure and talked again.

"Yeah, I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in all Equestria!" She bragged. I rolled my eyes. She gave me a mean glare.

"Hey are you gonna take your hoof outta the pink one's mouth?" I asked.

"Are you sure you want her to do that?" Asked a familiar lavender pony. I hadn't seen her walk in, but oh well.

"Yeah, I think I can handle It this time around." I stated confidently. My mistake.

"Wowieyouarereallytallyouknow?Idon'tthinkI'veeverseenanyoneastallasyouinmylife.WellexceptprincessCelestia.OhandNightmareMoon.MaybeprincessLunatoo,butonlyifyouaretalkingaboutnightmarenight,becausewhenIfirstsawhershewasn'tastallassheisnowand...OHRIGHTIstillhavetothrowyouaparty!Itsgonnabereallyfunanddoyouwantstreamersandballons?It'snotapartywithoutstreamersandballonsohandacakeandpuncha---"

"Excuse me!" I interrupted. "Could you please tell me your name? SLOWLY."

"Oh, I'm Pinkie Pie." She said slowly, with obvious strain. "Now about yourparty--" I interrupted her before she could start hyper-speed babbling again.

"YES. About that. I have a feeling there's no way I can just avoid a party altogether right?" She shook her head no so fast I only saw a blur. "Ok then can you do me a favor?" She shook her head yes at the same speed. Where does she get this energy!? "Ok then, can you only invite the ponies right here? I start panicking in large groups. Which is why I don't like big parties." I tried to say that as gently as possible so I wouldn't hurt her feelings. Apparently it worked.

"Ohthatsnoproblem.Weproblablydon'twantyoutoscareeveryponybymeetingthemtosoonanyway.NooffenseImean,butyou'resotalleveryponymightrunawayandthatwouldn'tmakeforaveryfunpartyanyway!"

".....Riiiiight....." It was then that I realized That I wasn't in pain anymore. I did a few stretches and a few push-ups to make sure.

"Ummm Sharky...What are you doing?" They asked in unison. All 6. It's like they practiced it or something.

"Guys, Why am I healed all they way already?" They gave me a confused look.

"Whaddya mean 'already'?" Asked Rainbow Dash. "You've been healing for four days! Thats really slow!" I almost dropped my jaw, but then I started thinking about the episode where Dash broke her wing. I guess fast healing is normal for them.

"Well I guess it might be a long time for you guys, but a human with that kinda damage can be in a hospital for a week, and still be in a lot of pain for a while after that!" They all looked shocked. Then Twilight came up with an idea.

"Maybe it's just our world that makes healing faster!" Wow. Thats a really good explanation.

"Wow good thinking Twilight! That would make sense." I agreed. "So I guess that means I gotta leave the hospital now." Then I started thinking. "Oh no! I've got nowhere to go!" Twilight cleared her throat.

"Actually, I wrote to Princess Celestia about you, and she wants me to watch you and make sure you aren't a threat." I'll admit, it hurt a little to be called a threat, but her decision made sense. "You can stay with me and Spike at the library! Oh and while you're there, we can look for a way to get you back to your home..." She sounded oddly unhappy about the last part of that sentence.

"Actually....I wanna stay here, in Equestria. If you don't mind anyway..." Almost everypony in the room seemed happy with that, except Applejack. Again.

"An' why doncha wanna go back home?" She asked. The others stopped smiling and turned to me with questioning eyes. I took a deep breath and decided to stop dodging around and explain.

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MUST NOT POST CHAPTER 5. ONLY ONE A DAY... RESISTING URGE TO PLEASE FANS ON DEMAND...so hard!

Narrow dodging

Because I just woke up and feel like writing something weird, here's my motto.
"The early bird gets the worm."
"Yes, but the second mouse gets the cheese!"

I took a breath and began to speak.

"Ok girls... Here's how it is..." They all leaned in and turned their ears towards me. "I wa--" A white pony with a red cross for a cutie mark burst in.

"Did I hear you say you were leaving!?" She gushed, she seemed really happy. "Ok just sign these papers and be on your way!" She had a few documents balanced on her back. I took them and filled them out properly. "Yay! maybe the other ponies will come back to work now that you're leaving!" She cheered. Boy I've never been so rudely saved before. As soon as I was done filling out the documents she ripped them out of my hands so fast it left a burn. (like I needed another one of those.) She then pushed her head against my lower back and forced me out the door, which made me hit my head on the door frame (ow.). After she forced me out of the hospital I just stood there dumbfounded.

"Well nice to meet you too..."

"Sharky are you ok?" One of the mane 6 asked as they came out after me. I was too shocked to determine which one.

"Yeah I'm fine... It's not like she attacked me or anything..."

"Well yea, but that was mighty rude a' miss Redheart, are ya upset?" I had regained enough sense to know it was Applejack talking this time.

"...No. I over stayed my welcome I'm sure. It must have been hard for her to come to work thinking there was a monster there." I was a little upset, but I'm definitely not gonna tell them that. "So, Twilight, who is this...Spike was it? That you mentioned earlier?" I tried to stray further away from what I had been about to talk about earlier. They didn't appear to fall for it, but seemed to know I didn't want to talk about it.

"Well, Spike is my baby dragon." I decided to take advantage of her wording of that sentence. I decided to throw focus on her to distract from myself. Sorry Twilight. I widened my eyes in fake horror.

"Twilight that means that...you..with a dragon?!" I yelped in fake disbelief. I'm a terrible person. All the ponies, except Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy rolled on their backs laughing. (Fluttershy and Rarity were laughing, but not rolling in the dirt.) Twilight's pupils shrank and she blushed profusely.

"N-No! NONONONONO!" She balked. "I just hatched his egg!"

"By sitting on it like a mamma bird?" I asked innocently. Fluttershy began to laugh harder when I said that.

"NO! I used magic to hatch it!" She was obviously very flustered, but come on, you know it was funny. I decide to quit now. I had succeed in distracting them anyway.

"Oooooh! Well now that that unpleasant misunderstanding is out of the way, can I meet him?"

"Sure, I would love for you to meet him!" Twilight was obviously still very flustered, but her blush faded as we started walking towards her house. It was early morning still, so nopony was around to see me. That, or they were awake and hiding. Twilight looked up at me with a smile on her face as we walked. Then she squinted her eyes and seemed to be examining my face. "Sharky? Where'd the bump on your head come from?" I felt my forehead, and she was right! There was a small almost pointy bump on my head!

"Well, I hit my head on the way out of the hospital, but It shouldn't be swelling already..."

"Don't worry, when we get to my house I'll fix it up for you!" She had been walking without looking for awhile, and right about then she tripped over a large rock. "Ah buck!" She shouted. She looked to be in a decent amount of pain. "I think I twisted my hoof!" I leaned down and inspected her, but I couldn't figure out which leg she was talking about. So I just lifted her with both arms, cradling her like a baby. (She's so small I can pull it off. She's freakin' adorable like this!)

"Don't worry!" I proclaimed. "You carried me when I was hurt, and now I'll carry you." She turned a little red and looked away from me.

"What a true gentlepony!" Rarity interjected. I rolled my eyes at being called a 'pony' again. Luckily Rarity couldn't see my face. We walked a while more and we were almost at Twilight's library when she looked up at me again. She opened her mouth like she wanted to speak, but then closed it again.

"Did you want to ask me something Twilight?" I asked curiously. She blushed again. (She does that A LOT I've noticed. I wonder why.) She couldn't look at me while she asked.

"I feel like such a filly..." She muttered. Then she looked at me shyly. "Could you...kiss my leg to help me feel better?" She murmured. I nearly busted a gut laughing. She's so damn cute! She must have thought I was laughing at the idea because she teared up. (Damn I gotta stop making ponies cry, it's not good for my heart.)

"No no don't cry." I soothed. "You were just so much like a little human girl right then that I laughed. I don't have a problem with it, which leg?" Her tears vanished and she held up her right foreleg like a little girl. (SO MUCH D'AWWWWW!!) We had reached Twilight's door, so I knocked, then brought her leg up and kissed it just above the hoof. (at least I assume it was above the hoof, I really couldn't tell you where the hoof ends and the leg begins.) Right as I was about to pull my mouth away, the door was flung open by a very small, and very angry looking, purple dragon.

"I WON'T LET YOU EAT MY SISTER!!!" He screamed. He took a big breath, and then proceeded to set my pants on fire.

"BWAAAGH!!" I hopped up and down, still holding Twilight. I guess dragons can choose whether their flame hurts or sends letters, because this hurt like a bitch and I could smell smoke. Rarity magically pulled off my pants, (Wait whut?) and then threw them on the ground. Then Rainbow flapped her wings at them really fast and put out the fire. Spike took another deep breath, oblivious to the efforts of the mane 6 to yell at him to stop. Right as he was about to exhale again and problably light my boxers and leg hair, Twilight magically clamped his mouth shut. He inflated like a balloon temporarily, then deflated again right after that.

"SPIKE!!!" Twilight practically screamed. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Spike looked like he was going to yell back, but then just looked really confused.

"Saving your life?" He asked. Twilight seemed to calm down at this.

"Well that's awfully brave of you, but you just lit my new friend, OUR new house guest, on FIRE!" She made sure to put a lot of emphasis on that last word. Spike looked down bashfully.

"Oops... *ehm sorry Mr....?"

"Sharky, Sharky White. Don't worry bro, I'm actually really impressed with your bravery!" He looked up at me with a happy gleam in his eye.

"Ya really mean it? You aren't mad?"

"Yeah I mean it, I wouldn't have the guts to attack something like 10 times my size if I were you. I'm not mad at all!" I thought a little. "I might need new pants though..." I looked down, past Twilight and saw the blackened, holey remains of my pants. About that time, I realized I was standing there in my boxers. "Ohmygosh!" I shouted. I ran past the little dragon and into the house. I then dashed up the stairs to Twilight's bedroom and jumped clear up on top of that little ledge that has her bed on it. (actually not that impressive, it was only about 4 feet tall and I used to jump hurdles.) I gently placed her on the bed and jumped back down.

"Whoa Sharky! Why did you run like that?!"

"Because I'm not wearing pants!" I yelled up at Twilight.

"So?" My jaw dropped. I can't believe the idea of not wearing pants doesn't effect her. Though I really should have known.

"So, I'M. NOT. WEARING. PANTS!!" I yelled. "For a human that's really bad!" I tried to explain.

"I still don't see how that's a problem. We only wear pants when we want to. Why do you need them so bad?"

"Because...because...Look I just need pants ok?!"

"Then you should ask Rarity for help."

"Help with what dear?" Rarity asked as the other 5 and Spike came into the room. I got up again and dashed to the nearest door. Yes, bathroom! I thought as I locked the door.

"Rarity!" I yelled through the door. "I need your help!"

"Ummm... I don't know what help you could need in there, but I'm not the one you should ask..." I laughed.

"No,no, nothing bad. I just need you to make me new pants or fix the old ones. If it's not to much trouble that is.... I'm sure I'll be able to pay you back once I make some money!"

"Think nothing of it dear, I'll fashion you some new clothes, free of charge!" She then squealed a little. "Oooooh, I get to design clothes for a famous actor from another planet!!" I heard hooves trotting out, so I assume she left.

"Twilight..."

"Yes Sharky?"

"Why did you tell her I was a famous actor?"

"You told me you were acting remember? That's how you got hurt."

"Yes, but I also said I wasn't very good!"

"You're just being modest!" I gave up. Clearly there was no arguing with this pony. I sighed deeply and sat down in the corner of the bathroom. Just then Rarity came trotting back in.

"Oh dear, I seem to have forgotten to bring Sharky!"

"Why would you need to bring me?!" I was freaking out now.

"Well I can't very well fashion clothes for you without measurements, can I?" She asked. I groaned.

"Can't you measure what's left of my old pants and use that?"

"Oh, you mean the ones that nearly burnt to a small pile of ash?" She asked sarcastically. "Yes I'm sure those wouldn't fall apart before I even got to the boutique."

I am so fucked... I thought to myself. "Alright Rarity, how far is the boutique?"

"Just a five minute trot from here." She said. I sighed loudly. I grabbed a towel from a rack on the wall and wrapped it around my lower body. I then unlocked the door and stepped into Twilight's bedroom again.

"Ok Rarity, lets go." We left Twilight's house and I saw Spike cleaning up what was left of my pants. I saw a glint of silver through the ashes. "Wait Spike!" He stopped and turned to face me. I walked over and grabbed the engagement ring from the ashes. "Thanks Spike..." I turned and started following Rarity to the boutique. Luckily for me it was still really early so I didn't run into any ponies. That didn't make it much less embarrassing that I was running around ponyville in my boxers. Worse still, Twilight had found a little walking stick and caught up with us.

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"How much longer is this gonna take?!" I whined as Rarity took like her 50TH MEASUREMENT. I had been standing here with her hooves and measuring tape all over my lower body for four hours straight. I had wanted to ask why she wasn't using magic to hold the tape, but decided not to bother her.

"I'm on the last few measurements dear." She's said that at least four times now.

"You've said that four times already!" Twilight complained. Haha, like she read my mind.

"Well I'm sorry I'm trying to do a thorough job!" Rarity retorted. "By all means If you can do better, please do!" She never once even looked away from measuring though, so she must be pretty confident we can't. She's right.

"I'm sorry Rarity, I'm just not used to this sort of thing. This is the longest I've ever stood in one spot." It was true. Even when watching a certain area of sea for hours trying to document shark behavior I had needed to pace around my boat. "I know you're the best around, maybe even the best in Equestria!"

"Flattery does get you everywhere." She said with a blush. "I haven't even begun making your pants though, what makes you have such a strong opinion of me already?" I faltered as I realized I had almost given away the fact that I knew about her previous works. I looked around quickly for an escape from my verbal slip. My gaze settled on the mann(horse?)equins, luckily, they had some of what I guess was her winter fashion line on them. I gestured towards them.

"I simply took a look at your work. Nothing in my world could even compare to what I see here!" Sure I was laying it on a bit thick (maybe not, I didn't keep up with fashion in my world, so I don't really know.), but I really wanted her to like me. I wanted all the ponies to like me, but especially Rarity, seeing as how she was my only source of clothing.

"Rarity?" Said a sweet little voice coming from the stairs. I turned my head and saw a tiny white unicorn with a half light purple, half light pink mane and tail standing on the staircase. "What's that?" She said with fear in her voice. I'm getting tired of scaring ponies.

"Don't worry Sweetiebelle. This is my new friend, Sharky!" Rarity said through a mouthful of measuring tape. Sweetiebelle seemed to get over her fear just as quickly as she had gotten it.

"Ooooh~ Is he going to go to the New Year's party?!" She squeaked.

"Oh my gosh! The New Year's party!" Twilight shrieked. "I haven't even thought of which friend I'm gonna bring!" I was genuinely confused at this point. The show never mentioned a New Year's party.

"Ummm... What are you guys talking about?" Twilight and Sweetiebelle were to busy bouncing and gushing over the party to hear me. (wait... bouncing?) So Rarity responded instead.

"The New Year's party happens at the end of every year to celebrate the coming of a new year, full of promise and second chances." Sounds like our new year so far. "Everypony hooks up with a friend and stays up until midnight, drinking laughing, and having fun." Still sounds familiar. "At midnight, everypony then has to tell their friend a secret. Most ponies use this night to confess their love for another pony with little to no repercussions." And there the similarities end.

"So it's a night for friends to learn new things about each other?" I summarized.

"Well basically yes!" Rarity had thankfully stopped taking measurements and was at her sewing machine right now. I sat down. Right when I did, a lavender pony jumped in my lap.

"Will you go to the New Year's party with me?" I have to say. I REALLY didn't want to go. I could only imagine how my appearance would make ponies react. I looked up to tell Twilight no, but when I did I saw the most adorable puppy-dog begging eyes, EVER. She was sitting on her haunches, had her forelegs in front of her chest, and her eyes had swelled about three times their normal size. I didn't have it in my heart to tell her no.

"Alright, ok. I'll go one one condition." I said. Twilight looked ecstatic. I heard a small ripping noise from Rarity's direction.

"Anything!"

"Tell me why your foreleg is all better now." Her eyes shrank and her hooves dropped.

"Uhh...ummm... like I said, we ponies heal fast!" She managed to say. I don't buy it, but I'll let it go for now.

"Ok!" I said with a smile. "I'll go." Twilight giggled and started bouncing. Then I realized I was still only wearing boxers. I pushed Twilight off me and stood up with a blush.

"Ow! What was that for?!" I know she problably doesn't realize what she just did, so I try to be casual about it.

"Oh, sorry. I just needed to stand because... Uh my legs were falling asleep!" She accepted my apology, and we waited for my pants. I twirled the ring I had kept clenched in my hand around my fingers, and thought.

New Year's party!

"--and thats how equestria was founded!" Twilight finished. For the past 2 hours while we waited I had asked Twilight and Sweetiebelle to tell me as much about Equestria as she could. Twilight knew a LOT, but Sweetiebelle only could tell me a few things. Twilight had told me about every celebration from now to Hearth's Warming. I thought it would be boring listening to all the stories I already knew, but they could really tell a story! I didn't learn anything new, but at least now I could guard my words less.

"Finished!~" Rarity sang from the sewing machine. She trotted over to me and magically handed me my new pants. They were blue, and felt like denim, but were soft like a cloud. I put them on and they fit great.

"Thanks Rarity!" I bent down and hugged her. "These are really great!" She hugged me back.

"No problem dear! Anything for my friends!" I released her and stood back up. I slipped the ring in my pocket, but then pulled it back out and squatted down next to Rarity again.

"Now I know you don't want payment, but I wanna give you this to make us even." I said while holding out the little ring.

"Ooooh~ Is that a White diamond?!" She squealed. "I've found so many gems, but White diamonds are so rare around here!" I was a little confused at first, but then I thought back to the show and realized that every gem I'd seen had some sort of color to it.

"Yes, and I want you to have it, I won't be needing it anymore anyway." I said a little ruefully. Luckily, nopony notice my sad tone.

"Oh thank you dear!" She squealed again. "Wherever did you get this?!"

"It was a gift from my grandmother. She told me I'd know when to use it..." Apparently I hadn't. She looked like she was going to give it back after I told her that. "Don't even think about giving it back Rarity, I don't want it." It brings back bad memories... I thought to myself.

"Oh... If you insist dear!" She trotted into another room happily.

"Wait, Rarity!" I yelled. She poked her head around the corner. "Can I stay here until the party starts? I don't want anypony freaking out when they see me. Something tells me that if I show up after they drink a little they might be more able to accept me." Rarity laughed at that.

"Sure darling! Oh dear It's already lunch time!" My stomach growled. I suddenly realized I hadn't eaten (that I know of) in three days! Sometime soon I'm gonna have to sit down and think about everything that way stuff won't suprise me when I finally think about it. "I suppose I'll just whip something up for us!" Rarity then ducked her head back around the corner.

"No Rarity, let me cook!" I shouted after her. She peered around the corner again with a confused look.

"You cook?"

"Yeah I cook! Pretty well if I do say so myself. I studied culinary arts along with Marine Biology just in case I didn't succed with the latter." I stated proudly. What can I say? I'm a man of many talents.

"Superb! Come with me then dearie!" I followed after her as she disappeared around the corner again. Twilight and Sweetiebelle trotted after me. We entered a kitchen and Rarity pointed at a fridge. (I know. Fridge, sewing machine but electricity is never mentioned in the show! Weird huh?) "Use whatever you like. There's not much there though, I'm supposed to go shopping soon." With that she took the ring and entered another room directly across from where we just entered. I walked over to the fridge and opened it. I examined the contents, and Rarity was right, there wasn't much. I found half a jug of milk, a half dozen eggs (I guess it's ok to eat eggs here.), a head of lettuce, 2 tomatoes, and some butter. On the counters there were a bunch of apples, oranges, grapes, and a melon. I began to think. It wasn't exactaly gourmet ingredients, but I could work a few things out. I washed my hands and took out the lettuce and tomatoes. I washed them then cut them up. I threw them in a bowl together and tossed the salad. Then I did the same with a few of each of the fruits and some of the melon and made fruit salad. I then looked upon my creations and saw that they were good, (ha ha, I'm so weird.) but not great. I wanted to do something a little more special. I searched a few cabinets and found some flour and milk chocolates.

Score! I thought to myself. I threw some eggs, milk, and flour together in a bowl and mixed them into a batter. I then buttered a pan and set it on a burner. (Yep. they got stoves too.) I made a few crepes and rolled up some of the chocolate in them. Twilight and Sweetiebelle had been watching me the whole time, and looked confused when they saw the crepes. (Darn me not having the proper key to put an accent over the e!) I then set a table in the middle of the kitchen and placed little bowls of both salads at each spot. I left the crepes on plates on the counter for later. "Rarity! Time to eat!" I yelled at the door she had disappeared behind. She came out and looked at the table.

"Oh what lovely-looking little salads!" She gushed. I rolled my eyes.

"They aren't that great." I said. "I wish I could do more with what I had..."

"Nonsense Sharky, these look yummy!" Twilight exclaimed. We all took a seat and dug into our food. The others looked pleased, but I still wished I could've done more than salad as a main(mane?) course. We all finished off our bowls, and all the girls got seconds. After they finished off the salads I wrapped up what was left of the melon and the lettuce and passed out the crepes. At this point Twilight and Sweetiebelle looked skeptical, but Rarity looked ecstatic!

"Oh la la, prench cuisine! I haven't seen crepes in ages!" She gushed. She lifted it carefully, then ate it quickly. Some how she didn't drop a single crumb the entire time, despite the speed at which she ate. "Scrumptious!" She declared as she finished it off. After seeing Rarity eat hers, the other two girls attacked their crepes with gusto as well.

"Mmmmm, yummy!" Sweetiebelle said.

"Wow Sharky, how do you know how to cook prench food?" Twilight asked. I laughed.

"What is prench? This is French food ladies." Twilight thought for a moment.

"Maybe french for you is prench for us?" She suggested.

"Makes about as much sense as everything else here... Anyway, it's really a simple recipe, and I learned it in french class while in high school." They all nodded in understanding.

"So you speak prench too?" Rarity asked.

"Oui, je parle... Prancais?"(Yes, I speak...Prench?) Rarity squealed a little.

"Fantastic darling! I've been getting some orders from some canadian ponies that don't speak english for forever! Would you mind translating for me?"

"Not at all! It would be my pleasure. Where are the documents?" Rarity led me to the room she had vanished into earlier. Twilight and Sweetiebelle were still following me. When we got into the room, I saw that it was full of file cabinets. She looked into a file marked "Prench Orders" and levitated a few of the papers to me. I spent the next three hours translating the orders for Rarity. At about an hour in Sweetiebelle went to play with her friends. I had been worried it would be significantly different from what I knew, but it was almost the exact same! After I finished the translations we heard a knock at the door. I stayed where I was, but Rarity left the room to answer the door. Somehow during my translating Twilight and Rarity had managed to sit on either side of me in the same chair, so when she left my side felt very cold. I stroked Twilight's mane absentmindedly as we waited for Rarity to come back.

"Oh hi Rarity... Is Sharky still here? I wanted to talk to him. If he doesn't mind that is...." Came a small voice for the front door.

"Fluttershy!" I yelled happily. I stood up and walked towards the door, which caused Twilight to fall over because I wasn't supporting her any more.

"Whoa!" She yelped as she fell over. I shot her an apologetic look and continued towards Fluttershy's voice.

"Hi Fluttershy!" I came around the corner and greeted the little yellow pegasus. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Oh...um...You know about the New Year's party...Right?" She asked.

"Yeah, Rarity just explained it a little while ago."

"Oh good...Well I was wondering...Would you maybe go with me? If you don't mind that is...It's just that you're the only other animal lover I've met, and I wanted to get to know you better..." She said just above a whisper.

"I don't see why not!" I said with a grin. Then a very angry sounding voice from behind me.

"Because you're going with me already! That's why not!" Wow. She looked PISSED.

"Am I only allowed to go with one friend?" I asked sincerely. Twilight seemed to calm down.

"Well no, I just kinda thought--"

"Then it's settled!" I proclaimed. "The three of us can go together!" Fluttershy lit up.

"Yay!" (OHMYGOSH SHE SAID IT!) Twilight didn't look as excited as Fluttershy, but she didn't complain.

"Well, as long as we're taking multiple friends, can I tag along too?" Asked Rarity. I smiled.

"Of course, The more the merrier!" Rarity smiled warmly at me, but Twilight was giving me a death stare,

"What's wrong Twilight?" I asked. She turned her head and muttered.

"Nothing..."

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We all just chatted at the boutique for a while to pass time. Rarity was full of questions about fashion in my world and my acting career. (which I tried to tell her I wasn't very good, but she didn't believe me either.) Fluttershy and I talked about animals for a long time too. Twilight was sitting next to me fumming for a while, but she joined in the conversation eventually. Sweetiebelle came home, valiantly attempting to stay awake, but she fell asleep within a few minutes. I carried her up to her bed and tucked her in. After that we waited until about 11 o' clock to leave for the party. When we showed up at the town square, it looked like I had been right. The ponies weren't hammered, but they had drank enough to keep staring to a minimum. Except for this one mint green unicorn who was pointing at me and doing a victory dance. I'm pretty sure she was drunk as sokka after drinking the cactus juice. (It'll be fun seeing how many people get that refrence.) We made our way through the crowd to the punch bowl. We all had a few cups of it, but it just tasted like apple soda to me. The girls however, were becoming tipsy rather quickly.

"He-hey Fluttershy. Y'know yer my best pal right?" Rarity said drunkenly.

"Teehee... yeah Rarity. You're my best friend too..." Fluttershy seemed a lot less timid while tipsy.

"Hey Ssssharky..." Twilight slurred. "I never got ta say thanks for carrying me today..." I waited for her to continue.

".....And?" Twilight looked confused for a second. Then she remmbered.

"Oh yeah, Thaankss... You have nice pants..." She was rubbing the leg of my pants with one hoof.

"Y-yer right Twilight, I did a good job..." Rarity was now rubbing my leg too.

"I-I wanna feeeel!" Fluttershy said as she joined them. My face was getting very red. I jumped out of their reach.

"G-girls! What are you doing?!" I shouted. They all seemed oblivious to my reaction.

"We were just sayin we like yer pants Sharky." Twilight said. I tried to calm down.

It's not like they're even attracted to you Sharky, calm down! I thought to myself. I corraled the girls and we made our way to a nice little cliff overlooking part of the town. It was only like 40 feet tall and a minute away from the square, so we could still hear the party. We all sat down and looked at the night sky. The countdown started behind us.

"5..."

"Heey Sharkyyy...?" Twilight slurred.

"4..."

"Yes Twilight?" I answered.

"3..."

"I gotta tell you somethin'."

"2..."

"Fire away."

"1..." At the chant of one Twilight suddenly lurched forward and fell off the cliff.

Copy Cat

Time slowed down. I heard my voice as if it came from far away.

"TWILIGHT!!!" She didn't react to my voice. She was out cold. I reached out and tried to grab her, but I was too slow. I looked to Rarity and Fluttershy, but they were staring at the sky, oblivious to what had just happened. The crowd cheered in the distance.

"HAAAAAPPYYYY...." Twilight was falling quickly. She was about 30 feet from the ground. I couldn't save her. I felt helpless.

"NEEEEWWW....." I couldn't let her die. I couldn't do anything either though. I sat there helplessly with my arm stretched out towards her. All I could do was wish I could stop her fall. I felt stronger when I wished this. Power started to course through me.

"YEEEEAAAARRRR!!!" My own scream drowned out the distant crowd.

"NO!" The scream wasn't filled with sorrow, or regret. It was filled with power. It was an order. Twilight was suddenly wrapped in a magic aura the same color as her own. It was faint, but her descent was slowed greatly. She didn't stop, but continued toward the ground until she landed softly. I looked around confusedly for the one that saved her, but no pony else was there besides Rarity and Fluttershy. They were both staring at me open-mouthed. Rarity pointed a hoof at my head.

"H-h-horn!" She shouted. I reached up to my forehead. The bump on my forehead from earlier had grown and was now about one-third the size of a unicorn's horn. I gasped in disbelief and rubbed the under-developed horn to make sure it was really there. (Which caused some...unusual feelings...) I then remembered Twilight.

"Girls, Twilight fell off the cliff!" I yelled at the stunned ponies.

"Oh no! Is s-she alright?" Fluttershy asked. Her and Rarity were still drunk.

"Yes...I think I lowered her to the ground safely..." The both looked at me confusedly.

"Look my point is we should go check on her!" They nodded in agreement. We started running down the road that led down the cliff, but Rarity and Fluttershy were stumbling too much to keep up. I crouched down and pulled Fluttershy up on my back and picked Rarity up in my left arm. (Damn these ponies are light!) I then sprinted down the road until I reached the area Twilight had fallen in. I searched around for a good 5 minutes before I found her. She was curled up into a ball and sleeping soundly. Her hair was ruffled, but I couldn't find any signs of damage on her body. "I think it's time I got you girls home." I said as I lifted Twilight in my right arm. Their collective weight was beginning to strain me, but I didn't complain. I took off towards the boutique because it was closest. We passed the square on the way back and the party was still going strong. I think I saw a conga line going. As we walked, the swaying motion put Rarity to sleep. Luckily Fluttershy stayed awake. I was almost to the boutique.

"H-hey Sssharky?" Fluttershy slurred. I lifted one leg and balanced Twilight's flank on my knee to open the door.

"Yeah Fluttershy?" I walked in and climbed up the stairs to where I knew Rarity's bedroom was. (Thank you television.)

"We neever got ta share secrets..." I placed Rarity in bed and tucked her in. Yeah not easy to do with one hand.

"Ummm... ok do you want to share secrets now?" I walked back down the stairs and out of the boutique. I started walking to Twilight's house.

"Ssure. You can go first."

"Umm... ok, let's see..." I thought for a minute. "I've only kissed one girl in my life. Excluding family of course."

"Really?"

"Eeyupp." (Finally got to use that.) I saw Twilight's house just a short distance away now. "What secret are ya gonna tell me?" Fluttershy didn't answer. I opened the door and went up to Twilight's room. I tucked her into bed and she turned in her sleep.

"Mmmm...thanks Sharky..." She muttered in her sleep. I couldn't help it. She was just so freaking adorable. I bent down and kissed her forehead. I then turned around and left. I didn't see it, but behind me Twilight smiled in her sleep.

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I would have never guessed it from watching the show, but Fluttershy's house is like a 30 minute walk out of town! I could finally see her house in the distance. I pulled Fluttershy off my back and cradled her in my arms. I had thought she was asleep, but she was looking up at me when I moved her.

"Sharky! The horn is gone!" She exclaimed in surprise. I reached up with one hand and rubbed my forehead. She was right! The little horn was gone!

"What the... huh?!" I was shocked. Getting a horn had been weird enough, but disappearing was just bizarre! I decided I would figure it out later. "Well nevermind that Fluttershy. Lets get you to bed."

"You're so nice Sharky... How come you don't worry about yourself?" I laughed.

"I worry about myself plenty."

"No you don't." She argued. Wow alcohol really does make her more assertive. "Ever since I met ya, you've been worried about not sscaring or hurting us. Now, instead of worrying about whatever ish happening to yerself, you're more concerned about getting meh to bed." The drink and sleep were both getting to her, but she had a good point. We were at her door now. I opened it and walked in.

"Well, to be honest, I've never really been concerned about myself. I just always think other people's problems are more important."

"You're so nice..." She said again. I found her bedroom and tucked her in. "Hey Sharky?"

"Yes Fluttershy?"

"I know what my secret is... I want you to kiss me." I then procceded to laugh my ass off. She was SOOOOOO drunk. I decided to humor her though, so I kissed her forehead. She gave me a disapproving look. "That's not what I meant..." Damn! Fluttershy has lost all essence of shyness!

"Well I'll tell you what, when you've known me for more than a day, and you're not drunk off your flank, talk to me. Then we'll talk about a kiss." I then left her house, laughing the whole way back to Twilight's house. I was thinking how that day would never come. On the way there I noticed my shoulder blades felt oddly large. I dismissed the thought and continued laughing.

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When I got back to the library, I curled up next to a couple bookshelves and tried to sleep. I laid there for about 30 minutes, but I couldn't sleep. I decided to check Twilight's books to see if there was something that would explain what was happening to me. I looked at the bookshelves. Each of them had a category written on top, (Ex. Refrence books, Science books, Other.) and the books were divided alphabetically in their shelves. I decided to check Other. After reaing the titles of all the books up to M, I found one entitled "Magic levels of worlds and the effects of crossing, by Dr. Hooves" Finding it creepily close to exactaly what I was looking for, I took it off the shelf and began reading.

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"Sharky?! Have you been up all night?" Twilight yelled at me when she came down stairs. I guess ponies don't get hangovers. Sweet.

"Yes! I've found the explanation for my horn!!" I said excitedly. (I know I'm a nerd. Shut up.)

"You had a horn?" Twilight looked confused. I sighed impatiently.

"Yes, the bump on my head yesterday was really a growing horn!"

"Then why isn't it there now?"

"I'm gonna explain that! By the way, You're welcome."

"For what?"

"Oh, you fell off a cliff." I said absentmindedly. "Anyway according to this," I held up the book. "Every world has a certain amount of magic necessary to sustain life..."

"Wait, wait. Back up. I fell off a what now?"

"A cliff. I saved you. Anyway, The first level of magic allows for one sapient species to develop and allows friendship to develop..."

"Wait! How did you save me from falling off a cliff??"

"MAGIC!! Now please!" She quieted down and appeared to be listening. "Thank you... Now as I was saying. Level 2 magic allows for true love to develop. It is also the STRONGEST stage of magic. That is my planet's level. I'll skip ahead to your planet's level. Your planet is a level 12 magic planet, the highest level. That means that it has 5 or more sapient species, AND a powerful being or beings is/are responsible for the changing of day into night and back."

"So you went from an extremely low-magic planet to the highest level magic planet. What does that have to do with you growing a horn?"

"I'm getting there. Now according to this, if a magic being from a high-level planet goes to a low-level planet, all their magic will disperse into the world around them until they are even with the rest of the planet. This could be fatal, so don't ever do it." I warned her, thinking she might have been tempted to travel worlds. "Howwever, if a low-level being travels to a high-level world, they will take in magic from the world and assimilate it to the nearest magic being." Twilight thought for a moment.

"So that means you were turning into me?" She asked.

"No, it means I was gaining your abilities. Thats how I saved you, I had enough of your magic to slow your fall. Not stop it mind you, but slow was good enough." She nodded in understanding. Then she looked as if a thought crossed her mind.

"If that's the case, how come you don't still have a horn?"

"The book didn't specify, but I theorize that because the magic isn't mine, I can't retain it without the source. So since I've been near you almost the entire time I've been here I was copying you. When I left you for a half-hour to take Fluttershy home the magic left me, and started forming around Fluttershy. Thats why my shoulder blades had enlarged while I was with her, I was growing wings!"

"I thought you copied magic!" Twilight interjected.

"I do! The magic is different from pony to pony, like a pegasus's magic gives them wings and a talent, just like how the magic gives you a horn and a talent."

"So if you were to form magic around an earth pony, you would only get the talent?"

"Ah you catch on quick Twilight! However, The magic gifts earth ponies in special ways, like Applejack is extra strong! So being around her would make me stronger!" Twilight was luckily too excited about my discovery to notice that I had just said something about Applejack that I shouldn't have known.

"That's amazing!" Twilight thought some more. "But how did you start forming magic around Fluttershy so quickly? It took 4 days for you to copy me enough to get anything."

"I think that's because my body was so damaged for most of that time. Also, it could be that the more I practice copying, the better I get at it, like working a muscle." Twilight gave me a broad smile.

"It's not often I get to talk about science with somepony that can keep up with me!" She lowered her eyelids a little and tilted her head towards me. "It's really nice having someone smart to talk to..." She said it like it was a sigh.

"It's nice talking to you too!" I said with a smile. I then looked back to my book. I heard Twilight sigh, but I have no idea why, didn't she just say she was happy?

"Do you know what we should do now?" She said. I didn't see it, but she was creeping towards me.

"Hmm...? Oh, no clue, I was gonna read more though."

"Noooo..." She popped her head inbetween me and the book and smiled at me. "We have to test your theories!"

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Yeah I know what you're all thinking, "Could Twilight BE more obvious?!" Well I would just like to remind you all that Sharky is based off of me, and I'm ignorant as BUCK when it comes to females. And uh oh... what's this? a move by Fluttershy?! Who the hell knows where this is going? I sure don't!

Personal space?

"Ummm Twilight?"

"Hmm...Yes Sharky?"

"Are you sure we need to sit like this to speed the process up?" I had been sitting with my legs crossed and Twilight was sitting right in the space between my legs leaning her back against my chest. She had me wrap my arms around her middle and she had her hooves wrapped around my arms. We had been like this for about two hours. About 30 minutes in, Spike had walked in, but he just turned around and walked right back.

"Hm? Oh yes. Absolutley."

"Well if we only need contact, couldn't we just--"

"NO, this is necessary!" She interrupted. I sighed loudly.

"..."

"..."

"...Can I at least check to see if I have a horn now?"

"Uggghh! Fine!" I unwrapped my arm from her legs then I lifted my hand to my forehead, and found a full grown horn there. It was bigger than Twilight's, but I guess the magic makes it bigger to suit my size. I jumped up really fast and sent Twilight tumbling out of my lap.

"Oops, sorry, but look! A full-grown horn!" I shouted excitedly.

"Fantastic." Twilight grumbled. I was confused.

"Why do you sound upset? The experiment was a sucess!" I was so excited.

"I'm not upset. Sucess Yay..." She still sounded a little upset, but I decided I was imagining it.

"Now I just gotta leave and see how long it takes to go away!" I started towards the door.

"Uhhhh No!"

"What? Why not?" I was halfway out the door. What can I say? I like testing theories.

"Uhhh...Don't you wanna learn how to use it first?!" She almost sounded like she was whining. That stopped me for a second. Why would she be whining? I almost decided to stay, but my natural curiosity won out.

"Nah, I'll learn later. It's not like I'll never be able to use magic again, right?" I joked. Twilight slumped down.

"Oh... Ok..." I then ran out the door. Twilight watched me leave. *sigh* "Maybe...maybe I'm not being obvious enough?" She then trotted to her room and sat on her bed to think. I've only known him for such a small amount of time...He's not even my SPECIES! This is so dumb...but then why do I feel this way?

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I wasn't sure what to do with so much free time now, so I decided to check up on Fluttershy. I wanted to see if getting wings would actually allow me to fly, or if my body would still be too big. I passed a large, clear, grassy area, when all of the sudden I heard a voice.

"wooooaaAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" The voice became louder and sounded like it was getting closer, so I turned to see where the noise was coming from. In that moment, a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane smacked into my gut full-force. I was knocked clean off my feet. I smacked my head on a rock when I hit the ground.

"OW!" I looked up and saw Rainbow Dash sitting on my chest. She was giving me a small apologetic smile.

"Oh, sorry. I was practicing a new trick and lost control..." I smiled back to her.

"No worries!" I grimaced as I rubbed the back of my head. My hand came away bloody.

"Oh no! You're bleeding!"

"No way, really?" I said sarastically. "Don't worry, I'm sure I can fix it." I tried to focus the little bit of magic I had left on the wound, but I didn't feel any change.

"Ummm...Why do you look constipated?" Dash asked me. I unscrewed my face. I sighed.

"I was trying to use magic to heal myself." I stated matter-of-factly. She laughed.

"Bwhaha! Only unicorns can use magic ya dork. You're not even a pony!"

"Well I had a horn like 20 minutes ago!" I shouted in frustration. I guess it wears off faster than I thought. Maybe practice would fix that too. Dash looked confused.

"You had a what now?" I sighed again. Something told me Rainbow wouldn't understand or care about the explanation like Twilight had.

"It's not important." Then I had a thought. "Hey you're the fastest flier in Equestria, right?"

"Eeyup!" She said proudly. I gave her a wicked grin.

"I'm willing to bet that if we hang out for the next few hours, I'll be just as fast as you!" She started laughing and rolled backwards off me.

"Sure, the thing without wings is gonna be as good a flier as me. BWAHAHAHA!" She was tearing up she was laughing so hard. "You know what I think? You just wanna hang with me!" She grinned.

"N-no that's not the case at all!"

"No worries!" She said with a wink. "I'll let you tag along with me!" I sighed. Clearly she had gotten the wrong idea.

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I sat and talked with Dash for about 4 hours. She told me about her dreams to join the wonderbolts, and her sonic rainboom. I listened and nodded at the appropriate points. I wished my wings would grow faster. I could feel them developing, but much slower than my horn had grown. My body also felt like it was becoming much lighter and I could feel new muscles developing on my back. I wasn't sure if it had to do with the fact that I was holding Twilight, or if it was because I hadn't been around Dash much. I would've asked to hold Dash like I had held Twilight, but she was already getting the wrong idea and I didn't want to encourage it. Finally Dash stopped talking and gave me a challenging look.

"So we've hung out for a few hours, do you think you can fly like me? Bwahahaha!" I gave her a wicked grin. My wings had stopped growing, I was ready.

"As a matter of fact..." I pulled off my shirt. Dash gave me a funny look. "I think I can!" I then tried to flex my new muscles and ended up expanding my new wings to their full reach. Dash gasped and looked at them open-mouthed. I turned to look at them. They were cyan just like Dash's, but WAY bigger. I gave them a flap and flew about four feet off the ground.

"H-h-how??!" Dash stammered. I smiled at her again.

"Magic!" She tried to recover from the shock of seeing wings on a naturally wingless being.

"W-well you may have wings, but that doesn't make you as fast as me!"

"Oh really?" I challenged. I knew the magic would make me just as good as her. "Then how about a race?"

"You're on!" She shouted with ferocity in her eyes. I thought for a moment to decide where the race would be.

"Ok come with me to Fluttershy's house." I flapped my wings full force and blasted away from the ground. Dash was right there beside me and we took off to Fluttershy's house. I thought learning to fly would be difficult, but luckily the wings came with instincts, so I didn't have a problem. We got to Fluttershy's house, and I started explaining the course. "Ok, here's the plan. We are going to fly to Twilight's library, come back around and fly back here. 3 laps, first one back wins!"

"Sounds good to me. Let's go!" We lined up next to Fluttershy's tree.

"Ready..."

"Set..."

"GO!!!" We yelled at the same time. We both bolted into the air and took off towards Twilight's house. I was managing to stay right next to Dash, but it took some effort. She looked just as strained as I felt though, so I wasn't worried. We were going so fast that the 30 minute walk to Twilight's house was reduced to a 5 minute flight. I slowed down to turn around her house, but Dash tried to pull it off at full speed. She flew a little off course and I pulled about 3 feet ahead of her. It sounded like she said something, but the sound was quickly lost behind us. This was absolutley amazing! I felt like Superman while I flew! The wind whipped my face and I had to dodge a few bugs, but other than that it was the best feeling I'd ever experienced! Now I understood why Dash practiced all the time! We reached Fluttershy's house again and we both took the turn the right way this time, so I didn't gain any more distance on her. We rocketed towards Twilight's house again and Dash bumped my lower body as we approached it. I was thrown off course a little and me and Dash ended up neck-and-neck again.

"Rotten cheater..." I mumbled. We blasted towards Fluttershy's again and took the corner the same way. As we came back to Twilight's house Dash tried to bump me again, but I flapped a little harder to gain some altitude on her. Her bump missed and we headed towards Fluttershy's for the final time with me flying right above her. A thin white line faded into view as we picked up speed on our way towards Fluttershy's. I decided to get even with her cheating and win this race. I reached down and rubbed the base of her wings.

*POMF* Her wings popped straight out and the white line flung her backwards just like in the cartoon. I kept going and gained more speed until I broke the sound barrier a few hundred feet away from Fluttershy's house. With my Rainbow trail behind me (Manly I know) I flew after Dash's falling body. I managed to get to her and catch her a few feet away from the ground. I then slowed down and dropped to the ground right on the outskirts of ponyville. Dash hit my face with her hoof.

"OW!" I dropped her and rubbed the side of my face.

"Jerk!" She yelled back.

"Hey you started it! I guess this makes me the fastest flier in Equestria now huh?" I teased her. She gave me a really pissed off look, but then it softened and she cracked a smile.

"You're right, I did cheat first. Even if I hadn't you still woulda won."

"Aww don't be too hard on yourself. I'm sure you would have found some way to come ahead."

"Maybe, but this makes you the first pony to ever beat me. That's...cool." She said it in a kind of whisper. I thought she was upset, and when I looked at her, her eyelids were lowered, but she didn't look sad. She looked...hungry or something. Her look made me nervous for some reason.

"Well I'm gonna go now..." I said suddenly. I wanted to go share my newest findings with Twilight.

"What's your rush? You just raced after all. Aren't you tired? C'mon, lets go chill at my place" She said in that weird whisper again.

"N-no I really gotta go...I'm gonna share the data I just gathered with Twilight." I was getting really unnerved now. I took off and flew towards Twilight's house. It took less than 2 minutes to get there. I dashed in and locked the door behind me. "Twilight?" I called. She didn't answer, but Spike came down the stairs.

"She left to look for you bro."

"Why? Does she need my help for something?"

"Nah, she said something about you taking to long to gather data. She just took off. By the way, why aren't you wearing your shirt?" I looked at my bare chest and realized I had forgotten to grab it before racing with Dash.

"Awww crud!" I face-palmed myself. "I problably blew it away when me and Dash took off!" I'll never find it now!

"Guess you'll have to talk to Rarity again." I sighed. Spike was right. Spending another 4 hours getting measured wasn't ideal, but it would have to be done.

"Yeah you're right Spike. If Twilight comes back tell her I'm at Rarity's." I started to leave.

"Oh by the way Sharky..." Some smoke had begun curling out of his nose.

"Yes Spike?"

"I saw you and Twilight this morning. You had better not hurt my sister, or I'll get you!" After he said that I opened my mouth to ask what he meant, but he was already gone. I unlocked the door and started walking towards the boutique. I spent the entire walk wondering what Spike had meant.

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Well look, Rainbow Dash finally got some lines in the story. Oh yeah, SHARKY IS AN IDIOT! It almost hurts writing someone this ignorant, and I'm just like him! Also, it seems everyone is falling behind with reading, should I slow down?

Unsettling

I thought and thought, but I couldn't figure out what Spike meant. I would never hurt her on purpose. Maybe he just didn't know that and wanted to make sure I didn't think about attacking her. Then again, maybe I was hurting her on accident somehow and he was trying to tell me? Gragh... All this thinking isn't getting me anywhere... I could see the Carousel Boutique now. I picked up my pace as if trying to run from my own thoughts. I knocked on the door to the Carousel Boutique and waited for Rarity. After waiting for a few minutes I was about to leave because I thought she'd left, but then I heard her trot up to the door. She opened it and her eyes lit up when she saw me.

"Oh hi Sharky!" She gave me a broad smile. Then she looked at my chest. "Spike burn your clothes again?" I laughed.

"No, I lost my shirt." She looked shocked, but didn't look away from my chest.

"How do you lose a shirt when you only have one?!" I looked down at my chest to see what she found so interesting. I was muscular, I guess, but she's a pony. Why would it matter to her? I put it up to me imagining things again.

"I was trying to use these babies--" I spread my wings. They had started to shrink, but were still fairly large. Rarity gawked at them open-mouthed. "So I had to take off my shirt. I failed to remember where I placed it though, so I couldn't find it afterwards."

"Wherever did you get wings dear? For that matter, where did your horn go?" I sighed. I didn't realize I'd have to explain this to everypony. I walked into her house and took a seat in one of the available chairs. I told Rarity how the magic worked. It took about another half hour for me to explain it all to her. She didn't look like she understood, but nodded anyway.

Man, I wish Twilight wasn't the only one I could talk science with... I thought to myself.

"I suppose you need me to make you a shirt hmm?" I blushed. Was I that obvious already?

"Yeah, I wish we didn't have to keep meeting without all my clothing, but unfortunately we are." Rarity giggled.

"It doesn't bother me dear." Were she human that statement might have meant something to me, but I just assumed it meant not wearing my clothes didn't affect her.

"Thanks Rarity." I sent her a warm smile. "Should we get to measuring?" I asked.

"...Yes, that would be...nice." She said. I sat down with my legs crossed so she could reach my upper body. She started measuring again, still not using magic to hold the measuring tape. I didn't question her or complain about it though.

"So about payment..." I started.

"No, don't even mention it dear. That white diamond you gave me is worth enough to cover quite a few orders."

"You're too generous Rarity." I inwardly laughed at my own joke.

"Well thank you Sharky." She rubbed my back a little when she said thank you. It felt odd.

*POMF*

"Umm Rarity, could you stop that?" I asked.

"Why? You clearly don't mind it." She said indicating my wings.

"Actually I do. It feels weird. Can you please stop?" She didn't stop right away, but she did stop. "Thanks Rarity, I know you were just being friendly, but I can't help my reactions."

"Think nothing of it dear." She said. She continued to measure me.

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"WHERE WERE YOU?!" Four and a half hours later, I had grown a white horn, my wings were gone, Rarity had finished measuring me and was now making a shirt. About twenty seconds ago, Twilight had come in and located me immediately.

"Twilight!" I yelled happily. Totally oblivious to her anger. I ran over and gave her a hug. She relaxed in my arms and hugged me back. Rarity mumbled something. "Good to see you buddy!" When I said that she tensed up again and dropped the hug. Rarity snickered.

"Where were you?" She asked again, more quietly this time. "You were supposed to come back after the horn disappeared!" I let go of her and gave her a skeptical stare. She was acting weird again.

"Well I let the horn disappear, then decided to gather data on the effect of copying pegasus magic." I turned and saw Rarity about to put a ruby on my shirt. "Rarity dear, don't you think a sapphire would compliment my skin tone better?"

"...Oh of course dear, what WAS I thinking. I'll be right back." She trotted into another room. I turned back to Twilight and prepared to give her my data, but then got a really confused look from her.

"What the buck was that?" She asked. "You're suddenly a fashion expert now?" I looked confused right back at her. Then I thought and looked up at my horn. (which of course meant I tilted my head back and only succeded in moving the horn out of my vision again.)

"Problably a side effect of mimicking Rarity's magic." I figured. Twilight seemed to agree.

"You had me scared to death you know." I cringed.

"Why, it's not like I was doing anything dangerous..."

"Well how was I supposed to know?!" She shouted. "And what am I supposed to think when I find this--" She levitated my old shirt off her back. It was torn and ripped all over. "Next to Everfree Forest?!" I gasped in terror. She must have thought I was....

"Oh I'm so sorry Twilight!" I pulled her into another hug. "It won't happen again. I'll come home as promised next time!"

"So...What pegasus were you mimicking?" She asked intently. She was trying to change the subject. I gues she didn't like thinking about me dying...

"Rainbow Dash." Twilight relaxed a little. "I even managed to beat her in a race!" I exclaimed. Twilight looked terrified.

"She didn't hurt you did she?!?" She asked in a panic. She rubbed the small bruise on my cheek. I gave her another confused look.

"No, well she did hit me on the cheek, but I earned it. Why would she hurt me otherwise?" Twilight relaxed a little.

"Well Dash can sometimes be...a sore loser." I thought about that.

"Well she was a bit mad at first, but then she started talking about how I was the first 'pony' to ever beat her in a race. Then she looked at me like she was hungry or something and Invited me over to her house." Twilight then looked very angry and tensed every muscle in her body.

"You didn't go did you?" She hissed through her teeth. I was getting more confused by the minute. Why would it matter if I had?

"Noooo...I wanted to share the data I had gathered with you, so I left. Are you ok Twilight?" She looked less tense since I told her that, but not less angry. I didn't know what to do, so I just pulled her into my lap and hugged her. She let out a deep sigh and hugged me back. I stroked her mane and held her. She shifted a little and started nuzzling my neck. I wasn't sure how to react, but It felt...strange, so I pushed her away. She looked....disappointed, but didn't speak. I wasn't happy with her looking upset, but at least she didn't look mad or tense anymore.

"Here it is~" Rarity sang as she trotted back in with a light blue sapphire. She attached it to the center of the chest of the shirt and magically carried it over to me.

"Thanks Rarity!" I shouted as I grabbed the shirt and hugged her. "You're amazing!" She hugged me back and I heard gritting teeth behind me. I didn't see it, but Rarity stuck out her tounge at Twilight. I did hear Twilight gasp however. I let go of Rarity and turned to Twilight. "Is something wrong?" She looked angry again. "Twilight are you feeling ok?"

"No, no I'm not. would you mind taking me home?" I slipped on my new shirt. I was still concerned about Twilight, but decided not to question her in front of Rarity.

"Not at all!" I said. I picked her up (force of habit I guess) and carried her to the door. "Thanks again Rarity!" I sent another smile her way. She smiled back.

"Think nothing of it dear!" I didn't see it, but on my way out, Twilight stuck her tounge out at Rarity. The sun was going down when I left. I carried Twilight home and took her up to bed again. Spike was already asleep in his little bed. I put Twilight In bed and tucked her in. She started shivering. "Are you cold Twilight?" I asked with concern. She was starting to worry me. She was having odd moods, and now she was shivering! I hope she isn't sick!

"Yeah. It's really cold in here." I didn't feel very cold, but it WAS winter, and she was a lot smaller than me. It would be easy for her to be cold while I wasn't.

"I'll get you another blanket."

"No! Umm, how about you just lay down with me? That would help much more." I thought about that claim for a second. Providing additional body heat would work more than just trapping more of her body heat. She had a point.

"Hmmmm... You're right Twilight." I lifted the covers and squeezed myself into bed with her. It was a small bed, so we had to spoon to fit together. I started blushing a little due to the position. "T-t-this is the only way I can fit in your bed. Are you sure you want me to be here?"

"Yes, this is really nice. I already feel warmer." I felt really...odd, but I was helping Twilight so I didn't move. We just sat like that for a little while and I filled her in on the details of my day. Soon after that she fell asleep. My current horn shrank back down into my head and a new one was starting the growth process. I would've fallen asleep too, but Twilight wiggled and made weird sounds in her sleep. She mumbled my name a few times, but I didn't know what to think about that.. When she strarted wiggling her rear though...The growth of my horn was rapidly accelerated. (oh, did you think I meant the one on my head?) I jumped out of the bed and went to take a cold shower. I just stood in the water for about 20 minutes. I towled myself off and got dressed again. I went over to Spike's bed and put my hand on his side. He was as warm, if not warmer than I was. I picked him up and placed him underneath Twilight's blanket. He would keep her plenty warm. I then walked downstairs and curled up in the corner I had tried to sleep in last night. I laid there and felt terrible for my reaction to that innoccent little pony. Eventually I realized how tired I was from all my flying. Not eating at all certainly didn't help. At least I finally got to that shower. I then settled down and tried to sleep. It didn't come quickly, but I did eventually fall asleep. I tossed and turned all night and had all sorts of dreams.

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Yeah I know it's a shorter chapter, but I'm trying the best I can. I'll make sure to write longer chapters later. I'll still be up for a few hours to respond to any comments, so please feel free to ask questions or whatever.

I need a job

Sorry this chapter took so long to write, I was busy till like 12 o' clock because I had to--Wait you don't give a f*** about my personal life! Here's your chapter.

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"Dang it!" Twilight yelled when she woke up. Sharky had left in her sleep. "*sigh*...Maybe he just doesn't care about me..." She said sadly. "No, that can't be it, he got into bed with me to keep me warm. He must care! Oh, and look, he put Spike here to keep me warm, he thought of me." She reassured herself. "He problably had to deal with something... or went off to experiment more..." She sighed again. "It is nice to meet someone else interested in science, but come on!" She got up and trotted to the bathroom. She took a long bath and thought. When she got out the sun still hadn't come out. She toweled off her coat, but let her mane air-dry. She trotted downstairs and saw Sharky curled up in a corner. "Oh no! I never even set up a guest bed for you did I?" She chided herself. She trotted over to him and saw that he was still asleep. His face was contorted and he didn't look like he was resting well at all. "Maybe if I just lay with him for a second he'll feel better..." Twilight knew she was taking advantage of his bad dream, but she tried not to think about it. She curled up on her side next to him. He stopped shaking when she did. She was staring right at his face and her gaze locked on his lips. "He's asleep. He never has to know..." She mused. She inched her face closer to his and closed her eyes. She could feel his breath on her muzzle. It was warm and relaxing. She almost reached his lips, but her nose bumped into his! His eyes flickered open. Uh Oh! Twilight thought to herself.

"Mmmmm... huh? Wet-mane Twilight?" He gave a short laugh. "For once, I like where this dream is going." He then closed his eyes again and wrapped an arm around Twilight. She had been holding her breath, but let it out when he closed his eyes. After a little while his breathing evened out and she knew he was asleep. She closed her eyes and kissed him on the cheek.

"G'night Sharky..." She said, very interested in what he had said while awake. She thought about it for awhile and became very happy. I do have a chance! She cheered in her head. Then he mumbled Fluttershy's and Rarity's names and she was mad all over again. She sighed and gave up on trying to figure out Sharky for now. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

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"Hmmm? Oh good morning Twilight." I said as I walked in the kitchen groggily. She was sitting at the table reading.

"Hm... Oh... Yes, good morning Sharky." She looked at me and blushed. (Geez she blushes a LOT) "I made you breakfast!" She blurted out as she pointed to a plate across from her.

"Well thank you!" I shouted. "You shouldn't have!" I went over and sat down. The plate had a piece of buttered toast, some fruit slices, and one sunny-side-up egg. I dug in hungrily. It was pretty good. "Wow Twilight! I didn't take you as the cooking type!"

"Well it was kind of an experiment really." She turned her book around and pointed to the chapter name.

"Cook and present a simple breakfast." I read aloud. "So you decided to make me your test monkey?" I said, faking anger. Her ears flattened and she looked upset. (I said it before, I'll say it again. I'm a dick.)

"Oh...I'm sorry I didn't mean to off--"

"Bwahaha! I'm kidding Twilight! It was delicious, thank you!" She gave me an angry stare, but then her face softened.

"No problem Sharky, I'm glad you liked it." She smiled. "So what do you plan on doing today?" I thought for a second.

"I think it's about time I got a job." Twilight's eyes widened.

"No! If you get a job you have to leave more often!" Twilight shouted. She blushed again when she realized what she yelled.

"Don't worry, I won't leave the city limits. You don't have to worry about me getting hurt." I said, figuring she was still scared after finding my torn-up shirt yesterday. "I think I'll start at Sweet Apple Acres." I dashed out the door.

"Wait!" Twilight yelled after me, but I was already gone. She sighed. "...That...HUMAN!" She shouted angrily. She lifted up her book and hit the table in frustration. Had Sharky been there, just for that moment, he would've seen that the book was entitled: "101 Tips to Help You Snare that Stallion" Twilight sighed. "Well... Check item number one off..."

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I set off running at a brisk pace, when suddenly I realized something. I was running through snow, the trees wouldn't be needing care right now! I cursed my own stupidity. I then turned back around and decided to see if I could find work with Fluttershy. Then I realized, IT'S WINTER. Still no work for me there. I decided to head to town. I contemplated working with Rarity, but I have no fashion sense. Nope. Working with Rainbow Dash? No, I couldn't retain magic long enough yet. Plus, she acted funny. Twilight's only job I knew of was being Celestia's student, and I'm pretty sure I couldn't do that! Well that covered about all the mane 6 except--

"Oh hi Sharky How are you? I'm great I've just been really busy at Sugarcube Corner. Anyway, Rarity was bragging about how good of a cook you were and I was wondering if you would mind helping me and the Cakes out because we get a lot of orders during the winter and it's really hard to keep up with even with my speed and I'm really fast when it comes to baking cakes and why do you have a purple horn?" I blinked a few times to clear my head and looked down at the pink pony. She had finally stopped. I had to wait for a second before everything she had said straightened itself out in my head. Luckily I was a little more ready for it after having seen her for the first time.

"Well the horn wouldn't make sense even if I explained it to you, but did you say you needed help at Sugarcube Corner?" She noded so fast her head looked like a blur.

"Eeyup that's what I said because we are really backed up on orders because we had to put all our orders aside to deal with Hearth's Warming day and New Year's day orders, so now we have to deal with all the orders we put aside and we're still getting new orders so we're getting really far behind and we're gonna start losing customers unless we get more help!" I was really happy for the job offer, but one thing still didn't make sense.

"If you guys are so far behind, why aren't you there helping still?" She gave me a weird stare.

"Because when the Cakes heard about you from Rarity, they asked me to go find you immediately!"

"Aww that's nice of them, I'd be happy to help! Will you show me to Sugarcube Corner?"

"Sure!" She said happily. She started bouncing off in one direction. I had to jog to keep up with her. After only about 2 minutes, Sugarcube corner came into view. She bounced in and I followed her into the kitchen. I was assulted by a storm of flour and egg as I walked in. The Cakes were BLAZING through the kitchen. No seriously! I'm pretty sure they were leaving skid marks! The first thing I noticed was how inefficient hooves were in a kitchen. They were whisking, cracking eggs, and pulling out pans with their mouths. I guess it was considered normal here though, so I wasn't too thrown off.

"Hello there!" I shouted over the noise. The Cakes both looked at me and their mouths dropped open.

"MONSTER!!" They yelled at the same time. Damn, I guess they weren't at the New Year's party. I sighed loudly.

"I'm not a monster! I'm here to help you bake! I'm Sharky, nice to meet you." They closed their mouths and looked less afraid, but were still wary.

"Oh, sorry friend. Nopony told us you'd be so...different. Or so tall..." Mr. Cake explained. I laughed.

"Don't worry about it!" I reassured. "So, where do I start?" He thought for a moment.

"Why don't you help Pinkie?" He suggested. "She's making the batter for orders right now." I nodded and walked over to Pinkie Pie. She was moving freakin' FAST, but she couldn't work very efficiently. No hands and all, you know how it is. She was moving WAAAYYYYY faster than I was, but I was still getting more work done. ( Fingers biatch ) Eventually we got into a rhythm where she ran and got me things needed for mixing and I prepared the batter when she did. After about the first hour I started to feel really...bouncy. Like I just got an injection of pure sugar. I could feel my hair curling up.

So this is Pinkie magic huh? I got the sudden urge to break a wall, but not a literal one. I don't know what that's about. We soon finished about 100 batters and had to wait because the Cake's ovens couldn't keep up. The ovens here worked rather quickly, so that was a big deal. We decided to help decorate the already finished cakes. This job was more fun because I got to apply my inner artist. I made a wedding cake, a birthday cake, a retirement cake, a ping pong tournament cake (wait what?), and even a filly shower cake. After that the Cakes caught back up on the batters so we went back to making that. We worked for 8 hours straight alternating between making batter and decorating. Normally after a hectic day like that I would have been tired, but I am SOOOOPER high on Pinkie magic right now.

"Thanks for the help Sharky it was really nice of you to stop what you were doing and help me because I'm sure that you're busy and all but you still helped us and that was nice. Anyway I got your payment right here!" She handed me a few bits of different colors with her mouth. One was gold, 2 were silver, and there were 5 copper ones.

Wow, Coal Buck was right about the currency here. I thought to myself. "It was really no problem Pinkie, I really liked working here, it was a lot of fun, in fact I don't even feel like I should be paid, it was more like a game than work. Anyway Twilight is problably wanting me back home right about now so I should go."

"Ok, have fun with Twilight! I'll see you back here tomorrow right?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world!" I yelled over my shoulder. My hair was now pink and curly and every step I took made me bounce. I decided the bouncing was fun and started skip-bouncing. Each bounce made me jump about as high as Super Mario. I laughed at myself. "WAHOOOO!" I started shouting with each jump, mimicking the red-capped hero's accent. I bounced next to a light post and all the sudden I was standing on top of it. I looked around in confusion for a second until I realized what happened. "YES!! I GOT PINKIE PHYSICS!!!" I jumped into the nearest tree and ended up tumbling down the stairs in Twilight's house. Just as planned. Yeah ok, I really had no idea what would happen, but it was a good bet. "Twilight I'm home!!!" I shouted. Spike peeked his head around a corner.

"Twilight left to do...something. Dude, why's your hair pink?" He asked.

"Oh that? Well you see I'm from a low-magic planet so when I came here the magic started copying the nearest magic being and changed me to match it, so whenever I stay around somepony for awhile I get their powers and look kinda like them. Well actually this is the first time my hair has changed, usually only the parts of me that have to do with the magic I copy change but I guess that since Pinkie is an earth pony my physical appearance changed as well as my natural abilities." He looked totally unfazed by my speech speed. I guess he's used to Pinkie Pie.

"I'm gonna tell you the same thing I told Twilight when she explained this to me...: WHAAAAT?" He looked totally confused. I sighed again. I tried to focus on expelling the Pinkie magic so I could talk slower. Suprisingly it worked, and I managed to calm down enough to be coherent.

"Look..." I said with an annoyed tone. "It would be easier for me to show you."

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"Spiiike I'm back!" Twilight yelled as she came in. She climbed up the stairs to her bedroom and saw Spike asleep in his bed, but that's not all. "D'AWWWWW!!" She squealed. Sleeping right beside Spike was a toddler-sized Sharky, sound asleep as well. She levitated Sharky to herself, baggy clothes and all. She nuzzled his face and trotted over to her bed. She got under the blanket and placed Sharky right next to her. Soon after that she fell asleep, totally forgetting he would absorb her magic now and be full-sized in a few hours.

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I'm gonna show you guys the songs I use for inspiration. Here, here, and here. Yeah, I know I'm weird. I listen to the originals, but I figured you guys would appreciate these more.

The oddest pegasus

The following charecter is based off of my best friend. It wouldn't feel right to NOT have him with me in Equestria. I know I'm not gonna bring him into there, but here's pony him!
NOTE: Sharky only knows about events up to the episode "A friend in deed"

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Twilight woke up with the feeling of Sharky's breath on her neck. He had reached out and wrapped both of his arms around her in his sleep. She took a second to admire how well the curve of their bodies fit together. She wiggled her body against his to get more comfortable then sighed.

"Finally." She whispered. Then, she went back to sleep.

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Sharky woke up next to a gently snoring Twilight. How the hell did I get here? I thought to myself, then I figured it out. Oh no! I must have gotten into her bed in my sleep! I'm a terrible person! What kinda guy takes advantage of the fact that somepony is sleeping?! I unwrapped my arms from her body. I then crawled out of the bed and ran outside as quickly as I could. I didn't stop running there. I kept running right down the path that led to Fluttershy's house. I finally stopped about halfway there.

"GRAAAAAAGH!!! WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?!" I yelled into the sky. I pounded the snow angrily. "I'M TAKING ADVANTAGE OF PONIES!!! IF THAT DREAM WITH WET-MANE TWILIGHT WASN'T BAD ENOUGH, NOW I'M SNEAKING INTO BED WITH THEM!!!" When I remembered my dream I stopped for a second then buried my head in the snow. "mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmph!!" My scream was muffled by the snow. I pulled my head back up and melted snow ran down my face like tears. "Dammit Sharky, they're PONIES. They don't think of you that way! You should stop having these thoughts RIGHT NOW. Besides, even if they did like you, you shouldn't be ready for a new relationship right now..." I drifted off as I remebered the state I had been in when I came here. I remembered the pain as my heart was ripped out. My future wife had been with another man. As I came to grips with it, instead of crying, I went back to my old ways from Earth. I hardened my heart and punched myself in the jaw to stop the tears. (Hey, it works.) Then I wiped my face clean of all expressions and melted snow. I sat there for a few minutes, hardening my emotional armor. Had I finished building it, I would've walked around as an emotionless husk for the rest of my life in Equestria. Luckily, fate had other plans. I heard an impact behind me as if something had hit the ground. I turned around, and behind me was a Big Mac-sized, black-gray pegasus. His mane was yellow, but the style of it reminded him of sonic the hedgehog. Same thing with his tail. He had a lightning storm for a cutie mark. He stared right into my eyes. After about 5 seconds of staring he smiled and sat on his haunches.

"Hello, friend." He said simply. I gave him a burning glare.

"I want to be alone!" I hissed at him. He shook his head.

"No you don't. I can see it in your eyes. Who hurt you so bad?" I just sat there dumbfounded. In 5 seconds he had blown past all my outer armor. It made me have a flashback to a time when I was a kid.

*sniffle*

"Hey there kid. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Go away." I yelled.

"I don't believe you." I turned to look at the intruder. He gasped. "Who hurt you so bad?" He pointed to the bruises on my face. I had been attacked by the school bullies.

That boy had understood me. He was bullied too, as it was. We had decided to work together and managed to beat down the bullies that had opressed us so long. He had been one of the greatest influences in my life. It was him who had encouraged me to try cooking, him who had encouraged me to try out for hurdling, him who encouraged me to chase my dream of being a marine biologist. He had also been the one that had encouraged me to go after the hot college girl, but I'm willing to overlook that one. In a second all those thoughts flooded to me, and my emotional armor shattered.

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Twilight woke up again, noticing a distinct lack of Sharky. "DANG IT!" She yelled helplessly. Spike woke up to this, but when he saw her expression, he knew who the problem was. He rolled his eyes and went back to sleep.

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I was crying. Dammit, what is with Equestria and crying? I thought to myself. The pegasus was sitting next to me and patting my back.

"Just let it all out..." He said softly. I cried a little more, then composed myself and wiped my eyes on the sleve of my shirt.

"Thanks... Wait a minute, you don't even know me!" I said as I jumped up. He smiled.

"No, I don't, but I can see you're a good...whatever it is you are." I frowned.

"How do you know that?" He gave me a stare that felt like he was looking right through me.

"The eyes are the gateway to the soul." He said very seriously. I gasped. "That, and Rainbow Dash told me about you." I stared at him. Then we both burst out laughing. When we finally stopped I asked him another question.

"So, how do you know Rainbow Dash?"

"We work together controlling the weather." Then his eyes widened. "Ooooh! I made a ryhme!" He laughed at himself. His laughter was freakin' infectious. I started laughing too. Geez this guy WAS just like my Earth friend. Except...alive. I sobered up again. He noticed that I had stopped laughing. "Hey, what's wrong now?" He asked. I sighed.

"It's nothing. You just remind me of...of a really good friend of mine..." Before I could start crying again he started hovering in front of my face.

"Well thats because I AM a good friend of yours now!" I started laughing again. He laughed with me.

"So, what's you're name buddy?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm Storm Seeker." I was suprised by his name.

"Dude, that is the most bad-ass pony name I've ever heard. How'd you get it?"

"Well you see, I have a bad habit of flying face-first into storms. I often get struck by lightning in the clouds, which is why my mane and tail stand out like this. No one wanted me to be trotting around with the name 'lightning rod' so they call me Storm Seeker. By the way, why'd you just call me a bad donkey?" I nodded in understanding.

"Oh, bad-ass is a compliment in my world. And your name makes sense, and I'm--"

"Sharky White, I know." He interrupted. I gasped.

"H-how'd you know that?" He landed and looked at me.

"Rainbow Dash." He said simply.

"Oh..." He began to look nervous.

"So umm, do you uh... spend a lot of time with Rainbow Dash?" He asked. I thought for a moment.

"Hmm not really. I beat her in a race once, but I haven't really gotten to spend much time with her, why?"

"Well, she just seems really... impressed with you." He said. He stared at me intently, looking for a reaction I suppose.

"She said that? Well thats awfully nice of her!" I said absentmindedly. His stare intensified.

"I don't think you understand me. She's really really REALLY IMPRESSED with you." He put a lot of emphasis on the word impressed. I gave him a quizzical look.

"No I heard you the first time, I SAID that's awfully nice of her." He shook his head.

"You're hopeless dude." He said in that annoying matter-of-fact tone.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He laughed.

"It means that the truth is gonna hit you like a brick wall." He said cryptically. I just shook my head and looked at the sky. The sun was just now starting to come out. I yawned as I realized how early it was. Then I had a thought.

"Hey, you wanna go visit Fluttershy? I'm sure she gets really lonely during the winter." He thought for a moment.

"I never really thought about it before, but you're right." He mused. "Lets go see if she wants company." We started walking off in the direction of Fluttershy's house.

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After about 15 minutes of walking and talking about nothing of particular intrest up to this point (lets see you recognize that refrence) we got to Fluttershy's house. Stormy knocked on the door. (What's that? I can't call him Stormy? It takes away from his bad-assness? Well f*** you buddy. I can call him what I want.) Fluttershy squeed from the inside of her home.

"Ooooh~ company!" She squealed. She threw the door open and looked at Stormy. "Oh... hi Storm Seeker." She said. She must know him pretty well because she didn't hide behind her mane or anything. "Sorry I'm not more excited... I was just kinda hoping--"

"Hey Fluttershy!" I interrupted. She looked past Stormy and saw me. She beamed at me, then she blushed and started hiding behind her mane.

"Oh...hi Sharky..." She mumbled. I was a little upset. She was scared of me again?

"Fluttershy, why are you scared of me again? I thought we were good friends now..." Her face popped out from behind her mane.

"Oh, I'm not scared!" She blurted. She then blushed again and hid behind her mane. Stormy had been looking at her then slowly turning his head towrds me the entire time. He started bumping my leg with his shoulder. I looked down at him and he started pointing the side of his head at Fluttershy.

"Ehm... ehm. ehm." He started clearing his throat as he motioned his head.

"Are you ok Stormy?" He rolled his eyes and sighed. I decided to ignore him and turned back to Fluttershy. "May we come in?"

"Oh...um...please do...if you don't mind." I kicked the snow off my shoes and stepped in. The entire time Fluttershy never moved her head out of her mane. Stormy stomped all his hooves then walked in too. Fluttershy motioned to a couch and we sat down. It was quiet for awhile, but not akward quiet, more like 'at peace' quiet. My stomach broke the silence. Both of them looked at me and I blushed.

"That's what I get for only eating two meals and some sweets since I got here." I groaned. Fluttershy jumped up.

"Oh you poor thing!" She shouted. "I'll make you something really quick!" She darted off. Stormy gave me a funny look.

"What?" I asked him. He shook his head.

"Do mares act like that--" He pointed in Fluttershy's direction. "All the time?" I thought for a moment.

"Shy? No, not really. It's usually just her." He sighed and shook his head some more.

"You have got to be the smartest IDIOT I've ever met." I was gonna give him a smart remark right back, but Fluttershy ran in right then.

"Oh, I forgot to ask, what do you eat? I've got apples, oranges, carrots, birdseed, steaks, eggs--"

"Wait, you have WHAT?!?" I shouted in disbelief. Did she just say STEAK?! "You have MEAT here Fluttershy?!" She didn't bat an eyelash at my outburst.

"Well an animal pony like me has to get over the fact that not everything out there is a vegetarian like me, so I have it for some of my animal friends." Stormy looked just as shocked as me. "Anyway, you look like an omnivore--" I wondered how she could tell by looking at me. "So if you want some, please eat it. It'll go bad by the end of winter anyway and I hate to waste." I was so thrown off by how calm she was with this. I really didn't think it would make a good impression on Stormy, but my stomach gave me away. Fluttershy gave me a small smile. "I'll take that as a yes." She trotted off. I sat there open-mouthed. Stormy looked at me and asked exactaly what I was thinking.

"Did that just happen?!" I just sat there open-mouthed and shrugged. I heard sizzling in the kitchen and almost fainted. This shit was really happening. My world just flipped. Me and Stormy just sat there for about 15 minutes staring at each other open-mouthed. When Fluttershy walked in balancing a plate with a steak on it on her wing... I did faint. I was promptly woken up by a hoof to my cheek. Stormy had punched me.

Damn I faint too much. I thought to myself. Fluttershy set the plate down in front of me. I wanted to vomit because the idea of eating meat in front of these ponies made me sick, but at the same time I wanted to wolf down the steak. I decided to comprimise. "I'm so sorry!" I said to both of the ponies. I picked up the plate and ran outside. I am not proud of myself for what happened next. I won't even go into it. I didn't even have a fork or knife....*shudder* After I finished I wiped my face off and walked back into the tree. I felt so freakin' guilty. Fluttershy was handling this better than anypony ironically. She took the plate and trotted back into the kitchen. I sat down next to Stormy.

"Dude...." I flinched, waiting for the worst. "You are a BEAST!!" He didn't say it in a bad way, he was smiling at me a offering his hoof up for a brohoof. "Finally! A meat-eater on OUR side!" He cheered. I was stunned yet again. Damn these ponies and their ability to get over otherwise terrible things. Fluttershy trotted back in.

"I agree. It's nice to see somepony that can eat meat, but won't eat us. It's...nice..." She looked like she suddenly remembered she was shy and started blushing and hiding behind her mane again. About that time I remebered I had a job.

"Oh CRUD!!" I shouted. "I'm gonna be late to work!!" I ran over to Fluttershy and hugged her. "Thanks for understanding..." I whispered to her. She didn't move for a second, but then she kissed me on the cheek and hugged me back.

"No problem..." I released her and ran out the door. Stormy was right behind me, I have no idea why he was there, but it was nice to have him. About 10 minutes into the run Stormy started shouting.

"Wait...STOP!!!" I skidded to a halt and looked at him.

"What?" I yelled back. His pupils had shrank and his tail was inbetween his legs. "Whats wrong?"

"Don't you hear that? CAN'T YOU HEAR THAT?!" He was yelling. He was really starting to freak me out. "Manticore!!! He's been following us for the past 5 minutes!!" Right about then I heard a loud roar and a huge lion with a scorpion tail and bat wings charged out of the treeline right at me, roaring like a monster.

"OH FUCK!!!"

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What I think when I write that ending: Finally I get to write some action!

What you think when you read that ending: Dammit, not the kind of action I was hoping for! Oh well...

For My Friends!

"Why the fuck aren't we still running?!" I shouted at Stormy.

"You can't outrun a manticore you idiot! If we had been still running he would've caught us at a disadvantage!"

"Wait...You want me to fight that thing!?" This thing was a beast! It was at least twice the size of the one in the series, so it TOWERED over me, or at least it will when it gets here.

"Unless you want to be his steak, YES!" I turned to analyze the combat situation like I did on Earth.

Ok, he's big. That should make him easier to throw off balance. I thought to myself. He's got wings, that means he can fly, so he must be a lot lighter than he looks. I'll wager I've got about 30 pounds on him. Let's see, at the rate he's going there's no way he can stop moving, he's trying to ram us and knock us to the ground. I waited till he was right on top of us, then dropped to the ground and let his front right foreleg hit my shoulder. He did tumble over on his side, but I was knocked clean off my feet too. Dammit, I forgot I've been taking in pegasus magic! My body's much lighter now! Guess I can't rely on a weight advantage.

"Whoa! How did you do that!?" Stormy yelled as he ran over to the manticore and bucked it in the face.

"Skill!" I shouted back to him. "Look out!" The manticore raised his front left paw and swiped Stormy away. He flew a good 5 feet before landing on his face. The manticore jumped back to his feet and I did the same. He charged at the downed Stormy, hoping for a quick kill, but I interrupted his charge by bashing into his right shoulder. He went down and I stumbled, but stayed upright. He swung at me with his tail on his way down, and gave me a huge gash on my left arm. I could feel the poison enter my bloodstream. It burned like hot coals in my veins. I gritted my teeth and let out a few silent tears. The pain held me immobile. The manticore stood back up and walked over to me. I could swear the bastard was grinning. He was right next to me, and he raised his paw for the killing blow, but out of nowhere Stormy slammed into his side and knocked him away from me. The manticore let out a howl and turned his head to bite Stormy. Stormy saw the incoming blow, but couldn't get out of the way fast enough. The manticore's jaws clamped around Stormy's middle, and he bit down. I could hear Stormy's ribs start to break. "NO!" I yelled. My own pain temporarily forgotten, I charged the manticore once more. I socked him right in his left eye. He howled in pain and dropped Stormy. Stormy twitched a few times, but I knew he wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. I had to beat this guy fast, or we're both gonna die just standing here. The manticore had taken a few steps back and was now circling me and Stormy. His eye was swelling, his face was bruised where Stormy had bucked it, he was limping a lot, and his right shoulder looked out of place. It didn't change the fact that he could still easily kick my ass unless I thought of something. I charged him again right as he ran at me. Right before we connected, I slid on my back and passed under him. I'm not proud of what I did next. As I slid under him I pulled my right arm back, and slammed my fist into his exposed coin purse. He HOWLED. Boy if he was pissed before, he was ENRAGED now. Luckily, his pain threw his judgement off. He tried to stab me with his tail by stabbing downward, but I side stepped and his tail buried itself in the dirt. I ran up to his buried tail and slammed my right elbow into one of the spaces inbetween the segments that made up his tail. It broke off, and I was sprayed with fluid. He was in so much pain, he didn't notice what I did next. I jumped up on his back, reached around his mane and started pulling out the hair from his mane around his throat. He howled some more, but he was obviously getting weaker. When enough of his hair was gone, I reached my arms around his throat, and squeezed for all I was worth. He started bucking and rolling on his back to try and get me off, but I remained unshaken. As I held on to him, I started mimicking his magic, and my shirt ripped off as I gained muscle mass. My pant legs ripped too, but thankfully stayed on. I continued to squeeze, and after about 5 minutes, he finally stopped. He fell over on his side. I lifted him a little so I could remove my arm. Because I had started to mimic his magic the poison was effecting me less, but I knew it wasn't enough. I searched around for a second, and found a sharp-looking rock. I then placed it on the manticore's exposed throat, and kicked it in. I had to make sure it was dead. I then walked over to Stormy, and picked him up. He was covered in blood.

"S-sharky?"

"Yeah buddy?"

"Did we get it?"

"Yeah...couldn't have done it without you bud."

"Thanks..." With that, he blacked out. He wasn't dead, I could still feel him breathing. I didn't know how long either of us was going to survive though, I could already feel the manticore's magic starting to fade. I took off in the direction of Ponyville at a sprint. About 5 minutes away from the city, my body gave out on me. The manticore's magic had faded and I was fading fast.

"I'm so sorry Stormy..." I mumbled as I blacked out.

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"Guys, guys, he's waking up!!" I blinked my eyes to try and clear the fuzziness in my vision. I was to disorientated to figure out who was talking. I just laid where I was and tried to clear my pounding head.

"I-I'm al-al-alive?" I stuttered. My mouth felt like it was full of cotton. I looked around and saw the blurred forms of the mane six.

"Oh thank Celestia!" Twilight yelled. She thudded her head down on my chest and started crying. I wheezed, but tried not to move as she cried it out. Rarity and Fluttershy did the same.. Rainbow Dash teared up and ran out of sight.

"I'm ok too, thanks for asking." Said a sarcastic voice from across the room.

"Stormy!" I said with a smile. He looked at me and smiled back.

"That was a great way to spend our first morning as friends huh?" He said, still laying the sarcasm on thick.

"The best." I said with a grin. Rarity interrupted us.

"What were you doing anyway?" She asked through her sobs. I frowned.

"We...we got into a fight with a manticore..." They all gasped, then Rainbow appeared out of nowhere.

"You fought a MANTICORE?!" She gasped. "SWEET! That is so bad-flank!" She squealed. I blushed.

"No it's not, I only did it 'cause I couldn't outrun him. Even then I almost died...Speaking of which, not that I'm complaining, but why am I alive?"

"Well when you didn't show up for work I went looking for because you didn't seem like the kind of pony to miss work. So I bounced around town looking for you and somepony said they saw you heading down the path to Fluttershy's house so I went that way and I found you and Stormy unconcious on the ground so I dragged you to the hospital and here we are!" Pinkie Pie gushed. My disorientated brain couldn't handle the sudden rush of Pinkie speech, so I only caught the part where she dragged me back.

"Well thanks Pinkie Pie!" I shouted and opened my arms to offer the party pony a hug. She reached over the three mares on my chest and embraced me.

"You know half of the manticore fighting team is over here still!" Stormy interrupted.

"Oh right! Are you hurt bad Stormy?" I asked with concern in my voice.

"Well I got three gashes on my side from where he slashed me and teeth marks and broken ribs to spare, but other than that I'm fine." I gasped.

"Are you alright? You're gonna be fine right?!" He laughed.

"You're talking to the pegasus that takes lightning bolts to the head; I'll be just fine." He assured me. I let out a sigh of relief. Twilight stopped cying and looked at Stormy.

"You helped him fight the manticore right?" She asked Stormy.

"Eeyup he did!" I said proudly. "He saved my life in that fight!" Twilight trotted over to Stormy and gave him a big hug. Which made me a little mad for some reason...

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!" She squealed while she embraced him. Stormy cleared his throat.

"Ehm...Not that I don't appreciate the attention...but PAIN!!!" He wheezed. Twilight released him.

"Oh...sorry." She trotted back over to me and Rarity finished sobbing. Rarity then slapped me with her hoof.

"How dare you make us worry like that!" She yelled at me. The slap didn't really hurt, Rarity isn't too strong, but I pretended it did for her benefit. I rubbed my jaw. (Damn, these ponies hit me more than I thought.)

"Oh because I was galavanting about the forest looking for a fight with a giant manticore. I'm sorry he charged out of the forest and attacked me in the open." I retorted sarcastically. Fluttershy spoke up.

"Oh...I'm sorry Sharky. This is my fault...." She murmered. I gave her a confused look.

"How in Equestria is a manticore attack your fault?"

"He problably could smell the steak I made for you..." She mumbled.

Oh crap... I thought to myself as every head in the room turned towards me.

"Did Fluttershy just say you ate meat?" Twilight asked.

"Well she didn't say that...but yes. I do.... I'm sorry..." They all gave me looks of disgust except for Fluttershy and Stormy. Thats when Fluttershy spoke up again.

"Now wait just a second! If you don't mind... Sharky is nice, and would never hurt anypony! Just because he eats meat, doesn't make him mean! You shouldn't treat him differently now because you know he isn't a vegetarian!" I was shocked, then I was really happy. The rest of the mane 6 looked ashamed.

"Thanks Fluttershy..." I whispered to her. She hugged me.

"She's right, we shoudn't judge ya' on what cha' eat. I'm mighty sorry Sharky..." Applejack apologized.

"Yeah, actually now that I think about it, it's cool we have a meat-eater on out side!" Rainbow Dash added. Stormy smiled.

"I agree, it was quite rude of me to change my opinion of you so quickly Sharky. I apologize." Rarity said.

"Yeah, I knew you were a nice pony, so I shouldn't have changed my mind because you ate meat. That would be like hating Spike because he eats gems, or hating me because I eat cake all the time, or even--" Pinkie Pie was cut short by a lavender hoof.

"They're right Sharky. Me of all ponies should know that you wouldn't do anything to hurt us." Twilight said bashfully. I put on a huge smile.

"Don't worry about it girls!" I reassured them. "I understand completely, I'm just happy you all could get over it so quickly."

"No problem, Sharky!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Now, could you tell me how you beat the manticore?" I thought for a moment.

"Sure, on two conditions. One Fluttershy has to leave, I don't want her to hear this. Two, tell me why I'm not still poisoned."

"Oh, thats easy, I just cast an antidote spell on you." Twilight answered. Wow, I didn't think it worked that way. I asked Fluttershy to leave the room. She gave me a sad look, but left without a fight. Then Stormy and I reaccounted our fight with the manticore to the 5 girls left.

More clothes...

"...just to make sure he was dead." I finished. I had been looking down, ashamed of my fight. "I know it was only in self-defense, but I shouldn't kill things..." I felt even more terrible telling this to these innocent ponies. They were silent for awhile. I looked up and realized they were all grinning from ear to ear.

"Sharky... do you have any IDEA what you've done!?" Rarity asked happily. I was very confused. Why weren't they disgusted or horrified?

"Ummm... murdered an animal?" I asked helplessly. WTF is going on?

"Sharky... That manticore you just described is one of the only HOSTILE manticores in this area!" Twilight exclaimed. "Only a few manticores actively hunt us, the rest are much nicer. Do you have any idea how many ponies you just saved?" Now I was much happier.

"Yeah, and the violent manticores are HUGE, I can't believe you beat one! That is SO AWESOOOME!!" I don't even need to say who said that.

"Well... If you're sure it was a good thing..." I decided to change the subject. "Well as long as I'm not poisoned any more, I should get back to work."

"Are you crazy?!" Twilight yelled at me. "You're in no condition to work!"

"The only injury I had was a cut on my arm!" I held it up and it had almost completely healed anyway. "Now that I'm not poisoned anymore, I should be just fine." Twilight looked like she was going to argue, but she realized I was right and hung her head.

"Fine..." I pushed the mares off my chest and stood up. Then I realized my lack of clothes. I REALLY need to realize these things earlier. I groaned.

"Agh great... Rarity... I need your help again..." She looked at me and smiled.

"No problem dear!" She said with a strange smile. Twilight shot her a glare.

Geez these girls are confusing... I thought to myself. I followed Rarity out the door, and ran right into Fluttershy.

"Oh, hi Sharky..." She mumbled. "If you don't mind me asking... Where are you going?"

"I..uh.. Ripped my clothes...again... So I'm going to Rarity's house to get more." I blushed. I really need to get extras this time.

"Oh... Do you mind if I come?"

"Well I'm just gonna get some new clothes... You can come if you want I guess."

"Yay."

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They all watched him leave. Then Pinkie Pie jumped up.

"Oh no! The Cakes still need my help!" She bolted out of the room. Then Rainbow Dash spoke up too.

"Oh yeah, I still have to help put the clouds together for the coming snow storm!" She zipped out of the room as well.

"Whew, Ah thought they'd never leave." Applejack sighed. "Now Twilight, tell me why yer actin' so funny." Twilight jumped.

"I don't know what you mean... Ah ha ha ha..." Twilight gave a nervous laugh. Applejack glared at her.

"Now don't gimme that. Somethin' is eatin at cha. You've been actin mighty strange lately, and ah wanna know what's goin' on." Twilight sighed.

"Ok Applejack... But you have to promise not to tell anypony!" Twilight stared at her intently.

"Fine, ah promise. Now tell me what the buck is goin' on!"

"I... well... um... I think I...--"

"For land's sakes just spit it out!"

"I like Sharky!" Twilight blurted. Applejack reared back, unready for that news.

"Well, um we all like 'im. He's a right good sort..." Applejack stammered.

"No Applejack... I LIKE him." Twilight put extra emphasis on the like to establish her point.

"Oh..." Applejack whispered. Twilight groaned.

"I knew it! I'm a terrible pony for thinking like this!" Twilight wailed.

"No no, I understand why ya like 'im, I just... wasn't expectin' it."

"So it's not bad?" Twilight sniffled

"Nah, Ah'm sure yer fine. The only question ah have, is what does he think of you?" Twilight sighed.

"I have no idea... I think he likes me too, but he never acts like he does..."

"Well, ah'm sure he'll come around eventually..." Stormy was amazed at their ability to forget he was in the room, but instead of interrupt them, he turned his head and pretended to sleep.

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"...You know... I just thought of something."

"Hmm? What's that dear?" Rarity asked.

"Shouldn't you have my measurments from before on file or something?" She had been measuring me again for the past 3 and a half hours.

"Oh... well I would, but uhhhh... I... Forgot to file them! Yes, thats it. Now they're lost, hopelessly lost I'm afraid." I sighed at my bad luck.

"Well do you think that you could make the clothes stretchy this time? I don't want them breaking on accident again." Rarity's eyes darted around for a moment, she looked worried.

"Um... no I can't dear, no stretchy material on hand I'm afraid." She said. I sighed again.

"Guess I'll just have to be more careful then. Are you sure I can't pay you?" I changed the subject.

"Oh, heavens no darling! That white diamond you gave me will cover everything you could need for quite some time! Plus, I don't charge my close, personal, friends..." She put some odd emphasis on those last three words.

"Are they really THAT valuable here?" I asked. She sighed then answered with a suprising amount of enthusiasm.

"Heavens yes! They're the rarest gems in all Equestria!" She squealed. I laughed. "Now what is so funny dear?"

"Just the fact that here white diamonds are very valuable, but in my world we can MAKE them." Rarity gasped.

"YOU CAN MAKE THOSE?!?!" She shouted. I flinched at the volume.

"Yes, scientists in my world also set them on fire. For fun." Rarity looked woozy.

"I think I'm going to faint... Catch me!" She shouted as she fell over. She caught me by suprise, so I didn't react at first. Luckily I managed to catch her with her own magic before she hit the ground. I lifted her into my arms and looked at her. Eeyup. Out like a light. I sighed and carried her up to her room. It was already dark outside, I must have been unconcious for awhile. When I came back downstairs I almost ran into Fluttershy again.

"Hi Sharky."

"Fluttershy!" I yelled, I was a little suprised. She backed up a little and her ears flattened. "Sorry Fluttershy, I didn't expect you to be there." She straightened back up.

"Oh... It's no big deal." She mumbled. Geez she's cute when you can't understand a dang word she says because she's being so quiet. "Would you mind taking me home? I'm scared of the dark...." D'AWWWWW.

"No problem Fluttershy!" I said happily. She reached up to me with her forehooves, asking me to pick her up. I grinned and scooped her up with one arm. She nestled against my chest and we left the boutique. I started towards her house at a good pace, but as soon as we hit the trail I started running. I have this bad habit of imagining dangers, especially when I'm alone or in the dark. In my head I was being chased by large manticores with dripping fangs and large pointy tails.... Luckily, Fluttershy was with me or it would have been much worse for me. She started tapping my chest with her hoof.

"Are you ok Sharky?" I slowed my pace. She must be worried for me.

"Yeah... it's just...cold out here." I shivered as I realized I was telling the truth. There was snow on the ground and I was running around in ripped pants and no shirt. As if in response Fluttershy cuddled up closer to my chest.

"Don't worry Sharky, I'll keep you warm." She consoled me. D'AWWWWWW! How nice of her. My chest was warmer, but my legs and back were beggining to freeze. I took off again, immediately forgetting my imagined fears. We talked for the whole run about everything we could think of. It helped keep my mind off of how cold I was getting. We talked about her rabbit, the animals she cared for, how she had found each of her friend's pets (Except the owl of course), everything, except me. I tried very hard to avoid me and my world. Celestia forbid I acidentally mention hunters or something that would trauamtize the poor girl.

"Hey Fluttershy, could I get a pet?"

"YES! Oh yes! I love finding my friends new pets!" She said excitedly. She even flew out of my arms a little, but when I shivered she came back down and cuddled against my chest again. "Sorry..." I smiled.

"Don't worry about it." I reassured her. "Now, about this pet... What can I get?" She started rambling off a long list of animals she had for adoption. No cats or dogs for some reason, but there was something better. "Did you just say wolf puppy?" She nodded vigerously.

"Yes, he's a little pup I found all alone in the woods. He's one of the few animals that stay with me for the winter." She finished. I flinched. The one pet that sounded cool was the one that kept her company for the winter.

"Why didn't I see him last time I was at your house?" I asked.

"He was adventuring somewhere. He likes to go play." This wolf was starting to sound cooler every second. He didn't attack ponies, loved to play, AND was adventerous!

"How much does it cost to adopt that one?" I asked. She thought for a moment.

"Well...umm... normally it would be Three hundred bits, but I l-l-...think of you as a good friend, so I'll only charge two hundred." I didn't notice her stutter in the middle. I smiled.

"Ok, assuming I get paid the same amount of bits at work tomorrow as I did yesterday, I'll swing by here and pay for him tomorrow after work." She looked ecstatic.

"Oooooh~ Yay! I get to give another animal a new home!" She shouted. (well you know what I mean by shouted.) Then I started thinking.

Actually, I don't have a home to bring him to... I'm sure Twilight wouldn't appreciate a wolf puppy in her library, and Fluttershy needs company during the winter anyway... "Hey Fluttershy?"

"Hmm? Oh... Yes Sharky?" She was suddenly shy again.

"Would you mind looking after the puppy for awhile? Just until I can buy a house of my own..." She smiled at me.

"Sure I can Sharky... Hey Sharky?"

"Yes Fluttershy?"

"Are you going to try and run back to the library through all that?" She pointed behind me at the snow and the dark. My mind filled with dread as the imagined manticores sprung back to life.

"No, no, nope." I answered in quick sucession. "Would you mind if I stayed just for tonight?" I begged. I really didn't want to risk fighting another monster. She gave me a... odd smile, but it had a lot of warmth in it, so I didn't mind.

"Oh, please do stay... If you don't mind..." I laughed.

"Now why would I mind?" I asked.

"...Well I've only got one bed...." She mumbled. I laughed again.

"Don't worry, I'll just sleep on the floor."

"Oh no! You're my guest, I insist you take the bed."

"No, it's your house, you take it."

"Oh no, you're my friend, you take it." She argued.

"No, I couldn't do that, you take it." I said commandingly, hoping she'd be scared into accepting it. She did look scared, but she continued regardless.

"I-I've got an idea... What if we...s-s-s-s-s-s-s--"

"Share the bed?" I finished for her. She nodded shyly and started blushing and hiding her face. I thought about it. I didn't want to have to take up room on the bed, but she looked determined, so I gave in. "Fine, we'll share the bed" I mumbled.

"Yay." The yay was so silent, Sharky didn't hear it. They finally made it to Fluttershy's tree, and Fluttershy pointed me to the bedroom. Her bed was actually a lot bigger than Twilight's. We both fit in (with me bending my legs a little.) and laid down facing each other. I got transfixed by those giant, emerald eyes of hers. She fell asleep soon, and I was able to fall asleep after she closed her eyes.

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"Shaaaaarky!" Twilight yelled when she got back to the library. She didn't get a response. She went up to the bedroom, hoping he had decided to sleep in the bed without persuasion tonight, but he wasn't there either. She decided to scry for him. She found him, asleep in bed with Fluttershy.

Cheater? WHUT?

I woke up staring at Fluttershy's closed eyes. I looked over her shoulder an saw that the wing she wasn't laying on was standing straight out. I laughed quietly, so as not to wake Fluttershy up. I reached over and pressed down on her wing to fold it back against her side.

*POMF* It sprung right back out. I laughed to myself again.

*POMF* *POMF* *POMF* *POMF* I kept pressing it down and letting it pop back up, laughing to myself the whole time. What can I say? I'm easily entertained. I got bored eventually, and got out of bed.

*POMF* My wing I had been laying on popped out.

"Ah crap..." I decided to go look for a bathroom. I found it after a few seconds of searching, and took a cold shower. After that I relieved myself and put my torn pants back on. Then I found the kitchen and got a glass of water. When I turned around, there was a flaming Twilight staring right at me.

"AHHH FIRE!!!" I yelled as I threw the water in my glass all over her. Oops.

"WHAT. ARE. YOU. DOING. HERE?!!" She shrieked. I stumbled backward and almost sat in the sink.

"Umm...Staying the night?" I mumbled.

"WHY DID YOU SLEEP WITH FLUTTERSHY THEN!?!'' She yelled even louder.

"Because we got into a fight over who would sleep on the floor..." I choked out. DAYUM TWILIGHT, YOU SCARY! I though to myself.

"AND YOUR FIGHT ENDED IN FLUTTERSHY'S BED?!? EXPLAIN HOW THAT HAPPENED!!" I was really freaking out now. Even though she wasn't on fire, she was still managing to look even more pissed.

"B-b-because she kept arguing, so we decided to share the bed..." Twilight seemed to calm down a little.

"So you only slept?" She asked calmly, but I could still hear the rage in her voice.

"Y-yes! What else would I have done?!" Twilight's anger was gone now. She blushed.

"N-nothing, nevermind..." She mumbled. I was too relieved to wonder why she was blushing.

"O-ok... Well I'm gonna go see if Rarity's conscious now..." I stuttered.

"Wait, why didn't you just come home last night?" She asked, totally not worrying about Rarity being unconscious. I blushed.

"Ummm... So who's this Celestia I keep hearing about?" I tried to change the subject. Twilight didn't buy it.

"Don't you dodge my question! Why didn't you come home?!" She was shouting again.

"ahfbhfjhdjb..." I mumbled really quietly.

"What was that!?" Twilight was still shouting.

"I-I-I'm... Afraid... of being alone in the dark..." I mumbled. I was really blushing now, my whole face felt hot! Twilight started tearing up, and I thought for a second that she was going to cry. Instead, she started laughing her flank off.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!! THAT'S THE FUNNIEST THING I'VE EVER HEARD!!" She was rolling on her back she was laughing so hard. I stood straight up and my blush disappeared.

"WELL AT LEAST FLUTTERSHY DIDN'T LAUGH AT ME!!" I yelled at her. I stalked away from her and slammed the door as I left Fluttershy's house. Fluttershy's wings were weak, but I still managed to fly away.

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"Oh no! Now Sharky is never gonna like me..." Twilight mumbled. She was feeling terrible about laughing at him.

"You like Sharky?" Fluttershy said from the doorway to her room. Twilight turned bright red.

"Oh... um... n-no, that's not what I meant at all! Ah ah ha ha..." Twilight lied. Fluttershy looked like she didn't buy it.

"Twilight. You like Sharky." Fluttershy said. I was a statement, she knew. Twilight sighed.

"Y-yes, I do..." Twilight admitted. Fluttershy spoke up again.

"Well... I do too..." Fluttershy confessed. Twilight looked up at her, and Fluttershy was staring right at her, not acting shy at all. Twilight was shocked, then angry.

"YOU like him?!" Twilight said in disbelief. "No, no you can't!" Twilight said fiercely.

"Why not? All you've done, all anypony has done since they met me is boss me around!" Fluttershy was mad now. "I'm gonna like him if I want! If thats... No, wait. It IS ok!" She shouted. (Well, Fluttershouted.) Twilight was taken back.

"W-w-well, I'm not gonna let you have him!" Twilight challenged.

"Well, I won't let YOU have him!" Fluttershy spat right back. Twilight was totally shocked, she'd never seen Fluttershy act like this!

"I'm gonna get him first!" Twilight yelled at Fluttershy. Twilight then left in a huff, determined to make Sharky like her first. If Sharky could see what was happening, he'd stop it immediately, but he can't.

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"RARITY!! ARE YOU HERE!?" I yelled as I opened the door to Carousel Boutique.

"No need to yell so loudly dear!" She shouted from her room.

"Hey, I've got to go to work soon, can you make me the clothes now?" Rarity started trotting down the stairs.

"Well... I haven't gotten all the necessary measurments yet..." She gave me a funny smile.

"BUCK IT! I'M GOING TO WORK SHIRTLESS!!" I yelled. I did NOT have the patience for another 4 hours of measurement. I needed to be in a fast-paced environment where I didn't have to wait for stuff to happen, and Pinkie Pie fit that description nicely. Besides, they are ponies, I'm sure they won't mind if I'm missing some clothes. Rarity was calling me, but I ignored her and walked towards Sugarcube Corner.

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I got to Sugarcube Corner, and saw the Cakes talking with Pinkie Pie.

"Are you sure he's worth our wait? I mean what kind of employee doesn't show up for work on only their second day?!" Mr. Cake asked Pinkie Pie.

"The kind that got attacked by a manticore." I interrupted. Mr. and Mrs. Cake looked up at me and gasped.

"Oh... Sorry, we just--" Mrs. Cake started.

"No, don't worry, I understand." I reassured them. "I'm here now and that's all that matters. So what do you say we get to work?" I asked with a grin. The Cakes and Pinkie Pie smiled at me and we all walked into the kitchen. They didn't even question my lack of clothing, so I guess it really doesn't matter here. I washed my hands and immersed myself in the storm of flour and egg.

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We managed to make-up what had been left over yesterday and even finished today's and some of tomorrow's work as well. I got paid the same as I had two days ago, which meant I had two hundred and fifty bits. (luckily the other ones had stayed in my pockets.) I was full of Pinkie Pie magic and decided to see if I could use the Pinkie Physics to get to Fluttershy's quicker. After jumping in about 20 trees, (I didn't teleport somewhere new every time. Darn.) I fell into Sweet Apple Acres.

Oh hey, I haven't even been here yet! I thought to myself. Might as well meet the Apple Family while I'm here. I had ended up in the back of the orchard, so I had a ways to walk to the house. I would have tried jumping in more trees, but I didn't want to risk ending up farther away. I soon reached the house. Big Mac was the only one in sight, so I walked over to introduce myself.

"Hey there!" I shouted cheerily. The Pinkie magic still had me bouncing and happy. He had been turned away from me, but he turned around and looked at me when he heard me shout. I expected him to freak out or yell or something, but he sat there calmly, like he had known me forever.

"Hi." He said simply.

"Hi." I returned. He stared at me intently for a while. I wasn't sure what to do, so I just stood still while he stared at me.

"Eeyup." He said. "You're alright." He then stood up, and walked away. I scratched my head, not sure what just happened.

"My name is Sharky by the way!" I shouted at him.

"Big Mac." He shouted over his shoulder.

Well that was... odd. And that's coming from the Pinkie human. I thought to myself. I could feel the Pinkie magic wearing off, so I decided to try one last tree. I jumped in the nearest tree, and fell down a tree next to Fluttershy's house. Oddly... convinent. I thought to myself. I stood up and walked to her door. I knocked.

"Hello? Oh... hi Sharky..." She said shyly when she opened the door.

Geez, her face is gonna become a part of her mane at this rate. I thought to myself as she buried her face in her mane again. "Hi Fluttershy!" I said with a grin. Then I frowned. "Twilight isn't here right?"

"Oh no, she left a little while after your fight." She said. I flinched.

"You heard that?" I groaned.

"Yes... I'm sorry..." I smiled at her again.

"It's Twilight's fault, not yours. Don't be sorry."

"Ok... if you say so..."

"Now, about that wolf puppy," I pulled the two gold bits from my pocket. "Here is the money you wanted for him!" I said proudly. Fluttershy smiled and took the coins. Then she whistled sharply. A little gray puppy came running out of the nearby forest.

"OHMYGOSHHE'SADORABLE!" I gushed. Clearly the Pinkie magic was still in effect. The little wolf ran up to Fluttershy and jumped into her chest. Fluttershy rolled onto her back with the impact. When she landed she was holding the little wolf with her hooves.

"Yes, he is really cute." She agreed. "Do you want to hold him?" I nodded and reached down to grab him. I lifted him out of Fluttershy's hooves and brought him up to my face. He gave me a curious look, then started licking my cheek. "Awww, he likes you!" Fluttershy gushed.

"Yeah, I think he does!" I said. He had started nibbling my nose, not in a mean way, but in the "I'm adorable, love me now" kind of way. I instantly loved this little wolf. I lowered him to my chest and hugged Fluttershy with my free arm. "Thanks Fluttershy! I love him!" She smiled at me.

"Glad to help." She said quietly.

"Mind if I play with him for awhile before I head home?" I asked. She gave me a "Well duh" look.

"Of course! He's your pet now!" She ushered me and the puppy out the door so we could play. I set him down on the ground and he started doing the "Let's play!" stance. The one where a dog lowers his head and stretches out his forelegs. You know, this one. He then dashed a short distance and turned back to me, inviting me to chase him. I took off after him and we played chase for about an hour. When I felt my teeth getting longer and more hair growing on my arms, I decided to stop. I caught him and scooped him up in my arms. I opened Fluttershy's door and placed him in her house.

"Thanks Fluttershy, he's great!" I smiled at her.

"Hey um... Sharky?" She muttered as I turned to leave.

"Yes Fluttershy?"

"Um... It's starting to get dark... do you... want to stay... with me?" She stuttered. I thought for a moment.

"Nah, there's enough light for me to get back, and I don't need Twilight any madder at me than I'm sure she is."

"Oh....... Ok....." I then closed the door and started jogging towards Ponyville. It was almost dark, so I didn't see the shadow hurtle towards me from the sky. I did hear the large *BOOM* as something hit the ground behind me. I turned around and saw a dark chariot.

"Princess Luna requests a meeting, Sharky." One of the shadow ponies pulling the chariot shouted at me.

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GOD I LOVE CLIFFHANGERS!!!

The princess is always right!

Oh look, Luna's chariot. I thought to myself. then I did a mental double take. FUCK, LUNA'S CHARIOT!!! One of the ponies pulling it waved me over.

I was shaking in fear as I boarded the chariot. Why did Luna want me? Better yet, how did she know about me? I asked the ponies pulling the chariot these questions, but they didn't know either.

"Can you at least tell me how YOU knew how to find me?" I asked them.

"We were told you'd be something like we'd never seen. We were told to look in Ponyville, and look. Here you are, a freak." One of the ponies said gruffly. I was a bit insulted by the word freak. I'd heard monster before, but the way this pony said freak made me want to hit him. Is that bad? After I boarded the chariot, we took off into the fading light. These ponies weren't by any means fast, so it took a little while before we even got near Canterlot. It was completely dark by the time we arrived at the castle. I stepped off the chariot and onto a balcony. One of the ponies gave me directions to Luna's chambers.

"And DON'T waste time getting there!" He warned. the chariot then flew away and left me on the balcony... alone... in the dark... buck... I took off into the castle, desperately running from imagined monsters. I followed the pony's directions to the letter, desperate to find another living being to disperse my fear. I got further and further into the castle, going top speed as I tore through the halls. Were it day, or had I some company, I might have stopped to realize how HUGE the place was, or how beautiful the decorations were, but no, I was terrified of the monsters of my imagination. Eventually, I reached two gigantic doors, black as space, but with little dots of light on it. My fear lessened as it was replaced with nervousness. I tried to examine the dots on the door to calm myself. They resembled stars, and I could actually pick out constellations. Little Dipper, Big Dipper, Leo, etc. Something was wrong with them though, it's like they were slightly off.

"If thou would stop examining our door and enter, we would greatly appreciate it." A voice boomed from the other side. I nearly jumped out of my skin in shock. I gulped down my trepidation and pushed the door open. It didn't work, and I facepalmed myself as I realized it was a "pull" door. I heard laughter from the other side, and it gave me courage as I realized... She was a PONY. WTF did I have to fear from a pony? You know, except for the fact that she was the equivalent of a godess... Buck... I pulled the door open, and stepped onto the moon. Yeah, you read that right. Luna's bedroom, is the MOON. She was sitting on her haunches in front of a huge bed.

Huh, a bed on the moon. I thought to myself. I looked at Luna, and she stared right back at me. She was examining me, I could tell.

"So... uh... Why did you call me here?" I asked. She didn't answer for a little while. She continued examining me. When she was done, she looked into my eyes.

"We hath summoned you here to ensure you are not a threat to our denizens." She said it with such authority. I wouldn't have had to hear the guard call her a princess to know what she was. She was still staring at me.

"So, how do you plan to determine whether or not I'm a threat?" I asked. She gave me a scary look.

"Simple, we fight you." She stated simply. I just about crapped my pants.

"I'm sorry, WHAT?" I asked. There is NO way I heard that right.

"We will fight you." She said simply.

"Right... That's what I thought you said that." Eeyup. I'm asleep. I know it. I balled up my fist and punched myself in the face. Hard. Again. Eeyup, blood. Again. Not dreaming, Fuck.

"Well, art thou ready to commence sparring?" Luna asked, still sitting on her haunches. I guess punching myself in the face didn't bug her.

"Yeah, about that..." I turned around and pushed the doors open, preparing to run. Outside the room were hundreds of ponies in dark armor.

"As thou can see, escape is not an option." She stated calmly. Damn, her calmness is throwing me off. I looked at her, then back to the soliders, debating which was the greater threat. I sighed and let the door close.

"Well, I would fight you, but I don't hit girls.... Or mares, in this case." I tried to weasel my way out of this. Luna nodded her head.

"Chivalry, commendable. We could become male temporarily to make this easier on thou." She offered.

"No, no, no, no. The last thing I need in my mind is an image of male you." I struggled to find a way out, but none presented themselves. I sighed. "Fine, I will fight you, but no magic! I have none of my own." I said. She nodded again.

"We were expecting that. Dost thou take us for a cheat?" I shook my head.

"I don't want to fight you Princess." I tried. She then looked pissed off.

"Oh for the love of.... FIGHT ME!!" She commanded in Royal Canterlot voice. I flinched.

"Ok, ok calm down. OK then Luna, lets do this." I assumed a ready position. Luna stood up and charged me. Time seemed to slow down.

Ok Sharky, THINK. I can't lose, but I'm not going to hurt the princess either. I guess that means a lot of dodging and blocking. You've definately got the weight advantage this time, you haven't absorbed any pegasus magic, and she's WAY smaller than the manticore. And uh, for some reason gravity seems to be normal here, so... I sighed inwardly. This was gonna suck. I waited until she had reached me with her charge, then jumped to the left and pushed her side as she came by. It wasn't meant to hurt her, but I did succeed in gaining some distance from her. She turned to look at me, the started circling slowly. I waited, I wasn't going to attack first, that's how you make mistakes. She eventually stopped circling and charged me again. I realized she wouldn't fall for the same trick twice, so I didn't jump away from her charge this time. When she got close, she stopped her charge like I expected, and started swinging with her forelegs. I was unprepared for the first swing, and it caught me square in the chest. The wind was knocked out of me, but I managed to jump out of her range to her left side. I then dashed behind her and jumped on her back, where I causually sat down like I would while riding an earth horse. She immediately started bucking, but I tightened my grip with my les and held on. It would have been easier if I coul hold on to her mane, but my hands passed right through it. Eventually she tried to fall on her back, but I rolled off her side before she did. She ended up taking most of the damage from the fall herself, but she landed on my ankle as well. I got up and saw that she was flailing her limbs to try and get back up. I took advantage of her position and grabbed one of her forelegs in each hand. I then sat on her middle and leaned back so that my upper body pinned her back legs. She couldn't move. She struggled some more, but she knew it was over.

"We conceed. Thou hath bested us." She said sadly. I was happy.

"Yes, I win!" I cheered. Then I thought. "Oh buck, I won..." Crap, I just royally screwed that up, no pun intended. "You're going to send me back now aren't you?" I asked, terror plain in my voice.

"Now why would we do that?" She asked. I thought for a second.

"Wasn't I supposed to lose so I wasn't a threat?"

"Neigh, thou were supposed to not strike us, which thou did not." She explained. "Winning has made this all the more amazing." She continued. "In fact, we would like to make thou a proposal." I released her and jumped off of her midsection.

"What kind of proposal?" I asked cautiously. Luna stood up and smiled.

"We hath heard of thou's heroic defeat of the manticore, and would like to employ you as a royal knight." She said simply. I was stunned.

"Y-y-you want to what?" I stuttered. She gave an exasperated sigh.

"We would like to--"

"No, I heard you." I interrupted. "But wouldn't that mean I'd have to stay here at Canterlot all the time?" She snorted.

"No, thou misunderstands, we don't want you to be a guard, we would like you to be a... how is the best way to say this... Ah, monster hunter." My mouth dropped. "Thou will stay in Ponyville until we summon you, then thou shall find and slay whatever beast it is we send you after, and return to Ponyville." She finished.

"You want me to KILL?!" I shouted in disbelief. "I'm sorry, but I can't hunt down and kill things for you!" Luna gave me a burning glare.

"What art thou, a manner of small fowl?" She asked.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked. She sighed.

"How did Celestia put it again... Oh yes, art thou chicken?" She taunted. I narrowed my eyes.

"What did you just call me?" If there was one name I hated, it was chicken.

"We have challenged thine bravery by calling thou a chicken." She said simply. "Hundreds of ponies across Equestria do this for us every DAY. If a creature half thou's size can do this, why not thou?" She continued glaring at me. Dang it, I'm not ok with killing, but NOPONY calls me chicken.

"You're ON Luna!" I shouted at her. She smiled.

"Good, then we shall return you to Ponyville where thou shall await our summons."

"WAIT! I have a few questions first!" I yelled. She sighed, but let me speak. "Ok, how did you know about me, what will I be fighting and where, and do I get paid?" I felt that last question was a little selfish, but come on, I don't wanna kill things for nothing.

"We read Twilight's letters to our sister about you, various creatures plauging various towns across Equestria, and yes, handsomely." She finished. Then a green flame shot out of her horn and I was gone. "If you survive..." She mumbled to the now empty moon. A gurad opened the door.

"How did he manage to beat you, Princess?" He asked with disbelief.

"Simple, we went easy on him."

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Oh man, a letter at this hour?! Spike thought to himself. The incoming letter had woken him up. Geez, this is a big one. His stomach tensed and he gave a gigantic belch.

*BLEEEEEEEEH* (You know thats what burps sound like, don't give me that look.)

Sharky flew out of his mouth in a spout of green fire.

"WHOA! THAT WAS AWESOME!!!" I yelled when I hit the ground. "Spike! Do you have any idea what that's like?!" Spike gave me a funny look.

"No, I can honestly say I don't know what it's like to be sent like a letter." Spike said simply. He sounded like he was in some pain.

"Are you alright Spike?" I asked.

"No, this hurts almost as much as the time Discord attacked and Celestia made me--"

"Oh, I'm sorry!" I interrupted him. "Can I do anything to help?"

"Nah, don't worry about it, it'll pass here soon." He then stumbled to his bed, clutching his stomach. I wanted to tell Twilight about what had just happened, but she was already asleep. So, I curled up in my corner next to the bookshelves. It was really hard for me to fall asleep.

"BUCK IT!" I shouted. there was no way I was going to sleep without telling Twilight about this. I limped to her bed (my ankle still hurt.) and gave her a gentle shake. No response. I shook her more vigerously. No response. I pulled her covers off. She kicked me, then took them back without waking up. I then got an idea. I tried the trick I had used to wake my dog back on Earth up with. I leaned down, and blew in her ear. She started giggling and her ear twitched a lot. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at me.

"Oh, heh, this is that dream." She mumbled. I stood up and gave her a confused look.

"What dream?" Her eyes shot all the way open and her pupils shrank.

"OH SHARKY!!" She yelled. "YOU'RE ALIVE!!!" She jumped off her bed and hug-tackled me. It threw me off balance and I fell off the little ledge her bed is on. Twilight never let go the whole way down, so I landed on my back with her on my stomach.

"Yes, I'm alive, so are you and so is Spike." I said sarcastically. "Now that we've established the obvious... Wait, why wouldn't I be alive?"

"I couldn't scry you!" She sobbed. "The only things I can't scry are dead things!" She continued crying.

"Well can't I have just been out of range?" I asked. She stopped crying for a moment.

"Well... I guess it's possible if you managed to go as far as Canterlot and then come back in one night... You didn't go to Canterlot did you?" She sounded worried now. I thought for a moment.

"Well... yes, I did. I was summoned by Princess Luna." Her eyes shrank again.

"W-w-what d-did she w-want?" She stuttered nervously. Odd.

"She wanted to make sure I wasn't a threat." When I said that Twilight smiled and almost started laughing.

"How bad did she beat you?" She giggled, then she thought for a second and looked worried. "You aren't hurt that bad are you?!" She questioned desperately.

"Nah, I'm not hurt that bad, just took a hoof to the chest and a Luna to the ankle. Actually... I won." I grinned at her. She gasped in disbelief.

"YOU DID WHAT!?" She yelled. I grinned.

"She even gave me a job!" I cheered. Now Twilight looked really horrified.

"W-w-w-w-what j-j-j-job???!" She stuttered.

"MONSTER HUNTER!!!" I cheered. Then Twilight fainted. I cursed myself for stressing her out, but let it go. There was nothing I could do about it now. I was too tired from the day and my fight with Luna to move, so I just slept there with Twilight on top of me.

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How many of you saw that coming, none? Good. That means I'm doing my job right.

My little wolf

I woke up in the bed spooning Twilight again.

DAMMIT! I NEED TO QUIT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THIS PONY! I mentally yelled at myself, sure I'd done this in my sleep. I'M A TERRIBLE PERSON! I shouted inwardly, mad at myself for thinking of these grils like I do. I jumped out and realized I had morning... you know what I mean, don't make me say it! I ran to the bathroom and stripped. I took a LONG cold shower, as if trying to rid myself of this feeling forever. I turned off the water and shivered as I stepped out. The air hit the water droplets on my body and created an uncomfortably cold sensation. I towled myself off quickly and put my boxers and pants back on. I walked out of the bathroom holding my socks and shoes. Twilight was sitting outside the bathroom.

"Hi Sharky." She said. She wouldn't look me in the eye. "W-why would you take that job..." She asked me. She sounded sad, but I didn't know why.

"Hi Twilight... Luna... challenged my bravery. I've never been one to take things like that lying down." I explained.

"Sharky, I don't think you understand... You will be fighting MONSTERS. By ROYAL ORDER. You could die!" She looked panicked. "An-and... You'll have to leave me more often..." She looked like she was going to cry.

"Don't worry, I'm a fighter, I'm not gonna die!" I said, faking bravery. Honestly, the thought terrified me too. "And don't worry, Luna said I'll stay here while I'm not busy, so I'll be able to see you guys often!" I said cheerily. I didn't know why Twilight had referred to herself specifically, but I assumed she meant to say all of my new friends. She looked even sadder, so I did the only thing I could think of. I dropped to my knees and hugged her. She broke out into sobs and jumped into my embrace. She somehow managed to wrap all her limbs around my midsection.

"P-Please don't do this Sharky!" She sobbed. Her cries made me sad, but I was unmoving in my decision.

"No Twilight, I have to do this for me." I said with conviction. She pulled her head away from my chest and looked right at me with teary eyes.

"Why?" The sadness in her voice was plain, I guess I was a really good friend to her.

"Twilight..." I sighed. "Back on my old world, kids made fun of me while I was growing up. They knew I was afraid of being alone in the dark. They bullied me all the time."

"Well I don't see how somepony calling you names makes you need to do this..." She interrupted.

"They called me names yes, but they also beat me and played mean tricks on me." She gasped. I wished I didn't have to tell her this to make her understand. "When I was little, their favorite insult was 'chicken' I know it sounds stupid, but that's the one name that haunted me my whole life. Whenever someone calls me that... I can't turn down the challenge."

"W-what tricks did they play on you?" She asked tenatively. I took a deep breath.

"This is going to sound stupid... When I was using the bathroom at school, the kids would wait until everyone left, then turn off the lights and leave me there." I was blushing terribly now. "I know it sounds ridiculous, but being in the dark alone is my only fear, and they took advantage of it. It was bad because I couldn't just get up and leave... for obvious reasons." I finished. I was hiding my face in my hands.

"T-t-that's.... TERRIBLE!!" Twilight bawled. She buried her face in the crook of my neck, and I could feel her tears running down my exposed back. "Now I know why you were so mad when I laughed at you! I'm a terrible friend!" She cried.

"No, no, no, it's not your fault. You didn't know any better." I soothed. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her even closer. "You're a great pony, please don't cry, I hate it when you cry..." She stifled her sobs and tried to control herself.

"O-ok Sharky, if that's what you want..." She sniffled. She leaned back and wiped her eyes with her hoof, then she embraced me again and we just hugged for awhile. Soon I realized I had a job still.

"CRAP!" I jumped up, still hugging Twilight. "I have work!" Twilight spoke up from my arms.

"Sugarcube Corner is closed on Sunday." Her voice was muffled because her face was in the crook of my neck again.

"It's Sunday?" I asked. I hadn't really been keeping track of the days.

"Eeyup, Sunday. January 5th." She mumbled into my neck. Her breath was really warm, and it tickled my neck in a weird way.

"Wow, I need to keep track of things..." I mumbled to myself. "Well, I suppose I should go to Carousel Boutique for my clothes..."

"Can't, Rarity is out with Fluttershy at the spa." Twilight mumbled.

Damn, another day without a shirt. Well, I guess that means I can't hang out with Fluttershy either... I thought to myself. Hmm... I'm sure Fluttershy won't mind me grabbing my wolf for a visit...

"Hey Twilight... You don't mind if I bring over my canine friend do you?" I asked innocently. Twilight pulled her head away from my neck and looked at me quizzically.

"You've already got a pet?" She asked me.

"Eeyup, just got him from Fluttershy yesterday!" I said proudly. She looked off in the distance a little.

"That's odd, I thought she was out of dogs..." Twilight muttered to herself. I tensed up, but luckily I don't think she noticed. She looked back at me again. "It's fine with me."

"Thanks Twilight!" I shouted. I kissed her on the head. "You're the best!" She blushed and looked away from me.

"No problem Sharky..." I placed her on the ground and dashed out the door. I ran straight to Fluttershy's house.

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"I'm the best huh?" Twilight mumbled bitterly. "Then why don't you like me?...." She trotted off sadly and picked up her book again. "Item two, get him to admit a secret to you. Check." She sighed. She wasn't getting very far very fast at all...

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As I approached Fluttershy's house, I heard fighting noises coming from the forest. I ran towards the sound, worried that somepony was in trouble, but I was wrong. When I found the source of the racket, my jaw dropped. Right in front of me, my wolf puppy was fighting a full-grown fox. There were about three dead rabbits near them, so it was easy to see why they were fighting. ( thankfully, Angel didn't look to be among the dead. ) I was going to rush in to help my wolf, but I soon saw I wasn't needed. My little wolf, was OWNING. The fox looked terrified, and I'll admit, I was a little scared myself. It was like he was everywhere at once, and he was using the fox's size to his advantage.

DAYUM, MY BOY'S A SCRAPPER!! I cheered mentally. (George Lopez. Awesome.) The little wolf knocked over the fox and dove in for the jurglar. I caught him as he jumped for the fox's throat. As soon as I picked up my wolf, the fox sprang back to his feet. I watched the fox run away with his tail inbetween his legs. My little wolf growled at me and tried to bite my hand, but as soon as he caught my scent he relaxed and started licking me. I grinned and placed him down next to his winnings. He gave me what would best be described as a wolfish grin (*Rimshot*), and started digging in. It... was a little hard to watch, so I turned and walked a short distance away. After waiting for a little while, my little wolf ran to me, carrying one of his rabbits. He placed it at my feet, then sat down and looked at me expectantly.

"Oh, no thanks, I had a whole den of rabbits on the way over." He gave a happy bark then dug into that rabbit too. I didn't think much of it, but then something occured to me. I had looked away from the feasting, but I whipped my head back around to the wolf. "Did you understand me?!" I gasped in disbelief. He sat back on his haunches and nodded. "Huh but wha why how who?" I stuttered out, totally shocked. He just tilted his head at me, then continued eating.

Ok, ok, calm down. This must be normal here... I tried to explain to myself. I thought back to the show. Angel and Tank and all the other animals could seem to understand, so it stands to reason that the wolf could too. This thought let me calm down a bit. Ok, you've got a fighting wolf that understands you... I thought to myself. Then I grinned like a fool. I've got a fighting wolf that understands me! I cheered in my head. This. Is. The. Best. Place. EVER! He finished off his rabbit and looked at me again. I smiled back at him

"You need a name, huh little guy?" He nodded. I thought for a moment, then came up with the perfect name. "I'll call you Fang!" I exclaimed. "Now you'll be Fang White!" I laughed at my reversal of the popular wolf name. He seemed happy enough with it, and jumped a few times to show his excitement. "Well boy, I should get home before Twilight worries about me again..." I grinned at him again. "You wanna race?" He gave me a toothy grin and nodded again. "Ok, follow this path all the way to the big tree in the town we get to, alright?" He nodded to show he understood, and we took off.

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He beat me by a mile. It wasn't even close. In my defense though, he was running on four legs and I was on two.

"Ok Fang..." I huffed. My face was red and I was sweating a lot. "You win... Let's say hi... to Twilight now." I gasped. I usually sprinted down part of that path, but never the whole thing! Man, I was beat. I knocked on the door and rested my hands on my knees as I gulped in air. After a few seconds I could hear Twilight trotting up to the door. She opened it and gasped when she saw me.

"Sharky?! Are you ok?!" Then she saw Fang. "AHHHH!!! WOLF!!!" She lifted him magically and it looked like she was getting ready to smash him into the ground.

"NO, TWILIGHT STOP!" I yelled as she thrusted him earthward. She stopped his fall about an inch away from the ground.

"B-but... Wolf..." She stuttered out, very confused. I reached down and picked him up from his position in midair.

"Yes, but he's MY wolf, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't KILL him!" Twilight gave me a look of shock.

"B-but... Wolves are dangereous..." She mumbled dumbly. I had lifted Fang to my face and he was licking it gratefully.

"Twilight, he's half your size, does he even LOOK dangerous?" She focused on Fang.

"I... guess you're right Sharky... He's actually kinda cute!" She squeaked out the last part. Geez these ponies change emotions quickly.

"Well can we come in without fear of death now?" I asked sarcastically. She blushed.

"Oh, of course." She moved out of the doorway and I ducked and walked through with Fang. I placed him on the ground when I got in, and he sat down next to my legs. Twilight was staring at him curiously.

"His name is Fang!" I said proudly. In response to his name, Fang looked up at me and thumped his tail on the floor. "He's a really smart guy, and he understands me!" Twilight didn't flinch when I said he unerstood me. I guess it was normal here after all.

"Can he do any tricks?" She asked.

"Well, I haven't taught him any, but he's problably smart enough to figure it out." I turned to Fang. "Fang, Stay!" I commanded. He tilted his head at me curiously, but didn't move when I walked away. I smiled at Twilight. "See? I told you he was smart!" I looked back to Fang. "Ok, come here boy!" I commanded again. He rushed at me and sat down at my side again. I scratched his head and cooed "Good boy" at him a few times. Twilight shook her head at me.

He gives that wolf more attention than me already! She thought to herself.

"So Sharky, since you don't need to train your... wolf, what are you gonna do for the rest of the day?" Twilight asked. I thought for a moment. This was my first time since coming here that I actually didn't have to deal with something. I was always either in the hospital, getting measured by Rarity, working, or dealing with some sort of crisis. I thought about Twilight's offer from a few days ago.

"Well, I could try to learn some magic now..." I guessed. "If you don't mind teaching me that is..." Twilight gave me a wicked grin.

"Perfect..." She said in a weird whisper.

Magic is Trouble!

"...Twilight?"

"Hmm...?"

"Is this really necessary? I've been learning to copy magic faster anyway..." We were in the same position as we had been earlier while she was crying. I was sitting cross-legged on the ground with Twilight hugging my midsection with all four of her limbs. Her head was in the crook of my neck again, and her breath was making me feel... really weird. As if that wasn't enough, I hadn't noticed this while she cried, but this pose put her ... right on my... you get it... It was becoming very uncomfortable for me in a VERY comfortable way. I tried thinking about anything else but how I was feeling, and I was succeding pretty well. Twilight wasn't helping at all though, as a matter of fact, if I didn't know better, I'd say she was doing this to me on purpose. There's no way that could be the case though.

"Oh, yes, ABSOLUTELY necessary..." She said it in a funny way, like she was happy or content or something, but it sounded different from either of those expressions.

Dammit, the only girl here that I've been around often that DOESN'T make me stay in one place for hours is Fluttershy... I thought to myself. I groaned loudly. Sitting in one place for five hours... How was Twilight not as restless as I was?? Normally we would have only been like this for two, maybe three hours, but Twilight had said that I problably didn't FULLY mimic the magic in that time, I only got physical results. I had to admit that she was most likely right, and agreed to sit longer, until Twilight said it was ok for me to move. I wished Fang was still here to distract me. When Spike had come down and tried to leave like he did last time this happened, Twilight told him to take Fang out and play with him. I hadn't protested at the time, but now I wanted him to come back.

"How much longeeeeerrrr?" I whined. Twilight tensed up.

"If you want to move then just do it!" She yelled into my neck. She sounded pissed, but didn't move herself. I didn't want her mad at me, so I sighed and resigned myself to sitting here awhile longer. After a few more minutes my stomach growled. Twilight was startled by the sound, and pulled her head away from me. I was blushing.

"Sorry... I haven't eaten in..." I thought for a moment. "Two days?" Twilight gasped.

"Two days?! What's wrong with you?!" She leapt out of my lap and ran into the kitchen. I stood up and stretched my limbs with a symphony of cracking. When I was done stretching I followed Twilight into the kitchen. She was levitating all kinds of cook books and several foods around herself.

"Oh Twilight, you don't have to go through any trouble for me!" I exclaimed, shocked at the effort she was already going through for me. "I'm plenty capable of cooking for myself!" She gave me a confused look.

"I know you cooked at Rarity's, but aren't the mares supposed to cook in the house?" She asked innocently. I was... a little shocked.

"Twilight, that was an extremely sexist comment!" I scolded her. "Why would you say that?" She looked suprised by my response.

"Well... here the female typically cooks and cleans and stuff..." She mumbled. It made sense, after all Equestria did seem to be in a slightly earlier time period than us, but I wouldn't have it.

"That's ridiculous! Mares shouldn't HAVE to cook and clean, that's supposed to be a shared duty between genders!" I shouted. I hated sexism when people seriously meant it. I could handle sexist jokes, but actually believing it was something entirely different. "If a woman enjoys that sort of thing then fine, hell, in marriage some of this behavior might be understandable, not excusable mind you, but among friends this is unacceptable!" I ranted. Yeah, backstory time! I was raised mostly by my mom, so I was taught to respect female's rights and treat them as equals. That's why Twilight's attitude was freaking me out.

"W-well maybe I wanna cook for you..." She mumbled. I instantly calmed down. I then realized that in my rage I was accidentally levitating the table and chairs next to me. I tried to set them back down, but I didn't have any sense of control yet. I ended up slamming them down and causing Twilight to jump. In her shock she dropped all the things she had been levitating. Eggs splattered on the floor and tomatoes burst as they made contact with the ground.

"SORRY!" I shouted, feelng like a goof. "Here let me help clean up... Unless that's a mare's job." I shot at her. She flinched and levitated me a rag.

"Calm down, I wasn't trying to offend you..." She mumbled again. I sighed.

"I'm sorry Twilight... I don't mean to freak out on you, it's just that... so many ideas and practices here are different from my world..." Twilight's eyes widened.

"Y-you don't... want to g-go back... do you?" She asked in a scared whisper. I laughed, HARD.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Twilight, I wouldn't go back if my life depended on it!" I continued laughing. Twilight tilted her head.

"Why?" She asked simply. I stopped laughing instantly.

"That... That's a story for another day..." I said sadly. She looked even more curious, but didn't pry. I finished cleaning and stood back up. "Let's just get a few apples ok?" She nodded and we each levitated a few apple to ourselves from the counters. Of course, I still didn't have any control, so I smacked myself in the forehead with an apple. "OW." Twilight laughed at me.

"Maybe you need to get to that practice sooner than I thought!"

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"Concentrate Sharky, concentrate!" Twilight urged me.

"I-I'm trying!" I hissed between my teeth. I had gained a little control, and now I was trying to hold a book to my face and read at the same time. Twilight made it look so damn easy! I lost concentration when I started thinking about how easy it was for Twilight, and dropped the book for the sixth time.

"That's ok Sharky, we'll just keep trying!" Twilight was being really encouraging, but I knew she was getting annoyed. I sighed and lifted the book again. I managed to hold it this time. I focused all my thoughts on reading and lifting the book. I was holding it up for quite awhile, so Twilight started clapping her hooves. "Whooo! Way to go Sharky!" She cheered. I lowered the book without dropping it.

"Thanks Twilight, what now?" My voice was slightly strained from the focus, but I held the spell. She thought for a moment.

"We could try some simple spells..." She mused. "I'll get the book." She trotted towards the bookshelves and pulled out a worn-looking book. Well, I say book, but it was more like a TOME. This thing was huge! "Now, I want you to try casting some spells from this book.--" I reached out for it, but she magically held it away from my hands. "Ah ah ah, you have to hold it with magic and cast at the same time!" She said with an evil grin.

"Crap..." I sighed. I tried to focus on lifting the book, but it was HEAVY! It turns out that weight still effects the difficulty of lifting things. Luckily, it doesn't stack up, so you only have to put forward enough effort to lift the heaviest thing in your magic grasp. After about 13 tries, I managed to lift the book. I opened it and turned a few pages. "I'll try the mirror spell..." I gasped, I was really straining. It looked simple enough, and I could create multiples if I wanted, but I decided to try for just one for now.

"Sounds good to me!" Twilight smiled at me again. I heard growling outside and Spike yelling in a mixture of fear and pain.

"Oh no, SPIKE!" We yelled at the same time. I dropped my book on my foot.

"OW!" I yelled. Twilight gave me an amused look.

"Stay here and work the spell Sharky, I'll be right back!" She dashed out the door. I hoped Spike wasn't hurt, and I really hoped my wolf didn't have to do with Spike yelling, but I did as Twilight commanded and focused on the spell. I didn't have the focus to conjure the mirror the first few times, but after trying about three times I got it to fade into view. It wasn't very solid, but I could see myself well enough. I still looked entirely normal, which was weird in a cartoon world. (oh hey, I haven't even told you what I look like yet have I?) I have dark brown medium-length hair that fells over my eyes slightly, Dark, DARK brown eyes, about 6' tall, white skinned, and fairly muscular. I keep my face clear of facial hair, but I was growing a small mustache and beard now. My facial bones are well-defined and my lips are very thin. I tried to focus the mirror a little bit so I could pick out more specific details. The image became clearer, but then disappeared. I sighed with annoyance. I tried to fucus all my energy and gave the spell another shot. I put all my energy into it, and an amazingly image of myself came into view. I smiled and my reflection smiled back. Then something went wrong. All of the sudden all of my energy drained away at once! I immediately fell over onto the floor, out cold...

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Twenty minutes later, Twilight trotted back into the library.

"Sorry that took so long Sharky!" Twilight called. "Spike and Fang were a suprising distance away. They were only play-fighting though, and Spike was faking an injury." She waited for a response, but didn't get any. "Sharky!?" She yelled. She searched the room, but didn't find any trace of him. "SHARKY?!" She screamed out desperately.

"Yes?" Sharky walked down the stairs that led to the bedroom. Twilight sighed with relief.

"I called for you three times! Why didn't you answer?!" She scolded him.

"I was... busy." He replied skeptically. Twilight looked at him closely. She knew something was off, but didn't know what. Then she realized it.

"Sharky, your horn is already gone!" She exclaimed. Sharky frowned and rubbed his forehead.

"Huh, you're right! That's odd..." He then shot Twilight a sly smile. "I guess we'll have to get to fully copying it again huh?" Twilight was startled by his attitude change towards her method of copying magic, but smiled right back at him when she realized what was happening.

"Yes, yes we will..." She said seductively. "Come here..." Sharky walked over to her and sat down. Twilight jumped into his lap and wrapped herself around him again. Instead of becoming tense like he usually did, he accepted her into his embrace. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. Twilight put her head in the crook of his neck, and he craned his neck to do the same to her. She let her body relax into his, as if she was physically sighing.

Finally... She thought as she lost herself in his embrace. They sat there and hugged for a few minutes.

"Hey Twilight?" He muttered into her mane.

"Yes Sharky?" She sighed.

"You like me, don't you?" Twilight tensed up and squirmed in his embrace.

"I uh... Sharky I... What I mean is...--" Sharky relaxed his embrace and pushed Twilight away a little so he could see her face.

"I like you too." He pulled Twilight's face to his and kissed her. She didn't react at first, she was too shocked. As soon as her brain made sense of what was going on however, she didn't try to think things out, she didn't hesitate. She kissed him right back.

Fool Me Once...

To make up for the shortness of the last chapter, here's another one!

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"Sharky..."

"Hmm...?"

"Why do you like me back all of the sudden?" She asked between the kisses.

"Does it matter?" He asked with a smile.

"Well... I was being rather obvious about it for awhile, so why did you just now act?"

"Well, to be honest, I knew you liked me the whole time, I was just... too shy to act on my feelings I guess..."

"What made today different?" He smiled.

"I finally worked up the courage to make a move on the most beautiful mare ever."

"Awwwww..." She said happily. They started kissing again. They kissed for quite some time, until they were interrupted by a scratching sound at the door. Twilight leaped out of Sharky's embrace, blushing bright red.

"Oh... uh I'll uh... get the door then..." She mumbled. Sharky gave her another sly smile.

"Hurry back..." He whispered. Twilight's blush deepened and she trotted to the door. She opened it and Fang flew in, barking like a mad dog. He looked at Sharky and his barking stopped. He jumped towards Sharky happily, but when he got to Sharky he began sniffing him thoroughly. Fang scrunched up his face like he'd eaten something sour. Sharky didn't move to pet him or interact with him in any way. Fang finished sniffing him, then promptly bit down on his hand. Hard.

"OW!!!" Sharky screamed. He started slapping Fang and pulling his hand away, but the wolf refused to let go. Twilight magically levitated him away, but the wolf pulled Sharky's hand with him, growling and refusing to let go. Twilight released her magic grip on Sharky and he slammed his hand into the floor, knocking Fang out. Twilight gasped.

"SHARKY!?" Sharky grimaced and gave her an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know what else to do..." He sighed and looked at the limp body of the wolf. "I guess you were right about the danger..." Twilight calmed herself. It didn't seem like Sharky to smash a puppy in the floor, but it was self-defense. That made it ok... Right?

"I-it's... okay, you just suprised me is all..." She muttered cautiously. Sharky flinched.

"You don't like me after seeing that, do you?" He said sadly. Twilight flinched right back.

"No, I do like you! I just... didn't expect that sort of thing from you...." She shouted. Sharky looked down at his feet.

"You're right... I'm sorry..." He looked back up to her. "Why don't you go find out how he got away from Spike, I'll... take him away from here..." He said, sadly indicating his wolf. Twilight nodded and turned to leave. As the door closed behind her Sharky's face contorted into an evil scowl. "Blasted mongrel!" He shouted as he stood and kicked Fang's limp form. "I'll just put you with the rest of the trash!" He lifted Fang by the tail and carried him upstairs. He climbed up further into the tree and found the spot he had been looking for. It was a little hard-to-find closet in the top floor of the library. He opened the door to reveal a tied-up version of himself, still out cold. "Sleep tight..." He snickered as he tossed the wolf's body in the closet with himself. He shut the door and walked downstairs.

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I woke up, still completely exhausted. I felt a little stiff, so I stretched my limbs. I then realized I was tied up.

Oh, I get it, this is another one of those dreams where... I started thinking happily, then I saw my beaten pet.

"FANG!" I tried to scream, but there was a gag over my mouth, so it came out as a very quiet "mmmmmmmmf"

NO! Why would somepony beat Fang?! I questioned mentally, totally not concerned about why I was tied up. I was laying on my side a short distance from his still body. I rolled myself closer to him to see how damaged he was. He wasn't bleeding, but he looked battered and hurt greatly. I couldn't tell from looking at him, but I guessed some of his ribs were broken. I got mad. Whoever did this to Fang will PAY! I raged inwardly. I did my best to wrap my body around him protectively, and tried to think of a way out of... wherever I was.

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"Twilight! Back already?" Sharky asked. Twilight smiled.

"Yeah, Spike was playing hide and seek with Fang when he took off, that's why he didn't catch him." Twilight gave Sharky a shy smile. "I told him it'd be ok if he went to Rarity's. Now that all our problems are solved I was hoping..." Sharky grinned from ear to ear.

"Say no more!" He sat down and Twilight jumped into his embrace again. They continued to kiss. After a little while however, Sharky became more... aggresive with his actions. Twilight was enjoying herself for the most part, but he was being rough, pushing to hard, hugging her too close... Twilight didn't really mind, but Sharky had never once been rough with her... well, except the times he did it on accident. Sure, he had also never reacted to her advances, but him understanding suddenly wasn't that outlandish. Him being rough with her... that was just something he didn't do. She pulled her head away from him and looked at his face. He frowned. "Is something wrong?" He asked.

"You... you just are being a little... tough with me... are you ok?" He sighed and his eyes darted around the room.

"I-I'm just... a little upset about Fang..." He lied. Twilight gave him an understanding look.

"Oh you poor thing!" She gushed. "You really liked him, huh?" He nodded sadly.

"Well, if you really want to, Fluttershy should be back from the spa by now... you could tell her what happened and get a new pet..." Twilight offered. Sharky grinned again.

"Good idea!" He kissed her quickly on the lips. (I refuse to call them a muzzle.) "You're the best!" He placed her on the ground and took off out the door. As soon as he was gone she looked around to make sure nopony was watching, then she started bouncing around in a circle singing:

"He likes me! He likes me! He likes me!"

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Rainbow Dash sat on her cloud, scanning the area for Sharky. She hadn't gotten to talk to him at all the past few days, and it was starting to bug her for some reason. Sharky walked down the path to Fluttershy's house, and Rainbow Dash could see that he was making sure to take his time. On his way there, he was aimed at by a certain multi-hued mare. She jumped off her cloud and angled herself towards him.

"Heeeey! Sharky!" She yelled as she flew down from the clouds. He turned and looked up as she crashed into his stomach.

"OOF!" The wind was knocked out of him as he fell on his back.

"Oops, forgot to slow down..." Rainbow Dash mumbled.

"Really? I never would have guessed." Sharky said sarcastically. Rainbow Dash blushed.

"Heh heh, sorry..." She was standing on Sharky's chest. "Anyway... I've been looking for you for like, forever, where have you been?"

"Here, there, everywhere. Could you stop standing on me?" He said in an annoyed tone. Rainbow Dash blushed deeper and jumped off of him. "Anyway, why were you looking for me?" He sat up.

"Well... we never really got to talk after the race... I just wanted to see you. After all, you are the only pony to ever beat me in a race, and you beat a manticore!! That makes you... pretty awesome." She said somewhat shyly. Sharky got an evil grin, but hid it quickly.

"I'm awesome huh?" He said mischeviously. "Well, what did you want to talk about?"

"Umm... well actually, I wanted to ask you something..." She mumbled.

"Oh, and what's that?" He asked expectantly.

"Well..." She cleared her throat. "*ehm* Well like I said, you're pretty awesome and I wanna go to dinner with you." She said quickly.

"What was that? Slow down." Sharky said with an evil smirk.

"Will you go to dinner with me?" She asked shyly. Sharky smiled, then laughed. Hard.

"BWAHAHAHA!!! Me? Go to dinner with YOU?" He laughed. "That's ridiculous, you're not cool enough to date me!"

"W-what?!" Rainbow Dash asked in shock. He hadn't ever been this mean the other times she'd seen him! In fact, she had thought he was really nice!

"READ MY LIPS!! YOU. ARE . LAME. I wouldn't date you if you were the last mare alive!" He yelled in her face.

"Y-you w-why but..." She stuttered out. She was tearing up. Sharky dove in for the verbal kill.

"YOU ARE LAME! YOU CAN'T EVEN MAKE THE WONDERBOLTS NOTICE YOU! GET OUT OF HERE!!!" He screamed in her face. Rainbow Dash broke out into tears and flew away. Sharky laughed to himself. "Mwahahaha... This is the most fun I've ever had!" His face twisted into an evil grin and he continued laughing at Rainbow Dash until she was out of sight. He continued his evil laugh as he turned to walk to Fluttershy's house.

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"Mmmmff! Mmmmff! MMMMFF!!!" I tried yelling through my gag, but the sound was barely even audible to me. Fang still hadn't woken up, so I was still alone. In the dark. Twilight's magic had worn off before I had woken up, so I had no way out of here. I was freaking out on the inside, but I was trying not to move too much that way I was still curled around Fang. I was really starting to lose it now though, and I tried struggling against my bonds for the 200th time, knowing it was useless. My wrist slid around in the rope it was tied in. I froze. My wrists had been tied so tightly the circulation had been cut off. Why were they loose now? My eyes moved down to Fang. I gave a wolfish grin behind my gag. Perfect.

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"Ok Applejack, Wilona is feeling just fine now." Fluttershy told her friend.

"Well thank ya Fluttershy!" Applejack crowed as Wilona jumped up on her and started licking her face. The sight reminded Fluttershy of somepony that had been on her mind a lot lately. She still couldn't believe she had yelled at Twilight over him. She felt really bad for it, but she didn't feel like it was the wrong choice either. He was always so nice, and he liked animals too! Plus, even though he wasn't a pony, Fluttershy still thought he looked... nice. "Thanks fer dealin' with this so soon after your spa day!

"Applejack... Can I tell you something? If you don't mind..."

"Sure sugacube."

"Ummm... will you promise not to tell anypony?"

"Ah sure will promise!" She said happily. Her dog was better, which always put her in a good mood.

"I... I like somepony..."

"Really? Now who would that be?" She asked intently, focused on Fluttershy.

"Sharky..." Fluttershy muttered. She was blushing.

"Y-ya don't say..." Applejack stuttered. 2 of her friends? This can't be good. Fluttershy picked up on Applejack's nervousness.

"Applejack? What's wrong? It's bad that I like Sharky isn't it?... I'm sorry..."

"No sugarcube, it's nothin' like that. It's fine fer you ta like Sharky."

I just don't know how she's gonna compete with Twilight... Applejack thought to herself. Ah mean, she so frail... if Sharky doesn't like her back... She didn't even finish her thought. Fluttershy's sigh of relief took her back to reality.

"Oh good. I was worried it was bad for me to like him..." She mumbled.

"Nah there's nothin wrong with likin' him. He's nice and strong and--" Fluttershy narrowed her eyes and her wings flared out.

"You like him too?" She said it like it was a threat.

"N-naw, Ah was just sayin' it's ok fer you ta like him..." Applejack stuttered. Fluttershy calmed down and folded her wings back up.

"Oh... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to scare you..."

"I-it's fine sugarcube." Applejack regained her composure and started walking to the door. "If I were you, I'd tell Sharky about this." She opened the door and ran right into Sharky's leg.

"Tell me what Applejack?"

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Because Sharky and I are, for all intents and purposes, the same person, I tend to feel what he feels when I write. As such, I am now extremely pissed off, and have to play a game where I shoot peolpe to make myself feel better.

Recognition

Fang's magic was very slowly making me smaller. I wasn't used to copying magic from wolves, so the process was taking much longer than normal. Luckily, I was so focused on absorbing magic that I had totally forgotten about my fear of being in the dark alone. Fang still wasn't waking up though, and I was really starting to worry. His chest was moving up and down with ragged breaths, so at least I knew he was still alive.

Don't worry Fang, I'll get us out of here! I thought to him. I knew there was no way he would get that, but it felt right to do anyway. I sighed into my gag and focused in on Fang's magic again.

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"Uh... nothin' important Sharky... Ah gotta go." Applejack couldn't lie, but she could avoid the truth. Sharky didn't move from the doorway.

"No, no. It's important to me I assure you." He said with an evil grin. Applejack began to step from hoof to hoof, nervous about not being able to tell the truth.

"Sharky!" Fluttershy yelled as she flew into his stomach.

"OOF!" He gasped as he hit the ground. Applejack took the opening and quickly made her escape.

"Oops... sorry Sharky..." Fluttershy said, barely above a whisper. She was already blushing deep red and hiding her face. Sharky grinned.

"No problem! Say, what was it Applejack was talking about?" He asked. Fluttershy blushed even DEEPER somehow, and buried her face completely in her mane.

"N-n-n-nothing..." She was shaking like a leaf. Sharky grinned.

"It wouldn't have to do with me would it?" He asked with an evil grin, but Fluttershy didn't see the malice in his face. She couldn't see through her mane.

"M-m-maybe...." She was so quiet that Sharky had to strain to hear her even though she was on his chest.

"You wanna tell me?"

"N-not r-r-really..." She whispered. Sharky scowled.

"Tell me." He commanded. Fluttershy went silent. She was shaking even harder now. "TELL ME!!" He yelled at her. She stopped shaking and her head popped out of her mane.

"You don't yell at me..." She said it like it was a question. "Something's not right here..." She started looking really closely at Sharky.

"I-I'm sorry... Fang attacked me today... Turns out he wasn't the pet for me..." Fluttershy narrowed her eyes.

"Fang and Sharky were the closest match I could ever find, he wouldn't attack you..." She was frowning now. "Something is very wrong..." Sharky stood up and put her on the ground.

"I-I gotta go..." He turned to rush off, but a dark-gray pegasus hit him in the stomach as he turned.

"OOF!" He hit the ground again. Sitting on his chest was a very angry Stormy. "Why do pegasi keep hitting me?!"

"I don't know why others did it, but I did it on purpose." Stormy stated calmly. "Now, why don't you tell me exactaly why you did that to Rainbow Dash!!!" He screamed in Sharky's face.

"What did he do to Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy asked curiously. Stormy looked away from Sharky and faced Fluttershy.

"He basically told her she was lame and worthless when she asked him out to dinner. She tried to fly out of town crying, but I intercepted her and found out what this jerk--" He pointed a forehoof in my face."--did to her... Wait a second..." His eyes followed the line his hoof made all the way to Sharky's eyes. He stared into Sharky's eyes for about a minute, then scowled firecely. "YOU'RE NOT SHARKY!!!" He shouted as he lifted his back legs and smashed them into Dark Sharky's groin.

"YEEEEEEEEEOWW!!!!!" Dark Sharky screamed as he jumped up, sending Stormy tumbling away from him. Stormy landed next to Fluttershy. He let a few tears of pain fall from his eyes and an angry grimace crossed his face. "GODDAMN THAT HURT!!!" He screamed.

"I knew it! I knew Sharky wouldn't be that mean!" Fluttershy hissed through her teeth. "HOW DARE YOU HURT MY FRIEND!!" She screamed. (Actual scream, not Flutterscream) Sharky laughed through his pain.

"What's so funny?" Asked a dazed Stormy.

"BWAHA ow... HA. You two know I'm not Sharky." He stated through gritted teeth.

"Yeah and we're gonna tell everypony you're a big jerk!" Fluttershy seethed.

"My dear, *flinch* You clearly have no idea how much of a 'jerk' I am." He grinned maliciously and started dragging his feet towards the two ponies.

"W-what are you doing?" Stormy stuttered.

"Well, I've got to keep you two quiet now don't I?" He grinned and struggled through his pain.

"DON'T YOU DARE MOVE CLOSER!!" Fluttershy screamed and started giving him the stare. Dark Sharky wasn't looking at her, so it was ineffective. He finally reached the angry Fluttershy and trembling Stormy. Stormy tried to stand and strike Dark Sharky, but he wasn't fast enough.

*THWACK*

*CRACK*

"Mwahahaha... ow."

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Dark Sharky finished tying the two pegasi together with some rope he had found in Fluttershy's house. He walked a ways into the forest and hung them from a tree limb. He would have killed them himself, but he found the irony of Fluttershy being eaten by a wild animal humorous. He examined his work and smiled. There was no way these two would escape before a hungry animal found them. He laughed to himself and thought about what to do next.

"Hmmm... I could go back to that Twilight... haha, she's so happy that 'I' finally noticed her that she'd problably do anything..." He mused. "Then again I could always go mess with Rarity... Sharky was looking for clothes after all..." He smiled as he laughed at the memory of his nicey nice counterpart. He needed those clothes even more now, Dark Sharky had taken what Sharky had been wearing. "Yes... Rarity it is..." He decided. He left the still forms of Stormy and Fluttershy and headed towards Ponyville.

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Crap! Fang isn't small enough! I was panicking mentally, but I kept my body very still. I had shrank greatly, but the bonds were still to tight for me to slip out of. I had tried untying the knots too, but I could barely reach the one tying my hands with the tips of my fingers, and even then it was too confusing for me to undo. I sighed and almost gave up, but then I felt wiggling on my stomach. Fang was waking up.

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"Oh, hello dear!" Rarity exclaimed when she opened the door to reveal Sharky.

"Hello Rarity!" He greeted cheerfully. "Can I get those clothes now?"

"Why of course dear!" She began to bat her eyelashes. "I'll have to get the measurements first of course..." Sharky grinned.

"Well of course!" He walked over to the measurement station and sat down. Rarity trotted over happily and retrieved her measuring tape from nearby. She began to measure Sharky by hoof. She purposely let her hooves drift over him tracing little lines on his skin. She was being more obvious this time because she was beggining to understand how oblivious Sharky really was.

"Sharky, you know I think of you as a CLOSE PERSONAL FRIEND hmm?" She was really laying it out there. Without directly saying anything of course, it was no fun if the male didn't make the first move in her mind. Sharky gave her a wolfish grin.

"Why, thank you, is that why you've got your hooves all over me?" He asked simply. Rarity stopped moving.

"Uh well, ummm..." She mumbled. Sharky grinned some more.

"Ah, so you get me to sit here so you can feel me up for a few hours?"

"No, it's not like that..." She lied. Sharky's grin disappeared.

"Don't lie to me." He scolded, then his grin reappeared. "I just think it's time I got my turn..." With that he reached out and began rubbing Rarity's neck.

"Oh... Sharky you shouldn't..." She tried talking like it was bad, but she was enjoying it too much for her words to have any strength. "T-this is...." Sharky ignored her feeble protesting and moved his hands down on her back. "Ooooh..." Rarity knew she should be wary of the suddeness of it all and knowing it was wrong, but she was enjoying herself to much to care.

"Fingers are a wonderful thing my dear..." Sharky mumbled in her ear as he rubbed her. He knew he had her trapped. He applied more pressure with his fingers and rubbed Rarity more firmly.

"S-sharky s-s- oooh..." She was really enjoying this. The massages at the spa were nothing compared to this! Sharky took one hand away from her side and lifted her chin. Then, he kissed her and returned his other hand to rubbing her back.

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Fang was up now, and he looked confused and hurt. He whimpered and turned his head to see me. He growled when he saw my face. The hair on his neck and shackles raised, but he started sniffing and calmed down. I didn't know why my pet had acted like he did, but it didn't matter. I tried to talk to him through the gag, but all that came out were small growls. I wiggled around, but I was unable to get the gag loose. Unfortunately, even though my head had gotten smaller, my mouth had elongated and formed a half muzzle. This meant that my gag was still on firmly. I looked at Fang and made a few grunting noises to make sure I had his attention. He looked at me expectantly. I motioned my eyes towards my gag. He gave me a confused look, but seemed to understand after I repeated the process a few times. He stood and limped painfully towards my face. He grabbed the gag between his fangs and began to gnaw on it. Luckily, the fabric seemed very soft and he chewed through it fairly quickly. With my mouth free I took in a big gulp of air and prepared to call for help, but I had a thought. If whoever did this was still out there they'd hear me and just tie me up again. They'd most likely kill the both of us too! I changed my mind and whispered to Fang.

"Fang, can you get to my hands?" He nodded and limped around to my back. "Ok buddy, can you chew on those ropes for me?" I couldn't see him, but I felt his muzzle against my wrist as he started chewing on the bonds. Within a few minutes, he passed out again.

Poor guy... Thanks for the help buddy. His physical strain must have been much greater than I thought. I then struggled against my bonds again and felt them slowly giving way. Fang had chewed them enough to where I managed to break the bonds. I sighed with relief and stretched my hands out to return the feeling. I set to work on the bonds on my legs.

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I released my legs and stood in the closet, promptly hitting my head on the ceiling.

"Ow..." I cursed silently. I was shorter, but still too tall to stand up straight. I decided to rid myself of Fang's magic so that I would be more of a threat to whoever might be waiting. After a few minutes of focusing on expelling the magic, I was back to normal size. I carefully opened the door and swept my gaze across the surrounding area. I didn't see anything, so I gingerly tip-toed out of the closet. I continued to slowly creep down the tree, checking around every corner for danger. Eventually I cleared every floor down to the main room. I could hear Twilight humming from the kitchen, so I relaxed. Whoever had tied me up obviously wasn't here anymore. "Twilight!" I called.

"Ooooh~ Back for more already?" Twilight called back in a strange tone.

"More what?" I asked confusedly. She giggled from the kitchen.

"Of me silly!" I could hear her hooves tapping on the floor as she approached the room I was in.

"What are you talking about?" I was really confused now. She walked in the room, grinning at me in a funny way.

"Don't you play dumb with me~" She cooed. Then she got a look that was best described as confusedly happy. "Sharky, where are your clothes?" I looked down and jumped as I realized I was naked. I quickly covered my... delicates and blushed bright red.

"I-I h-h-have n-no idea..." I stuttered. She grinned and started trotting towards me.

"No idea hmm?" She was talking in a strange whisper. I started backing up, but I don't know why.

"Y-yes, n-no idea... Why did I just wake up bound and gagged in a closet?" That stopped her in her tracks.

"You what?"

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Sorry this chapter took so long to post, it's hard to write as the exact opposite of yourself.

Well Darn...

"I said, why did I just wake up bound and gagged in a closet?" I repeated. Twilight looked at me like I was joking.

"Ha ha, very funny." Twilight laughed. "Now, back to the missing clothes..." She said in the wierd whisper. I blushed deeper and grabbed the little horse head statue from her table to cover myself.

"Twilight don't tease me about my missing clothes!" I tried to scold her, but I was to embarrased to put any force into it. "You need to focus on my question!"

"Quit playing around Sharky! You and I both know you came back here like this for a reason..." Her aura wrapped around the horse head and started tugging on it gently.

"Twilight what's wrong with you?!" I shouted. Why the hell was she acting so... odd? Twilight looked suprised at my outburst.

"W-what do you mean? Don't you like me?" She asked with tears forming in her eyes.

"Of course! You're one of my best friends in this place!" Her ears dropped back and her eyes filled with water.

"F-f-friend?" She stuttered out. I frowned.

"Twilight, what's wrong? All I did was mess up a mirror spell and wake up in a closet, and now you're acting all... wierd." I was worried. Maybe I was in some different version of Equestria or something. It didn't seem too outlandish a thought. Twilight's ears popped back up and her eyes cleared themselves of most water.

"Y-y-you messed up a m-mirror spell?" She stuttered out. "Oh no no no no no no no!" Her eyes begn to widen and her pupils shrank. "Sharky, are you sure you're not messing with me?"

"YES! Why would I joke about this?!" Twilight flinched.

"This is bad!! Very very bad!" Twilight started pacing around the table, so I had to turn slightly to make sure the horse head was angled towards her. "Sharky do you have any idea what you've done?!"

"Yes, I know exactaly what I've done, which is why I'm wasting my time asking questions when I could be fixing my mistake." I wasn't exactaly in my best mood right now, so I was laying the sarcasm on thick. Twilight gave me an irritated look.

"Well no need to be snippy about it! Anyway, what I think you've done is release a mirror monster!" Twilight said, fear in her voice. I gave her a confused look.

"What's a mirror monster?"

"The mirror spell summons your look-alike from the mirror realm, the mirror realm is basically the exact opposite of our world." She started explaining. "If you bring a mirror monster into the real world, they will try to replace the real you! Some manage to pull it off, they come in with all their counterpart's memories, likes and dislikes, and abilities, so it's not that unthinkable. They do however tend to act vastly different and not follow the same moral code, so they are often caught."

"Oh, so all we gotta do is find mirror me and send him back?" Twilight flinched.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple... You see once released, a mirror monster can never return to the mirror world. We are going to have to... kill mirror you..." I snorted.

"Is that it? Well then let's go find him!" Twilight almost fell over in suprise.

"You're ok with killing yourself?!" I laughed.

"He's not me, and I promised myself I'd get whoever hurt Fang." I looked at Twilight. "That was mirror me right?"

"Mirror you DID hurt Fang, but how did you know that?" She asked.

"I just figured nopony could do... You know what? It'll make more sense if I show you." I turned and held the horse head behind me. I beckoned to Twilight and climbed up the tree to the little closet. "Brace yourself, he... doesn't look fantastic right now..." I pushed open the door and picked up Fang with a free hand. I held him out to Twilight and she gasped. In the light I could see his wounds more clearly. His right eye was swelling and one of his right front leg looked out of place. His chest looked deflated and broken, and he was hardly breathing now. Seeing my pet like this made me angry. "Have a problem killing him? Heh, he's gonna freakin' PAY for this!!!" I seethed. Twilight flinched back. "Oh, sorry Twilight, I didn't mean to scare you... wait! Evil me didn't do anything to you did he?!" I asked in a panic. I can't belive I hadn't asked yet. Twilight began to look nervous.

"Ah... he didn't do anything bad to me at ALL..." Twilight said nervously. I nodded my head.

"Good. Now, what are we gonna do to help Fang?" I turned my head back to his limp form. It broke my heart to see him like this. Twilight looked down sadly.

"I-I'm afraid... I don't have any spell for injuries like this... If he were a bigger wolf I could problably do something..."

"Bigger.... damn... Fang you can't die on me... WAIT!!!" I thought back to the episode where Twilight not only hatched Spike, but made him an adult temporarily as well. "Twilight, do you know any spells to make Fang an adult?" She widened her eyes in realization.

"Well, I do know one... but..."

"BUT WHAT?! YOU CAN SAVE HIS LIFE AND THERE'S A 'BUT'?!" I yelled. Twilight didn't flinch away this time.

"Yes, two buts. One, it's a permenant spell, he will lose all his puppy years. Two, it takes a lot of energy and I won't be able to kill evil you if I do this..." I laughed.

"His puppy years won't matter much if he's dead, and Evil Sharky is my fault, I wouldn't have let you get rid of him for me anyway!" Twilight smiled up at me.

"Eeyup, you're the real Sharky alright..." Never letting anypony help. If he had magic right now he wouldn't even ask me to fix Fang! He'd just try to do it himself. She thought to herself. She sighed and concentrated on the spell. Her horn glowed bright purple, and Fang slowly began to grow. His eye seemed to fix itself and his ribs realigned themselves, repaired, and enlarged. His right foreleg popped back into place and he started twisting like he was having a bad dream. Fang began to get heavy as his size increased. He had a lot more muscle than a pony, so he was much heavier. I had to drop the horse head and cradle Fang with both arms as his body became to large for one arm. Twilight finished the spell and dropped to the ground gasping.

"TWILIGHT!?" I stooped down next to her, still holding Fang. "ARE YOU OK?!" Twilight looked up at me wearily and nodded. "Damn it! You didn't tell me the spell would take that much!" I scolded her. She shrugged off my comment and stood up on her shaking legs. I put Fang down on the ground. He was starting to wake up anyway.

"I-it's not that bad..." She tried to take a step and stumbled. I reached out and caught her before she hit the ground.

"You're a bad liar..." I sighed. "You two, stay here, I'm going... to Rarity's to get some cloth to cover myself, I'm NOT gonna spend 4 hours to get real clothes..." I grumbled, remembering the forever-long measuring sessions. "Then I'm finding anti-me and making him pay for hurting my Fang!" I growled. Twilight looked up at me.

"I-I'm helping y-you." She stuttered. I laughed.

"Like hell you are! You're staying right here!" I commanded her. She started laughing at me.

"Y-you act like you have a choice here!" She giggled. Before I could say anything else, she disappeared in a flash of light.

"WAIT NO!.... Well darn..." I said to myself. Fang had woken up and was nuzzling my arm. "Hey buddy..." I reached out and scratched his head. "I've gotta go ok?" He looked at me and stood up determinedly. I groaned. "Oh not you too!" He gave me his wolf grin and wagged his tail. I sighed. "Ok, fine. I want you to run if there's any danger ok?" He shook his head no. "You know what, fine buck it!" I said with exasperation. "You wanna come then come, but don't say I didn't warn you!" He gave a few short yips that sounded remarkably close to a laugh. I stood up and left the library, running full-tilt towards Rarity's, hoping nopony saw me naked. My wolf was trying to keep pace, but he was unused to the new extent of his limbs and he kept tripping.

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"Ooooh~ Sharky..." Rarity sighed as Sharky massaged her stomach. He was grinning widely, and Rarity was very much so enjoying herself. Then a bright flash of purple light came from the other side of the room. Rarity looked over and saw an unsteady Twilight looking at her with a mixture of fear and anger. "T-twilight!" Rarity scrambled to her hooves and stood up, blushing bright red. "It's very rude to come in unannounced!" She scolded her.

"R-rarity... g-get away from him..." Twilight said weakly. Rarity smirked, not noticing how drained Twilight looked.

"Jealous are we? Well don't worry yourself, I'll take good care of Sharky for you..." Twilight shook her head.

"N-not... S-sharky..." Twilight collapsed on the floor and a horrified look crossed Rarity's face.

"N-not Sharky? T-then who?" Rarity looked at Sharky and started to slowly back away.

"Of course I'm Sharky!" The clone protested. "Who else do you know that looks like this?" He gestured to himself. Rarity continued to back away.

"Nopony looks quite like you, but if there's one thing I've learned it's to trust my friends!" She said defiantly. Sharky sighed.

"That is... unfortunate..." He frowned. He stood up and started striding towards her.

"W-what are you doing? Get away from me you--"

*THWACK* Rarity fell to the ground, out cold.

"Why do these ponies keep coming in to ruin my fun?" Dark Sharky hissed to himself. Then he gave another evil grin. "Although on the bright side... I now have two unconcious ponies and a lockable door..." He laughed wickedly and closed the door....

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"C'mon Fang, if you're coming with me ya gotta keep up!" I had paused to wait for him. We were more than halfway there, but Fang was way behind. I kept looking around to make sure nopony saw me, but I forgot to look up.

"YOU!!!" Said a very angry cyan pegasus as she crashed into my head. I fell to the ground dazed.

"Ow! Good shot!" I laughed. She flew up again and thumped herself down on my chest. Hard. "Ow!"

"Don't you laugh at me!!" Rainbow Dash said angrily. I frowned.

"What's wrong Dash?" I asked. She growled at me and hit me with a right cross to the cheek. "OW!"

"Don't you play dumb with me you big jerk!" She yelled angrily. "I'm here to teach you a lesson!" She started hitting my face with rapid blows from her forehooves. It hurt, but I was a lot bigger and stronger than her, so it wasn't too bad. I grabbed her forehooves in my hands.

"Big jerk? What did I do?" She hissed with anger at not being able to hit me, and started stomping on my chest with her back legs.

"You know what you did! You called me lame and told me the wonderbolts would never notice me!" She was crying as she struck me now, but I was seething with rage.

"I did WHAT!?!?" I screamed. Rainbow stopped hitting me and gave me a confused look. "THAT TEARS IT!! I AM SO FUCKING DEAD!!!" I yelled, totally enraged.

"What?" Rainbow Dash was really confused now. I looked down at her and growled angrily.

"NO TIME TO EXPLAIN. COME WITH ME!!!" I scooped her up in my arms and ran towards Rarity's boutique, wishing clothes weren't necessary before I confronted my double.

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Uh oh, looks like the fit's about to hit the shan!

Confrontation

It took less than a minute for me to reach Carousel Boutique at the rate I was going. Unfortunately that meant I also left Fang way behind. Because I was holding Dash, she took the liberty of knocking for me. I hadn't yet explained what was going on to her, so it made me really happy that she was trusting me.

"Rarity, are you there?" Rainbow Dash called after knocking. I heard my own voice respond from within.

"Rarity is busy right now!" My voice called right back. I got an angry scowl.

"LIKE HELL SHE IS!!!" I raged. I put Dash down, lowered my shoulder, and charged Rarity's door. It broke off it's hinges and hit the floor of the boutique. "Wow, I can't believe I just did that..." I muttered. I didn't even check to see if it was locked. I looked in the boutique and saw myself crouched over an unconcious Twilight. I grinned at myself.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in!" My clone cheered. As if on cue, Opalescense ran by. We both stared at her for a second. I looked back faster than my clone, and saw that he was distracted. I took the oppritunity to charge him. He looked up and saw me running at him. Then, he GRINNED at me, and a yellow horn grew out of his head instantaneously. Before I could reach him, I slammed into a wall of yellow energy. "Did you think you could simply fight me alone?" He jeered.

"W-what the heck was that?!" I asked in shock. He laughed at me.

"Oh poor Sharky! Can't figure it out? I'll explain!" He cheered while he wrapped the aura around me. He lifted me in the air where I floated helplessly. "In the mirror world, there is no magic! My void is much much stronger than yours!" He laughed. I hoped Rainbow Dash saw what was happening, I decided to buy more time.

"Well then why haven't you been instantaneously copying everything?" I was assuming he wasn't, but I didn't really know.

"I can control my void!" He gloated. Crap.

"Well why is the horn you copied from Twilight yellow? Her horn is purple!" I hoped the answer to this question was a bit longer, I didn't have any more questions to stall with. My clone frowned.

"That's sad, I would have thought you intelligent enough to figure that one out yourself..." I had, but let's keep him talking. "I'm a mirror creature, yellow is the opposite of purple, ergo yellow horn. Enough questions. I would simply kill you now and save myself some trouble, but it will be much funnier to make you watch me take advantage of your friends first!" He laughed maniacally.

"NO!" I screamed, but he just laughed more and moved closer to Twilight. That's when a rainbow-colored bolt hit him in the face. The aura around me faded and I fell to the ground.

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY FRIENDS!" Yelled an angry Rainbow Dash. She was sitting on Dark Sharky's chest, pummeling him like she had me. He laughed and a yellow aura surrounded Dash. I got to my feet and rushed him again, but not before he threw Rainbow Dash into the nearest wall. She hit it back first with a sickening *CRACK* She fell to the ground, concious, but clearly in enormous pain. Dark Sharky had been laughing at her, but when my right cross connected with his cheek he shut right up.

"You wanna laugh now?! HUH!?" I yelled, throwing crazy punches at his face. It was a little weird, punching myself, but I was too pissed to care. He surrounded me with another aura and threw me at Rainbow Dash. She saw me coming and managed to move, but barely. He was laughing at us again. His face was covered in his own blood, but otherwise we hadn't done much to him.

"On second thought, maybe I will kill you now, and your rainbow friend can join you!" He shouted with glee. His happiness was really starting to creep me out. He lifted both me and Dash with his aura.

"Crap, this isn't what I expected to happen... Sorry Dash..." I mumbled to her. She didn't speak, I don't know if she could with the pain she was in. I looked at her back and it looked like both her wings had been broken by the slam into the wall. She did managed to send a forced smile to me though, and Dark Sharky laughed.

"Didn't know what you were dealing with hmmm? Well now you can die knowing that I will take advantage of your friends, and no one, or nopony for that matter, will save you or them!" He cackled. I smiled right back at him. He hadn't seen it, but a full grown wolf was sneaking up on him now.

"You're right, NOPONY will save us at all!" I laughed. Dark Sharky frowned.

"What are you so happy ab--" Right on that last word a full-grown Fang pounced on his back, ripping and biting like his life depended on it. Dark Sharky screamed, the aura around me and Dash disappeared and Fang was surrounded in yellow aura. Fang flew up off of Dark Sharky and straight to the ceiling. Fang cried out in pain as I stood and tried to charge my clone again. Dark Sharky looked up in time to see me coming, and stopped me with a wall of energy. It was obvious his energy was low because the aura around Fang and I was faint. Dark Sharky scowled. "It seems I have underestimated your capacity to suprise..." He growled at me.

"I'm just full of suprises!" I grinned. He snorted.

"Well, I'm not sticking around to die, sorry to disappoint." My eyes widened as I realized what he was about to do.

"NO! YOU COWARD!" I yelled as he grinned and disappeared in a flash of yellow light. His magical hold disappeared and I ran over to where he had been and punched the floor. "DAMN IT!" I yelled. Fang fell from the ceiling and landed on my back. "OOF!" The wind was knocked out of my lungs, but I hadn't really been hurt. Fang rolled of of me, clearly uninjured like me. I looked at the girls around me. RD could barely stand from her pain. Twilight was too drained to do anything. Rarity had a nasty bruise forming on her head. Crap, he'd already put at least 3 of the mane 6 out of commision. I realized I was still naked and tied a nearby cloth around my waist. Then I sat and thought.

Ok, my clone is still loose and god-knows-where, my only back-up right now is Fang, my clone can absorb instantaneously, and only 3 of the mane 6 are possibly still ok... And only Applejack would be any help in a fight... Ok, things looked pretty bad... Maybe Stormy could help? Oh, and maybe Fluttershy had some bigger animals that could lend a hand... paw. Well, since there's no way of knowing where Stormy is, Fluttershy, here I come.... after I take your friends to the hospital. I walked over to RD and squatted down so she could climb on my back. She was the only one NOT out cold, so she could hold on. She climbed up and I picked up Twilight and Rarity in my arms. They were actually pretty heavy all together, so I struggled to get them all to the hospital. Eventually, I did make it to the large white building and stumbled in the door.

"Oh hi Sh--" A nurse started to greet me. "OH CELESTIA!!! WHAT HAPPENED?!" Her cry brought other hospital staff running and they began to remove the girls from my grasp.

"I don't have time to explain, but I can trust you to take care of them right?" The nurse nodded. "Oh, and if I come back ask me for a password." She gave me a confused look.

"What will the password be?" She asked. I grinned.

"There is no password, but if I start guessing, don't let me near the girls." She began to look even more confused, but nodded. I ran out of the hospital. Fang had been waiting for me outside. "Ready to go boy?" I asked him. He barked and wagged his tail. I grinned at him. "Ok then, to Fluttershy's house, AWAY!!"

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I got to Fluttershy's house about 45 minutes later. I would have gotten there sooner, but Fang still wasn't used to his new body and was slowing me down. I walked up to Fluttershy's door and knocked. I waited for about 4 minutes, but she didn't answer.

She must be busy... I thought to myself, but then Fang's ears pricked up. He turned towards the forest and was staring at it intently.

"What's wrong boy?" He didn't turn to look at me, but took off into the forest. I was a little stunned by his sudden movement, so I had to think a few seconds before I could realize I should chase after him. I took off into the forest in his wake. After running for a few minutes I reached a small clearing where Fang was sniffing feverishly. In the middle of the clearing there was a single tree. Hanging from the lowest branch of the tree was a broken rope. Below the broken rope were marks that looked like something had been dragged into the forest. Fang was sniffing the marks, and he took off in the direction they led. I sighed and took off after him. Luckily there weren't too many sticks on the ground, so I didn't injure my bare feet. When I finally found Fang, he was hiding on the edges of another clearing. I crept up next to him and crouched down. I pulled apart some of the foliage to see into the clearing. It was the strangest sight I ever saw. In the middle of the clearing, sitting on a throne made of carrots, was an unconcious Stormy. Fluttershy was in the corner of the clearing, unconcious as well. There were about 50 or so bunnies in a semi-circle around Stormy, prostrating themselves in front of him. One of the larger bunnies bounced up to Stormy's feet.

"Squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak!!!" He squeaked out. (Translation: My brothers! Long have we waited for our war god to appear! When he wakes, his fury and rage shall fall upon those who have wronged us!!!)

"Well this is weird..." I whispered to myself. I stood up and walked into the clearing. The bunnies all looked up at me in terror and gave a collective-

"SQUEEEEEEAAAAAAK!!!" (Translation: MONSTEEEEEEEEER!!!) The rabbits scattered and I walked up to Stormy.

"Hey buddy? Wake up Stormyyyyy!" I yelled in his face. He didn't move. I slapped him. He punched me with a forehoof. "OW!"

"Huh... what... S-sharky?" He said groggily. Then his eyes flew open. "SHARKY!" He flew into my gut and knocked me on my back. When I looked up at him he was staring intently into my eyes. He grinned widely. "SHARKY!" He yelled happily.

"N-nice to s-see y-you to S-stormy..." I gasped. He had started hugging me and he actually had a pretty good grip. "C-can you let me g-go now?" He released me.

"Oops, sorry... Hey, there's this guy that looks exac--"

"Exactly like me, I know. I acidentally made an evil copy of myself." I explained. "I take it you've met him?"

"Yeah, he knocked me and Fluttershy out.... FLUTTERSHY?! WHERE IS SHE?!" He panicked.

"Don't worry, she just over there. Looks like she's still out like a light though..." I walked over to Fluttershy and sure enough, she was still out. I picked her up. "Let's take her home." Stormy nodded and we walked out of the clearing.

"AHHHH WOLF!!" Stormy yelled. "RUN SHARKY, I'LL HOLD HIM OFF!" I laughed.

"Don't worry Stormy, it's just Fang!" I explained. He relaxed.

"Oh, ok!" He started trotting towards Fluttershy's house.

"Wait, that's it?! You don't even wanna know why he's an adult now?" Stormy shook his head, still trotting away.

"No, not really." I scratched my head in confusion with my free hand, then followed him.

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I explained Evil Sharky and mirror monsters to Stormy on our way. We made it back to Fluttershy's house and I tucked her into her bed.

"Ok, Sharky, what next?" Stormy asked.

"Next, you go home. You're already injured-" I pointed to the bump on his head. "- and I don't want to risk you getting hurt even more." Stormy laughed.

"You can't tell me what to do! I'm coming with you, I don't care if you don't like it." He said nonchalantly, like this whole damn thing was a picnic.

"Fine," I sighed. "but if you get hurt, don't say I didn't warn you." He smiled.

"Deal, so, where to next?" I scratched my head and sighed.

"I... don't know. He teleported to escape me and I've no idea where he went." Stormy thought for awhile.

"Well, if I were a mirror monster, and I failed to take over my original's real life, I'd start a new one where nopony knew the original very well. It'd have to be a place where nopony would expect me either, someplace with high security and stuff..." He mused. We shared a look.

"Canterlot." We said together.

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Dark Sharky breathed in the night air. The coins left in his counterpart's pockets had been more than enough to buy a ticket to Canterlot. Plus, his double knew the night princess, surely she would provide him lodging. Dark Sharky grinned at the thought of all the mayham he could cause in a city as big as Canterlot, and likely never be caught! After all, who would expect a royal night knight to cause disaster in the home of his princess employer? Dark Sharky let out a cackle that floated out the window into the night, left behind by the speeding train.

To Canterlot!

"Well, we can't expect to fight him ourselves, I'm not sure Fang and I will even be able to get into Canterlot without freaking anypony out! If hundreds of screaming ponies don't alert evil me to our presence, I don't know what will!" Me and Stormy had been arguing about what to do next.

"Well, don't you think he'll set off screaming ponies too?" Stormy countered. I thought about it for a moment.

"No, he'll get there tomorrow at night, so most likely everypony will be asleep. Plus, he doesn't have a wolf with him." I countered.

"Well, then what do you propose we do?" Stormy asked angrily. I thought for a moment. Then I grinned.

"I propose we ask Pinkie Pie, expert on Pinkie Physics!" I cheered. I dashed out of Fluttershy's house and ran towards Ponyville. Stormy looked really confused, but he followed me. Good thing too, it was already dark out and my only other company was Fang, by my side like always. It's like he belongs there or something.

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We made it to Sugarcube corner about 25 minutes later. Fang was getting more used to his adult body, so he was only slightly behind Stormy and I. We walked in (the door was open) and saw Mr. and Mrs. Cake behind the counter. They weren't working, it was still Sunday after all, but they were talking. I cleared my throat to get their attention.

*eh ehm* "Is Pinkie pie here?" I asked. They turned towards me.

"Yeah, she's upstairs." Mr. Cake answered simply. I nodded.

"Thank you." I said. Stormy and I walked upstairs. There was a small hall with a few doors upstairs, and we weren't sure which door was Pinkie's. We decide to try the one with three ballons on it. (Duh.) I knocked and stepped back from the door.

"Who iiiiis it~?" Pinkie Pie sang.

"It's Sharky and Stormy!" I yelled through the door.

"Ooooh friends!" She cheered. I heard her bounce to the door. She opened it and smiled at Stormy and I. She had her party cannon.

*BOOM* I was blasted in the face by confetti, banners, party hats, and a cake.

"THAT'S FOR HURTING MY FRIEND RAINBOW DASH YOU BIG MEANIE!!!!" She yelled. The confetti, banners, and hats had all bounced off my face, but I had to wipe my eyes clear of the cake.

"That wasn't Sharky!" Stormy yelled at Pinkie. She gave him a confused look.

"Whaddya mean it wasn't Sharky? Rainbow Dash told me that Sharky broke her heart and YOU--" She pointed a pink hoof at Stormy's face. "-- Went to go beat him up!" She was screeching a little.

"That wasn't Sharky, that was an evil copy of Sharky." Stormy explained. "This is the real Sharky." He pointed at me, still standing, but covered in cake an surrounded by various party items.

"Oh, that makes sense!" She smiled and bounced downstairs. "Nevermind that thing about firing Sharky Mr. Cake, he didn't really break Rainbow Dash's heart, it was an evil copy of him!" I looked at Stormy.

"She got me FIRED on request?"

"No one messes with Pinkie Pie for a reason." Stormy said.

"Why does she keep saying evil me broke her heart? I thought he just insulted her..." Stormy looked at me and rolled his eyes.

"You can't be serious right?" He asked. I got a confused look. He facehoofed. Pinkie came bouncing back up the stairs.

"Ok then, what did you guys wanna see me for?" She asked like she HADN'T just shot me in the face. I wiped most of the cake from my face and answered her.

"For the same reason you just shot me in the face with a cannon, my evil double is causing trouble." I laughed at my own Zecora speech. They gave me funny looks and I continued. "Anyway, we think he's on his way to Canterlot and we need your help to get there." She beamed at me.

"Why don't we just walk into Canterlot?" She asked sweetly.

"One does not simply walk into Mordor, Pinkie Pie." I said, jumping at the chance to make a refrence to LOTR. Pinkie Pie and Storm gave me funny looks.

"I thought you were going to Canterlot..." She said confusedly. I remembered where I was and the fact that nopony would get the refrence. I sighed.

"Nevermind, we can't walk in because everypony will freak out when they see something like me. Oh, we're also bringing a wolf which will freak ponies out as well." She gave me another confused look.

"You have a wolf?" She asked. I looked down at my side, and sure enough, Fang wasn't there. He must have stopped outside the building. I whistled sharply.

"Fang, come here boy!" I called. I heard screams from downstairs as the Cakes caught sight of Fang. He jumped up the stairs just a few seconds later though, so I guess they didn't do anything to him. "Sorry Mr. and Mrs. Cake! That was my pet wolf, he's mostly harmless unless you're an evil copy of me, so don't worry!" I yelled down to them.

"O-ok, if y-you say so..." Came Mr. Cake's stunned response. I groaned, just when everypony had stopped pointing at me and screaming, I go and adopt a wolf.

"Well he's just the most adorable thing ever!" Pinkie Pie squealed. She hug-tackled Fang and started rubbing him vigerously. Fang took the sudden blow like a man though, and I was proud of him for it. I saw a green-with-envy Gummy pop his head out from around a corner and give Fang the "I'll get you when you least expect it" eyes. I cleared my throat to get Pinkie's attention.

*eh ehm*

"Got something stuck in your throat Sharky?" Pinkie asked without looking up from Fang.

"No, I'm still waiting to see if you can get us to Canterlot without us being seen by everypony." I said. She looked up at me.

"Weeeellll, assuming he got on a train tonight, he still won't be there 'til tomorrow night." She mused, still rubbing Fang's side with both hooves. She frowned. "What makes you think I can get you into Canterlot so fast and secretly anyway?"

"Simple, Pinkie Physics." I stated. Her jaw dropped.

"You know about that?!" She gasped. Stormy and I laughed.

"Everyone knows Pinkie!" I yelled. "You pop up out of nowhere all the time!" She smiled.

"Ok, I'll help you, but why don't you get a good night's sleep and I'll get you to Canterlot tomorrow night!" She said happily. I hadn't realized how tired I was, but when she said 'good night's sleep', I almost fell over in exhaustion.

"G-good Idea Pinkie..." I yawned. "This can wait until tomorrow. I'm heading home." I started walking downstairs and Fang leapt after me, eager to escape Pinkie. I don't know what Stormy or Pinkie or the Cakes did after I left, and I really didn't care. I got to the library, found Spike sleeping in his little bed, and curled up in my corner. I felt a big warm wolf curl up next to me, and I fell asleep instantly after that.

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"CRAP!" I jumped about three feet off the ground as I woke up. "I can't believe I let myself sleep while evil me is still out there!" I had accidentally flipped Fang with my leap, and I woke up Spike with my yelling.

"Sharky?" When did you get here?" Spike asked groggily. "Also, where's Twilight?"

"Um, I got here late last night and Twilight's in the hospital." I told him.

"WHY IS TWILIGHT IN THE HOSPITAL!?" He yelled at me, clearly enraged. I took a step back and bumped into the wall of books behind me.

"She exhausted herself trying to help me defeat my evil clone!" I explained quickly. Spike calmed down and gave me a confused look.

"What was that?" I sighed.

"Look, I accidentally made an evil copy of myself. My copy almost killed Fang." I pointed to the full-grown wolf at my side. Spike looked more confused, but let me finish talking. "Twilight used a growth spell on him to save his life, but it almost drained her. I tried to tell her to stay here and let me fight my clone, but she ignored me and teleported away." Spike nodded and most of his confusion was cleared. "When I found her and my clone, she was out cold from exhaustion. After my clone ran away, I ran her and the other mares he hurt to the hospital." I finished explaining. Spike looked like he understood.

"Yeah, sounds like something Twilight would do..." He muttered.

"What sounds like something I'd do?" Twilight asked as she trotted into the bedroom.

"TWILIGHT YOU'RE OK!" I yelled happily, grinning like a fool. I ran over and wrapped her in a big hug. Twilight's aura wrapped around me and pushed me a few feet away from her.

"Yes, I am. So are Rarity and Rainbow Dash." She said sucpiciously. Rarity and RD trotted into the room. RD's wings were bound, so I assume they were still broken. "Now, how do I know you're the real Sharky?" Twilight asked.

"I'll handle this dear," Rarity offered. She trotted over to me. "Sharky, you know I think of you as a CLOSE PERSONAL FRIEND right?" She was blinking her eyes. A lot.

"Ummm... I think of you as a CLOSE PERSONAL FRIEND too. Why are we talking like this?" I answered. Rarity let out a long sigh.

"As much as it pains me to say it, this is the real Sharky." Rarity confirmed. I gave her a confused look.

"Why is that a bad thing?" I asked. I think she was going to answer, but she was interrupted by two mares hug-tackling me.

"THANK CELESTIA!" Twilight cheered.

"We thought you'd hunt down your evil you without help!" RD added.

"Hey! I had Fang!" I protested. The girls moved their heads into view and rolled their eyes.

"You looked for him didn't you?" Twilight asked.

"Uhhh... well..." I stuttered. All three of the mares groaned.

"ACHOO!!!" Spike sneezed. We all turned towards him.

"You ok Spike?" I asked him.

"Yeah..." He sniffled and wiped his nose on his arm. "I just think I got a little cold from playing in the snow with your wolf yesterday."

"Oh, I'm sorry..." I said. Then I had a thought. "Wait, does that mean we can't send letters?"

"Eeyup. Sorry..." Spike sniffled. Crap, so much for having the princesses handle it.

"No problem dude..." I sighed. "Well, I can't leave until tonight... so I guess I'm goin' to work." The three mares gasped.

"Work?! Are you joking?!" Rainbow yelled. "You have to kill yourself, and you're worried about work!?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked. "After all, I'm taking Fang and Stormy, so I--"

"Ummm no, we're all going." Twilight interrupted. I laughed.

"No, you're not." I said firmly.

"Just try and stop us!" RD argued.

"You really don't have a choice in the matter dear, we've all made up our minds." Rarity added. I groaned.

"I can see I'm out voted... Fine! Just... promise me you'll be careful?..." I asked.

"We promise!" They called in unison.

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After that I left to go to work, against the pleas from the girls to stay. I got there and immersed myself in the storm of flour and egg that was Sugarcube Corner. We managed to finish all of today's and tomorrow's orders because I was so intent on my work. Fang actually helped me work! He walked around and cleaned up any spills. At the end of the work day I got paid my usual amount and Pinkie Pie and I got ready to leave.

"So, you're just gonna show me how to get there then you're gonna leave ok?" I asked her.

"Okie dokie lokie!" She cheered. I looked down at my side to make sure Fang was still with me. As always, he was.

"Ok..." I breathed. "Let's do this!"

"Wasn't Stormy coming too?" Pinkie asked. He would have, but I didn't want to waste time and risk the girls catching up and coming along as well.

"He was, but he uh... changed his mind. Turns out he was busy today." I lied. It hurt me to lie to these girls, but it had to be done. I wasn't risking them getting hurt. Pinkie seemed to accept my answer, and I grabbed Fang and we went through a series of events so confusing that I actually have no idea what happened, but I ended up in The hedge maze in the dead of night.

Wrong Sharky

"Ok Fang... how the hell do we find our way outta this maze?" I asked my pet. He looked at me, rolled his eyes, and ran off in one direction. THROUGH the hedges. I facepalmed myself for not thinking of that first, and took off in his wake.

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"Oh course we shall provide thee lodging!" Luna exclaimed. "Thou art a royal knight now, after all!" Dark Sharky grinned.

"Thank you princess, glad to be in your service." He said humbly. Luna nodded and dimissed him from her chambers.

"Remember, thine official knighting is on the morrow!" Luna yelled at his retreating form. Dark Sharky didn't turn, but waved over his shoulder. The lack of respect annoyed Luna, but she let it slide. He was new here after all. Outside her room, Dark Sharky was met by 4 guards.

"We were called to escort you to your room sir." One of them explained. Dark Sharky grinned evily.

"Would you like to spar first?" He asked innocently. "I need to practice fighting so I can do my job well." The guards exchanged looks.

"We were told you were against fighting for sport... but if you insist, follow us to the training grounds." The same guard said. Dark Sharky grinned and nodded. He followed them through several halls and many, many rooms. Eventually they walked out of the castle to a large open field. The full moon shone down on the field, making it easy to see even though it was night. In this field weapons, armor, training dummies, and a little blood was littered everywhere. In the center of the field a large ring was totally clear, and two ponies were fighting each other in it. Many ponies were sitting around, watching the fight. "So, after the current fight finishes, which of us would you like to spar against?" The guard asked.

"All of you." Dark Sharky said. The guards began laughing.

"BWAHAHAHAH!" They jeered.

"N-no seriously, w-which one?" The guard asked, still laughing. Dark Sharky didn't bat an eyelash.

"All of you." He repeated. The guards laughed even harder and rolled onto their backs.

"O-ok then. I-if you're sure son!" The guard laughed at him. Dark Sharky grinned. He walked towards the ring just as the current fight ended. The guards rolled back onto their hooves, still laughing, and followed him. He walked to the center of the ring. "Ok, here are the rules." The guard began to explain. "One, no using weapons in the ring. Two, state challenges directly, it is up to the challenged to accept the match. Three, other than that, win at any cost. If you get knocked out of the ring, or just knocked out, you lose." He finished. Dark Sharky grinned.

"I challenge these four laughing fools to a match!" He announced. At the word 'fools' the guards snapped out of their laughing and growled at him.

"You're gonna eat those words, kid!" The only speaking guard growled over the laughter of the crowd. Dark Sharky grinned, raised his right hand, and gave them the 'come and get me' signal. The guards formed a semi-circle and charged him in formation.

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"Ok Fang, now what?" I asked him. We had managed to force our way throught the hedges, only getting a few small cuts. He scratched his head with one of his back legs an looked up at me expectantly. "Right, you can't think of everything now can you?" I asked him. He started panting. I sighed and racked my brain.

Well, if he's here, he's already gone to the princesses I assume. I could go explain the situation to them... I thought to myself. Yeah! If I tell them the situation, they'll help me get rid of my evil self! I cheered mentally. I motinoned for Fang to follow me, and we took off towards the looming form of Canterlot palace.

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"Ok Pinkie Pie, we're ready!" Twilight cheered as she walked into Sugarcube Corner. Twilight, Rarity, RD, Stormy, Fluttershy, and Applejack were all right behind her, arriving at exactly the time Sharky had told them. Stormy and three girls that had originally told Sharky they were coming had told Applejack and Fluttershy about what was going on, and they had decided to come too. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were nowhere to be seen, but Pinkie Pie came bouncing down the stairs.

"Whaddya mean Twilight? Sharky already took Fang and left!" Pinkie responded.

"HE DID WHAT?!" They yelled collectively.

"SHARKY... ALREADY... LEFT... WITH... FANG..." Pinkie Pie said slowly, making sure to emphasize every word so that they'd understand.

"GRAGH! Of course he did!" Rainbow Dash growled and threw her hooves up in anger.

"Just like him to not accept help!" Twilight added.

"I can't believe he lied to us!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Oh no, I'm sure he was just looking out for us..." Fluttershy mumbled. The others quieted down at this.

"He's gonna get himself killed to look out for us..." Twilight sighed. "Well, I don't know about you girls, but I'm not about to let him face himself alone." Twilight said with determination. She looked into the eyes of all her friends and saw the same determination she felt. They all nodded at her. Twilight turned to Pinkie. Pinkie was smiling and bouncing.

"Ooooh~ Trail trip!" She squealed. The girls all laughed, Stormy just stood there and watched them like they were crazy.

"Okayyyyy, if you're all done with the giggle fest--" he said as they finished laughing. "We have to go help Sharky! Knowing him, he's problably already in trouble!" The girls sobered up right away.

"Stormy's right..." Applejack said. "Our friend needs our help whether he wants it er not." The others all nodded their heads in agreement.

"Well I can't take more than one pony at a time, so this could take awhile!" Pinkie warned. Before anypony could react, she tackled Twilight and they were gone.

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Dark Sharky grinned at the approaching guards. Clearly they had no idea who he was. He waited until they were only a few feet away from him. He instantly copied one of the pegasus guards and grew a little more muscle and a pair of snow white wings. He blasted off the ground just before they collided with him. They couldn't move fast enough to adjust their course, so they smashed together. Dark Sharky laughed at the pain of those below him and the irony of how the wings made him look angelic. He then thrust himself downwards into the heads of the guards, smashing their faces into the ground beneath his feet. The collision let out a sickening-

*CRACK* and none of the guards moved. Dark Sharky laughed at the sound and gave the rest of the spectators a threatening glare.

"Anypony else wanna go?" He asked, still standing on the heads of the felled guards. Most of them cowered back in fear. One pony however, the largest pony Dark Sharky had ever seen,other than Luna and Celestia, (he had Sharky's memories, so that means all of those in the show are included.) stepped forward.

"I'd love to give you a go." He boomed. His voice seemed to explode out of him and it carried extremely well. "My name is Steel Boulder, second in command to Luna herself." He stated simply. He didn't say it like he was bragging, but like a simple everyday sentence. He was bucking HUGE , his body rippled with pure muscle, and though it wasn't obvious from looking at him, he was a pegasus. He didn't wear any armor, and he was black, like the rest of the guards. Dark Sharky grinned evilly.

"I'm Sharky, and frankly, you have no idea who you're dealing with, Tiny." Dark Sharky laughed. Steel narrowed his eyes and stomped his forehoof, sending everything, including nearby ponies, slightly into the air.

"You dare to insult me?" He asked calmly. Dark Sharky laughed.

"Tell you what Thickness, I'll even go easy on you!" Dark Sharky jeered. At that, Steel turned sharply and bucked Dark Sharky. One leg hit his stomach, the other hit his groin. Dark Sharky flew back about twenty feet.

"OK THAT FUCKING HURT!!!" He screamed. His stomach didn't hurt nearly as much as his delicates. "DAMN, I THINK ONE OF MY BALLS POPPED!!!" He was still screaming. "YOU"RE GONNA PAY STEEL!" He somehow managed to get to his feet. He instantly absorbed Steel's magic and grew to the size of the Incredible Hulk. His pain faded as he grew. He opened his wings and felt like a little plane. Steel's wings were HUGE. Dark Sharky gave an evil grin and rushed Steel. He caught him off guard and managed to filp him onto his back by slamming into Steel's chest with his shoulder. With Steel on his back. Dark Sharky grinned at his oppritunity for revenge, reared back his right leg, and kicked Steel right in the balls.

*CLANG* Dark Sharky paused for a second, then he grabbed his foot and hopped around, howling in pain.

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"Heh, some ponies call me Steel Boulders." Steel laughed. He rolled back to his hooves and took a battle stance. Dark Sharky let the pain subside from his foot and assumed a ready stance as well. They began to circle each other. Dark Sharky used his peripherals to scan the outside of the ring. He found a sword near edge of the fighting ring and he grinned menacingly. When he approached the sword he drooped into a roll, picking up the blade on his way. He stood up, threw the sword at Steel's head and charged right after it. Steel saw the blade coming, but was by no means the fastest pony ever. He managed to dodge it, but it was so close it shaved a lock off his mane. What he couldn't dodge however, was Dark Sharky's fist following right behind it. The blow connected with Steel's chest and the wind was knocked out of him. It didn't hurt him very much; he was used to being hit by extremely forceful blows. It did carry enough force to throw him up and out of the ring. He lost. Steel scrambled to his hooves. "CHEATER!" He screeched.

"Ha, so what? I won and that's all that matters!" Dark Sharky gloated. Steel was turning red from rage.

"It was a dishonorable victory!" He yelled. "Anypony with any honor would at the very least have the decency to follow rules!" Dark Sharky laughed.

"Honor is for fools and the weak. OTSS!" He cheered. Steel Turned his head in confusion.

"OTSS?" He asked.

"Ah, weak AND stupid!" Dark Sharky jeered. "Oh well, I'm sure it'd take me all night to explain it to you. I'm out!" He turned to leave and was intercepted by a wall of guards. He smiled. "Are ya gonna let me through, or do I get to make you?" The guards didn't budge.

"You talk big, but you can't take us all." One of them piped up. Dark Sharky raised an eyebrow.

"Can't I?" He then used his new size and strength to charge right through them. He laughed at their feeble effort to stop him and stomped back to the castle. Nopony tried to stop him this time. He got to the castle, but changed his mind once there and decided to check out the statue garden.

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I was making good progress towards the castle. I had just cleared the gardens when Luna and a few guards appeared out of nowhere.

"Sharky! How could you brutally attack our guards?!" Luna boomed at him. She sounded upset. I gave her a confused look.

"What are you talking about Luna? I just got here! I was trying to find you actually!" I protested. Luna scoffed at me.

"We met with thee not but a few hours ago! And don't DARE to call us by our name! Thou then went to the sparring grounds and failed to heed the rules of fair combat!" She yelled. "Then, were that not enough, thou then attacked guards outside the sparring ring!" I suddenly understood what was going on.

"No no no no Luna, that wasn't me!" I tried. She slapped me with her hoof.

"DON'T CALL US LUNA!! We have multiple reports that say it was thou! Thou art impossible to mistake after all! Sharky, thou art under arrest, we will be holding thee in the dungeon until we can find a spell to send thee back to wherever thou came from!" My eyes went wide with panic.

"NO, IT WASN'T ME!!" I protested. Her aura wrapped around me and bound my limbs to my sides. I couldn't move. "I ACIDENTALLY SUMMONED A MIRMMMMMFFF!!!" Shw gagged me with magic and we began to head towards the castle. Fang barked at my captors vigerously the whole time, but never attacked them. Luna turned to face Fang, as if only having just noticed him. Her aura wrapped around him as well, and flung him far off into the distance. "MMMMMMMMFFFFFFFF!!!!" I screamed. Fang was going to die from the impact of the fall! I struggled against my bond, but to no avail. I drooped with sadness as I realized there was nothing I could do. I wanted to cry, but then I had a thought. I concentrated my void on Luna's magic. I felt searing pain as a huge rush of power began to flow into me. It was nowhwere NEAR all her power, I was still absorbing at the same rate as I would a normal pony. This put into perspective how large Luna's power must be. I started to tear up, but I managed to locate Fang's falling from through my blurry vision. I could reach him with the little bit of Luna's magic even from this distance. I managed to lower him to the ground somewhere near the back of the hedge maze, but my head felt like it was going to explode from the strength of the magic. I redirected the flow of Luna's magic and started trying to disrupt her power. I knew there was no way I could over-power her, but when I conflicted her magic against itself, the aura was disrupted and I fell to the ground. Before Luna or the guards could react, I took off into the garden.

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"Ok friends, now that we're all here, let's go find Sharky!" Twilight called out to her friends. Right then, Fang fell into the middle of the little group. He stood up and shook his head in a daze. He realized who he was surrounded by, and started whining and pawing their sides.

"What's wrong Fang, is Sharky stuck in a well?" Stormy asked frantically. Fang titled his head confusedly, then turned back to the girls. He continued to whine and paw them. He started barking and ran off in one direction.

"He wants us to follow him..." Fluttershy mumbled. She started trotting off in Fang's direction. The others exchanged looks, (except Stormy, who simply trotted off as well.) and followed Fluttershy.

Showdown

I ran. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. Apparently breaking the magic hold of Luna was extremely shocking, so it took awhile for anypony to realize I was escaping. By the time they had begun moving, I had run into the hedge maze. I didn't really think it would stop them from coming, but it was my best shot. I didn't hear them start running after me, but I heard Luna tell the guards to get Celestia.

She must not want to risk fighting me. I guess she doesn't know the extent of my power. It made sense, I wouldn't want to charge after a mostly unknown creature with mostly unknown powers either. I grinned at my luck, and delved further into the maze. Then I realized how easy it would be for them to simply fly over and find me. I focused the little bit of Luna magic I had and tried to conceal myself. I felt the magic rush through me, and I looked down at myself. I somehow made myself invisible, including my cloth, but using the magic caused me extreme pain. I staggered and began breathing heavily, but I was mostly ok. It was a really wierd feeling, I felt so powerful with the magic, but so hurt after I used it. I decided to drain the magic out of myself, risking losing the invisibility. I felt the magic flow out of me, and I sighed in relief. It felt great to not have that much pure power inside you. To my suprise, the invisibility spell held, so I was still concealed from the pegasi guards that had begun flying over the maze. I sat there a few minutes, watching the guards search. Then, a warm snout bumped into my shoulder.

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Dark Sharky had been close enough to see what had happened to his good duplicate. He grinned evilly as Sharky ran into the maze.

If I kill my counterpart and bring his body to Luna, I'll be able to pretend I'M the original and win her favor once more! He cheered mentally. As Luna left to go get her sister, Dark Sharky released Steel's magic and snuck towards the maze entrance. He walked in and started searching, hoping to run into himself. Instead, a wolf ran down a path in front of him, not pausing for a second to realize Dark Sharky was there. Dark Sharky recognzed the wolf as the one that attacked him in the boutique. He growled quietly and scowled. He began to follow after the wolf, but stopped as he heard familiar voices following the wolf. He ducked in to a nearby hedge and waited. Soon enough, he saw seven familiar ponies trotting down the same path the wolf had taken. Ah, my good counterpart's TV show friends! He thought to himself. He laughed at the unsuspecting company. He knew he had to find and kill his counterpart, but the evil in him was too strong to allow him to ignore this chance. He started slowly following the 7 ponies, absorbing Twilight's magic as he walked.

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"I can't believe he did this..." Twilight mumbled to her friends. "Why does he keep leaving me?... us..." Nopony acted like they noticed her slip up.

"It's just his nature." Stormy said. "He did the same thing while we fought the manticore. Instead of letting me get up and help him fight, he kept the manticore on himself and didn't let it near me. The one time it got to me I had thrown myself at it." The girls nodded.

"That does sound like our Sharky. He wouldn't even let me cook in my own house!" Rarity added. Twilight nodded at her.

"Me either. He said something about it being ridiculous that mares were expected to cook." They all gave her looks of confusion.

"But... that's just how things work..." Fluttershy mumbled.

"That's what I said!" Twilight exclaimed. "He still didn't listen. He was really upset by the idea of a mare cooking and cleaning because it was expected..."

"Whew... That's good!" Rainbow Dash laughed. Everypony but Stormy looked at her with confusion.

"An why does that matter ta you?" Applejack asked. Rainbow Dash blushed.

"N-no r-reason..." She stuttered out. The oher looked like they were gonna ask more questions, but Pinkie beat them to the punch.

"I'm sure she's just happy that Sharky sticks up for us mares! He's real nice and always works really hard and stuff. You'd really like having him as a worker on your farm AJ, he's always working and he--" She was silenced by Stormy's hoof.

"They get it, Pinkie. Sharky's nice. I seem to hear that all the time from you girls." Stormy sounded a little bitter.

"What's wrong Stormy, you sound upset..." Fluttershy asked.

"Nothing, I'm just a little mad that instead of saving my new best friend, you're all here discussing how nice he is." The girls all jumped as they realized Fang was leaving them behind. They had been slowing down to talk.

"Mah gosh yer right Stormy!" Applejack gasped. "We better get goin'!" They all took off after Fang. Little did they know that their discussion had alerted Evil Sharky to their presence.

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"FANG you're ok!" I exclaimed. Fang had pressed his muzzle against my shoulder, and he looked a little shocked to have hit something. He looked around confusedly, searching for the source of the voice no doubt. "I'm right in front of you boy!" I whispered to him. His eyes locked on my location, but it was obvious he was still confused. I sighed. "Fang, I'm invisible. You won't be able to see me, so don't hurt yourself looking." He nodded in my general direction, then started looking around like he lost something. "I told you not to look for me Fang." I said with exasperation. He shook his head in my direction, and continued to look around. He started walking off in the direction he had come from, so I stood up and followed him.

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Dark Sharky snuck up on the company. When he was close enough, he knocked Twilight out with her own magic.

"Twilight!?" One of the mares yelled as she fell to the ground. Dark Sharky wrapped his yellow aura around them and forced them to the ground.

"Well, well, well. Look who we have here!" Dark Sharky laughed. The group tried to look at him, but they couldn't move their bodies. He walked in front of them. "Let's see if I can remember you all... hmmmm..." He walked over to RD. "Ah! You're the worthless piece of trash that had the audacity to ask me out!" He laughed in her face. She struggled against the magic, but couldn't do anything. Rainbow Dash started crying. She knew it wasn't really Sharky, but the words stung like he had said them. "Ugh, tears." Dark Sharky hissed in disgust. He gave Rainbow Dash a sharp blow to the back of her head, knocking her out. "All better!" He shouted gleefully. He then stood back up and walked over to Stormy. "Ah, the wise friend of my goody twin. You kicked me in the balls if I remember correctly!" Stormy didn't flinch, he just crouched there motionless, returning Dark Sharky's glare. Somehow he managed to talk.

"When I get out of here, you're dead." He stated calmly, it was obviously strained though.

"Good thing you won't be waking up again hmm?" Dark Sharky returned.

"I'm not asleep." Stormy said confusedly. Dark Sharky stood up and smashed Stormy's face with a kick. Stormy went out like a light.

"Sleep tight!" Dark Sharky laughed. He stood and walked over to Applejack. "You never did anything to me, but I'm an asshole, soooo" He whacked Applejack in the head like he had Rainbow Dash, but Applejack didn't go out. "Ooooh, a tough on are we? My mistake!" He stood, lifted his leg and brought his heel down on the back of her head. Applejack went out this time. "Good." He turned to the last two concious ponies. "You and her are best friends, right?" He asked Rarity while pointing to Fluttershy. He released his hold on Rarity's head, and she slowly shook her head yes. Dark Sharky gave her an evil grin. "Then I think I'll keep you concious so you can watch me take her!!" He laughed and started walking towards Fluttershy. Then a thought occured to him.

Wait, I knocked 4 out and left 2 awake... but there were 7... He began looking around quickly. He turned his attention back to Rarity and released the magic holding her mouth.

"Where did the pink one go?" He asked.

"Buck you!" Rarity yelled at him. He clicked his tounge at her.

"That wasn't very ladylike, now was is?" He re-restrained her and continued to look around. That's when a full-grown wolf tackled him.

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"Luna!" One of the guards came rushing back to his princess.

"Yes? Hath thou found Sharky?" Luna asked. The guard shook his head.

"No princess, he has disappered, but your sister's student and her friends are in the hedge maze!" The guard reported.

"Curses..." She groaned. Sharky had escaped. Why was Twilight here though? "Take us to our sibling's student." She commanded. The guard nodded and flew off towards the maze with Luna in tow.

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I hadn't gotten there in time to see him hurt my friends, but I did get there as he beat Fang against the ground using magic. I was enraged, but I kept my head. I was invisible, so I knew I could easily sneak up on him. I was almost to him, when he started trying to magically rip off Fang's tail. Then I lost it and threw a haymaker at his face.

*Crack* He stumbled backwards and dropped a whimpering Fang into the ground.

"OW! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" He shrieked. I didn't answer, but slowly crept around him. He started looking around for his assulter. I crept up and punched him in the gut. He doubled over and his breath left him. He blasted a beam of magic in the direction of the blow. It hit me in the chest and blasted me back about 15 feet. The magic outlined my form. "Ah, my good twin here to save the day!" Dark Sharky cackled. "Clever trick there, invisibility." He blasted more magic at where I had fallen, but I rolled out of the way. My chest felt burned, but I don't think I was bleeding. He kept blasting magic at the area I had fallen in, but I had already rolled to my feet and started running behind him. I got right behind him, but when I got near him he whirled around and hammer-armed me in the side of the head. I grunted an stumbled into the hedge by my side, but I didn't fall. He laughed. "Did you really think you could beat me? I'm so much more powerful than you. Give up!" He taunted. He began charging another magic blast, but he didn't realize he had released his hold on my friends. A blue aura wrapped itself around his legs and pulled them out from under him. He face-planted into the dirt.

"Take that you brute!" Rarity cried.

"Grrr. I guess I'll have to even the playing field..." Dark Sharky growled. He focused on Rarity and knocked her out like he had Twilight. While he was distracted, I cleared my head of the ringing that had accompanied Dark Sharky's blow. I stood over him as he lay on the ground, and I stomped on his head. I managed to make contact, but he refocused his aura and flipped me backwards. I managed to land on my feet.

Cool, magic backflip! I thought to myself. I looked back to Dark Sharky as he jumped back to his feet.

"Face it, you can't fight what you can't see!" I yelled at him. I jumped to the side expectantly, and dodge the magic bolt he threw at my voice. Fang managed to get back up, and he attacked evil me again. Fang was surrounded by a yellow aura, and flung away, just like Luna had thrown him.

"I've got you!" Fluttershy shouted. She flew up and caught Fang. They both continued to fly backward, but Fluttershy was slowing them down greatly. I ran up to evil me and kicked his shin.

"OW!" He yelled. He hopped on one leg, holding his injury. I took the oppritunity to uppercut him in his chin. He screamed through his teeth and sent out another blast of magic. The blast caught me in my right shoulder, and it dropped to my side lamely. I was running out of options fast. "THAT'S IT! I'M GONNA EVEN THIS OUT!" Dark Sharky screamed. He sent out a wave of magic, but I don't think it effected me at all. "HA! THE INVISIBILITY IS GONE!" He cheered. I looked down at my hands, but I still couldn't see them. When I looked up, Dark Sharky was whirling around, looking for me I guess. I knew I couldn't keep fighting like this, but I had an idea.

"The magic is Luna's, Twilight's magic could never disperse this spell!" I taunted him. He blasted magic at me again, weaponized this time, but I sidestepped and he missed. "You'll never be better then me! Even if you copied Luna or Celestia you couldn't disperse this spell!" I continued. He got mad and blasted uncontrollably. I managed to dodge a few, but I took some blasts to my chest and left arm. "There's only one being here stronger than those two, and you don't have the strength to use his power!" I jeered. My evil clone got an evil smile and stopped blasting.

"We'll see about that!" He laughed. He took off into the hedge maze, and I let him run. Pinkie Pie came out of nowhere with her party cannon.

"I'LL GET YOU YOU BIG--" She stopped midsentence. "NO! I LET HIM GET AWAY!" She wailed.

"No, I got rid of him." I interrupted her.

"AHHH GHOST!" She screamed. She turned her cannon towards me.

"NO I'M NOT A GHOST! I'M JUST INVISIBLE!" I yelled at her, not eager to take a cake to the face again.

"Oh, ok. What did you do?" She asked. I sighed.

"I've either solved our problem, or released a mad god."

Unexpected Results

Pinkie Pie would most likely have responded to that, but then Luna came crashing down from the sky.

"PINKIE PIE!! WHAT HATH OCCURED HERE!?!" Luna screamed as she gazed upon the beaten bodies of my friends. Not in Royal Canterlot voice, just a girly scream. I decided being around the unconcious bodies of these ponies most likely wouldn't improve Luna's opinion of me, so I turned to take my leave. "NOT SO FAST SHARKY!!" Luna yelled again, this time in Royal Canterlot voice. Her aura wrapped around me again, tightly this time.

"LUNA WAIT! I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU SAW ME, BUT I SWEAR THIS WASN'T ME!" I screamed. Luna scowled at me. "WELL TECHNICALLY IT WAS ME, BUT NOT THIS ME!!" I continued. I'm no good while panicking. Luna appeared just confused enough for me to explain. "YOU SEE, I ACCIDENTALLY RELEASED A MIRROR VERSION OF MYSELF, AND HE'S BEEN WREAKING HAVOC EVERYWHERE AND GETTING ME IN TROUBLE FOR IT!!" Luna scowled again.

"Is that not the most convinient mishap we've ever heard!" She scoffed at me. "Thou art obviously lying, and for this unforgivable crime, we shall excecute thee. Immediately!" The aura around me began to tighten even more, making it near impossible to breath. I could fee pressure building up behind my eyes, like the were about to pop out of my skull. I began absorbing Pinkie's magic as fast as I could. I didn't want to go through the pain of absorbing Luna's powers again. As I began to feel the magic sugar rush coming on, I popped right out of Luna's grasp, like when you try and grab wet soap to tightly. My invisibility was still intact, so I took the chance to run away again. I disappeared around a hedge, and reappeared somewhere else in the hedge maze. Even from wherever I was, I could still hear Luna's cry of rage. "NOOO! HE ESCAPED AGAIN!!!" I flinched at her outburst, but I kept up my fleeing.

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Dark Sharky was running along at a good pace. He had managed to reach the statue garden when a large wall-like object fell out of the sky and landed in front of him. Dark Sharky was unable to stop himself, and he crashed into the side of the object. He bounced back off of it and fell on his butt. The large wall of pony as it turned out, turned to face him.

"Well, lookee here." Steel Boulder grumbled. He was wearing full armor. "I still owe you a beating from the ring." Dark Sharky laughed.

"Do you really think YOU could stop ME?" He jeered. Steel smirked.

"Here comes the hammer." He stated simply, lifting his massive right foreleg.

"Are you referring to that tiny thing you call a foreleg?" Dark Sharky laughed. At that moment, a huge steel hammer fell out of the sky landing right in front of Steel's hoof. He twisted his head and picked it up with his mouth. "Ah... I see your point... well not really, it's a hammer after all." Dark Sharky looked up. "Where did that come from, anyway?" Steel couldn't respond, but he took advantage of Dark Sharky's confusion and swung the hammer at his legs.

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"No no no no no no Princess! You've got it all wrong!" Pinkie yelled at the Night Princess. "That is the real Sharky!"

"Yes, and he hath commited unforgivable crimes!" Luna retorted. Pinkie Pie shook her head at hyper speed.

"That wasn't Sharky! He acidentally made a really mean copy of himself that has been attacking all of my friends! Sharky has been trying to hunt him down and beat him!" Pinkie protested. Luna frowned.

"Can thou prove thine claim? Hath thou knowledge of how he copied himself?" Luna asked. Pinkie Pie frowned.

"No, I don't know spells..." Pinkie mumbled. The she perked up. "But, I do know who can tell you the truth in a way so true that you'll have to believe it!!"

"And whom might that be?" Luna asked.

"Follow me!" Pinkie Pie ordered. Luna wasn't used to taking orders, but she followed Pinkie Pie anyway. Pinkie had seen Fang flying through the air, and she knew where Fang had Fluttershy had landed. Surely Fang could tell Luna!

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Dark Sharky saw he oncoming blow, but he couldn't dodge it. Instead, he absorbed Steel's magic and the extra muscle softened the blow. His legs were knocked out from under him, and he hit the ground. His leg would bruise for sure, but it wasn't broken. Steel raised the hammer and tried to bring it down on Dark Sharky's head. Dark Sharky saw the blow coming and rolled to the side. Steel's hammer slammed into the ground next to Dark Sharky's face. Dark Sharky scrambled to his feet. When he managed to stand, he stomped on the hammer handle, forcing it out of Steel's mouth. Steel swung at him with his right foreleg at the same time that Dark Sharky swung at him with his right fist. They're blows smashed together, causing a small shockwave. The both flinched at the blow, but Steel, being a hardened warrior, recovered from the shock first. Steel turned on the spot, and bucked Dark Sharky clear off his hammer.

"OW!" Dark Sharky screamed. Steel lifted his hammer once more, and took flight. Not willing to give Steel a height advantage, Dark Sharky took off as well. As he took flight, he searched for where Steel had taken off. Then he felt a hammer hit his back, disabling his right wing. "GRAGH!" He started spinning towards the ground. Dark Sharky managed to pull up right before making contact with the stone statues in the garden. He hit the dirt and skidded a little, but was unhurt aside from a few scrapes. He knew he was losing this fight. Dark Sharky rolled onto his back, and saw Steel charging at him from the sky. He rolled to the side at the last second, and Steel's hammer struck the dirt. Dark Sharky jumped up and spartan kicked Steel away from his hammer. Dark Sharky then reached over and pulled the hammer from the ground himself. He dashed over to Steel and brought the hammer crashing down on his skull. Steel didn't react, his helment had absorbed most of the blow. Dark Sharky managed to get another swing in, aiming for Steel's unarmored belly. The hammer made contact, lifting Steel clear off the ground with the force.

*CRACK* The sound of Steel's breaking ribs echoed across the garden. Steel fell back to the ground and lay there, coughing up blood. Dark Sharky grinned as he realized he had defeated Steel. To rub in his victory, Dark Sharky continually bashed Steel's unprotected body. He relished the sound of his opponent's ribs breaking, and reviled in Steel's pain. After Dark Sharky had finished having his fun, he tossed the hammer to the side and walked passed the motionless body of Steel. He approached a large stone statue in the center of the garden.

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I decided to quit running and see if I could get to my evil self. Maybe if I got there I could make sure my crazy half-baked plan worked... somehow. I sighed. I really didn't have a clue what the buck I was doing. I was in the royal garden with one, maybe two of the most powerful beings in the world hunting me down for crimes I didn't commit, my evil double was most likely becoming a powerful chaos-god as I thought, and almost all of my friends were unconcious or Celestia-knows-where. Except Pinkie Pie, but come on, she was a wild card as far as any thing she'd do to help me. I sighed again. Things looked pretty dang hopeless. I shook my head clear of my dark thoughts, and continued onward towards Discord's statue. Before I got there, I heard a loud smacking noise. I walked over towards the sound, making sure to take cover behind various statues on the way. I got to the source of the noise fairly quickly, and I saw an EXTREMELY muscular pony swing a warhammer at my evil double's head as he lay on the ground. I briefly celebrated, thinking I wouldn't have to chance my risky plan after all, but after watching the fight for a few minutes... I knew I didn't have another choice. I watched myself take the pony's warhammer and repeatedly beat the pony several times. The sight made me sick to my stomach. I retched silently a few times, but I haven't eaten in a while, so I didn't vomit. I became enraged. I watched myself walk away towards Discord's statue, and as soon as evil me was gone, I dashed over to the fallen pony.

"Are you ok?!" I hissed at him quietly. One of his eyes fluttered open.

"Heh, come back to gloat? *Cough cough* Just take your victory and leave." He looked around curiously for a second. "Why are you hiding? Scared of a defeated opponent?"

"No, I'm invisible, and I know I sound like the guy that just beat the tar out of you, but I'm different." I consoled him. "Are you going to be okay?" I repeated. He chuckled.

"I've taken worse beatings than this. You here to fight that... thing too?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm here to kill him actually. What's your name?" I asked him. He coughed.

"Steel, Steel Boulder." Steel replied. "You?"

"I'm Sharky White." Steel's eyes flew open. "The REAL Sharky White. That guy is and evil copy of me. I know it sounds crazy, but you gotta believe me." Steel let his eyes close a little more and slowly nodded.

"I've seen crazier things. I believe you. If you wanted to kill me, you'd have done it already." Steel stated matter-of-factly. "Make that bastard pay." He ordered me. Then his head rolled to the side. He was still breathing, so at least he wasn't dead. I stood up and glared at my retreating form. I walked over to Steel's warhammer and picked it up, then I began following after my clone.

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"This is the one that shall convince us of Sharky's innocence?" Luna asked in disbelief. Sitting in front of her was a full-grown wolf that she could have sworn she had thrown out of the castle grounds before.

"Eeyupp!" Pinkie Pie shouted gleefully. Luna gave her a confused gaze.

"And how is the wolf going to tell us of Sharky's innocence?" Luna questioned Pinkie Pie. Pinkie frowned and thought for a second.

"Maybe you could check his memories..." Fluttershy said timidly. She had been with the wolf when Pinkie Pie and Luna had found them.

"If thou thinks it will help..." Luna said hesitantly. Both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie nodded vigerously. Luna sighed. "Very well..." Her horn lit up, and she touched it to the wolf's head.

Wait a minute... this isn't the smell of my master! Luna saw through Fang's eyes as he bit into Evil Sharky's hand. She felt his pain as he was slammed into the floor and kicked. She felt his happiness and desire to help his real master when he woke up in the closet. She felt the rush of energy as he grew thanks to the efforts of Twilight. She felt his embarrassment when he couldn't run right because of his akwardness with his new limbs. She felt the rush of terror and adrenaline as he charged into the boutique to save his real master. She felt all of these things, and knew Pinkie's claim to be true, but what really mattered is what she learned about Sharky's charecter from the wolf's memories. Through all the emotions and feelings that made up the wolf's mind, only one thought was constant. I am Fang, and I love my master.

"We hath done a terrible deed!" Luna cried as she seperated herself from Fang's mind. "Sharky is clearly too caring to have preformed any of the crimes we accused him of!" She looked to Pinkie Pie. "We thank thou for showing us this. We must now go make amends for our wrong doings!" Her horn glowed, and she located her magic still around Sharky. Once located, she teleported herself, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy to the statue garden.

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"HEY SHARKY!!!" I yelled at myself. Dark Sharky turned to me, but didn't see anything.

"You're too late!" He laughed at me. Luna, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Fang appeared in a flash.

"Sharky! We would like to apologize--"

"No time Princess, my clone is about to absorb the power of Discord!" I warned her. She scowled and turned towards evil me, but she was too late. Dark Sharky focused his void on the powers of Discord. He began to swell in size. He let out an evil chuckle.

"THE POWER! THE ABSOLUTE POWER!" He cheered happily. I began to worry, this wasn't how this was supposed to go! I looked down at the warhammer.

"HEY, CHICKEN!" I yelled, knowing the only insult that would effect him. Sure enough, he turned towards me with hate in his eyes. I reared back and threw the hammer at his face. "IT'S HAMMER TIME!" Dark Sharky was too preoccupied with the void to block the hammer, so it smacked him full in the face. At that point, something went wrong. Dark Sharky grimaced and howled in pain. Beams of light began to shine through him as the magice became to much for his body to handle without his concentration. Soon, he began to lookd like a rainbow disco ball.

"GRAAAAAAGH!!!" He gave one last scream, then his body inflated like a ballon. After a few seconds, his body returned to normal size and the lights faded. "Huh, well that went better than I th--"

*BOOOOOM* Dark Sharky exploded into a mushroom cloud that looked something like... chocolate milk. The explosion also sent out a wave of magic, I don't think it effected much, but I could see it had dispelled my invisibility. I fell to my knees.

"Did I really just say 'It's hammer time?" I asked myself, then my brain came to grips with what had just haappened. "YES! WE WON!!!" I cheered. I turned to Pinkie Pie, Fang, and Fluttershy. I ran over and hugged them. "We did it guys! Evil me is gone!" I was practically singing. They all let out happy sounds and we jumped up and down in celebration. Luna cleared her throat.

"*EHM* Well Sharky, as we were about to say, we apologize for accusing you of those horrid crimes. We should have believed you. We do commend you on your clever defeat of your duplicate however!" She pointed a hoof at the place Dark Sharky had exploded. By now it was starting to pour chocolate rain. When I looked at where she pointed however, I could see that there was something strange there where Dark Sharky had exploded. I looked up at the Princess.

"No Luna, you don't need to be sorry. I understand."

"Well yes, but..." Luna stopped talking. I had begun walking away from her, towards the statue of Discord. Then she noticed that something was laying there too. As I approached the thing on the ground, I heard a noise.

"Wahhh, wah wahhhh!" As I approached the figure, I could tell it was CRYING. Not like grown man crying, but baby crying. I finally got to it, and I was standing over a baby Discord. His unicorn horn was straight, he still had one large fang, his little goat beard wasn't there, his eyes looked normal, and he was freakin' ADORABLE!

"OH MY GOSH HE'S CUTE!" I gushed. I stooped over and scooped him up in my arms. I could feel magic emenating from him. I was worried this was some trick, but I could feel Discord's magic coming from the statue too. The little Discord was giving off the exact same energy, but somehow it felt less... hostile. Luna galloped up behind me. I turned to face her, and she gasped and reared back when she saw what I was holding.

"Sharky! Drop that thing immediately! Thou art in danger!" She whinnied. Her horn began to glow.

"NO, WAIT LUNA!" Luna's horn lost the glow, but she didn't look less panicked. "THIS ONE ISN'T A THREAT!" She gave me a wary stare.

"What art thou talking about?!" She exclaimed. "That is our sworn enemy, Discord!"

"No! He's not! Discord is still in the statue! This little guy is... something else." I thought for a second. This thing obviously WASN'T Discord, but at the same time he was. He wasn't a mirror thing either, the magic wasn't backwards like it had been in evil me. "I... I think... This guy is magic." I started. Luna gave me a skeptic stare, but let me continue. "Let me explain my thoughts... Evil me came from a world with no magic, that means that he could take in the magic of this world and use it to copy magic near him. I think that when the magic molded itself into Discord for him, he died without the magic being let out into the world like it's supposed to be."

"That is a wonderful theory, but how does this mean we should not kill this abomination?"

"I'm getting there! Now, when the magic didn't go back into the world, it continued to mold itself instead. That means that it actually made a new Discord! This one is young and problably has no memories of anything. He's not the same as him!" I said, pointing to Discord's statue. "You can't kill an innocent baby!" Luna faltered at my explanation.

"Then.. Then what doth thou propose we do with it?" She asked. I looked down at him and he smiled at me. I knew what she should do.

"Let me raise him."

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Normal HiE fic: Human adopts Scootaloo

My fic: I adopt a baby chaos lord. BOOM! Who saw that coming huh?

My Son

Luna seemed to take a moment to comprehend what I had said. Then she burst out laughing.

"Sorry, for a moment there, we thought you asked to keep him!" She laughed uncontrollably. I started laughing along with her.

"That is funny Princess!" I laughed, then I straightened my face and gave her a determined stare. "You thought I was asking!" I said seriously. Luna faltered and gave me a glare.

"Thou means to tell us that thou art going to raise an Evil Lord of Chaos?" She asked.

"No, I'm gonna raise a kind Lord of Chaos." I countered. She seemed caught off guard by my response.

"Sharky, that thing is evil!" Luna tried to warn me. I shook my head.

"No, it's a baby. I'm not going to let you do anything to him just because HE'S evil!" I nodded towards Disord's statue. "If this baby is raised right, he could protect Equestria instead of corrupt it like his alter!" Luna seemed to think about my statement.

"Hmm... thou hath a point... but if this is the case, we should raise it. We are protectors of this land ourselves!" Luna argued. I snorted at her.

"Yeah, the protector that tried to shroud this world in night eternal!" I countered. Luna flinched at my words. "Besides, you and Celestia are to busy ruling to raise a child." I pointed out. "I'm the only other being with the power necessary to raise him. I'm sure Twilight and Fluttershy could help too..." Luna gave me a curious glance.

"Why doth thou mention those two specifically?" She asked.

"Twilight's got enough magic knowledge to help control him, and Fluttershy is really nuturing. The other girls would all be great friends of his, but I just can't see any of the others being helpful with him." I explained. Luna stared at me.

"Is that the only reason?" Luna asked. I gave her a confused look.

"Yes... Why, should there be another?" I asked. Luna nodded.

"Thou art an idiot." She said simply. I was startled by her statement. "Well Sharky, thou makes an excellent point. Very well, the infant shall accompany you to Ponyville where you shall raise him. Be warned! If this babe doth show signs of becoming evil, we shall expect thee to put it down personally!" She warned. I nodded.

"Understood, Luna." I said. Luna looked away for a moment. Then she looked down at baby Discord, who had fallen asleep in my arms.

"Fare thee well, Discord." She said to the baby.

"Don't call him that!" I shouted. Luna jumped back in suprise.

"Why not? That is his name!"

"No! No it's not! I'll not have him share the name of a mad beast that attempted to destroy the world!" I retorted. Luna thought, then nodded.

"Thou hath a point, since the objective is to change his nature, giving him a new name is a good idea." She mused. "Hath thou any ideas?" I thought for a moment.

"Unity." I said simply. Luna nodded in approval.

"A fitting name for his purpose." She agreed. "We would like for you to stay at our palace for the night, your knighthood is back on tomorrow after all. Also, we should retrieve your damaged friends..."

"OHMYGOSHILEFTTHEMINTHEMAZE!!!" I shouted. Unity wiggled in my arms, but didn't wake. I ran over to Fluttershy. "Could you hold him for me?" I asked her. She nodded and picked him up in her forehooves. She began flying just off the ground and cradling him. I had a brief D'AWWWWWWWW, then ran into the maze. Luna was already on her way in. We quickly located the girls and Stormy, and even though Luna insisted on her ability to carry them all, I picked up Rarity and Twilight. I would've carried more of them, but Luna didn't allow it. We walked back out into the statue garden to get Steel, but he was already gone. We went back to the castle, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Unity, and Fang in tow.

"So, Luna?" I started.

"Why doth thou call me Luna?" She asked. "Most are too afraid to even call me 'princess'! Why do you adress me in such an informal manner?" I flinched.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to insult you, I'll stop..." I mumbled.

"No, we do not wish you to stop calling us Luna, we just wondered why thou were able to speak to us in this manner." She clerified.

"OH! Well Luna, I just have a hard time adressing those I've wrestled with as royalty. It makes me think of you as more... down to earth. I know you're a princess, but I hope you don't mind if I think of you as a friend." I explained.

"B-but... We did terrible things to thou just recently! We tried to execute thou like a common animal!" She stuttered in disbelief.

"Yes, but you thought it was for the good of your people. I could never disrespect or hate you for that." I stated simply. Luna gave me a confused gaze.

"T-thou... Thou doesn't? Everypony here has jumped to hate or fear of us for so much less than what we did to thou! How art thou so ok with it?" She asked skeptically.

"Because good friends can learn to get over mistakes. I learned that from these girls." I answered. Luna looked at the mane six.

"Thou hath only known these mares for a short while, how hath thou already learned a lesson this great?" Luna asked. I froze up.

"Uh... umm... ugh... well... you se--"

"This is alright, we understand." Luna interrupted. I looked at her in horror. She knew? "It can be difficult to discuss emotional moments." She finished. I calmed down.

Whew, for a second there I thought my cover was blown. I thought to myself.

"You're right Luna, thanks for understanding." I lied. I remained silent the entire way back to the castle.

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We finally got to the castle and Luna showed me the room where I could put down the girls I had been carrying. It was a two bed room, and I tucked in both Twilight and Rarity. They were the only ones going to bed tonight anyway, the rest were going to the infirmary.

"Would thou like to got to thine room now?" Luna asked. thought for a moment.

"Nah, I'll stay awake in here. Twilight'll freak out if she doesn't know where I am when she wakes up." I said. Luna gave me another stare.

"Does she really care for thou so much?" She asked me.

"Yeah, we're great friends!" I said happily. Luna shook her head.

"Thou art truly the most intelligent simpleton we've ever met." She said as she began trotting away with the rest of my friends.

"Ummm... Thank you?!" I shouted after her confusedly. Fluttershy, Unity, Pinkie Pie, and Fang were all still with me. I looked down to Fluttershy, still hovering and cradling Unity like she had been the whole way here. Then I looked at Fang, the most loyal companion a man could ask for, sitting by my side as always. Then I looked at Pinkie Pie, who was well... Pinkie Pie. Enough said. "You guys should follow her to your rooms." I told Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. I reached out to take Unity.

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie Pie said happily. She bounced off in pursuit of Luna. Fluttershy didn't look like she wanted to hoof Unity over, but she did.

"No thanks... I'd rather stay with you. If that's ok..." Fluttershy mumbled. I smiled gently at her.

"Of course it's ok Fluttershy." I soothed. I walked over to a corner of the room and sat down against a wall, cradling Unity the whole way. Fluttershy trotted over to my side. She curled up next to me, her warmth on my side making me a bit drowsy. I fell asleep soon.

"H-hey.... S-s-sharky...?" Fluttershy asked timidly. She had just remembered his promise to her. His only response was a snore. "Dang it..."

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I woke up and yawned. Darn, I had wanted to stay awake. I stretched my legs, and looked down at the little bundle in my arms. I saw Unity staring right back at me. He was giggling and he tried to swat my nose with his lion paw.

"D'AWWWW!" I muttered to him. He giggled harder. I looked to my side to see that Fluttershy was still curled up next to me, sound asleep. Then I looked around. I was floating in the middle of the room. "WAGHH!!" I gasped. Unity was upset by my cry, and began to tear up. "Oh, nononono don't cry..." I soothed. He whimpered a little, but didn't break out into wails. Luckily all the girls were still asleep. I noticed that Twilight and Rarity were still in their beds. Only Fluttershy, Unity, and I were floating. I looke around us to see if I could figure out who was lifting us, but nopony else was in the room. I looked down at Unity. "Did you do this?" I asked him. He gave me a blank stare. "Right, baby. Can't talk." I reminded myself. Crud, I hadn't realized he would be causing me trouble already! Luckily, Fang hadn't curled up next to us last night, so he was still on the ground. "Fang... FANG!" I hissed at him. He shook himself awake and started stretching. "Up here boy!" I hissed. He turned his head, and his eyes widened when he saw me. I stretched my leg out so it would be as close to the ground as I could get. "Grab my leg boy!" Fang didn't look less confused, but he walked over and jumped for my leg like I asked. He jumped up and bit down on my leg, not hard, just enough for a good grip. I gritted my teeth and let out a small hiss, but I didn't yell out. We began to decend to th ground. We all landed, and I gave Fang a good petting. "Good boy!" I cheered to him. He thumped his tail on the ground. Then Twilight woke up.

"Hmm? Mmmmm...." She moaned as she stretched awake. "W-wha... Why am I in the castle? I could've sworn I was in the gardens looking for..." Her pupils shrank and she started freaking out. "OH NO, WHERE'S EVIL SHARKY?!"

"Twilight! Calm down!" I urged her. She was upsetting Unity. "Evil me is dead, everything is ok now." She glared at me.

"If you're the real Sharky... What was the password to the hospital?" She asked cautiously.

"There was no password." I answered. She smiled.

"Whew, good. I was worried you wer-- OH MY CELESTIA IT'S DISCORD!!!" Twilight screeched. Her aura wrapped around Unity and tried to pull him out of my hands. Unity was scared, and he started crying. Seeing him cry hurt enough, but along with crying, each wail he let out was like getting hit by some sort of sound cannon! My ears felt like they were exploding! I grunted through my pain. Luckily, the sound attack made Twilight lose her focus, and Unity dropped back into my arms. I 'shhh'ed him and rubbed his head between his horn stubs until the wailing finally stopped. I held my eyes shut tight the entire time from pain, and I didn't open them until the ringing in my ears subsided. I opened my eye, and all the girls had woken up if they had been asleep, and were crouched down holding both hooves over their ears.

"DON'T. DO. THAT. AGAIN." I said sternly to Twilight. She weakly nodded her head. All the girls pulled their hooves away from their ears. "Now, before anypony else upsets my new son, let me explain the situation." Twilight and Rarity gave me looks of open shock, but didn't speak. "This little guy here," I held up Unity for them to see. "Is Unity. He is a young copy of Discord that came into being when my clone failed to hold in Discord's magic. He is not evil, and has no memories. I'm going to raise him to be good. Understand?" They just continued giving me the look of open shock. I sighed. "YOU. DON'T. HURT. HIM." I stated slowly and forcefully so they'd get the message. Twilight shook away her confusion.

"Did you say SON!?!?!" Obviously her brain was a few minutes slow right now. I sighed. Clearly this was going to take longer to explain than I thought.

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"Ok, now that I've re-explained this 50 TIMES, do you think you understand now?" I asked Twilight and Rarity. Then RD, Stormy, and Applejack trotted into the room.

"Hey guys, we heard what happened to evil Shark-- OH MY CELESTIA IT'S DISCORD!" Rainbow Dash yelled. Then the crying started again. I sighed through my pain.

It's gonna be a LONNNNNNNNG day... I thought to myself.

Chaos Powers

The wailing finally stopped after about 3 minutes of cooing to Unity. He was curled up in my arms, looking up at me with tears still in his eyes. He sniffled a little. Celestia he was adorable, how does something that was once this innocent turn into Discord? I hope I never find out. I looked up at RD and AJ.

"Firstly, this is NOT DISCORD." I started. "This is... well, you won't care about the explanation for it, but long story short, this is a baby version of Discord. I've adopted him and named him Unity." I summarized. RD and AJ's jaws dropped. "AUGH dangit!" I groaned. "More blown pony brains!" I didn't have the patience to explain this 50 more times. "Fluttershy, would you mind explaining this to them?" I asked.

"Oh, I don't mind." She trotted over to RD and AJ. I looked to Twilight.

"Do you know where the kitchen is? I think Unity'll be hungry soon, and I'd rather feed him now and avoid the crying later." I asked. Twilight flinched.

"Good idea, follow me." She hopped off her bed and trotted past RD, AJ, and Fluttershy. I stood and followed her. I looked down at my side, expecting to see Fang, but he wasn't there.

"Hold on for a second Twilight." called to her. She stopped trotting and turned to me.

"Is something wrong?"

"Nah, I just gotta find Fang real quick." I answered.

"Oh... ok..." She muttered. I turned and walked back to the room.

Stupid wolf is already top priority for him. Even THIS early in the morning... She thought ruefully.

I walked back into the room, and found Fang lying next to where I had been sitting before. I walked over to him. I saw that he was twitching like crazy, and both of his forepaws were over his head.

"Fang!? Are you alright?!" I shouted. He lifted a forepaw and looked at me. He nodded weakly. "Liar... " I sighed. "Those sonic cries must have hurt you the worst, didn't they?" He didn't move his head. "Crap, I didn't even think about that... Stay here ok buddy? As a matter of fact, just stay away from Unity until we can find a way to make his crying easier on you, ok?" He looked really hurt by my words, but he nodded and nuzzled my leg. "Ok buddy, good boy." I cooed to him. I turned to leave, but I could see him go back to shaking in pain from the corner of my eye. I sighed. I walked back out of the room and nodded to Twilight. We started walking off again.

Damn, this is getting difficult. I've now got a wolf, a baby chaos lord, and myself to take care of, and so far I've doing a bad job at that last one alone. Not to mention I've got a job as a monster hunter now, which could pull me away for unknown amounts of time. I could even not come back at all... I stopped walking at that though. A chill wrapped around my body. Twilight noticed I had stopped.

"Sharky? Are you ok?" She asked. I was shaking pretty hard. Unity didn't seem to mind.

"Y-yeah... I'm just... cold." I lied. "I am only wearing a cloth after all, and I don't have a coat like you."

"Oh... I'm sorry, I wish I could help, but I can't make clothes..." She murmered sadly. I was about to console her, when Unity started giggling. I looked down at him, and he smiled up at me. My shaking stopped and I smiled back.

No, I'll always come back. I thought to myself. I need to. I straightened back up and nodded to Twilight to continue. She was hesitant, but she turned and continued leading towards the kitchen anyway. We eventually got there, and it was really empty. I walked over to a few cabinets to look for bottles. Suprisingly, I found a bunch. They were REALLY dusty, and had either a sun or moon on them. I smiled to myself as I realized who they had been for. Hope they don't mind me using one of these. I thought to myself as I pulled out a sun bottle. I walked over to an EXTREMELY large double-doored fridge. I easily located some milk. I washed out the sun bottle and filled it up for Unity. I looked around, but even though they had fridges and stoves, I didn't see a microwave.

"Twilight, you wouldn't happen to know any kind of heat spell would you?" I asked. I guess Twilight had been thinking, because she seemed like she had just snapped back to reality when I adressed her.

"Hmm? Uhh sure... Hey Sharky, how do you plan on taking care of Unity while you're gone monster hunting?" She asked. Her horn started glowing. "What was I warming up?"

"This bottle." I touched the bottle to her horn, and I could feel it get warmer in my hand. I pulled the bottle away from her after a few seconds, and squeezed a little of the milk out of the bottle and onto my finger. The milk was warm, but not so hot as to burn Unity, so I popped the nipple into his mouth. (Nipple as in the rubber top of the bottle. Pervs.) I looked back to Twilight. "Actually... I'd kinda hoped you'd help me take care of him, Twilight..." Twilight looked up at me and cut off the magic.

"Really?! You want me to help raise Unity?!" She asked excitedly. I stepped back in suprise. I hadn't expected her to react so positively. Right then, a stream of milk hit me in the face. I blinked in suprise, then blocked the flow with my hand. I looked down, and Unity was spitting milk. I looked at the bottle, and only about 1/20th of it was missing. Somehow, the stream of milk kept coming for about 5 minutes! I moved my hand to see if he had finished spitting, and another stream hit me on full on the face. The second stream only lasted about 5 seconds though. I looked down at Unity again, and he was giving me an angry look.

"What, don't like milk?" I asked him laughingly. He continued to stare. "Fine, fine." I thought for a moment about what to get him, but then I had an idea. I searched a few more cabinets, and I actually found some powdered chocolate. I mixed it up with some milk, and had Twilight warm it up. I gave it to Unity again, and turned back to Twilight. "Yes, I would love for you to help me raise Unity." I answered.

"Sooo... that would make me kind of like his... Mom?" She asked. I thought for a moment.

"Well, kinda I guess..." I answered.

"So if I'm his mom and you're his dad..." She started. Unity started kicking.

"Whoa, hold that thought Twilight." I interrupted. I looked down at Unity, and the bottle was gone. The chocolate milk was still floating in midair. "So wait, you drink the bottle, but you still made me change the milk?" I asked him. He didn't answer of course. He did start kicking harder though. I sighed. "Twilight, could you get me a little towel?" I asked. She looked a little mad about being interrupted, but she got me a towel. I placed it on my shoulder, and placed Unity on it so his stomach was on the towel. I started patting his back. Twilight looked at me with confusion.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Burping him." I answered simply. Twilight tilted her head at me.

"What are you talking about?" She asked. Then Unity spit up. A little rubber bottle nipple bounced off the little towel and onto the floor. I threw up my hands.

"Of course he spit up something impossible!" I shouted. I unbalanced Unity when I threw up my arms, and I quickly grabbed him before he fell off my shoulder. Twilight seemed to be in awe.

"Sharky, how do you know so much about babies?" She asked in amazement. I blushed.

"It's nothing really... I just babysat a lot when I was young." I answered bashfully. "It's no big deal..."

"No big deal..." She muttered. "Wow..." I looked at her with confusion. She was looking at me in a really funny way.

"What's that look for?" I asked. She started moving towards me.

"You cook, you risk your own life to protect your friends, you can keep up with me when it comes to science, and now you're good with kids TOO?" She said in a wierd whisper.

"Ummm... yes?" She was still moving towards me, and I started backing up. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"Say, Unity must be getting tired, why don't you put him down for a nap?" She asked.

"H-he j-just w-w-woke up..." I answered. I kept backing up, but Twilight was still adavancing. "Ummm..." I hit the wall behind me. Unity started hiccuping. "Twilight why are you WAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!!!" I phased through the back wall. Which just happened to be 50 feet off the ground. I scrambled and started kicking my legs. "WAAAAAAAGGGHHHHH!!!" Then I realized I wasn't falling. "WAAAAaaaaaaghhhh..... Umm... what?" I looked down at Unity, and he was still hiccuping. "A-are you doing this?" I asked. He hiccuped again. I started falling. Not fast, just falling. I rubbed my temple with my free hand. "Just... why?" I mumbled to myself. This wasn't helping my headache from the sonic wailing earlier. We settled down on the ground and Unity's hiccups ceased. I sighed in relief. "No more wierdness please?" I asked him. He giggled. I sighed and started walking around. I was in the garden again, I guess it extends a long way or something. I walked around for awhile, taking in the scenery and wondering about Twilight's behavior. After exploring for a little while, I ran into Luna.

"Princess?! What are you doing out here at midday?" I asked in suprise. She smiled at me.

"We just enjoy the scenery of the gardens." She answered.

"B-but, don't you need to sleep during the day?" I asked. She laughed.

"We never need to sleep." She explained.

"Oh... thats... convinient."

"Yes, yes it is. Wouldst thou like to sit with us?" She asked. I nodded. I walked over to her and sat down. We were silent for a long time, just sitting and looking at the garden. It WAS really pretty when you weren't trying to not be killed by an evil copy of yourself. Yeah, running and fighting for your life doesn't really allow you to appreciate a garden. "So, art thou ready for thine knighting tonight?" She broke the silence.

"Yeah, I guess I am..." I answered. She looked down at me.

"Why doth thou sound so reluctant?" She asked.

"Well... It's just... now I've got a kid. I'm worried about not coming back..." I answered. Luna nodded.

"We understand. Thou could always quit if thou wished." She offered. I thought about it.

"No, if I do this, I could save the lives of hundreds of ponies. That's more important than my life could ever be." I mused. "Also, somepony really needs to teach you to talk normal."

"That is a honorable way of viewing this." She agreed. "Thou art also correct in saying we should learn to speak correctly. Whenever we try to get somepony to assist us in this endeavor, they run away upon meeting us..." She said with sorrow.

"I could teach you!" I offered happily. She smiled at me.

"That would be greatly appreciated."

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Luna and I practiced for several hours in the garden. She didn't make any real progress, she WAS trying to break a thousand years worth of speaking like that though. Even though it was almost night when we finished, Unity was suprisingly quiet the whole time. Eventually I had to leave to feed Unity again though. Luna escorted me back to the kitchen, which was now bustling with cooks. I made my way through the crowd, and managed to prepare another bottle for Unity. Luna warmed it up for me this time, and this time Unity drank the milk. I sighed in relief, and grabbed the empty bottle, but it folded around my hand like plastic wrap. I groaned. I flapped my hand around, but the bottle wouldn't come off.

"Fan tucking fastic." I mumbled to myself. Luna laughed and escorted me to another room. It was a really small room, and there was a crib in it. The room was really dark blue and covered in little white dots.

"This was our room as an infant." She explained. "Unity can stay here for the night."

"Thanks Luna." I placed Unity in the crib, and prayed he didn't do anything strange again. I didn't need to worry though, he fell asleep almost instantly. I sighed with relief, and left the room.

"Ok, tis time for your knighthood now." Luna said. "Now is thine last chance to withdraw from this." She warned.

"No, I need to do this." I answered. She nodded and turned to leave. I followed after her, sneaking one last look at Unity's door.

Knighthood

I followed Luna out into a really big yard. There was a huge ring in the middle of it, and there were tons of weapons all neatly arranged in little racks along the outside of the yard area.

"Please wait just outside this area, we need to make a few last preparations before knighting you." Luna ordered. I nodded and walked back down the hall we had just come from. I stood around and waited for a while, when Fluttershy appeared out of nowhere.

"Oh! H-hi Sharky..." She muttered.

"Hi Fluttershy!" I grinned at her. It always made me happy to see her. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh... I was looking... for you..." She muttered.

"Why were you looking for me?"

"Oh... Twilight told us you fell out of a wall... none of us had seen you since then... I was worried." She murmered sadly. I kneeled down next to her.

"Oh, I'm sorry for worrying you guys!" I reached out and pulled her into a hug. "I need to stop making you girls worry about me..." I sighed. She wrapped her forehooves around me. Then she started talking, but she still sounded really sad.

"So... I heard that you... asked Twilight.... to help you raise Unity... does this mea--"

"Yes! I did ask her that!" I interrupted. "Which reminds me, I'd like you to help me raise him too." I said simply.

"REALLY?!?" Fluttershy squealed in excitement and gripped me tighter. Geez, I hadn't thought these girls would be so happy to help.

"Really, Twilight may have the magic to help keep him under control, but your kindness is exactly what he needs." I explained. "So, as Twilight put it, you'll kinda be like his mom!"

"Yay!" (She said it! SQUEEEEEE it will never get old.)

"Wow, I can't believe you girls are so happy about this!" I exclaimed.

"Why wouldn't we be? This is simply wonderful!" She gushed. Then she got really quiet again. "Oh... I don't know how you're gonna explain this to Twilight...." She mumbled. She sounded... scared?

"Why would that be a problem?" I asked. She pulled away from the hug and looked me in the eyes.

"Y-you really don't know what that meant to her... do you?" She asked. I frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing..." She sighed. Then she remembered something. "Hey Sharky?"

"Yes?"

"Do you remember your promise?"

"Hmm? To take good care of Fang? Yeah, I try to keep him out of danger, but he doesn't listen..." I sighed. "Just like you girls actually."

"I... I don't think I even made you promise that..." She answered.

"You didn't? Hmm... I must have imagined it..."

"I-I w-was talking about your... other p-promise." She was starting to sound really nervous.

"What other promise?"

"T-t-the p-promise f-f-f-from N-new Year's...." She was stuttering so hard it took me a few seconds to make out what she had said. I started laughing.

"HA HA HA HA HA! I can't believe you even remembered that! Don't worry Fluttershy, I know you were drunk off your flank. You don't need to worry about what you said." I consoled her. She must be regretting her drunk words.

"N-no S-sharky, t-tha--"

"Sharky White! Please procced to the Sparring Yard for your knighting!" I looked up to see a lunar guard standing down the hall.

"OK sir! I'll be right there!" I shouted at him. He nodded and trotted out into the yard. I looked back down to Fluttershy. "Hold that thought, I gotta go." I stood up and placed her on the ground. Then I dashed towards the yard.

"--t's... not what I meant..." Fluttershy finished. She sighed.

Someday he won't have time to run off somewhere... She thought to herself.

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I stepped out into the yard, which had changed drastically since I had last come here. Now there were two HUGE lines of lunar guards lined up all the way to the back of the field. Each of them was in full armor and they each had a lance. At the back of the field, sitting in a throne as black as night, was Luna. She was dressed in Nightmare Moon's ceremonial armor, but she didn't look menacing at all. She waved me forward with her right foreleg.

"Sharky White, come forward." She commanded. I did as I was told, and started walking towards Luna. As I approached the first pair of guards, they raised their lances to form an arch that was just tall enough for me to walk under. Each pair of guards repeated the process as I approached them. It made me feel like I was in a wave. The movements were perfectly synchronized, it obviously took a lot of practice to get this right. I was touched that Luna had gone all this way for me, but then I realized she problably did this for every new knight. I kept walking throught the sea of rising lances until I finally made it to the end of the yard where Luna awaited me. I exited the lance tunnel, and behind me every lance snapped back to the ground with a resounding thud.

"Cool..." I breathed. Luna spoke to me again.

"Approach me and kneel, Sharky." She commanded. I walked forward and bent down onto one knee. I looked up at the princess the whole time. "We shall now have thee make the sacred pledges." She started. "Doth thou swear to protect the citizens of Equestria with thine life?" She asked.

"I do." I answered.

I made that promise to myself awhile ago actually. I thought to myself. As I said 'I do', A dark blue aura wrapped itself around me. It stayed for a few seconds, then dispersed.

"Doth thou swear to stand by your princess, even in the most dire of times?"

"I do." The aura wrapped itself around me again. More powerful this time. It dispersed again though.

"Doth thou swear to always conduct thyself with honor?"

"I do." The aura came for a third time, to dark to even see through. It dispersed nontheless.

"And finally, thou must swear to abide by the commands of your princess." She finished.

"I do." I answered. This time the air rushed around me, and an aura black as tar wrapped itself around me, lifting me clear off the ground. I was held there for a while, not even daring to breath. I hit the ground after a few moments, and I gasped for air. Luna didn't seem effected by my reaction.

"Then we doth declare you... Night Knight White!" She declared. I had to stifle a laugh. She bent her head down and tapped both my shoulders with her horn. Then the guards started chanting.

"Knight White! Ho haha!" They shouted. I froze for a second.

Now where did I hear that before? I questioned to myself.

"Welcome brother White!" Luna continued.

"Knight White! Ho haha!" The guards repeated.

Yeah, I've definately heard that somewhere before I thought.

"Guards, thou may take thine leave now!" Luna shouted. I stood to leave, but Luna caught my shoulder with her hoof. "We did not say 'knights' Sharky. We wish to speak with thou."

"Uh... ok Luna..." I wanted to get back to my friends so we could go back home, but the princess comes first I guess.

"Follow me." She ordered. I did as commanded and when she started trotting off, I followed her. We walked down another impossible number of halls and rooms, until eventually we reached her bedchambers.

"Ummm.... Luna?" I asked hesitantly.

"We don't normally do this, but we wish to make amends for our earlier treatment of you." She responded.

"Ok." Luna pushed open her doors.

"Come with us!" She said happily. I was feeling really hesitant about whatever was going to happen, but my body followed after her without my command.

"Yes Luna." Luna ignored me. She continued talking. We stepped onto the moon.

"Now, we understand thou hath been wanting this for awhile now..." She started trotting towards her bed.

"Wanting what Luna?" I asked suspiciously.

"Don't jest with us..." She giggled. She made it to her bed and jumped on. "Now come here..." She commanded. All sorts of warnings were going off in my head. I've no idea what they meant, and I was trying to figure it out, but my body obeyed her commands. I walked over to her bed. She looked down at me and lowered her eyelids. "Now, it is time for us to give you what you want..." She whispered. I started shaking in fear. Then she pulled a small gift wrapped box from under one of her pillows and hoofed it to me. "SUPRISE!!!" She squealed. "Go on, open it!"

"OH THANK GOD!" I exclaimed. I have no idea what I thought was going to happen, but I'm sure glad whatever it was didn't happen. She gave me a funny look, but I was too busy inspecting the box to care. It was a decent sized box, and it was wrapped in gray paper with a white ribbon around it. I smiled up at her and started attacking the wrapping with gusto. I revealed a brown box with a lid on it. I opened the lid. "OH MY GOSH.... THANK YOU LUNA!!!!" I exclaimed. I pulled the first item out of the box, and it was a pair of royal blue pants! They seemed to be armored. Inside the box there were also 2 more pairs of pants, and some metal boots! Also.... YES! BOXERS!!! Oh, and socks... socks.

"We heard from thine friends that thou needed clothing. We scanned you in the garden today and had a royal tailor fashion armored clothing for you to wear while working for us." She said happily. "Doth thou forgive us for our mistreatment of thou?" She asked tenatively.

"Forgive you!? I did that a long time ago! This is... just amazing Luna! Thank you!!!" I jumped up onto the bed and hugged her. She gave a small gasp of suprise, but then she wrapped a foreleg around me as well.

"It was our pleasure Sharky." We pulled away from each other.

"Geez, I can't tell you how much not having to run around in a cloth means to me..." I said happily. She smiled at me.

"We still have one more thing to give you." She said.

"Oh no Luna, I couldn't accept another gift! This is too much already."

"Well, then don't think of it as a gift. We just need you to have this so we may contact you." She said. She levitated a small hand mirror to me. "This mirror will allow us to contact you for mission assignments." She clearified. "It will change to fit it's bearers needs, so don't be startled." She warned. I nodded and reached up to grab the mirror. As soon as it made contact with my hand, it turned into an iPhone.

"What the?!" I exclaimed. Luna laughed.

"We warned you."

"That you did Luna. So, wierd iPhone aside, where can I get dressed?" I asked. She gave me an odd look.

"Thou needs to leave to dress?" She asked. I blushed.

"Yes! Yes I do! I understand you guys are ok with nudity, but humans aren't!" She nodded in understanding.

"Very well... there is a washroom over there." She pointed at another door randomly sitting on the moon. This is too freaking wierd. I jogged over to the little door and walked in. It looked like every other bathroom I'd encountered so far. Nothing fancy or ornate. I took the oppritunity to relieve myself and got dressed right after that. I put on a pair of boxers, then some pants. The pants fit like a glove, but when I pulled on them they stretched out. I was glad I wouldn't have to worry about ripping these off with a transformation. I put on a pair of socks and pulled on the boots. The boots would need a little breaking in, but the socks were so thick and soft that the boots didn't actually hurt at all. I walked them around a bit, and they were oddly silent for metal boots. I walked back out of the bathroom, finally somewhat clothed. I tied the cloth around my neck, so part of my upper body was covered as well. Just my back though. I popped the wierd iPhone into my pocket.

"Thanks again Luna! These are prefect!" I said happily. "Well, I'm gonna go grab my friends and start heading back to Ponyville."

"Not quite... We've got your first mission already Sharky."

The Hunt Begins

"A HUNTING MISSION ALREADY?!" I exclaimed. Luna flinched.

"Yes, we apologize... A pack of timber wolves has been ravaging Appleloosa. All of our other monster hunter knights are busy on other missions, otherwise we wouldn't ask you so soon after your battle with... yourself." She said suprisingly humbly. It was then that my body decided to remind me that I had recieved some severe burns from evil me's magic blasts.

"Ah crap..." I grabbed my chest and fell to one knee. Well, this is unfortunate... but I've gotta go help.

"Sharky?! Art thou alright?!" Luna yelled. I stood back up. If I was the only one able to help, I had to be strong.

"Yeah, I just got some bad burns from my fight. I'll be fine though. So, point me to the Timber Wolves." I said. Luna frowned at me.

"Sharky, thou art injured. Thou should stay and heal."

"No princess, every second I'm not heading to Appleloosa, somepony could be dying!" I exclaimed. "I have to go!"

"If... If thou insists..."

"I do... After I say goodbye to my friends and Unity of course..." Luna nodded.

"Yes, of course." She agreed. "Let me escort you to their chambers."

"Thank you." She leapt off the bed and started walking towards the exit door. I followed after her through another series of hallways and random rooms.

I really should start memorizing these paths... I thought to myself. Luna stopped at a familiar door.

"If memory serves, this is where you placed Rarity and Twilight." Ah, that's why it's familiar. I knocked. There was no answer. I knocked harder, and waited again. For a few more minutes, I still didn't get an answer. I slowly opened the door. The lights were off, and I heard whispering. All of the sudden, I knew what was happening and I quickly closed the door.

"Okay Luna, nevermind. Let's go. NOW." I said with a strained voice. I started walking away as quickly as I could.

"What? What about thine friends?!" She asked.

"They were in the room. LETS GO!"

"Why art thou running away?!"

"BECAUSE I REALLY HATE PARTIES. TAKE ME TO UNITY AND HELP ME LEAVE BEFORE THE PINK ONE FINDS ME!!!" I shouted in terror. Luna nodded in understanding. We started running down the halls Luna led me back to the room Unity was sleeping in. I opened the door, and the room was in negative color. Of f***ing course it was. I ran over to Unity and hugged him in his sleep. "See you soon buddy..." I muttered to him. He smiled in his sleep. I smiled back and walked back over to Luna.

"Ohhh Sharky!?! Where are you!?!" Pinkie yelled from the hall.

"OH GOD TELEPORT ME NOW!!!" I yelled.

"I HEARD HIM GUYS! HE'S OVER HEEEEEEEREEEE!!!" Pinkie yelled. Luna's horn glowed and I disappeared in a flash of black light. As soon as I was gone, the mane six burst into the room carrying all sorts of streamers, hats, noisemakers, and a cake.

"Oh hi Luna, have you seen Sharky? Pinkie said he ran in here." Twilight asked.

"Oh, sorry girls, he just left on a mission." Their mouths dropped open.

"H-he's already g-gone to hunt monsters?" Fluttershy asked. Luna nodded slowly.

"H-he didn't even bother to say goodbye..." Twilight said with tears in her eyes.

"Uhh... No, we told him to leave immediately. We barely let him say goodbye to Unity. We apologize." Luna lied.

"Ok... if you say so... So, what is he hunting?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"A pack of Timber Wolves that have been attacking Appleloosa. He accepted immediately." Luna explained.

"That's cool of him..." Rainbow Dash sniffled. Then Rarity had a thought.

"Umm... How many wolves are we talking dear?" Rarity asked. Luna hesitated all of the sudden.

"No number of consequence..." Luna mumbled.

"Princess, how many?" Twilight asked firmly. Luna sighed.

"The last report from the previous hunter said 59..." She admitted. The girls' jaws dropped.

"Ahm' sorry, did ya just say 'previous hunter'?" Applejack asked.

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I opened my eyes, and I had appeared on the train platform in Appleloosa. I sighed in relief.

Whew... dodged a bullet on that one... I thought to myself. Then I felt really guilty. Ah crap! I didn't even say goodbye! I'm freakin' terrible. I lamented. I smacked myself a few times for my stupidity. Then I sighed and walked into the town. I remembered everypony would most likely freak out when they saw me, so I started ducking into cover and moving as silently as possible. Then I spotted a pony sitting on a corner. He looked out of place because one, he was outside in the middle of the night. Two, he looked like a city pony. He wasn't wearing a hat, and he just didn't look like he was country. I can't really explain it. He was a Pegasus colt with shaded gray coat, brown eyes, and a black and ice blue mane. He had a black heart with a white dove filling the inside of it as a cutie mark. He looked really sad. I snuck around some more until I was near enough for him to hear me.

"Hey! Hey you!" I hissed. He jumped up and looked around.

"W-who's there!?" He shouted. "Why can't you just leave me alone?!"

"Easy, easy friend. I'm here to help. What's got you so upset?" I asked. He narrowed his eyes.

"If you're here to help, come out and show yourself!" He challenged.

"I... I don't think that's a good idea..." I sighed.

"Then how can I trust you?!"

"Fine, fine, fine. You have a point... Just... promise me you won't freak out?" I pleaded. He looked more suspicious.

"Fine, I promise..." He said. I sighed and removed myself from the bush I'd been hiding behind. The pegasus gasped and fell back.

"No no! Don't freak out, don't freak out! I'm a good guy ok?" I soothed. He managed to stand back up, but he still looked terrified. "Look, I was sent by Princess Luna to help you guys with your Timber Wolf problem." I tried. Luckily Luna had inculded her royal seal in the design of my armored pants, one on each hip like a cutie mark, so I pointed to them to prove I worked for Luna. His eyes lit up.

"She sent a giant to get rid of those horrible wolves?!" He hissed excitedly. He seemed pretty angry, which didn't seem to fit him somehow. Like when a kid that's sad all the time starts acting really happy. It was really wierd.

"Whoa, why are you so hyped up?" I asked. He gave me a hard stare.

"Because those wolves need to go down!" He hissed. I'd never seen anger like this from a pony!

"Why are you so upset with them?" I asked. He calmed down instantly. He looked down and his mane covered his face.

"Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to react like that... It's just... Those wolves... killed my brother..." He looked up at me and there were tears running down his face.

"That's terrible!" I exclaimed. "How did it happen? You don't look like you're from here. What were you and your brother doing here anyway?" He sniffled and wiped his eyes with his hooves.

"We came here a few weeks ago, we were trying to offer our services to the people of Appleloosa, but they weren't really accepting us." He started.

"Ok, what are your services?"

"My brother and I made our own sort of magic elixer. It keeps trees healthy and alive, even during the winter! We offer it to any farmer we cross, but so far ponies only treat us like it's a hoax..."

"Oh... I'm sorry... If it helps... I believe you." I offered. He sniffled.

"Really?" He asked. I laughed.

"Yea, really. I've seen stranger things happen. Anyway, how did your brother get attacked?" I asked.

"Well... I had been making progress in a deal with this one fellow named Braeburn, I think he was almost ready to give our elixer a try, but then these blasted wolves started showing up! The townsfolk blamed their apperance on my brother and I... I wanted to stay, but my brother convinced me that these people would never accept us now... We set out to leave just last night, but we were jumped by those wolves... My brother held them off so that I could escape... I haven't seen him since..." He was crying again as he finished his tale. I sat down next to him and draped an arm over his shoulders.

"Wow... I'm so sorry..." I offered. He only sobbed harder. It made me angry to see him so hurt. "I'm gonna get those wolves ok? I'm gonna avenge your brother!" I shouted angrily. I have a bad habit of working myself into a rage, and this was one of those times. "POINT ME IN THE DIRECTION OF THOSE DAMN WOLVES! THEY ARE GOING TO PAY!!!" I raged. The pegasus stopped sobbing and sat up straight.

"I-if you're going a-after them... I want to help." He said firmly. He had a no argument tone, so I knew I didn't really have much of a choice.

"Are you sure? You don't seem like much of a fighter..." I tried to dissuade him, but he didn't lose his determination.

"I don't care! I want to help! At the very least, I can heal you. I'm really good with herbs and stuff." He offered. I sighed.

"You aren't going to take no for an answer, are you?" I asked. He shook his head determinedly. "Fine, fine. What's your name?"

"Shadow Breeze, and you are?"

"About to kick some timber wolf ass." I answered. "And for the non-sarcastic answer, my name is Sharky White. Now point me to the wolves." I hissed. He gave me a worried look.

"Shouldn't you get a weapon first?" Shadow asked. I looked down at myself and realized my only weapons were my hands.

"Good idea..." I responded. "Where can I find a blacksmith?" I asked. He pointed at a rather large building in the corner of the town. He walked straight towards it, but I continued my sneaking thing.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"I don't want anypony to see me if I can avoid it. They tend to not react well."

"Good point." He nodded. We continued in silence until we reached th blacksmith's place. Suprisingly, he was still open. We entered.

"Welcome, welcome!" A large stallion said from behind a counter. He was tan with a black mane, and he had a flaming hammer for a cutie mark. "What can I do for y-- WHOAAA!" He whinnied. He'd seen me.

"No, no! Calm down! I don't want to hurt anypony! I just need to buy a weapon!" I explained.

"Why, so you can kill me quicker?!" He shreiked.

"NO! I WAS SENT BY LUNA TO KILL THE WOLVES DAMMIT!" I pointed to the mark on my hips. He calmed down.

"Oh... Good... Sorry 'bout that. You're just... well I'm sure you know."

"I do." I agreed. "Now, about that weapon..."

"Oh, it'll be no problem! Since you're getting rid of the wolves, I won't even charge you!" He offered. "Now, whaddya want?"

"Oh... an ax would be best, but you don't have to do it for f--" He was gone the moment I said 'ax'. I sighed. Well, I didn't expect free stuff to come with the job. To be honest, I don't really like free things. I know I'm wierd. After only a few seconds, I heard banging coming from the back of the building. I turned to Shadow. "Well, that went better than usual..."

"Sharky, what's it like where you live?" He asked. His random question caught me off guard a little, but I answered nonetheless.

"Well, Ponyville is a really cool place..." I started.

"Oh! You're from Ponyville?! That was my next stop! What's it like there?" He asked. I smiled and dove into the details of Ponyville. I told him about all of my friends and all the places to go in Ponyville. He seemed especially interested in the farm, but he had a lot of questions about it that I couldn't answer. It was the place I spent the least time at after all. Eventually the banging in the other room stopped, and the blacksmith trotted back in balancing a fairly large double-headed ax. He trotted over to me.

"Here ya go!" He exclaimed. I lifted the ax off his back. It was suprisingly light, and I could lift and carry it with relative ease.

"Thank you sir!" I nodded at him. He grinned back and trotted off. "You ready to go Shadow?"

"As I'll ever be."

"Don't you need a weapon too?" I asked.

"Nah, I'm just healing you. I should be fine." He answered.

"Alright." I grunted. "Let's go!"

Jumped

"Dear Celestia!!!" Twilight exclaimed angrily. "I can't believe he left me... us again!!!" She shouted. "He's going to get himself killed!" The girls (and Stormy and Fang. What, did you forget them?) had all left Unity's room and were now back in Twilight and Rarity's original room. They had all packed up what little they brought with them. (Which basically means the party cannon and that's about it.) They were supposed to sleep and leave in the morning, but none of them could find the peace of mind to rest.

"He can't help it. It's just who he is." Stormy soothed. The girls had been working themselves into a rage over Sharky's actions, but Stormy was doing his best to keep them calm. It wasn't really working.

"I DON'T CARE HOW HE IS! THAT DOESN'T MEAN HE CAN KEEP ALMOST DYING!" Twilight yelled in Stormy's face.

"I agree! Sharky should be more careful!" Fluttershy added. "He isn't invincible!"

"Yes dear, he needs to look after himself. Celestia knows who he's trying to protect with his life now!" Rarity added angrily.

"Yeah! No matter how cool he is, everypony has limits! He doesn't need to keep running headfirst into danger!" Rainbow Dash raged. "He needs to quit thinking he's proving something by doing this!"

"HE DOESN'T THINK HE IS!!!" Stormy snapped. He was normally calm and collected, but everypony has a breaking point. He had been putting up with this for four hours! "HE WANTS TO PROTECT EVERYPONY! HE DOESN'T THINK HE'S SHOWING OFF, HE DOESN'T THINK HE'S INVINCIBLE, AND CELESTIA HELP ME, HE'D DIE FOR A COMPLETE STRANGER. IT'S HOW HE IS AND IT'S WHY FOUR OF YOU LIKE HIM!!!" Stormy screamed. Then his eyes shrank as he realized what he had just yelled. The girls quieted down eerily quickly, and formed a circle around Stormy.

"What did you just say?" Twilight asked.

"N-nothing..." Stormy stuttered.

"No, no dear, I insist you tell us..." Rarity said menacingly. The circle continued to tighten.

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Shadow and I had to walk for quite awhile. Apparently, Timber Wolves lived in a forest about half as far away from Appleloosa as Fluttershy's house is from Ponyville. We arrived at the forest's edge.

"Okay Shadow. Stay behind me alright?" I commanded. He nodded and we started walking into the forest. We crept around, not making any noise as we hunted. I began to scan the ground for paw prints. I saw many. There were what appeared to be deer, bunnies, and normal wolves in this forest as well. Eventually, I came across some wolf prints that looked different. Instead of the smooth bottom paw a wolf normally has, whatever wolf made this print had lines all along his paw, like the lines in wood! I sent up a silent prayer of thanks for the snow, I never could track otherwise, and started following the Timber wolf prints. I had been following them for about 2 minutes, when Shadow screamed behind me.

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"WAAAAAAGGGHHHHH!!!!!" Stormy was flying down the halls full-tilt. Luckily for him, Rainbow Dash's wings were still bound, and Pinkie Pie kept getting distracted by the 'pretty paintings'. For some reason, Twilight and Rarity hadn't thought to use magic yet. Still, He wasn't gaining much distance on them.

"WAIT STORMY! WE JUST WANT TO ASK YOU A FEW QUESTIONS!" One of the mares yelled. Stormy didn't bother to turn around and see which one. He burst through yet ANOTHER set of doors, and he was outside.

"YES! HOME FREE!!" He cheered to himself. He flew straight up to the very top of the building. Then, just a few seconds later, he heard shouting below him.

"Where did he go?" Rarity asked.

"Ah crud! He problably flew away!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed angrily. Twilight sighed.

"Well, we're never gonna find him in the dark like this. Let's go inside girls. Besides, shouldn't we work this out ourselves? I'd swear I've written a letter about this..." Twilight mumbled sadly. The rest of the girls all muttered agreements and trotted back inside. Stormy breathed a sigh of relief.

"WHEW. I didn't think I'd be able to escape all of them..."

"You didn't." Said a voice from behind him. He was suddenly knocked over so that he was laying stomach down on the roof. He turned his head to see who had hit him, and there was a very enraged Fluttershy standing on his back.

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I whirled around, axe in hand and faced whatever danger was behind me. I couldn't see anything though.

"Shadow, what are you screaming at?" I hissed. Shadow was shaking horribly. He pointed an unsteady hoof in the directon of a few bushes. I walked over to get a better look, but I instantly wished I hadn't. What Shadow had been pointing out, was a corpse. It was torn horribly, and hardly recognizable. What I could see, was it used to look exactaly like Shadow, but bigger. His cutie mark was a red heart with a white dove. Around his body lay about 5 shattered Timber Wolves. Now, I've only become truly enraged a few times in my life. You know, the rage where you see red and go absolutley berzerk? The one where for awhile you can't remember what happened until it comes back to you in your nightmares? Yeah, this was one of those times. My breathing got really deep, and each breath hissed out from my clenched teeth. All my muscles tensed, and I felt the intense desire to hit something. I swung my axe at the nearest tree, severing it in half.

"S-sharky?!" Shadow exclaimed in fright. The tree fell a few feet away from us.

"GRAAAAAAAAAGGGGHH!!!!!" I screamed. I started charging off through the forest, making as much noise as possible in hopes of attracting the wolves. I got my wish. A Timber Wolf jumped out of the brush and clamped his teeth around my axe arm. I brought up my left fist and smashed it against his muzzle. His bites hadn't been severe, but I couldn't say the same for the bite of my axe. I swung it at the stunned wolf's head, cutting it clean off his body. (58) 5 more wolves appeared out of the trees, circling me. I pulled a 'Link' (Legend of Zelda main charecter) and spun around, axe outstretched. One of the wolves had been approaching me with open jaws, he was split in half along his jaw line. (57) The others had all recieved big cuts from the spin, but didn't die. Before any of them could move again, I brought the flat of my axe smashing down on the nearest one's skull. He went down and wouldn't be getting back up. (56) The others all collected themselves, and rushed me at the same time. I didn't have time to react, so one of them each latched onto one of my arms. With both my arms immobilized, the third one dove at my neck, going in for a quick kill. I wasn't having it. I smashed my head into the third ones muzzle as he jumped at me. He fell to the ground stunned, but I was too pissed to feel the pain. I brought my arms together, smacking the Timber wolves into each other. They both fell away dazed, and I took the oppritunity to kill all three of the while they were on the ground. (53)

"Whoa Sharky! You DESTROYED them!" Shadow cheered. He had just caught up with me. I ignored him, and charged off again. Striking trees and trampling undergrowth as I ran by. Before long, I was spotted by two more wolves. They both growled and jumped for me at the same time. I sidestepped them, and brought my elbow down on the wolf nearest to me. He hit the ground at my feet, and I stomped on his neck until I heard the wood snap beneath my feet. (52) The other one whipped around and snarled at me. He gave a huge howl, then I split him in half, right down the middle. (51) Then, I heard a noise that sounded something like thunder. I looked around, trying to find the source of the sound. It seemed to come from everywhere.

"Shadow! RUN!!!" I yelled out. I didn't know where he was, but I knew he didn't want to be here. Then, out of the darkness of the forest, seemingly countless amounts of Timber wolves started charging at me. The first one reached me and bit into my leg. Because of my armor, I didn't feel a thing. I gave him the 'bitch, please' look, then kicked him into the next wolf. Another wolf jumped at me, but I held up my axe and let him impale himself on it. He hit it and died, but his body was stuck to the axe.(50) I growled in annoyance, and another wolf smacked into my chest. I stumbled backward, but didn't fall. I heard another wolf growl as he jumped at my back, but I remembered I had spent so much time with Shadow that I most likely had wings now. I snapped them open behind me, hitting the wolf and sending him flying into a nearby tree with a sickening--

*CRUNCH* He hit the ground. (49) I returned my attention to my front. Three more wolves had seperated themselves from the pack, and were trying to rush me. As they approached, I gave my wings a flap, sending me just over their heads. I spun horizontally and swung my axe with the momentum. Luckily, I swung at them with the side of the axe that DIDN'T have a body on it, and all three of them were sliced open. (46) I swung my axe at the growing crowd of Timber wolves as a challenge, and the body on my axe flew off and hit the first few in the front. They fell backward with the impact of the body. I rushed them and started swinging wildly. I lopped off the head of another wolf,(45) just as I slammed my fist into another wolf's eye. In retaliation, another wolf leapt up and slashed his claws across my face. He got me just above my right eye, which was suddenly blurred by my own blood. I howled, my rage renewed. I slammed my axe into the offending wolf's back, killing him instantly. (44) Another wolf bit into my axe arm again, and I reared my arm back and beat him off with my wings. I brought my axe arm down again, killing two wolves in it's path. (42) I was amazed at how well this axe was preforming! This was just awesome! I brought up my hand and force-palmed away another wolf. I got some splinters from that one, but I didn't care. I swung my axe again, catching another wolf in the jaw. He didn't die, but he was flung away. I dashed over to him and stomped on his chest. I brought my axe down on his neck. (41) Behing me, I could hear the wolves rush at my back, and I waited. At the last second, I swung around and brought my axe swinging around. I sliced through another wolf,(40) and the one right behind him jumped up and bit into my chest burns. I howled in pain and fell forward, crushing the wolf beneath me.(39) I rolled back to my feet as fast as I could, and another wolf smacked into my shoulder. I tilted to the right with the blow, but I swung back forward as he fell away from me and chopped into him with the back swing.(38) I spartan kicked another wolf that was charging me, and sent him flying backwards into his companions. I'm not gonna lie, things were starting to look bad. I was taking some serious injuries, and I had sent Shadow away... Which of course was the exact moment he came charging in.

"YAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" He screamed. He threw a little bottle at the wolves, and it exploded all over about 5 of them. Before my very eyes, they began to squeal and whine as they shrank and shrivled. The turned black with decay and fell to the ground. (33)

"What the hell was that?!" I screamed. He grinned at me.

"The opposite of my life elixer. You didn't think I'd let you handle this alone, did you?"

"I'd hoped for once, somepony would!" I yelled back at him. I turned back to the wolves and started attacking with renewed gusto. I chopped the first one I met, killing him instantly, then slashed through two more as the rushed me.(30) I laughed. This was going to be easier than I had thought. Then, a mighty roar came from behind the crowd of Timber wolves. They all parted at once, and a Timber wolf twice the size of the violent manticore stepped into view. "Uhhh... Shadow... You have more of that death potion?" I asked.

"I-I had two more vials... but..." He pointed towards the shrivled bodies of 6 more Timber wolves. (24)

"Crap."

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This moment of bad-assness was brought to you by me. Because of all of you neigh-sayers out there that dissed his fighting skills. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

Smash Time

You know, I would like to say something before I get started with the wolf/Stormy smashing in this next chapter. I am really happy that everypony out there likes my writing so much. Starting out, I never imagined I'd have 100+ trackers and 10 favorites. I never even thought anybody would be interested in reading this really. Thank you all for inspiring me and encouraging me! Now that I'm done *Blech* FEELING... *shudder* Let the smashing ensue!

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"I SWEAR I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! PLEASE LET ME GO!!!" Stormy shrieked helplessly. Fluttershy refused to move.

"Not until you tell me who I'm competing with!" She hissed.

"THIS ISN'T A COMPETITION! SHARKY DOESN'T EVEN KNOW YOU LIKE HIM!" Stomry screamed in desperation. Fluttershy hopped a little, but didn't get off his back.

"W-what do you mean he doesn't know?" She stuttered.

"HE'S FREAKIN' CLUELESS!" Stormy yelled. "HE DOESN'T REALIZE ANY OF YOU LIKE HIM!"

"H-he doesn't? H-how is that... possible?" She asked quietly.

"Because he's an idiot." Stormy mumbled into the roof tiles. Fluttershy gave him a gentle kick.

"Don't be mean to him!" She scolded. "... *sigh* Well, what do I do?" She sighed sadly.

"Well, first you should get off me..." He mumbled. Fluttershy blushed.

"Oh... yes... sorry..." She muttered. She hopped off of him. As soon as she was off, Stormy stood up and took off at full speed. "YOU MEANIE!" Fluttershy yelled angrily at his retreating form. She sighed. She knew she wasn't a fast enough flier to catch him. She flew back down to the grounds and thought about Stormy's words.

Maybe... maybe I need to be more direct... She thought to herself.

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As if the giant Timber Wolf wasn't bad enough, the strangest thing began to happen. The wolf nearest to the giant wolf, turned and ran into the giant wolf's leg. He disappeared in a flash of green light, and the giant wolf got even BIGGER.(23)

"CRAP CRAP CRAP!!!" I yelled as all the remaining small wolves began to rush into the giant one. "Shadow?! Can you heal me before this guy gets to full strength?!" I asked in a panic. He nodded and tossed me another vial. This one had blue stuff in it. I popped the cork and chugged the stuff as fast as I could.

"That should fix you up pretty fast! I warn you though, the effects can be--"

"HOLY SHIT I FEEL LIKE I JUST DRANK 50 MONSTERS!!!! MMMM TASTES LIKE HEALING!!!" I exploded.(verbally of course) I started hopping from leg to leg as every wound on my body sealed and my burns disappeared. "OK GIANT SCARY WOLF!!! LETS GO GO GO!!!" I shouted. All the wolves had finished running into his body, and he was now twice the size he had been when we had first seen him.(1) I sprinted over to him as fast as I could.

"--different for everypony... Oops." Shadow mutter to himself. "Wait, did he just say he DRINKS monsters?" He asked himself. He shuddered and walked back into the forest.

"YEEHAW!!!" I yelled. I had climbed up the wolf, totally forgetting I had wings, and was riding his neck. I still had my axe, and any time the wolf slowed down his bucking, I hit his back with the blade to spur him on. "WHEEEEEEEE!!!" The huge wolf flipped on to his back and tried to crush me, but I was too fast. I jumped off his back the moment he started turning, and I flapped to stay in the air above him. As soon as his belly was exposed. I flew down as fast as I could. "AIEAIEAIEAIEAIEIAIEIAIEYAAAAAAAA!!!" I indian called as I flew down and smashed my axe into his stomach. Sap squirted out of the wound and sprayed me. "HEY!!! THAT WASN'T NICE!!! THESE CLOTHES WERE A GIFT FROM PRINCESS LUNA!!!" I shrieked. I started chopping wildly with the axe, causing huge gashes to appear all over the wolf's stomach. The wolf rolled away from me and stood back up. He didn't appear to actually be hurt. "COME ON MR. WOLF!!! ARE YOU EVEN GONNA HIT ME?!?!" In response, he brought up his right forepaw and smacked me with the strength of Atlas.

*CRACK* I flew out of the sky and right into a tree.

"ALRIGHT!!! GOOD SHOT!!!" I admitted. I slowly pulled myself from the tree and rubbed my jaw. I'm sure something was broken, but I was to hyper to care. "ROUND TWO!!!" I cheered. I took off again, and landed on the wolf's back. "MAYBE I'M TO SMALL TO FIGHT YOU NOW, BUT AFTER I COPY YOU, I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!!!" I screamed. I latched on the wolf's back and focused all my energy on the Wolf's magic. I could feel it start to flow into me, but I guess this guy wasn't really all that strong magic wise, because the flow of magic didn't hurt at all. This magic was going to make me HUGE though. BREIF EXPLANATION OF MAGIC ABSOBRTION RULES!!! If I'm correct, the magic changes my size based on the size of what I absorbed it from, but the size is comparative to me. MEANING! If I were to absorb the magic of Big Mac, even though he is smaller than me, he is bigger than the average pony, so I would grow. If I were to absorb the power of a ten-foot dragon, even though he would be bigger than me, he is smaller than a normal dragon, so I would shrink. The thing I am copying NOW is roughly 34 times the size of a normal Timber Wolf. Yeah, do the math. While I was distracted giving an explanation to nopony, the wolf had rolled onto his back again. I shook my head clear of thoughts and managed to roll to the side. I narrowly dodged being crushed.

Geez, I hope the girls are having more fun than I am... I though ruefully as I leapt back up to the wolf's stomach and started axing him again.

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"So, he really doesn't know..." Twilight mumbled. Fluttershy had gone back to the girls, which had made their way back to Twilight and Rarity's room, and explained to them what Stormy had told her.

"Well, he's swell and all, but he's just not mah type." Applejack said. "So Ah belive this discussion is between four of you." She said, pointing at the remaining five. She then turned and left the room. Pinkie Pie spoke up.

"He's a good friend, but I don't like him like that. I guess that means this is up to you girls." Pinkie said cheerily. She then bounced out of the room. An akward silence followed.

"Sooo... you girls like him too, huh?" Rainbow Dash started. The others all mumbled unintelligibly. "Great... just great..." She muttered. "Well, why do you like him?" She challenged. All the girls looked up at her.

"Because he's such a gentlecolt. Did you see how he acted when he first met me? I haven't been treated like a real lady like that by anypony else! Plus, he's so cultured! Did you know he speaks Prench AND can cook?" Rarity exclaimed.

"No way?! He can cook?" Rainbow exclaimed. "I knew he was against mares having to cook, but he knows how? That is SO AWESOME!" Twilight laughed.

"Yes, it is. Did you know he's really good with foals too? He knew how to take care of Unity already! Unity looked so happy with him..." Twilight said wistfully

"He is?!" Rarity asked. "Wow, I thought he was going to have a hard time figuring it out..."

"Yeah, Unity did look really happy in his arms... He's so warm when he carries you..." Fluttershy said distantly. All the girls nodded in agreement. They'd all been carried by him at some point.

"Well... What are we gonna do about this?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well I certainly won't be backing down!" Rarity challenged.

"Me either! I've worked too hard to quit now!" Twilight exclaimed.

"I'm gonna beat you guys to him! I am the fastest after all!" Rainbow Dash cheered.

"BITCH HE'S MINE!!!" Fluttershy yelled. All the girls turned to her open mouthed. "Oh... uh sorry... I just... really like him..." She apologized.

"...Riiiiiight..." Rainbow Dash started. "Aaaaanyway, how about a contest?" She asked. The girls all looked at her with interest.

"What kind of contest?" Twilight asked.

"Well, right now he thinks of us all as friends right?" All the girls nodded. "Well, then let's see who can get him to think of of them as more than a friend first!" She cheered. "First one that can get him to kiss them wins!" All the girls put on competetive grins.

"Sounds like a good idea darling!" Rarity agreed "What are the rules?" Rainbow thought for a moment.

"Ok, Rule one: No telling him you or anypony else likes him." The girls nodded in agreement. "Rule two: No interfering with other competitors' efforts." The girls nodded again. "Rule three: He has to kiss you. You can't kiss him first." The girls nodded again. "Umm can anypony else think of any other rules?" The girls all seemed to think for a moment.

"I think it should also be a rule that we don't tell him or anypony else about the contest." Twilight suggested. The girls all nodded in agreement again.

"Ok girls, do we have a deal?" Rainbow Dash asked, offering up her hoof. The other girls all joined their hooves and shook hooves firmly to seal the agreement.

"Deal." They said together.

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Then, somewhere in a forest near Appleloosa, I shuddered.

"Huh, that's funny... I just got this wierd feeling that I'm in serious trouble..." I said to myself. I was still sitting on the wolf, wailing away with the axe. I was cutting him, but the axe was too small compared to his body to do any real damage. At this rate, the best I could hope for was to bleed him out. This was about the fourth time he had rolled on to his back. Clearly he wasn't very smart. I had been here fighting the same wolf for like half an hour, so I was starting to get really big. It was hard to hold my axe, and my wings had disappeared long ago. The wolf rolled back to his feet again, and I sighed. I went with the roll, and I ended up standing under him. I jumped up and slammed my axe into his underbelly as hard as I could. He howled in pain. My axe ended up stuck in his belly, so I just stayed there, several feet off the ground holding onto my axe handle. Shadow trotted back in.

"What are you doing?!" He shouted at me.

"Oh you know, hanging around." Damn, where's a rimshot when you need it?

"Riiight... Anyway, I made more of the death potion while you were distracting him!" He exclaimed.

"Perfect! Throw it at him!"

"Yeah, it won't work that easily, he's too big!"

"Fuck... Then what do we do?"

"Well, you need to get this inside him!"

"Why me!?"

"Do I look like a warrior to you?!"

"Good point. hold on, I'll be right there!" I yanked on my axe, but it seemed determined to stay put. I groaned and let it go. I hit the ground and took off towards Shadow. "Ok, give it to me!" He started to hoof over a little black vial, but then the giant wolf got his jaws around my leg. "AGHHH!" I grunted. The wolf started whipping me back and forth like a ragdoll.

"Sharky?! Are you ok?!" Shadow screamed.

"Oh yes! This is my idea of a good time!" I shouted back. "Look, he's got a crap ton of cuts on his belly, get under him and kill him yourself! Preferrably before he rips my leg off!" Shadow nodded and dashed under the wolf. I started pounding his muzzle with both arms, hoping to dislodge his grip, but to no avail. His bite wasn't actually hurting me, the armor was too thick. He was shaking me so fast that I could actually feel my leg trying to seperate from my body. My blows weren't having any effect though, so all I could do was pray Shadow could kill him before I lost a limb. Then the wolf's eyes widened, and his jaw dropped as he let out a vicious howl of pain. Shadow ran out from under him.

"I did it!" He shouted happily. The wolf continued to howl horribly, and he started shriviling before my eyes.(0 Doo-do-do-dooo-doo dododooooo! FF victory song) He fell over on his side, and I limped to his stomach to get my axe. I managed to pull it out. I nodded to Shadow, and we got away as fast as we could. "Wait, are there more wolves?" He asked.

"I doubt it, they all attacked when the one wolf howled for them." I reasoned. "And personally, I'd rather not find out. Now that the big one's gone, I'm sure the townsfolk can handle any stragglers." He nodded in agreement, and we made our way back to town.

New Citizen

On our way back to the town, we found Shadow's brother's body, and I dug a hole for him with my axe. We lay his body down, and I left to give Shadow a moment of peace. He came back a few minutes later, tear streaks running down his face. I didn't say anything the whole way back.

"Whew... that was... fun." I breathed when we made it back to town. My leg felt really strained, and at least one of my ribs was broken. I had reverted back to normal size during the walk. Shadow had been really silent the whole way back to town. "Hey, are you ok?"

"I... I... I killed them..." He muttered. I could see tears on the ground below his face. "I-I'm a monster..." I knealt down next to him and draped an arm over his shoulder.

"No you're not. You saved my life. Celestia knows how many others you saved as well. Plus, you avenged your brother! You should be proud." I consoled him.

"NO! They were ALIVE! They had thoughts and feelings! I can't believe I did that!" He wailed remorsefully. I was a little dumbstruck.

"Y-you're right... I never thought about it that way..." I mumbled.

What have I done? That manticore... Those wolves... They had family... they were sons and daughters, mothers and brothers... I... I AM a monster... I thought to myself. Then I thought about Stormy's broken body and the dead body of Shadow's brother. I gritted my teeth and let my sadness subside. No, I'm not the monster. They are. Right?.... I thought to myself.

"Look, it may be hard to accept what we did, but without us, many, many more ponies would have died." I tried. He wiped his eyes.

"Y-you're right... but I'm never doing this again..." He muttered. I laughed.

"I don't expect you to. Thank you for helping me though. I've got to get back to my friends and son now." I stood up to leave.

"W-wait!" He shouted. I paused and looked down at him. "I-I've got... nowhere to go now... C-can I co-come to P-ponyville... with you?" He asked. I grinned at him.

"I thought you'd never ask! I even know the perfect place for you to stay there!" He blinked up at me.

"R-really? T-that e-easily?" He asked.

"Sure, anything for my friends!" I shouted happily. "Now, grab me tight." I ordered. He did as commanded, and I pulled out my iPhone with my free hand. I hit 'dial' and only one button showed up. It was a picture of Luna. I pressed it, and Luna's face showed up on the screen. "Mission accomplished Princess!" I beamed. She gasped.

"A-already?! H-how!?" She stuttered in amazement. I grinned. Then I pointed the phone at Shadow.

"I had a little help." I said proudly. "Anyway, this guy will recieve half the pay, and he wants to come back with me."

"HEY! Half your pay wasn't part of the deal! Letting me come with you is enough!" He shouted.

"I don't care, you saved my life, you get half the pay."

"Shadow!?" Luna exclaimed. I frowned and turned the phone back to myself.

"How did you know his name Princess? I haven't even said it yet..." Luna's eyes darted around.

"Uhh... We try to learn the names of all our subjects..." She said. I nodded.

"Makes sense. Anyway, can you teleport us back now? I don't want anypony to see me and freak out."

"Fair enough, brace thyself." I hung up and grabbed Shadow tight with my free hand. We disappeared in a flash of black light.

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"Wow! This is the Princess's bedroom?!?" Shadow exclaimed in delight. He was awestruck by it.

"Could you focus for a second? Luna is trying to talk to us." I scolded him. He froze.

"Did you just call her Luna?!" He gasped in amazement.

"Sharky, shame upon thou! Thou art to adress me as Princess!" Luna scolded me. I looked at her, a little hurt, but she winked at me and tilted her head towards Shadow. I understood, she didn't want everypony knowing I was on a first-name basis with her.

"Right Princess, sorry." I said humbly. "Now, where can I find my friends?" I asked. Then I realized I still hadn't dropped my axe. "Oh, and do you want this?" I held it out to her. She laughed at me.

"We will escort you to your friends shortly, and thou should keep thine axe for future assignments." She said, still laughing a bit. "But for now, thine payment." She trotted over to a little safe that I hadn't noticed the first few times I'd been here. She opened it and withdrew a small bag before closing it again. She trotted back to me and dropped the bag into my hand. It was actually really heavy, and I opened it to count the contents.

"SIX FUCKING THOUSAND BITS?!?!?!" I yelled in pure shock. Luna nodded.

"We are sorry the payment is so small, but--"

"WAIT... THIS IS A SMALL PAYMENT!?!" I yelled, still entirely shocked. "I CAN'T ACCEPT THIS MUCH!!!" I pulled out twenty gold bits. "Here, take these back. This seems at least a little more fair." I offered. Luna shook her head and refused to grab the bits.

"No, the payment is what you've earned. Take it." She ordered. I wanted to argue some more, but my arm retracted against my will and put the coins back in the bag.

"Darn the oath..." I muttered. I took thirty gold bits out of the bag and handed them to Shadow. "Well, at least take your pay then." I commanded him. He reluctantly took the bits and placed them in his saddlebag. Oh, did I not mention the bag? Well he's had it the whole time. How else would he carry all the vials? Luna nodded.

"Good, now to take thee to thine friends." She continued. We exited her chambers and started walking down more hallways.

"Hey Luna, can we go visit Unity first? I want to make sure he's ok." Luna nodded and changed direction. We started going down even more hallways until we reached Unity's room. The door was still closed, and the surrounding area seemed normal, so I approached the door and opened it. To be confronted by a speeding freight train heading right towards me. "CRAP" I slammed the door shut. Shadow gasped in fear. I guess he saw the train too.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" He screamed. I sighed.

"Ok, have you ever heard of Discord?" I asked. He snorted.

"The old mare's tale my brother used to try and scare me with? Yeah."

"Well, my son... Is a baby version of him. His name is Unity, and he is not evil, you don't need to freak out when you see him..." I said seriously. Shadow gave me a funny look, then burst out laughing.

"BWAHAHA!! YEAH, YOUR SON IS DISCORD! GOOD ONE!!" He continued laughing.

"YEAH THAT IS FUNNY! HE'S NOT DISCORD, CALL HIM THAT AGAIN AND IMMA SMACK YOU!!" I thundered. It really annoys me when ponies call him the same name as an evil chaos lord. Shadow shut up really fast.

"Wait... you mean you weren't kidding?!" He said, fear growing in his eyes. I rolled my eyes and grabbed him with my free hand. I was still carrying the axe.

"No need to be afraid, he's a baby after all." I opened the door again, and the room was normal. Until I walked by a dresser and it tried to bite me. I smacked it with the flat of the axe and it left me alone.

"Ummm is that normal?" Shadow squeaked. I put him down next to the crib and rubbed my chin.

"Define normal." I laughed. "Look, there he is...." I said happily, pointing to Unity. Just seeing his cute little face made me smile, no matter how bad my leg wanted to give out. He was sleeping soundly, and he still had a big grin on his face. Shadow seemed extremely nervous, but his expression softened when he saw Unity.

"Well... he is pretty cute..." Shadow admitted. I reached down and ran my fingers through Unity's mane. Then we left the room and gently closed the door behind us.

"Ok Princess, lets go to the girls now." I said. Luna nodded and trotted off. Shadow and I followed close behind. Eventually, after walking through another sequence of assorted halls and rooms, we ended up at Rarity and Twilight's room again. I nodded to Luna, and she took off. Shadow remained. I opened the door.

"Deal!" Some of the girls shouted as I opened the door. I walked in and saw Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy all shaking hooves. Fang was lying down in a corner of the room, looking lonely.

"Hi girls! What's the deal?" I shouted. they all whipped around and looked at me.

"SHARKY!" They all yelled at the same time. They charged and hug tackled me, causing me to drop my axe and putting my leg in severe pain.

"Hi girls... ow." I responded. I tried to wrap my arms around them, but they were holding them to my sides. I could have forced my arms free, but I didn't feel like it. "I'm still waiting for the answer on that deal question..."

"Don't you question us! You left us, AGAIN!" Twilight yelled angrily, she didn't stop hugging me though.

"Well, what did you want me to do? Bring you monster hunting?!" I retorted. They flinched.

"Well... you could have at least said goodbye dear..." Rarity said sadly. My eyes widened.

"Uhhh... sorry about that... I uhhh... Really had to go... Lu-- the Princess said it was urgent." I lied. I could feel the girls nod against my chest.

"Yeah, that's what the Princess said too..." Twilight admitted.

"We were so worried..." Fluttershy said. "The Princess said there were 59 of those monsters..."

"59 huh? Wow, it certainly didn't feel like that." I muttered.

"How'd ya beat them all so fast?!" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well, to be honest, I only killed about 24. This guy killed 11. Then they all joined into one super wolf and we killed that one together." I answered. All the girls lifted their heads off my chest and noticed Shadow for the first time. He hid his face in his mane as they all turned to him.

"Ummm... hi..." He said shyly. "I'm Shadow Breeze..."

"This guy saved my life!" I exclaimed proudly.

"You saved his life?" Twilight asked. He nodded timidly. All the girls lept off me and hug tackled him.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" They shouted in unison. I took the momentary distraction as a chance to hobble over to Fang.

"Hey boy!" I whispered happily. He had been asleep, but he woke up at the sound of my voice. He jumped up on his paws and tackled me. "Heh heh, I missed you too boy!" I said happily. He was licking my face and wagging his tail like his life depended on it. "Sorry I had to leave so suddenly... That Pinkie Pie is crazy when it comes to parties." I whispered to him. The girls noticed I was missing.

"Hey, where'd he go?" Rainbow Dash asked. Shadow had curled up in shock, and he pointed a shaky hoof in my direction. I shot him a 'you bastard' look, and the girls rushed me again. I rolled Fang off my chest just in time. The four girls crashed into me again, wrapping me in another death hug.

"Don't you scare us like this again!" Twilight threatened. I laughed.

"I problably will." I said simply. The girls all sighed into my chest.

"Yes... you will..." Fluttershy mumbled sadly. "Please try and stay safe Sharky?" She asked.

"No promises..." I answered. A cyan hoof smacked my cheek.

"Jerk..." Rainbow Dash scolded. We sat there for a few more minutes, not saying anything.

"Ummm... Girls? Hugs don't normally last this long." I tried.

"They do when you come back from battle dear..." Rarity sighed. I groaned.

"Well, not that I don't enjoy hugs, but you girls are killing my injured leg." They all jumped off me at once.

Oh no... Let me see..." Fluttershy offered. "I can help..." I blushed.

"Uh... no, I don't want you to see it..." I mumbled.

"Why not dear?" Rarity asked.

"Well... you see... ummm... the injury is around my... inner hip..." I mumbled. "You know... the base of my leg... near..." I trailed off. Fluttershy's wings started rising.

"Let me see, I can help." Fluttershy said hurriedly.

"Ummm... no, I know that kinda thing doesn't matter to ponies, but I'd rather not..."

"Nonsense, it's for your own good Sharky. We can help." Twilight added.

"Uhhh... still no... Thanks for the offer though... ANYWAY! I need to talk to AJ about getting Shadow a place to stay in Ponyville." The girls snapped out of... whatever they had been in.

"He's coming to Ponyville?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yeah, I thought he could get a job at the apple's farm." I explained. The girls gave me a funny look.

"They aren't open during winter..." Twilight muttered. I grinned.

"Not yet!" I said cryptically.

Cook Off

"Yupp, he can keep trees going even during winter!" I explained to Applejack. Her eyes widened.

"Really?! Iffn' he can do that, we won't have ta rely on our cider sales anymore!" Applejack exclaimed happily. Then she frowned. "What does his fancy tree stuff cost?" She asked.

"I'd be willing to make it for free... I just need a place to stay..." Shadow offered. Applejack flinched backward.

"Really? You'd give us your plant stuff fer free?" Applejack asked. Shadow nodded.

"Just for a place to sleep... and maybe food if it's not too much trouble..." Shadow finished.

"Why, Ah'd be honored to have ya stay with us! Thank ya so much!" Applejack cheered happily. "Ah can't wait ta tell mah family about this!"

"Well then it's settled!" I shouted happily. "Shadow is comin' with us! Now, if you girls don't mind, I haven't eaten since Sunday, and I believe it's Tuesday now. I'm going to go try and find something to eat now... Where's my axe?" The girls and Shadow gasped.

"Sharky!? What's wrong with you!?" Twilight gasped.

"We've got to get him to the kitchen now!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Quite right dear!" Rarity agreed. Twilight took off into the halls and Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash started pushing me after her.

"Ummm... girls... I can still walk..." I offered. They ignored me and kept pushing. I sighed and sidestepped. The three girls fell forward on their faces. "Ha! If I'm going, I'm carrying you!" I scooped them all up and jogged to catch up with Twilight. They all squealed a little when I grabbed them, but they settled in rather quickly. I managed to grab all three of them, but they looked a little squished. I had Fluttershy grab my neck and shift herself over to my back. Luckily my leg didn't hurt as much anymore, and they weren't touching my broken rib. Twilight got us to the kitchen. "Ok girls, what am I cooking?" I asked as I set them down. They started laughing.

"Sharky, you're not cooking." Twilight laughed. I frowned.

"Twilight, I am." I disagreed.

"No darling, you aren't." Rarity said sternly. I laughed this time.

"Yeah, try and stop me." I snorted. I started walking towards the giant fridge, when a purple aura wrapped around me and lifted me off the ground.

"Stopped you!" Twilight giggled.

"Hey! No fair!" I shouted.

"S-sharky? Please let us do this... We just want to help you..." Fluttershy mumbled. I calmed down.

"Ok Fluttershy, if it means that much to you..." I conceeded. The girls smiled and Twilight set me back down.

"Ok, just stay there dear, and we'll be right back!" Rarity commanded. I sat down and grumbled about women. I looked up and saw Rainbow Dash standing next to me. All the other girls had run off to cook.

"Hey Rainbow Dash, not much of a cook?" I asked. She blushed.

"Not really..." She admitted. I grinned at her.

"It's nothing to feel bad about. I'm just glad I'll never have to worry about you cooking for me!" I laughed. Rainbow Dash gave me a funny look.

"You don't like anypony cooking for you?" She asked.

"Not really. I mean, if it's a special occasion or I'm at a restaurant it's ok. I don't like it when anypony does things for me that they don't have to do though." I explained. "I like doing things FOR ponies instead." Rainbow held up a hoof.

"So wait, you don't want anypony to do anything for you, but you want other ponies to let you do things for them?" She asked. I got a huge grin.

"Eeyup, that's right!" I agreed. Rainbow Dash gave me a funny look.

"Oh my gosh... You aren't joking are you?" She asked. I frowned.

"Joking about what?" I asked. She almost fell over. I caught her and pulled her into my lap.

"Wow..." She mumbled.

"Rainbow Dash?! Are you ok?!" I asked worriedly. RD shook her mane and looked up at me.

"Yeah... I'm fine... Sharky, will you go to dinner with me?" She asked quickly. I flinched back in shock.

"Umm... It's like past midnight... Tomorrow?" I offered. She beamed and jumped out of my lap.

"REALLY!?" She squealed. All the other girls ran to us.

"REALLY?!" They exclaimed together. I flinched again.

"Ummm... yeah, I love going to dinner with my friends..." I said slowly, hoping to avoid another outburst. Rainbow Dash's mouth dropped open and her whole body sagged. The other three girls started laughing until they fell over. "What just happened?" I asked out loud. All the girls snapped back to normal really fast.

"Nothing!" They shouted in unison. My head was spinning in confusion, but I let it go. Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy all trotted back to the kitchen, and RD crawled back into my lap. I ran my fingers through her mane and tried not to think about how confused I was.

"Okayyy... Just find a happy place..." I mumbled to myself. I rubbed my temples and cleared my head. I just sat like that for awhile, legs crossed with Rainbow Dash in my lap. Then I realized.

Holy F***! I'M IN EQUESTRIA!!! I hadn't really taken the time to think about it yet, everything had been happening too fast. RAINBOW DASH IS IN MY LAP!!! OH MY GOSH THIS IS SO COOL!!! I finally took the time to let myself just geek out about my situation. I cheered and partied in my head, trying to not move too much so that I didn't disturb Dash.

"Ok Sharky! First course is done!" Twilight called. I looked up, and Twilight trotted in levitating a bowl and a fork. "According to my book, small salads work for a good appetizer..." She said shyly. She magically handed m the little bowl of salad.

"Thanks Twi!" I said happily. I dug in with gusto and inhaled the salad. I don't even really remember what was in it, but it was actually really good. "What book?" I asked in between mouthfuls. Twilight blushed and dodged the question.

"Whoa! I didn't realize you were THAT hungry!" Twilight exclaimed. Then her eyes got really wide. "Did you just call me Twi?!" She asked really quickly. I flinched and set down the now-empty bowl.

"Oh... sorry.. I just thought a nickname would be nice... I mean you girls ONLY call me by my nickname. I'm sorry... won't happen again..." I mumbled.

"No no no no! I really like it! You just surprised me is all..." Twilight said happily.

"Hey, don't I get a nickname?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Sure. How's RD?" I asked.

"Awesome!" RD cheered. She smiled up to me from my lap.

"Well the main course has arrived!" Rarity called. She was just around the corner in the kitchen. She looked at me and blinked a lot. "Do I get a nickname dear?" Rarity asked. She was levitating a new dish and another fork. I smiled at her.

"No, absolutely not." I said simply after she magically handed me the dish. She gasped.

"Am I not good enough...?" Rarity asked. She sounded on the verge of tears. I laughed to lighten her mood.

"No, I just really like your name the way it is." I explained. She beamed and perked right back up.

"Oh! Well how sweet of yo--"

"OH MY GOSH YOU CAN COOK FRENCH FOOD TOO?!" I interrupted. "Oh, sorry didn't mean to interrupt... I was just surprised..." I amended. What Rarity had handed me was a quiche! (Egg pie with veggies in it.)

"No problem darling!" Rarity consoled. "I rarely get to cook for somepony who can appreciate it! By the way, it's Prench..."

"Well, I appreciate it. I'm glad you went through this trouble just for me... Oh and uhh Prench, right." I dug into the quiche hungrily, and it was freakin' delicious!!! "Oh my gosh Rarity! This is amazing!" I ate as fast as I could. I'm pretty sure I burned my mouth, but it was worth it!

"Well thank you dear! I's nice to see a stallion with such an... appetite..." She said in a funny voice. (Author's note: My character doesn't recognize sultry, seductive, or sexy tones, so those words are replaced with 'funny voice'. Duh.)

"Well... Thank.... you!" I said happily in between bites. I finished off the quiche.

"Um... do you like my name too?" Fluttershy asked. I looked up at her, slightly hiding behind her mane as usual. I sighed.

"I love your name Fluttershy... I just don't know why you're still so nervous around me..." I said a little sadly. I know shyness is Fluttershy's thing, but I woulda thought she'd be a little less scared of me by now. "All the same, do you mind if I just call you Shy?" I asked. The other three girls started laughing, but Fluttershy smiled at me.

"Oh... that would be... nice..." She murmured. She trotted over to me. She had a bowl balanced on one wing, and had somehow wrapped the other wing around a spoon. I grabbed them both from her. It was a bowl of vanilla ice cream with whipped cream, hot fudge, and a few cherries on it. I dug in, not noticing that the decorations formed a heart. It was actually the perfect dessert to follow my throat burning from the quiche.

"Wow! Thank you all!" I said as I finished the ice cream. The girls all gasped. I just looked at them in confusion. "What?"

"Sharky you just ate that ice cream in like, five seconds! You don't have a headache?" RD asked. I laughed.

"Nope, I don't get those. Don't know why, and I really don't care. I just enjoy." I explained. I think she was going to say something else, but I let out a massive yawn before she could. "Oh, sorry about that, I guess I'm just really sleepy... It's like 3:00 right?" I just threw out a random number, I really didn't have a clue. "I guess I'm more exhausted from that fight than I thought..."

"Well, let's get you to bed!" Twilight exclaimed. RD jumped out of my lap and I stood up. All the girls started pushing me again, and I sighed and sidestepped once more. Again, the girls fell forward. I scooped them all up and moved the pegasi to my shoulders.

"I told you girls, I carry YOU." I chuckled. The girls all gave a little laugh and settled in. I started walking towards Twilight and Rarity's room. I managed to make it most of the way on my own, but Twilight gently pointed me in the right direction when I took a wrong turn. We made it back to the room, and I tucked Twilight and Rarity into bed. "So, where am I taking you two?" I asked the two pegasi.

"W-well... I just slept next to you last time... C-c-could I j-just do that again?" Fluttershy asked REALLY timidly. I smiled.

"Oh, me too!" RD added.

"Alright girls, it's fine with me." I was really happy that they wanted to keep me company. I saw Fang curled up in the corner he had been laying in before. "Hey buddy!" I called to him. I stepped towards him and ended up tripping over my ax and falling on my chest. "Oof. You know what? I'm sleeping here." I said, too tired to get up and curl in my corner. I think they started trying to talk to me, but I fell asleep before I could remind myself to care.

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"Ok girls, who do you think is doing the best so far?" Twilight asked as soon as they thought Sharky was asleep. "From what I saw, and I don't want to say this, but I think Rarity did the best with making him happy this time..." She admitted.

"I could hear him talking to Rarity... I think.. she was best this time too..." Fluttershy mumbled.

"Ooooh Yay!" Rarity squealed. "Thank you girls!" Rainbow Dash held up her hoof.

"Not so fast, he told me how happy he was with me for not trying to do stuff for him. AND I got a dinner date with him! I think I won." She said confidently. Rarity slumped in her bed.

"Good point dear, you win this time." Rarity admitted. "Well...do you mind if I join you girls?" She asked Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

"Sure, I don't mind." Fluttershy offered. Rarity hopped down from her bed and trotted over. She lay down on Sharky. Fang had also joined the girls, and they were all just laying next to Sharky.

"Hold on, I'm coming too!" Twilight called happily. She jumped off her bed and trotted over to Sharky as well. She settled in next to him and sighed contentedly. "I'm so glad we can work all this out girls."

"Well of course we did dear. We are all the best of friends after all." Rarity said. They all settled in and huddled close to Sharky.

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Twilight woke up a few hours later. She slowly stood up and snuck away from everypony in the room. She ran out and down the hall, eager to see a certain princess.

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I woke up surrounded by all the girls. I guess Twilight and Rarity ended up here in the night, Fang too. I slowly removed myself from the pile of pony and wolf, careful to not disturb any of them. I slowly tiptoed out of the room, careful to avoid my ax. I left the room and started running to Unity's room. I knew the way well enough now, I'd been here more than any other place after all. I got to his room, and opened the door carefully. No train tried to kill me this time, so I walked in. To find Celestia scowling at Unity in his crib.

"Well... hello, you must be Princess Celestia." I shouted. She jumped and turned her head towards me.

"Oh, hello. You must be Sharky. Twilight has told me much about you."

"Yeah, I would like you to step away from Unity now." I said coldly. The expression she had while looking at him had been pure rage. I didn't trust her near him.

"You don't command me!" She retorted. "Besides, this THING is an abomination. I don't understand why my sister allowed you to keep it."

Oh, she did it now. I cracked my neck and stepped towards her.

"I'm sorry, what did you call him?"

Trolling

"I said, he's an abomination. I'm considering his immediate execution!" Celestia continued. I cracked my knuckles.

"Don't you DARE. Touch my son, and I will destroy you." I ran over and grabbed Unity from his crib before she could react. I picked him up, and he was on fire. It didn't burn and it didn't appear to actually do anything, so I ignored it and hugged him close.

"You dare defy me?! I COMMAND ALL EQUESTRIANS! I ORDER HIS EXECUTION. ALL EQUESTRIANS MUST OBEY ME!" Celestia raged.

"WELL IT'S A GOOD THING I'M NOT AN EQUESTRIAN HUH?!" I raged right back. Unity was awake, but he was too busy staring at the flames to care about the yelling. I started absorbing Celestia's power in preparation for a fight. It hurt, A LOT. I ignored the pain and stayed strong for Unity.

"YOU'VE NO IDEA WHO YOU'RE MESSING WITH FOOL!" Celestia yelled.

"No, you don't know who you're messing with. Leave my son alone. I don't want to fight you, but I will." I said calmly. Celestia hunched over, hooves slightly spread like she was going to charge me. I got in a ready stance and prepared to fight. Then Celestia stood back up normally and beamed at me.

"Well well Twilight, you were right about him." Celestia said. I gave her a confused look.

"What?" I asked. Twilight walked in and stood next to Celestia.

"See? He'd do anything to protect those closest to him." Twilight said.

"What?" I asked.

"Yes, he even stood up to me. I applaud his bravery." Celestia continued.

"Fine, I'm leaving. You two enjoy your talk." I said. I was so purely confused, I wasn't even going to try to figure it out.

"Thank you!" Twilight shouted after me. After I was gone Celestia smiled down at Twilight.

"I approve." She said simply.

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I found my way to the kitchen once more, and Celestia was there waiting for me.

"Oh great! Please don't confuse me any more!" I pleaded.

"Sorry about that, I wanted to judge your character so that I could be sure you would actually raise Unity to be good." She explained. I nodded.

"Fair enough. I hope I did good enough?" I asked. She smiled again.

"You were fantastic." She consoled me. She trotted over to me and stood only a few inches away.

"Oh good, I wouldn't want to displease you." I said nervously. She was really close.

"Oh, I think all you could do is please me..."

"Uhhhhh....."

"Because you take such good care of my little ponies!"

"Oh thank god..."

"Now I would like you to take care of me..."

"Uhhhhh....."

"You see, I'm not a cook, and I'm famished. Would you mind making me something? Is that too much?"

"Oh thank god... Sure Princess Mo--Celestia. That is, if you don't mind me using these bottles for Unity." I walked over to the bottle cabinet. Celestia jumped in shock.

"We still have those!? Yes, sure you can use those... but... could you leave one of each here? They are memories after all..." I jumped.

"Y-you're letting me keep them? I just expected to use them while I was here..."

"Sure you can have them! Though, do you really need that many?" Celestia asked. I laughed and held up my hand. Which STILL had the plastic wrap bottle on it.

"Yes Princess, I do." I chuckled. She laughed with me.

"Well keep them. Think of it as a thank you for breakfast." She said. I grinned and walked over to the fridge. It's not every day you get to cook for a god. I thought for a moment as I considered what to make her. I grinned as an idea came to me.

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"Yes, that is toast, that is scrambled eggs, and that Princess, is cereal." I explained.

"I've not seen food quite like this..." Princess Celestia said hesitantly. I laughed.

"I thought not. That's why I made it!" I said happily. "It's really good, just try it!"

"I'm not sure..."

"Just try it ya big baby." I said forcefully. She gave me a stunned look. Then she smiled and burst out laughing.

"Nopony quite has the gall to speak to me like you do. Very well, I will try it." She conceeded. She took a hesitant bit of the cereal. Her eyes widened and she started eating it very quickly. "This... is... DELICIOUS!!!" She cheered. "What do you call this??"

"It's cereal. Frosted Oats to be exact." I explained. "Thanks for the bottles again." I had filled another bottle and Unity was drinking the bottle. Yeah, not the milk. Again. Celestia was watching him drink with intrest.

"So, why do you fill the bottle if he doesn't drink the milk?" She asked.

"Well, he doesn't always drink the bottle. Besides, he won't touch it unless it's filled with chocolate milk." I explained. Celestia gave me a confused look.

"Why does it have to be chocolate milk?" She asked. I shrugged.

"You tell me." I said simply. Unity finished the bottle and I grabbed the milk. It remained solid in my hand, and I had an idea. "Hey, do you think you can survive an explosion?" I asked. She laughed.

"My domain is the sun, an explosion would barely tickle." She said. I nodded.

"Good, catch." I threw the milk at her and it hit her in the chest.

*BOOM* I had turned away for the explosion, but I looked back as soon as I could. There was smoke everywhere, but as the smoke cleared I saw that the only thing effected by the blast was Celestia. She was sitting at the table, her eyes were really wide and she was blinking rapidly. Her mane's flow had been disturbed and now each of the colors waved around on their own.

"THAT'S why you shouldn't insult my son." I said simply. She glared at me, but we both cracked a smile and started laughing.

"Fair enough, you got me." She said. She stood up and shook herself. A little bit of soot flew off her coat.

"I'll fix your mane for you right after I burp Unity." I said. She gave me another confused look.

"What's wrong with my mane?" She asked. I laughed.

"Nothing, nothing. Just let me fix it." I burped Unity, and the little moon on the bottle flew out of his mouth. Yeah, the moon on the bottle was a sticker, but he burped out a moon rock. I walked over to Celestia and tried to fix her mane, but my hand passed right through it. "Hmmm... nevermind, I can't touch it." I said. Luna ran into the room.

"We heard the explosion! Is everypony o--" Luna looked at Celestia. Luna rolled on her back, laughing like an idiot. "Tia! Ha ha thou should see thyself!" Luna laughed. I looked at Luna, laughing and rolling around on the ground, and I started cracking up too. Celestia tried to look serious, but she couldn't keep a straight face either. We all ended up laughing like idiots. I know Unity didn't have a clue what was going on, but he was smiling and giggling too. We tried to stop laughing a few times, but each time we managed to compose ourselves, we looked at each other and burst out laughing again. Eventually we managed to calm ourselves down.

"Well sister, *snicker* let us fix thine mane..." Luna managed to say. Her aura wrapped around Celestia's mane and put it back together. "There, much better."

"Thank you Luna. Anyway, I believe it's about time we got Sharky and the others back to Ponyville, don't you agree?" Celestia asked. Luna nodded in agreement.

"Tis true, we hath prolonged thine stay enough already. Besides, we have another mission for thou Sharky." Luna said sadly. My jaw dropped.

"What do you mean sister?" Celestia asked suspiciously. Luna flinched.

"Ummm... we may have knighted Sharky..." Luna admitted.

"YOU DID WHAT?!? LUNA! YOU KNOW WHAT HE MEANS TO MY STUDENT AND HER FRIENDS! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!?" Celestia shreiked. I would've complained about having another mission so soon, but I didn't want to interrupt them.

"Because this... human? Tis human yes?" Luna asked me. I nodded. "Has the bravery and strength necessary to combat evils we cannot!" Luna shouted back at Celestia.

"Wait, what do you mean I can fight things you can't?" I asked. Luna flinched again and turned to me.

"Sharky..." Luna sighed. "You may never repeat what we tell thou now." She commanded. I nodded in understanding. "Controlling the moon and sun takes an unimaginable amount of energy. We are always controlling them, and as such, our power is limited greatly. Were we to try and combat the evils in Equestria, we would die from energy loss..." Luna explained.

"That doesn't mean you recruit HIM!" Celestia said firmly. "There are plenty of willing ponies to fight for Equestria. Why choose him?!"

"BECAUSE HE CAN SURVIVE!" Luna thundered. Celestia flinched from the force in her voice. "Do you know that in less than two hours, he wiped out a pack of 59 Timber Wolves? INCLUDING an alpha?" Luna asked. Celestia gasped.

"T-that's not possible..." Celestia murmured.

"Yeah it is. It really wasn't that hard, I had help too." I said. Celestia turned her attention to me.

"Sharky... No other PONY could do that. No matter who assisted them. With the exception of Luna and myself of course." Celestia explained.

"She speaks the truth Sharky, even our finest hunter failed to defeat them." Luna added.

"Who was your finest hunter?" I asked. Luna looked down at her hooves.

"Our finest hunter... twas Blade Breeze..." Luna mumbled. I tilted my head in confusion. That name sounded familiar...

"Wait... Blade Breeze... Shadow's brother was a HUNTER!?!" I yelled in realization. Luna nodded slowly.

"Yes, he never wanted to leave his brother unprotected, so he used his brother's invention as an excuse to travel and fight monsters without his brother knowing. He was our best Knight.... and a good pony..." Luna murmered sadly. I fell backward, causing myself to hit a wall and slide to the ground.

"Oh my gosh... Shadow would be devastated..." I murmered. I'd only known the guy a short while, but he was so peaceful... knowing that his brother killed behind his back for a living would destroy him... I shook my head clear of my thoughts and stood back up. "Well, then that means I HAVE to keep doing this. Nopony can do what I do, so I have to continue, no matter what. What's the monster Luna?" I asked.

"We... don't know. We have only recieved reports of a dragon-like creature on the outskirts of Ponyville. There have also been reports of more forest fires and dead animals in that area as well." Luna answered.

"Wait, did you say Ponyville?!" I asked quickly. Luna nodded.

"Yes, thine next mission... will be at thine home." Luna said in a serious tone.

Crap.

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"Everypony, grab your stuff NOW! We are leaving." I announced as I ran into Twilight and Rarity's room. Twilight had returned to the room, and the girls had all woken up.

"What's wrong Sharky?" Fluttershy asked. The moment I had walked in, Fang was by my side. What a good wolf.

"I've got another mission. We need to go NOW." I explained. I walked over to my axe and held it in my left hand. My right still had Unity.

"Oh no! You're not leaving us AGAIN!" Twilight yelled.

"You're right. We're all going to Ponyville. Now." I said. Twilight gave me a confused look.

"I thought you said you got a mission..." Twilight muttered.

"I did." I said.

"Then why are you going to Ponyville?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Because I have a mission. NOW LETS GO." I would have picked them up and brought them, but my hands were full. I decided instead to turn and leave. Sure enough, they all followed closely behind.

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"Hey Applejack, hi Shadow, hello Pinkie." I said as I stepped into their room. Shadow smiled and waved. The other two trotted up to me.

"Howdy Sharky. Are we leavin' anytime soon? I gotta get back to mah family." Applejack asked.

"And I've got to get back to the bakery! The Cakes are problably so far behind without me there to help!" Pinkie blurted.

"Well, good. We are leaving NOW. Follow me." I started walking away. Without turning I shouted behind me. "That means you too Shadow!"

"Oh... ok." Shadow said shyly. I led them all down the hall until we reached Luna.

"Ok Lu-- Princess, you can send us back now." I said.

"Very well, good luck Sharky." Luna said. We disappeared in a flash of black light.

Wait, why do I feel like I'm forgetting something? I thought to myself as we disappeared.

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"I wonder if they're still looking for me..." Stormy muttered to himself as he huddled on top of small tower on Canterlot Palace.

Return

We arrived in Twilight's library in a flash of light. I looked around for a second for a place to put Unity so that I could run off into the forest and kill whatever was threatening Ponyville. I'm a great dad.

"Twilight? Could you hold Unity for a second?" I asked the lavender mare. Twilight wrapped her aura around Unity and lifted him out of my arms.

"Sure thing Sharky, but why?" Twilight asked.

"So that he's safe and you can't stop me from running off into the forest to fight the monster. Byeeeee!" I said as I ran out the door, Fang already hot on my heels.

"HEY!" Twilight yelled. I slammed the door behind me and took off towards the forest.

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"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY ALREADY LEFT?!" Stormy yelled at the guard he'd been talking to.

"Your friends left earlier today sir." The guard explained calmly.

"YOU BASTARDS!" Stormy yelled out angrily. He ran out the nearst window, and took off into the morning sky.

"I wonder if he knows the Princesses can teleport him..." The guard wondered to himself.

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"GAHH! I CAN'T BELIEVE I FELL FOR THAT!" Twilight yelled out angrily.

"Don't worry, I'll get him!" Rainbow Dash offered. Rainbow Dash started running towards the door, but Applejack caught her before she got there.

"Now just hold on a minute Sugarcube, yer wings don't even work, how ya gonna catch him?" Applejack asked. Rainbow Dash turned her head to look at her bound wings, then hung her head in defeat.

"You're right Applejack..." RD muttered sadly. "Why does he keep DOING that?!" She asked angrily.

"Well iffn ya ask me, he's doin the right thing. You girls need to quit yer worryin' and just let him do this." Applejack offered. Then she turned to Shadow. "Now, you come with me. Ah need ta introduce y'all to mah family." Applejack ordered. Shadow nodded obediently, and they both left the building.

"I-I think she's right..." Fluttershy said.

"Well, I've got to get to Sugarcube Corner! The Cakes are going to be so far behind! I gotta tell them Sharky's busy too. I'm sure they won't mind him being busy with him being a Knight and all, and beside--" Pinkie's voice faded as she left the library.

"I think so too..." Twilight said, totally ignoring Pinkie Pie's comment. "Gah... what are we going to do?! He's more likely to die on one of these crazy missions then he is to like one of us..." Twilight said sadly. Unity heard her sad tone, and reached out to touch her cheek. Twilight looked at him, hovering by her right side, patting her cheek. She smiled.

"Well, I don't know what you girls are gonna do with him," RD interrupted. "but I'm gonna take him to dinner. I gotta go set things up. Bye!" She said happily. Twilight rolled her eyes and looked back to Unity.

"Well, you are a cute little one, huh?" Twilight said to him. He giggled happily.

"Y-yeah... he is really cute..." Fluttershy agreed. She looked to Twilight. "Umm... Sharky asked me... to help take care of Unity... too..." She mumbled slowly. Twilight's smile slowly disappeared and was replaced by a small scowl.

"HE DID WHAT?!"

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I had a good pace going towards the forest, and it only took me about 10 minutes to run to the outskirts of it. I hadn't noticed it before, but these pants were really warm. My upper body was cold, but the cloth was helping a little. I stared up at the branches of the trees at the edges of the forest. They looked... menacing to say the least. Luckily, I'm not afraid of trees. I ran right in, I searched around carefully, looking for signs of dragon prints or dead animals. I didn't really see much, I was new at this whole tracking thing after all. Then I came across something strange. I was really deep into Everfree forest, but for some reason, I found hoof prints.

What the... a pony all the way out here? I thought to myself. I hunched over to look at them. Then I heard a snarling sound, and I turned around to find the source. Right as I turned, a Timber Wolf had jumped at me, and was only a few inches away from my neck. My life flashed before my eyes, and time seemed to stand still. I closed my eyes and tried to move out of the way, knowing I'd never make it in time.

..............Ok, what the hell? I opened my eyes, and looked around. The Timber Wolf was gone. I looked around in confusion, and I saw Fang nonchalantly rip the Timber Wolf's throat out a few feet away from me. Sap sprayed everywhere, and the Timber Wolf shuddered a few times as it died. Fang trotted over to me happily.

"Uh... Good boy..." I said in amazement. BEST. PET. EVER. Fang wagged his tail, and sat next to me. "God I'm sick of Timber Wolves..." I muttered to myself. I turned my attention back to the hoofprints.

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"Umm... Pinkie? Why are you repeatedly kicking the counter?" Mr. Cake asked. Pinkie shrugged.

"My Pinkie sense is going off, but this is a new one! I don't know what's going on!" She answered. "It has happened a few times now, but I don't know why!" Mr. Cake rubbed his jaw with his hoof. He shrugged and went back to work.

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I tried to at least figure out which way the prints were headed, but I couldn't figure it out. I sighed.

"Fang, do you think you can track this scent?" I asked him. I pointed to the hoof prints. He stood up and sniffed them. He looked back to me and nodded once. I grinned back. "You are so cool. Lead the way boy!" I called to him. He took off further into the forest, following the prints. I rushed after him.

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"He said you had the magic to help keep him under control, but that Unity would need my kindness..." Fluttershy explained. Twilight flinched.

"Does he think I'm not kind enough? I can be kind..." Twilight mumbled.

"Oh no! I'm sure it's not that. He just knows I work with little ones problably..." Fluttershy consoled. Twilight sniffled and looked up at her.

"You're right... It's just... when he asked me... I felt special... like he cared about me... I guess not..." Twilight said sadly. Fluttershy flinched.

"Y-you are special Twilight!" Fluttershy consoled her.

"I mean special to him!" Twilight shouted. "I thought for a moment that I might mean more to him than just a friend..."

"Y-you... Y-y-you..." Fluttershy sighed. "Y-you're r-right... Maybe he won't ever like us..." Fluttershy admitted sadly. Unity looked up at the two sad mares. He didn't know what was wrong, but he could feel their sadness. He started to cry.

"Oh no! It's okay Unity... It's okay..." Twilight consoled. The cries weren't sonic this time, but it hurt almost as bad just to see him so upset. She tried to pat him on the back, but as soon as she touched him, she fell asleep. Her aura faded from around Unity, and Fluttershy rushed to catch him before he hit the ground. She caught him, but didn't fall asleep herself. Unity was no longer crying, and when Fluttershy looked up at him, he was smiling at Twilight.

"W-what d-did you d-d-do?" Fluttershy asked him. He gurgled and grabbed one of his feet with his lion paw. "Awww..."

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We crossed an empty clearing, empty because it had all burnt to the ground. I couldn't see tracks anymore, and Fang lost the scent among the ash. I sighed.

"So what do we do now Fang?" I asked him. He looked up at me and started panting. "Right, you're still just a wolf..." I mumbled to myself. I scanned the little clearing, looking for any sign of the direction the pony went. Then, I spotted something in the middled of the clearing. "Huh, what's that?" I asked myself. I started walking towards it, when all of the sudden I realized what it was. "Holy crap, it's the pony! Come on Fang!" I shouted. We started running towards it. When I got closer, the finer details of the pony came into focus. He had a black coat. He had a short black mane with red streaks through it. He was huddled on his side, but I could still see that he looked taller then the average pony. I couldn't see his cutie mark very clearly, it just looked like a white blotch. As I got even closer though, something started to seem off. The pony didn't look... right somehow. I couldn't figure it out exactly. I shook my head clear of doubt, and ran to the downed pony. I squatted down next to it, and started shaking it.

"Hey! HEY! Are you alright?" I asked. The pony's eyes didn't open. "Look, there's a monster on the loose! You gotta get out of here!" The pony laughed.

"Oh, what kind of monster? Lemme guess, dragon-like, breathes fire, hunts animals?" It's voices was that of a stallion. It sounded distorted somehow, like he was talking with something in his mouth.

"Actually yes. Have you seen it? I was sent out here to hunt it down. It didn't attack you did it?" I asked as I started checking him for injuries. He growled at me, and shot the wing he wasn't laying on out to it's full length. I gasped and fell backward. It was a dragon wing.

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"GAH where am I?" Twilight asked herself. She had somehow appeared in an empty space after touching Unity. There was nothing but blackness everywhere. Twilight was starting to worry. "What happened to me?" She asked the empty space for the 15th time. She sighed. "I wish my friends were here..." As soon as she uttered those words, images of her friends started flashing in front of her. The moment Unity met Sharky popped up. Then the moment Fluttershy first held him. Then the moment Pinkie first bounced up to him to see him. All Unity's memories of her friends flashed by. In an instant. "Wh-what?" Twilight asked as the images faded. She felt a tug, like somepony was pulling on her back. She began to drift backwards.

"Twilight?" A voice called. It sounded distant. "Twilight!" The voice called again. It sounded like Fluttershy. "TWILIGHT!!!" Twilight snapped her eyes open.

"Hmm?" Twilight groaned.

"Oh good, you're ok... You are ok right?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight stretched out her limbs.

"Yeah, I think I'm fine..." Twilight groaned as she rolled to her hooves.

"What happened?" Fluttershy asked with concern.

"I... honestly don't know..." Twilight answered.

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"W-what?" I stuttered. The pony opened his eye, and it was red as blood. The pupil was a slit, like Nightmare Moon"s eyes. I took a closer look at the mark on his flank, and it was really a pattern of light green scales. "Y-you..."

"Are the monster you were hunting? Most likely. Now, I've heard all the heroic lines before, so get right to the part where you try to kill me." He said. He sounded extremely sad.

"W-why would I do that?" I asked. He jumped.

"B-because I'm the monster?" He asked hesitantly.

"You don't look like a monster to me." I answered. "I'm more the monster than you." He took a look at me.

"Y-you are strange... I'll give you that... but... Luna sent you after me yes?" He asked as he pointed to my hip.

"Well, yes, but you aren't a monster." I responded calmly. He stared at me intently.

"How do you know? I burn down forests! I kill animals!" He said angrily. "All excuses that other hunters have used to attack me!"

"Yes, but I'm no other hunter." I said. I smiled at him. "And there's no way you're a monster."

"H-h-h... What make you say that?" He asked. I smiled.

"Simple, if you were, Fang would be attacking you. He's good at that." I said, pointing to my wolf. The strange pony looked at my wolf cautiously, then back to me. His face slowly changed from a scowl, to an expression of pure sadness.

"Y-you really don't want to attack me?" He asked. I smiled and shook my head no. Tears formed in his eyes, and he fell down next to me. "Thank you! I can't tell you how many times I've had to fight.... I'm only trying to mind my own business... I don't like hurting anypony..."

"Well, why do they attack you in the first place?" I asked. He sighed.

"I'm not normal." He said sadly. "I grew up in a small town a long way away from here. I grew up like any other foal, but my dad was never around for some reason. On my 5th birthday, I woke up looking like this, and I knew why. I tried to act normal, but whenever anypony saw me, they called for help or attacked me. After awhile, I got tired of running away from them, and I fought back. I hate myself for it... I came here hoping I could hide forever. I want friends... but nopony will talk to me..."

"Then why don't you just leave the forest and introduce yourself?" I asked. He looked up at me in surprise.

"Are you kidding?! I've been watching this town for awhile... They'd never accept a beast like me..." He murmured sadly.

"Well, they accepted a beast like me! I'm sure you will be even easier than that!" I said cheerily. He looked up at me in confusion.

"You live there?!" He asked.

"Eeyup. Now let's see if you can too."

Going to the Show

"So, how old are you now anyway? You said you were barely an adult earlier." I asked. The dragon-pony and I had been walking for awhile. He seemed really nervous about going to town.

"Oh... uhh... I just turned 18 a few days ago..." He responded hesitantly. I frowned.

"I thought ponies were considered adults way before that..." I said doubtfully.

"Oh, they are. I'm not really a pony though, so I age slower..." He explained. I nodded.

"So, what's your name?" I asked. He turned his head up and seemed to be thinking.

"I don't know. I think I had one, but it has been years since anypony called me anything other than 'freak' or 'monster'." He said sadly. My heart cried for him, but I didn't let myself shed any tears.

"That's... really sad man... How about we call you... Blaze?" I asked. He thought for a moment, then nodded.

"I like it. What about my last name?" Blaze asked. I snorted.

"You don't need a last name, you're too cool for that... like Chewbacca." I said.

"Who's Chewbacca?" Blaze asked. I laughed.

"Nopony you need to worry about." I said. Then my brain finally caught up with some math. "WAIT! YOU'VE BEEN LIVING ON YOUR OWN FOR 13 YEARS?!?!?" I shouted in shock. He didn't react.

"Yeah, 13 years of being hunted, burning down trees in my sleep, and killing animals to survive. Fun times." He said bitterly.

"Dude, I understand. You don't need to remind me at every turn how bad it was." I said. "Anyway, wait... did you say killing animals to survive? Why would you need to do that?" I asked. Blaze flinched this time.

"I... I uhh... eat meat..." Blaze said slowly. "I can eat vegetables and stuff too... but it's not enough..."

"Oh, I understand." I said. He looked at me in confusion.

"It doesn't bother you AT ALL?" He asked. I laughed and shook my head.

"It can't bother me if I'm the same way!" I said happily. His jaw dropped.

"Y-y-you eat m-meat t-to?" He stuttered. "And the ponies STILL let you live around them?!"

"Actually, I live with one. Yepp, they all accept me. One even cooked a steak for me... god that was an akward moment." I said simply.

"Oh, you live with somepony? Is it a mare?" He asked. "Wait did you just say that one COOKED MEAT FOR YOU?!"

"Yeah, I live with a lavender unicorn named Twilight, who is most likely gonna yell at me when I get back. Yes, there's a butter-yellow pegasus with a long pink mane named Fluttershy. She takes care of all animals, even meat eaters. She cooked a steak for me... yepp, still really akward..." I explained.

"Oh, is the lavender one your special somepony?" He asked. I sighed.

"You know, I kinda wish she could be... or maybe anypony actually, but I just got out of a really important relationship... besides, there's no way anyPONY could like something like me..." I said sadly. "You're lucky, you may be different, but you're still close enough to a pony for somepony to love you..." Fang nuzzled my hand to cheer me up. I smiled and patted his head.

"I don't know about that. I'm really different. Maybe they won't even want to look at me..." He said doubtfully. I laughed.

"Oh, I seriously doubt that. They don't have a problem looking at my son, and he's much MUCH more different than you are." He looked up at me in confusion again.

"I thought you said you didn't have a special somepony! How do you have a son?"

"Oh, he's adopted." I explained. He nodded, but his confusion didn't disappear.

"Well, what kind of pony could you adopt that looks even more different than me?" He asked.

"Look, you'll have to see him to understand ok?" I sighed. He nodded. We kept walking for awhile, until he broke the silence again.

"Hey, I didn't notice you had wings like me before!" He shouted in suprise. "Are you part dragon too?!" I laughed again.

"I guess, in a matter of speaking, I am now!" I stretched my wings out. It always felt good to flex wings, like freedom had just been achieved. "Yeah, another thing you need to know about me, I can copy the magic of anypony else." I explained.

"That's.... weird... but I guess it explains the horn..." He pointed at my forehead. I reached up, and sure enough, the was a horn. It felt different though. It curved backward and stayed close to my head instead of growing outward like a normal horn. I looked back to Blaze, and sure enough, he had a pitch-black horn on his head that blended in with his coat.

"Huh, wasn't expecting the horn..." I muttered. Right as I said that, we exited the forest. "Ok, well, let's go meet my friends shall we?" I asked. He looked at me in fear, but eventually he nodded. We snuck up to the library. Well, Blaze snuck, I just walked. When we got there he hid in the low hanging branches. I knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Fluttershy called.

"It's the pizza pony." I called back.

"Oh! Sharky's back!" Fluttershy yelled.

"Yeah, and there's somepony I want you to meet. Now open the door please!" I called again. Twilight's aura wrapped around the door and it was flung open. I was met by two hug-tackles. I dropped my axe and fell to the ground. "Oof. You girls... not that I don't like your hugs, but that is gonna hurt me someday." I laughed.

"Yeah, if these hunts don't get you first..." Twilight said sadly.

"Ha! There's not a monster out there with the strength to get me!" I said with false confidence. "Speaking of which, I'd like you girls to meet the monster from today's hunt. BLAZE!" I called. The girls both sat up in fear. Blaze didn't show up.

"Sharky... who are you talking to?" Twilight asked. I frowned.

"Hold on a second... BLAZE! GET DOWN HERE!!" I yelled. Still no answer. "Hold on girls..." I said. I moved them both off my stomach. I stretched out my dragon wings and flew up to the branch Blaze was hiding on. "Hey, what's going on?"

"I-I-I'm not g-g-going d-down there..." He stuttered. He was shaking like a leaf. I groaned and grabbed him.

"Yes you are!" I jumped down from the branch, landing a few feet away from the girls. I set Blaze down. "Here he is girls!" I cheered. Blaze looked at them in fear, and curled up in the fetal postion.

"T-this i-is the m-m-m-monster?" Fluttershy asked, still scared. "H-he's... a p-pony..."

"Well... kinda..." I answered. I nudged Blaze with my foot. "Come on buddy, they won't bite." I promised. He slowly lifted a forehoof and looked at the girls. They both gasped.

"Oh my! He has dragon eyes!" Twilight said. "That is so... so... FANTASTIC! I've got to study this!" She ran over to Blaze and started looking him over. "Ok, normal pony body, curved horn, dragon wings...." She droned on, listing all of his features. I smiled down at Blaze.

"See? I told you they wouldn't be scared of you!" I said happily. "Well, I'll leave you three here to get to know each other. I've got to get to work!" I took off towards Sugarcube Corner.

"WAIT, YOU'RE JUST GOING TO LEAVE ME?!?!" Blaze screamed. Twilight sighed.

"You get used to it eventually..." Twilight muttered. Then she went back to analyzing him.

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"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Cake! Hi Pinkie! Sorry I'm late, I was busy with my other job." I explained as I walked into Sugarcube Corner.

"Yeah, Pinkie told us. It's a real honor to have a Night Knight as an employee!" Mr. Cake said proudly. "I will still have to dock your pay for being late!" He laughed.

"Actually Mr. Cake, I don't want you to pay me any more." I said. He looked at me with a little bit of fear.

"You're quitting?! No, you can't leave now! We need your help!" Mr. Cake said quickly. I laughed.

"No, I'm not quitting, I just don't need you to pay me anymore. The Princess pays more than enough. I still want to help you though!" I explained.

"Oh no, I insist that you be paid. I know you don't like accepting things, Pinkie told me, but being paid is..." I opened my bit pouch and showed him the contents. "SWEET CELESTIA! THIS IS YOUR PAY?!" He shouted. I closed my bit pouch and reattached it to my hip.

"Actually, that's half the pay for one job." I explained. "Now will you let me work for free?" I asked. Mr. Cake's mouth was open, and he didn't seem able to close it. He nodded though, and I smiled and walked into the kitchen.

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Ok, I'll admit it, not my best work day. I was doing great, until Pinkie tossed a sack of sugar at my and it hit my healing rib. Even with the Pinkie magic boosting me, I was slowed a lot. We still managed to get through a day's work and then some though. I said goodbye to the Cakes and Pinkie, and started walking towards the boutique.

"It's about time I get myself a freakin' shirt..." I grumbled to myself. Then a cyan pony smacked into my back. I fell forward onto my face. "ALRIGHT! WHO HAS THE BAL... Oh, hi RD. What's up?" I asked as I turned to see my assultant.

"Hey Sharky!" She greeted me. "I'm just here to take you to dinner remember?" She asked playfully. I groaned.

"Damn, I totally forgot!" I said. "I'm sorry, it has just been a really busy day. I was gonna go get a shirt made, but you're more important than clothing. Let's go!" I stood up and placed RD on the ground. "Ok, so where we going?" I asked.

"My place!" RD answered happily. I frowned.

"Ummm... I can't stand on clouds RD." I said. RD frowned.

"How'd you know I lived in a cloud?" She asked suspiciously. Crap.

"Uh... Ummm... Spike told me!" I shouted. She nodded.

"Oh, that makes sense. Well, I was thinkin we could hang out for awhile before we go to my place. You know, just long enough to let you grow wings." She explained. Whew, nice save.

"Sure, what do you wanna do?" I asked. She thought for a moment.

"Well, why don't we just talk?" She asked. I laughed.

"RD, you don't seem to be the talking type. Seriously, if you could do anything right now, no limits, what would it be?" I asked. She thought for awhile.

"Well, to be honest, I think I'd go see the Wonderbolts show in Manehattan. It's way to far th--" I put my finger to her lips and pulled out my iPhone.

"Consider it done!" I cheered. I hit the button to call Luna. The phone rang twice, then her face shimmered into view on the screen.

"Sharky! Hath thou completed thine mission already?!" She asked in suprise.

"Actually yes, a few hours ago actually. Turns out, it was a half dragon half pony! He's totally harmless... relatively speaking, and he's gonna settle down in Ponyville!" I said happily.

"Well, this is quite suprising... Congratulations on a job well done. Now, give us a moment to teleport thee thine pay..." She started.

"Actually Luna, I have a favor to ask instead. You see, me and RD here," I pointed the phone to RD. "Want to go to the Wonderbolts Show in Manehattan. Think you can help with transportation?" I asked. Luna gave me a huge grin.

"We can do better than that!" She said happily. "You see, we have our own special viewing platform for those shows. Thou may use it to watch the show!"

"Sweet! Thanks Luna!" I said.

"No problem. Anything for our friends!" She said. She hung up, and I put the iPhone back in my pocket. RD was staring at me open-mouthed.

"......NO WAY!!! YOU DID NOT JUST GET US A WONDERBOLTS SHOW FROM A ROYAL VIEWING PLATFORM WITH ONE... WHATEVER YOU CALL WHAT YOU JUST DID!!!" She squealed.

"Actually, I think I just did. By the way, it's called a phone call. Also, HOLY CROW I JUST GOT US TICKETS TO THE WONDERBOLTS IN MANEHATTAN WITH ONE CALL!!!" I squealed. Our geeking was cut short by a flash of black light.

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"So, this is Manehattan huh?" I asked. It looked almost exactly like Manhattan, but with ponies everywhere. Awesome.

"OHMYGOSH! THIS IS SO AWESOME! YOU ARE THE BEST EVER SHARKY!" RD exclaimed. She jumped up and hugged me.

"No problem, that's what friends are good for right?" I laughed. RD dropped the hug and fell away from me.

"Yeah, friends. Anyway... I can see the Wonderbolt's track from here. Let's go." She said. I scooped her up in my arms, and took off in the direction she was pointing.

"Hey, your wings aren't bound anymore!" I exclaimed in suprise.

"Eeyup, they healed already! Now go on! Let's get there before the show starts!" She said excitedly.

Daring

"Ok, here we are!" I said happily. We had reached the gates to the Wonderbolt's stadium. Luckily, this one wasn't made out of cloud. I walked up to the gates, and was cut off by a rather large mare.

"Tickets please." She asked. "And no costumes are allowed in the stadium." She said to me specifically.

"Two things, one this isn't a costume. Two, Princess Luna is allowing us to use her royal viewing platform." I explained.

"Ha! Yeah, and I'm the queen of the Gryffin Empire!" She scoffed. "Now, show me some tickets, take off the costume, or get out of the way." She ordered. I sighed.

"Look, I really don't want to have to call Luna to solve this. Look, here's her royal seal, that good enough for you?" I asked as I pointed to my hip. She snorted.

"Obviously a fake. Now get out of the way, or I'll make you move. Got it?" She held up something akin to a cattle prod. I laughed.

"Not that I wouldn't love to see you try, but I hate fighting. I'll just call the Princess and you can explain this to her." I offered as I pulled out the little iPhone. The mare laughed.

"Sure, you're gonna just call for the Princess, and she'll come runni--"

"Hmm? Sharky, why hath thou called back so soon?" Luna's voice called from my iPhone. "Is the show unsatisfactory?" She asked.

"I would have no way of knowing. You see, this mare refuses to let RD and I in." I explained. The mare's mouth dropped open.

"WHAT?! Let us see her!" Luna commanded. I turned the phone to face the mare. Luna gasped. "Star! We told you specifically to let our friends in!" Luna yelled. Star tripped over herself trying to unlatch the gate.

"Oh! So sorry your Highness!" She mumbled repeatedly. She opened the gate and hurriedly rushed us to the viewing platform.

"Thanks Luna! Sorry I had to bother you." I said.

"Think nothing of it Sharky. We must go now. Farewell." She hung up.

"Wow... THIS IS SO AWESOME!" RD said. I heard an announcer shouting in the distance, and RD was hanging onto the rail at the edge of the platform.

"Is there anything else I can do for you sir?" Star asked hurriedly.

"Nah, we're good. Thank you." I said. Star bowed and left. I blushed a little. I wasn't royalty after all, that kind of respect was a little weird. I turned to examine the platform. It was really interesting. There were two HUGE thrones in the center. One black and one bright yellow. (I bet the yellow one is Luna's.) The room was divided right down the middle and colored to match the theme of the princess either side belonged to. Luna's was really dark, and had a bunch of spikes and dots of white thrown into the design. Celestia's had a bunch of pillows and rainbows everywhere. I walked over to Luna's side as fast as I could, and sat down in the darkest corner. I know I said I was afraid of the dark, but only while I'm alone. Otherwise, I love it. RD was totally engrossed in the show. I would have watched too, but honestly I had no intrest in it.

"Oh my gosh did you see that?!" RD said excitedly.

"I sure did." I lied. I could pretend to be interested at least. I tried walking over and watching a little after that, but after the Wonderbolts flew around the stadium a few times, disturbingly close to everypony's head, I lost interest and went back to my corner. Sure, their flight trails were cool and eveything, but I hate watching athletic things like sports or the Olympics. I much prefer participating. I wasn't sitting too far from RD, so I could still feel my wings growing. I sat there contentedly for about an hour, listening to random squeals from RD. Then, a voice started calling from the stadium, so I walked over to look. One of the Wonderbolts, Soarin I think, was speaking to the audience.

"Now, a lot of you ponies in Manehattan have been talking down our skills!" He called out. "Do you believe us now?" He shouted. The audience roared back with sounds of approval. "That's right!" He continued. "Is there anypony in the audience that still doesn't agree?" He asked. I put on a sly grin.

"ME!" I called out. Every eye in the stadium turned to me at the same time. Rainbow's mouth fell open. My wings were fully developed now, and I flew just off the platform. "I may not be a pony technically, but I know somepony that could outfly you EASY! As a matter of fact, let's prove it with a race shall we?" I shouted. The audience let out a collective-

"Ooooohhhh." at my challenge. Soarin got an angry tone to his voice.

"You challenge the Wonderbolts!? We are the best fliers in Equestria! Bring it on!" He accepted.

"Ha ha! Yes! Come on RD, you've got a race to win!" I cheered to her. She was still gaping at me open-mouthed.

"ARE YOU INSANE?!" She screeched. I thought for a moment.

"Yes, now let's GO!" I grabbed her and flew down to Soarin. "Here you go, Rainbow Dash! Fastest pegasus in Equestria! And for now, I'm Sharky White, fastest and only winged human!" I cheered. He gave me a bit of a stunned look as he actually got a good look at me, but he shook his head and regained his composure.

"What do you mean for now?" Soarin asked. I sighed.

"Look, it'd take too long to explain, just setup a race please? I do have other places to go!" I said cockily. Huh, I guess Rainbow's magic effects my attitude too.

"You got it!" He laughed. He let out a shrill whistle, and a bunch of pegasi appeared from nowhere and rearranged a few things on the track to make a clear raceway. "Ok you two, line up at the starting line!" He ordered. We did as commanded. We were immideately joined by a few more of the Wonderbolts, five in total. I looked at Dash.

"Hey RD?" I asked. She looked at me.

"You're crazy." She laughed. "I can't believe I'm about to race with the Wonderbolts!" She squealed.

"Yeah, me either." I agreed.

"Ready?" Soarin started. "Set?" We readied ourselves for takeoff. "GO!" We all blasted off the ground, me and RD easily taking the lead.

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"Twilight! That's crazy!" Fluttershy gasped. Twilight's encounter with Unity had given her an idea.

"No it's not! Plus, it's our only way to figure out if Sharky will EVER like us!" Twilight protested. The girls had been discussing since they had put Unity to bed with Spike.

"Well... that would be nice... but reading his mind? I don't know..." Fluttershy mumbled. Twilight sighed.

"I don't like it either, but do you have a better idea?" Twilight asked. Fluttershy thought for a moment.

"Well... no... but still... is this a good idea? What if he finds out....." Fluttershy muttered.

"He won't, I'll just do it in his sleep." Twilight reassured her.

"Well what if I tell him?" Blaze asked. Twilight hit him with a wave of magic. He blinked a few times. "WHO ARE YOU TWO?! WHERE'S SHARKY?!" He screeched in fear. Twilight sighed and went through introductions again.

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"Wow! I didn't expect it to be this easy!" I yelled to RD as we flew side-by-side towards the finish line on the final lap of the race.

"Well, to be fair most of them are stunt fliers!" She shouted back. "Still, you're right! Hey, maybe if we win they'll invite us to join them!" She said happily. I thought for a moment.

"Well, if only one of us wins, they'd be sure to get in!" I yelled back. She gave me a confused look, but I was focusing on a famailar white line as it faded into view. "Bye!" I yelled. I slowed my self down by flaring out my wings, and the white line threw me back like it did in the show. "WAAAAAHOOOOOO!" I yelled crazily as I blasted backwards past some very confused Wonderbolts. I put on a small smile and gave Spitfire and Soarin a little salute as I passed them. Right before I flew out of the stadium, I saw RD pull off the sonic rainboom and win the race. I sighed contentedly, and continued my backwards flight. Then I hit a building. Not one of those buildings with a ton of windows, but a solid, brick building. "OW!" I yelled. I slid down the side of the wall about 20 feet. "SWEET MOTHER OF CELESTIA THAT HURT!" I yelled. I rubbed my back, but nothing was actually broken. I was gonna bruise like a banana, but at least I wasn't really hurt.

Well, I certainly hope that she gets her invite to the Wonderbolts... I thought to myself. I stood up and cracked my back. Then I looked across the street, and saw a peculiar sign.

"Daring Do book signing?" I asked myself. "Wait, so Daring Do is REAL?!"I exclaimed to myself.

"Yeah, and your costume is stupid! Can we get past the obvious?!" Somepony yelled as he passed me.

"Well then..." I muttered to myself. I walked into the building with the Daring Do sign. It was a HUGE book store. There were at least 4 floors to it, and each floor was lined with bookselves, each stacked to the brim with books. There were giant signs pointing to Daring Do's signing booth, and a huge flank line heading away from it. "HOLY LINE!" I yelled. A few ponies turned around, but most ignored me. Daring Do looked up from a particular book she was signing. I guess she saw me, because her gasp was audible all the way to the back of the store.

"Whoa, what's THAT?!" She yelled. She flapped up from her chair, and flew over the heads of the waiting ponies. She touched down beside me. "I've been almost everywhere, but I've never seen something like this!" She exclaimed.

"Ummm... thanks?" I asked. She looked up at me.

"Oh good! You can talk!" She said. Daring Do wasn't wearing her adventurer's garb, she was dressed like a college professer.

"Eeyup, I can. I'm Sharky White. You are Daring Do! Famed explorer that teaches archaeology at a college right?" I asked. She nodded quickly.

"You read my books?" She asked. I smiled.

"Nope, I'd like to though." She faltered for a moment.

"T-then how do you know about me?" Daring asked.

"BECAUSE I CAN READ MINDS!" I yelled. Daring flinched and her ears dropped. "Just kidding, my friend is a really big fan of yours." I explained. She sighed.

"Whew, you had me goin' there. So, you here to get some books signed for this friend?" She asked.

"Yeah, I need to buy the collection too, how much is it?" I asked. Daring flinched again.

"Uh... the whole set is rather expensive... You sure?" She asked. I laughed.

"Oh yea? I'm sure, hit me with your worst price." I offered.

"2000 bits for the whole set....." She muttered. I smiled and pulled out my bit pouch. I pulled out twenty gold bits and handed them to her.

"I thought you said it was expensive!" I laughed. Daring's jaw dropped.

"W-what the? How does something like you get this much money ON HOOF?!" She asked.

"Oh, I'm a monster hunter." I explained as I pointed to my hip. Daring smiled in excitement.

"Oh, you must go on plenty adventures too!" She said excitedly. "Wanna swap stories?! I'll sign the books for freeee~!" She offered. I laughed again.

"That sounds great, but you should deal with your other fans first..." I said as I pointed to the huge line of ponies, who were all gaping at me. Daring slumped a little.

"Yeah... I should..." She sighed. She flew back to the little table where she was signing her books. The poines kept staring at me, and I backed out of the bulding. I made sure Daring saw me so that she'd know where I was when she was done. RD Flew into my back as I left the building. I didn't fall this time.

"OOF! Hi there RD! How'd it go with the Wonderbolts?" I asked. She beamed up at me.

"Oh it was awesome! They were so impressed with my speed, they let me join them!" She said excitedly. "Well, not now... but they said that as soon as there was room on the roster, they'd call me first!" She gushed.

"That's fantastic RD!" I cheered. She leapt up to my and I pulled her into a hug. "Oh my gosh this is SO AWESOME!" I gushed. I put her back down, and we stood there for awhile, gushing like two idiots. After we talked for awhile, RD looked at the ground for a second. Then RD looked up at me.

"You know, this has got to be the best day of my LIFE! I owe it all to you Sharky..." She said with a funny voice.

"Well, if you think it was good so far, I've got another suprise for you!" I said happily. RD gave me a suprised look.

"You know, I was supposed to take YOU out." She mumbled. "Fine, what else do you have? I doubt it compares to the Wonderbolts, but g--"

"Ok Sharky, I cleared out all the other fans!" Daring called from the door of the store. "How about that story swap now?" She asked. I smiled.

"Rainbow Dash, meet Daring Do!" I cheered. RD fell over, unconcious.

Bittersweet

"Does... she do this often?" Daring asked. I had carried RD into the store, and we were currently kicking back in a few cushy chairs while RD slept on a couch.

"Nah, she's just having the best day of her life. Maybe too good..." I mused. Daring laughed.

"What did you do to make her day this great?" She asked.

"Well, we were waiting for me to grow wings, so I called Princess Luna and got us tickets to the Wonderbolt's show just now." I started.

"Whoa! You can just call Princess Luna and get tickets to a sold out show?! Also, what do you mean grow wings?" She interrupted.

"Well, yes, I guess I can. You see, I had just completed a mission, and I asked her to get me to the show instead of paying me. That's why we were in the Royal viewing platform. Also, I need to grow wings to walk on clouds." I explained.

"You got to watch from the royal viewing platform? Wow, Princess Luna must like you! No wonder that was her best day ever! Why did you need to walk on clouds? While I'm at it, HOW DO YOU GROW WINGS?" She asked.

"Yeah, Luna and I are good friends... Don't tell anypony though, I don't think she wants eveypony to know. Oh, and that wasn't her best day ever because we watched the Wonderbolts, it was her best day ever because they recruited her. I needed to walk on clouds because RD invited me to her place for dinner. I copy the magic of anypony I'm near, so I can grow wings, a horn, anything really."

"THEY RECRUITED HER?! WHY?! Oh, and she invited you over for dinner? Is she your marefriend or something? How do you absorb magic?"

"Umm they recruited her because I challenged them to a race and basically lost it on purpose so that she would win and not tie with me. No, I can't say she's my marefriend... Nopony would like something like me... and uh... I came from a planet with almost no magic, so I act like a magic void of sorts. I take in the magic of the planet and it molds itself to whatever I'm closest to."

"Wait, you challenged the WONDERBOLTS to a race, and you had to lose ON PURPOSE?! Also, you shouldn't say things like that! Maybe she does like you! Have you asked? Wait, you've been doing all these things for a mare that doesn't like you? Also, what's it like living in Canterlot Palace?"

"Yes, I did challenge the Wonderbolts. RD over there is the fastest flier in Equestria, and the only pegasus able to preform a sonic rainboom. I was copying her magic, so I was just as fast. No, I never really asked. We're really good friends, and I'd hate to mess that up. Oh, and that's why I do this stuff for her, because we're such good friends. I don't live in Canterlot Palace... what makes you think that?"

"She's the legendary pegasus that does the rainboom? I've always wanted to meet her! Didn't you say you can CALL Princess Luna?"

"Yup, that's her! That's actually pretty funny, I'm sure she always wanted to meet you too! Also, I don't call her by yelling, I use this!" I pulled out the little iPhone and showed it to her.

"Wow! What is this thing?"

"Think of it as something like a magic mirror. I can call up an image of Luna and talk to her at almost anytime I want! I don't like doing it much, she is a Princess after all. I really live in Ponyville. RD does too!"

"Oh Ponyville you say? I don't think I've been there before... Say, why don't you tell me about one of your adventures now?"

"Umm... sure! Do you want to hear about the manticore fight, me killing myself, the Tim--"

"I'm sorry, did you just say killing yourself?" I grinned.

"Eeyup, you want to hear about that one?" She nodded vigerously. I grinned even wider, and dove into the tale.

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"Then I adopted the baby Discord that had been left behind by the magic backlash!" I finished. Daring Do was staring at me, starry eyed with mouth hanging open.

"I've quite a few amazing things in my career, but it's not very often I can find somepony with adventure stories almost as good as mine!" After she finished talking, RD started to wake up. I ran over to her.

"Hmm? Ughh... Wha-- Sharky?" RD mumbled, still half asleep.

"Yupp, it's me! Glad you finally returned to the world of the living!" I joked. RD giggled a little.

"I had the funniest dream... My friends and I were all on this little glowing screen thingy, and you were watching us. Weird huh?"

"Uhh... yeah weird..." *cough cough* "Anyway, look! Daring Do!" I announced. RD turned her head to see Daring. Her eyes shot open and she jumped clear off the couch.

"OH MY GOSH IT IS YOU! I'M A REALLY BIG FAN!"

"Yes, so I heard." Daring said calmly. "I heard that you're the pegasus that can do the Sonic Rainboom! I'm a pretty big fan of yours too!"

"THIS IS SOOO AWESOME! I gotta get your autograph!"

"Don't worry about that, your friend over there got you the WHOLE set of my books, all signed by me!"

"He DID?! You DID?!" RD turned to me and hug tackled me. "THIS IS THE NICEST THING ANYPONY HAS EVER DONE FOR ME!"

"Heh, it's nothing really..." I was blushing bright red. I had expected her to be happy, but I'd underestimated how happy.

"No, it's EVERYTHING!" She shouted back. "In the same day, you got me a position on my dream team, AND you introduced me to my FAVORITE adventure pony! Not to mention got me ALL her books... SIGNED!"

"Umm... nah, I'm sure any of your friends woulda done the same..." I muttered.

"Well, this is nice!" Daring interrupted. "Hey, if you two don't mind, I'm invited to a little party tonight at a nice little club. I can bring a few guests, you two wanna come?"

"Wow, really?!" RD asked.

"Eeyup! You two both seem really interesting, and I can tell we're gonna be great friends! I insist you come!"

"Umm... no thanks..." I said. The girls both looked at me.

"Why not?" Daring asked.

"I really, REALLY, hate parties..."

"What? You never told me that!" RD exclaimed.

"Well, it's true. I'm terrible with parties, a real downer."

"Well, why don't you two come with me anyway? It's not a huge party anyway, really small."

"Really?" I asked hesitantly.

"Really."

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listen to this while reading

"I THOUGHT YOU SAID SMALL!!!" I yelled over the party.

"YEAH, SO DID I!!!" Daring yelled back. The entire 2 story building was filled with ponies, all dancing and drinking. Daring tried to continue talking to me, but I went into panic mode and ran to the least crowded part of the building. Behind the DJ's booth. The was a pony there, spinning records. Luckily, he was the only one there. He looked at me in confusion, and took off his headset.

"ALRIGHT, I'LL BITE. WHO SPIKED MY DRINK?!" He shouted. Nopony even turned to him. He sighed audibly. "FINE, I'LL TALK TO THE HALLUCINATION THEN!" He turned to me. "HEY, WHAT'S UP?"

"NOTHING MUCH, JUST A MINOR PANIC ATTACK!"

"HA! SURE. SO, I'M NIGHT WEAVER! WHAT'S YOUR NAME?"

"I'M SHARKY! THIS MUSIC IS COOL! DO YOU DJ A LOT?!" I asked, trying to take my mind off the panic.

"I WISH! THIS IS THE FIRST PARTY I'VE EVER WORKED IN MANEHATTAN!"

"WHY? YOU SEEM REALLY GOOD!"

"I AM, PONIES IN MANEHATTAN ALMOST NEVER PARTY!"

"WHAT? THAT'S INSANE! I KNOW A PLACE WHERE THEY PARTY LIKE EVERY OTHER DAY!"

"REALLY? WHERE!?"

"IN PONYVILLE THERE'S A PINK PONY NAMED PINKIE PIE THAT PARTIES ALL THE TIME! I'M SURE SHE COULD FIND YOU SOME MORE WORK!"

"REALLY?!"

"WELL, ANOTHER DJ ALREADY LIVES THERE, SO I'M NOT SURE!"

"HEH, IT'S WORTH A SHOT! WHEN I'M DONE HALLUCINATING, IMMA FIND THIS PONYVILLE PLACE!"

"YEAH, ABOUT THAT, YOU'RE NOT HALLUCINATING!" At that, I waved goodbye and ran off again. I found my way to the exit, bowling over everypony in my way. I made my way outside, and gulped down the fresh air as fast as I could. "Ok, NEVER AGAIN!" I shouted. I walked a little ways away from the building, I turned down the nearest alley, and sat down. I breathed and tried to clear my head. I felt a hoof press up to my neck.

"Don't move, and nopony gets hurt!" A familiar voice growled. A familiar scent drifted from the foreleg, and I grinned and flipped the offending pony over my shoulder and into my arms.

"You really shouldn't sneak up on a guy that kills monsters for a living RD." I laughed.

"Darn! How'd you know it was me?!"

"Easy, you smell like rain."

"Wait, how... what... you can smell me?"

"Well, I've carried you enough times to know what you smell like yes."

"That's... interesting. Is it a good smell?"

"The smell of rain is the best smell in the world in my opinion! Well, other than the ocean."

"Awww..."

"So, why aren't you still partying with Daring?"

"I don't really love parties either..."

"Liar."

"Heh, ok fine! I didn't want to let you be alone..."

"Aww thanks, you're a great friend!" RD frowned at me.

"Gah buck it!" She hopped out of my arms.

"What did I do?"

"Nothing..."

"Hey! That's where you two went!" Daring interrupted. "Why are you out here?"

"Because I told you, I FUCKING HATE PARTIES! NOT COOL DARING!" I yelled. She flinched.

"Heh, sorry. I thought maybe you wouldn't mind it once you were actually there..."

"Yeah, I minded it. A LOT. Anyway, I gotta get to dinner now. It's getting awfully late."

"Aww... well, I'm sure I'll see you again someday, as a matter of fact, call me before you go on your next hunt ok?"

"Umm... sure... how?"

"Oh yeah... maybe you can use that cool little gadget you showed me earlier?"

"Maybe, I'll call Luna and ask." I pulled out my iPhone and called Luna. She picked up on the fifth ring.

"Yes Sharky? Art thou ready to go home now?"

"Yeah I am Luna, but before I do, I have a question. Is there any way I can add more ponies to my phone?"

"Why yes! That mirror works with magic, just ask it to let thee contact another pony, and that pony shall become reachable." Luna explained.

"That's it? That's all I need to do?"

"Well, thou hath to be near the pony thou wishes to add..."

"Wow, sweet. Umm... phone? Can you add Daring Do to my call list? Or whatever list it is I use to call..." A blue light shot out of the phone and waved over Daring. She jumped back in shock, and my contact picture of her ended up being her in mid-air with wide eyes and an open mouth. I laughed.

"Ok, thanks Luna! We can go now!" I thought for a moment. "Wait, I need to grab the books!" We all ran back to the store and I picked up a rather large stack of books, all signed by Daring Do. "Ok, now we can go!"

"Art thou sure?" Luna asked.

"Eeyup, bye Daring!" She waved goodbye, and RD and I disappeared in a flash.

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"Whew! Feels good to be back in Ponyville!" I shouted. RD and I were standing in the middle of the town square. We were the only ones still there. "Wow, it's later than I thought!" I exclaimed as I looked up at the dark sky. "We should get to dinner huh?"

"Hmm? Yeah, let's go..." She muttered.

"Umm... ok, which way?" She pointed into the sky off to the left, and we both took off. I still had her wings, so it was only a short time before we made it to her house. "Where can I put these books?" She pointed to a fluffy bookcase, which was painfully empty. I set all the books down in it, and stood where I was. "You know what? I'm actually really hungry! What about that dinner?"

"Oh, It's in the dining room. Follow me." RD said quietly. She started trotting off.

"RD... Is something wrong?"

"No, this is the best day I've ever had! It's... just not ending the way I wanted..."

"Oh... can I fix it?"

"Yes, yes you could. Unfortunately, you won't. Let's eat." I gave her a confused look.

"Of course I'll fix it! What's the problem anyway?"

"Just forget it. Anyway, here we are!" She pointed to a table laden with various apple-based dishes. "Applejack taught me how to make this stuff. I hope I did alright." I narrowed my eyes at her, but decided to drop the previous subject.

"Well, it all LOOKS delicious!" I cheered happily, trying to dispel RD sour mood. She smiled, but it looked a little forced.

"Thanks... let's eat!" We both dug into the food, and it was all really good! A little cold, but still good. I had some apple pie, applesauce, and apple juice, but not much else. I finished eating before RD, and I looked around the house a little. There were lit candles in a few places, but there wasn't any other light. It made it hard to see much more than RD and the food.

"Hey RD, what's it like to sleep on a cloud?" I asked suddenly. She looked up at me, a small smile creeping over her face.

"You wanna find out?" She asked.

"Yeah! I'd bet it's awesome right?"

"It sure is! Come on!" She stepped away from the table and walked out of the room. I picked up a few dishes off the table and started washing them off in a nearby sink. (Don't ask me how a cloud gets running water! I don't know!) RD popped back into the room. "What are you doing?"

"Washing off the dinner dishes."

"Why?"

"So that you don't have to deal with them later."

"Sweet Celestia... " She muttered. She bit the cloth tied around my neck, and dragged me away from the sink.

"HEY!"

"No, I'm not letting you do everything! You've done enough for me today." She said through my cloth. I sighed and turned to follow her. She smiled and released the cloth. She turned to leave the room again, and I slowly started backing towards the dishes again. "NO!" She yelled at me. My shoulders drooped and I walked after her. She led me into what I recognized as her bedroom. She pointed to the bed. "You can sleep here!"

"Oh, I couldn't take your bed RD!"

"You aren't!" She hopped up into the bed. "We're sharing! After all, you wouldn't want to lose your wings in the night and fall to the ground, right?" I thought for a moment.

"Good point... ok fine... if you don't mind..." She smiled.

"Not at all! Now come on slow poke!" I grinned back at her and climbed into the bed. Her bed was just as small as Twilight's, so we had to spoon... Damn.

"Umm... is this still ok RD?"

"Yeah, this is awesome..."

"Okayyy..." I might have protested a little more, but DAMN that cloud bed was comfy. I was out in a matter of minutes.

Trust

"Ugh! Where is he?!" Twilight was pacing back and forth in front of her bed. Fluttershy had already gone home, and Blaze had gone back into the forest for the night. Spike and Unity were still asleep, but Twilight had been up all night waiting for Sharky to come back from Sugarcube Corner. She would leave to look for him, but she was afraid that if she left he'd show up and leave when he realized she wasn't there. She had already tried scrying for him, but it hadn't worked. She had been worried that something bad had happened, but then she told herself he was just out of range again. "Wait, what was that?" She had heard something outside her door. She ran over and threw the door open, to reveal a very flustered looking Sharky. "WHERE IN THE NAME OF CELESTIA HAVE YOU BEEN?!?"

"Manehattan, please let me in." Twilight gasped, but she moved out of the way for Sharky to enter.

"What were you doing in MANEHATTAN?!"

"I raced the Wonderbolts and met Daring Do. Oh, also I got tricked into a club, where I met a nice DJ pony."

".... You know what? Don't explain that. I'm just happy you're back." Then she had a thought. "Weren't you supposed to go to dinner with Rainbow Dash?"

"Eeyup, just got back from her house actually."

"W-why are you getting b-back so late?"

"Oh, I slept with her a little."

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

"Umm... She wanted to show me how soft a cloud bed was, and we slept next to each other so I wouldn't lose my wings in the night... why, what did you think?"

"Oh, nothing... So, why are you back? It's still the middle of the night... not that I mind..."

"Oh... uh... I... don't wanna talk about it..." I blushed. "I'm... gonna go take a shower now..." I dashed off before she could respond.

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You know, sleeping here would be a lot easier if ponies didn't wiggle so freakin' much. I thought to myself as I stood in the cold shower. Glad I could make her happy though... Ha, I should so be geeking out right now. I had just given RD the best day of her life after all. I took a moment to go over everything that had happened since I got here. OH MY GOSH... Everything here is so AWESOME! I haven't had this much fun.... EVER! I just... wish I didn't have to go through what I did to get here... I ended my celebration with sadness for what I lost on my way here. At least I didn't have to feel guilty about living here, nobody was left to miss me... I turned off the shower and dried myself off. I got re-dressed, and stepped into the bedroom. Twilight was already in bed, but she was looking at me.

"Hey Twilight.... would you miss me if I was gone?" She gasped.

"Of course I would! Why would you ask that?!"

"Because I've got nobody else to miss me..." I said sadly. She gave me a confused look.

"What does that mean?"

"Hmm? Oh, it's nothing... I'm really tired, mind if I sleep now?"

"No, go ahead." She moved over in her bed for me, but I didn't notice. I had already walked over to the corner Fang was sleeping in and curled up next to him. Twilight sighed.

"Is something wrong Twilight?"

"No, goodnight." She said. I nodded sleepily, and I fell asleep in a few minutes.

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"Ok, time to find out once and for all..." Twilight muttered to herself. As soon as she was sure Sharky was asleep, she crawled silently out of her bed, and trotted over to his sleeping form. She prepared her mind reading spell that she had looked up earlier in the day, and moved to touch her horn to Sharky's head. As soon as she was about an inch away from his head, Fang started growling at her. She was so startled, she fell backward and the magic cancelled out. "F-fang?" Fang was staring at her silently, daring her to try it again. Twilight stood back up, and touched her horn to Sharky's head without activating the spell, Fang didn't move. She moved her head back up, and activated the spell. She moved towards Sharky's head again, and Fang gave her another warning growl. She tried not activating the spell again, and Fang didn't move. Then she activated the spell while touching his head. Before she could actually get to Sharky's thoughts, Fang knocked her to the side. She shook her head and looked up at Fang. He hadn't bitten or clawed her, but it was obvious he wasn't letting her near Sharky with that spell. "Stupid wolf..." Twilight had half a mind to use a spell to incapacitate Fang, but if Sharky learned that she had used magic on Fang... He'd never like her for sure. She sighed. "Fine, you win this time. Remember though, you won't always be there when I am..." She warned. Fang gave a short yip in reply. Twilight trotted back to her bed, and tried to go to sleep.

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Wednsday, January 8th.

I stretched out my limbs, groaning in pleasure as my joints cracked. I yawned and stratched my side as the world came into focus. I saw that Fang had moved from behind me to in front of me while I slept, but I didn't bother to think about it. I was very hairy and my canines had grown significantly due to Fang's magic. I stood up, and noticed that Twilight wasn't in bed anymore. I walked to the stairs, and on my way there I noticed Unity sleeping next to Spike. I don't know why I hadn't noticed before, there was a huge flashing neon sign pointing to Unity that read 'Unity is here'. I laughed to myself. I scooped up Unity in my arms, and the sign floated over to me. I walked downstairs, careful to avoid the doorway. Twilight was downstairs, reading a book.

"Good book Twilight?" I asked. She jumped about 3 feet in the air.

"Oh! Hi Sharky... Yeah, really informative..." She was blushing.

"Really? What's it called?"

"Uhh.... I take it Unity is here?" I looked up, and the 'Unity is here' sign was still following me. I laughed.

"Eeyup, I gotta make him breakfast.... After he wakes up anyway. I hope he wasn't too much trouble yesterday..."

"Oh no, he was a dear. I mean, other than the flowers he made grow out of Blaze's nose when Blaze sneezed."

"Well, in that event, I think you owe him a thank you! Flowers are better than flames after all..."

"True... Anyway, let me cook you some breakfast."

"No, let ME cook YOU some breakfast."

"Fine, but you have to wear a hairnet for your WHOLE BODY." I looked down at my wolf-self.

"Ok, good point. You can cook. THIS ONE TIME."

"I'll find other ways to get you to let me cook I'm sure!"

"Maybe..." I sighed and followed Twilight into the kitchen. I opened a few drawers on the off chance that Twilight had a spare bottle, and I was confronted by ALL the sun and moon bottles. Beside them was a huge package of powdered chocolate with a note attached. I pulled the note off the package, and it read:

Dear Sharky,

These aren't the only things you left at Canterlot Palace.

Best regards,

Celestia.

"Huh... Oh my gosh where's Stormy?!" I suddenly remembered.

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"Gonna kill them, gonna kill them, gonna kill them." Stormy repeated to himself as he raced towards Ponyville.

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"Well, that was pretty good!" I said happily. Unity had woken up, drank some milk (the actual milk), then burped up a tiny cow. After that, Twilight made some eggs, toast, and fruit slices. Always good. We let the tiny cow outside, where it was immediately grabbed by a passing bird. "Ok, that sucked."

"Eww... He's gonna eat it! That makes me so si--" Twilight stopped talking and looked at me. "Uh... I mean it's the natura--"

"Save it, I know what you meant. It's ok, I know it'll take some getting used to..." I muttered sadly. Being a meat-eater in a town full of peacful vegetarians kinda sucks. "Anyway, I think I'm gonna go check up on some things. I'll see you later." I left without another word. Carrying Unity with Fang by my side.

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"Hi Big Mac!" The big red stallion was sitting on the porch of his house. I was still wolfed up, but he didn't seem to care. "Beautiful snowy day huh?"

"Eeyup."

"So, have you met Shadow yet?"

"Eeyup."

"Great! Is he working yet?"

"Eeyup."

"Is he out in the orchards now?"

"Eeyup."

"Which way?" Big Mac lifted a hoof and pointed down a path through the orchards. "Thanks!" I took off down the path. As I ran down it, Zapapples popped up on the trees, full color and growth. "Heh, Unity you do the coolest stuff!" I said to the little smiling bundle. He giggled and started tugging on my cloth. I suddenly ran into a part of the orchard where all the trees had all their leaves, and appleblossoms were on all the tree branches. "Whoa! Shadow has been working HARD!"

"I sure have!" Shadow trotted up to me from inbetween a few of the trees. "I haven't been able to stop working! Everypony here is so nice! I wanna do the best I can for them! I woke up earlier than the roosters this morning, and I've been out here working ever since!" I looked out as far as I could see, and the green trees extended almost to the back of the orchard!

"WHOA! How much of that life potion did you bring?!"

"Only like two vials, but I went through the forest and found a BUNCH of herbs, so I was able to make enough for the entire orchard!"

"H-how long did you spend looking for the herbs?"

"All of yesterday! I started fixing the trees today!"

"DUDE! THAT'S INSANE!"

"I kno-- wait, what?"

"You need to take a break man!"

"You don't."

".... Buck. Fine, but if AJ kills you because you're working too hard, don't come crying to me."

"If I'm dead I can't cry!" He shouted at me as I turned and left.

"Smart ass..." I muttered. I walked back to the barn.

"Hey! Sharky! 'Ave ya seen Shadow? Ah told 'im ta take break!" Applejack shouted as I passed by.

"Yeah, he was in town! Looking for some herbs I think!" I yelled back.

"Oh good! Hey, how'd ya like the stuff Rainbow Dash made for ya?"

"It was all fantastic! Great recepies Applejack!" I turned and left before she could keep talking. I quickly made my way back to the library. Spike answered the door. "Hey buddy!"

"Don't you buddy me!" He shouted angrily. "You need to quit making Twilight upset! I told you to not hurt her!"

"I-I don't?"

"Oh yes you do! Do you know how much she was freaking out last night!?"

"Spike! That's enough!" Twilight interrupted.

"B-but Twi..."

"No buts! Go!" She pointed back into the tree. Spike walked away, grumbling unintelligibly. "Sorry Sharky."

"You were upset?"

"Hmm? Oh! Uh... maybe a little... but you shouldn't pay Spike too much attention... He's just young and imaginative..."

"Don't lie to me Twilight. Am I worrying you too much? I want to be the best friend I can be, so I need to trust that you are going to be brutally honest with me."

*sigh* "Ok, you do worry me. A LOT! I wish you would just stop going off on crazy adventures and stay here... with me..."

"Well, I understand..."

No you don't. Twilight thought to herself.

"and I'm sorry, but I've gotta do these crazy adventures! It's one of the few things stopping monsters from killing lots of ponies!"

"Not just the monster ones! The random suprise ones where you go really far away with no warning! Those need to stop!"

"... ok, I promise I'll tell you before I leave on a crazy adventure that doesn't relate to monster hunting. Deal?"

"It's a start... So, why are you here already? Is there something you wanted to say to me?"

"Actually yea!" Twilight's ears perked up a little. "Where did Blaze go?" Her ears flopped back down.

"He went back to the forest for awhile. He said he'd be back today." I nodded.

"Sounds good to me! Well, I've got to get to work soon, do you mind taking care of Unity, or should I go ask Fluttershy?"

"No, no! I got him!" Twilight levitated Unity out of my arms.

"Thanks Twi! Bye!" I ran off to Sugarcube Corner.

"Bye..." *sigh* "At least you don't run, right Unity?" Unity giggled.

Stormy Weather

"SHARKY!!!" I turned to look for the direction of the voice, and RD smacked into my gut. I went down, again. While on the ground, I noticed that Fang was gone. Odd. Obviously he'd been gone for awhile, I wasn't wolfed up anymore.

"Ok, the ramming into me thing? GETTING OLD!"

"You left me!"

"Oh.... yes."

"WHY?!"

"....I don't wanna talk about it."

"Well I wanna hear about it!"

"Hey is that Spitfire!?" I said, pointing in a random direction.

"WHERE!?" RD flew off me and looked around wildly. "Wait a minute! Why do I care?! Sharky y--" I was already gone. "Dang it!" I ran as fast as my legs would carry me towards Sugarcube Corner. I made it inside before RD could find out where I'd gone.

"Whew..."

"Hey there! Ready to work already huh?" Mr. Cake asked as he walked in.

"Yes, let's work. NOW." I ran into the kitchen. Pinkie Pie and Mrs. Cake weren't even there yet, so it was just Mr. Cake and I for awhile.

"Hey Sharky?"

"Yes boss?"

"I'm really sorry I doubted you as an employee there for awhile..."

"Hmm? When?"

"You know, when you heard me talking to Pinkie Pie about you being worth the effort."

"Oh, I'd already forgotten! Think nothing of it Mr. Cake. I totally understand."

"Ok, that's good... Pinkie Pie had just told us all the wonderful things you've been doing, and I felt bad for not trusting you..."

"Like I said, I totally understand. I'm just glad everypony got used to me as fast as they did! Y'all are a really accepting bunch!" Wait, did I just say y'all? Damn southern raising...

"Yeah, we do try and get along with everypony... we're all really close. Except during the week of terror of course." (EPIC FORESHADOWING)

"The what?"

"You know, the week a--"

"Wow you guys sure got to work early!" Pinkie Pie bounced in.

"We sure did Pinkie! Wanna help?"

"You betcha!" She bounced over to the batter station, and we immersed ourselves in work again.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, see you guys tomorrow!" I shouted as I left Sugarcube Corner. RD was waiting for me. "Oh... hi."

"YEAH! HI!"

"So... uh.... sorry?"

"SORRY?! YOU LEFT AGAIN! WHILE I WAS TRYING TO TALK TO YOU!"

"Yeah... Is that Stormy?"

"OH NO, YOU'RE NOT GETTING ME WITH THAT TRICK AGAIN!"

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU GUYS!" Stormy yelled as he bolted towards us. I Pinkie jumped about ten feet off the ground and caught him as he flew towards us.

"Stormy! You're back! I missed you buddy!" I cheered as I hugged him. Dang Pinkie magic... making me hug...

"YEAH I'M BACK! YOU BUCKING LEFT ME AT CANTERLOT!"

"Well where were you?! You weren't in either room we were staying in!"

"THAT'S BECAUSE I WAS HIDING FROM THOSE CRAZY MARES!" He pointed a hoof at RD. "YOU'RE LUCKY I'VE GOT AN OVERDUE SNOWSTORM TO BRING, OR I'D KILL YOU NOW!" He wiggled out of my hug.

"Good to see you too Stormy!"

"...Yeah, good to see you Sharky." He flew off into the clouds.

"...Did that just happen?" RD asked.

"I think so, this Pinkie magic makes me confused sometimes. You saw Stormy too right?"

"...Yea..."

"Then yep, it was real. Well, I gotta go find Blaze a place to stay! Bye!"

"Ok bye... WAIT I WAS MAD AT YO-- aww forget it." I ran off towards the forest to see if I could find Blaze. I walked around the outskirts of the forest, scanning for Blaze. Fang came running out of the forest.

"Hey buddy! So this is where you went! Why were you in the forest?" Fang licked his muzzle and I understood. "Right... well anyway, have you seen Blaze?" He nodded and took off in the direction of Fluttershy's house. I quickly followed him, and we made it to Fluttershy's house about 15 minutes later. I knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Fluttershy called.

"It's me, Sharky! Is Blaze here?" Fluttershy flung the door open.

"Y-yes S-sharky... He's sitting on the couch..."

"Fluttershy... why are you STILL scared of me?..."

"Oh! I'm not scared!"

"Then why are you still hiding in your mane?"

"...I don't know..."

"*sigh* fine. Can I come in?"

"Oh p-please do..." She stepped out of the way, and and I kicked the snow off my boots and walked in. Sure enough, Blaze was there chilling on the couch.

"Hi Blaze! Where'd the flowers go?"

"Hi Sharky... What flowers?"

"Twilight said that Unity made you sneeze flowers."

"She did? Huh, I don't remember that..."

"Hmm... oh well! Anyway, I'm here to help find you a place to live!"

"Really? The forest is fine..."

"Well, wouldn't you prefer to sleep in a bed instead of on the ground?"

"... Well maybe... but--"

"Well then let's go find you a house!"

"Would you boys like something to eat first?" Fluttershy interrupted.

"Uhh... sure I guess." I answered.

"Great! I've still got some steaks left!" She trotted off into the kitchen. Blaze turned to me, open-mouthed.

"Did she just say STEAK?!"

"Yeah... It's weird I know."

"Did she just say STEAK?!"

"YES! You know what, just listen and it'll hit you." The steaks started sizzling as they hit the stove. Blaze fainted. I slapped him.

"I'M UP!"

"Yeah, I noticed. Just don't freak out about the steak ok? Fluttershy's used to taking care of meat-eating animals, and basically that's what we are."

"....Where does she get the steak?"

"I prefer not to know."

".... Good point..." Fluttershy trotted back in about 15 minutes later with 2 steaks.

"Here you go~!" She handed a plate to Blaze and I each took a plate. He gave me a frantic look, and I pulled him outside.

"Here, now we can eat and feel... less guilty." He gave me a thankful look, and dug in. "DAMN! You were hungry!" I dug into my steak too. We were both done in a matter of minutes.

"I.... am a terrible pony..."

"And I'm a terrible person... Well! Time to go house-hunting!"

"Y-yeah... let's go..."

"BYE FLUTTERSHY!"

"Bye Sharky..."

"Ok. Let's go!" I said happily. We started walking to the city. about 16 minutes into the walk, Blaze realized something.

"WAIT! Everypony's gonna freak out when they see me!"

"Huh... you're right... Well, oh well."

"Oh well?! I'm not gonna go there!"

"Fine! You go, I'll look for a house for ya."

"Really? You'd do that?"

"Eeyup."

"Thanks Sharky!" He took off towards the forest.

"No problem!" I shouted after him. I continued on my walk back to Ponyville. The sun was going down, but I still had quite a few hours left in my day. I made my way back to town, when I realized I had no idea who to talk to for a house. I decided to go to Rarity. Someone as attuned to life here as her most likely knew who to ask. Besides, I still needed a shirt. I ran the rest of the way to Ponyville, and got to Carousel Boutique. I knocked on the door.

"Who's there?" Rarity asked from inside.

"Hi Rarity, it's Sharky!"

"Oh! Be there in a minute dear!" Just a few seconds later the door was thrown open. "Why Sharky! It has been too long dear!"

"Uhh... a day if I remember correctly..." Rarity sniffled.

"That's still too long! Anyway, come in, I've got a suprise for you!" She stepped out of the way and I walked in.

"What is it?"

"Well, after you got those clothes," She pointed a hoof at my armored pants. "I made this to match!" She levitated a dark blue cape over to me. It was covered in little silvery dots. "I took all night to making it! All those stars are accurate to the view of the night sky from my window!" She said happily.

"Oh my gosh Rarity! This is amazing! Thank you!" I leaned down and hugged her. I lifted her clear off the ground, still hugging her.

"I-it wasn't that big a deal..."

"Oh don't be so modest! This is fantastic!"

"Well... T-thank you Sharky!" She wrapped her hooves around me in return. "It's nice to see somepony appreciate my work! The first time around anyway..."

"Well it's fantastic work Rarity, thanks!" I set her back down, but she took a few seconds to release me.

"It's no trouble. Now, what brings you to my boutique? I was planning on going to you!"

"Well, two things. One, I STILL need that shirt. Two, where can I look into buying a house." She motioned to the little measuring station, and I walked over to it obidiently.

"Well, everypony here usually builds or has their house built! I'm sure you could find somepony to make you a house. Why? Are you and Twilight fighting? You can always feel free to stay here!"

"Nah, no fighting. I promised Blaze I'd get him a house."

"...Sharky... I already know what you're thinking... Don't do it! You're far too busy already!"

"What?"

"You're thinking of builing Blaze a house! Don't do it!"

"Well, I wasn't before, but now that you mention it..."

"Sharky..."

"Fine... But I am paying for it if I'm not building it."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because I learned a lot about generosity from somepony I know."

"...Dang... Well, it appears you've got me. Fair enough. Well, hush and let me finish measuring dear." She still wasn't using magic, and she was dragging her hooves across my upper body as she measured. I actually was kind of enjoying it, and I didn't tell her that she was doing it. She might have stopped. Celestia I'm a terrible person. I sat there for about three hours, letting Rarity measure me. Sweetiebelle came into the boutique.

"Hi sis! Hi Sharky!"

"Hey there Sweetiebelle! Where did you come from?" I asked.

"Oh, me and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders were trying to see if we had any snow-related talents, but we still can't get our cutie marks!"

"Yeah, about those, nopony really ever explained them to me." I lied. I knew what they were, but it was only a matter of time before somepony realized I knew things I shouldn't. Best cover as many things as possible fast. I sat there and listened to Sweetiebelle's explanation of the cutie marks and how all her friends were trying to find them. She also told me about Applebloom and Scootaloo, so I didn't need to guard my knowledge of them either. One strange thing I noticed, after Sweetiebelle had come in, Rarity started using magic to hold the tape.

"So we tried making snow ponies, ice skating, snow angels, catching snow with our tounges, even snowball fights, but nothing worked!"

"Huh... I'm sorry Sweetiebelle... Maybe next time right?"

"Yeah, next time. Well, I should be getting to bed. It's getting really dark, and the storm was getting bad out there by the time I came home. Maybe we'll have a snow day tomorrow and get to crusade ALL DAY!" She trotted up to her room happily.

"Such an energetic sister you have there!"

"Oh believe me, you've no idea how hard it is to take care of her!"

"Try me."

"What?"

"Muffin button."

"What?"

"Huh?"

"...right. Well, that Unity of yours must be quite the hooffull himself!"

"Yeah, tell me about it! Well, luckily his magic only seems to be doing good things for now. I take that as a very good sign." Then a very disturbing thought crossed my mind. I suddenly remembered a fic I once read, 'I couldn't wake you up because you could never wake up again'. "Rarity, where does Scootaloo live?"

"Huh... well now that you ask, I don't really know..."

"....HOW BAD IS THAT STORM?!"

"Sharky?! What's wrong?!"

"QUICK! WHICH DIRECTION IS THE CMC'S TREEHOUSE?!"

"I-it's j-just outside of Ponyville... Head just about two minutes into the outer edges of the patch of trees near the edge of the north side of town n it's right th--" As soon as she gave me the directions, I stood up and ran out into the snow as fast as I could. I remembered which direction the sun had set in, assumed it was the same here as it was on Earth, did a direction check, and started running north full-tilt. The snow was coming down HARD! I mean HARD!!! I could barely see more than ten feet in front of my face, but I pushed on, knowing somepony's life may be in danger. I ran and ran and ran, all the way to the tree house. I climed up to the tiny building, and forced my way inside. Lying there, half-frozen, was Scootaloo.

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And I didn't think I'd get this chapter out today after all! Well, I showed me!

Savior

I lifted her up carefully and wrapped her in my new cape. I then tucked the bundle under my shirt and dashed back through the snow as fast as I could. I ran all the way to the hospital, ignoring all the cold and energy drain trying to bring me down. I made it to the huge white building and staggered inside. I trudged over to the nearest nurse.

"Scootaloo... frozen... help..." I chattered as I handed her the bundle. She took it without hesitation, and dashed off into the hospital. I smiled in satisfaction, then collapsed and shivered on the floor.

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"Uuughhh... Celestia why won't you let me be unconscious longer?" I mutter as the world faded into view. I groaned as I came awake. Half the mane six were staring at me. "You guys... have the BIGGEST eyes..." Twilight hit me with her hoof.

"THAT'S FOR SCARING ME AGAIN!!!" Rarity hit me too. Then Fluttershy. Then RD showed up out of nowhere and kissed my cheek.

"And that's for saving Scoots." RD said. She trotted away, and I saw her go to another bed across from mine. The other mares next to me all hugged me.

"Did I get her in time? Will she be ok?"

"The nurse said you got her just in time, she's going to be fine." Twilight consoled. I sighed in relief. "Now, the better question is, how did you know she was in trouble?" I froze.

"I... Uh... Sweetiebelle told me about them trying to find their cutie marks and how the storm was really bad and Rarity didn't know Scootaloo's parents, so I assumed the worst!" I managed to pull that outta thin air pretty fast. The girls all (including the three at Scootaloo's bed) nodded in understanding. I forced myself to stand.

"S-sharky?! What are you doing?! Lay back down Mister!" Fluttershy scolded. I ignored her and walked over to Scootaloo's bed. She was wrapped up in a crap ton of blankets, and she had a little heat pad on her head. She was clinging tightly to my cape.

"Gosh... she still looks so cold..." I muttered. "I should've gotten there sooner..."

"Now don't be hard on yerself! If it weren't fer you this little filly wouldn't still be with us..." Applejack consoled.

"I should've figured it out earlier though! Then maybe I could have gotten her before she was even hurt."

"Nonsense dear, without you she'd... well, you know. It's a miracle you managed to piece together enough information to think of this!" Rarity said.

"Well... I guess you're right... I just wish I could've done more...."

"You did enough Sharky, that's all that matters." RD said quietly. "You saved her life... Now I understand so much..."

"What do you mean RD?"

"Now I know why you run off to save lives. I didn't get it until I found out that Scoots almost died... Now I know what it means." She turned her head to look at me. There were tears in her eyes. "It means you saved me too. If I had learned that she died... I would have too. Inside at least."

"Wow, that was... deep."

"Yeah, don't expect it often." I felt a tugging on my pants leg, and I looked down to see Sweetiebelle. Applebloom was standing a bit behind her, mouth hanging open as she looked up at me.

"She's right Mr. Sharky. We both wanna say thanks for saving out friend Scootaloo. We never even bothered to ask where she lived..."

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure she would have hid the truth from you anyway."

"Well maybe, but we still shoulda asked..."

"Oh, don't be so hard on yourself. I'm sure Scootaloo will understand." I wasn't in pain persay, but I didn't feel like I should have been standing. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to lie back down..." I trudged back to the beds that had been pushed together, and laid down. "Goodnight girls..." I was out in a matter of seconds.

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Thursday, January 9th

I woke up in darkness. I felt like it was morning, but it was still too overcast outside to tell. I stood up off my beds and stretched. Rarity, Twilight, and Fluttershy were asleep on my beds. RD... RD was asleep curled around Scootaloo. I smiled in approval, and went to the little bathroom. I felt great today, obviously I was better now. I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror, and I had a purple horn. Twilight had been the first one to get to the hospital I guess. I shrugged my shoulders and left the bathroom. I snuck out of the hospital before anypony could see me leaving. The moment I left, Fang bounded up to me out of nowhere.

"Hey buddy! You missed a lot of fun, lemme tell ya." He yipped. A few nearby ponies gave him a wary gaze, but mostly they ignored him. Then, one of the nearby mares ran up to me.

"You're the one that saved the filly right?" She asked. She had a purple mane and a maroon coat. She was turned so that I couldn't see her cutie marks. She was an earth pony.

"Umm... yes I guess I am." I answered hesitantly. She jumped in excitement, and waved over a little crew of other ponies. They all had little notepads and old-fashioned cameras and were all unicorns..

"Ooooh goody!" She turned and I saw that her mark was a newspaper. "Now, what is your name?"

"Uhh... Sharky White?" All the ponies rapidly scribbled down on their notepads. One snapped a picture.

"Excellent, now, is it true that you single-hoofedly slew a violent manticore?"

"Umm... no, I had some help from my good friend Stormy... look I'm really not comf--" The ponies scribbled some more and a few more pictures were taken. I backed up a little in suprise.

"Ok, now, what is your relationship with the filly you saved?"

"I uh... only met her when I saved her. I don't know her personally. Look I shoul--" More flashes and scribbling, I rubbed my eyes.

"Oh! risking your life for somepony you don't know! How brave! Now, what is your relationship with all the mares that are visiting currently?"

"We're all good friends. I'm gonna g--" Damn flashes!

"Really? I don't belive you. I wanna hear the truth." The mare demanded. I frowned.

"Fang, scare 'em off." He started growling and snapping at the little news crew. They all shrieked in fear, and took off running after snapping a few more pictures. "Dang you're a cool pet!" I grinned and rubbed his head. "Well, what should we do now Fang?" He tilted his head at me. "Right, still a wolf.... HOLY CRAP WHERE'S UNITY?!" I took off running to the library. I ran inside and scanned the house. I found him in bed with Spike, there was a note attached to the bed. I picked it up.

Dear Sharky,

Knowing that you would most likely leave the hospital before I wake up, I've prepared this note to keep you from freaking out. I took good care of Unity, and only left after he fell asleep with Spike. No need to worry about me leaving him behind.

With love,

Twilight.

"Whew, at least she didn't just leave him..." I whispered out loud. I looked back down at Unity, and scooped him up. I walked to the kitchen to make him a bottle. After walking about 20 feet from the bed, Unity turned into Spike! "SPIKE!?" I yelled.

"What!? Who?! Rarity?!" He yelled.

"W-what are you doing?!"

"What are you doing?! Why are you holding me?!"

"B-but you're over there!" I pointed at the little bed, with Spike still sound asleep in it. I put Spike down, and grabbed the other Spike. I walked away from the bed, and he turned into a frowning Unity. "B-b-but... S-spike... U-u-unit-- AW FORGET IT!" I walked downstairs with the new Unity and made him a bottle. "Man, I need to get used to these tricks..." He drank the milk again, but the bottle went with it. "Annnd, now he drinks both... great." I burped him, and a little ceramic cheese flew out of his mouth and shattered on the ground. "GREAT!" I turned to Spike, who had followed me downstarirs. "Where can I get a broom?"

"Hmm? We don't have a broom, Twilight usually just levitates messes off the floor." Huh, I wonder why she didn't do that when breakfast stuff spilled everywhere...

"Well darn..." Fang walked over and started brushing the glass aside with his tail. "Hey! good idea boy!" I cheered. He gave me his wolfish grin and kept brushing. I found a trash can in the kitchen. It was mostly empty, so I turned it on it's side so that Fang could sweep the glass into it. We finished cleaning up the mess, so I sat down next to a bookshelf and contemplated what to do next. "Well, we could go see Blaze... nah, he's problably hiding in the forest... I can't go to work, it's too early..." *sigh* Well, the first time I've ever been here with nothing to do. "Hey Spike, would you teach me about dragons?"

"Umm... sorry, I don't know much myself... I grew up with ponies after all."

"Right... right... Well what do gems taste like?"

"I... really don't know how to describe it. You have to eat one yourself to find out."

"Huh... you don't happen to have any gems do you?"

"Nope. I do know where we can get some though! If you're up for it."

"Sure dude! Where?"

"There's a gem mine not to far from here. Wanna go?"

"Isn't it dangerous?"

"Well, there used to be a bunch of Diamond Dogs there, but they shouldn't be a problem for you!"

"Well... where am I gonna put Unity?"

"YOU LEFT AGAIN!" Twilight yelled as she trotted in. I grabbed Spike and winked at him.

"I sure did. Could you hold Unity a sec?" She levitated Unity out of my arms, and I used my newly freed hand to grab my axe which I had left in the corner. "Thanks, now as fair warning... I'M GOING OFF ON ANOTHER CRAZY UNEEDED ADVENTURE BYE!!!" I dashed out the door and slammed it shut behing Fang. Spike and I laughed and he pointed me to the mines.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Yes, he left AGAIN! Well, thanks for coming over and helping me with Unity, Fluttershy." Twilight complained.

"Oh, it's no trouble. So, did you get to see if he really likes us?"

"No! His stupid wolf wouldn't let me read his mind!"

"Hey! Be nice to Fang!"

"Sorry Fluttershy. I know Fang was just protecting Sharky, but it's... annoying to say the least."

"I understand... I'm really happy with the way those two bonded."

"Yeah... he seems to be getting along with Spike now too..."

"...Do you think Rainbow Dash is gonna be ok?"

"I don't know... I never really realized how much Scootaloo meant to her."

"Me either... she was so upset when we first got there... Sharky and Scootaloo in the hospital? Sharky alone made me cry..."

"I didn't cry... but I was pretty upset too. I can only imagine what this was like for her..."

"...You don't think Sharky will try and adopt Scootaloo too do you? It seems like something he'd do..."

"You know what? He'll try. I'm sure of that. I just don't think he realizes how little time he has to actually be around Unity alone! Scootaloo would be even more than that! Even with school!"

"... He'll find a way..."

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"So, what do these Diamond Dogs look like anyway?" I asked as we rushed to the mines.

"Well, they look like dogs..." Spike started.

"Yeah..."

"That like diamonds."

"Smart ass..." I grumbled.

"Oh, and they stand on two legs like me and you."

"You and I." I corrected.

"What?"

"Nevermind. So, is that a Diamond Dog?" We had almost reached the mines, and there was a Diamond Dog standing on the path.

"Umm yeah. You still have the axe right?"

"Yeah, but I don't need it." He gave me a puzzled look, but I just kept running towards the dog. He was just a bit taller than the average pony, and he reminded me of a pug.

"HALT!" He screeched. I slowed to a stop a few feet away from him.

"Yes, is there a problem?"

"These mines belong to the Diamond Dogs! Leave now!"

"Nah, I don't think I will. I only want two gems anyway. Is that too much to ask?"

"YES! The gems belong to Diamond Dogs! ALL GEMS!"

"Well, I'd really hate to hurt you to get them. Why don't you just let me pass? I promise I won't take big gems. I'll even let you choose which ones I get. How's that?"

"NO! For the last time, LEAVE!"

"You know, I really REALLY don't want to fight you."

"Then turn and run now, while we still allow you to have your life!" A bunch of Diamond Dogs jumped up out of the ground. At least 6 in total, counting the pug.

"I'm sorry, did you just say ALLOW me to keep my life?" I asked as I raised my axe.

Sleep

"Alright, form an orderly line to recieve your beating!" I jeered at the dogs. One of them snarled, then fell face forward with a full-grown wolf attached to his back.

"WHOA! FANG FIGHTS?!" Spike yelled. I laughed.

"Nope, he OWNS. Just don't kill them Fang! I'll be back in a few minutes with a few gems!" He threw me a small bark and jumped at two more Diamond Dogs. I started walking off into the mine area.

"...Are you sure he can take them alone?"

"Nope."

"THEN WHY ARE YOU LETTING HIM FIGHT THEM ALONE?!"

"Because if he needs help, he'll call."

"... He'll... call?"

"Yup."

".... Are you insane?"

"Considering I have to make sure I'm not dreaming every time I wake up, yes."

"Yo-you... Nevermind. So, how we gonna find the gems?"

"Wait, you can't?"

"No! I thought you had a way!"

"How am I supposed to have a way?!"

"Well I don't know! Ugh, I guess we came out here for nothing!"

"Nah, let's just go back and ask the dogs for a few gems."

"...You make the most terrible plans ever." I made my way back to the fighting. Fang had already dispatched 2 and was currently fending off the other 3. He was on the defensive though, so it was obvious this would go south fast. I put Spike down, then I crept up and smacked one of them in the back of the head with my axe, instantly knocking him out. Then Fang caught the last one and I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.

"So, do you wanna give me some gems now?" I asked. It was the pug.

"YES! YES! I WILL GIVE YOU GEMS! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!"

"Don't worry, I won't kill you. I don't think any of your friends are dead either. I just wanted two gems, and no trouble. I'm sorry this happened."

"Y-YOU WON'T KILL ME?"

"No, I didn't even want to fight you."

"Y... you didn't?"

"No. You're a little slow aren't you? Look, can you just get me two gems please? I'll leave you alone then." He nodded vigerously. I released him and he took off into a hole a few feet away.

"You know he's not comi--" Spike started.

"Wait for it...." Two gems shot up from the hole. One large ruby and one large sapphire. "Ha! Told ya!"

"B-but... wh-why? H-how... you know what, just grab the gems and let's go..." Spike said.

"Umm... ok, do you wanna walk or ride my back on the way back?"

"... Ride your back?"

"Good choice!" I scooped him and the gems up and shifted him over to my back. "To town!" I started running back to Ponyville, Fang by my side like always.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had shrank considerably on the way back, and Spike ended up helping me carry the axe to the library.

"Wow, I hope these gems are worth what you go through to get them!" I exclaimed wearily as we reached the library. My voice was that of a 10 year old. I knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Fluttershy called.

"It's me Sharky!"

"You don't sound like Sharky..." She opened the door.

"Yeah, I was absorbing Spike's magic an--"

"OH MY GOSH YOU'RE ADORABLE!!" She scooped me up and cradled me.

"Well... this is backwards..." I muttered. She squealed and started showering my face with little kisses. "Eh? Fluttershy!? Stop! Stop stop stop! What are you doing?" I squealed. Fluttershy squeed and kissed faster. I rolled out of her grip and onto the floor. "No! Stop! I'm not a baby! Knock it off!"

"Oh! Sorry Sharky.... You're just... SOOO CUTEEE!!!" She tried to scoop me up again, but I jumped out of the way.

"NO! Don't! Please stop?!" She just squealed and kept chasing me as I dodged around the tree. Then Twilight showed up.

"What's with all the... OH MY GOSH HE'S ADORABLE!!" Twilight grabbed me with her aura and brought me to her where I was showered with kisses again.

"ALRIGHT, THAT'S IT!" I started expelling the magic as quickly as possible. I grew rapidly, and in the course of 5 minutes I had sucessfully rid myself of Spike's magic. I grabbed Twilight and Fluttershy and held them off the ground. "NEVER AGAIN."

"Aww... ruin it why don't you..." Twilight grumbled.

"Yeah, well you ruined my gem breakfast! Now I don't have enough time to re-absorb Spike's magic! Gah, whatever. I'm off to work. Bye!" I put my axe back in it's corner and took off.

"... Did he just say gem breakfast?"

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"Hi Mr. Cake!" I called as I walked in. He turned from the counter.

"OH! Sharky! You're early!"

"Yeah, we gonna get to work.... What's up with all the decorations?"

"Yeah... uhh... Sharky, we finished all our backed up orders yesterday. Pinkie Pie was supposed to go and tell you not to come to work today..."

"S-s-so... I-I'm just no g-good anymore?"

"No! It's not like that! It's just--"

"No, no, I understand... It's ok Mr. Cake... Bye..." I slowly trudged out of Sugarcube Corner.

"We... were gonna throw you a 'thank you' party..." Mr. Cake finished to himself.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hi RD..." I muttered as I walked into Scootaloo's room. Rd was still in bed curled around Scootaloo. I sat down on the floor next to the bed.

"Hi Sharky. Thank you."

"What for?"

"Saving Scoots."

"No need to thank me... anypony else would've done the same thing... They woulda done it better too..."

"Yeah, I don't know about better, but they would've tried too. What matters though, is they didn't."

"Well no... but I'm nothing special..."

"What's wrong? You're bein' awfully hard on yourself..." I sighed.

"Well, I basically got fired..."

"FROM MONSTER HUNTING?!" She asked with a large amount of excitement in her voice.

"No, Sugarcube Corner..."

"What? Why?"

"They finished all the extra work... I'm not needed anymore..."

"Aww... I'm sorry..."

"It doesn't matter. I'll just move on I guess..."

"So... If you don't mind me asking... How much will this effect you finacially?"

"Hmm? Oh, none. I was working for free."

"Wait, so all those times you used work as an excuse to get away... you were really just--"

"Trying to help the Cakes catch up on orders? Yeah."

"... Oh... Well..."

"What's gonna happen to Scootaloo?"

"... I don't know."

"I'm not letting her go back to wherever she was before."

"The treehouse?"

"No, whatever orphanage she was at before this. Obviously they don't do a good enough job."

"Yeah, you're right. I don't want her to go either.... She already almost left me once..."

"... I didn't know you cared for her so much."

"To be honest, I'm suprising myself..."

"I think it's awesome that you care about somepony this much."

"Y-you do?"

"Yeah. It's the same way I care about Unity."

"Well... What if I cared about somepony else just as much, but in a different way?"

"Oh, I know you and your friends are really close too."

"..."

"...So, what do we do with Scootaloo?"

"...I don't know."

"Well, I wouldn't mind adopting her too!"

"No, you've got your hooves full with Unity and Fang alone..."

"That doesn't mean I can't try!"

"Yes it does! You may be... well you Sharky, but even you can only do so much!"

"Well I haven't hit my limit yet!"

"WELL YOU'RE GOING TO! I DON'T WANT YOU TO END UP DEAD!"

"... Where did that come from?"

"... Nowhere."

"I worry you too, don't I?"

"... Maybe a little..."

"*sigh* Look, I'm sorry. But it's like you said, I do what I do to protect you ponies."

"... doesn't mean you need to do it so often..."

"... I don't like this discussion."

"Me either..."

"So, how's Scoots?"

"She still hasn't woken up..."

"Well... just give her time... I've got to go. I need to get to my son."

"Goodbye..." I got up and left the room. "... Focus Rainbow! Scoots is priority now! Yet..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey guys, I'm back." I said sadly as I walked into the library.

"Hi Sharky! Err... Not that I'm not glad to see you back, but why are you back so early?" Twilight asked.

"I got fired..."

"FROM MONSTER HUNTING?!" Both Twilight and Fluttershy asked at the same time. Why do they think that right away?

"No, Sugarcube Corner... Thanks for the confidence in my fighting skills though..."

"Sorry Sharky... We don't doubt you... We just don't like you having that job... if that's alright..."

"Well... it does make me feel a little better, but I'm not quitting Monster hunting. I don't plan on doing bad enough to get fired either."

"... Well darn..."

"Well, you wanna help us take care of Unity now?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, I'd like that." Then I spent the rest of my day playing with Unity. He's an oddly easy to care for baby! Just feed him 3 times, burp him, and play with him. Oh, then also deal with the chaos magic, but that's more fun than anything. He turned the stairs into a slide, made Spike breathe Icees, made Fang's teeth chatter unstoppably, and made Twilight and Fluttershy D'awww a lot. Not sure that last one had anything to do with magic though. I didn't even realize how long I had been with him! Just when it got late, him and Spike just fell asleep out of nowhere. I was a little upset that I didn't get to play with him anymore, but I put him and Spike to bed anyway. I walked back downstairs and sat down next to the girls. We hadn't spoken all day. Well, they'd tried to speak to me, but I had shrugged them off.

"... Sharky... Are you ok?" Fluttershy asked.

"... Yeah... It was just nice to be needed I guess."

"... You're still needed..." I shook my head.

"No, I'm not. You guys don't depend on me for anything."

"... Well maybe we don't... But Unity does..."

"If I were gone you girls would take care of him right?"

"SHARKY?! Why would you ask something like that?!" Twilight yelled.

"Well, there's every possibility that I may not come back here from a mission one day. I wanna know he'll be taken care of if I die."

"S-sharky... D-d-don't talk l-like that!" Fluttershy scolded.

"As much as you may not like it, it's the truth. I need to know girls."

"S-sharky d--

"NO. Tell me I can depend on you! Please..."

"... I'll take care of him Sharky..." Twilight offered.

"... I-I w-w-will t-t-too..."

"Good. Thank you girls. I'm sorry I had to ask that. I know that's a lot to ask of my friends..."

"Oh, no, it's not to big to ask me at all..."

"M-m-me e-e-either..."

"... You girls are the best..." I pulled them both into a hug. They hugged me back.

"J-j-just d-don't t-talk about y-you d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d--"

"I won't Fluttershy..."

"G-g-good."

"I love it here, you guys know that?"

"You mean Equestria, the library, or hugging us?" Twilight asked.

"... Yes."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"... Thanks for taking me home Sharky..."

"No problem. Hey, do you mind if I try and find somepony to get a house order set up?"

"Y-you want to get your own house? Twilight's not gonna like that..."

"No, not for me, for Blaze. Wait, why would Twilight care?"

"Oh! Umm that's awfully nice of you..."

"... Riiight. Well, it's the least I can do for him. I feel like I need to make up for the fact that I was sent to kill him." I walked into the market section of the town. It was still going suprisingly strong. "So, uhh... which stall would I go to for a house?" Then, the maroon news pony popped up a few stalls away. She looked around me, scanning for Fang I guess. (who I had left at the library.) Then she flashed me an evil grin and whistled for the news crew. "Crap, let's go Fluttershy!"

"But we just got here..."

"Yeah, and now we're just leaving. Come on!" I grabbed her and took off running, easily outpacing the news crew. I kept running and didn't stop all the way to Fluttershy's house. Which of course meant I was gasping for breath when I got there.

"What happened back there?"

"News crew. *gasp* Annoying. *gasp*"

"Umm... ok then... Well it's awfully dark now... you should stay with me." I looked around, and she was right. It was pitch black now. The clouds made it even darker.

"Y-you're r-right Fluttershy... T-thanks for being so understanding... but you're taking the bed."

"No."

"DANG IT! Fine, we'll share again."

"That... s-sounds nice..." Then something occured to Fluttershy. It was dark, he couldn't run off alone. She grinned as she remembered the promise.

Dreamer

"So... S-sharky?"

"Yes Fluttershy?"

"D-d-do y-you reme--"

"Ugh! Why are you always so scared of me?!"

"N-no! I'm not s-s-scared!"

"Then why do you stutter so much when you're alone with me?!"

"B-because y-you m-m-make me n-nervous..."

"Because I scare you?"

"N-n-no!"

"Then why?"

"I... I'm n-not allowed t-t-to tell you..."

"Well why not?!"

"T-the rules..."

"Ugh, what rules?!"

"... I c-can't t-tell y-you..."

"You know what? Forget it. I'm tired. Let's just go to bed."

"... Yeah... W-wait! Do you r-r-remember the p-p-p-promise?"

"The one where you'll take care of Unity if I die?"

"N-no! I t-t-told you n-not to talk about t-t-that!"

"The one where I take good care of Fang?"

"S-still n-not sure t-that was even a p-p-promise..."

"The one where I promised to stay safe?"

"Still n-no."

"The promise where I get Blaze a place to stay? Because those paparrazzi would never have let me place an order without bugging me."

"NO! Wait, y-you had p-p-paparrazzi after you?"

"Yeah, they were the annoying news crew remember? I guess they're trying to interview me because I killed a manticore and saved Scootaloo and I'm a monster hunter and stuff. They also asked about my relationship with you guys, but I don't think they believed we were all just friends."

"... Friends..."

"So, what promise were you talking about?"

"Oh... Nevermind... it doesn't m-matter right now..."

"Umm... ok. Well, let's get some sleep huh?"

"That... sounds n-nice." We both went up to Fluttershy's bedroom and crawled into bed. We were facing each other again, and her emerald eyes held me mesmerized. I wished it was possible for any of the girls to be more than friends with me. That's the one thing I didn't like about Equestria. Nopony would ever like me. I sighed sadly and tried to get some sleep. Oddly enough, Fluttershy's gaze felt comforting. I slowly drifted into sleep with the image of those eyes in my mind.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As soon as Fluttershy was sure Sharky was asleep, she slipped out of the bed and ran outside. She didn't want to leave him, but she couldn't stand not knowing whether or not she could ever be more than friends with Sharky. She flew to Twilight's library. The lights were still on, so she knocked on the door.

"Twilight! Come on!"

"What?! Sharky are you back?"

"What? No! It's Fluttershy!"

"Oh..." Twilight opened the door. "Hi Fluttershy! Have you seen Sharky?"

"YES! He's back at my house! He's asleep and Fang isn't there to stop you from reading his mind!"

"REALLY!? Well let's go!"

*EHM* Both the girls looked up, and Stormy was flying just over them.

"Oh! Hi Stormy... How much of that did you hear?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh, just all of it."

"... Are you going to tell Sharky?"

"Yes." Twilight tried to hit him with a blast of memory-erasing magic, but Stormy rolled to the side. "Then again... I do still owe him for leaving me at Canterlot... Go ahead with your sneaky little plan." He grinned and took off.

"Huh... well let's go I guess." Twilight and Fluttershy took off towards Fluttershy's house.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight and Fluttershy ran back to Fluttershy's house. To their relief, Sharky was still asleep in the bed.

"Finally! Now we get to know the truth...." Twilight cheered. She readied the magic, and touched her horn to Sharky's head.

"Here we go!" Twilight shouted happily. Instead of being in black space like in Unity's mind, Twilight was inside her library. "Wait, why am I here? I thought I was supposed to be in Sharky's mind..."

"You ARE in my mind!" I cheered happily behind her.

"S-s-sharky?! What are YOU doing here!?"

"Well duh, this is MY mind. I swear, it's like you didn't expect me to be here!"

"I-I didn't! A-are you m-mad?"

"Why would I be mad?"

"Because I'm in your mind..."

"Well duh, I dreamed you didn't I?"

"Uhh... yes! You dreamed me!"

"... You are a master of the obvious."

"Right... so, I wanna see what you think of me." She tried to command forth images like she had with Unity. Nothing happened.

"You wanna see? Well why don't you just ask me to tell you!? I don't know how I'd SHOW you that."

"Oh... right... well what do you think of me?"

"Well shouldn't you know?"

"No, she wouldn't! No one knows what we think!" Steven yelled.

"W-who is that?! He looks just like you!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Oh him? That's just Steven."

"Who's Steven? Also, why is he crying so much?" Steven had tears running down his face like rivers.

"Steven is me. He's just... me before I met you girls..."

"Why is he so sad?"

"Long story. Besides, it's too sad for ponies like you."

"Well why aren't you sad too? Aren't you the same person?"

"Well yeah, but you girls made me so happy, that I pushed my sadness away."

"Yeah, lucky bastard. His sadness became me..."

"You know, you seem different from normal Dream Twilight..."

"... Ok, slow down... So, there are TWO Sharkys in your head?"

"Well no. There's a Sharky, then there's a Steven. Two different things."

"... But you're the same person."

"Yes."

"Oh my gosh this is confusing... Wait, this isn't even what I came here for!"

"Well then deal with it!" Steven shouted.

"Sorry, he's a little rude. What did you want?"

"To know if we can ever be more than friends to you."

"... BWAHAHAHA!!! Wow! That IS a question only dream Twilight would ask!"

"... oh..."

"Wow! Ha. I wish, but you guys are so different from me, you'd never like me!"

"WHAT?! YOU DO!?!"

"Well duh, what brony wouldn't?"

"THIS IS THE BEST NE-- ... wait, what's a brony?"

"It's a guy that likes MLP:FiM. Huh, you'd think that since you're part of my dream you'd know what I know already."

"... What's MLP:FiM?"

"Hi Sharky! I'm back!" Twilight watched herself walk into the library. Sharky smiled at the second Twilight.

"Hi Twilight!" He turned back to Real Twilight and smiled at her. Then he frowned and started looking back and forth at the both of them. "D... did I dream TWO Twilights? Huh, this is a new dream... Then again I guess it already was different to begin with..." While Sharky continued mumbling to himself about previous dreams, Twilight decided it was time to leave. "I hope this isn't like the wet-mane Twilight dream... I already feel bad about that..." Twilight froze.

"What is the wet-mane me dream?"

"Oh... you know..." He blushed. "Stuff..."

"What stuff?"

"Oh for the love of-- HE F***S YOU!" Steven yelled.

"STEVEN! That was uncalled for! Back to your corner!" Sharky yelled. Steven grumbled and left.

"Wait, so you'll... do that to me in your dreams, but you barely even touch me when you're awake?!"

"What? NO! God no! I would never try a thing like that on any of the REAL girls... One, it would ruin our friendship if I told any of them I like them. Two, none of them like me like that! Three, even if the other two were proven wrong, I'm abstinent! I'd have to marry them to do that!" Sharky pointed to Dream Twilight, and she had a diamond earring on. "Wait a minute... Why are you asking this? Usually you read or do experiments in my dreams..."

"Uhh... No reason..." Twilight trotted over to her dream self. "D... does he really DO that?" Dream Twilight smiled and nodded. "Well... Uhh... What... What's it like?"

"Why don't you head back and find out yourself?" Dream Twilight's horn glowed and Twilight was thrown into reality.

"Uhhh..."

"Twilight! You're back! Did you find anything out?!"

"Hmm? Oh! Yes! He want's us to like him!!"

"REALLY!?!"

"Yes! He just doesn't think we do!"

"WHAT?! How o Equestria does he not know?!"

"I don't know... but that's not all I heard..."

"What else was there?"

"Well... he REALLY likes me..."

"What do you mean?"

"Fluttershy... he... umm... has... you know... with me in his dreams..."

"He WHAT?! What about me?!"

"I... didn't ask. I doubt it though. He said he felt really bad about the dream with me alone."

"Oh... well... I guess that makes sense... What do we do now?"

"Well... I don't know... I'm happy he likes us... but I'm not sure what to think about his dreams..."

"Isn't it a good thing for you?"

"Well... I... don't know... I'm not sure what to think about him thinking of me like that..."

"... I guess I see your point... Well... we should... definately not tell him we know this..."

"Agreed. Well... I'm gonna go back home... I... need to think..."

"Ok, bye Twilight..." Twilight turned and left the house. Fluttershy watched her leave and smiled.

"... HE LIKES US!" She cheered as Twilight left. She hopped back into the bed with Sharky and snuggled up against him.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday, January 9th

"Goddamn wiggling!" I woke up to find that Fluttershy had curled up against me. One of her wings was standing straight up in my face. I knew one of my wings would be standing too.

"What's wrong?" Fluttershy asked.

"OH! YOU'RE AWAKE! Uhh... It's nothing!"

"It doesn't FEEL like nothing..."

"OH MY GOSH I'M SO SORRY!" I jumped out of the bed and my other wing popped out. Fluttershy laughed.

"Wings too huh?"

"I'M SO SORRY! I'LL LEAVE NOW!" I jumped out the nearest window and took off. It was considerably harder to fly with my wings like this, but I managed. I flew about halfway back to town, but then my wings became too small to fly with. I ran the rest of the way back to the library. I knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Twilight called.

"It's Sharky! Please let me in."

"OH! Oh... Uh... ok!" Twilight opened the door, but her eyes were hidden behind her bangs.

"Twilight? Why are you acting like you're scared of me?"

"Oh! I'm not scared!"

"... riiiight... Well, I'm gonna take a shower and then play with Unity ok?"

" "Yeah... ok..." She still didn't look at me. I walked in and went to take my shower. I stood in the cold water and let my brain just stop. I was tired of dealing with these girls' confusing behavior. At least Fang was always the same. Unity went through less of my nerves than them. I sighed. It was worth it though. I stepped out of the shower and put on a new set of clothes from the giftbox Luna gave me.

"Hey Twilight, where can I wash my clothes?"

"Oh, I usually just use a spell for that..." She still wouldn't look at me.

"Oh, ok. Would you mind helping me then? I just need these old clothes cleaned."

"Sure..." She hit the clothes with a blast of magic, and all the dried sap, Timber Wolf saliva, and assorted flour and icing spots disappeared.

"Thanks... What's wrong? Why won't you look at me?"

"... No reason..."

"Don't lie to me. You're acting like Fluttershy normally does..."

"... Did you have a strange dream last night?"

"Huh? I don't know. I hardly ever remember my dreams. What does that have to do with anything?"

"It doesn't matter I guess... Sharky, what do you think of me?"

"I think you're smart, and really nice. You get mad really easy though. You're also a better friend than almost anybody on my old planet."

"Are you sure you think of me as a friend?"

"One of the best!"

"... Right... Well, you should get to taking care of Unity..."

"You're right. Well thanks for not acting like you're scared of me anymore."

"You... You're welcome."

"Hey... UNITY IS GONE!!!" I looked around frantically. Then I got an idea. I reached down into the bed, and sure enough my hand made contact with a body. "Oh, nevermind, he was invisible..." I picked up the body, and Unity became visible again. I walked back downstairs and made him his usual bottle. He drank the bottle again, and the milk remained solid when I grabbed it. "Uh oh..."

"What's wrong?"

"I've got possibly explosive milk..."

"... What?"

"You know what? Nevermind. I'm going outside." I walked outside, and ran away from the library. When I was far enough away, I threw the milk. It hit the ground, and a HUGE tree grew very quickly where it hit the ground. "Huh, not what I expected... why's the tree gray?" I walked up to the full-grown tree which was rapidly turning gray. I touched it, and it was cold and rough like stone. I grinned. "Blaze I've got your house!"

Ringtone

"TWILIGHT! I GOT BLAZE'S HOUSE!" I yelled as I got back to the library.

"What? What are you talking about!?"

"Do you know a spell to shape stone?" I ran inside and found Twilight reading.

"Well yes, why?"

"Because I have a giant stone tree and I need to make it into a house for a dragon-pony."

"... Do you purposely not make sense, or does it just happen?"

"What? Just happens I guess, look, I need to absorb your magic and shape the stone tree ok?"

"... I have no idea what you're talking about, but sure."

"Ok!" I sat down next to Twilight. She hesitated for a minute, but then she crawled into my lap. "... I'm pretty sure we don't have to sit like this..."

"Just stop talking..."

"..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ok, are you sure it's safe for me to do this?"

"No! You're the one that insisted on doing it!"

"... Fair point. Here I go! Just imagine what I want it to look like?"

"Yes, but you really sh--" I focused my magic on making the stone tree into a copy of Twilight's library. The tree didn't change much at first, but then it slowly started forming to meet the image in my head. The door popped up, and the windows and balcony came into existence as well. I couldn't see the inside, but I assume it was moving to meet my designs as well. "Wow! You're really doing it!"

"Yeah... Yeah I am..." I finished the spell, then fell over.

"Sharky?!"

"Hmm? Mom?"

"... No." Twilight sighed. "That spell took more than I thought it would... Let's get you home."

"But I still have school left..."

"Just go to sleep." Twilight lifted me with her aura and brought me back to the library. I fell asleep with no problems.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Huh? What happened?"

"You over did it with a spell and fell asleep."

"Oh... was it worth it?"

"You... are entertaining." I stood up and stretched. I had been in Twilight's bed. I swooned and sat back down.

"Whew! Well, that was... tiring." Then I had a thought. "Hey Twilight. Do you wanna go to dinner?"

"WHAT?! IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING?!"

"Yeah, I wanna take all my friends out! I had lotsa fun with RD. Now I wanna take you and the other out too!"

"So... dinner as friends."

"Yeah."

"... Sounds great. Why are you asking now?"

"Because I'm too tired to run off and do something crazy. Is that ok?"

"..."

"So, how'd the house turn out?"

"Really good actually! You didn't put hinges on the door though, so I don't know about the inside."

"Darn, knew I forgot something. Why are you in the bed?"

"Uhh... Sleepy. I stayed up really late last night."

"Oh, sorry. I'll just go lay down next to the bookcases then."

"No no, it's ok. You're keeping me warm."

"Oh, I'll stay then." I slipped back under the blanket. Twilight and I were spooning again, but I was WAY too tired for it to bother me. "So, what do you wanna do before dinner? I took RD to a Wonderbolt's show and met Daring Do, so I'm sure I can find a way to do something cool for you too."

"You did what? You know what? Never mind. I... don't know... what do you wanna do?" I gave her a huge grin.

"I know exactly what I want!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Wow! I've never gotten to do that with anypony before!" Twilight said contentedly.

"Yeah, me either. I gotta say, I never pictured doing it with a pony either."

"Ha yeah, I didn't think you were ever gonna do this!"

"Well, I did. That was a lot of fun Twilight!"

"Yeah, yeah it was!"

"How many times did you finish?"

"5. How about you?"

"Ah man, only 4! I guess that makes you the faster reader!"

"Ha, I guess I am!"

"I love reading, don't you?"

"Yeah! I never thought anypony would be willing to just sit with me and read for so long!"

"That was perfect..."

"Yeah! Sorry I had to stop to feed Unity those couple times."

"Oh, it's no bother. I had fun nontheless!"

"So, what should we do now?"

"Hmmm... Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to try some spells on you!"

"Sure!"

"... Just sure? No questions about what's gonna happen? You aren't even gonna ask what spells I'm gonna use?"

"Nope."

"... I should be concerned." Twilight muttered quietly.

"Eh maybe. Now, What spell do we try first?"

"Wow, you're enthusiastic. Huh... well... you'll see. Here we go!" Twilight's horn glowed, and I was hit with a blast of magic. "Now, how do you feel?"

"... Small." I was now at eye level with Twilight's hooves. I tried to lift my arms, but they turned out to be small paws. "... Am I a mouse?"

"Yes! Transmogrification works on you!"

"SWEET! WHERE'S MY CHEESE??"

"... You are so much fun! Spike freaks out when I try this stuff on him!"

"WHAT?! WHY?! THIS IS AWESOME!" I started running around as fast as I could. Then Fang came in. "Oh crap..." Fang started eyeing me hungrily. "Twilight.... CHANGE ME BACK CHANGE ME BACK CHANGE ME BACK NOW!" Fang leapt at me and I scampered away. Twilight hit me with magic again, and I changed back to full size. Fang gave me a really confused look and whimpered a little.

"See? Told you wolves are dangerous."

"Yeah, WHEN I'M A MOUSE! Anyway, what spell are we doing next?"

"You want MORE?!"

"YEAH! That was AWESOME!"

"... Okaaayyy. Well how about this one?" She hit me with another blast of magic, and all of the sudden my chest felt way heavier.

"What... was that one?" My voice sounded lighter and higher pitched.

"Oh! So that's what human females look like!" I looked down, and saw exposed breasts. I immediately covered my chest.

"Umm... akward... Can you change me back?"

"Oh, sure." She hit me with another blast of magic. I felt my chest get lighter and my *ehm* grow back.

"Whew, thanks. Got any more?"

"Just one more, I've actually been looking forward to this one!"

"... Should that scare me or should I be happy?"

"... Yes." She used magic again, but this time the bolt flew in a big 'U' and hit her.

"Whoa! What was that?!"

"Do you feel any different?"

"... Not really. Why would I? You hit yourself!" Then I started actually looking at Twilight. "Wow... you're really pretty today... Wait! What am I saying?" I reached towards Twilight, but my other hand stopped it. "What the hell?! I want to have her! No I don't! Gaaaahhh! What did you do? The question is what will I do.... No it isn't!"

"What... the... Huh, it seems the spell only effected half of you..."

"I want to touch you! No I don't! Ignore me! Come to me! Be mine!" Twilight grinned.

"... Yes..." She whispered silently. She made a mental note to remember this spell. She cancelled out the magic.

"Ah... ha... ha... Sorry Twilight... I don't know what came over me!"

"That was the 'want it need it spell'. Apparently it only effects half your mind."

"Oh yeah! I remember that one!"

"What? How do you know that spell?"

"Oh... uh... I read it in one of the books!"

"Really? Which one?"

"I uhh... Don't remember the name..."

"Are you sure? It was only in one of my books, and it has a really memorable name..."

"Uhh...--" RD burst into the library.

"SHARKY!! SCOOTALOO IS WAKING UP!"

"OH THANK CELESTIA A DISTRACTION! I'M ON MY WAY!" I took off running out of the library. Twilight and I had been reading all day, so it was mostly dark out. I followed RD, but she was flying so she easily outdistanced me. Fang was by my side again. What a good pet. I made it into the hospital, but Fang stayed behind. "THERE IS NO PASSWORD!" I yelled as I passed a few nurses. A few of them grinned at me, other just looked confused. I burst into Scootaloo's room. RD and I were the only ones there. Scootaloo was wiggling around on the bed, but she didn't appear to be awake yet.

"Come here! She's about to wake up!" I moved to RD's side and crouched at the edge of Scootaloo's bed.

"Oh really? I couldn't tell."

"... Smart flank today, aren't you?"

"A little. So, what are we gonna do with her?"

"I... I want to adopt her..."

"RD?! You want to adopt her?!"

"Yes... Wait, is there something wrong with that?!"

"YES! You can't cook much, Scootaloo could never fly all the way to your cloud house, and you're going to join the wonderbolts soon! You'll be too busy to take care of her!"

"... How did you know Scootaloo can't fly well?"

"Uhh... I was... GUESSING! Yeah, her wings are very small! I didn't think they were strong enough for the flight!"

"Well, I guess that makes sense. You're really smart."

"Anyway, what about my other points?"

"Well... I'll learn to cook, I'll carry Scootaloo to the house, and... Scootaloo... is more important than the Wonderbolts will ever be..."

"RD... You'd give up your dreams for her?"

"... Yes, I would..."

"Welcome to being a parent!" I joked. I patted her on the back and she smiled at me.

"Yeah... Besides, I'm sure you'd help me whenever I needed it right?"

"Of course! That's what friends are for!"

"Isn't that what dads are for?"

"Well, yeah I guess. Why, got a stallion waiting for ya?" I winked and nudged her with my elbow.

"... You did not just say that."

"Yeah, I did. Why? Was I right?" She punched me in the chest with her forehoof.

"No. You were not right at all."

"R... Rainbow D-dash?" Scootaloo mumbled wearily. RD pushed me over and I fell onto the floor. I tried to ask why, but she shoved her hoof in my mouth. (Tasted like apples for some reason.) She looked at me and moved her head towards Scootaloo. I nodded in understanding.

"Yeah Scoots, it's me."

"W-where am I?"

"You're in the hospital... You almost died from the cold 3 nights ago..."

"I... I what? I've b-been here for t-three days? H-how did I almost die?!" Her voice was still weak.

"You got really cold really fast. I'm not sure how it works exactly, but it would've killed you if somepony hadn't saved you." I rolled my eyes. You think a weather pony would know about hypothermia.

"S-somepony saved me? I bet it was you... r-right?"

"No, no it wasn't me. I didn't even know you were in trouble... sadly. It was my new friend."

"The one you told me b-beat you in a race? I s-still don't think he's real..."

"Actually I'm very real."

"What?! Who's there?"

"That was my friend."

"W-where is he?"

"Laying on the ground. Now, you can see him, but you have to promise not to scream or freak out ok?"

"Why w-would I do that?"

"He.. looks different from everypony else..."

"W-why does t-that matter?"

"He just... may look a little scary at first."

"Ok Rainbow D-dash. I promise." RD waved to me, and I rose off the ground mummy-style so that Scootaloo could only see my upper body. "Hey y-your that thing Sweetiebelle told me about!"

"Thing? I'm a human. My name is Sharky White."

"Oh, s-sorry. Didn't mean to hurt your feelings..."

"Oh don't worry, I wasn't really offended."

"So... you saved my life? You beat Rainbow in a RACE!? Are you a superhero?"

"BWAHAHAHAHA! No, I'm HA not a superhero! Far from it!"

"Oh don't be so modest Sharky! He fights monsters, AND he got me a position on the WONDERBOLTS! He's awesome."

"Wow! If Rainbow says your awesome it must be true!"

"Yes... well... I'm nothing special really... Anyway, Scootaloo, you can't sleep in that treehouse anymore." Scootaloo's eyes filled with genuine fear.

"N-n-no! I'm n-not going b-back to the orphanage! It was... terrible..."

"No no sweetie, nothing like that!" I cooed gently. "RD here has something she wants to ask you..."

"RD?"

"My name for Rainbow Dash here." I explained. Scootaloo's eyes turned to RD.

"Y-yes?"

"Scootaloo... I learned how much I really cared for you when I almost lost you. I didn't know how much I had... until you were almost gone... I don't want that to happen again... Scootaloo... I really care about you... and I want you to live with me!"

"Y-Y-Y-Y-YOU WANT W-WHAT?!?!?"

*HAAAAAAALLELUJAH!!!*

"What the crap?" I asked. The girls both looked around rapidly.

*HAAAAAAALLELUJAH!!!* I noticed the noise was coming from my pocket.

*HAAAAAAALLELUJAH!!!*

"Huh, I guess I have a call!" I pulled my iPhone out of my pocket, and sure enough Luna was calling me.

"Hi Luna! What's up?"

"Umm? The sky? Why art thou asking simple questions?"

"Nevermind, why did you call?"

"We have thine next mission!"

"Really? What am I hunting this time?"

"... Are there others in the room with thou?"

"Yes."

"Leave, and we will tell you." I nodded to the girls, and left the room.

"Ok, I'm alone. What's the target?"

"An Ursa Minor."

Ursa

"So, girls... I have to leave." I stated simply as I walked back into the hospital room.

"Oh no! You're not leaving me again!"

"What was that thing that made the loud song noise?" Scootaloo asked.

"Look, I have to go RD! Luna gave me an hour before she teleports me to Canterlot! Oh, and this is an iPhone Scootaloo. It lets Luna call me whenever she needs me."

"I don't care who asked you to go! What did she send you after this time?!" RD spat back at me.

"Wow! Princess Luna calls for you!? That's really cool! Why?"

"It's... nothing important... And Luna calls me to hunt monsters Scootaloo." I dodged RD's question, but at least I could answer Scootaloo.

"Sharky! Answer my question!"

"Oh my gosh! You hunt monsters? You must be really strong!"

"No! I won't tell you I'm fighting an Ursa minor! ... Crud. BYE!" I took off out of the hospital. I whistled for Fang as I ran out of the building. We both took off towards the library, but even behind me I could hear RD's scream through the building.

"WHAT?!?!?" I shuddered and ran faster. I nearly broke down the door to the library in my haste.

"TWILIGHT I'VE GOT ANOTHER MISSION I'M TAKING MY AXE BYE!!!" I yelled as I darted forward and grabbed the axe from the corner.

"YOU'VE GOT A WHAT?!" Twilight yelled at me from her bedroom as I ran outside. I took off towards the farm. I got there after a few minutes of running, and I made my way to AJ's house. I knocked on the door, and AJ opened it. She smiled at me, then frowned and hit me in the stomach.

"OOF! Nice to see you too Applejack!"

"Ya lied to me! Shadow wasn't in town! He was still workin' in the orchards!"

"Huh? ... Oh yeah. Well, it's not like you don't work just as hard right?"

"Well Ah... Now that's... Darn. Ya got me there. What did ya need?"

"Actually, I need to see Shadow! I've got another mission, and I need a few health potions."

"Hm... Well, he's in his room, finally gettin' some shuteye. I doubt he's asleep though, still trying to plot ways to get back ta work Ah'm sure." She pointed me towards Shadow's room, and I nodded before taking off towards it. I knocked.

"ALRIGHT! I'll get some sleep geez..."

"Actually it's me. Sharky!"

"Really?!" The door was flung open and Shadow hugged me. "Geez I haven't seen you in forever buddy!"

"Yeah, we should really establish some time to hang out or something... anyway, look. I've got a new mission. I need a few health potions, just in case ok?"

"Ah! I have just what you need!" He trotted over to a little table covered in test tubes and vials of assorted liquids. He picked up a blue one and a silver one. "Here! One health potion!" He hoofed me the blue vial. I put it in my coin bag. "And uhh... to be honest, I've got no idea what this one will do! I made it while I was half asleep. I figure it'd be better for you to test on a monster than a pony." He hoofed me the silver vial. I took the second one more reluctantly.

"Thanks Shadow! You rock! Glad you live here now!"

"Yeah me too! This place is great!"

"Glad you like it! Well, I'd love to stay and talk, but I still have to say goodbye to most of my friends!" I took off out ther door. I started running towards Fluttershy's house.

"Good luck!" Shadow shouted after me.

"An' STAY SAFE!" Applejack added.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"GOD THAT RUN SUCKS!" I gasped as I came up on Fluttershy's house. I knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Fluttershy called from inside.

"IT'S SHARKY!! I'M GOING ON ANOTHER MISSION BYE!!!"

"WHAT?!" She screamed back, but I was already gone. About halfway back to town, I noticed something following me along the forest's edge.

"COME ON OUT BLAZE!" I yelled. The dragon-pony seperated himself from the forest and ran alongside me.

"Hey Sharky! Where ya goin' in such a hurry?"

"I've got another hunting mission. I'm trying to tell all the girls before Luna teleports me away!"

"Wow another hunt? Well, good luck!" He started to drift back into the forest.

"Wait! Go talk to Twilight about your new house ok?"

"You already got it?!"

"Yeah!"

"Wow thanks! Later!"

"Later!" After Blaze left I kept running until I made it to Rarity's boutique. I knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Rarity called from inside.

"It's me, Sharky! Side note, how'd you get your door fixed so quickly? I knocked the crud outta this thing!"

"Oh! I'll be right there dear!" I waited for a few seconds. I heard some doors shutting in the boutique, then Rarity opened the front door for me. "It was really no trouble, I simply placed an order with a repair pony before we departed to Canterlot. Before you offer, no, you may not pay me for the repairs."

"... Darn. Well, that makes sense. Hey, is Sweetiebelle here?"

"Y-you came here just to see Sweetiebelle?"

"Not completely. I need to tell you both something."

"Oh, ok then. Come inside if you will." She stepped to the side and gave an elegant wave of her hoof. I stepped inside and sat in the chair nearest to the door. "Sweetiebelle! Sharky is here and he says he wants to talk to us!"

"Coming!" Sweetiebelle called from upstairs. She trotted down the staircase and sat down in front of me. Rarity joined her after closing the door. "Hi Sharky! What did you wanna talk about?"

"Sweetiebelle, Scootaloo is awake now. You can go talk to your friend."

"SHE IS?! YAY!" Sweetiebelle out of the boutique, leaving the door wide open. Perfect.

"Scootaloo is awake? Oh, what wonderful news!"

"Yeah, yeah it is Rarity. Now I've got some bad news..."

"What is it dear? Are you and Twilight fi--"

"Fighting? No, we aren't fighting. I HAVE A NEW MISSION BYE!!!" I stood up and started running out the door, but something caught my heel. I looked down, and it was a red ribbon. "What the...?"

"OH NO! YOU AREN'T LEAVING ME THAT EASILY!!" Rarity shrieked. Dozens of ribbons started wrapping around me and pulling me into the boutique.

"GAHHH!!! RARITY! STOP!"

"NO! YOU HARDLY EVER SPEND ANY TIME WITH ME, AND NOW YOU'RE TRYING TO LEAVE AGAIN! I'M SICK OF IT!"

"ALRIGHT, I DIDN'T WANNA DO THIS!" I reached around with my axe, and shaved a few hairs off her mane.

"NO! MY MANE!" She yelled. All the ribbons dropped off of me, and I took off.

"SORRY! YELL AT ME LATER!" I started sprinting towards Sugarcube Corner to say goodbye to the last of the girls.

"Hey Sharky! Where ya goin'?" Stormy was hovering lazily above me.

"I've got a hunt! Bye!"

"Oh, ok. Bye!" He drifted away slowly. I was almost to Sugarcube Corner, when Pinkie Pie bounced up out of nowhere.

"Hi Sharky! It's nice to see you again! Sorry the Cakes fired you, the orders are all back to normal and they didn't want you working too hard for no reason. Anyway, will you come to Sugarcube Corner really quick?"

"Umm... Sure? I can't stay long though, I've got another hunt soon!"

"Ok! Follow me!" She bounced off to Sugarcube Corner. She rushed inside and closed the door behind her. I opened the door and stepped into darkness.

"Pinkie...."

"SUPRISE!" A bunch of ponies jumped out of nowhere and the lights flashed on.

"MEEP!" I squeaked. Then I disappeared in a flash of black light.

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"Sharky! Welcome back to Canterlot Palace!" Luna greeted me.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

"GAH! WHY ART THOU SCREAMING?!"

"Oh, hey I'm in Canterlot. Sorry about that Luna."

"... Yes, quite. Anyway, your next mission is in the frontier town of Appleville."

"... Does the Apple family start every frontier town?"

"... Actually yes. Now, art thou prepared to hunt?"

"Actually hold on, I promised somepony I'd call her next time I had a mission." I pulled out my iPhone and hit my Daring Do button. I rang once.

"WAAGH! Sharky?! Where'd you come from?!"

"Called you. Anyway, I'm on my next hunt, wanna come?"

"Ah dangit! I'd love to, but I'm busy teaching right now... I'm in the middle of a lecture actually."

"OH! SORRY! BYE!" I hung up as fast as I could. Luna snickered. "Oh, like you've never called somepony at a bad time!"

"Thou... hath a good point." Luna shuddered. "Now, time to send thee--"

"Actually, as long as Sharky's taking guests, I'd like to come." A deep voice thundered from the other end of the room.

"Hey Steel! Long time no see!" I cheered.

"Hi Sharky. Heard you're going on a new hunt. Mind if I join?"

"Just remember it's at your own risk..." He gave a deep chuckle.

"If I had a bit for every time I was in extreme danger, I'd be one rich pony."

"Alright then. Luna, I guess this guy is coming with me!"

"... Art thou sure?"

"Eeyup!"

"If thou insists... Fare thee well Sharky!" Steel and I disappeared in a black flash.

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"Whew! Teleportation is so fun!" I laughed as we arrived in the town. "So Steel, how do we track down an Ursa Minor?"

"WE'RE FIGHTING AN URSA MINOR?!?!"

"Yes, why? Tough guy suddenly scared?"

"DO YOU HAVE ANY MAGIC?!"

"No."

"WE'RE SO FUCKED!"

"What? Why?"

"DON'T YOU KNOW THE LEGENDS?"

"Noooo..." I saw a pony run screaming across a path in the distance. An Ursa Minor, even bigger than the one in the show, following close behind. "But I do know that pony is in trouble! Come on!" I charged out into the city. Ponies screamed as I ran by, but I didn't care.

"NO SHARKY! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!"

"No, I don't think you do! That pony is going to DIE! MOVE!" I charged towards the Ursa Minor, approaching his massive back right leg. "HEY! OVER HERE!" I hefted my axe, and brought it down in a mighty arc at his leg. It passed right through. "... Oh S***!" The Ursa Minor turned and growled in my face. "... MEEP!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, how do you think he's doing this time?" Twilight asked.Fluttershy, Rarity, and RD had all come to her house. Scootaloo and Sweetiebelle had gone off to play.

"Oh... I'm sure he's fine..." Fluttershy mumbled.

"Yeah! Sharky is too much of a bad-flank to get beat by any monster! Right?..." RD added.

"Quite right dear. I do hope he's safe though... despite the fact that he cut my mane..."

"What I'm wondering is, why doesn't he ever bring Fang with him?" Twilight asked.

"He problably is just too thick-skulled to realize he keeps leaving him!" RD laughed. All the girls joined in for a huge giggle fest.

"Good one Rainbow Dash!" Twilight laughed. "Besides, I'm sure he's just fine. He's out there beating the tar out of some monster I'm sure..."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I may not be able to hit him, but he could sure as hell hit me! He backed handed me with a forepaw, sending straight through a solid wood wall of the nearest house.

"... ow..." I said weakly.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Pinkie Pie? You're kicking the counter again!" Mr. Cake grumbled.

"Sorry Mr. Cake! I don't know what's going on!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, what new developments have we gotten in the contest hmm?" Rarity asked. "I've gotten next to no attention from him. He WAS very appreciative of the cape I made him though."

"He gave me the best day I've ever had in my LIFE! He saved Scootaloo too! He hasn't actually gotten any closer to me I don't think though..."

"I... I haven't gotten any further with him really... but... he slept in the same bed with me..." RD and Twilight laughed.

"Trust me, that doesn't mean much!" Twilight laughed.

"Yeah, I slept with him too!" RD added.

"Wait, you've all slept with him?! No fair!" Rarity complained.

"Wait girls, I wasn't done." Fluttershy mumbled. The girls quieted down. "When we woke up, he... had a... you know..."

"HE WHAT?!?!" All the other girls yelled at the same time.

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So, who here is good at art?

Minor Wounds

"Sharky! Are you ok?" Steel asked with concern. I stood up and shook off the debris from the wall I crashed through.

"I just got bitch-slapped through a house. What do you think?" I turned to the couple of ponies cowering under a table. "Sorry to barge in like this, just trying to kill and Ursa Minor out there." They nodded fearfully. The Ursa Minor roared outside.

"Sharky, you can't hit that thing!"

"Yeah, I noticed. Why not?"

"Legend says that Constellation monsters can only be struck by legendary weapons, or magic."

"So wait, the weapon has to be legendary, but the magic works anyway?"

"Yeah, thats about right."

"That seems... totally unfair. Well, maybe I can't hit him now, but after I absorb him I'll be fine!"

"After you what?" I dashed back outside. Luckily my injuries were minimal. He only really hit me through a very thin wall. My injuries were just a few splinters and severe bruising. The Ursa Minor was holding a pony up over his mouth.

"HEY! BITCH!" I yelled. The Ursa Minor turned to me. "Ha! He responded to bitch!" He dropped the pony and stomped over to me. The pony scampered off. "COME ON! HIT ME!" I challenged. He growled and swung at me again. This time I brought my axe down on his paw as it approached. It passed right through again, and his paw struck me. I braced for the impact, and ended up only sliding back about twenty feet instead of flying through a hose. "STILL OW!" I had a few more scrapes from that hit, but not much more. I reached out with the void to get his magic, but his magic was almost like Luna's. I couldn't take it without extreme pain. Besides, the magic felt... hostile.

"WHY ARE YOU STILL TRYING TO FIGHT IT?!" Steel called. He was flying overhead.

"Because ponies lives are at stake!"

"SO IS YOURS!"

"Worth it! You don't happen to have a legendary weapon or a unicorn on hoof do you?"

"ARE YOU INSANE?!"

"YES! Back to work! Maybe if we can't kill him, we can lead him away from the city!"

"THAT IS FREAKING IN-- Actually not a bad idea.... LETS DO IT!" Steel flew at the Ursa, passing just over it's head. It roared and swung at him. I grimaced as I got back to my feet. I ran at the Ursa as well.

"C'mon fatty! Follow the human!" I yelled at him.

"No! Follow the birdie!"

"C'mon! Down here buddy!" The Ursa growled and slowly trudged after us as we dodged his swings.

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"Yea, he did!" Fluttershy said happily.

"No fair! I can't even get him to stay in the bed!" RD wailed.

"Me either! The one time he woke up AFTER me was when I slept next to him after he fell asleep!" Twilight groaned.

"At least you two got that far! I can barely get him to talk to me unless it's for clothing!"

"Ha! I guess that means I'm winning!"

"Don't be so sure Fluttershy, I found out that he... has... well yeah... with me in his dreams! Remember?"

"Twilight! How do you know?! It's not like you can see his dreams!" RD challenged. Twilight blushed and looked down at her hooves.

"Well I mayyyy have read his mind while he was asleep..."

Twilight!! How rude!" Rarity balked. "Why would you do such an invasive thing!?"

"Well... I wasn't sure if he could ever like us, so I had to check..."

"Well, what did you find out?" RD asked.

"He likes us, but he doesn't think any of us will ever like him back!"

"WHAT?! HOW COULD HE NOT KNOW THAT?!" RD and Rarity yelled.

"I honestly don't know! It means that there's still hope though!"

"Well, assuming he come back that is..." Rarity said darkly.

"Rarity! Don't say stuff like that! Sharky's too bad-flank to get beat by any monster!"

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"OH GOD I'M GETTING THE CRAP BEAT OUT OF ME BY THIS MONSTER!" The Ursa had caught me and was stomping on me. "GOD THIS HURTS!" His stomps were really heavy, but luckily he was mostly stomping on my lower body, so my armor was taking most of the damage.

*STOMP*

"OH GOD PLEASE!"

*STOMP*

"WHY IS THIS STILL HAPPENING?!"

*STOMP*

"GOD THOSE WERE MY RIBS!" The Ursa reared back for one final smash, and I rolled painfully out of the way.

"ARE YOU OK!?"

"WHERE THE F*** WERE YOU WHILE I WAS BEING STOMPED?!"

"I was calling the Princess with your little magic mirror!"

"When did you even get that?! CRAP! PAW!" I jumped out of the way of another Ursa swing.

"It fell out of your pocket while dodging!"

"Fantastic! Look out!" The Ursa swung at Steel. He barrel-rolled to the side. "So, is Luna going to help!?"

"Not herself, but she's sending backup!"

"A unicorn?!"

"No! On your right!" I ducked and the Ursa's paw flew over my head. "She's sending a weapon! A legendary hammer!"

"When?!" A huge hammer flew out of the sky and landed in front of me. It had a rising sun imprinted on the sides of the warhammer.

"Sharky, meet the Hammer of the Dawn!" I lifted the massive hammer, and the sun flashed in the distance.

"Sweeeeet..."

"ON YOUR LEFT!"

"What?"

*SMACK*

"OW!"

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"So, I'll bet 50 bits he has already almost killed himself for some stranger pony." RD offered.

"Ha, no. I'll put 100 bits on him risking his life many consecutive times for a whole town!" Twilight countered.

"Oh I simply must get in on this action!" Rarity cheered.

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"Thank you Shadow!" I breathed as I drank the healing potion. I prepared myself for the rush of energy, but instead I almost fell asleep! "What the.... *yawn* Buck... Shadow... Imma kill you..." I stood up from the tree I had been thrown into. I felt my body regenerating, but each wound healed made me even more tired. I stumbled over to the Ursa.

"Sharky! You're healed!"

"No *yawn* s*** Sherlock." I brought the hammer down on the Ursa's foot. He howled in pain. "Yeah! It..... Wha huh? Worked!"

"ARE YOU FALLING ASLEEP?!"

"A little..." The Ursa turned to me, clearly enraged. He hit me again, this time with claws. Blood flowed freely from my chest, and the shock from the wound woke me right up. "OH GOD!" I freaked out and swung the hammer into the Ursa's leg. I must have hit hit pretty hard, because his leg buckled and he fell forward. Onto me. "CRAP!" My voice came out very muffled. The Ursa thankfully stood back up, and I gasped for air.

"You are getting you flank kicked!" Steel yelled helpfully.

"GEE THANKS! I DON'T SEE YOU DOING ANYTHING!"

"You have the hammer! What am I supposed to do?!"

"I DON'T KNOW! DISTRACT HIM OR SOMETHING!!!"

"Good idea!" Steel started flying around the Ursa's head. It growled in annoyance and tried to swat him. I stood back up and brought the hammer against the Ursa's front right ankle. I ran to the side as he fell to the ground. As he smashed into the ground, I was buffeted by the wind rushing out from under him. I ran to his head, and brought the hammer down on his muzzle. He immediately jumped up and howled in pain. I started to run backward, but he clawed me again. A second gash ripped open on my chest, forming a large X. A second claw caught my leg and flipped me on my side. Then the bear brought his paw smashing down on my chest. "OH GOD The... the pain..." I fought to stay concious through the intense pain. I managed to smack his paw with my hammer, causing him to rear back in pain. "STEEL! CATCH!" I threw the hammer up as far as I could. Steel caught it in his mouth and took off again. I let my head roll to the side. "D-damn..." Blood trickled out of the corner of my mouth.

"Take this!" Steel flew straight at the Ursa, hitting it square in the eye with his hammer. The Ursa reared back even further, and fell backwards. He crashed down just on the edge of the town, very nearly crushing a building. Steel gained altitude, then fell out of the sky like a bolt, smashing the hammer into the Ursa's stomach. He let out a gurgling whine and rolled back up. The the Ursa grabbed Steel as he flew by, and held him over his mouth. I managed to stand somehow.

"N-n-no..." I hobbled forward, and pulled the silver vial out of my pouch, and reared back for a final throw. I adjusted my aim through my quickly fuzzing vision, and threw the vial. My aim was true, and it went straight into the Ursa's mouth. He swalloed the vial in suprise, then grinned and drew Steel closer to his mouth. Then, he bit him. Eeyup, he locked his now tiny jaws around Steel's ankle.

"I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead..." Steel muttered repeatedly. Then he opened one eye, and saw the tiny Ursa major nibbling on his ankle. "... What the...?"

"Ha... Sweet." I muttered. Steel brought up the hammer, preparing to smash it down on the Ursa's head. "What are you doing?"

"Killing the monster."

"Don't."

"WHAT?! WHY?!"

"He's not a threat anymore. We don't need to kill him." I stumbled over to the tiny bear. He released Steel and smiled at me.

"WHAT?! THAT THING TRIED TO DESTROY A CITY! HE ALMOST KILLED YOU! WHAT HAPPENS WHEN HE GETS BIG AGAIN!?" I waved my void over him. The giant ocean of magic I had felt earlier had been greatly reduced.

"He won't get big again. His magic level has changed..."

"WHAT THE BUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?" The Ursa walked over to me and rubbed against my leg like an over sized cat.

"I MEAN, this guy's harmless now. Mission accomplished." I lifted up the now adorable little bear and hugged him. "Look, you can even touch him now, see?"

"WHA... BUT... YOU... BUCK! FINE! CALL LUNA AND TAKE US HOME! Crazy..." I grinned and held my hand out for my phone. He held it out to me with his wing. I called Luna.

"Hello Sharky, hath thou already... DEAR CELESTIA ART THOU ALRIGHT?!"

"Hmm... Oh yeah, the chest gashes... yeah, I'm bleeding... badly. The Ursa is fixed though!" I pointed the phone to the tiny bear. "I think Imma make him a pet. Not for me of course, I've got Fang." I shifted the Ursa to my chest so that he would cover most of my wounds.

"T-th-thou... Never ceases to not make sense Sharky. Very well, I will teleport thee here for treatment..."

"Actually, I'd rather go home... I promised my friends I'd spend more time with them. Fluttershy could fix me up I'm sure."

"I... if thou insists..."

"I do. Beam me up Scotty."

"We... we art Luna..."

"Nevermind, please just send me back to Ponyville..." I disappeared in a flash of black light. I left Steel and the Hammer behind, but I'm sure Luna will transport him too. Huh, I think I left my axe though.

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"So, when do you think Sharky'll be back?" Twilight asked. I flashed into the room.

"Hi girls..."

"SHARKY!?" They squeaked in suprise.

"Back already?! What about the Ursa Minor?!" RD asked.

"Oh, he's right here... I shrank him..." I muttered, indicating the bear on my chest. I located Fluttershy through my hazy vision. "Hey Shy, you can fix bear wounds right?"

"Y-yes?" I lowered the Ursa Minor to reveal my chest wounds.

"Oh good..." Then I fell forward, out cold. The Ursa whined and wiggled out from under me.

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"Sharky? Shaaaarky?" I woke up in a haze. I was laying on a bed. I looked around dazed, and realized I was in Fluttershy's house. Fluttershy was standing next to the bed in a nurse's hat.

"Oh dammit, another one of these dreams..." I muttered to myself. Fluttershy got a confused look, but it slowly turned into a devious grin.

"Yes, it's one of those dreams."

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So... the reason I asked if anypony was good at art is because... People have been telling me I need some cover art... but I can't draw... Would anypony out there help a brony out?

Fate

"Ah crap! I'm a terrible person for this..." I groaned.

"Damn right you are!" Steven yelled from the corner.

"F*** YOU STEVEN!"

"No thank you!"

"Ah dammit! I fell for it!" Fluttershy started clapping her hooves in my face. I turned to her.

"Hey, you don't need to feel bad. This is normal. Don't worry." She tilted my head up with her hoof so that I was looking into her eyes.

"Yeah, dreaming about f***ing ponies that will never love you is totally normal...." I murmered sadly.

"I do love you Sharky..."

"Yeah, in HERE... Out in the real world I'm just a freak..."

"No, no talking like that!" Fluttershy scolded softly. She pulled my chin forward and gave me a quick kiss.

"Celestia dammit I wish this would happen when I was awake..." I said as we seperated.

"Hey! At least you can enjoy anything!" Steven yelled.

"SHUT UP STEVEN!" I yelled. "Fluttershy... As much as this would be a dream... well a dream really, I can't do this..." I pushed her away from me gently. "It's not right... I shouldn't think like this..."

"I... I understand Sharky..."

"WUSS!"

"GODDAMMIT SHUT UP STEVEN!" Pain lanced through my chest as I yelled. I hissed through my teeth and fell back onto the bed.

"Oh Sharky! Are you ok?!"

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I woke up again, on Fluttershy's bed. She was next to me wearing her nurse's hat. She was turned away from me, and her flank was next to my face. Celestia Dammit.

"Ok, when the fuck did this turn into Inception?!" I shouted. Fluttershy jumped in suprise. She turned around to face me.

"Oh Sharky! You're ok!" She cheered happily. She jumped at me and wrapped me in a gentle hug.

"Yeah... Am I still dreaming?"

"No... why? What did you dream about?"

"Oh, nothing important. So, how long have I been out?"

"Umm... about two days..."

"TWO DAYS?!"

Monday, January 12th (missed the date two chapters ago, sorry.)

"Y-yes. You had us all worried sick..."

"Oh... I'm sorry... I didn't even think about that..." I propped myself up on my elbows, but I immediately fell back in pain. "Oh geez! That hurts!"

"Sharky, be careful! You're going to bust the stitches!" Fluttershy gasped. I looked down at my chest, and sure enough, there were stitches running across my chest in a giant X.

"Who did this?"

"I... I stitched you up... I also disinfected the wounds, and gave you some medecine to make the pain more bearable..."

"HA! Bearable!" I laughed to myself. Fluttershy cracked a smile. "So, how did you stitch me up using hooves?"

"Practice."

"Ah, of course. Well, thanks for taking such good care of me... Wait, where's Unity?"

"Twilight has been taking good care of him." Fluttershy cooed soothingly. "Now, you should get some more rest..."

"Pfft, I'm not going back to sleep, I'm getting my ass over to Shadow so he can heal me!"

"No, no, we already tried that. He doesn't have the herbs he needs..."

"Crap..." *sigh* "Well, I guess if I'm gonna be stuck healing somewhere, the company couldn't be better at least!" I smiled at Fluttershy.

"Aww... Y-you're too s-sweet..." Fluttershy had been fine when it had been her talking to a patient, but now that she remembered she was talking to Sharky...

"Nah, doughnuts are too sweet. Hurt my teeth." I mumbled randomly.

"W-what?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing of vast importance... So, what can I do while I'm just sitting here?"

"H-heal..."

"Ok, besides that."

"W-well... Nothing t-too strenuous... I s-suggest you t-try to sit b-b-back and relax..."

"Huh, speaking of relaxing... It's Monday isn't it? I didn't make you miss your spa day with Rarity did I?"

"N-no... She came over and h-helped me care f-for you..."

"She did? That was nice of her..."

"Y-yeah... H-hey S-sharky... d-do you remember the p-promise?"

"The one where I take good care of Fang?"

"... Y-yes... that one..." Fluttershy sighed sadly. There was no way she'd be able to get Sharky to focus on her with how shy she was... Unless... "S-stay right here Sharky... I'll b-be right back..."

"Ok, have fun..." Fluttershy trotted out of the room. She went to her kitchen and opened a cabinet. She moved the various animal foods out of the way, and reached to the very back of the cabinet. She pulled out a large bottle.

"Apple Family Special" The label read. Underneath it said, "Hard Cider" Fluttershy sighed in relief. She had decided to buy some during the last sale. She hadn't know why at the time, but now she was glad she did. She trotted back to Sharky and placed the bottle on a little table next to the bed.

"Hey, you're back. What's this?" I picked up the bottle and read the label. Fluttershy trotted back out and returned with a few large glasses.

"I t-thought w-we could h-have a drink... To... celebrate y-your victory?" She mumbled the last part like it was a question. I thought for a moment.

"Sounds legit. I think I'd rather drink to our friendship though." I poured some of the cider into the two glasses so that they were full to the brim. I lifted one glass and Fluttershy grabbed the other with her wing. So weird.

"O-ok then..."

"To Fluttershy, one of the best friends I've ever had." I raised my glass and we clinked them together.

"T-to friends..." We oth tilted our heads back and drank our cider. I could actually taste the alcohol in this drink, and Fluttershy seemed to be having a hard time drinking it all at one time. I put my hand on her shoulder to get her to stop.

"Whoa, slow down Shy. You don't need to chug it..." She lowered her glass, still half full. She saw my glass, completely empty.

"W-whoa! How d-did you drink it all already?"

"Hmm? Oh, I guess I have a higher alcohol tolerance than you ponies. I'm also skilled in the art of drinking large glasses in one breath."

"There's an a-art for that?"

"No, that would just be me being a dork."

"... Oh. Well... I n-need to finish my glass now..." She tilted her head back and managed to drink the rest.

"Wow, you just did that... Anyway, why the sudden celebration?"

"O-oh, I was just waiting until you woke u-up." Her stuttering had already significantly decreased.

"Hey, speaking of waking up, I should call Luna for my pay..."

"S-she already sent it..." Fluttershy pointed to a bag next to the bed. I leaned over to pick it up, but Fluttershy pushed me back. "No moving!" She ordered. I groaned and fell back on the bed. She picked up the pouch in her mouth, and had a little trouble lifting her head. She managed to get the pouch to me though. I reached inside, and felt paper. I pulled it out.

Dear Sharky,

Knowing that thou would insist Steel recieve half the pay, we have already given Steel his pay. This note is an order to accept the pay as well. Remember the oath!

Sincerely,

Luna

I opened the pouch wider to count the contents.

"FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUU!!!"

"Sharky? What's wrong?"

"WHAT THE HELL DO I DO WITH 7000 BITS?! I NEVER EVEN BUY ANYTHING!!"

"A-are you complaining about getting money?"

"... I guess I am. Still, what the hell do I need 7000 bits for?! Oh, maybe the Apple family could use this to expand their orchards..."

"I d-don't think the Apples will just take it... They have to feel like they earned it..."

"Do you think they'll take it for being awesome ponies?" Fluttershy gave me a 'are you serious' stare. "Guess not... Hey, where'd the Ursa go?"

"Oh, Shadow took it in. T-turns out they get along real well..."

"Really? The former Psycho-Bear now belongs to the second most docile pony I've ever met? Weird." I filled up our glasses again and threw mine back. I wasn't really effected by it, but Fluttershy seemed to be getting really hammered.

"Hey Sharky..."

"Hey! You stopped stuttering!"

"Yea... I did... Sharky, do ya remember your promise?"

"The one where I take care of Fang?"

"Nah, the New Year's promise."

"Oh that one? Geez, it feels like it has been forever since New Year's day... Anyway, yeah I remember it. Don't worry, like I said, you were drunk and it didn't matter." Fluttershy had started swaying slightly. Geez, I guess that drink was stronger than I thought.

"Nah... It matters. I wanna make good on it." With that, She moved forward, and pulled me into a kiss.

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"Hmm? Twilight? Is something wrong?" Spike asked. Twilight had been sitting down with Unity reading, but all of the sudden she had sprung up and looked to be in shock.

"I... I don't know... I sense... A disturbance..." She muttered.

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"FLUTTERSHY!?" I gasped in shock after she pulled away. "FUCK I'M STILL DREAMING AREN'T I?!" Fluttershy giggled drunkenly.

"You've no idea how long I've been waiting for that..." She stumbled to the side, and I reminded myself that she was drunk.

Ok, calm down. It didn't mean anything. She's drunk, she is just curious, she doesn't really like you. CALM DOWN. I thought to myself. My mind was rushing in a hundred different ways, but I knew I couldn't hold Fluttershy accountable for any of her actions while she was drunk.

"Ok, lets... never do that again."

"W-why?" She looked hurt.

"I know you were just curious, but you don't know what that does to me. Just.. please no more ok? Stifle your curiosity."

"B-but Sharky, I wasn't--" I put my finger over her lips.

"No, don't talk about it. I know it didn't mean anything to you. Anyway, I think I could get that rest now. I'm gonna sleep, and this will be a secret ok?"

"S-sharky..."

"Don't worry, I promise not to tell anypony, and I won't bring this up again, you don't need to be embarassed." With that fell back on the bed and closed my eyes. Fluttershy was going to say something, but she was too hurt by his sudden rejection. She teared up and slowly trotted away from him. At the same time, tears formed under my eyelids as I cursed fate for torturing me like this. I thought to myself until I convinced myself that it didn't matter and it was just a drunk slip. I just thought to myself until I was able to accept it as the truth I believed it to be. I honestly had to try hard not to cry. It was hard enough accepting the fact that I would never be able to have a family of wife in this world. Now fate saw fit to torture me with dreams and drunk actions of my friends. What I felt the worst about though, was that I had enjoyed the kiss. I knew it was wrong. I knew I was taking advantage of a drunk Fluttershy, but still I had allowed myself to enjoy it. I didn't even pull away, she did. I laid there and mentally beat myself up until sleep overtook me.

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Tuesday, January 14th

I woke up to the light of the rising sun shining into the room. I sat up and stretched, but flinched in pain as my chest wounds reminded me of their existence. I looked down at them, and they were much better than they had been yesterday. I tried not to think about the events of the previous night. I kicked my legs over the side of the bed and stood up experimentally. I was able to stand, and my chest only gave me minor complaints. I grunted and walked around. Luckily I seemed to be able to walk now. Running might be pushing it though. I gathered up my coinbag and left Fluttershy's house. I was sorry I had to leave, but being there hurt me. I took off in a random direction, not heading towards Ponyville. I would miss my friends, but they would get over me I was sure. I regretted leaving Unity, but the life of a traveler like I intended to be would be no good for him. He'd be much better off here. Mostly I regretted leaving Fang. Without me he was a wolf among ponies. An outcast with no home. Like I was going to be. I had faith in him though. He was strong and brave, he'd figure something out. I couldn't handle the pain of being around those girls all the time. I loved them, but they could never love me back. The best thing to do was leave. I'll go somewhere where I don't know about anything. Then I'll keep going. I'll move so the pain can't keep up. It's what I convinced myself I had to do. I let a few tears fall down my face as I left it all behind.

Traveler

"Sharky? Are you awake yet?" Fluttershy trotted up to the bed. She tugged the covers off to reveal an empty bed. "Oh no! He's left again!" *sigh* "I guess I should just leave him be... He'll come back when he wants to... No, I'm gonna go get him! I need to tell him the truth! Even if I am scared..." With that, Fluttershy set out to Ponyville to see where he had gone. Little did she know that she was going the wrong way.

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I had been walking for at least three hours on the edges of Everfree forest. I was trying to find a river. Forests grow around rivers, and if I were to follow a river long enough I'd reach civilization. Basic knowledge. Unfortunately, I'd yet to find a river heading out of the forest. I sighed and continued walking. I focused my thoughts on my footsteps, feeling the sensation of each step. It was the only way I could keep myself from thinking about what I was leaving behind. I found myself wishing anything would happen. I'd prefer a monster attack to this boredom any day. Then I noticed something peculiar out of the corner of my eye. It was a shadow a few feet away from me. It resembled a bird shadow, but It had upper limbs as well as legs. I looked up, and saw a gryffin.

"Leave me alone!" I called out to the flying figure. The figure faltered in flight for a moment, as if startled that I had noticed them. Then it started on a gentle fall to the ground. It landed next to me, and I jumped in suprise as I recognized Gilda.

"What are you doin' all the way out here numbskull?" She asked gruffly.

"Heh, insult me all you want, I don't care. Mind explaining why you aren't the least bit suprised to see something like me?"

"Because I keep up with the news idiot. You raced the Wonderbolts right?"

"Yeah, wow... I can't belive that made the news."

"Ha yeah! Epic way to lose lame-o!" At this, I back-handed her.

"That one was for Fluttershy." Gilda gave me a shocked look.

"D-did you just HIT me?! That's it, lets go!" She took some sort of battle stance and hissed at me.

"Bitch bring it. I hunt monsters for a living."

"Yeah right! Tough talk, let's see how you fight!" She jumped at me and I bitch-slapped her out of the air.

"Bitch please, I took on an Ursa Minor. You can't touch me. Even while I'm this injured." She was laying in a heap on the ground where she had landed. "Huh, didn't think I hit her that hard..." I crouched down next to her. One of her eyes flew open, and she scratched my face above my eye with her talons. I didn't bat an eyelash. "Do your worst. It doesn't matter."

"Y-you aren't even gonna wipe away the blood?" The blood from the cut on my head was starting to drip into my eye. I didn't care.

"No. Not worth my time. Speaking of which, neither are you." I stood up and turned away from her. She stood up and followed behind me.

"Hey! You can't just walk away from me!"

"I believe I am. Now leave me alone."

"Oh yeah? What if I stay huh?"

"I'll ignore you."

"... You know, you're a lot meaner than I thought."

"Look who's talking."

"You're kinda cool."

"Great, the almighty Gilda thinks I'm cool, now my life is complete."

"... How do you know my name?"

"RD told me." I lied.

"Who?"

"Rainbow Dash idiot."

"You know Dash?! ... Umm... How... is she doin' huh? I mean... not that I care or anything..."

"... You care about Dash?"

"What?! No! That's a stupid thing to say!"

"You know it's ok to care right?"

"Pfft! Whatever dude! I guess you aren't as cool as I thought!"

"That's ok, I don't care what you think is cool."

"... Fine, I guess I might care a little... but don't tell anypony about it. It could ruin my rep ya know?"

"Whatever."

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"Hi Twilight." Fluttershy said as she trotted into Twilight's library.

"Well, come right in Fluttershy." Twilight offered sarcastically. "Aren't you supposed to be taking care of Sharky?"

"Oh... Sorry Twilight... I was taking care of Sharky, but when I woke up this morning he was gone! Have you seen him?"

"No, but it doesn't really suprise me. Knowing him, he'll show up soon with more injuries or a new friend... Maybe both."

"Well... could you check for him with a spell? It'd make me feel better..."

"Yeah, good idea Fluttershy." Twilight focused on a scry spell to locate Sharky. It took a suprisingly long time to locate him, which meant that he was near the edge of the spell range. An image of Sharky shimmered into view in the room.

"Huh, I didn't think I hit her that hard..." The girls watched as Gilda reached up and slashed him over his eye. They both gasped. "Do your worst, it doesn't matter."

"Y-you aren't even gonna wipe away the blood?"

"No, not worth my time. Speaking of which, neither are you." The girls watched Sharky stand back up and walk away from Gilda. The image distorted and faded out of view as Sharky exceeded the range of the spell.

"T-twilight! Why can't we see Sharky anymore?"

"W-well I've got longer range scrying spells, but they take time to prepare... What happened to Sharky? Why is he so far away? Better yet, why is he with GILDA?!"

"I... I d-don't know..."

"Fluttershy, what happened before he left?"

"I don't know... He must have left after I fell asleep last night..."

"Well, what happened the night before?"

"..."

"Fluttershy..."

"Nothing..."

"Tell me. Sharky could be in trouble! All the information we can get can help us!"

"I... I m-might have... k-kissed him..."

"... WHAT?!"

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"So, what do you do for fun?" Gilda asked. I have no idea why she was still following me.

"Whatever the f*** I feel like doing." I'll be honest, Steven's attitude was kinda taking over here.

"Wow, you sound like my kinda... whatever you are."

"Don't associate me with you. I'm a human by the way."

"Don't care. So, you never told me where you were goin'."

"Wherever the wind takes me I guess. Just away from Ponyville."

"Dude, that's so rocker. Wanna come back to the gryffin empire with me?"

"Not interested."

"Oh come on. You're trying to get away from Ponyville, and everypony at my town bores the heck outta me. You could at least give it a shot. Will you come?" I paused for a moment. Did Gilda just ask me something... relatively nicely?

"... Do you have to fly to it?"

"Well, It's partially on the ground and the sky. Mostly the sky though."

"Well, It'll be a little while before I can fly. Maybe I'll care enough to go when I grow wings."

"Wow, you kill me with your sarcasm."

"Not sarcasm. Gimme about an hour, maybe two of you following me, and I'll have wings."

"Dude, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

"Just wait."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, at least you didn't win the competition..." Twilight muttered.

"What?! Yes I did! He kissed me!"

"No, you just said YOU kissed HIM. That's against the rules."

"B-b-but... no fair... Wait a minute, that doesn't matter! We need to get Sharky!"

"Oh, yes you're right! Well, there's no way for us to tell which direction he went... Let me write a letter to the Princess, I'm sure she could help!"

"Good idea Twilight! Princess Celestia could help for sure!" Twilight magically grabbed a quill and inkwell, and got to quickly writing her letter to the Princess.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"See? Told you so." Gilda was staring open-mouthed at my new eagle wings.

"H-how?"

"Magic." *Snort* *snort* (That was just for you. You know who you are.)

"Dude, you sound like a nerd."

"Well, isn't someone a walking streotype."

"What?"

"Nothing, now, which way to this 'Gryffin kingdom'?"

"Just follow the wind." Gilda leapt into the air and let a gust catch her wings.

"Ohhh I see what you did there." I jumped up and caught the same draft. We flew next to each other for awhile, coasting on the breezes. After flying for about three hours, a HUGE cloud came into view. We had reached an ocean, and over it was a gigantic cloud continent. Yeah, CONTINENT. The cloud stretched over the ocean as far as the eye could see. "Hmm, so that's the Gryffin empire?"

"Just figuring that out?" Gilda asked sarcastically. I rolled my eyes.

"You know, you'd be a lot more fun to be around if you were less of a bitch all the time."

"Eh, bite me."

"Why, you into that kind thing?" Gilda blushed and tried to smack me, but I rolled out of her reach. "Whoa, take it easy, it was a joke. Didn't expect it to be right."

"Shut up."

"Make me. Oh wait, you can't."

"... Just fly to the cloud."

"If you say so milady."

"DON'T call me that."

"Whatever milady."

"Are you trying to get on my nerves?!"

"Yes."

"F*** you."

"No thanks, we just met milady."

"DANG IT!" We landed on the continent cloud, and I got a few gasps from nearby gryffins.

"Ah, nothing makes my day more than... terrifying... a few........ strangers...." Right in the middle of my sentence, I noticed that the gryffins that had gasped were running towards me. "Huh, odd." Right before any of them could reach me though, a buch of heavily muscled gryffins in shiny silver armor came out of nowhere and surrounded me. They all had pikes pointed at me, 12 in total. "So, this is a welcome from your kind?" I asked Gilda as I swung around and kicked the talon of the nearest guard, causing him to drop his pike right into my hands. I swung it around like a Bo Staff around my front, knocking away the pikes of the guards in front of me. Then I hit the ground as the five remaining pikes behind me stabbed forward. I rolled over, pike outstretched, pulling the pikes into the cloud and lodging them there. All the guards stared at me, stunned. I looked to Gilda. "Not the best fighters huh?"

"T-they were m-my royal guards!" I frowned.

"Excuse me, did you just say royal guard?"

"Oh yea, I forgot to mention, I'm a princess..."

"... WHAT?!" I would've gotten my answer, but the gryffins that had gasped earlier had forced their way to me.

"Hey, did you really race the Wonderbolts?"

"I heard you took out a whooole forest's worth of Timber Wolves in an hour!"

"That's nothing, this guy was partying with Daring Do, right?"

"You fought the Ursa Minor right!? I'm a big fan of yours!"

"Wh-what?! How do you guys KNOW all this stuff?" I asked in suprise.

"Don'cha know? It's all over the news!"

"What news!?" One of the gryffins handed me a news paper. I read the headline. "New creature takes Equestria by storm... What the buck is that supposed to mean?!"

"It means that everypony who's anypony has heard about you!"

"Where the buck are they getting this information?! I go to nearly empty frontier towns to fight usually!"

"Luna's mission reports! Didn't you know about those?"

"..." I whipped out my iPhone and called Luna. "Luna! You tell everypony about my missions?!" Luna flinched back at my sudden outburst.

"W-we submit a report of all completed and failed missions to the press, yes."

"Why?"

"So our subjects may be aware of possible monster threats and know when areas are safe."

"Oh... Well, that makes sense. Oh, hello by the way."

"... Hello to thou as well Sharky." I heard a door burst open from Luna's side.

"Luna! Have you sent Sharky on a mission?! My student says he's gone missing!" I heard Clestia yell.

"Nonsense, we are speaking with him currently." I hung up the phone without another word.

"Ok, so where to Gilda?" I pushed my way through the growing crowd of gryffins and still-shocked guards.

"Well, first we should show you to my dad and make sure he's good with you being here."

"Who's your dad again?"

"The gryffin king."

"... Meep."

Princess

"So... Princess Gilda huh?" I asked as we walked towards the cloud casle. It was near the center of the giant cloud, so we had flown 4 hours to get here. The sun was nearing the horizon, but it wasn't quite sunset yet. Luna had tried to call back a few times, but I had turned the ringer off. I had a feeling she was calling to send me back to Ponyville, so I didn't want to answer.

"Yeah, don't remind me."

"Isn't it a good thing to be royalty?"

"Heh you would think so, wouldn't you?" She trailed off and looked into the distance.

"... You wanna explain why it isn't?"

"No."

"Good, I'm all ears."

"..."

"..."

*sigh* "Nopony ever wants to be friends with me... well, they do, but it's because I'm a princess, not because they like me..."

"Well, for what it matters, you seem to be pretty ok to me." She gave a short laugh.

"Thanks, I guess..."

"Though, to be fair, it's not like you're giving them much to like."

"Whaddya mean?"

"I mean you act like a bitch."

"Well... I used to try to be nice..."

"... Annnnnd?"

"Oh, I got bored of it."

"Liar."

"Hey! Why does it matter to you anyway?"

"Because I'm bored and have nothing better to do than talk to you."

"... You suck."

"Nah, I lick."

"Oh Celestia you did not just say that!"

"Hey, you walked into that one. So, ya gonna tell me why ya stopped being nice?"

"Well... everypony took advantage of me to get something. Money, popularity, the works. It got old after awhile, so I started being mean."

"Wow, you're suprisingly easy to get a confession from."

"... I feel better telling somepony this stuff. You just seem cool enough to understand I guess..."

"So, when exactly did you meet Dash? Before or after you started being a bitch?"

"You know, you should be more careful around me. Insults, fighting me, I could get you in serious trouble."

"After the fight those guards put up? No trouble at all, I'd just beat whatever you threw at me. Besides, you're only the second princess I've ever fought."

"... What?"

"Yeah, fought Luna too."

"... Wow, what a rebel."

"Anyway, Dash. When'd ya meet her?"

"It was after I started being mean. She had an attitude of her own. She didn't care that I was a princess."

"Well I guess that make two of us."

"You don't care?"

"Nah, I deal with royalty on a constant enough basis to get over it."

"... So, you never told me how Dash was..."

"Hmm... lets see... Well, she got accepted into the Wonderbolts, adopted a daughter, and is now friends with Daring Do."

"... WHAT?! Her life sounds AWESOME! Wait, why did she adopt a kid? She's only like..." Gilda paused to count on her talons and think back. "22 right? Why'd she get a kid so soon?"

"Wow, she's 22? That makes her older than me... Anyway, the kid really looks up to Dash, and she recently almost froze to death. We found out she was an orphan, and RD decided to adopt her."

"Yeah, sounds like Dash alright... You're younger than Dash? Huh, you're so huge I never woulda guessed."

"That's what she said." Gilda face-... taloned?

"Dang it, walked into it again. Well, how old are ya?"

"21. You?"

"Same. Well how'd she get into the Wonderbolts?"

"You remember the race I had with the Wonderbolts?"

"Oh, you mean the epic loss?!" Gilda started laughing.

"Yeah, that one. Dash was there too, and I threw the race so that she would win and get asked to join."

"... You lost ON PURPOSE?"

"Yeah."

"... Wow... I guess I was wrong about how cool you were. You are officially awesome."

"Don't care."

"What DO you care about?"

"Nothing really. Not anymore.... I left everything I had to care about in Ponyville."

"Dude, what a bummer..."

"So, I've been meaning to ask, why are your... bangs... feathers... These things..." I ruffled her slightly purple feathers. "Purple?" She slapped my hand away.

"Hey, hands off the merchandise!"

"Oh, so you're for sale? How much?"

"Ugh! You know what I mean! Don't touch the Princess!"

"Ha, whatever."

"... I dye them with berries."

"Why?"

"So that I can look different. Look around." I did as instructed. I saw a bunch of gryffins. "See? They all look almost the same. The girls are a bit smaller, sure. We aren't like ponies though, it's hard to tell us apart. The purple... I dunno, makes me feel independent I guess." I nodded.

"I guess I can understand that. I've got the opposite problem. I wanna stand out LESS."

"Why? It must be nice to be unique."

"Yeah, when you aren't so unique that no one will like you..."

"I thought you had lotsa friends."

"Not what I meant. Anyway, let's get inside shall we?" We had reached the cloud castle, and I pushed open two giantic cloud doors. Inside was a giant cloud hallway that seperated into several other halls. Right down the middle was a huge red carpet that led all the way down the hall. At the VERY end of the hall, there were two thrones rising out of the ground. There were gryffins there, but they were to distant to make out. "So... should I be worried about your dad?"

"Do you like your limbs?"

"Most of them."

"Then yes, you should be worried." I scoffed and started down the hall.

"Ah, visitors! We haven't had visitors in ages, have we honey?" One of the gryffins boomed. The voice was male and very loud. It had a regal air about it which demanded respect. Which of course made me less inclined to give it.

"Look dear, one of them is out daughter! What is that with her though?" As I walked closer to the thrones, I could begin to make out the King and Queen. The Queen's voice was soft and high. It carried the same amount of authority as her husband, but it came across as more asking for respect than demanding it like the king. I decided I liked her. Gryffins were naturally bigger than ponies, but the King was roughly a half foot shorter than an Alicorn! He was well muscled, not as much as Steel, but close. He had a gold circlet on his head. Not very ornate, but royal-looking anyway. The Queen was just a tiny bit shorter than him, but her crown was much more elaborate and had jewels laid into the sides. I reached the thrones and nealt down on one knee. Gilda continued walking forward to her parents.

"Gilda dear! You must spend more time at home! You're gone far too often!" The king said jovially. "Now, who is this intruder you have allowed into our realm?" He didn't let a hint of anger seep into his voice. A little impressive actually, but I wasn't going to buy a nice act.

"You can save the false display of emotion your highness, you aren't fooling me." I stood up from my kneel. The king frowned at me.

"Why, whatever do you mean?" He asked innocently.

"Knock it off, I can see you're no diplomat. Obviously you don't hold this position with words." The king's frown deepened.

"Oh, is that so? What makes you say this?"

"Simple, your circlet. Obviously not the choice of a king that never does anything for himself. Were you a diplomat, your crown would be very decorative and fancy, like your wife here. I'd imagine she's very good with words." The queen smiled and nodded. The king's frown turned into a scowl.

"Alright fine, you got me. I'm not a diplomat. Now tell me why I shouldn't kick you clear off my cloud!" He said irritably.

"Because I do what I want. You could try to get rid of me, but you'd fail. By the way, your daughter needs better guards."

"He beat 'em all in about 20 seconds." Gilda continued. The king's face softened.

"Ah, a warrior eh? My kind. So, how did you meet my daughter?"

"She attacked me and I bitch-slapped her out of the air." Gilda flinched and the king's scowl returned.

"You struck my daughter?"

"Yeah. Then she got a really good swipe in right above my eye, see?" I pointed to the blood. "She faked me out like a champ. You should be proud." The king smiled.

"Is this true dear?"

"Uh... yeah... I got him pretty good I guess... He didn't even blink though..." The king turned back to me.

"Well, I must say, you got some balls to come in here and admit to striking my daughter to my face. Tell me, how'd you get those scars on your chest?" He indicated my still healing X.

"Fighting an Ursa Minor. Apparently you need weapons of legend to hit them. Nopony told me before I went after it though."

"You fought a constellation monster? Wow, I admire your bravery!"

"Eh, it's no big deal. Anyway, I'm just here to make sure you won't actively try to 'kick me off your cloud' while I'm here. I'm just traveling as of now, and I didn't want to have to beat too many gryffins while I'm here."

"Well, I see no harm in allowing you to stay with us."

"Excuse me? I didn't mean here, I--"

"Nonsense. It's refreshing to see a fighting spirit like you. I insist you stay with us for the duration of your time here."

"... If you insist I suppose. One thing though, I need to stay near Gilda, or I'll lose my wings and fall right through these clouds." The king frowned again.

"What nonsense is this?"

"You see, I can absorb the magic of anything I'm around. I lose it if I'm seperated from whoever I absorbed it from for too long. If I leave Gilda for too long, I'll lose her magic and fall through the clouds."

"This had better not be some attempt to get with my daughter..."

"Never your highness."

"Fair enough, I will believe you for now..." He turned to Gilda. "You will accompany..." He turned to me. "What is your name?"

"... Steven."

"You will accompany Steven here for as long as he is visiting."

"What if I don't want to?" Gilda retorted. The king turned red and inhaled, but I cut him off.

"Then I will leave before I fall to my death." Gilda flinched and turned to me.

"I... I don't have a problem with it..." The king returned to normal and nodded.

"Good, you are dismissed." He waved his talon at us in a shooing motion. Glida rolled her eyes and motioned for me to follow her. We walked back down the hall and turned into another dividing hallway.

"So, is he bi-polar or something? That was a lot of different moods in one talk." I asked. Gilda gave me a confused look.

"What's bi-polar?"

"Nevermind. Nice dad you got there." I was heavy on the sarcasm. Gilda laughed.

"Oh, you enjoy him as much as I do huh?"

"Oh infinitely. Whatever happened to me liking my limbs by the way?"

"I guess he was in a good mood. Nopony has ever talked to him like that before, you're pretty brave."

"Or just crazy."

"... Yeah, good point."

"So, why so nice? You didn't act like this when I met you."

"Don't get used to it."

"Will do."

"... So, what do ya wanna do?"

"I dunno, what do you usually do for fun around here?"

"Well, I usually practice playing music at my house."

"Wait, you have your own house? Why? I thought you lived in the castle..."

"Would you wanna live with 'his highness'?"

"Good point. Well, can I hear you play?" Gilda blushed.

"I-I don't usually play in front of anypony..."

"Huh, what happened to the confident punk that hit me in the forest? C'mon, you're gonna play me a song!" I grabbed her talon and pulled her back down the hall and out of the building.

"... Geez, you don't take no for an answer huh?"

"Yes, I don't. Now, which way to your house?" Gilda pointed off towards the nearest edge of the cloud continent. We both took off and headed towards her house. We flew for about 30 minutes before we reached where she said her house was. It was perched right on the edge of a huge hole in the cloud continent. We could see straight through to the ocean below. "Wow, that's pretty."

"Pfft gonna get all sappy?"

"Maybe. Let's go inside." We walked into Gilda's house, and it looked... Punkish. The walls were white like every other cloud house, but the inside was plastered with all sorts of posters of various rock bands and such. There was a random collection of rock instruments laying around on the ground. "So, which one do you play?" There were drums, guitars, a microphone, but Gilda passed all of them.

"I... Don't practice with these, these are for my band and we only practice together."

"Then what do YOU play?" Gilda was blushing heavily.

"Just... don't laugh ok?" I nodded in agreement, and she reached behind one of the posters on the wall. She pulled out a small metal case, and turned away from me to open it. I heard some metal clink together, and when she turned back around, she was holding a flute.

Bar

"Hey! Rainbow Dash!" Twilight called up to the cloud house.

"What? I'm trying to nap while Scootaloo is at school!"

"Have you seen Sharky since this morning? He was gone when Fluttershy woke up!"

"He was? Eh don't worry, I'm sure he's gonna be back soon!"

"Well, I searched for him with a spell, and he was almost out of my range! AND he was with Gilda!" Rainbow Dash was on the ground in two seconds.

"Did you just say he was with GILDA?!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I fell over in shock.

"Are you ok?!" Gilda asked. I sat up.

"You play the flute?" I asked in suprise. Gilda's blush deepened.

"Yeah, lame I know."

"No, that's cool! Ha, if you wanna know lame, I play the clarinet."

"Really?! No way!"

"Yeah, you don't need to be ashamed of playing the flute!"

"... You mean that?"

"Of course! It's not a bad thing! It's just really nerdy!" Gilda flinched back. I frowned. "What the buck did I just say? I meant to say it was really cool!" Gilda gave me a confused look.

"R-right... Ok... well... do you want to hear it?"

"No bitch, nopony likes you. Of course I want to hear it!" Gilda stepped back.

"W-what?"

"I SAID, I wanna hear the flute!"

"A-are you ok?"

"Hmm? I'm fine. BUT YOU WON'T BE."

"W-WHAT?!"

"I said I'm fine. Are you feeling ok Gilda? You're acting a bit strange..."

"Y-yeah... I'm fine... here goes..." She put the flute up to her beak, and music began to gently flow out.

Listen to the flute in this video.

"Wow..." I closed my eyes and let the music fill my senses. It was... beautiful. Gilda was tense for the first few seconds, but she eventually loosened up and played more passionately. She had her eyes open to play, and she saw Steven smiling and swaying to the music. She didn't know what had been wrong with him a few moments ago, but she was happy he seemed better now. She finished her song and put her flute down. Steven frowned. "Is it over?"

"Yeah... did you really like it Steven?"

"Please, call me Sharky. All my friends do!" I smiled.

"F-friend?" I looked up to Gilda.

"Well of course!"

"R-really?! I... haven't had a real friend since... since Dash got rid of me..."

"Well, you've got one now! Thanks Gilda, for showing me that. That was... that was something special..." I felt my eyes mist over as I remebered the music.

"Thanks... I'm glad I met you..."

"I'm glad I met you too Gilda... Would you mind playing that music again? It was amazing..." Gilda got a huge grin.

"Sure, only for you Sharky!" She brought the flute back to her beak and continued to play. I closed my eyes and let the music flow through me.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This is bad, this is very, very bad!" RD fretted.

"Why, what's so bad about him being with Gilda?" Twilight asked.

"Gilda doesn't like us remember?! If she finds out that Sharky hangs out with us, she'll try and do something to HIM to get to US!"

"I'm sure Sharky can handle one gryffin..."

"That's what I'm worried about! If he fights her, she can send the whole gryffin kingdom down on him!"

"Gilda has that kind of influence?!"

"Yeah, Princess Gilda does."

"Gilda is a Princess?!"

"Yeah, and Sharky is walking around out there somewhere with her, and the last two princesses he met he blew up and wrestled."

"... Oh dear..."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sharky? Are you CRYING?!" Gilda shouted in suprise as she finished her music again.

"Yeah... I was just thinking..."

"Thinking about what?"

"Oh... it's lame, don't worry about it." Gilda put down her flute and sat next to me.

"Look, I'm new to this whole sharing feelings thing, but... tell me. If we're friends I should try to help right?" I laughed a little.

"Wow... You're much nicer than I first thought."

"I.. uh... blame it on the music. Puts me in a weird mood..."

"Yeah, sure... I was thinking about my son." Gilda jumped a little.

"You have a son?! Well... who's his... mom?"

"He technically doesn't have one. I adopted him..."

"Well, where is he?"

"I left him in Ponyville..."

"You just left him there alone?"

"No, he's got two great mares looking after him..."

"Then why so sad? You'll see him again soon right?"

"No. I'm not going back."

"Oh yeah... Why not?" I sighed.

"For reasons I'd rather not explain... Hey, it's really late, mind if I catch some Zs?"

"Ha, going to bed already? The night is the best part of the day!"

"Well, maybe to you, but I prefer to sleep during the night."

"Well, I'm going out to have some fun! I suggest if you don't feel like falling to the ocean you come with me."

"Ah, the old Gilda's back. How I missed her."

"Ouch, your sarcasm cuts me man. C'mon, lighten up! Let's go!" She stood up and started tugging on my wrist.

"Fine fine. Don't expect me to be excited about whatever we do though."

"Oh, you will."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, what do we do?!" Twlight asked in a panic.

"I dunno, don't you have some magic or something to bring him back?!"

"Not that I know of! I already wrote to Celestia, maybe she can do something!"

"Have you gotten a letter back?"

"Not that I know of! I haven't checked since I started looking for you though..."

"Well, come on!" RD took off twowards the library.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Twilight ran behind her, nowhere near as fast as RD.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh, hello Fluttershy dear, what brings you here so late?" Rarity asked as she opened the door for her friend.

"Hi Rarity, did you see Sharky this morning?"

"Humph. I wish. He never visits me any more..." Rarity kicked a roll of fabric glumly.

"Well... I don't mean to startle you, but Sharky's gone."

"Off on another hunt or adventure of some sort? I figured as much..."

"No, Twilight found him far outside of town with Gilda! He was so far away, Twilight's spell almost couldn't reach him!"

"What?! Why was he so far away? With THAT fashion train-wreck?"

"I don't know... I was hoping he talked to you before he left..."

"I'm sorry dear, but I haven't heard from him...."

"Ohhhh.... What are we going to do?!"

"Calm down dear. I'm sure he'll be back soon. I know he wouldn't leave his son for no good reason!" Fluttershy thought for a moment.

"Yeah... you're right... He wouldn't just leave Unity here unless he was coming back right? He sure wouldn't leave Fang either..."

"Yes... Though I do wish he would come back for one of us as well..."

"... Me too... Rarity?"

"Yes dear?"

"I have a confession..."

"What is it?"

"Well... I already to Twilight... so I should tell you too... I kissed Sharky..."

"YOU DID?! YOU kissed HIM!? How darling? You're ever so shy!"

"I had some hard cider..."

"Ah, I see. Had a little drink to build up your spirits? Well... What was it like?"

"It was... yay!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"A bar huh? I can't tell you how much fun this sounds." I said sarcastically.

"Oh, we aren't here to drink! C'mon follow me!" Gilda grabbed my wrist again and pulled me into the bar.

"Well if we aren't here to drink then what?" She rushed me over to a small booth in the corner of the building. She motioned for me to get low. I ducked so our table covered up all but my face. Gilda pointed at a large gryffin at the front of the bar.

"You see that guy?"

"You mean the biggest gryffin in the building at the very front of the bar in plain sight? No, I can't." Gilda rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, that one. He's the captain of the guard. He likes to come here after a bad day and start fights."

"Ok, why do I care?"

"Because it'll be fun to have a bar fight!"

"... You are a strange girl. What makes you think he had a bad day?"

"Because you single-handedly crushed my guards. Guess who his highness took it out on?"

"You mean that guy got in trouble because of me? Heh, heh. Delightful. That's terrible!" Gilda gave me a confused look.

"Why do you keep doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"That thing where you change your voice and say somethin' weird."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Gilda gave me a wary stare, but she shrugged and went back to watching the captain. "Bitch..." Gilda turned back to me.

"What?"

"Huh? I didn't say anything."

"... Okayyyyy..." She turned back to the captain again. I gotta say, his drinking was kind of impressive. He was throwing back mugs of whatever as fast as I could drink the hard cider. I guess gryffins have higher alcohol tolerance than ponies, because it took a few mugs before you could tell he was wasted. I guess gryffins don't have that sixth sense that tells you when somepony is staring at you, because he didn't seem to notice us at all. That is until he started scanning the bar for potential opponents, and he spotted me.

"Heey you! Yur the bastard that beat mah buds! Why ya starin' at meh?" He slurred.

"Ok Gilda, when you said he'd start a fight, you didn't say it would be with me."

"Well how was I supposed to know? Besides, he shouldn't be a problem for you right?"

"I'll beat him within an inch of his life. I don't like fighting for no reason!"

"Ok, you're starting to creep me out with that..."

"Hey, I'm talkin' ta you freak! What're you lookin' at?!" The captain interrupted.

"That ugly mug you call a face! Nothing!"

"Ya wanna go punk!?"

"No! I don't want any trouble! Go ahead bitch, make my day!"

"That's it!" The captain stood up from his bar stool and stumbled toward me. I got up and walked towards him, fists raised.

"Yes, I can't tell you how long I've been waiting to crush somepony! Please, we don't have to do this!"

"Just shaddup and fight!" The captain jumped at me. I reached up to force palm him with my right hand, but my left moved on it's own and hit him with a hard cross.

"What the?" The captain hit the ground, but he stood back up and shook himself. He rage-yelled and charged at me. I tried to jump to the side, but I spun in midair and caught him across the face with my left boot. The captain slid a few feet and slammed into the edge of a table leg. He didn't get up.

"Hey! That bitch beat th' captain! Let's get 'im boys!" Another random gryffin called.

"No! I don't want to hurt anypony! Bring it assholes!" About 16 large gryffins stood up from their tables and circled me. "Excellent..."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Spiiiiike!" Twilight called as she ran into the library. She saw RD and Spike in the middle of the room, reading a new letter. "Hey, let me see that!" She moved inbetween RD and Spike to read.

Dear Twilight,

Unfortunately, Luna has informed me that she has not sent Sharky on a mission. We have tried to contact him, but he is refusing to answer Luna's calls. I can only assume that this means he left on puropse, with no intention of returning soon. You have my deepest apologies.

With regret,

Princess Celestia

"D-do you think it's true Twilight? Do you think he left us on purpose?" RD choked out, tears in her voice.

"N-no... H-he wouldn't have... He... he's in trouble! He ran into trouble with Gilda! That must be why he didn't answer Luna!" RD's sorrowful expression was replaced with fear.

"You're right! He's in danger! What do we do?!"

"Well, we can't help him ourselves... We still don't know where he went... Maybe if we tell Celestia about him being in trouble she can save him!"

"... Are you sure that's all we can do? Send letters?"

"Unless you can tell me where Sharky is and get us there fast enough to help him, yes I'm sure!"

"... Darn... Well, hurry! Celestia knows how much trouble he's in if he can't answer Luna!"

"I'm on it!" Twilight magically grabbed a quill and parchment and started scribbling down her letter as fast as she could.

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"Please guys! We can work this out! Prepare to suffer horribly!" The gryffins all jumped at me. I didn't have time or room to react, so I was buried in a pile of gryffin. If it wasn't enough that they were punching and clawing me with abandon, my void lost contact with Gilda's magic and was quickly trying to absorb the energy of one of the gryffin attackers. I punched one of them in the beak, and he fell back holding it and whimpering. I could feel my wings shrink as I struggled against them. I smashed my elbow into another's crotch, and he fell away too. I grabbed another and used him as a club to beat two more off me. One of them got me with a good cross, and made me drop the one I was holding. I threw a wild haymaker and sent another one flying clear into a cloud wall. That still left 11 gryffins, and I could feel the cloud beneath me losing it's ability to support me. Then Gilda came out of nowhere and ripped another two off me. She started fighting them herself, and left me less to deal with. I tensed all my muscles and sprang up as quickly as I could. The remaining gryffins fell away, but didn't leave me alone. I grabbed the nearest chair and smashed it over one's head. The chair broke and he fell to the ground. I took the chair legs left in my hands and used them to beat another into unconciousness. I grabbed another gryffin by the throat and used him to beat another three. By the time I let him go, he had passed out from air loss. I frowned and stopped for a moment. I wasn't usually THIS violent in a fight... Then one of my legs fell through the cloud, reminding me that I was about to die. The remaining three gryffins took the oppritunity to jump at me. I punched one and another stumbled over him as he hit the cloud. I was quickly falling, but I managed to bring my knee up into the remaining gryffin's chin. He went down too. "Gilda! Help! Finish that last bastard off and get over here!" Gilda had beaten one gryffin, and was working on the other. She saw me falling through the clouds, and quickly dispatched the last one. She jumped for me, but at the last moment, the cloud gave out and I began my fall to the ocean.

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"Turn it off sister, we can't bear to watch..." Luna said sadly. Celestia had recieved Twilight's letter, and her and Luna had cast a long-distance scrying spell to locate Sharky. They had cast it in time to watch Sharky fight the gryffins and fall through the clouds. Celestia dispelled the scry.

"I... I can't believe it..." Celestia murmered. "If only I had the strength to teleport him from here..."

"Don't fret sister, we know it would take time to prepare such a powerful teleportation spell..."

"Twilight and her friends will be devastated..."

"We know..." Celestia gave a heavy sigh and picked up a piece of parchment to write to her student.

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"Twiliiiiiight! I've got a new letter!" Spike called.

"Already? The Princesses must have found him! Quick, bring it here!" Spike ran over with the letter. Twilight unrolled it and magically held it up for RD and her to read.

Dear Twilight,

I... have located Sharky. He was in the Gryffin Empire, engaged in fierce combat. I regret to inform you that he fell through the cloud that holds up the Gryffin Empire. I must tell you that he has fallen to the ocean below. His chances for survival... are none. I regret the fact that in this letter I must not only send you my apologies, but my condolences as well.

My humblest apologies,

Princess Celestia.

"N-no... no it can't be..." Twilight had read the letter out loud. In the other room, Unity began to cry.

Death

I felt the rush of air as I sailed towards the ocean. Oddly enough, I didn't scream, I didn't panic, I simply accepted fate. I was living on time I shouldn't have anyway. Maybe this was like a Final Destination kind of thing. I saw Gilda crash through the cloud behind me, but it was obvious she'd never get to me in time. Even if she did, I'd just drag her down with me. Rather than try to slow my fall so she could catch me, I pointed my body towards the ocean to pick up speed so she'd have no chance of getting to me. Sure, I didn't want to die, but I'd rather die myself then kill Gilda as well. I fell and kept falling for quite some time. As I neared the ocean and the waves rose up to meet me, the water flashed bright white. I figured it was the reflection of the moon, and took it as a final goodbye from Luna. I closed my eyes as I prepared to meet the ocean. Kind of ironic actually, being a Marine Biologist, I loved the ocean. Now it was going to kill me. Life is a bitch. I hope death isn't the same.

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Gilda saw him rush for the ocean. She saw as he adjusted his body to fall faster, ruining her chances to catch him. Still she flew on, desperate to try to save him. She saw the ocean flash beneath him right before he made contact. Then she saw the bloody impact as he hit the water. Her new and only friend had left her as soon as he'd met her. Gilda stopped her flight in pure horror, then cried.

"No... not now..." Gilda let tears of pain flow freely from her eyes. Sharky had been the only one that hard even tried to be friends with her ever since Dash had abandoned her, and now he was gone thanks to her. Gilda wailed and flew back to her house, blaming herself for her only friend's death.

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"No... he... he's dead..." Twilight muttered. "He was killed by a fall... Not... not even by a monster... That's not how he would've wanted to die..."

"It doesn't matter how he wanted to die! Why'd he have to die anyway?!" RD wailed.

"He's gone... he's just gone... He left us again, it's what he does..." Twilight whispered to herself.

"This never woulda happen if he'd just stay here! Why? Why did he have to leave again?!" Rd continued her wailing, oblivious to Twilight's rambling. In the other room, Unity stopped his crying as soon as it had begun. Nopony paid him any attention.

"He left... he fell through a cloud. He won't come back again. He's gone for good this time..." Twilight's eyes had no focus. She stared blankly off into space, rambling about Sharky leaving again.

"I... I can't believe he's dead... This is all his fault! He left and he didn't have to! He got himself killed!" RD's sadness quickly turned to anger. "That irresponsible jerk! He went and died on us! He left Unity AND Fang behind! How could he?!" RD let tears of pain roll down her face. Spike didn't really feel too bad, he'd only barely known Sharky. He did know Twilight was in pain, so he walked over and hugged her. He didn't know what else to do. Twilight didn't react to him in the slightest, so he pulled away. He decided the others should know too, instead of being suprised with it later.

"I... I'm gonna go tell the others... I'm sorry guys..." He turned and left the library. Behind him, Twilight continued to mumbled while RD cried her eyes out.

"Gone... just gone..."

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"Oh, hello Spike, what brings you here so late? I suppose I could find something for you to help with..." Rarity greeted Spike as he walked in.

"Actually Rarity... Fluttershy... I've got something to tell you about Sharky..."

"Oh, we were just talking about him... Did the Princesses find him?" Fluttershy asked excitedly. Spike flinched.

"Uhh... Yeah, they found him... You girls may want to sit down..."

"Why Spike? Did something bad happen? Is Sharky hurt again?"

"Uhh... You could say that... Girls... Sharky is dead...." Both Rarity and Fluttershy's mouths dropped.

"W-w-what?!" Rarity exclaimed in disbelief.

"He's dead. He fell off the cloud that holds up the Gryffin Empire...."

"... What?" Fluttershy asked numbly.

"Girls, Sharky is dead. He won't come back. Gone. Forever..."

"N-no! This can't be happening! T-this... this is worse than the worst possible thing!" Rarity wailed. "He just can't be dead, he simply can't! He's strong right Spike!? He'll live! He has to be alive!"

"He's dead... He can't be dead... It was just yesterday that I kissed him..." Fluttershy whined softly. "No... no... no... I... I need to be alone..." With that Fluttershy took off out the door, leaving tears behind her. Spike couldn't help but shed a few tears himself. Rarity suprised him by grabbing him and pulling him into a hug.

"Oh Spikey! Please tell me it isn't true! He can't be dead right? He was too strong! Too nice!" She started rubbing the top of his head with her hoof like he was a cat. Spike sighed. This was the first time a hug from Rarity hadn't made him happy.

"I'm sorry Rarity... The princesses said he would die..."

"B-b-but... There's a chance right?! I mean, we don't know a lot about humans! Maybe he could survive the fall!" Spike thought for a moment. the gryffin kingdom was about 1000 feet over the ocean. Even a full grown dragon would be lucky to survive that kind of fall.

"Y-yeah Rarity, I'm sure there's a chance..." He lied. Better to let her hope then just deny it outright.

"Y-yes, that means he might come back! He could stil be alive! He's going to be ok... everything is ok..." She slowed down her frantic rubbing and kissed the top of Spike's head. "Thank you Spikey... I'm going to go prepare something for Sharky's return." She put Spike down. "Now run along dear, I've work to do." She gave Spike a gentle push towards the door. He turned to look back at Rarity before he left. She was alredy busy grabbing different kinds of fabrics and such. He sighed and hung his head. At least she wasn't crying, he wasn't sure if he could handle that. He left the boutique. He still had more ponies to tell about Sharky's death.

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"Hi Applejack..." Spike said as he walked up to the barn. Applejack was carrying a barrel of apples.

"Well howdy Spike, Ah'd love ta talk, but Ah got work ta do thanks ta Shadow. What a hard workin' feller..."

"Actually Applejack, this is pretty important, can yo-- wait, how do the trees already have apples?"

"Oh, his magic stuff makes the apples grow faster an' more often too! We're gonna be raking in profit like never before!"

"Huh... that's cool... Listen Applejack... Sharky... is dead." Applejack stopped dead in her tracks.

"Ah beg your pardon?"

"Sharky is dead... He fell off the Gryffin Empire and straight into the ocean..."

"Oh my... That... that's mighty terrible..." She stopped to look at the house. "Shadow's gonna be awful sad..."

"You aren't?"

"Oh, Ah'm sad... Ah just... don't..." She sighed. "Look, Ah'm a tough mare. Ah don't like cryin' or bein' sad, so Ah'm not gonna be. Shadow though... he liked Sharky like his new brother... He's gonna be hurt real bad..."

"Well... I suppose I better go tell him..." Spike turned to walk to the house, but Applejack caught him with her hoof.

"Now hold on Sugarcube, he's just now gettin' some sleep. 'Sides, he... needs somepony ta break it to him gently... Ah'll tell him mahself..."

"Ok Applejack... If you say so..." Spike turned back away from Sweet Apple Acres. "I'm gonna go tell Pinkie now... bye Applejack..." He slowly trudged towards town.

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"Hi Spike! What are you doing here so late? Twilight's gonna be real mad you're staying up past your bedtime! Did you want a cupcake or something? Try coming back tomorrow afternoon, I would give you one now, but it's already so late, and the sugar wouldn't help you sleep at all! Like that one time I ate a whole cake all by my--" Pinkie gushed as Spike entered Sugarcube Corner.

"Pinkie! Calm down! I... I have something important to tell you about Sharky..."

"Oh yeah, I heard he left Ponyville! Did he find a better place or something?"

"Uhh... Yeah, I guess you could say that... Pinkie... He died..." Pinkie's eyes widened as her mane went flat and her coat darkened.

"W-what?! No! I still haven't even gotten to throw him a party yet! He was my..." She started counting hooves. "3rd newest friend! He can't just be gone!"

"I'm sorry Pinkie... he is gone..."

"No! He can't be! I'll... I'll... I'll find a way to make him not dead! That's what I'll do!" Before Spike could react, Pinkie ran out of the building at full speed. "You'll see!" She shouted behind herself. Spike sighed.

"Well... She took that well... Now I've only got to tell Stormy and Blaze... but... I'm so tired..." Spike yawned and decided to go back to the library. He'd had enough misery today anyway.

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So, this is death... The last thing I remembered was my nose touching the water, then nothing. Now, I felt surrounded by water. Not normal water, but something like really watery jell-o. I was floating in it. I tried reaching out my hands a few times, but I always made contact with some kind of barrier a few inches away from my body. God this is boring. I thought to myself. I still hadn't opened my eyes, for fear of the sight that awaited me. After all, it would be hard to go from the heaven of Equestria to the hell I was sure I was in.

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Fang traveled alone in the forest. He may be just a wolf, but he had enough sense to know what had happened. He was on a special trip. He was on his way to a large cliff he had discovered back before Fluttershy had met him. He only traveled there every once in awhile. It was sacred, and he didn't want to spend to much time there for fear of disturbing it. It was a long trip too, and the walk usually wasn't worth his time. The forest suddenly dispersed around him, and he was standing on a bare ledge overlooking a huge lake. Below him reflected in the water was a brilliant full moon. Above in the sky, the moon glowed at him, almost as if it were glowing for him. Fang sat down to look up at the moon. This was the place where he talked to the moon, asked it for things and gave thanks for what it brought him. The last time he had come here had been when he asked it to find him an owner. He remembered that day. It had been late fall, the end of adoption season for the most part. Almost all the other pets had been chosen and carried away. At the least, they got attention and love from visiting ponies. Not Fang. All ponies had been afraid to even approach him. He had come to the moon in pure sadness, honestly believeing that nopony would ever be able to love him. Then, not long after, the moon had given him Sharky. How happy he had been. The very next day he had gone and given many thanks to the moon. Now he was here again, and he howled his pain to the moon. It had tricked him. It gave him his owner only to cruelly rip him away again. He howled and howled out all the pain in his heart. He asked the moon a single question that night.

Why?

Awaken

Spike's eyes fluttered open and the world slowly came into focus. He jumped a little as he realized he was looking right into Unity's eyes. They were sleeping together, and Unity had woken up first. Spike smiled and rubbed the top of Unity's head gently.

"Good morning buddy." He said softly, unsure if Twilight was asleep nearby. Unity grinned back at him. He extended his lion paw and copied Spike by rubbing the spines on his head in return. Spike gave a short laugh, but then realized that somepony was knocking on the door downstairs. He groaned and climbed out of the bed. He trudged down the stairs, grumbling about somepony visiting this early. He got to the bottom, and jumped as he realized Twilight was still sitting in the exact same spot she had been last night. "Twilight?" Twilight slowly turned to him in recognition of her name. Her eyes still held no focus, it was like she was looking through him.

"He's gone Spike..." She mumbled dully. Spike flinched at the heart break evident in her voice, then lowered his head as last night's events came flooding back to his memory. He had almost forgotten about Sharky's death in his early morning haze. He sighed deeply. Twilight looked back away from him. He wanted to go hug her, console her, but he knew it wouldn't help. Instead he simply went to answer the door. Standing outside, was a large stallion with... dragon wings?

"Whoa!" Spike exclaimed in suprise. The dragon-stallion jumped back as well.

"Hey! Y-you're a dragon!" The stallion shouted.

"You're a dragon-pony! Why are you here?!"

"Oh, sorry, I didn't expect to see a dragon I suppose... Anyway, Sharky told me to come talk to Twilight about a house?"

"Oh, what's your name?"

"Sharky named me Blaze."

"Oh, Twilight told me you were a new friend of his... She didn't mention the dragon thing..."

"Oh... yeah... dad was a dragon... mom was a pony... I never really asked about the details there..."

"I hear ya bro... Well... listen... about Sharky..."

"Yeah, is he here? Last I heard he went on a hunt. Nopony tells me anything, so I've really got no clue how he is."

"Yeah... He's kinda... dead." Blaze's eyes swelled and he rocked back on his haunches.

"He's what?!"

"Yeah... He died..."

"On the hunt?! I knew I shoulda offered to help him! Now the only pony that ever accepted me is dead!" Blaze started hitting himself with a hoof.

"No no! He didn't die on the hunt!" Blaze stopped hitting himself.

"He didn't? Well what in Equestria could kill him other than a monster fight?"

"A thousand foot fall off the Gryffin Empire..." Blaze flinched.

"Oh... oh... So there's no hope he's still alive?"

"Afraid not..."

"Well that sucks... Well... I... damn... I can't believe he's just gone..." Blaze turned around. "I... need to figure out this odd emotion I have right now..." He flapped his wings and took off towards the forest. Spike sighed.

"Well... Only one more pony to tell I guess..." He started to leave, but he was caught by a purple aura.

"You can't leave too Spike... You won't leave me too right?" Twilight asked.

"Of course I won't! I just gotta go find Stormy to tell him about Sharky!"

"No. You have to stay. You can't leave too..." Spike sighed.

"Ok Twilight, I'll stay..." As soon as he said that, the aura lifted him and carried him to Twilight. Her gaze was still blank, but she wrapped her hooves around him.

"Good..." She hugged him closer and sighed. "He's gone Spike..."

"I know..." He hugged her back, feeling a few tears land on the top of his head. They were both still sleepy, and soon they were both snoring soundly.

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Gilda was sad to be sure, but she knew she couldn't just let him be dead without telling anypony. He had said he left ponyville, and he had talked about his friends a lot, so she figured she could tell them he was dead. For Sharky, not for them.

Man... What's it gonna be like to see them again? She wondered. She knew they were most likely still mad at her for the last time she visited, and she wasn't looking forward to seeing them again. She pushed her doubts aside and continued on to Ponyville. She had been very near to it when she had started doubting herself, and she was almost there. She had flown straight through the night to help keep her mind off of her friend. Now, she heard a familiar voice.

"Hey! It's Gilda!" Gilda turned to face the voice, and a cyan pegasus pony smashed into her head.

"Ow! Geez! Way to say hi loser!" Gilda snapped. Rainbow Dash looked furious.

"You got my friend killed!!"

"What?" Rainbow Dash flew up and slapped her with a hoof.

"Don't you play dumb with me! You got Sharky killed! How dare you!" Tears began to flow from Rainbow Dash's eyes, and she started flailing wildly at Gilda. Gilda took the first few blows in suprise, but quickly caught all of Rainbow Dash's hooves and held her still.

"You know Sharky died?" Gilda asked in shock. Rainbow Dash struggled and managed to get a forehoof free. She slapped Gilda again before she could grab the loose hoof.

"Don't you DARE call him Sharky! Only his friends get to call him that!" Gilda started tearing up.

"I WAS his friend you idiot! He was my only friend since you left me!" She cried painfully.

"Yeah right! He wouldn't be friends with a jerk like you! Even if he was your friend, why would you get a bunch of gryffins to kill him huh?!"

"Because I couldn't stop them! It was a bar fight! I tried to catch him before he fell... but I... I wasn't fast enough..." At this, Rainbow Dash's rage subsided. Gilda had started crying. In all the years Rainbow Dash had known her, she had never once seen her cry.

"A... are you crying?"

"Of course not! Only babies cry!" Gilda sobbed a little. "... Ok, maybe a little..."

"Wow... well... Y... you tried to save him? Why was he in a bar fight anyway?" Gilda flinched.

"I... it was my idea... I thought it would be fun for him to beat up somepony... I enjoy it..." Rainbow frowned. Gilda was still as violent as ever. "I... I didn't think he would die... It's my fault..." Gilda started crying again. She released Dash and sobbed into her talons.

"Why do you care so much?"

"H-he was my o-only friend! Ever s-since you abandoned me, I've been alone! S-sharky... He accepted me even though I was a t-total jerk to him... and I went and got him killed!" She started wailing, and Rainbow began to feel guilty. She was the element of loyalty, but she had abandoned one of her oldest and closest friends. Sharky... Sharky had been more accepting of Gilda then she had. Now here Gilda was, willing to face her again to... What was she here for?

"G-gilda? W-why are you here anyways?" Rainbow was a little suprised that her voice was choked with tears as well. Gild wiped her eyes and snifled.

"That's right, I-I'm acting like a l-little cub!" Gilda smacked herself and wiped her eyes again. "I c-came here to tell you he was dead. He talked about his friends in Ponyville a few times, and I t-thought you would wanna know..."

"Y... you came all the way here, knowing we didn't like you, just because you thought we'd want to know?" Gilda looked up at Rainbow Dash.

"Y-yeah... I figured you guys, lame as you are, deserved to know. I think Sharky would've wanted you to know..." Fresh tears sprang back into the girls' eyes. Rainbow flew over to hug Gilda. "H-hey! D-don't touch me you geek!"

"Just shut up Gilda... You're a good friend for coming back here just for Sharky... I'm sorry I abandoned you..." Gilda faltered and broke into sobs again.

"I... I... I... I was s-so alone..." Gilda started shaking. "Do you know what it's like? To have nopony there for you? I was so alone Dash... and then I got the one guy willing to put up with me killed..."

"It's ok Gilda... I know you didn't mean it... I forgive you... I know if Sharky were here he would be ok with it too..."

"T-that reminds me... Sharky talked about you a bit... You have a kid now?" Rainbow smiled and wiped the tears from her face.

"Y-yeah... she should be getting out of school any minute..."

"... Can I see her?"

"Sure!" Rainbow started pulling Gilda towards Ponyville Elementary.

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"Hey Fluttershy! Are you here?" Stormy asked as he came to Fluttershy's house.

"I d-don't wanna talk!" Fluttershy yelled from inside the house. Stormy could hear the tears in her voice.

"Fluttershy? What's wrong?"

"I t-told y-you I don't want t-to... waaaahhhh!" She wailed in sadness. Stormy opened the door and trotted to Fluttershy's room. She was sobbing into her pillow, and tissues covered the floor.

"Fluttershy! What in Equestria happened?!"

"S-s-s-s-s--"

"Sharky died?" Fluttershy's head popped up from her pillow, and she turned towards Stormy. Her face was streaked with tears, and her eyes were really red.

"Y-you heard?" She choked.

"No." He trotted over and patted Fluttershy on the back.

"T-then how d-did you k-know?"

"Guessed."

"Why aren't y-you sad?"

"Oh, I am, but it's the natural order of things. Good ponies die all the time, and there's nothing you can do. You just have to move on."

"B-but I don't wanna move on! I w-want Sharky back!" She turned her head and started crying again.

"I know, I know... but think about it, would Sharky want you to just sit here and cry?" Fluttershy sobbed a few more times before sitting up and wiping her eyes.

"Well... no... but I'm sad..."

"Well, I understand that, but I think Sharky would want us to be happy! He wouldn't want us to lay around and cry for him!" Fluttershy sat up a bit straighter.

"Y-you're right... Sharky would want that..." Then she collapsed back into her pillow. "But I still want him back!" She sobbed. Stormy sighed.

"I know, I want him back too, but wanting isn't going to help us. When you're done missing him, try to be happy ok? I know that wherever he is, he doesn't want to see you cry anymore." Stormy backed away from the bed, and left the house. Fluttershy did her best to stop crying for Sharky, but she couldn't bring herself to be happy. She continued to cry.

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FUCK IT! I'm opening my eyes now! I had been floating for HOURS now. I had been waiting for some heavenly/demonic voice to greet me, but none had come. I opened my eyes and saw... green. Just green. Whatever I was floating in was some kind of green liquid. I looked around a little more, and I saw all these weird little cords attached to me with suction cups. What the? This is... not heaven or hell is it? My eyes began to be able to focus through the pale green liquid. I could see that a few inches in front of me, the green liquid ended. I guess I was in some kind of glass container. I moved my head forward a bit further to see past the glass. In front of me were two human men in white lab coats. I could barely make out what they were saying.

"What happened to the original test subject?" The one on the left was asking.

"Maybe this is the effect of the genetic experiment?" The other one guessed skeptically.

"Then why does he have pants now?" All of the sudden, I realized what was going on. I had seen this in a video game a few years back. Test tube full of green liquid, genetic mutations, one of the scientists said the word 'miasma' and I knew exactly what was going on. I was in deep shit, and I started beating on the glass as hard as I could. The scientists backed away in fear, and the glass gave way to my fists. I was loose in the world of Final Fantasy 7.

Explanation: FF7

This is here for all of you that don't know about the FF7 world.

Final Fantasy VII begins with Cloud (main character) joining AVALANCHE (rebel group) in a series of raids against the Mako reactors surrounding the city of Midgar (main city). Although the first mission is successful, AVALANCHE is trapped at another reactor during a subsequent raid. The reactor explodes, launching Cloud from the upper levels of Midgar into the slums below. He lands on a flower bed, where he is formally introduced to Aerith(dead mentor's love). Prompted by the arrival of Shinra's Turks operatives sent to capture Aerith, Cloud agrees to be Aerith's bodyguard and defends her from the Turks. After the Shinra discover the location of AVALANCHE's hideout, they destroy it by demolishing the entirety of Sector 7, killing its population and three members of AVALANCHE. The Turks also capture Aerith, who is revealed to be the last surviving "Cetra", a race closely attuned with the planet and previously thought to be extinct. President Shinra believes Aerith can lead him to the "Promised Land", a mythical land of fertility, where he expects to find Mako energy.

The remaining members of AVALANCHE infiltrate Shinra (giant evil company that basically owns the world) corporate headquarters to rescue Aerith. After freeing her and Red XIII(badass red wolf thing), they escape because most of the personnel in the building, including the president, are killed by Sephiroth, a man presumed to be dead, who stated that he would never allow Shinra to claim the Promised Land. The party also learns that during Sephiroth's attack on Shinra, the headless body of a creature named "Jenova" disappeared from the building's research facility. While the president's son, Rufus Shinra, assumes control of the company, AVALANCHE pursues Sephiroth across the planet, fearing his intentions for the Promised Land may be more destructive than Shinra's. The party is joined by Cait Sith and Cid, and optionally by Vincent and Yuffie. The full scope of Sephiroth's plan is eventually revealed: if the world is significantly damaged, the Lifestream will gather in an attempt to heal the wound. Sephiroth intends to use a powerful spell called "Meteor" to cause this injury, and then merge with the planet's energy, allowing him to be reborn as a god and rule over the planet. Aerith sets off to stop Sephiroth on her own. AVALANCHE follow her to the northern continent, where they enter an ancient Cetra city. After finding Aerith praying to the planet for aid, Sephiroth fatally impales Aerith with his sword.

Influenced by Sephiroth, Cloud becomes suspicious of his memories and insists he is not a real human, but instead a specimen created from Jenova's genetic material by Professor Hojo. Jenova was an interstellar creature who crash-landed on the planet roughly 2,000 years prior to the game's events. Jenova had intended to infect all living organisms on the planet with a virus inducing insanity and monstrous transformations; among its victims were most of the Cetra. Attempting to defend itself, the planet created giant monsters called "WEAPON"s. The majority of humans fled rather than fight Jenova; however, a small group of Cetra survivors managed to defeat and confine Jenova. Eventually, the remains of Jenova were unearthed by Professor Gast, a researcher for the Shinra Company. Mistaking the creature for a Cetra, Gast was given authorization to conduct an experiment to artificially produce a Cetra by combining cells from Jenova with the fetus of an unborn child. Sephiroth learned that he was the product of this experiment while on a Shinra mission in Cloud and Tifa's hometown, Nibelheim. He concluded that he was a Cetra who had been produced solely from Jenova's genetic material. He burned down Nibelheim, intending to kill all descendants of those he believed had abandoned his ancestors in the defense of the planet. Cloud confronted Sephiroth during this massacre, after which Sephiroth vanished under unknown circumstances and was presumed dead until his reappearance in the Shinra building. When AVALANCHE travels to the Northern Crater to confront Sephiroth, he tells Cloud that he was not in Nibelheim, showing him images of a SOLDIER with dark hair who occupies Cloud's place in his memories. Tifa is unable to refute Sephiroth's claims, and Sephiroth casts the Meteor spell, causing the planet to awaken the WEAPONs in response. During the earthquake that follows, Cloud is separated from his companions and falls into the Lifestream.

As the Meteor summoned by Sephiroth slowly approaches the planet, the Shinra Company focuses its efforts on protecting humanity from the WEAPONs, as well as defeating Sephiroth, in the hopes that this will dismiss Meteor itself. Meanwhile, the members of AVALANCHE find Cloud in a catatonic state on a tropical resort where he washed up following the casting of Meteor. The WEAPONs' destructive activity causes the island to split open, and Cloud and Tifa fall into the Lifestream, where she reconstructs Cloud's memories and learns the truth about his past. It is revealed that Cloud never succeeded in joining SOLDIER, and that the dark-haired SOLDIER from his memories was actually Aerith's first love and Cloud's best friend, Zack Fair. Zack, Tifa, and Cloud had fought Sephiroth during the burning of Nibelheim. Although Tifa and Zack were defeated, Cloud and Sephiroth severely wounded one another. After decapitating Jenova, Sephiroth was thrown into the Lifestream by Cloud, taking the creature's head with him. Rather than dying, his body and consciousness were crystallized in Mako inside Jenova's crater.

Cloud and Zack were among the wounded survivors who were apprehended by Shinra as part of a cover-up of Sephiroth's massacre. Professor Hojo subjected these survivors to an experiment, performing the same enhancements given to SOLDIER members—a procedure which included Mako showers and the injection of Jenova cells. All but Zack entered a comatose state, and nearly five years later, Zack broke free from his confinement and took Cloud with him. However, the alien Jenova cells in Cloud's body still allowed Sephiroth to modulate his behavior. Moreover, the cells' ability to duplicate information allowed Cloud's mind to construct a false persona built around Zack's behavior. This was prompted by Zack himself, who was killed outside Midgar by Shinra soldiers during the escape; he urged Cloud to live both their lives before passing on. Afterward, Tifa discovered Cloud, who was wearing a SOLDIER 1st Class uniform, and offered him a job with AVALANCHE.

After Cloud awakens, it is revealed that Aerith, in her final moments, was casting the spell "Holy" with the White Materia, the only means of opposing Meteor. Although she succeeded, Sephiroth had since prevented the spell from taking effect. Deciding to protect humanity from the WEAPONs before approaching Sephiroth, Shinra and AVALANCHE destroy the WEAPONs, although nearly all of Shinra's executives are killed in the process. Among the few survivors are Reeve Tuesti, who is revealed to be the repentant controller of Cait Sith, and Professor Hojo, who is revealed to be Sephiroth's biological father. He explains that he and his wife were assistants to Professor Gast, and offered up their unborn child as a test subject to research involving Jenova. After finding out that Hojo is trying to help Sephiroth gain mastery over the Lifestream, AVALANCHE kills him. In their final assault against Sephiroth, the group travels through the Northern Crater to the planet's core. They defeat Sephiroth and free Holy, but the spell is unable to destroy Meteor alone. Selected as Meteor's target, Midgar is almost completely destroyed. However, the Lifestream rises from the planet to aid Holy in destroying the Meteor. During the epilogue, taking place 500 years after the game's events, Red XIII runs through a canyon with two cubs at his side. He proceeds up a cliff-face, which reveals a lush land of greenery where Midgar had once been.

Important info: Cloud's former weapon, the Buster Sword, was previously owned by his friend and mentor, Zack. Zack had recieved it from his former friend and mentor Angeal. It is stabbed into the cliff outside of Midgar where Zack died.

Break

"Well... hey guys." I gasped as I looked up to the trembling scientists. I was surrounded by shattered glass and liquid miasma. My pants and shoes were both soaked. One of the scientists fainted. Pansy.

"B-break! Experiment break!" The other scientist yelled as he flipped around and hit a huge red button on the wall. An alarm began sounding and I heard shouting nearby.

"Hello to you too..." I grumbled. The second scientist screamed and ran out of the room after hitting the button. I ran over to the unconcious scientist and took his jacket, glasses and badge as quickly as I could. I put them on and dragged the scientist to the nearest door. I opened it, to reveal stairs leading down. "Sucks for you buddy..." I heaved the scientist to the staircase and tossed him down. I closed the door just as a bunch of men in S.O.L.I.D.E.R. uniforms ran in. I pointed at the nearest door that one of the scientists hadn't gone through. "That way! The experiment ran that way!" The lead one nodded and they all charged through the door I had pointed at. I looked around for an escape, but there were only four doors in the room. One the soliders had come from, so I didn't want to go that way in case there were more. One the soliders had run into, I really didn't want to go that way. I didn't exactly want to be around the unconcious scientist, so I guess I was following the one that hit the button. He was most likely heading for an exit anyway. I ran into the hallway the scientist had fled down. It was inclining upwards slightly, and there were lights on the walls every few feet. I heard metal scraping metal way ahead of me, and figured the scientist had opened some sort of door. I heard angry noises from behind me, and I could only assume that the S.O.L.I.D.E.Rs had discovered my trick. I sprinted as fast as I could down the hall, reaching the end in a matter of seconds. Sure enough, there was a huge metal door left wide open for me. I stepped outside and gently pulled it shut, hoping my pursuers would assume it had never opened.

"N-no! Stay away from me!" The scientist was just outside as well, cowering in fear. "Don't hurt me!"

"With what? Do you see a weapon on me?" I asked sarcastically. "Maybe I should beat you to death for the crap you pulled back there!"

"Please! I have a wife and kids!" He begged.

"Dude, I just said I don't even have a weapon... So I'll rip off your own arm and beat you with it!" The scientist curled up and started babbling incoherently. I sighed and turned to examine my surroundings. The door I had just exited from was nearly invisible. It was camoflaged to look like a large rock. I turned to examine the surrounding area. It looked like a wasteland all around me, except for a patch of cliffs and hills to the right, and a crumbly looking city to the left. "Hey, you work for Shinra I assume?" I asked the scientist. He nodded fearfully. "So that city... It's Midgar right?" The scientist nodded again. "Excellent." I took off in the directions of the cliffs, eager to see a particular landmark.

"S-shinra will get you! Their grasp is world-wide! You can run, but they'll kill you!" The scientist suddenly found his voice behind me.

"That'll make three deaths for me! Bye!"

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Twilight and Spike were awoken by Unity crying. They hazily blinked a few times, before Twilight's eyes widened slightly.

"Oh! I haven't fed Unity yet!" She jumped up and Spike smiled. Twilight was acting normal again. Halfway to the staircase, her ears drooped and her body sagged. "Oh yeah... Sharky is dead..." She muttered. Spike face-palmed.

Just when I thought she was getting over it... He sighed inwardly. Twilight continued her slow trot upstairs though, so at least she was still able to remember to take care of Unity. Spike stood up and walked into the kitchen to make breakfast. Was it lunch? He took a moment to check the sun's position through a window. Dear Celestia! It's already past noon! He exclaimed internally. No wonder Unity is so upset! He moved to the fridge to begin prepaing a late lunch.

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"Gilda, meet Scootaloo!" Rainbow Dash said proudly. Scootaloo stared in awe at the gryffin.

"Wow! You're a gryffin!" She gasped. Gilda rolled her eyes and looked at Dash.

"You got yourself a real genius here." Rainbow punched Gilda in the shoulder.

"Be nice!"

"I've never seen you up close before!" Scootaloo interrupted. She started zipping all around Gilda, examining her. "You are so cool! You're almost as cool as Sharky! Hey, have you gotten to meet Sharky yet? He's really nice, I think you'd like him!" Gilda and Dash both flinched and lowered their heads.

"Yeah... Yeah, I have met him kid..." Gilda mumbled glumly. Scootaloo looked at them confusedly.

"Why are you two sad all of the sudden?" Rainbow looked up and thought for a moment.

"Look... I... didn't tell you this last night... but... Sharky--"

"Will be on a trip for a while!" Gilda interrupted. "We're sad because he's gonna be gone for a long time." Scootaloo nodded her head and looked at the ground.

"Well that sucks, I wanted to talk to him a bit more... Rainbow Dash says he's really cool, and I wanted to see if it was possible to be as cool as Rainbow Dash!"

"Heh, believe it or not kid, he was. Maybe even cooler." Gilda laughed to lighten the mood a bit.

"Well, I wouldn't say that..." Rainbow Dash grumbled.

"Yeah! Nopony is cooler than Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo interrupted.

"Ha! Thanks Scoots! Hey, now that you've met Gilda, why don't you and your friends crusade with her?" Scootaloo put on a broad grin,but Gilda frowned and looked to Rainbow Dash.

"Crusade?" Rainbow Dash grinned.

"You'll see..."

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"That... was horrible..." Gilda had flown up to Rainbow's house. She was covered in leaves and had a bruise on her head. Rainbow Dash burst out laughing.

"W-what was the crusade this time?"

"First, they wanted to try gryffin riding, then it was lion taming. I tried to tell them I'm not a lion, but they said it was close enough. Luckily I got away before one of them managed to find an actual whip!" Rainbow continued laughing, and Gilda narrowed her eyes. "Oh, so that's funny huh?"

"It's bucking hilarious!" Gilda crouched down.

"Well, then this'll be a riot!" She leapt up and pounced on Dash, and they rolled around on the floor wrestling. Eventually Gilda pinned Dash and they just sat there laughing. Gilda eventually rolled back off of Dash.

"Just like old times, huh Gilda?"

"Yeah... just like old times..."

"Rainbow Dash?!" Scootaloo's voice drifted up from the ground.

"Oh!" Rainbow stood up and trotted over to a window. "Hey Scoots! Coming home already?" Scootaloo beamed up at her.

"I love hearing that word! Home... Anyway, whaddya mean already? It's like an hour until night!" Rainbow looked up at the darkening sky.

"Wow! I guess I lost track of time! Ok, I'll be right down!" She jumped out of the window and drifted down to her new daughter. She lifted her in her forehooves and flew off the ground. "Geez, you're heavy Scoots! Heh, this has gotta be great for my wings!"

"Ha ha! Glad I can help! ... Hey... Thanks for adopting me... I never really got to say it... but I'm really happy now!" She beamed up at her idol, and Rainbow smiled back.

"You're welcome Scoots... I'm sorry it took so long for me to figure out what you meant to me..."

"It doesn't matter! We're together now right?" Rainbow Dash's smile broadened.

"Yeah, we are... Thanks to Sharky..." Rainbow Dash's mood became somber again, and the smile disappeared from her face.

"Rainbow Dash? What's wrong?" Rainbow Dash had begun to tear up again.

"Oh, nothing Scoots... Here we are, home sweet home..." She flew through the floor of her house and placed Scootaloo down. "Hey Gilda, it's getting late, shouldn't you be getting home?"

"Eh, like I care. I'll find somewhere to crash I'm sure. Night." Gilda opened her wings and prepared to take off, but Rainbow Dash stopped her.

"Well hey! If you aren't heading home, do you wanna stay here for a while?" Gilda closed her wings.

"Here? With you? Sounds lame... but ok." Rainbow Dash smiled. She knew Gilda was happy on the inside.

"Cool, let's just make you a bed real quick..." Rainbow set to work manipulating the floor of the house, quickly forming a bed just large enough for Gilda. "There you go!" She said proudly. She turned to Scootaloo. "Well, it's getting late Scoots, you should get to bed 'kay?" Scootaloo nodded.

"Ok Dash, night!" She trotted off to her bed obidiently, eager to please her idol.

"Night Scoots!" She turned to Gilda. "She had dinner right?" Gilda nodded.

"Yeah, they stopped by Carrot Top's place and she gave 'em some--"

"Carrots?"

"Heh, yeah. Well, Imma hit the sack myself. Night Dash."

"Night Gilda." Rainbow turned to go to her room, and soon she was tucked snugly into her bed. Without anything to distract her, her thoughts quickly turned to Sharky. She let out a few more silent tears for him, the let herself be lulled into sleep.

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Thursday, January 15th

"Hmm...." Twilight groaned and stretched as she woke up. She had managed to make it through the day yesterday, but only with a lot of help from Spike. Internally she was proud of him for being brave through this, but she couldn't bring herself to express any emotions recently. She blinked her eyes open groggily, to look directly into Pinkie Pie's eyes. "GAH!" She shouted and jumped up.

"Twilight! Do you have any spells for making somepony not dead?!" Pinkie Pie asked determinedly. Twilight blinked a few times to clear the last of the sleep haziness from her eyes.

"W-what? No Pinkie, no spells like that exist..." She said regretfully. Twilight had already considered the option herself.

"Then I've got no use for this place! See you later Twilight!" Pinkie Pie dashed out of the library before Twilight could say another word.

"... She left too..." Twilight sighed to herself.

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Fluttershy woke up, determined to not be sad today. She had spent all the time she felt she should missing Sharky. Stormy was right, crying wouldn't make Sharky happy, wherever he was. She told herself that she needed to be happy today. Yesterday, she had decided she only needed to arrange one more thing before she could feel like Sharky got all he deserved in terms of mourning. She set out of her house to see her friends. She decided that Sharky needed a funeral.

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"Hi Rarity..." Fluttershy greeted as she walked into Carousel Boutique.

"Well hello Fluttershy! How are you this fine morning?" Rarity asked suprisingly cheerily.

"Umm... fine I suppose... Hey, I need your help..."

"With what dear? I'm always happy to help my friends!"

"Well... I wanna plan a funeral for Sharky an--" Rarity whipped around with astounding speed and trotted closer to Fluttershy.

"Nonsense! Sharky isn't dead!"

"B-but Spike said tha--"

"No! We don't know about humans! I'm sure he's alive! He'll come back any day now! Just you wait!" She said huffily. She turned again and went back to her fabrics.

"Well... Will you help me plan a funeral that way we can have one in case he doesn't come back?"

"No! He WILL come back! He doesn't need a funeral! ... However I will help you plan a funeral... Not that he might be dead, but it'll be nice if he thinks we wanted to honor him right?"

"Right... Thank you Rarity... I'm going to go tell the others now..."

"Have fun dear, I'll see you soon to discuss details!"

Funeral

Rainbow Dash woke up early. Which was very unusual for her, she normally slept in very late. Something had disturbed her. She looked around drowsily for whatever had disturbed her, and she noticed something on her bed. Laying next to her, curled up in a little ball under the blanket, was her new daughter. She was snoring softly, and her mane was even more ruffled than usual. Rainbow smiled at how peaceful and cute she looked. Then she jumped out of the bed abruptly, knocking Scootaloo to the floor.

"WHOA!" Scootaloo woke up quckly and shouted as she fell to the floor.

"Wake up sleepyhead! It's time to get ready for school!" Scootaloo shook her head in suprise and glared at Rainbow Dash.

"Not cool Rainbow!" Rainbow Dash laughed and Scootaloo cracked a smile. "Ok, I guess you're right..." Scootaloo stood up and groggily trudged over to her school saddlebags. She started checking for all of her things while she ran a hoof over her mane to straighten it a little.

"I'm gonna go start breakfast, what do you want?"

"Oh, anything's fine with me!" Scootaloo said happily. "I'm just glad to get breakfast!" Rainbow Dash flinched.

"You... you really had it tough, didn't you Scoots?"

"Huh? I dunno... I don't really know what it's like to not live like I did. I can tell you that this is way better though!"

"Well... I'm glad you're so happy... I'm just sorry it took me so long to figure out you needed me..."

"Don't worry about it! We're together now! That's all I care about!"

"Heh, you're right Scoots... Breakfast'll be ready soon." Rainbow trotted out of the room. Gilda was awake and sitting on a cloud couch in the next room.

"She means a lot to ya, huh?" Gilda asked. Rainbow nodded.

"Yeah... Yeah she does. So, you gonna eat with us?" Gilda flinched.

"Uhh... actually, I think I'm gonna go see if I can find something somewhere else..."

"Oh yeah, that reminds me, I don't think I've ever eaten with you... Why do you always leave when you eat?"

"Uhh... I... like to eat alone. Stop bugging me about it, geez..."

"... You don't eat meat, do you?"

"... Heh, no! That... that's a dumb idea..."

"Ha, don't worry, Sharky did too, it doesn't bug me."

"... Really?"

"Really, now go find yourself some food."

"Hey! Don't tell me what to do!"

"Then don't. I don't really care, I gotta get to work on Scootaloo's breakfast..." Rainbow Dash trotted off to the kitchen.

"See you later." Gilda jumped out of the nearest window and started flying over the Everfree forest in search of food. It was winter, so pickings were pretty slim. Then she spotted a lone wolf walking slowly inbetween the trees. She let out a low hiss of hatred and joy at the same time. Gryffins, being half cat, hate all canines. Luckily, Gilda had the advantage over this wolf. She licked her beak in anticipation of her next meal, then went in for the killing dive.

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"Hi Applejack..." Fluttershy mumbled as she walked up to her friend. Applejack was busy bucking apples out of the enhanced trees.

"Howdy *BUCK* Fluttershy. Ah'm a bit busy right now... *BUCK*" Applejack continued her bucking as she talked.

"Oh... I don't mean to distract you... I just wanted to tell you about Sharky's upcoming funeral..." As soon as the word 'funeral' left Fluttershy's lips, Applejack was next to her, covering her mouth with her hoof.

"Hush Fluttershy! Ah still haven't had a chance ta tell--" Shadow ran out from behind a nearby tree.

"Did you just say Sharky's funeral?!" He shouted. Applejack flinched.

"Well... Ah guess it's about time Ah told ya anyway Shadow... Sharky died..." Shadow's eyes widened and his legs buckled beneath him.

"N-no... h... he can't be... No... I can't lose another... no... he can't be... NO!" He started sobbing, tears flowing freely from his eyes as he shouted and pounded the dirt.

"Ah'm sorry Shadow... See Fluttershy? Ah wanted to break it ta him easy-like..."

"Oh my... I'm so sorry Shadow..." Fluttershy started crying too. "I... I don't want him to be dead either!" She started bawling along with Shadow. The Ursa minor appeared out of the trees and started rubbing against Shadow in an effort to soothe him.

"Not Sharky... not now... It's not fair..." Shadow wailed. Applejack looked back and forth between the sobbing ponies, unsure what to do.

"Uhh... Now look y'all... Sharky.. he's in a better place now... Ya don't need ta be sad for him..."

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"CRAP CRAP CRAP!!!"

"There's the experiment! Get him!" The Shinra S.O.L.I.D.E.R.s had left the hidden lab, and were chasing me down across the wasteland. Luckily none of them seemed to be carrying guns, so I was safe as long as I could stay ahead of them. Which wouldn't be much longer seeing as how they were genetically enhanced super soliders. I had managed to make it about halfway to the little collection of hills and cliffs before they had come out of the lab. Then a lightning bolt hit the ground next to me and I looked behind me to see that one of the soliders had a materia (Stone that lets you cast magic) in his arm.

"CRAP!!!!!!!!!"

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Fluttershy managed to regain her composure after Applejack said he was in a better place. She stood back up off the ground and wiped her eyes clear of tears.

"Y-you're right Applejack... He's better off wherever he is..." Shadow's sobs had quieted down and he was holding the Ursa close to him.

"H-he may be better off... but I still don't w-want him to be gone!" Shadow wailed. "He's just gone! He can't just be gone! It's n-not fair!"

"Ah know it's sad Shadow... but there ain't much we can do. Layin' around cryin' won't help anypony." Applejack trotted over to him and draped a foreleg around his shoulders. "Sides, Ah'm sure Sharky wouldn't wanna see ya crying for him. It'd make him sad." Shadow sniffled and sobbed a few more times, but he eventually stood up and wiped his eyes.

"Y-you're right Applejack... I... I'll try to be strong..." Another tear trickled from his eye, but he wiped it away as it came. "I... I just need to be alone..."

"Of course sugarcube... You can go home early today if ya like..." Shadow shook his head.

"N-no... I'm just gonna head deeper into the orchards to work... I'll... I'll see you guys soon..." Shadow turned and left the girls. The Ursa followed closely behind him.

"Heh, he's such a hard worker..." Applejack mumbled. Fluttershy spoke up again.

"Well... I'm sorry I caused all that trouble with Shadow... I just wanted to tell you that Sharky's having a funeral... Rarity says she can have it ready by this coming tuesday... If that's not too soon for you..."

"Don't worry sugarcube, Ah'll be there. Ah'm sure Shadow'll come too..."

"Ok... Thank you Applejack... I'm gonna go tell the other girls now..."

"See ya later Fluttershy." Applejack turned and went back to bucking apple trees. Fluttershy turned and started trotting in the direction of Twilight's library.

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Fang continued his slow trot through the forest. His heart was in pieces, and he really didn't know where to go. When he lived with Fluttershy, he had always gone back to her for shelter. He had always stayed near Sharky when he could, and he felt bad that he couldn't have been around him more. He had thought about going back to Fluttershy, but his heart wasn't in it. It reminded him too much of his old master. So now he roamed the forest, only caring about his next meal and staying alive. Then, out of the corner of his eye he saw a shadow rush in his direction. His instincts ordered him to leap to the side, and as he leapt he heard an impact behind him. He whipped around to see a gryffin. She had gray feathers, gray legs, and gray eyes. She was very gray. Then again, so was everything else. She was crouching in his direction, obviously preparing to pounce. Fang assumed an attack stance.

"Heh, gonna fight huh? Good, I like it when my meals have a little bite..." The gryffin hissed. Fang growled in response.

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"Hello Twilight..." Fluttershy walked into the library. Twilight was sitting next to a few bookcases in the corner of the room. She was holding Unity in her forehooves, and holding a bottle of chocolate milk to his mouth magically.

"Oh... Hello Fluttershy..." Twilight muttered distantly. "Did you want something?"

"No... I just wanted to invite you to Sharky's funeral... Rarity says she can have it ready by next Tuesday..."

"Sharky's gone..." Twilight mumbled in response. Spike walked down the stairs.

"She'll be there Fluttershy..." Fluttershy nodded skeptically.

"Is... is she ok?"

"Oh, Twilight? Umm... no, no she is not... She was really hurt..."

"Oh... I'm sorry... can I help?"

"So far, I don't think anypony can help her... She'll have to work this out herself I suppose..."

"Sharky left me again..." Twilight interrupted.

"Wow... If... if you think she can do it..." Fluttershy said hesitantly.

"I know she can... She's strong..." Spike consoled.

"Ok Spike... Good luck Twilight..." Fluttershy turned and left the library.

"Fluttershy left too..." Twilight mumbled.

"Yes, yes she did Twilight..."

"You won't leave, right Spike?"

"No... I won't leave Twilight..."

"Good... You won't leave either... Right Unity?" In response, Unity finished his milk, not the bottle, and burped up a bunch of cocoa beans.

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"Hey Fluttershy!" Blaze came out of nowhere as Fluttershy trotted towards Rainbow Dash's favorite flight practice field.

"Oh! Blaze! You frightened me!" Fluttershy gasped.

"Oh, sorry Fluttershy. Just wondering what you were doin' so far away from home."

"I'm trying to find all of Sharky's friends... Rarity and I are arranging a funeral for him..."

"Huh, that's weird..."

"It's weird that we're having a funeral?"

"No, every time I think about Sharky being dead, I get this weird feeling..."

"... Sadness?"

"What's that?"

"Nevermind... Well, it'll be happening next Tuesday... will you be there?"

"Sure... what's Tuesday?"

"... How long were you in that forest?"

"13 years."

"When did you first get in it?"

"When I was 5."

"... Oh my... Well, just remember that Tuesday is in 5 days, not including today alright?"

"Ok, I'm sure I'll make it. Well... do you mind if I walk with you for awhile? I don't exactly have a ton of things to do..."

"Sure, I don't mind..." Together they continued towards the practice field.

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"Wow! She's really good!" Blaze exclaimed as he watched Rainbow Dash fly loops around the field. Fluttershy nodded.

"Yeah, she's the fastest pegasus in Equestria! Only one pony has ever beaten her..."

"Huh? If she's the fastest pegasus in Equestria, how did somepony beat her?"

"Well, she was beat by Sharky... Technically he's not a pegasus..."

"Ah, loopholes, fantastic!" Rainbow Dash spotted them watching her practice, and she flew down to them.

"Hey guys..." She sounded oddly sad.

"What's wrong Dash?" Fluttershy asked.

"It's... nothing... I just still miss Sharky... It's easy to not think about him when Scootaloo's around... but now that she's at school..." Fluttershy nodded slowly.

"I miss him too... Well, I came here to tell you about his funeral. It's next Tuesday, ok?"

"Yeah... I'll be there... Jus don't tell Scootaloo he's dead 'kay? She thinks he's on a trip..."

"Ok Dash, I won't tell her..."

"Oh, and it's cool if Gilda comes too right?" Rainbow Dash asked nonchalantly. Fluttershy's jaw dropped.

"... GILDA?!"

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"DEAR GOD I'M GOING TO DIE... AGAIN!!!" I was still running from the Shinra S.O.L.I.D.E.R.s, and dodging lightning bolts as I ran. One had caught me in my left shoulder, and I couldn't feel my arm at all. We had been running for quite some time, but I wasn't getting tired for some reason. Maybe the miasma was effecting me already.

Geez I hope that's not what's happening. I REALLY don't want to go through severe genetic mutations... I thought to myself. Another lightning bolt flashed right by my head and snapped me back to reality.

"Oh, right, running... CRAP!!!" I continued my sprint, but my pursuers had almost caught me. I knew I wasn't going to last much longer, but then I heard the roar of a motorcycle out of nowhere, and a black motorcycle with a rider dressed mostly in black flew off the nearest cliff and landed inbetween me and the S.O.L.I.D.E.R.s. The rider pulled a huge sword off of his back and stepped off his motorcycle towards me. The first things I noticed were his spikey blonde hair and his piercing blue eyes.

"They Shinra?" He asked lowly. I nodded with my mouth open in pure shock. "Huh, great. Stand back." He turned and faced the S.O.L.I.D.E.R.s, holding out his blade towards them. Cloud had come to my rescue.

Life

Fang bared his teeth at Gilda as she jumped at him. He leapt to the side and Gilda's talons struck only air. Fang whipped back around to face his opponent and rammed her side with his shoulder before she could readjust herself from her swing. Gilda wasn't seriously hurt, but she slid back a few feet.

"AH! Huh, a tough one aren't ya?" Gilda crouched down in another battle stance. "Well, I'm earning my breakfast today..." She assumed a more flexible attack stance and started slowly circling Fang. Fang crouched down in return and matched her pace step for step. Without warning, Fang dashed at Gilda, raking his claws across her face and bounding away before she could react. Gilda touched her left cheek in shock and felt blood. "Y-you... You're gonna pay for that!" She dashed at Fang, using her wings to get extra speed. Fang tried to jump out of the way again, but Gilda managed to rake his right foreleg as she passed. He let out a small yelp as a little blood began to trickle down his leg. Gilda hadn't had time to turn after her charge, so Fang lept at her and bit down on her right wing as hard as he could near the base of her shoulder. Gilda let out an eagle-like cry of pain.

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"Yeah, Gilda." Rainbow Dash said absentmindedly.

"T-that big, mean gryffin is here?! No! She scares me!" Fluttershy crouched down and began shaking. She covered her head with her forehooves.

"No! It's ok Fluttershy! Gilda's acting a lot nicer now!" Rainbow Dash tried to console her.

"H-how can she be nice?! H-have y-you forgotten she got Sharky killed?!"

"No! She didn't! Sharky was her friend!" Fluttershy's head popped up from the ground and she moved her forelegs away from her face.

"W-what?"

"Gilda was friends with Sharky..."

"Bu-buh... W-... how?!"

"Yeah... Sharky was her friend... They had gotten into a bar fight and he fell through the clouds..."

"... but that means... it's his fault he died..." Fluttershy whispered. Rainbow Dash flinched.

"I... I hadn't thought of it that way..." Rainbow Dash admitted. "But... I guess... You're right..." Both the girls stood in silence for a while until Blaze loudly interrupted.

"WELL! This is akward... Imma go back into the forest now!" He flapped his wings and took off towards Everfree forest.

"Bye Blaze!" Fluttershy shouted after him. "Well... I suppose if you say Gilda is nice now... She can come too... I'll trust you. Well... If you don't mind, I still have to find Pinkie Pie and tell her about the funeral..." Fluttershy mumbled sadly. Rainbow Dash wiped a fresh tear off her cheek.

"Yeah, go ahead... I have to get back to practicing anyway..." Rainbow Dash took off before Fluttershy could say another word. Fluttershy turned to leave the practice field and find Pinkie Pie, when she bounded up out of nowhere.

"Hi Fluttershy! I've been following you to hear about this funeral thingy! I'm gonna tell you, you don't need to do it! I'm gonna find a way to make him not dead! I'll go if I don't make him not dead before Tuesday, but I problably will, so don't expect to even have a funeral ok?" Pinkie Pie then bounded away before Fluttershy could respond.

"... O-ok?" Fluttershy mumbled dully. "I... I guess I'll go discuss the funeral details with Rarity then..." She turned to Ponyville and started trotting off slowly.

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"Eeyupp, good ole' forest! Sure is some kick-ass training!" Blaze grinned as he used his horn to make himself stronger. His aura surrounded himself from his bent horn and he charged at a tree. He bent his head right before he rammed the tree, and he impacted it with a resounding crack. "TIMBER!" He shouted as the tree stated it's decent towards the ground, breaking the limbs of nearbly trees as it fell. It hit the ground with a huge thud. Blaze trotted over and stood on top of the now downed tree. "Dammit I'm lonely." He muttered. Then he heard an eagle cry from the nearby trees. "SOCIAL ACTIVITY!" He shouted gleefully as he ran towards the sound. He broke into a clearing to find Fang latched onto the wing of some eagle-lion thing. "Hi Fang! Make a new friend?" The gryffin turned to look at him, and the wolf's eyes locked onto him as well.

"Well?! Don't just stand there! Help me kill this crazy w-- are those dragon wings?" Gilda asked, sheer shock dulling her pain.

"Yeah, you know. Dad was a dragon, mom was a mare. I never really asked many questions about that..." He shuddered. "Anyway, you two know each other?" He guestured to Fang gnawing on Gilda's wing. Gilda's jaw dropped.

"ARE YOU BUCKING STUPID?! He is chewing on my wing!!!" Blaze frowned.

"So you aren't playing?"

"NO!!! I was trying to eat him!! He won't die though!"

"Well duh! Heh, what kinda moron tries to eat Sharky's pet and expect to have him die easy?"

"... Did you just say Sharky's pet?"

"Well yeah, he's the only one around here with a pet wolf named Fang. That I know at least, I don't spend much time with other ponies though, so I guess there could be more..." Fang continued to gnaw on Gilda's wing.

"... Can you get him off me?"

"Sure, Fang? Can you please stop eating this nice... thing's wing?" Fang released Gilda's wing and trotted over to Blaze. "So sir or madam, what the heck are you?" Baze asked. Gilda turned red.

"Sir OR madam?! Why I oughtta..." Blaze turned away from her.

"Eh, I'm bored now. I'll talk to you later thingy!" He shouted over his shoulder. Gilda was about to jump at him, but he turned around a tree and disappeared. Gilda scratched her head in confusion, then sighed. Fang was still sitting next to where Blaze had been. Gilda looked at him.

"Sooo... Uh... Sorry about the whole... trying to eat you thing... It was really your fault for walking alone in the woods you know..." Fang growled at her again. "Hey! Look, I was just trying to say I'm sorry! I'm just hungry ok?!" Fang nodded and loped off a short distance into the woods. Gilda turned to take off. "Stupid mutt..." She mumbled to herself. Then Fang popped up again and dropped a dead rabbit in front of her. She halted in mid takeoff, dumbfounded. She looked the the rabbit, then back to Fang. Fang was gesturing towards the rabbit with his head. "F... For me?" Gilda asked hesitantly. Fang nodded vigerously. Gilda's beak tilted up into a small smile. "Thanks... I guess you aren't as lame as I thought..."

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Over the course of the next few days, not much happened. Fluttershy and Rarity managed to finish planning the funeral and have it all setup by Tuesday. Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, and Gilda spent most of their time together or crusading. Blaze and Fang began to travel together through the forest. Blaze would have moved into his new house by now, but Twilight still didn't have enough focus to cast the stone-shaping spell for him and finish off the house. Pinkie Pie spent all her time using various methods to revive Sharky. One such method was a trip to Canterlot to take some phoenix down from Celestia's pet. Then she realized she didn't have Sharky's body, so they wouldn't be useful at all. Shadow didn't talk to many ponies, he stayed out in the orchards or in his room, constantly working. Applejack tried to stop him, but he flew somewhere else to work whenever she found him. Unity had stopped eating since Monday afternoon, and no matter what Twilight and Spike did, they couldn't get him to drink his milk or his bottle. Finally, Tuesday afternoon was upon them. Rainbow Dash had asked for it to be during school hours so Scootaloo wouldn't find out about Sharky. Rarity had agreed seeing as how she didn't want to tell Sweetiebelle either. All the ponies that had been invited showed up, dressed in black. Twilight's eyes still held no focus, Rariy wouldn't stop talking about how unecessesary it was, Pinkie kept talking about all the new ideas she had to make Sharky alive, and all the others were somber and quiet. The only two not dressed in black were Blaze and Fang. Within a few minutes after they all arrive, and elderly gray pony trotted in front of the empty coffin and started the ceremony. Everypony quieted down and turned to him.

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The solider with materia blasted Cloud with a lightning bolt before he could take another step forward. Smoke billowed out from the impact and I gave a small gasp. Then the smoke cleared, and Cloud was still standing solid as a rock, not even a slight sign of damage.

"Thundraga materia huh?" Cloud asked lightly. "Gonna have to do better than that..." He gripped the blade in front of him with both hands, and pulled a thin longsword away from the main sword so that he had the main sword in his right hand and the small blade in his left.. He leapt clear over his motorcycle and into the air over the S.O.L.I.D.E.R.s. They all crouched down and lifted various blades up to meet Cloud. He swung the larger blade down at his foes, knocking most of their blades to the side. He swung his lower body around and planted his foot firmly into the side of the head of the enemy below him. He flew over the heads of his comrades and landed a few feet away from the group. Cloud landed in the spot that the solider he had kicked had previously been standing in. A foe on Cloud's right side swung his blade at Cloud's neck as he landed, but Cloud blocked it with the larger blade and stabbed him through the stomach with his small sword. As cloud turned to stab the first enemy, two on his left quickly thrust their blades towards his exposed side. They both stabbed into him slightly, but he didn't even seem to care. He brought his elbow down on their blades, slamming their hands holding the swords into the ground. He pulled his small sword out of the other solider's gut and quickly turned and cut the throats of the ones that had stabbed him. The materia solider pointed his hand at the back of Cloud's head and began to cast the spell, but Cloud whipped around, grabbed his hand, and pressed it against the solider's chin. The lightning bolt flashed through his head, killing him instantly. At this point, the other soliders were looking unsure about continuing the fight. Another lunged a his exposed back, but Cloud jumped clear into the air again. He came down and brought the edge of the larger blade down on the offending solider's head. He was sliced clean in half. The other soliders all turned and ran at the same time. Cloud pulled the swords out of his side and threw them at the fleeing guards, impaling two of them, one with each sword. He gave the rest of the guards an uniterested glace. "Whatever." He turned to me, my mouth hanging open in a mixture of amazement and fear.

"... Holy f***..." I muttered dumbly. Cloud lifted his larger blade and pointed it at me. I almost pissed my pants.

"Now, who are you?" He asked coldly.

"What's it to ya jackass?" Sharky White! My name is Sharky White!" I yelled. Cloud tilted his head and kept his sword pointed at me.

"... Right... Why are there Shinra agents chasing you?"

"I broke out of a Shinra lab! Now go fuck yourself." Cloud looked even more confused and lowered the blade a little.

"You know, you really shouldn't insult me. Now, what were you doing in a Shinra lab?"

"None of your fucking buisness. I have no idea! One moment I was falling to my death, then boom! I was in a testing chamber in a Shinra lab!" Cloud started to look angry and he pointed the blade at me again.

"Watch it! Where did you come from?"

"Your mom's bed. Look, you may not believe me, but I'm from another world!" Cloud's face twisted with confusion.

"Alright, why do you keep doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"That thing where you change your voice and act like a jerk."

"... What the heck are you talking about? Idiot." Cloud shook his head and let out a heavy breath. He lowered the sword, combined the two blades and placed the blade on his back.

"Whatever. So, from another world huh? What world?" He asked sarcastically. He walked around the bodies of the soliders, occasionally searching them as he passed. He picked up the thundraga materia which had popped out of the dead solider's arm.

"Well, I was on Earth, but then I was in a place called Equestria, and now I'm here. Like a boss." Cloud snorted.

"Yeah, ok. You want this materia? I don't need it." He held up the little yellow stone.

"F*** yes I want it!" He tossed it to me and I caught it in my right hand. I opened my hand to look at it, but instead all I saw was a yellow light shining dully through my skin. "So... how do I use this?" Cloud looked at me skeptically.

"You really aren't from around here are you? Just point and say 'thundraga'." I held my arm out towards a nearby rock.

"Thundraga!" I shouted. A bright bolt of lightning lanced from my hand and shattered the rock. "Freakin' awesome!" I grinned. Then a light flased into my eyes. I looked up for the source, and I saw a glint coming from a cliff pointing towards Midgar. "Hey! Is Angeal's sword up there?!" Cloud gave me another confused look.

"Who's Angeal?"

"Oh, right. Is Zack's sword up there?" Cloud narrowed his eyes.

"How do you know about Zack?"

"I played Crisis Core on Earth. I know more about Zack then you do." I started walking towards the cliff.

"... What?"

"Nothing, just rambling." I walked all the way to and up the cliff, finally reaching the legendary sword embedded in the ground. Far off in the distance, the sunlight reflected off the the ruins of Midgar.

"Hey! Get away from that!" Cloud shouted. I turned to look behind me, and he had followed me up the cliff.

"Why would you allow Zack's sword to rust?" I asked him angrily. He flinched. I guess he didn't expect anger from me.

"What? Why does it matter to you?"

"Because this is Angeal's blade! The few things he never wanted to happen to it were wear, tear, and rust! Up here it gets all three! You should at least come here and polish it once in awhile or something ya jackass!"

"Who is Angeal?!" The Buster Sword suddenly began flashing. I turned to look at it, and Cloud gasped.

"What the...?" On the side of the blade, there was an image. It was a picture of Unity, Fang, Gilda, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Luna, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Shadow, and Blaze all huddled in a group. They were all crying. "Hey! Those are my friends!" I shouted in recognition.

"Y-your what?!" Cloud asked in shock. The image was getting progressively brighter and seemed to be reaching out for me. I ran over to the sword and grabbed the hilt. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"

"I've got no idea!" I pulled the sword from the ground and held it in front of me to better see the picture. With that, I got the strangest sensation of movement and the light wrapped itself around me. In a flash, I was gone.

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I let my eyes adjust as the light faded from the sword. The blade was suprisingly light despite it's size. I would still need two hands to use it to any effect at all, but lighter than one would think. My eyes readjusted to the new level of light, and I realized I was standing in Twilight's bedroom.

"What the... I don't even..." Some happy gurgling distracted me, and I looked down to see Unity laying in his bed with a sleepy smile. "You... you did this huh? Well... I'm not even gonna bother to stop and think about it 'cause my brain will explode." Unity fell asleep as I talked. I laid the Buster Sword on the ground and knelt to kiss his head goodnight. Then I stood back up and lazily positioned the Buster Sword on my shoulder. "Well... I can either run away now or go back to my friends..." I remebered the conditions I had originally left Ponyville in. "Well... I think it's time I manned up. I'm not gonna leave again." I walked downstairs to the main part of the library. "Twilight! Twilight I'm back!" I shouted. No response. I shrugged. She problably went to get some groceries or something. I left the library. To my suprise, off in the distance was a large gathering of ponies in the middle of a mostly empty field. They were all dressed in black, and there was a coffin at the front of the group. "Oh wow... I didn't hear about anypony dieing..." I took off towards the group. I noticed that all the girls, Gilda, Fang, Blaze, and Stormy were all in the group. I walked up to the back of the group.

"May his soul rest in peace..." An elderly looking gray pony at the front said.

"Hey! Who died?!" I asked loudly. Everypony in the group jumped about three feet off the ground and slowly turned towards me.

----------------------------------------------

Explaining is for Suckers

All of them stared at me, their mouths hanging open dumbly. I looked back at them, getting more confused by the minute.

"What? Who died? Seriously!" I asked again, not sure if they had understood me the first time. Then Rarity shouted and jumped a few feet off the ground.

"Ha! I told you all!" She gloated. She started doing a victory dance where she jumped from hoof to hoof while pumping her forelegs in the air. Which only made me more confused.

"Am I in the wrong Equestria? Dang it Unity! Well... any Equestria is good I guess." I mumbled to myself. My own thoughts slightly confused me. It's like my thought process was only half mine recently. Twilight stood up from where she was. She trotted over to me, mouth still hanging open.

"A... Are y-you a ghost?" She asked quietly. I frowned.

"What are you talking about? Yeah, I'm dead. Deal with it." Twilight gasped as I spoke. She slowly lifted a trembling hoof up and moved it forward to touch my leg. She poked my armored pants and yelped in shock.

"Y-you're real!"

"Yeah, I'm real. You have a firm grasp of the obvious. Why would I not be real?" Gilda stood up and approached me next. She poked me like Twilight had.

"I-it's not p-possible... I saw you hit the ocean!" Gilda gasped dazedly. My frown deepened, then I realized what she was talking about.

"Ohhh! I see, you thought I... and now... so this funeral... it's mine?" I slowly realized what had happened. Then three pegasi hit me in the gut for a hug-tackle. RD, Shy, and Shadow were all locking their hooves around my middle. I was still standing somehow. In fact, the impact didn't even really knock me back.

"Y-you're alive?!" Fluttershy asked hesitantly. She was looking up at me while hugging my waist.

"Yeah! Wait, why did you guys think I was dead? I understand why Gilda woul-- Wait a bucking second what's Gilda doing here?! Geez! Gone for one day..." I muttered. RD looked up at me angrily.

"One day?! You left us to think you were dead for a whole week!!" I gave her a confused look.

"Bitch learn to tell time. What do you mean a week? I was gone for less than a whole day!"

"What did you just call me?!" RD asked angrily.

"You're ok... you're alive..." Shadow's soft sobbing distracted us. "You're alive Sharky... I thought you were dead... like Blade..."

"Uhh... yeah.. me and Blade... I'm alive... Wow... I'm so sorry guys... I didn't mean to scare you... Explain this 'gone for a week thing'."

"You left us... You left us for a whole seven days..." Twilight spoke up. Her voice was dull at first, but it was quickly becoming angry. "You LEFT me! You left again! I thought it was for good this time!" She was quickly becoming enraged. Spike was happy that she was finally showing emotion, but worried for Sharky at the same time. I saw her anger and quickly pulled the pegasi off my waist and set them down. "Y-y-you... You JERK! You keep making me worry about you! I thought you were dead! You left me forever! Why would you do that?!" She charged at me and knocked me over with magic. I tossed the Buster Sword to the side as she charged so I wouldn't get hurt in the fall. I hit the ground and she jumped on my chest. "You keep leaving me! Why?! Why do you do that?! WHY?!" She started hitting me with little magic blasts across my body. They had the same amount of force as a punch from a full-grown man back on Earth, but they didn't hurt me as much as they should've. Regardless, I sat there and took the beating, letting her wear herself out.

I'm not usually one to understand emotions... I thought to myself as Twilight wailed on me. But something tells me that she's upset and interrupting this would be very bad for me... To my suprise, Twilight was sobbing as she beat me. Tears ran off her face and landed on my chest as the blows gradually slowed down. Twilight finished her rage with one last blow to my face, then she collapsed on my chest and just cried.

"You're alive..." She sobbed. I started gently stroking her mane. Then I heard some happy yipping and a broad grin crossed my face. Fang bounded over to my face and started licking me vigerously.

"Heh, hey boy..." I said quietly so I didn't disturb Twilight. He started rubbing his face against my cheek happily.

"Praise Celestia, for she has brought a lost soul back unto us!" The elderly gray pony next to my coffin cheered. "I simply must tell everypony about this!" He charged off in the direction of the town. Twilight was still crying, but she lifted her head off my chest and was looking at me.

"You're really here Sharky! I missed you!" RD walked up next to me. She was crying too.

"I... I missed you too... I know you don't want us to be sad... but I was really upset... I'm so sorry..." Fluttershy mumbled. I pulled each of the girls in with one of my arms and hugged them close. Rarity popped her head just over me and looked into my eyes.

"I simply knew you were fine Sharky! I believed in you!" I grinned at her and reached up to pull her head down. I pressed he head to mine.

"Thanks for believing in me Rarity. I can't tell you how much it means to me..." Then I frowned. "Wait, did that guy just say Celestia? Hey, do Luna and Celestia believe I'm dead too?" I asked. Twilight sniffled and wiped her eyes. She nodded slowly.

"They were the ones that told us you had died..." She whispered slowly.

"Oh crap! That means Luna problably released a report of some kind that said I was dead! I gotta tell her now!" I reached past the girls to the coin pouch secured at my hip. I reached inside and pulled out my iPhone. I half expected it to not work because it had been wet, but it wasn't really electric, so it worked fine. I hit the Luna dial button, and it rang for a few moments, longer than I'd ever had to wait before, then she picked up the call. Her face faded into view, and she looked pissed.

"What foul gryffin has stolen the calling device of our forme-- No... No, it can't be you..." Luna started off angry, but she quickly turned to shock as she realized who I was.

"I'm afraid it is. Looks like you're gonna have to put me back on the payroll Luna." I teased with a smile. Her mouth was still hanging open.

"Thou... thou art dead... we saw thou fall to thine death! You were impossible to locate with any magic we tried! H-how?!"

"Yeah we get it. I'm not dead, get over it ya little-- I blame Unity." I answered.

"Wha... but..." Luna started. Then Blaze sneezed and blew my phone to hell. My jaw dropped. I turned to look at him.

"Well bless you!" I said, a tint of anger in my voice. He blushed.

"Uh... sorry... excuse me?" About that time, I realized Rarity's mane was now on fire.

"Oh crap! Rarity! Your mane!" She had already noticed, and she was furiously beating her mane with her hooves to try and put out the fire. I stood abrubtly, knocking everypony away from me on accident. I patted out the flames with my hands, quickly extinguishing the fire.

"No! My mane! My beautiful mane!" Rarity wailed.

"Oh! I'm so sorry miss!" Blaze shouted quickly. Rarity quickly turned on him in one quick move.

"Y.. you... you...! Ugh... I know you didn't mean it..." Rarity slumped down. "My mane... that was my best quality..." She mumbled sadly. Her curls had all burned off, and all that was left was a rough mohawk. I knealt down next to her.

"Now that's ridiculous! Look, you have plenty of other good qualities! Besides, I'm sure a stylist could fix this right up.. with extensions or something, I don't know."

"Yes, were we in Canterlot! Nopony here has the expertise!" She wailed sadly. It actually physically hurt to see Rarity like this. Either that, the pure heartbreak from the past few minutes, the magic beating, or my burnt hands. One of those was definitely hurting by now.

"Look... I still need to take you out anyway right? Look, here soon, I'll take you to Canterlot and we can get your mane fixed. Ok?" She sniffled and looked up at me.

"Promise?"

"Yes. Now..." I turned back to all the ponies I had left behind. They were all looking at me with mixtures of relief, sadness, and shock "Who else wants to attack me or question me or the like? Because I really wanna sleep..." I was purely exhausted from my fight with the gryffins all the way to my running from the Shinra soliders. Interdimensional travel really wears you out.

"Uh... Yeah Sharky..." Gilda spoke up. "Are you on fire?" She pointed to my right hand. I looked at my hand and realized she was asking about the materia in my hand. I grinned.

"No, not on fire. I've just got some magic of my own now... Lemme show you..." I walked away from the ponies a short distance, then pointed at a rock. "Thundraga!" I shouted. Above the rock, thick, black stormclouds instantly formed and flashed towards the rock. Before the rock exploded though, the lightning bolt turned and flew right at Stormy, hitting him square in the head. He flew back a few feet and hit the ground, totally still. I immediately rushed over to him. "STORMY! Are you ok?!" He slowly wobbled up and swayed dizzily.

"Wow... I haven't taken a bolt like THAT in awhile..." He spun a few more times before shaking his head an gaining his balance. "Yeah... I'm fine. Nice to see you again by the way Sharky." My jaw dropped.

"... So... that's it? You just stand back up?" I asked. Stormy nodded.

"Eeyup, pretty much. Why?"

"Dude... boss. Anyway, sorry about that, it worked different in the other world..."

"What? Other world?" Applejack asked. "Fer land's sakes, what are ya talkin' about?"

"Oh, right. Well, the short version is I ran away from some bad guys, a really good fighter saved my life and gave me this magic. Then I grabbed that giant sword and poof I was back here." I pointed to the Buster Sword. "Now f*** off, I'm goin to bed." I turned and started walking towards the library.

"What did he just tell me ta do?" Apple jack asked.

"Hey! Wait! We still wanna talk to you!" Twilight shouted. Gilda, RD, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rarity all took off after me.

"I'd love to talk some more gilrs, but *yawn* I'm exhausted!" I stooped over and picked up the Buster Sword as I walked. The girls still trotted behind me. "Look, I promise I'll answer any other questions later, but right now... I gotta sleep..."

"Promise?" RD asked.

"I promise. Now..." I walked into the library, placed the Buster Sword in a corner, and curled up next to a bookshelf. In an instant, Fang was curled up next to me. I smiled and scratched his head. "G'night buddy..." I looked up to the girls that had followed me into the library. "G'night girls... Glad to be back..." Twilight was the first to trot over to me. She curled up next to me.

"... I'm so happy you're back Sharky... You still have a ton of questions to answer though..." I smiled.

"Of course... Say, you aren't sleeping too are you? 'Cause it's like the middle of the day..."

"Oh... uh... I haven't been sleeping well lately..."

"Me either..." Fluttershy trotted over and laid down too. I looked to the other girls.

"Well, tell Scootaloo and Sweetiebelle I said hi... and Gilda, tell your dad he can die in a hole while being sodomized by gigantic... zzzzzzzzzzzzzz." I fell asleep in a matter of seconds. I was vaguely aware of the girls talking a little, but I don't remeber much else.

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In what seemed like only a few minutes later, I was woken up by a loud knocking at the door. I grumbled and slowly removed myself from the sleeping ponies and wolf. I don't know why they were still asleep, but oh well. I trudged to the door and opened it. It was dark outside, but I could still tell the day had only just now ended. Outside, a huge group of ponies was waiting for me.

"Look! It's true! He is alive!" I heard a voice shout. Before I could move, I was bombarded by camera flashes and tons of questions. Just great.

Steven

By the way, it's Tuesday the 21st of January. Just thought you'd like to know.

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"Are you a ghost come back to this world?"

"Maybe he's a zombie! Would you happen to be a zombie Mr. White?"

"Nonsense! I was told he was an angel! Mr. White, can you confirm reports of you being an angel?" The reporters flooded me with questions, but when one of them asked if I was an angel...

"BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! ....no. I am not an angel." The reporters had been still asking questions, but as soon as I started talking, they all went silent. "Also not a zombie and not a ghost. I am just alive."

"Well that's exactly what we'd expect an angel to say!" The same reporter shouted.

"No! Look, I'm not an angel! Not a zombie! Nothing but a normal human!"

"Are humans immortal Mr. White?" One of the reporters asked.

"No, I can die fairly easily."

"Then how do you explain falling from a thousand feet in the air and surviving?" Another reporter asked right as I finished talking.

"Uhh... I was transported to another world instead of dying..." This statement was met by a huge flurry of questions and camera flashes.

"You expect us to believe that Mr. White?" One reporter asked sarcastically.

"Yeah! Do you take us for fools? What are you Mr. White? If humans die easy, what does that make you?"

"Are you SURE you're not an angel?"

"I don't expect you to believe it, but it is the truth. Yes you are all fools, I don't think you're fools, and I am a human! No, I'm not an angel!!!" I responded. Another flurry of flashes.

"Why did you change your voice Mr. White?"

"Why are you suddenly acting cross with us?"

"Are you really sure you're not an angel?! You do heroic deeds all the time and you can't die!"

"Why are you holding out your arm Mr. White?" I raised my arm and pointed off a short distance away at a bare patch of land.

"Thundraga!" Stormclouds formed instantly and the ground blasted away as the lightning struck. The reporters all screamed and shut up really fast. The camera flashes and questions came to an immediate halt. "Now, please stop this... I'm not an angel, I'm not immortal, and I'm not worth this kind of attention! Please, just leave me alone? Or I'll blow your freaking heads off." The reporters screamed and ran off. I scratched my head in confusion.

"Sharky! Why would you threaten them like that?!" Twilight yelled behind me. I turned around, and her and Fluttershy were staring at me in confusion.

"Huh? What do you mean? I just asked them to leave..."

"Yeah! Then threatened to kill them!" I tilted my head in confusion.

"I didn't say anything about killing them... No, I did." Twilight jumped and gave me a confused look.

"Sharky... what's going on?" Fluttershy asked with fear in her voice. I frowned.

"I wanna know the same thing! Why is everypony acting so strange around me?"

"We're acting strange?! Sharky, you just threatened to blow those reporters' heads off!" Twilight countered. I frowned.

"What are you talking about? I would never say something like that! He's right. I would." Twilight and Fluttershy began to look even more confused.

"Sharky... Something is wrong..." Fluttershy said timidly.

"Damn right something's wrong, you're still here. Well I wanna know what's going on! Why are you two freaking out!?" Fluttershy flinched and shrank back.

"W-why would you say something like that?" There was pain in her voice.

"Hold on Fluttershy... I have a theory..." Twilight mumbled to her. She turned to me. "What's your name?" I frowned and tilted my head in confusion.

"I'm Sharky! You know that! Well, you should already know me Twilight... It's Steven." Twilight gasped and started backing away from me.

"Oh no... this is bad... this is very bad..."

"What? Why did he say Steven?" Fluttershy asked. My frown deepened.

"Wait, how do you know about Steven?" I asked. "He only shows up in my dreams... Unless there's a pony Steven that I don't know... but why would you be talking about a pony Steven?"

"Oh no... no no no no... What have I done?!" Twilight yelled.

"What? What's wrong Twilight? Finally realized you lived as a loner your whole life?" Twilight flinched.

"Watch it Steven!" She chided. I frowned.

"Why are you calling me Steven? I thought you agreed to call me Sharky?"

"Twilight... Sharky is scaring me... what's wrong with him?" Fluttershy asked quietly.

"How am I scaring you Fluttershy? Not that it's hard ya cowardly--"

"I think I released Steven from Sharky's mind!" Twilight interrupted. I was getting tired of frowning.

"What are you talking about? How do you know about Steven? What's going on?" Twilight flinched and slowly turned to me. She inhaled deeply and sighed.

"Sharky... I have a confession... I went inside your dreams... and I think I released Steven..."

"............ YOU WHAT?!?!? WHAT DID YOU SEE?!" I wasn't mad, just extremely worried about what I might have exposed her to.

"Oh... uh... nothing much... I just talked to you and Steven... and myself..." I let out a sigh of relief.

"Don't go into my mind Twilight. I'm not mad this time... but Celestia knows what you'll find in there... Wait, why were you in my dreams anyway? What do you mean released Steven? Bitch stay the fuck outta my head or I'll kill ya!" Both the girls flinched at me. "Well geez, I just said I wasn't mad..."

"Sharky... Steven can talk through you now. He keeps saying mean things... I think it's my fault he can do that..."

"Wait... Steven is all my bad qualities... and he talk through me? Oh my god..." I fell backwards and smacked into a wall. I leaned into the wall and sank to the floor. "So... every time somepony was freaking out and saying I said something bad... Oh no... What do we do?!? Damn right it's your fault! Thanks for releasing me, now I can finally have some fun!"

"So... Steven is Sharky? Or Sharky is Steven? I'm sorry... but I'm confused..." Fluttershy interrupted.

"Steven was a part of Sharky. I accidentally let him talk through Sharky. I don't know what we can do!" Twilight started pacing.

"So... Why can't I hear Steven?" I asked.

"I don't know! I messed up! I don't even know if this has ever happened before! I basically gave you magic multiple personality disorder!"

"... Oh well, guess we just roll on." Twilight and Fluttershy both gave me looks of disbelief.

"What do you mean?! We can't just ignore this!" Fluttershy flutteryelled.

"I don't see why not. All he can do is talk right? Then we just tell everypony about him and ignore him when he talks. Problem solved."

"B-buh... What about ponies you don't know? You'll freak them out!" Twilight countered. I shrugged.

"Oh well. Little bastards can get over it or GTFO." Both the girls jumped slightly. "Steven just talked didn't he?"

"... Yes... We need to get rid of him." Twilight said firmly.

"Ok, if he's that big of a deal... Well, what do we do?"

"I... don't know... I could look for a spell..."

"A spell to cure MPD? Good luck with that... Well... What do I do until then? Is it safe for me to go around like normal or is Steven really that bad?"

"If you don't mind me saying... He's really bad Sharky..." Fluttershy offered quietly.

"You better take that back ya little bitch!" Fluttershy curled up and put her forelegs over her head. "Wow, I guess he's really that bad... So does that mean I'm stuck in the library?" Twilight nodded.

"For your own good, you should stay here... We don't want you freaking everypony out after all..."

"... Well crap. That doesn't sound very fun... Oh well... It'll give me time to polish up the Buster Sword I suppose..."

"Yes, I've been meaning to ask about that... Why do you have a giant sword? If you don't mind explaining..." Fluttershy asked.

"Well, I guess that means we're done talking about Steven. I got it in the other world I went to. It used to belong to a... to a great hero... Anyway, I think it would be a legendary weapon, so it'll help me when I have to hunt things like Ursa Minors." Twilight had already magically pulled a few books off the shelves and was reading, but as soon as I said 'hunt', she ran over and got really close to my face.

"No! No leaving! You aren't hunting any more! I won't let you leave me again!!!"

"I do what I want. Sorry Twilight, but I have to keep hunting. That last Ursa almost destroyed a whole town! If I can even save one more pony's life by fighting monsters, I'll do it! Don't try to stop me."

"I won't let you! You can't leave anymore! I won't lose you again!"

"You won't! Twilight, I'm much stronger than I was before!"

"You don't know that! How could you get stronger in such a short time?!"

"Easy, I now have a giant sword, some minor magic steroids, and oh yeah, I can make lightning."

"... Oh... well... that doesn't mean you can't die! I still don't want you risking your life!"

"Too bad! I have to Twilight! It's for the greater good of Equestria! Luna and Celestia themselves said I'm one of the few knights able to fight these monsters!"

"That doesn't mean you can go and die! You don't even know these ponies you risk your life for! Why do you do it?!"

"Because they all mean more than I do!!" I shouted back at her. She jumped back in shock. Tears started running down my face.

"W... What kind of nonsense is that?!" Fluttershy interrupted. "You mean just as much as anypony else!"

"No, I don't... You girls don't understand... I have nopony girls... Everypony out there... they have family, homes, lives they need to be a part of... I... I lost it all... If I were to die for real right now, in a short time everypony would be over my death. Unity wouldn't remember me, Fang would be fine... he's a tough wolf. You girls... I'm your friend... but in reality you'd get over my death soon enough..."

"Sharky... What do you mean? We all love you! Of course we'd miss you!" Fluttershy trotted over to me and hugged me.

"Yeah.. maybe for a little while... but it wouldn't matter in the end. Get the fuck off me! My life... I would trade it to save anypony else's. Humans... they aren't the same as ponies girls. I feel like I'm a corruption of this world as it is..."

"That's crazy! If humans are all like you, they're great! I don't see why you think so little of yourself!" Twilight argued. She moved forward and hugged me too.

"Twilight... humans are terrible. Not all of them no, but a good majority... To put it in perspective... We've made an art out of killing each other. " Both the girls gasped and looked up at me.

"What?! That can't be true!" Fluttershy said.

"Oh yes. A long time ago it used to be a sport actually. We don't do that anymore, but there are still huge fights and wars and destruction..."

"S-sharky... no... well... you aren't like them! I know you! You aren't like that! You are one of the best ponies I know!" Fluttershy countered. I laughed.

"Well thanks girls... but it doesn't matter... I've got to fight for ponies. I can't just sit back and let them die... Even if I hadn't lost everything, I'd still fight for them! They mean so much to me!"

"How can they be worth your life?" Twilight asked. "Wait, what do you mean you lost eveything? Oh no... you don't want me to send you back do you?!" I laughed again, harder this time.

"Just the opposite Twilight... I never want to go back. Never. I would much rather die."

"Why would you say that?" Twilight asked. "You keep saying you never want to go back, but you always seem so sad when you talk about it. Why?" Both the girls looked at me expectantly, waiting for an explanation. I searched for a way out of answering the question, but I couldn't think of anything. I sighed deeply.

"Ok... I think it's time I told you girls what happened to me before I came here... It's... a bit sad..." They both looked at me determinedly. I sighed again. "Ok... here we go..."

Backstory

"... Did you really have to get everypony?" I asked. Twilight and Fluttershy had stopped me before I started my story and gone to get the other girls, Stormy, Shadow, Gilda, and Blaze.

"Well, everypony needs to hear this." Twilight explained. I sighed.

"Fine... Here goes." They all huddled around me in a small circle, like this was some kind of bizzare story time. "Oh, before I start, I should tell the rest of you about Steven."

"Uh... ain't that yer real name?" Applejack asked.

"Shut up! I'm talkin'! Yes, yes it is."

"What did ya just tell me?!" Applejack shouted.

"Whoa whoa! Calm down! Listen, according to Twilight, I have two personalities now, so if I say something mean and change my voice it's not really me."

"... Ah'm gonna need a mite more of an explanation than that..."

"Look, there are two of me now. One is very mean and he responds to Steven."

"Oh, is that why you kept changing your voice when I was talking to you at my place?" Gilda asked.

"Yeah, when my voice changes, I'm Steven not Sharky."

"Whoa whoa... back up, so you are really two ponies?" RD asked.

"No, I just have two people in my head. One is the real me, and the other is Steven. Just ignore Steven if he talks ok?"

"Sounds legit!" Pinkie Pie shouted. I let out a small laugh. The ponies all still seemed a little confused, but didn't press for more information.

"Ok, well... Here's my story girls... My life was actually really good back on my old world. I was in college, a school that is for--"

"We know about colleges Sharky." Twilight interrupted.

"Bitch don't cut me off! Oh, you do? Huh, sorry. Wasn't sure if you had them here. Anyway, I was doing really well... then I met a girl." RD, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rarity all seemed to lean in closer. "We started dating... we went out for about two years... A few times she tried to push our relation ship to the 'next level', but I refused because the last thing I had promised my parents was that I'd be abstinent. I wonder if I made a mistake with that... anyway, on our two year anniversary, I had decided to propose to her. My grandmother had given me her engagement ring, the same one I gave you Rarity." Rarity's eyes widened as she realized what I had given her. "She was taking a vacation to Italy on that day, so I flew to her to propose."

"Wait, I thought that humans can't fly!" RD countered.

"Nah, we made these giant metal birds to carry us around. Let me finish talking and I'll explain little details like that ok? Anyway, I showed up at her hotel to propose. The staff gave me her room number, and when I got there, the door was left open.... so I walked inside and.... and... and..."

"And what?" Pinkie asked.

"She was fucking another man! I don't know if I can actually say it..." Tears started forming in my eyes again. All the ponies gasped and rocked back. Except Gilda. She just gasped.

"I... haven't even told you yet..."

"S-sharky... That's terrible!" Fluttershy wailed. She flew over and hugged my waist. "N-no wonder it makes you sad!"

"... I still haven't told you..."

"Steven said it! Thats so horrible Sharky!" Twilight explained. She trotted over and hugged me too. The rest of the ponies all trotted over and embraced me. Even Gilda.

"Thank you... but that's not even the worst part..." They all looked up at me in shock.

"I-it gets worse?! Oh dear!" Rarity shouted. I nodded somberly.

"On my way back to the... metal bird to take me home... I got three phone calls. You know, on something like the thing I use to talk to Luna." They nodded in understanding. "On the first call... I was told I had been kicked out of my college... I had let my grades slip so I could be with her more often..." Twilight gasped.

"Sharky! That's terrible!"

"Not done. Applejack, I think you'll understand this one the most. I had worked for a very long time. I was trying to save up money so I could go and buy myself a house. I worked from the day I turned 16 until I had enough money for the down payment on my own house."

"Well... that's mighty respectable, but Ah don't see how it's a problem..." Applejack said quietly.

"I loved that house.... It was the embodiment of all my work... On that second phone call... I was told that it had been attacked by arsonists. People that burn buildings down for fun..." All the ponies present gasped audibly.

"H-humans d-do that?! That's horrible!" Shadow wailed.

"Mah gosh... Ah'm so sorry Sharky! Ah can't even imagine what it would be like if mah orchards burned down..." Applejack muttered.

"Still not done. There's one last thing..."

"I-it gets worse?!" Stormy shouted.

"Right after that... I got one last call... It was the police. My parents died in a train accident... That was the day you brought me here Twilight..." I was openly crying now. I didn't feel ashamed of the tears like I used to. Almost all my friends were crying too. Blaze looked sad, but he wasn't crying. Gilda might have been crying, but she had turned away from me, so I couldn't tell. "That day... I lost everything. I had no other family, no home to go to, my dreams of becoming a marine biologist had been destroyed, I had nopony to turn to, nowhere to go... I was alone girls... all alone..." I started shivering with sadness. Sobs from a few of the girls rocked against my body. "That... is why I will never go back. I actually had been planning on dying." Every head in the room snapped back to look at me.

"S-sharky... t-that's... horrible..." Stormy mumbled.

"I know. In a way, coming to Equestria saved my life twice over. I have never been happier then when I'm here with you guys, even at my best moments on my old world."

"R-really?" Twilight asked quietly. I started absentmindedly stroking her mane and rubbing RD's back. The contact helped to calm me down.

"Really. This place... it's the best thing that ever happened to me, no matter how many times I get the crap beaten out of me." I gave all of them a serious look. "That's why I'm so ok with risking my life. I don't matter any more..."

"Now hold on!" Blaze shouted. "That's ridiculous!"

"H-he's right dear, you mean so much to us!" Rarity agreed.

"S-sharky... Blade... he was all I had until you found me... If I lost you too..." Shadow broke down into sobs.

"Sharky... when you left... every time you leave, I'm terrifed for you! If you ever left forever... I... I don't know what I'd do..." Twilight added.

"Sharky, if it wasn't for you, Scoots would be dead! You can't just die on us, imagine if you could save somepony else by staying alive!" RD threw in.

"And what if I save more with my death?" I countered. "You all said it yourselves, you'd be sad if I was dead, yes? Now, imagine if I could save hundreds of ponies from that same sadness by fighting these monsters. Even if I died in the process, it would be worth it." Twilight and Fluttershy seemed to stop and think. The other seemed confused. "Previous argument." I explained. They nodded in understanding.

"Well... I... I guess I understand Sharky..." Twilight admitted. "But... but... I still don't want you to go..."

"Yeah! You're more use to everypony alive! You can't use this to justify risking your life!" RD agreed.

"Dear... we care for you now." Rarity offered. "You have meaning here! You can't simply tell yourself you don't matter! Your death... it would destroy us..."

"... Girls... and boys... it doesn't matter if I matter. I'm gonna do this. I... I have to. If I could've saved somepony, and I don't do it, I'd never forgive myself... Geez this crap makes me wanna puke. I'm savin' my own ass if it comes down to it."

"Sharky... what happens when you aren't strong enough to fight something?" Gilda asked.

"Ha! Won't happen! I've got a legendary weapon and my own magic now! Not to mention I'm way more damage resistant and stronger since I came back from the other world!

"Heh, and I didn't think you could be more of a bad-flank..." RD mumbled. "Well... If it's what you want... I guess we can't stop you..."

"Damn right you can't! Thanks RD..."

"I... I still don't like it... but... ok Sharky... just promise you'll always come back?" Twilight asked.

"I promise." Pinkie jumped up in my face.

"Do you Pinkie promise?" She asked.

"Uhh... sure?" I held up my pinkie finger. She gave me a confused look.

"What are you doing that for?" Pinkie asked.

"This is my pinkie. I'm pinkie promising!" I explained.

"... But... I'm Pinkie."

"Oh! The smallest finger on a human hand is called a pinkie and we wrap them together to pinkie promise in my world. I thought you meant that for some reason... Well, how do you Pinkie promise here?"

"Oh, it's easy! Just say 'cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" She explained. She made the motions as she said it.

"God that's stupid. Ok Pinkie. I promise, cross my heart and hope to die, stick a cupcake in my eye!"

"Good! Remember, you can never break a Pinkie Promise!" She warned. I smiled.

"I won't. Now guys... I need sleep... actually, I gotta pee then sleep. Then I gotta eat and spend some time with each of you guys individually. After I spend time with Unity of course." They all seemed to shake themselves clear of thoughts.

"Oh, right. It's getting late anyway, I should get back to Scoots." RD trotted out the door, Gilda close behind. Gilda stopped at the door and turned to me.

"Sharky... stay safe kay?" With that she turned and left.

"Ah should get goin' anyway, gotta get up early ta work tomorrow anyhow. C'mon Shadow!" Applejack turned to leave as well.

"Well... just stay alive, ok Sharky? You... you mean a lot to us..." Shadow turned and followed after Applejack.

"Well, I've got a forest to train in, so I'll see you guys later!" Blaze turned and left as well.

"Well... I'd love to stay and chat some more... but Celestia knows what messes Sweetiebelle may have made already! I'll see you for that date soon Sharky! Oh, silly me, how could I forget? Don't forget to stop by the boutique soon, I've got a gift for you!" Rarity waved me goodbye and left as well.

"Well, you should get back to the Cakes Pinkie." I offered. "Pinkie?" I looked around quickly for a sign of the party pony, but she was already gone. "Huh, nevermind."

"Well, I've still got to break up what's left of that ice storm, I'll see you soon Sharky!" Stormy smiled and went off on his way as well.

"Well, I'm gonna pee. I'll see you two later." I left Twilight and Fluttershy in the main room as I left towards the bathroom. I relieved myself and took a quick shower. I was back downstairs about five minutes later, and to my suprise, Fluttershy was still at the library. "Hey, don't you have to get back to your house?" I asked her. She blushed.

"I'm still afraid of the dark..." She explained. I grinned.

"Don't worry, I don't mind taking you home." I scooped her up and walked to the door. "I'll be sleeping at Fluttershy's house Twilight! I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Wait, what?!" I closed the door and took off towards Fluttershy's house. As soon as we were there, I tucked her into her bed and left her in her room.

"Wait! Aren't you gonna s-share the bed?" She asked.

"Nope!" With that I collapsed on the floor in her living room and was out like a light in a matter of minutes.

Gift

".... So, you can talk now." I was dreaming. Steven and I had just met in the dream. We were inside of a giant ball of water inside a giant flower. Don't know why I was dreaming that, but whatever.

"Hells yeah! This is fuckin' awesome!" He cheered.

"Well... would you mind being nicer to my friends? They seem to flinch every time you speak."

"Heh, little bastards can grow up."

"See? Like that, that wasn't necessary."

"Like I care. Besides, you can't make me do anything any more! I'm my own person now!" He gloated.

"... Darn. Well... just please consider trying to be nicer? I'd really appreciate it."

"Like I give a fuck what you appreciate!"

"Alright, that's it!" I dreamed the water around Steven to freeze solid in a perfect sphere around him. "Now listen! I can't kill you because you're a figment of my imagination, but I swear, keep offending my friends... You will live to regret it. I still control your world Steven!" I melted away the top of the sphere of ice so that his head was exposed. He was smiling at me.

"Ok, fine. I'll play nice.... er." I frowned.

"Well... I guess that's good enough for now. Huh?" A bright light was shining off in the distance. "Aww... time to wake up already? Oh well..." The light brightened and expanded until it enveloped Steven and I.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednsday, January 23rd

I woke up still on Fluttershy's floor. For some reason though, I was now hugging Fluttershy.

"Aww... how sweet. She didn't want me to be alone." I thought out loud. "WAKE THE FUCK UP!" Fluttershy's eyes shot open and she let out a small yelp. I facepalmed. "Dammit Steven... What? That was nicer!" I looked to Fluttershy. "Did he just say something?" She still looked slightly groggy, but she managed to answer me.

"He said he was nicer."

"Did he yell at you to wake you up, or was it me talking?"

"He yelled 'wake the f word up'..." She said nervously.

"Oh dang it! I'll get you for that one Steven! I got a whole lotta time before you go to sleep again." I shook my head and decided to not worry about him. "So... uh... you wouldn't happen to maybe have any steak left?" I asked Fluttershy timidly. "I haven't eaten since... since I don't really know." Fluttershy smiled at me gently.

"Of course. I'll be right back!" She said cheerily as she fluttered off to the kitchen.

"... I was gonna cook it!" I shouted after her.

"No you weren't!" She called back.

"Ha! You just got told!" I heard a worryingly familiar sizzling coming from the kitchen. A wave of nausea hit me as I thought about eating meat again, but it was quickly stifled as the scent of cooking steak wafted in from the kitchen. A few minutes later, Fluttershy trotted in with with steak, and eggs! "Wow! You didn't have to make more Fluttershy!" She smiled bashfully.

"No... I wanted to cook more for you. You need your nourishment if you're going to be strong... to... fight monsters..." I flinched.

"Yeah... Thank you Shy." She handed the plate to me with her wing. She hoofed me a fork and a knife too. I stood up and walked outside into the snow. This time I forced myself to eat slower and actually taste the food. It was really good, despite the fact that eating it made me sick with myself. Fluttershy was easily the best cook I'd encountered here by far. I practically licked my plate clean. I walked back inside, passed Fluttershy, and went into the kitchen. I found the sink and started washing the plate myself.

"H-hey! I was going to clean it!" Fluttershy shouted after me.

"No you weren't! Ha! Told!" I finished scrubbing the plate, knife, and fork, and I located the cabinets where they went. After putting everything up, I walked back into the living room. I felt way better after getting some proper sleep and a good meal. "Well, I'm off to take care of Unity now. You coming?"

"Oh yes! If you don't mind..."

"Fluttershy, I just invited you. Why would I mind?"

"Oh... I don't know..." I rolled my eyes and scooped Fluttershy up in my arms.

"C'mon! Let's go!" I took off into the snow, making sure to close Fluttershy's door behind me. I decided to sprint to make sure no monster smelled the steak on me and tried to eat us. The I realized I had Fluttershy's wings. I facepalmed and took off, flying just over the tops of the nearby trees.

"... So... Sharky... about the k--"

"NO! No! No! Not talking about it! Just forget it! I know it didn't matter! Please don't bring it up!" Fluttershy flinched in my arms and went quiet. An akward silence followed us all the way to Twilight's library. I walked in, to find Twilight waiting in the main room.

"There you are! I was wondering when you'd be back!" Twilight cheered. "Look what I found this morning!" She levitated a newspaper over to me. "I haven't read it yet, but these sold out fast!" I read the front page headline out loud.

"New hero is alive and well!" The article was about me, and there was a picture of me with my arm outstretched towards the crowd of reporters on the page. "What?! I'm not a hero!" I shouted in suprise. I continued reading. "This great being from another world seems to shrug at death! He survived his 1000 foot fall off the Gryffin Empire, and is back to fight for us again!" I scowled at the paper. "This is ridiculous! I've only fought a bunch of Timber Wolves, an Ursa Minor, a manticore, and a bunch of gryffins!"

"Yeah, but you've also raced the wonderbolts, saved an orphan filly's life, and you are a royal knight! Sharky, it's no wonder they think you're a hero!" Twilight countered.

"But... but... didn't you tell me you've saved Equestria twice? Wouldn't that make you heroes?"

"Did I tell you that? Huh... well, yes, but we don't tell anypony. Some of those here in Ponyville know, but not the whole of Equestria!"

"Heeeyyy! Sharky!" Spike interrupted. "Luna sent this for you!" He ran downstairs and handed me a small package. I opened the little box to reveal a new magic mirror. As soon as I grabbed it, it turned into an iPhone. I looked up my contacts, and to my suprise, Daring Do was still on my list.

"Huh... well..." I gave the paper one last sideways glance before I threw it on the ground. "I'll deal with that later. I should call Luna." I tapped Luna's button on the screen, and she picked it up on the first ring.

"Sharky! Thou art truly alive!" Luna said happily.

"Yes, the reports of my death were... greatly exagerrated, so... I still have a job right? You didn't just give it to somepony else while I was gone?"

"Of course! We would be honored to have thee in our service still! Thou couldn't have come back at a better time!"

"What? You mean you have a mission already?"

"Not at this moment, but lately the monsters in Equestria have been more and more agressive. Expect a mission soon Sharky..." She sounded oddly worried with that warning.

"What kind of monsters are getting more aggressive Luna?" She looked down a little.

"All of them truly... but... mainly the constellation monsters..."

"Ha! Is that all? I've got a legendary weapon and magic now! Bring it on!" Luna looked up again, very suprised.

"How couldst thou have aqquired such things while thou were dead?!"

"Easy, I wasn't dead, I went to another world! I got some magic and a legendary sword from that world, and now I'm here!"

"How long were thou in this other world?" She asked. "More importantly, how did thou get there?"

"Oh, less than a day in that world, but it was a week here. Unity. that's how I got there."

"Wow... only thou Sharky... Well, it seems I was right to allow thee to keep Unity. Time to go flaunt our sucess in 'Tia's face. Goodbye Sharky."

"Bye Luna." I hung up the phone and put it in my coin pouch. Which reminded me that I needed to take care of Unity. Not the coin pouch, the talk with Luna. "I'm gonna go get Unity girls, be right back." They nodded and I walked upstair. "Holy crap it's cold!" I walked into the room, and there were icicles hanging from the ceiling. Unity was sitting in his bed, sound asleep still. I grabbed him and rushed out of the room before my balls froze off. I rushed back downstairs and made him a moon bottle of chocolate milk. Twilight heated it up for me and I gently woke Unity up to feed him. He greeted me with a groggy smile, and then gulped down the bottle as fast as he could.

"Wow! He was really hungry!" Twilight exclaimed. He quickly finished off the bottle and the milk. I put him on my shoulder and burped him.

"What, nothing strange today?" I asked him. He giggled. "God you're adorable." I thought for a moment. "Hey girls, I'm gonna go take Unity out to play."

"W-what? Sharky... If you don't mind me saying... I think that's a very bad idea..." Fluttershy mumbled.

"Why would you say that?"

"Sharky, he looks like Discord! Everypony would freak out!" Twilight explained.

"Well it's not like I'm leavin' the front yard! I just wanna make a snowman with him!"

"... don't you mean snowpony?" Fluttershy asked.

"No, I know what I said... first I wanna go get him some warm clothes though. I don't want him to get sick... Goin' to Rarity's house! Bye!" I charged away from the girls and out the door before they could react.

"Wait! What about the plan for you to stay inside?!" Twilight yelled after me. I grinned.

"LEROOOOOOOOOOYYYYY JENKINS!" I shouted in response.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hi Rarity! Can you let me in? Unity's getting cold!" I had gotten to the Carousel Boutique and I was waiting on Rarity to answer the door.

"On my way dear!" She said happily. She opened the door. She was wearing a hooded cloak. To hide her ruined mane most likely. "You brought Unity for a visit? How nice!" Then she ushered me in. "You came just in time dear! I have your present right here!"

"Oh Rarity! You didn't have to make me anything! I'm perfectly fine with what I have! I do need some stuff for Unity though, I don't want him getting too cold whenever I take him outside."

"Oh, well I'm sure I can whip something up for him in a moment! I still wish to give you these though!" She turned around a corner and returned with a bundle in her mouth. She trotted over to me and held it out. I took it hesitantly and unfolded it gently.

"Oh dear god yes!" I cheered happily. It was a shirt! It had Luna's mark right in the center of the chest large enough to reach from my stomach to the base of my throat. I pulled on it gently, and yes! Stretchy! "Thank you Rarity! This is amazing!" She smiled.

"Not done yet dear, I had Fluttershy help me with these..." She turned her head to reach her back. I heard a clinking sound and she turned back to me with something in her mouth. I reached out my hand and she dropped it into my grasp. "Be careful dear, they're a bit sharp..." I gingerly picked it up, and it turned out to be two things. Gloves! On the back of the hand of each glove, the was a small curved blade extending from the glove. It resembled a shark's dorsal fin. "I remembered you said you like those... shark things, so Fluttershy told me what they looked like! Those are sharpened blades, I thought maybe they could help you fight..."

"Rarity... this is amazing!" I cheered. I dropped to one knee and hugged her. She wrapped her forelegs around me in return.

"... *Ehm*" I released Rarity and looked at the source of the noise. Sweetiebelle was standing at the top of the stairs. She had saddlebags on, so I guess she was getting ready to go to school. "So... does this mean that Rarity is your special somepony?!" Sweetiebelle asked excitedly. I blushed.

"No! Nothing like that! I was just thanking her for the clothes!"

"Nopony else hugs Rarity like that when she gives them clothes...."

"Sweetiebelle! It's none of your buisness!" Rarity snapped. Sweetiebelle seemed to get more excited.

"Ooooh! That means it IS true! I gotta tell my friends!" She dashed out of the boutique before I could stop her. Kinda reminded me of myself actually.

"Ugh! That girl... I apologize Sharky, I'll tell her the truth when she gets back..." Rarity seemed a little upset.

"Don't worry, I'm sure that didn't cause any real harm... anyway, how much for the clothe--"

"No darling! They are a gift!"

"Dang it... Well, how much for Unity's--"

"No! I told you the white diamond covered--"

"All MY orders, that means you have to let me pay for Unity's!" I said triumphantly. Rarity sighed.

"Fine... I shall get on it now..." She levitated a measuring tape over to Unity and started measuring. He stared at the glowing tape, totally amazed. I laughed to myself and sat down in a chair.

"Now I wait..." I muttered to myself.

Snow

"Sharky?" Rarity nudged my shoulder a few times.

"Zzzzzzzzzz..." My snore droned on.

"Sharky!" Raity shouted this time and I snapped awake.

"Yes! Spring fashion line! Very interesting! I wasn't asleep!" Rarity had been telling me about her spring fashion line... in... excruciating... detail. "God that was the most boring thing I've ever encountered!"

"Hmph! Well at least Sharky liked hearing about it! Didn't you Sharky?"

"Uhh.... yes. Who are you talking to?"

"Steven! He had the gall to call my work boring! Can you believe it?!"

"... Yes."

"What?"

"Nothing. Is Unity's stuff done already?"

"Why yes! I've even taken some extra care in the design process to help him blend in!"

"... How would you do that?"

"I'll show you!" She turned to her measuring station and lifted something in her mouth. She turned around and she was holding Unity by the scruff of his neck. She let me grab hold of him and I examined his new outfit. He had some sock-like things on, but they were designed to look like a normal pony leg while Unity wore them! They covered up the feathers on his talon arm and got thicker towards the base to look like a hoof. The lion one covered all his fur and had the same width as a pony hoof as well. She did the same thing for the back talon, but as far as I could tell the normal pony leg had a normal sock. He had a little stocking cap that covered up his little horns. He also had a little vest that looped around his forelegs and covered the wings on his back. His tail had a sort of covering on it that made it look like a pony tail, but if he moved his tail the wrong way it got uncovered. All of the above were pure white. "Now, I know white is a terrible color to wear if you don't want it to stain, but I thought it would match the purity you were trying to raise Unity with!"

"Rarity... this is freaking awesome!!!" I bent down and hugged her again.

"Ha! Told ya so!" Sweetiebelle gloated from the doorway. Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Sweetiebelle were standing there.

"Hey! Shouldn't you be in school?!" I yelled.

"Nah! Cheerilee was sick, so we don't have school today!" Scootaloo explained.

"Why don't you have a substitute teacher?"

"A what?" I facepalmed.

"That's lucky for you I guess... Well, it's still not what it looks like!"

"Then why haven't cha let 'er go?" Applebloom asked. I jumped as I realized I still was hugging Rarity with the arm that wasn't holding Unity.

".... Uhhhhh... Do you guys wanna see my son?" They seemed instantly distracted from me and Rarity.

"Ooooh! You have a son?! How come nopony told me?" Sweetiebelle asked. Rarity gave me a hard stare.

"Because it was SUPPOSED to be a secret dear..." She replied. I shrugged and mouthed 'oops' at her.

"I wanna see him!" Scootaloo said excitedly. All three of them rushed me to see Unity. He was laying in my arms face up, and for all intents and purposes, he seemed like a normal pony with a slightly longer, thinner face. All three of the girls jumped in the chair next to me to be able to see him. He smiled at them and reached towards them with his 'hooves'.

"Awwww!" They sighed collectively.

"He's adorable!" Sweetiebelle squeaked. "How'd you get him?"

"I adopted him."

"Like how Rainbow Dash adopted me?" Scootaloo asked. I rubbed the back of my head in thought.

"Not... quite the same way...."

"Well he's mighty cute!" Applebloom squealed. "Ah could just eat him up!"

"Cannibal."

"What was that?" Applebloom asked.

"Hmm? I didn't say anything..."

"Huh, Ah guess Ah'm hearin' things... anyway, what's his name?"

"His name is Unity."

"That's a funny name..." Scootaloo mumbled.

"Well... just trust me, it has meaning..."

"Well whaddya know? I wasn't hallucinating!" A new voice from the doorway said happily. I turned my head to see the new visitor.

"Hey! Night Weaver!" I grinned and walked over to him. His jaw dropped and he backed up a little.

"Whoa! Dude... tall..."

"Oh, right. Sorry. What's up man?"

"I uhh... came to check out Ponyville like you said..." It was easier to actually pick out details about him without the flashing club lights. His mane stuck out at odd angles, more in a styled fashion than a careless one. A lot like Vinyl's hair actually, but way shorter. His mane was black with red streaks in it. His coat was a light orange, and his hooves were actually visible, like Big Mac's. His hooves were light tan. He had some rounded sunglasses on. His cutie mark was a record.

"Well it's great to see ya man! If you wanna hear about the parties, you should go talk to Pinkie Pie, she works at Sugarcube Corner."

"Sweet. So, you're the hero of Equestria huh?" I rolled my eyes.

"Has everypony heard that? Look, I'm--"

"Super cool! He saved my life ya know!" Scootaloo interrupted.

"No, I was gonna say--"

"He saved mah new friend Shadow's life too!" Applebloom interrupted as well.

"What I'm trying to say is--"

"He defeated an Ursa Minor!" Sweetiebelle added.

"All of you shut yer traps! I'm no big deal!" The girls all shut their mouths and looked at me in confusion.

"Well, I'm not usually one to judge, but with actions like that, I'd say you're a hero!" Night Weaver agreed. I sighed.

"Look, I just do what anypony would do if they were me, I'm no hero!"

"Well, whatever you say bro. Where is this Sugercube Corner?"

"It's just about a minute trot into town dear, you can't miss it, it's a giant building made of sweets." Rarity offered. Night Weaver nodded.

"Thanks miss! I'll see ya later Sharky!" He turned and walk out.

"Sharky, who was that?" Rarity asked.

"Him? That's Night Weaver, a DJ I met in Manehattan."

"... When were you in Manehattan?"

"On my day with RD. I took her to Wonderbolts show, got her a position on the Wonderbolts team by racing them, became friends with Daring Do and she invited us to a party where I met him."

"... What?"

"Nevermind, not important. Look, I'm gonna go play with Unity, I'll take you to Canterlot for your mane tonight after he falls asleep ok?"

"Ok Sharky..."

"Ooooh! You two are going on a date tonight?!" Sweetiebelle interjected. I facepalmed.

"No! I'm just trying to spend some time with her!"

"I knew it!"

"... the one time I would welcome a comment from Steven... And ruin this fun? No way." I turned to Rarity. "Did he talk just now?" She nodded. "What did he say?"

"He said he was having too much fun."

"... Well dang it. I'm off girls!" I started walking out the door with Unity still in my arms.

"Wait!" The CMC followed me out. "Can we come too?!" Their ability to speak in unison was pretty astounding.

"Uhh... sure. I was just gonna make a snowman."

"Don't you mean a--" Sweetiebelle started.

"I know what I said! No, I meant snowman. Come on, I'll show you." They looked at me with confusion, but followed me anyway. I stopped in the front of Rarity's house. "Ok, the beginning is pretty difficult without hands I assume, so I'll do it." I had already put my new gloves on, so I put Unity down on the snow and let him roll around. He batted at the snow with his hoof-socks and seemed to be having a good time. I reached down into the snow and pulled out a big handful. It was slightly wet, but not too melty. Perfect for building. I packed it into a snowball and dropped it into the rest of the snow. "Ok girls, here's how it works. You roll around this ball in the snow, like this:" I rolled the snowball a little, increasing it's size slightly. "Until it gets really big. Then you do it two more times, each smaller than the last. Now, help me make those and we'll move on."

"Yay! Cutie Mark Crusaders snow sculptors!" They cheered. Scootaloo began rolling the first ball around while I made two more snowballs for the other girls. I gave a small laugh as they all charged into the task, leaving trails in the snow as they increased the size of the snowballs. I distracted myself for a little while by playing with Unity. He seemed to be taking a little break from the crazy chaos, and I was pretty relieved. It was fun sometimes, but one can only handle so much chaos. That is until I hit his face with a little snow. Then a giant snowball came out of nowhere and hit me in the back. I was literally buried in a small pile of snow, and I could hear Unity giggling nearby.

"Alright, good shot." My voice was muffled by the snow. I quickly unburied myself and shivered a little as the cold air met the melted snow on my skin. I still hadn't put on the shirt Rarity had made me. Not my best idea.

"Whoa! Where did that come from?!" Scootaloo gasped.

"Uhh..."

"I made it!" Rarity called from the boutique. I guess she had been standing there watching us.

"Yeah, Rarity did it... with magic..." I lied.

"Rarity! It's not nice to do that to your special somepony!" Sweetiebelle chided. I groaned.

"She is not my special som--"

"Done!" Scootaloo interrupted. I hadn't been paying attention to their rolling, and Scootaloo's base was HUGE! It came all the way up to my waist!

"Whoa! How did you manage the strength to push this thing?!" She buzzed her wings. "Ah, I see. Well, how big is the next one?"

"Here it is!" Applebloom shouted happily. "Ah worked real hard on this one!" Hers was just past my knee cap, and unlike Scootaloo, who had a more oval like base, Applebloom's was a perfect sphere.

"Wow! Great job Applebloom! This is perfect!"

"What about mine?" Sweetiebelle asked. She rolled hers over to me, and it come out looking more like a small rectangle than a snowball. It came up about halfway on my shin.

"Uhh... I've never seen any pony make a square out of a circle... Good job?" Sweetiebelle beamed at me. "It looks like crap..." Sweetiebelle's smile dropped and she looked crestfallen. "What? what's wrong?"

"You don't like it?"

"No! It's fine!"

"B-but.. you just said..."

"Ohh... ignore whatever mean thing I said, that wasn't me. ANYWAY, let's get to putting this thing together, shall we?" I lifted Applebloom's ball and placed it on top of Scootaloo's oval. When I tried to lift Sweetiebelle's rectangle, it fell apart in my hands. She looked like she was about to cry.

"Awww... I knew it wasn't good enough!" She wailed.

"Uhh... no! It was my fault! I uhh... grabbed it to hard and broke it... Why don't you and Applebloom just make another?"

"Why me and Applebloom?"

"... Two ponies work faster than one?"

"He's right! C'mon Sweetiebelle, let's get ta work!" Applebloom cheered. Sweetibelle sniffled before smiling and joining her friend. Applebloom made her own snowball, and they were off. I sat down in the snow and put Unity in my lap. He seemed to be getting tired from his playing with the snow, and he was falling asleep in my lap. I stood up without disturbing him and walked into the boutique. Rarity had left the doorway and was inside playing with some ribbons by weaving them around some sort of dress.

"Hey Rarity, where can I put Unity down for a nap?"

"Oh! Umm... I've some cushions over here. Will those do?" She pointed a hoof at a large pile of pillows next to her sewing machine.

"Fantastic! Thanks Rarity!"

"My pleasure dear." She went back to her dress and I arranged a few of the cushions into a small sort of bed for Unity. I laid him down and he was asleep in seconds. "...You handled that pretty well you know..." I stood back up and looked at Rarity.

"What?"

"Sweetiebelle. She... isn't the best at making things, but you managed to keep her from feeling bad about it. Even with Steven..."

"Oh... It was no big deal... I just didn't want her to feel bad ya know?"

"It was still... very impressive how tactfully you handled it..."

"It's no big deal really... I've uhh... gotta go back and finish the snowman now..." Rarity had walked over from her dress and was uncomfortably close now. I quickly edged away from her and went back outside to the girls. Applebloom and Sweetiebelle had finished the last ball. It was more round than Scootaloo's, but not as good as Applebloom's. I picked it up and placed it on the top of the snowman. "There we go!"

"Uhh... Iffn' ya don't mind me sayin'... it just looks like three snowballs..." Applebloom said hesitantly.

"Well, it's not done yet, I need two branches, a carrot, and a lot of coal."

"On it!" The girls shouted and dashed off in different directions. Soon Scootaloo was back with two large branches in her mouth, Applebloom brought back a carrot, and Sweetiebelle came back with a few gems.

"We didn't have coal, but Rarity said I could borrow these!" Sweetibelle cheered. I grinned. I put two rubies in for his eyes and gave him a sapphire smile. I pulled the greens leaves off the carrot and put it right in the middle of his face for a nose. Then I took the branches and put one into each of the sides of the middle section for arms.

"There!" I shouted happily.

"Wow! He looks kinda like you!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"Did you just call me fat?! That's the idea Scootaloo! I gotta show this to Unity!" I ran into the boutique and grabbed Unity. He woke up in my arms, but he didn't seem too upset with me. I walked him over to the snowman and held him up next to it's face. "Look Unity, your first snowman!" I said happily. Unity smilled and reached out to touch it with one of his hoof-socks. As soon as he made contact...

"Happy birthday!" The snowman shouted.

"... Oh dear god."

Frosty the Demon

"Hey! Do all snowmen do that Sharky?" Sweetiebelle asked as the snowman started to rise off the ground. I couldn't explain Unity to them, so I had to lie.

"Ummm yes. Yes they do all come to life..."

"Happy birthday!" He shouted again. His voice sounded off somehow...

"We get it!" I turned away from the snowman. "You girls should get inside. It's cold out. Don't want you catching a cold."

"Awww..." They let out a collective whine.

"Happy Birthday..." This time the snowman's voice came out as a low demonic grumble. I turned around to look back at it. My jaw dropped. The snowman's ruby eyes were glowing bright red, and his sapphire teeth had extended into a fanged maw. He had increased in size to where he was now taller than me. His branches had elongated and the hand had grown into a hook-fingered menacing fist. Thick legs had grown from the snow and he took a heavy step towards me.

"... Oh dear god... Fuck yes! A fight! Girls, go inside. NOW."

"S-sharky... Is THAT supposed to happen?" Scootaloo whimpered. I placed Unity on Applebloom's back.

"No! All of you, inside NOW!" I commanded. They all ran away into the boutique, leaving me with a still growing demonic snowman. "Ok... here we go..." The snowman's glowing ruby eyes locked onto me.

"Happy birthday..." He swung his right branch at my head. I duck and rolled backwards. As soon as I was clear I pointed at his head.

"Thundraga!" Black clouds formed and a bolt shot into the snowman's head. His head deformed instantly as the snow melted. He fell forward onto his knees and then his upper body slammed into the ground as well. "Huh... Bastard went down too easy..." Then the snow melded back together instantaneously, distorting the snowman's face slightly. His eyes were now further apart and his mouth was crooked, but he seemed undeterred.

"Happy Birthday..." His eyes flashed and he shot a jet of flame out of his mouth. I was caught off guard and the flames enveloped me. I let out a small scream of pain, but the flames cleared soon. I looked down at myself. The pants around my leg armor had burnt away, so now it was simply shiny metal. My body didn't have any visible burn marks on it, and after I quickly patted out my hair, I was fine.

"Bitchin'! Sweet!"

"Sharky! Look out!" Scootaloo yelled from the boutique.

"What?" A huge wooden fist slammed int my left arm, throwing me a few feet away from where I had been standing. "Dammit, keep your eyes on the enemy!" I pulled myself off the ground. My left arm was pretty full of splinters, and I was surely gonna bruise, but I'd live. "Ok... that one hurt... I need my sword!" I decided to lure the snowman to the library to get my blade. "C'mon! Follow me Frosty!" I started backing up towards the library.

"Happy Birthday..." He lumbered slowly after me, reaching out ominously with his stick arms. It was going good, and I was about halfway to Twilight's library when he started clacking his sapphire teeth together.

"What are you doing? Stay on guard!" Suddenly, giant Ice spikes started thrusting from the ground. "Whoa!" The first few missed, and I started jumping around wildly, despreate to not get impaled. One thrusted right in front of me as I jumped, but I shattered it with a blow from the armor on my leg. His attack seemed to have worn itself out, so I turned to the nearest whole spike and slashed it with my glove. A decent sized spike fell away from the icicle of death. I pointed the spike at the demonic snowman and hurled it like a spear. It hit him square in the right shoulder, knocking away a chunk of snow. It immediately regenerated, but it succeded in pissing him off even more. He let out a roar, a nice change from the haunting 'happy birthday'. I kept up my backwards gait towards the library. He brought his fist down in front of me, slightly embedding it into the ground. I got a new idea and pointed my hand at his fist. "Thundraga!" The lightning bolt struck the fist, igniting it instantaneously. I almost cheered, but the snowman's eyes flashed again and the flames vanished, leaving an only slightly charred branch.

"Happy Birthday..."

"Fuckin' shut up!" I weaved my way through the little ice spike forest. When the snowman reached it, I had hoped it would slow him down, but he just clacked his teeth together again and they disappeared as he stepped near them. Luckily, we were almost to Twilight's library. Then I noticed I had spectators. Ponies were lined up on nearby streets, cheering for me to defeat the snow abomination. "Are you all insane?! Get inside! Now!" I'm not sure if any of them heard me. Nopony moved. "Well I guess nopony can help either! No, that would be a little too much!" Then flashing started. Some reporter ponies had gotten dangerously close to the fight. They were off to my left, the opposite direction of the library. The snowman took notice and started lumbering towards them instead of me. The reporter ponies screamed in fear, but instead of running away, they froze where the stood. "Oh son of a..." The snowman reached them and reared back both arms, prepearing to smash the ponies. I ran over full tilt and rammed the ponies out of the way with my right shoulder. Then both of the fists came smashing down on my back. I went down into the snow, but the force drove me through the snow until I was smashed against the ground. The spectators let out a collective gasp. The pain was immense, and I felt myself slip into unconciousness...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Finally, I get to drive..." Steven pushed himself up out of the hole. The spectators let out a cheer as he rose from a seemingly mortal blow. Sharky hadn't left his body in the best condition, but Steven wasn't complaining. "C'mon bitch! Let's go!" He raised his fists challengingly. The snowman's eyes flashed again, but Steven was prepared. He leapt to the side, leaving the flame jetting from the abomination's mouth to melt the snow where he had been standing. "Ha! You've got worse aim than a blind man!" The snowman cut off the flames and let out another gutteral roar. Steven ran in close to the snowman and started slashing at his legs. Each swing with the shark blades cut out a decent chunk from the legs, but it was regenerating faster than Steven could swing. The snowman was far taller by now, and he was just as tall as Twilight's library. He lifted a missive leg, threatening to stomp Steven. Steven waited until the last second, then rolled out of the way of the impact. His roll placed him behind the snowman and closer to the library.

"Happy Birthday?" The snowman had clearly lost track of Steven's location. Steven decided to remind him. He pointed at the middle of the snowman's back.

"Thundraga!" The bolt flew straight through the snowman's middle and into the ground beneath him. The snowman roared and wrapped his branches around his waist. It regenerated in a matter of seconds, but it was meant to draw his attention, not injure him. It clearly worked. The snowman turned to Steven, clearly enraged. It started running as fast as it's legs could carry it.

"Happy Birthday!!!"

"Seriously, better banter or GTFO." Steven rushed the snowman and slid on the snow as he approached him. He passed under the snowman harmlessly and the snowman lost track of him again. Steven took the oppritunity to run to the library. The snowman didn't notice him, and he made it in unharmed. Twilight gasped as he threw the door open.

"Sharky?! What happened to you?!" She pointed at his now forming bruises.

"No talk time! Kill giant evil snowman!" He ran to the Buster Sword and hefted it onto his shoulder before dashing back outside.

"... WHAT?!"

"Happy Birthday!" The snowman spotted Steven as he ran back out of the library. The snowman's eyes flashed and a jet of flame roared towards Steven. He planted the Buster Sword in front of himself firmly. The flames hit the blade and were deflected away. The moment the flames were clear, Steven lifted the sword and rushed the snowman. He swung the now heated Buster Sword at the snowman's left leg. It melted through the snow like a warm knife through butter. The leg fell away, and Steven jumped to the side as the snowman fell down. Then something amazing happened. The leg didn't grow back.

"Awwww yeah!" Steven cheered. He charged the giant snowman again, quickly dicing it to bits with the heated Buster Sword. The snowman wailed in agony until Steven finished off the rest of it's body and planted the blade firmly between the abomination's eyes. The light faded from the rubies and the sapphires shrank and returned to normal. Looks like that guy needed to... chill out. I hate myself for what I just said. Steven was left standing in a melty pile of snow. Then, he felt his grip on the body loosening. "No! He can't be concious already! No fair!" Steven whined as he was thrust back into the recesses of Sharky's mind.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I regained conciousness standing on a pile of melty snow.

"... Da buck?"

"Sharky! Sharky!" I turned my head to an approaching reporter pony. "Yet another amazing victory! Tell me, how does it feel to defeat yet another foe?"

"... I honestly couldn't tell you."

"Ah, speecless huh?" Another reporter asked as she aproached me. "Do you know where this beast came from?" I froze a little.

"Uhh... No... he just... showed up?" The reporter nodded like she bought it.

"Sharky!" Another mare rushed up to me. It was the same reporter that I had met outside the hospital a few days ago. "For a moment there, we all thought you were out for the count! How did you stand after that terrible blow?"

"Cause bitch I can. I don't remember even standing... I've got to go now..." I took off running before any more reporters caught me. I ran straight to Rarity's boutique to get my shirt. I was freakin' freezing. I made it in a matter of seconds, the cheers of the spectators followed me all the way there. I walked inside and locked the door behind me.

"Sharky! Thank goodness you're ok!" Rarity shouted as I came in. I propped my sword up next to the door and dropped to one knee as she rushed to hug me.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine." Rarity turned her mouth to my ear.

"Was that beast Unity's doing?" She whispered. The CMC were nearby, making kissy faces at us. I rolled my eyes and turned to whisper into her ear.

"Yeah, I knew his magic would have a bad side."

"Well, what are you going to do? We can't have things like this happening often!"

"Relax, this is the first time it has happened at all. When he's old enough to understand, I'll teach him right and wrong. Until then, I'll just have to deal with it."

"Are you sure dear? That thing looked horrifying!"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I can apparently handle it..." Rarity pulled away from the hug and gave me a confused look.

"Apparently?"

"Yes, apparently. Applebloom, where'd you put Unity?" She pointed to the little cushion bed I had made for him. I stood up and walked over to the bed. Unity was awake and staring intently at the pillow next to his head. "Well, I gotta take him home and feed him now. I'll see you tonight Rarity."

"Ooooooooh!" The CMC said simalutaneously. I rolled my eyes.

"Bye girls... I've got something to figure out anyway..." I mumbled as I left the boutique. I ran all the way to Twilight's library, hoping to not attract the attention of more reporters.

Speech

About 1/4 of the way to Twilight's library, I had a thought.

"That sneaky little jerk!" Rarity had let me forget to pay her for Unity's clothes in the chaos of the snowman attack! I turned right back around and stalked back to the boutique. I walked right in. "Hi Rarity!"

"Oh, hello Sharky! What are you doing back so soon?" Rarity greeted.

"Remembering to pay for Unity's clothes! ... and getting my sword and shirt."

"Are you sure you didn't just want to see your special somepony againnnn?~" Sweetiebelle sang from a chair next to the door. I facepalmed.

"Not my special somepony!"

"You know, I've been meaning to ask, why do you protest that so passionately? Am I truly that bad?" Rarity sounded upset. I flinched and struggled to find words that wouldn't screw me over.

"... Uhh... no, it's nothing like that... you are a very... nice mare but uhhh..."

"Ohhhhh!~" Scootaloo chided.

"Shut it! I just killed a demon snowman, I don't need this! No, I mean she's nice but uhh... I'm just... not good enough! Yeah, that's it! I am a human after all, hardly worthy of any mare really... anyway, how much for the clothes?"

"Sharky! You shouldn't put yourself down like that! I'm sure any mare would be happy to have you!"

"Yeah, yeah, don't try to distract me with flattery, how much for the clothes?"

"It's not flattery my dear, it's the truth!"

"Right, whatever. Just tell me about the clothes."

"No, I'm serious Sharky. Please listen--"

"Look, tell me the price, or I'm paying you 7,000 bits and leaving!"

"500 with close personal friend discount!"

"... 1000."

"600."

"1000."

"650."

"1000."

"That's not negotiating! I'm changing my number!" I smiled.

"1000."

"Ok, ok. 950?"

"Deal, 950. So with tax that's... let's see... 1000."

"... Brilliant. Fine, I'll take 1000!"

"Pleasure doing buisness with you!" I pulled ten gold coins out of my pouch. I held out the coins and Rarity reluctantly levitated them out of my hand. With that I grabbed my shirt and sword and left.

"... What just happened?" Scootaloo asked hesitantly.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hi Twilight!" I greeted as I walked into the library. "Hi Fluttershy! I didn't expect you to still be here..."

"Oh, I hope you don't mind... I was waiting for you to come back..." Fluttershy muttered.

"Aww, how nice! Stalker. Now... would you guys mind feeding Unity? I think I'm very damaged..." Recently my body had decided to remind me of every injury I had. Ranging from the lightning blast I had taken back in the fight with the S.O.L.I.D.E.R.s all the way to the double fist pound I took from the demon snowman. I passed Unity to Fluttershy and then fell to one knee.

"Sharky?! Are you alright?!" Twilight asked worridly.

"Oh, no. I'm fan fucking tastic. Just tons of severe wounds you know. Yeah, I'll be fine... I think I just need to rest."

"Liar! Look at you!" Twilight scolded. I looked down at myself. My chest wound had sealed, but my whole left side was basically a huge bruise, my left shoulder was charred, and skin was light red from the roasting I had recieved. Twilight walked around to my back to see my injuries there. She gasped. "Oh my gosh... Sharky..." She reached out and touched my back. I yelped in pain. Fluttershy went around to my back too.

"Dear Celestia! Sharky!" She wailed.

"What? What's so bad?"

"How are you standing with the pain?! This looks horrible!" Twilight balked.

"What a confidence booster. Anyway, it's the miasma. I can take way worse injuries now and shrug them off."

"Yeah... but Sharky... Your back is really busted..." Fluttershy said quietly. I slipped on my shirt before they could look at me any more. The shirt was long sleeved and thick. It instantly made me feel warmer.

"I'm fine, I'm sure. Gimme a few days of healing in this world combined with the resilience from miasma and I'll be just fine. Anyway... could you guys watch Unity for awhile so I can rest?"

"Oh, please rest! You need to heal!" Fluttershy pushed on my right arm with the top of her head, trying to get me to the bed upstairs I guess.

"Umm.. Fluttershy, I sleep down here next to the books, you're pushing in the wrong direction..."

"You what?!" She shouted. She sounded angry. She whipped around to face Twilight. "You let him sleep on the floor?!"

"It's not my idea! He refuses to sleep in the bed!" Twilight balked.

"Well, I'd hate to take up space in your bed." I interrupted.

"You haven't gotten him a bed?!" Fluttershy was almost yelling.

"Whoa, calm down! I wouldn't let her anyway! I don't want you spending money on me!"

"Ha! See? He's so difficult!" Twilight gloated.

"Well... it's still not right! Sharky, you need your own bed!" Fluttershy sounded genuinely concerned.

"Oh no, it's no big deal. Please, don't worry about it."

"No! She's right! I've been meaning to get you a bed for awhile now anyway." Twilight agreed. I sighed.

"Fine, I'll go buy a bed later, right now I just... I need to lay down for a minute..." I stood back up from my kneel and walked over to my corner. I laid down and curled up to sleep.

"... O-ok Sharky... just... don't get more hurt? It hurts us to see you like this..." Fluttershy mumbled. Twilight nodded in agreement.

"I told you I'm fine! I just need to rest for a minute. I'm gonna have a new mission soon, and I just need to rest before then..."

"W-what?! No!" Twilight yelled.

"Yeah. Apparently, something is going wrong with monsters recently. They're getting more and more active, but nopony seems to know why."

"B-b-but... that m-means..." Fluttershy mumbled.

"Eeyup, more missions for me. Now please, just let me--"

*HAAAAALLELUJAH*

"Oh dammit." I picked my phone out of my coin pouch. I hit the answer call button and Luna's face popped up on my phone. "Hi Luna."

"Greetings Sharky! How art thou?"

"Beaten like you wouldn't believe. I'm doing fine though. You have a quest for me?"

"Well... no."

"Yes!" Twilight cheered.

"Oh, then what did you call for?"

"Well... doth thou remember that day in the garden? Thou promised to help us speak correctly..."

"Oh yeah! Were you calling for another lesson?" Luna nodded.

"Yes. We were hoping thou wouldn't mind visiting us and furthering our knowledge of today's speech patterns."

"Yeah, I think I'm free for now. You girls can handle Unity right?" I turned to the girls and they nodded vigerously. "Good. Well, I'm free Luna. Are you gonna come here or--" I was cut off by a flash of black light.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"--Am I going there... Well, I guess this answers that question..." I was flashed into the royal gardens, the same place I had first started my lessons with Luna. She was sitting next to a small rosebush cut to look like a turtle. She smiled at me, but then her expression changed to one of disapproval.

"Sharky, what hath happened to thine pantaloons?"

"You did not just say pantaloons... anyway, I was flame-roasted by a big pile of snow, so the cloth burned away."

"... What?"

"Unity acidentally made a giant evil snow abomination, and it could breathe fire. It caught my pants on fire. Don't worry, I think I killed it."

"Thou thinks?"

"Well, rephrase. I know I killed it, I just don't remember doing it. Anyway, I'm here to teach, not converse. Let's get started."

"Thou attempts to command me?"

"When I'm the teacher, hells yeah. Yes. Now, let's get to work." Luna blinked at me.

"... Very well... Mr. White." She giggled a little at the ridiculousness of the situation. "Let us proceed." We dove into the lesson. We sat and worked for several hours, and it was almost dark by the time we were done. Steven decided to keep suprisingly quiet, and I managed to make some progress with Luna. She was managing to catch some of her 'we's now. Not omit them, but catch and correct them.

"Ok Luna, I've got to get back to Ponyville now." It was pretty late, and I still had to take Rarity out tonight.

"Already? What has thou in such a hurry?"

"I've gotta take my friend Rarity out tonight."

"Friend? Merely friend?" I sighed.

"Yes! We're just friends! I'm taking her to... here to get her mane done. It got ruined by my fire-breathing friend."

"Oh, we... I see. Doth thou need help with transportation?"

"Yes, that would be fantastic Luna."

"Very well, when thou gets thine 'friend' call us and we... I shall teleport you back to Canterlot." I smiled.

"Thanks Luna!" I stood up from my spot beside her and hugged her neck. "You have got to be the coolest boss ever!" She hesitated a moment before wrapping a forehoof around me in return

"Not a problem... Mr. White." She giggled again. It sounded pretty ridiculous to me too, so I laughed along with her. We quickly calmed back down though. "Anyway, time to send thou back yes? Fare thee well!"

"Bye Luna!" Another flash of black light, and I was gone.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was standing in the corner of the library I had come from.

"Oh! Sharky! You're back! How'd it go?" Twilight was reading right next to the place I had flashed in.

"Great! How was Unity?"

"He was an angel. No chaos or anything!"

"Yeah, I think he burned himself out on that earlier today. Anyway, I'll see you later."

"Where are you going now?" Fluttershy poked her head out of the kitchen doorway and looked at me sadly.

"Sorry to leave so soon, but I promised Rarity I'd take her to Canterlot to get her mane fixed tonight."

"Well w-when are you gonna spend some time with me...?" Fluttershy almost seemed to be whining.

"Uhh... Soon. Soon." I lied. Hanging around Fluttershy only remind me of the kiss and what couldn't be. "I... I've gotta go now." I started walking towards the door, but I acidentally stumbled over the Buster Sword. I had left it behind when Luna teleported me. I picked it up and propped it up in my corner. I cast a disapproving eye over the rust and dullness of the sword and made a mental note to have it repaired. With that, I dashed out the door. "Huh, I wonder where Fang has been all day..." I mumbled to myself. I left the thought alone. Fang was a strong wolf, he'd be fine. Withtin a minute, I was on Rarity's doorstep. I knocked gently.

"Oh! Sharky, is that you?" Rarity called from inside.

"Yeah! Are you ready to go?"

"Yes dear! Give me a moment..." I heard her hooves tap against the floor as she went to the door. She magicked it open. She was wearing a red, sparkly dress that hugged her body closely. She had a cute little feathered hat on that covered her ruined mane. The hem of her dress just barely kept from brushing the ground.

"Wow, you look great Rarity!"

"Oh, do you really think so?"

"Yeah! You're gonna turn quite a few heads in Canterlot!"

"Ooooooh!~" Sweetiebelle called from inside.

"Shut up! Shouldn't you be in bed?" I didn't hear anything more, so I assume she ran off. "Well, now I feel tragically under-dressed! Doesn't matter I suppose, tonight is for you. Lemme call Luna..." I pulled out my phone again and hit Luna's call button. She picked up on the first ring.

"Oh, ready already Sharky? Very well, we... I shall teleport you immediately." I grabbed Rarity and pulled her tightly to my side, then we disappeared in a flash of black light.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We flashed into Canterlot. We were surrounded by unfamiliar buildings. I had never seen this area in the show, so I had no idea where we were.

"So... uhh... you do know your way around Canterlot, right?" I asked.

"No! I thought you knew where we would be going!" Rarity sounded worried all of the sudden.

"Hey, calm down! I'm sure we can just ask somepony for directions!" I looked around for the nearest pony. The was a light pink mare next what appeared to be a cafe right next to us. I pulled Rarity over to her and leaned down to tap on her shoulder. "Excuse me miss, do you know where I could find a nice hair salon?" The mare turned to me.

"Oh, that's easy you just... OH MY GOSH!" She screamed. I flinched.

"Yeah, I'm very tall. Sorry to scare you..."

"You're the hero of Equestria! Hey! Everypony look! It's the hero!" All of the sudden ponies seemed to appear from everywhere, and the streets were filled with cries of 'Look! The hero!'. I groaned and facepalmed.

"Great."

All is Not Well

"I'm so sorry Rarity..." We were now surrounded by mares. There were a few stallions too, but I guess males really were scarce in Equestria. They were all around me, jumping and eager to meet me. It was better then all of them running in fear... but still annoying. I held Rarity close to my side as I tried to force my way to a clearer spot in the crowd. I was forced to lift Rarity into my arms in order to keep from losing her.

"Are you kidding? This attention is fabulous!" She cheered. I rolled my eyes. The screams of the nearby ponies droned on.

"Hi! It's so nice to meet y--"

"Hey! I'm Quick Silver! Could you--"

"Can I get your autograph?"

"Are you dating anypony?"

"I need your help!" At this one, I stopped and looked for the source of the yell. A yellow earth pony mare with a dark blue mane was crying not a few feet to my left, being shoved aside by other ponies. I forced my way through the crowd to her. I pushed several ponies to the side to clear a small area around her. I was only using my left arm to do it, and my bruises were giving me grief about it already.

"Miss! You said you needed help?" I roared above the crowd. She let out a small sob and nodded vigerously.

"S-somepony kidnapped my filly!" She choked out.

"... WHAT?!" My scream waved out over the crowd, quickly silencing them. "Somepony stole your daughter?! In Equestria!? You all are supposed to be above things like that!"

"I... I don't know who else to g-go to! I... I can't go to the guards... please help me!"

"Sharky, what's going on?" Rarity asked.

"I'm very sorry Rarity, I have to help ths girl... You like attention right?"

"... Yes..."

"I'm so sorry. Hey, everypony! This is my marefriend! She designs all my clothes and is the best designer in Equestria! She can answer any questions you have about me!" I put Rarity down on the ground and picked up the mare who's daughter had been kidnapped. I took off as the crowd began to redirect themselves at Rarity.

"W-wait! Sharky!" Rarity shouted after me.

"Sorry!" I ran and kept running, turning down a few alleys and ducking behind a few buildings until I was sure everypony had lost me. I had stopped in a dark alley behind some sort of restaurant. he only other living thing with me was the mare, and a stray dog. I placed her down on the ground. "Ok, now. Tell me exactly what's going on." She nodded slowly.

"Ab-bout three days ago, somepony stole my daughter! I was working my night shift as a waitress at my dad's shop, the 'Cake King', when two someponies broke in! They were wearing masks and black body suits... I have no idea what they looked like... They took all they money... then, they grabbed my daughter from her crib as they checked for valuables upstairs... t-they said... if I called the royal guards on them... they would kill her... Please, I don't know where else to go! You have to help me!"

"Of course I will! Lead me to the 'Cake King', I'll see if I can find any clues there!" I said sternly. She nodded happily.

"Oh! You really are a hero! Please, follow me!" She took off out of the alley. I quickly ran after her. I ducked behind as much cover as I could as I followed her, desperate to not attract attention. Within a few minutes, she stopped in front of a small building. The front was very plain, save for a huge neon red sign the read 'Cake K ng'. The 'i' in 'King' had gone out. I took a quick look around the area. We were in what would best be described as the poor part of town. All the buildings looked run down and neglected. Weeds sprang up from cracks in the poorly built sidewalk. It broke my heart to see anything like it in Equestria. The mare waved me into the building. The door jingled as she pushed it open.

"Oh! A customer!" A deep voice boomed from the store. It was a small little building. There were booths running along 2 of the four walls, the red covering on the seats was dull and broken. The back of the building had a counter with a cash register on it. Behind the counter was a small kitchen area, and in that area was a round yellow earth pony stallion with a green handlebar mustache a short-cropped green mane. His cutie mark was a cake. He took a look at his daughter. "Oh, it's you Blueberry... Sorry... I thought it was a... Hey! Is that Equestria's hero!?" He seemed excited all of the sudden.

"Ugh... I'm not a hero!" I groaned.

"Yes papa! He says he's going to help us find Strawberry!"

"... Are you all named after fruit?"

"Oh, where are my manners? *ehm* I'm Apple Tart! Owner of this fine establishment! Yes, we're all named after fruit, it's an old family joke. You know, types of tarts? Anyway, that's not important! You're here to find my granddaughter?!" The portly pony said quickly.

"Ah, makes sense now. Damn fatty, lay off the cake. So, what did Strawberry look like?"

"Hey! I know I'm heavy, but there's no need to call names!" Apple balked. I blinked in confusion.

"Oh! Sorry, that was Steven! I have two voices, one is Steven, a really mean guy. Just ignore him. This is the real me. If I change my voice, remember that it isn't me ok?" Apple seemed pretty confused.

"Blueberry, are you sure you didn't bring me some kinda' crackpot?"

"Oh no! I'm sure he's the hero! He agreed to help me without even thinking about it! We'll just have to deal with the... Steven... We need his help papa!"

"Standing right here ya know." Apple turned back to me.

"Oh, right. Well... I appreciate the help... uhh... why don't you tell him about Strawberry sweetie?" Blueberry nodded.

"Ok, Strawberry is yellow, just like me and papa. Her eyes are light pink, and her mane is dark red. She's an earth pony, like me. She's skinnier than most baby fillies... Oh! She has a little hairband like this one..." She pointed a hoof at a hairband in her mane that had a few plastic blueberries on it. "Except with strawberries. She was so young... She can't even talk yet..."

"Huh... not too much to go on... Well, where did they break in?"

"Oh, I'll show ya!" Apple offered. He waved me to the back of the building. I followed him behind the counter and into the kitchen. In the back right corner of the kitchen, there was a doorway with no door, and a busted screen door outside that. The hinges had wood still attached to them, so it was obvious somepony had broken down the door. "I would've gotten the door fixed by now... but we've got no money since they robbed us..." He lowered his head and looked defeated. My heart cried out for him. I took my bit pouch and handed it to him after I took out my phone. He got a puzzled look and held out his hoof. I dropped the pouch and his hoof fell to the ground. "Whoa!"

"That is 6,000 bits. I don't need them." He gasped and looked up at me in shock.

"6-6-6-6,000 bits?! N-no, I couldn't possibly--"

"Just take them. I never use bits anyway! If anything, the weight is just a burden to me."

"A-are you s-sure?"

"Yeah, now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some criminals to find..." I started closely examining the door. Apple stuttered a few more times as he backed out of the kitchen. "Ok... Somepony broke the door, so it wasn't a unicorn, they'd just unlock it... Hmm? What's this?" As I took a closer look at the screen door, I saw a small patch of black fabric and a tuft of fur hanging from one of the wires. It was deep red, but to the touch it was dry and fluffy, so it wasn't blood. "Hey Blueberry!"

"Yes hero?" She called from the main room.

"Could you see if they had wings? You know, were there bumps under their suits?"

"No, neither of them had wings!" Good, that meant I was looking for a red earth pony. The fur was obviously from a coat, not a mane. It was too fine and short to be mane hair.

"We should look upstairs for more clues. Huh, I think I should check upstairs for more clues..." I walked away from the screen door and back into the main room. Apple was babbling incoherently and gessturing to Blueberry then the coin pouch.

"Are you ok papa?" She asked nervously.

"Oh, he's just happy. How do I get upstairs?" She pointed a hoof at the kitchen.

"Why is he so happy?"

"Look in the pouch. Bye." I walked back into the kitchen and saw a small staircase o the opposite side of the room from the door. I hadn't noticed it on my way in. I started walking up the stairs.

"Oh my Celestia!" Blueberry shouted behind me. I grinned and kept walking. At the top of the stairs was a trapdoor. I pushed it open and pulled myself up into a small room. Inside was one ratty matress lying on the ground, and a nice little crib. The crib was well kept and looked freshly painted. There were tons of brand-new toys in the crib. It was obvious they cared very much for Strawberry. Then something dawned on me. I pulled out my phone and called Luna.

"Oh, hello Sharky! What doth thou need?"

"Look, I can't talk long Luna, but I need to go back to Ponyville for a minute. Then I need to come back to this location. You can do that right?"

"Of course! May we... I inquire as to the reason?"

"... I'm sorry princess, but I can't tell you this time."

"Why ever not?"

"It... could be very bad... Can you just trust me on this one?" She didn't even blink.

"Of course we... I trust you. Very well." In a flash, I was standing in Twilight's library again.

"Sharky! Back already?" She was still in the same corner, still reading.

"Yeah, where's Fang?"

"He came in not too long ago, why?"

"FANG!" As soon as I yelled, Fang came out of the bedroom and bolted down the stairs, barking like an idiot. He jumped into me and somehow managed to grip my shoulders with his forepaws. He started licking my face happily, but he was sliding down and about to fall, so I wrapped him in a hug. "Hey boy! Hey, stop licking me for a second ok?" He gave me one last long lick on my right cheek, the backed his head away from my face and stared at me intensely. "Hey, I need your help ok? A little filly's life could be in danger. Can you be serious and help me?" He nodded vigerously. "That means no licking, no barking, no running off, no playing, and no fighting anything without my permission." He blinked a few times, as if thinking, then nodded again. "Good."

"Sharky, what do you mean a filly's life is in danger?!" Twilight shouted. I put my finger to her lips to quiet her down.

"Stay calm! Look, I've just got... a little crime to bust ok? Don't worry, I'm dealing with normal ponies, nothing dangerous. I just need Fang's help." Her eyes got wider and she started squirming under my finger. I sighed. Then I took my hand away from her mouth and quickly pulled out my phone and called Luna. She answered right away. "Go now!"

"Sharky you can't--" I flashed away in a black light. "... just go around and... *sigh*..."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We were back in the building, just like Luna said. She had hung up right after teleporting us. I guess she was respecting my wishes for her to not get involved.

"Ok Fang, smell this for me." I put Fang down on the ground held out the tuft of fur for him. He quickly sniffed it vigerously. Then sniffed the ground and started sniffing around. "I don't think you'll find a scent here, it'll be at least three days old. I just want you to remember that smell. We're going to search Canterlot for a match, ok?" He nodded vigerously. Then what I just said dawned on me. "Oh crap... I gotta search all of Canterlot..."

Criminals

"Well... better get started I guess. Yeah, nice going genius." I took Fang downstairs to check around the door.

"AHHH! A wolf!" Apple yelled.

"No no! Calm down! This is my pet! His name is Fang. He doesn't hurt... good ponies. Just don't attack me, and you should be fine..." He eyed Fang warily.

"Uhh... if you say so hero..."

"Dammit, I'm not a hero! Just shut up and bathe in the glory."

"The mean guy is right! Isn't it a good thing to be a hero?" I blinked a few times.

"What did he say?" Apple gave me a confused look.

"You can't hear him? He told you to enjoy the glory!"

"In those exact words?"

"... Well, no... He was a bit more rude about it..." I nodded.

"Sounds like him. Well, I'm off! I'll be back with your granddaughter... soon hopefully. Which way did they go when they left?" He poked his head outside the back door. The back door lead to a three-way alley that formed a big 'T'.

"They ran down this path." He pointed down the trail to the left. I nodded.

"Thank you. I'll be back." I ran down the alley, Fang close behind.

"Good luck!" Apple called after me.

"Thanks! Don't need it! Ok Fang, see if you can pick up the scent while we go ok?" He nodded at me again and started sniffing as he ran. We soon reached the end of the alley. It led out into a street, both sides were lined with buildings, all in disrepair. "Ok Fang... left or right?" He sniffed in each direction, then looked at me and shrugged. "Right, still a wolf. Uhh... eenie meenie miney RIGHT!" I took off to my right down the road. I took care to duck behind cover as I went. I definitely didn't want attention right now. Fang took care to sniff at all the houses as we passed them. Soon, the road ended at a little cul-de-sac. "Ok... check for the scent boy." Fang quickly jogged around all the houses, sniffing at all the doors. He rounded the buildings and came back to me. He shook his head no. "Well dang, wrong way. Well, let's try the other direction." Fang nodded and we took off again. We took the other side of the road this time, that way Fang could sniff at the houses on the other side of the road. We followed it for quite a while, until we reached an alley on our right. It was either take the alley, or continue down the road. "If I was a criminal, which I'm the closest thing we got, I'd take the alley. Don't want an innocent bystander to see me..." Fang nodded at me and dashed down the alley. I took off after him. "Hey! What did I say about running off?!" He didn't seem to hear me and he just kept going. The alley led to another street, but this one was lined by houses on one side and it led to a gigantic factory looking building. The building had patterns of pipes lacing around it and vents all over it, just like a human factory. Fang sniffed a few more times then he looked at me and wagged his tail. "You have the scent boy?" He nodded and pointed at the factory with a forepaw. "They in there? Figures those geniuses would hide in a building only three blocks away from the crime. We're either dealing with masterminds, or idiots. Well, that took way less time then I thought it would! Let's go get 'em boy!" He wagged his tail in agreement. We charged towards the factory boldly, not bothering to hide any more. The factory had a barbed wire fence around it, but the gate was wide open. Fang and I ran inside. The pipes we passed on our way to the main building were rusty and unused, and no steam came from the factory. It was abandoned. We were soon at the main building, and I could hear crying from the inside. "Strawberry!" I exclaimed quietly. I pressed my back against the wall of the building and started edging along the side of the factory. I crept in the direction of the crying, and soon I found an open door where the noise was evidently coming from. "Well, they leave all the doors unlocked and don't gag the baby. We're dealing with idiots." The door opened into the factory, so I was able to stick my head around the corner and peer inside.

"Ugh! How do we shut it up?!" There were a total of three ponies in a small office-like room. One was a red earth pony stallion, the one I had gotten the fur from. He was sitting in a chair behind a big wooden desk. In front of him, laying on the desk was a wailing baby with a red mane and a yellow coat. She had a strawberry hairband. Sitting nearest to the door was a dark green earth pony mare with an olive colored mane. She was the one talking.

"Strawberry... Good, she's alive..." I mumbled to myself. I had already thought so, but to be honest the crying could've been anypony. I had only hoped it was Strawberry.

"I don't know! Why don't we just get rid of it?!" The red one asked.

"You mean give it back?" The green one asked.

"No ya fool! I mean kill it!"

"But we promised those ponies that we'd leave her alive iffn' they didn't call the guards on us!"

"Do I look like I care? It's not like we can just go and hand her back! Then they'd call the guards on us fer sure!"

"Well I know this ain't worth the money we got for it. The boss is gonna be awful sore when he sees how little money we got..."

"Well let's just kill the baby then go steal somethin' else!"

"Fine. It don't sit too right with me killin' a babe though..."

"Just get over it ya big baby! We done worse before!"

"Well how we gonna do it?"

"Easy, you just lift your hoof like so..." The red one raised his hoof above Strawberry's head.

"Like fuckin' hell I'm gonna let you do that!" I charged in and rammed the green one so hard that she flew into the nearest wall and collapsed to the ground in a heap. Unconscious or dead, I didn't really care at this point. I turned to dispatch the red one, but he had grabbed Strawberry and was holding her in a choke hold. "Oh, yeah..."

"Yeah! Make another move an' the foal dies hero!" I gave him a small smile.

"Fine, I won't make another move." His gaze turned wary.

"Good... now, no funny buisness or OH MY CELESTIA!" Fang had crept up behind him and slammed himself into the chair. The red pony was so startled that he flung his forelegs out, throwing Strawberry. She flew off to my right, and I jumped and caught her before she hit a wall. Then Fang crept around to the front of the chair and jumped on the red pony directly, growling in his face. I heard a small sound of liquid hitting concrete.

"Did you just piss yourself!? Ha! That's fuckin' hilarious! Oh my gosh, did you just pee? Grow a pair man!" His only response was a fearful whimper. "Fang, go to town. Just don't kill him." Fang yipped in response and started tearing into the red pony. His screams might have effected me more if I wasn't so pissed at him. "Ok Fang, that's enough." Fang pulled away from the pony and jumped out of the chair. The pony was covered in scratches and bite marks, and his fur was matted down where blood covered it. He was still screaming. I walked over, Strawberry safely secured in my left arm, and back-handed him with my right hand. Which gave him another gash across his right cheek. He shut up instantly.

"Please! Don't kill me! I'll be a good pony from now on! I swear!" He begged.

"Don't beg for your life! It's not gonna work! I don't care what you promise! You were going to kill this innocent baby! Get used to gay sex prison bars, because that's what your gonna spend the rest of your life staring at bub!" After that I gave him a hard right cross, knocking him out. I pulled out my phone and called Luna.

"Greetings again Sharky! Doth thou... where did thou procure that foal?"

"Hey Luna... I just busted up a couple of foalnappers. Mind sending a few guards to drag them off to prison?"

"Sharky! Thou hath done what?! That is the job of Royal Guards, not Lunar Knights!"

"The criminals threatened to kill this baby if the Royal Guards got involved. I was asked to help by a desperate mare. I had to do it Luna. It doesn't matter anyway, I've got the baby, and the bad guys are unconscious... One might be dead..." I went over and checked the green one. She was still breathing. "Nevermind, she's fine. Can you just send a few guards?"

"... Sharky... Good job we... I suppose... We... I will send a few guards to thine location immediately."

"Good. Thanks Luna. I'm gonna go deliver this foal... then try and find Rarity..."

"Thou left Rarity alone in Canterlot?!"

"No, I left her in a crowd of screaming fans! Anyway, the baby was more important at the time. Now that she's fine, Rarity is top priority again. Anyway, I've got to go now. It's getting really late, and I want to spend at least a little time with Rarity before I gotta take her home."

"Very well, fare thee well Sharky!"

"Bye Luna." I hung up. Strawberry had stopped crying in my arms. She was staring up at me, tears still fresh in her eyes. Then I noticed the smell. "Whoa! I guess it was too much for them to change a dang diaper huh?" She choked out a small sob. "Well, let's get you home to mama, huh?" I jogged out of the factory, Fang by my side. I walked down the road for a grand total of 30 seconds before somepony saw me.

"Look! It's the hero!"

"Oh dammit. Run Fang!" I increased my pace to a sprint and searched desperately for my escape alley. Then I was grabbed by a silver aura and lifted slightly off the ground. "Oh... well that's just not fair."

"Hero! Hero! Why do you have a foal?!" A blue unicorn with a silvery mane ran up to me. Again, it was a mare.

"Saved her from some foalnappers, now would you mind putting me down so I can return her?" She flinched and dropped the aura.

"Oh, my bad. Wait, you saved another pony?! You are so--" I ran away as she spoke. There was already a crowd growing behind her to chase me, but she stopped it and appeared to be telling them what happened. I ran back down the alley I had come from and into the next street. Then the crowd from the other street poured into the alley as well.

"Oh geez. I really don't need this!" The crowd made no move to surround or catch up to me though, they merely followed me. They were chanting.

"Heeero! Heeero! Heeero!" I sighed.

"This is what you get for helpin'. I'd just let em' suffer." As I ran down the next street, more ponies poured out of the houses and joined the crowd. I groaned and continued down the next street until I found the next alley. I walked past it and walked around to the front of the Cake King. I pushed open the door. "Hey Blueberry! Look who I got!" She had been sitting in a booth next to the door, twiddling her hooves and looking nervous. As soon as I called out, she looked up quickly and squealed.

"You found her! Oh thank you thank you thank you!" She ran at me and I lowered Strawberry so she could grab her. She gingerly picked her up with her forehooves. She stood up on her back legs and hugged Strawberry tightly to her chest. Strawberry smiled and laid her head against her mother contentedly. I smiled. This was what my job was all about, making sure families didn't lose each other. I silently backed out of the building, right into the roaring crowd. I turned to them and held out my arms as if I was about to speak. The crowd quieted down for a moment.

"Great cakes in there." I said simply, gesturing to the Cake King. The crowd cheered and some of them rushed into the building. The rest just kept chanting 'hero'. I really didn't like the attention, but there really wasn't anything I could do. I decided to go look for Rarity now, the crowd following me as I turned to leave.

Salon

It didn't take me long to re-trace my steps back to the cafe where I had left Rarity. Sure enough, she was still there. Now she was seated in the cafe, surrounded by a silent crowd. She appeared to be telling a story of some sort. It would have been impossible for me to sneak up on her had the crowd still been following me, but once they discovered a wolf among them a while back they all took off, screaming at me to kill it. I had taken the chance to run off again and lose them. I crept up quietly to the back of the crowd. The cafe had an outdoor seating area, and that's where Rarity was sitting. I was able to hear her story from the back of the crowd, but it seemed to almost be over.

"That's when the evil copy of Sharky almost killed the real one! I levitated his leg out from under him, knocking him into the mud! After that, he knocked me unconscious magically, but--"

"With that move, she saved my life and allowed me to start beating on the evil copy." I interrupted. The entire crowd, including Rarity turned to me in shock. "If Rarity hadn't done that, I'd be dead and she'd have nopony to take her out tonight!" The crowd all seemed too shocked to move for a moment, so I took the chance to shock them even more. "Also, meet my pet wolf. Fang?" He charged away from my side, snarling and snapping like a mad dog. The ponies all screamed and ran in fear. As soon as they were gone, Fang quieted back down and nonchalantly came back to my side. "Good boy. Hey Rarity! How are you?" I walked up to the cafe where she was seated. She hit my chest with a hoof. "Ow?"

"You left me! Abandoned me to drown in the sea of ruffians!" She wailed dramatically. I rolled my eyes.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I had to go."

"What could possibly distract you from the glamor that is Rarity?" Wow, the attention must have swelled her head a little.

"A foalnapping. Just had to go save a filly's life. How was your time with the 'sea of ruffians'?" She flinched.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear, I didn't realize it was that kind of thing... I thought you just left because you didn't want to be around me..."

"Nonsense! I love being around 'the glamor that is Rarity'!" She flinched again.

"Oh... did I truly say that? I apologize, the attention must've gone to my head a little." I smiled.

"No worries. So, seriously, how did you enjoy your time with the crowd?"

"Oh, it was simply fabulous! They all wanted me to design for them!"

"Wow, all of them? That's fantastic! You did tell them you work in Ponyville right?"

"Why of course dear! I can't expect them to purchase my designs if they don't know where to go!"

"Right, silly me. Well, how did you end up telling them that story?"

"Well, one of them asked me to tell them about one of your adventures! For some reason, they all believe I'm your marefriend and I know all about you." I flinched this time.

"Yeah, I had to tell them something to get them to leave me alone. Sorry about that."

"Oh, it's no trouble dear. I don't mind being called your marefriend..."

"Oh, no need to flatter me. I know it was problably a burden on you to have to pretend that."

"... Well... A burden to pretend anyway..."

"Right, that's what I said. Wow, did he really not pick that up? I caught it. Anyway, let's get that mane fixed, shall we?"

"... Steven? You understand?"

"Why are you talking to Steven? I thought we agreed to ignore him... Of course! Damn, he must be denser than a brick..." Rarity nodded.

"Sadly, he is. Could you explain it to him? I'm not allowed to say it myself."

"Are you still talking to Steven? I can't talk to him directly unless he's asleep. Even if I could, I wouldn't. This is too damn funny." Rarity narrowed her eyes.

"Well... how rude."

"What? Did Steven insult you? I told you not to talk to him."

"... No. He did not insult me." She let out a deep sigh. "Let's just... try to enjoy the rest of the evening together, ok?" I smiled.

"Sure thing! Now, did you ever find out where we can find a nice mane salon?"

"Why, yes I did! One of the fans was happy to point me to the nearest salon in exchange for the story! It's right this way dear." She pointed down the right side of the street. I nodded and picked her up in my right arm.

"Ok! C'mon Fang!" He jogged beside me happily as I took off in the direction of the mane salon.

"Yes, I've been meaning to ask, how is Fang here, and why? Not that I don't enjoy his crowd-clearing prowess..."

"Oh, Fang got here because I asked Luna to help me bring him here to help me find the foal-nappers. Oh, and that's why he's here, the foal-nappers. The crowd-clearing was just a bonus."

"Oh, I see. Well, how did it go anyway? The rescue."

"Eh, it was fairly easy, I just followed their possible trail until Fang picked up their scent. Then I just beat the living hell out of 'em disabled them and recovered the filly."

"Wow, how brave of you!"

"BWAHAHAHA!! Rarity, I killed a demon snowman that could breathe fire and tried to impale me with icicles of death earlier today. A couple of low-life earth ponies that are cowardly enough to steal a baby were no problem."

"Oh... that does throw it into perspective I suppose... Still, saving a filly like that..."

"Please don't make a big deal of it... Oh, here's the salon!" We had arrived at a large fancy building that looked like a mane being styled. Litterally, from the ground up, it looked like a giant mane. It was purple and there were scissors cutting it at the very top, and some gel being applied to it in the middle above the door. All fake and only there to look cool... I assume. I pushed open the door and walked in. The door jingled, signaling that there was a new customer.

"Hey! Can't you read!? The sign says-- Hey! You're the hero!" A light blue pegasus mare with a curly white mane with darker streaks through it had been behind a small podium at the front, and she seemed ecstatic to see me.

"Yeah, hero. Whatever." I still didn't like being called a hero, but I figured it was no use fighting back any more.

"Well... We're supposed to be closed right now..."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just trying to find a place to fix my friend's hair." I took off Rarity's hat and the mare gasped. "You see, she had an unfortunate run in with... I'll just go with dragon."

"This is an emergency! Nevermind about us being closed! Girls!" She called out and a bunch of mares showed up out of nowhere. "We have a mane emergency here! Get right on it!" I placed Rarity on the ground, and she was swept away by the sudden mob of mares.

"Wow, thanks!"

"Oh, anything for a friend of the hero! Say, what's it like?" She leaned on the podium with her... elbows? Well, she was using the joint on her forelegs to prop up her head. She was staring at me with intrest.

"What's what like?"

"Being a hero of course! You know, fighting monsters, saving lives, it all sounds very charming!"

"Oh, it's not what it sounds li--"

"WOLF!! Get it hero!" I guess she finally noticed Fang by my side. She jumped away from the podium and was cowereing next to a flowerpot.

"Oh, that's my pet. He's kinda my sidekick... or companion... nah, let's go with sidekick. It sounds cooler."

"Y-your pet is a w-wolf?"

"Well yeah. What did you expect a monster hunter to have, a bunny?"

"Oh... Well, when you put it that way it sounds kinda obvious..." She crept back away from her flower pot and resumed her position on the podium. "Now... what were we talking about?"

"Something about being a hero..."

"Oh yes, you were saying what it was like!"

"Right, well, it's not what you'd expect at all I suppose. You get the tar beaten out of you more than anything."

"It's worth it for the fame and fortune right?"

"To be honest, I hate the fame. I get mobbed everywhere recently. It certainly doesn't help me with fighting when ponies come to watch and I have to save them."

"Oh... I guess that makes sense. Well, the money's good right?"

"Well, to be honest, I can never seem to find a use for the money, so I usually spend it on my friends or give it away..." My eyes widened as I realized I had given away all my bits. "Oh crud! I just gave all my bits to that filly's family! I'm sorry, I can't pay today... Lemme grab Rarity and I'll come back next time I have bits."

"Oh no, it's on the house for the hero. Now, what filly is this?"

"Are you sure? I really don't want to just walk out without having paid you... Oh, and the filly is Strawberry. I had to save her from some foalnappers a few minutes ago." Her eyes got really wide.

"You saved a filly only a few minutes ago!? Tell me about it! Oh, I've got an idea, tell me the story for payment! How's that sound?" I thought for a moment.

"Well... I still feel like I should actually pay you... but I suppose a story will have to do for now. I'll just come and pay you next time I get some bits. Anyway, it goes like this. I had just gotten here and I went to ask for directions..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Voila! She is done!" I turned my haed as on of the mares brought out Rarity. Her mane appeared to be back to normal, and it was styled the same was as it had been before it had burnt off. Now that she was back to normal and didn't need her hat, she looked much better. Coupled with her dress... she looked pretty dang good.

"Holy crow! Rarity, you look amazing! Great job girls!" They beamed at me and bowed in thanks a few times. Rarity blushed and looked away from me. I blushed at the bowing. "C'mon girls, there's no need for that..." They straightened back up.

"Yes hero!" One of them said humbly. I facepalmed.

"No, I'm not giving you orders! Please don't act like that..."

"What do you want us to act like hero?" I facepalmed again.

"Thanks for the help, Glad you liked the story. Bye." I turned and pulled Rarity out of the salon.

"Wait! You forgot to pay them dear!" Rarity reminded me.

"Nah, I traded a story for the job today. I'll pay them when I have some bits."

"What happened to the rest of your bits?"

"I gave them to the filly I rescued's family."

"Well... how charitable."

"No, it was the right thing to do. We should get back home now, it's really late... I wanted to take you to dinner, but that'll have to wait until after my next mission."

"Oh, you didn't have to do that dear!"

"Well, I want to. Next time I have money, we'll come back, pay the nice mares in the salon, then go out to dinner. Sound good?"

"Fabulous dear, it's a date."

"Yes. Wait, not a date date, but a date... you know what, I'm gonna stop talking. Finally!" I pulled out my phone again and hit Luna's call button. She picked up on the third ring.

"Thou again Sharky? What doth thou need?"

"Hi Luna. I'm very sorry to bug you so much!"

"Oh, it's no trouble."

"Well, all the same, I'm sorry I called so many times today. This is the last one, I promise. I'm just finally ready to go back to Ponyville."

"Very well, did you enjoy your time in Canterlot?"

"Yes, it was fantastic! Other than the foalnappers and crazy fan crowds... other than that it was great though."

"What delightful news! We... I drift away from the subject at hoof however, teleporting now." I grabbed Rarity and Fang as we disappeared in a flash of black light.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Thanks Luna!" I was in the library again, Twilight was no longer in her corner. Fang walked away from my side and curled up in a corner to sleep.

"Tis no trouble Sharky. Farewell!"

"Bye!" Luna hung up. "Well, let's get you home Rarity."

"Yes, home sounds *yawn* Oh, excuse me! Home sounds nice..."

"Wow, tired huh? Guess dinner would've been a bad idea anyway. Well, lets go." I started out of the library with Rarity. Soon we were at the boutique. I ran upstairs and placed Rarity in her bedroom. "Bye Rarity!"

"Goodbye Sharky. I had a great time tonight..."

"So did I. Well, I should get home..." I turned and walked back downstairs. Then I stepped outside and realized how paralyzingly dark it was outside, and I was all alone. Buck. I walked back upstairs and knocked on Rarity's bedroom door.

"Sharky? Is that you?"

"Yeah, it is... Hey, you don't mind if I spend the night, do you?"

"No, of course not!"

"Cool, where can I sleep?" She pulled open the bedroom door. She had taken off the dress.

"Well, you'll be taking my bed of course!"

"Oh, no way!"

"Yes you will. I'm not letting you sleep on the floor or in a chair, that would be unlady-like of me!"

"Ugh... Will you please take it? A gentleman doesn't let a lady sleep on the floor either!"

"Fair point, but I am the host, therefore it would be twice as rude if I let you sleep anywhere but in the bed!"

"Gah! ... Share?"

"Yes... that could work..."

"Ok... well... how do I keep ending up like this? Do you want to get in the bed first or shall I?"

"Oh please, you first."

"Fine." I walked over to Rarity's bed and laid down on the right side facing the middle of the bed. Rarity jumped on the left side of the bed and pulled the covers up to her neck. She was facing me.

"Aren't you going to get under the blanket dear?"

"Nah, I like to be cold when I sleep."

"Oh... interesting. Well... goodnight."

"Goodnight... I'm really sorry about this Rarity. Thanks for being a good friend." Rarity narrowed her eyes.

"... Goodnight."

Boutique

Since Steven's voice is in italics, bold will now mean thought and underline means emphasis. From now on.

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Thursday, January 24th

I woke up slowly today. The kind of waking up where you have to lay there for a few minutes before your body lets you move. I hadn't dreamed last night, or at least not that I could remember. As my brain slowly started working and driving away the haziness from my vision, I felt... heavier. I was laying down on my back, and somehow Rarity had uncovered herself and rolled over in her sleep and was laying spread-eagle on my chest. Her newly repaired mane was slightly frizzled, and she was snoring away softly. She was freakin' adorable. I didn't want to wake her up, so I decided to lay back and be quiet. She didn't suddenly jump awake, so I assume Steven was either still asleep or decided not to bother her either. I just sat there for a while, listening to the soft rhythm of Rarity's breaths.

"God I love it here." I mumbled quietly. Then I started thinking.

Everything is awesome here. Where else can you wake up with a pretty fashionista unicorn sleeping soundly on your chest? No matter how many times I get beaten, moments like this make it worth all the pain and confusion this world causes me. That and Unity. God I love that little guy. That reminds me, shouldn't I go check on him? Nah, Twilight has it covered I'm sure. Thank Celestia her and Fluttershy agreed to help me out. Without them, I'd be hopelessly lost with Unity... I can't believe how lucky I am. This easily is the single greatest thing to happen to anybody. Ever. Then, Rarity began to stir on my chest, interrupting my thoughts. She moaned lazily and stretched her limbs before blinking her eyes open and staring right into my open eyes. I smiled at her.

"Hey there." She blinked a few more times and I could feel her tense up against me, but then she relaxed and let her body relax.

"Hello Sharky..." She said softly. She laid her head on my chest and sighed. "This is nice..."

"Yeah, sure is. It feels great not to have to run off and do something for a change..."

"How often do you get a break like this dear?"

"Uhh... I don't. Not since I came here anyway. The constant work is nice... but even I need to rest eventually..." Rarity let out a soft giggle.

"Not that you don't try to avoid it dear!" I laughed along with her.

"Yeah, I guess I do push myself a little. It's for the good of everypony else though, so I'm gonna keep doing it."

"Heh, I'll bet you will..."

"Oooooooh!!! This totally proves it! I knew she was your special somepony! I just knew it!" Sweetiebelle was in the doorway, jumping like a crazed kangaroo. Before I could say anything, she dashed off triumphantly.

"Oh no! I'm sorry Sharky!" Rarity started to get up, but I pulled her back down and laughed.

"It's no big deal. She's just one filly, it's not like it actually matters. Right now though... I'm enjoying just laying here. With one of my best friends ever." Rarity flinched against my chest then sighed.

"Yes... friend... I'm enjoying this too..."

"Good... do you mind if we just lay here a while? I haven't relaxed like this in ages it feels like..."

"Of course not dear, I suppose I could stand to relax a little myself..."

"Really? You stressed out too?"

"I suppose you could say that."

"What's got you upset?"

"Oh, just the densest pony I've ever met." I blinked a few times.

"Who would that be?"

"... Dear Celestia... just go back to relaxing Sharky..."

"Whatever you say... Ahh, it feels good to just--"

*HAAAALELUJAH*

"Oh for the love of all things holy!" I edged Rarity off of my chest and onto the bed next to me. I pulled out my phone and answered the call. Luna's face filled the screen. "Hello Luna, what's up?"

"Uhh... the sky? Is that not always above?"

"No, it's a movie."

"A what?"

"Nevermind. What do you need?"

"We... I hath a new mission for thou, Sharky."

"Well darn... Sweet! Just woke up, what'd I miss? Well, what am I hunting?" Luna gave me a confused look.

"Thou... hath just awoken?" I gave her a confused look right back, but Rarity started clearing her throat, so I turned to look at her. She mouthed 'Steven'.

"Ohhhh! I guess I haven't told you about Steven yet, huh Luna?"

"No, thou hath not mentioned him. Is he a new friend of thous?"

"... No, he's one of my two voices. Steven is a total prick and when my voice changes, I'm Steven, not Sharky."

"We... I apologize, please expain this further?" I sighed.

"I have two people in my head. One is me, this one, and one is Steven. Steven is a jerk. If my voice changes, I'm Steven, not Sharky." Luna slowly nodded.

"We... I suppose this makes some form of sense... Anyway, thou hath a new mission Sharky... and Steven."

"Bitchin'! I loves me a good fight! Ok Luna, if you need my help, I'm there. What is it?"

"A stone golem has accidentally been let loose in one of the unicorn cities."

"A golem?"

"Yes, an animate creature made from--"

"No, I'm familiar with golems, but you guys can make them? That's pretty sweet."

"A rampaging rock monster is no sugary snack Sharky..." I facepalmed. I've been doing that a lot lately.

"Nevermind, just get me to the city..."

"Now? Doesn't thou wish to prepare?"

"How big is a golem here?"

"Only slightly larger than it's creator."

"Nah, I'll be just fine. I can go now."

"Very well, teleporting thou now..."

"Wait, if a golem is a magically animated creature, how come nopony in a unicorn city can stop it?"

"Once a golem has been released, it cannot simply be stopped by magic, one must defeat and destroy it."

"Got it. Ready to go now."

"Good. Teleporting thou now..."

"Bye Rarity!" In a flash of black light, I was gone.

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I was flashed into the middle of what appeared to be a town square. All the buildings around me were styled to look like books or piles of books.

"Geez, Twilight would love it here... So, how does one find a rampaging stone po--" I heard a giant crash as a book building to my right exploded outward. A shower of dust was flung out by the impact, and when it cleared there was a rock pony just a little bit bigger than Big Mac standing among the debri. It's eyes were piercing white with no pupil whatsoever. It's gaze locked on the only living thing in the area, Me. "Oh, joy. Found it. Huh... I was expecting a bit more." The rock pony lowered it's head and charged at me like a crazed bull. I rolled my eyes. I crouched down and braced my arms to catch the golem. It's head rammed into my hands, stopping it cold. I grabbed it's rocky throat with both hands and lifted it off the ground. He was a heavy guy, but the miasma gave me enough strength to lift and hold him.

"Oh no! Another monster!" A unicorn screamed from a nearby building. I sighed in relief.

"Good, a town where they don't know me! Hey, focus. You're holding a giant rock pony." The golem was flailing around wildly in my grasp, and it wasn't making it any easier for me to hold him up. "So, let's see... My shark blades won't effect you... Ah, I've got an idea!" I heaved greatly, and managed to throw the golem a short distance away. He hit the ground, becoming momentarily stunned. I pointed directly at his head. "Thundraga, thundraga, thundraga, thundraga." Four bolts flew at the golem's head in quick succession. The energy it cost me brought me to my knees. "Way to go genius! Huh, energy drain is new... Guess I never used it like that though..." The golem laid on the ground limply, it's head reduced to mere pebbles. "Well, got the job done I suppose..." I pulled my phone back out and called Luna.

"Sharky! Calling so soon? Is there trouble? Doth thou need assistance?"

"Nah, golem's dead. You're welcome. Can I go home now? I just no found out the physical cost of using my magic too many times in a row..."

"... Thou hath dispatched it already?! Thou hath only been there for a grand total of 3 minutes!"

"Yeah, he wasn't very strong..."

"... Very well... We... I suppose we... I should not be shocked by this..."

"Next time send us to a real fight! Ya got my hopes up fer nothin' bitch!" Luna flinched at me.

"That Steven fellow truly is horrible..." She muttered.

"Oh man! Steven, shut up! Can you just send me home now?"

"Very well, we... I shall teleport thou now..."

"Cool." Again, I disappeared in a flash of black light.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I flashed back onto Rarity's bed.

"Oh! Sharky! You're back already!" Rarity exclaimed. She was in the corner of the bedroom, in front of a mirror.

"Yeah, easy kill... why are you wearing a maid outfit?" Rarity was dressed up in a cute little frilly maid's outfit.

"... I always dress like this when I clean?"

"Oh god, I got good money on him buying that! Oh, that makes sense I guess. Well, I should get back to my son. I didn't get to spend as much time as I wanted with him yesterday... Called it!" Then I swung my legs over the side of the bed and tried to stand up. I fell backward onto the bed the moment my feet contacted the ground. "Ok... dizzy..." My vision swam and my head pounded as the fatigue from the spell casting reminded me of it's prescence. "Whoa... ok, guess I'm not standing for a bit..."

"Are you ok dear?!" Rarity ran over to my side and started running a hoof over my head as if I were sick.

"Yeah, just a little exhausted from some rapid spell casting... apparently using my thundraga four times in a row is a bad idea..."

"Oh you poor thing! I'll go get you something to drink!" She darted out of the room and I groaned.

"No way I'm goin through this crap again, last time I let somepony take care of me, she ended up getting drunk and kissing me." I forced myself to stand again. This time I stayed standing until the desire to vomit and fall over subsided. I stumbled towards the door, but Rarity came back before I could leave.

"Oh no you don't! You need to rest mister!" She lifted me with her aura and moved me back over to the bed.

"Ah crud... you know, I really can do fine..."

"Ha! I think not my dear! You can't even admit when you can't stand!"

"So? I'll be fine! I just need to get back to my son."

"Look, you know I'm your... friend, yes?"

"Of course I do Rarity!"

"You know I only have your best intrests at heart yes?"

"And I yours."

"Then please trust me? I only wish to help you dear!"

"But--"

"Ah ah! No 'but's!"

"... Fine, I'll trust you I suppose..."

"Good. Now, drink this." She levitated me a small cup. I grabbed it from her aura and looked inside. Just water. I tossed it back and handed her the cup. "Good boy. Now, go to sleep..."

"But I'm not tire-- whoa... what the..." A sudden wave of drowsiness washed over me from nowhere. "W-what the..." Rarity smiled.

"I'm sorry dear. I got some sleeping potion from Shadow a while back to help Sweetiebelle with some insommnia. I knew it would be the only way to get you to stay put and rest."

"... Fair... enough... Wow... That's some... strong stuff... I... regret... nothing." Soon, both me and Steven were out like lights.

Visit

"Mmmmm... Man... that stuff just knocked me out..." I mumbled as I entered the dream realm. I was in a school bus driving backwards on the bottom of a cloud. Upside down.

"Yeah, it got me too." Steven was in the seat at the back of the bus.

"Well duh! You go out when I do!" Steven laughed.

"Not quite. Remeber that snowman fight? When you got majorly owned, I stepped in and killed it for you."

"... You can control my body?"

"Fuck yeah! Only when you can't though."

"... Note to self, no more going unconcious... Well... I guess I should thank you for that..."

"Fuck yeah you should thank me! I saved your ass bitch!"

"Well... if you're gonna be like that then nevermind. So if that potion could knock us both out..."

"Yeah, it was pretty heavy-duty. Ha! I said duty."

"Wow, what are you, 4? I was gonna say that is Sweetiebelle needed something that strong her insommnia must be really bad..."

"Wow, you just got drugged by one of your 'friends' and you're worried about another one's insommnia? Pitiful man. Just pitiful."

"Hey, at least I've got friends! Oh, I'm sorry. I don't mean to hurt your feelings..."

"... Dude, grow a pair. Also, get a better insult book. I don't care about not having friends! All I need is myself!"

"You need me."

"What?"

"Yeah, if anything happens to me you'd be SOL."

"... Dammit. Hey, are we waking up already?" A huge light was bearing down on us.

"Well, it may feel like already, but in dreams time is distorted, so it could be like... night there."

"Huh, I guess I see your point. By the way... Ask Rarity what she did to you while you were out."

"What?" Then the light enveloped us and I was thrown into the waking world.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ughhh... Whoa..." I woke up, feeling crazy groggy. I looked around. I was still on Rarity's bed, but Rarity was nowhere in sight. "Sweet, escape time..." I tried to stand up, but I couldn't move my arms. I looked down at myself, and my upper body was tied to the bed with a red ribbon. Literally, the ribbon wrapped all the way around the bed and my body, tying me firmly to the matress. I laughed. "Oh how cute, she thinks she can keep me here with ribbon." I wiggled my arms around a bit until one of my shark blades cut the ribbon around my hand. I slowly worked my arms free then sliced my way out of the binding. "Much better." I stood up again, no wave of diziness hitting me this time. I must have gotten enough rest to make up for the thundraga abuse. I walked out of Rarity's bedroom.

"Gah! What are you doing awake Sharky?!" Sweetiebelle was near the stairs leading down.

"Is Cheerilee still sick? Poor girl. What's wrong with me being awake?"

"Well... it's just... Rarity said she gave you my sleeping potion..."

"Yes..."

"That stuff is supposed to keep you asleep for 8 hours! Shadow said something about it being a healthy sleep amount..."

"How long have I been out?"

"Only 4! Rarity left to go get some stuff to help you rest 'cause she thought you'd still be asleep!"

"Well then it's my lucky day isn't it? I'm running while I can. Tell your sister that I'm fine now ok?"

"You're just gonna leave your special somepony?" I sighed and crouched down. I placed a hand on Sweetiebelle's shoulder and looked her in the eyes.

"Look, Rarity is not my special somepony. She is one of my best friends, but she doesn't think of me like that. We're just friends. I'm sorry. Look at me, I'm not even a pony! It just... it can't happen ok?"

"... But you're always hugging her and stuff!"

"Because she's my friend. I hug all my friends. Even my guy friends when it's necessary."

"Are you sure? I saw you two laying on each other this morning..."

"That's because she rolled over in her sleep and we woke up like that. It didn't mean anything."

"... Well... I'm not sure... but if you say so... are you sure you don't want her to be your special somepony?" I stood up and started walking down the stairs.

"I don't recall saying that." I walked down the stairs and left the building without saying another word.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*SMACK*

"Oh, hi RD. You know, smacking into me is bad for you now." I had been walking back to the library when RD had divebombed into my chest. I caught her as she fell away from me and cradled her in my left arm. "What's up?" She was holding something in her mouth and I grabbed it with my free hand.

"Read that. Then you tell me what's up!" She sounded remotely angry. I frowned and placed her on the ground by my side. Then I looked at the paper she had given me. It was a newspaper. This time I looked at the name of the paper company.

"Huh... Equestria Daily... No comments about that... You know, I always wonder how daily newspapers find enough stories... anyway, front-page article..." I read the bold print on the front page. Damn, about me again. "Cool as ice, hotter than flame. Ok, what's this about... News about Equestria's new hero is the hottest thing out there right now! This hero is cool as can be, but could a certain mare be heating his life up? Our hero, shortly after slaying a gigantic snow abomination, admitted to dating a white unicorn by the name of Rarity! Then, after saving a kidnapped filly, he was seen returning to his new mare friend and taking her out, presumably for a romantic evening!" I pulled the paper away from my face and threw it into the air. I pointed at it as it fell. "Thundraga!" A lightning bolt lanced through the paper, sending it up in a small plume of fire and smoke.

"Whoa! Why'd you do that?! I'm supposed to be the mad one!" RD exclamined.

"Gahhh!!! Why?! Why would this happen! I was just trying to take Rarity to get her mane fixed! I told them she was my marefriend for one second so they would leave me alone! I had to go save a filly! I didn't want this to happen! Rarity's gonna kill me! Oh, and I love how the demon snowman and the filly each get less than a line of text!"

"... So... you aren't dating Rarity?"

"No... Wait, why would you have been mad? Oh god, this'll be good."

"... I... was mad because I never got mentioned even though I got accepted into the Wonderbolts?"

"Oh, I see. I'm sorry they never gave you the attention you deserve. Oh my god he still bought it! Ha!" RD frowned at me.

"Steven gets it?" I frowned at her.

"What did Steven say? Man, I told you guys not to talk to him! Yeah, of course I get it! This guy... he's a real dumbass huh?" RD narrowed her eyes at me.

"Don't you dare talk about him like that!"

"What? What did I do?"

"Oh.. uh sorry Sharky. Nothing... So, when are we gonna get to hang out again?" I thought for a moment.

"Well, I wanna spend some time with Unity... I really feel like I haven't been much of a dad..."

"Oh, what if I bring Scoots and we have a little play-date kinda thing!"

"Sounds great! Where is she anyway?"

"Shes still asleep. I let her sleep in really late when there's no school."

"You just instantly became one of the coolest moms I know." She grinned sheepishly.

"Really? Aww..."

"Eeyup, now, come to the library when she wakes up for that play-date. I... might still be there."

"Sure thing Sharky! See you soon!"

"Yeah, see you soon buddy." RD's ears drooped.

"... Bye." She flapped her wings and took off. I kept walking to the library. I made it and knocked on the door.

"It's open!" Spike shouted from inside. I pushed the door open and walked in. Spike was re-arranging some books on the shelves, but when he saw me his jaw dropped and he ran over to me. He started pushing on my leg.

"What are you doing?"

"Run! Run now man! Before--" The door slammed behind me. "Oh no..."

"Oh... hello Sharky..." Twilight was at the top of the steps leading to the bedroom.

"Hi Twilight! How ar--"

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be out there? With your new marefriend?" She practically spat out the word 'marefriend'.

"Oh geez, you read that paper too? GAH! I officially hate the paparazzi! Is he not sensing the danger here? I feel it. I feel very threatened right now. Look, I'm not dating Rarity!" Twilight gave me a confused look.

"... You... you aren't?"

"No! I just told this huge mob that so they would leave me alone! I was trying to save a filly's life! Ugh.. when Rarity finds this out... she's gonna kill me... I'm not even a pony! I don't see why the news crews even think it's possible for her to like me! So, is he in flat-out denial, or does he really believe this? Maybe he's trolling us... nah, I got his trolling. Nevermind."

"You... you're serious right now? Is Pinkie Pie going to jump out of somewhere and tell me how good you guys pranked me?" Twilight started looking around wildly.

"Uhh... no. I haven't even seen Pinkie in a while... Why?"

"You're sure? You really don't understand?"

"Noooo... why, should I? Am I missing something? Nope, he really believes it. Damn."

"Sharky... Ugh.. my head is pounding from the pure exposure to obliviousness... I need to go lay down..."

"Uhh... ok. Goodnight Twi!"

"... Sharky... Yes, goodnight. Do you want to read later?"

"I'd love too! As soon as I'm free. I've got a play-date with RD and Scoots here soon, then I've got to take Rarity to a dinner I promised her tonight... as soon as Luna sends me my pay... So how about right inbetween those two things?" Twilight nodded.

"Sounds good. I'm going to go lay down now. Unity is down for an afternoon nap. He should wake up soon though."

"Fantastic! Thanks for taking such good care of him Twi!"

"It's no trouble Sharky."

"Oh no, it really means a lot to me. Without you... I'd be hopelessly lost with Unity. I feel like a horrible dad..." Twilight totted down the steps to me.

"Come now! You're a great dad! You just have to work a lot..."

"I know I have work... but that shouldn't be an excuse! I need to make time for him! I need to make time for you guys too! I feel like I'm slowly losing my friends the more time I spend away from them..."

"Now that's ridiculous! All your friends care about you very much! I'm sure they don't mind you being busy!"

"Well I know you do. You complain about it all the time."

"No! I complain about you being busy hunting monsters! I wouldn't mind... as much... if it were a regular job!"

"Well, all the same, I'm too busy all the time and I need to focus on spending more time with you guys."

"Sharky, you don't need to try even harder! You already work like crazy to spend time with everypony and do your job and take care of Unity! You're going to burn yourself out!"

*BLEEECH* Spike burped loudly.

"Well, excuse you Spike!" Twilight chided. "Where were we?"

"Me burning myself out. Are you sure? I really do feel like I've been neglecting everypony."

"Nonsense! I'm sure everypony here knows just how much you care about them!"

"Ok... If you say so... Well, you get that sleep ok? I'm just going to wait for RD and Scootaloo."

"Ok Sharky. Wake me up when the play-date is over ok?"

"Sure."

"Hey, Twilight... I hate to interrupt, but Shining Armor just responded to your letter!" Twilight turned away from me and trotted over to Spike.

"Oooh! He finally responded! Give me the letter please Spike!" Spike handed Twilight the parchment he had burped up.

"Who's Shining Armor? Sounds like a fag."

"He's my BBBFF!" I blinked a few times in confusion. Twilight sighed.

"Big brother best friend forever." She explained.

"Ohhh... I didn't know you had a brother!"

"Not many ponies do... I haven't really found a proper time to tell my friends yet either."

"They don't know you have a brother?"

"Not yet, I just haven't mentioned him I suppose..."

"Ah, I understand. What's the letter about?"

"I was just telling him about what it's like in Ponyville! I send him a letter about what goes on here every once in a while... I told him all about you in my last letter!"

"Oh, that's cool! What does it say?"

"It says he's really interested in meeting you! He says he's in Canterlot for the next few days, and he'd like us to visit him!"

"Oh! That sounds great! Yeah, great. Does this Shining Armor fellow know you like this guy?" Twilight blushed for some reason.

"Well... I might have mentioned it..."

"Might have mentioned what? Ah crap, he's gonna give us the 'big brother' act..."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Little time setting here... This takes place in the winter before the royal wedding. Twilight's second year in Ponyville.

Denied

"What's the big brother act?" Twilight asked.

"... What are you talking about?"

"Steven, what's the big brother act?"

"Oh man, you were talking to Steven directly?! Don't acknowledge him! He's right you know. Now that I know you wanna know what it is, there's no way I'm telling you!" Twilight narrowed her eyes.

"Jerk!"

"Me?"

"No, I was referring to Steven!"

"Oh, good. Well... Tell your brother I'm honored, but I just don't have the time!" Twilight's eyes widened.

"Y-you're going to refuse to see Shining Armor?!"

"Yeah... sorry, but like you said, I've got too much to do anyway. I just can't afford to spend my time on it! I would love to meet him, but I'd prefer to spend the little time I have with my son and friends."

"B-but... Shining Armor could be your friend... You two have a lot in common you know, he's a royal guard!"

"Really? Well, that's nice and all, but I simply can't do it!"

"Well... What if I told you he was captain of the royal guard?! Is the visit important enough then?"

"Whoa! I thought Steel was captain of the guard!" Twilight tilted her head at me. Then she seemed to understand what I was talking about.

"Oh! You mean Steel Boulder! No, there are three different kinds of royal knights, there are Lunar Knights, like you, Celestial Knights, led by Rhino, then the Royal Guard. Steel is the captain of the Lunar Knights, Shining Armor is the captain of the Royal Guard!"

"Wow Twilight, how do you know so much about the military forces of Equestria?"

"When your brother is captain of the guard, you learn a few things."

"Well, that makes sense I guess. Still though, just being a captain doesn't make him more important to me. My friends and son come first. Then work, then everything else."

"... Are you sure? It would mean a lot to me if you two met... and got along..."

"Well, some day I'm sure, but I just don't have the time! I'm sorry. Please give him my humblest apologies."

"Hey! Sharky, you there?" RD was knocking on the door.

"Case of point, I've got a play date. You should get to sleep."

"... Ok Sharky... I'll respect your decision. Goodnight..." Twilight trotted back up the stairs and into her bedroom as I answered the door.

"Hi RD! Hi Scootaloo! Hi... Gilda? What are you doing here still? Don't they need you back at the Empire?"

"Maybe, but it's not like I care. Things are way better here! I even made my own cloud house!"

"Wow! Sweet... This won't result in a gryffin attack to reclaim the princess right?"

"Heh, doubt it... there's no way my dad'll care enough to send soliders."

"Right... RD, Scootaloo. Nice to see you guys! Won't you come in?" I stepped out of the doorway and gestured for them to come in. They all filed in and sat down around the table with the wooden horse head. "Sweet. So, how many of you have eaten lunch? Unity's still asleep for now, so I can make us some lunch while we wait."

"I'd love something to eat!" Scootaloo piped up. I smiled at her.

"Yeah, I could go for a bite." RD agreed. Gilda looked nervous.

"Ahh... uhh... no thanks..."

"Not a fan of veggies Gilda? It's ok. Not my favorite either to be honest..." I consoled.

"Then what do you like to eat?" Scootaloo asked innocently. I flinched.

"Oh yeah... I never told you that... Sweetie, Sharky here eats meat. Gilda too. Don't be scared, they don't eat pony." RD explained. Scootaloo's eyes flew open and she started backing up.

"Y-you eat w-what?!" She wailed. She backed up all the way into a bookcase. RD followed her, cooing and trying to embrace her the whole way.

"No no, calm down, Sharky and Gilda are good remember? There's no need to be scared, hush dear..." She slowly calmed Scootaloo down and pulled her into a hug. She rubbed a hoof through Scootaloo's mane and mumbled to her until she stopped shaking.

"Whoa... Where did that come from RD?" I asked in suprise. She lifted her head away from Scootaloo.

"Where did what come from?"

"That! That was some great parenting there..." RD blushed.

"Oh... it's no big deal..."

"Y-yeah... she's a great parent... I'm sorry I freaked out..." Scootaloo managed to mumble.

"Ugh, I think I'm gonna choke on the emotion. It's ok Scootaloo. I totally understand. RD, way to go girl. Well... I can't help you with the meat Gilda, but I'm gonna go make the rest of us a salad... After I ask Twilight if it's ok..."

"It's fine!" Twilight yelled from her room.

"Are you eavesdropping?!"

"No!"

"Freakin' creeper. Go to sleep!"

"Ok!"

"Why do you keep saying mean things?" Scootaloo asked innocently.

"... Uh... RD?"

"Don't worry, I got it. You can go start that lunch."

"Imma go find some lunch of my own. I'll see you guys later." Gilda turned and left the library. I walked into the kitchen and found some lettuce and tomato. Oooh, onions too. I washed my hands, then set to cutting up all the vegetables. I tossed them all into a big bowl and mixed them all together.

"Salad's done!" I called as I divided the dish up into a few bowls for my friends and I. RD and Scootaloo came running in. "... That means you too Twilight!"

"Oh, ok!" I heard her trot down the stairs as she came into the kitchen.

"Ok, everypony dig in!" As we all sat down at a table in the kitchen, I heard crying from upstairs. "Oh, Unity's awake! I'll be right back!" I stood up and left the kitchen quickly. I jogged through the main room and up the steps to the bedroom. Unity was laying in the little bed, still dressed in his pony outfit. He was crying his little eyes out. His tears boiled away and floated away from his face as they rolled down his cheeks. I was a little afraid to pick him up because of it, but at my touch his tears stopped and he was normal temperature. "Hey buddy! Let's go get some lunch ok?" He stared at me blankly. "... Still a baby, right." I walked back out of the bedroom and through the library until I was back in the kitchen. "Everypony enjoying the salads?" There were mixed 'mmm' and 'uh-huh' noises before they all went back to eating. "Well damn, take a breath will ya? Glad to hear you all like it!" I made Unity a sun bottle and had Twilight heat it for me again. I fed Unity the bottle. Only the milk this time. The bottle was left hanging in midair again. I grabbed it, and it liquified in my hands. Scootaloo didn't freak out again, so I assume she didn't just see the bottle liquify.

"Oh, let me clean that..." Twilight offered. She had finished her salad, and seconds.

"No no, I got it." I argued.

"No, you fed Unity, I'll clean the spill." Twilight shot back.

"No, you take care of him all the time while I'm gone, I got it."

"It doesn't matter, it's my house, and I'll clean it if I want to."

"Well he's my son and it's my responsibility to clean up his messes."

"You're both wrong." RD interrupted. "I already got it." I looked down, and sure enough, the spill was gone.

"How did you..." I started.

"Fastest pegasus in Equestria."

"Ah, of course. Well, you go actually get in bed Twi, let's get to that play-date Scootaloo!" Twilight's ears drooped, but she turned and headed off to her bed without complaint.

"Ooooh! Do I get to play foal with Unity?!" Scootaloo asked excitedly. I blinked a few times.

"What?"

"Foal, you know, the game where I take care of him like he was my foal?"

"Oh, I'm familiar with that game. It's called 'baby' in my world. I didn't think you'd be the kinda filly to play a game like that..."

"Oh... is that bad?"

"It's terrible. What are you, a baby? No, it's not bad, you just suprised me..."

"Hey! Be nice Steven!" Scootaloo scolded. I guess RD did a pretty good job of explaining it to her.

"Oh for the love of... Don't speak to him directly!"

"Oh... sorry. Well, can I play with Unity now?"

"Sure! Just uhh... be careful..."

"Well I know that! He is just a baby! I wouldn't wanna hurt him..."

"Not him I'm worried about..."

"What?"

"Nothing. Let's go into the main room and you two can play there. Oof!" A coin pouch appeared out of nowhere and landed on my head. "Hey, my pay!"

"Pay? You haven't gone on any missions lately!" RD said confusedly.

"That's what you think. Killed a golem this morning. Let's see here... 2000 bits. Hey, that's not too bad! I was worried it would be crazy high again..."

"Wait, that's not a sentence you just throw out like that! 'Killed a golem this morning'. You act like it's no big deal! You could've died!"

"Not really. Beat it in under three minutes. Ok, here he is Scootaloo. You two play nice now..." We had walked into the main room as I talked. I set Unity on the ground and let Scootaloo play with him. She started tickling him and cradling him in her hooves. "Dear Celestia that's adorable."

"Yeah... You know, bein' a mom is way more awsome than I thought it would be..."

"Really? How so?"

"Well, thought it would be a ton of work, which it is, but it's also way more... happy."

"Happy?"

"I'm just happy. All the time now. When I'm with her... it's like I've done something very important. Something good. It makes me happy ya know?"

"I know what you mean." Scootaloo started giving Unity raspberries. "Oh dear god... my heart..."

"Sharky! Are you ok?!"

"Yeah, that's just the sweetest cutest thing I've ever seen in my entire life..." Unity was giggling like his life depended on it and wiggling his 'hooves' around wildly. Scootaloo was smiling and laughing along with him. "Anyway, I know what you mean. Unity... Whenever I'm taking care of him, I feel like I did something very right."

"Yeah... Sharky... I want to tell you something..."

"Shoot."

"That girl..."

"Who?"

"The one from your other world." I flinched.

"Uhh... yeah... what about her?"

"She has got to be the dumbest, most unlucky girl ever."

"How do you figure?"

"She let you go. I don't think she knew what she was missing."

"He still won't get that you like him. Calling it now. That's... very nice of you to say RD... Oh my god... He thinks your trying to talk to him like a beer drinking buddy after a break-up! Rich! but you're wrong... That girl... to quote a favorite song of mine... you don't know like I do, you'll never understand. You don't know what we've been through, yeah that girl's my best friend." RD flinched and gave me a look of shock. Scootaloo either couldn't hear us or wasn't listening. She was totally absorbed into playing with Unity.

"How can you talk about her like that?! She wasn't even loyal!"

"Funny that you would say that... It doesn't matter. I know what she did was wrong, and I know I shouldn't care... but I just can't bring myself to dislike her. Because he's too much of a wussy."

"You still... love her?"

"Oh god no. No way, she royally screwed that up. I just... I can't say that I'm mad or that I hate her... NO Scootaloo! Don't take off his hat!" I yelled suddenly as Scootaloo started tugging on Unity's stocking cap with her mouth. Scootaloo released his hat as soon as I yelled.

"Why? Is something wrong?" She asked worriedly.

"Uhh... no... I just want him to keep that hat on..."

"Okayyyy... why?"

"Because I am weird! Just leave it on ok?"

"... Sure..." After that, I didn't have any problems with Scootaloo and Unity. RD and I talked a little more, but soon Scootaloo and her left for some flight training. After they left, I went to go wake Twilight up, but she was waiting by her bedroom door for me.

"Are you free to read now?" She asked excitedly.

"... Yes... have you been waiting here for me?"

"Noooo..."

"Yes she has." Spike said from his bed. He must've been relaxing there almost this whole time. Twilight shot him a glare.

"Oh... Twi... I wanted you to get that rest... Well, I suppose it can't be helped now... Well, let's get to reading then shall we?" She nodded and we both picked a random book off the shelves in her room.

"Memoirs of Starswirl the Bearded, a look into the makings of modern magic. What book did you get?"

"Twilight's Diary. Do not read, this means you." Twilight magically pulled the book out of my hands.

"Spike! You put my diary on the library shelves?!"

"Sorry! It looks like all the other books!"

"It's ok, I'll just grab another. Let's see... Ah! Daring Do. I wanted to read these..." I pulled the first book off the shelves and sat down in a corner to read. Twilight trotted over and crawled in my lap. I ran my hand through her mane absent mindedly as I read. In about 8 hours, I had finished the first 2 books and was almost done with the third. I had stopped to feed Unity and put him in bed, but the books were so engrossing that I didn't bother to stop for much else. Late that night, my body finally decided to shut me down.

"How did you enjoy your books Sharky?" Twilight asked as the third book fell out of my hands and onto the floor.

"Zzzzzz..."

"Awww... He fell asleep... How cute." Twilight levitated me over to the bed and laid me down. With that, she crawled into the bed with me and pressed herself against my sleeping body. "Well, so much for your dinner with Rarity..."

Town

Friday, January 25th

*HAAAALLELUJAH*

"GAH!" I sprang up in the bed, knocking Twilight clear off the bed. She hit the ground rolling, which caused her to keep going and fall off the little ledge.

"Whoa!" *BAM* "Ow!"

"Oh, sorry Twilight! How'd I end up in this bed?"

*HAAAALLELUJAH*

"Oh, phone!" I grabbed my phone and hit the answer button. Luna's face filled the screen. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as she greeted me.

"Greetings Sharky! We... I trust thou hath slept well?"

"I was... Why you calling so early Luna?"

"We... I apologize, but there is an emergency."

"This early in the morning?" I looked out of the window. The sun hadn't even come up yet.

"Yes. There has been a dragon attack on a town know as Stalliongrad, in the far northern reaches of Equestria."

"... Stalliongrad... Is that a big city?"

"No, 'tis a relatively new town. Younger than even Ponyville."

"Huh... Not exactly the same then... Well... wait, you said dragon..."

"Yes, this is what we... I said..."

"You want me... to fight a... dragon..."

"If necessary. We... I would much prefer you negotiate a peaceful resolution."

"... You want me to negotiate... with a dragon..."

"Luna! That's insane! There's no way you can make Sharky do that!" Twilight had climbed back up onto the bed ledge.

"Hey, my job. I'll do it Luna. Sounds like it could be fun. Well, not fun persay... Just an event. I'll do it."

"Hey! You can't possibly fight a dragon!" Twilight argued.

"I'll sure as hell try! Now, let me say goodbye to Unity and grab my sword. Then I'll call you back for teleportation Luna."

"Yes... About that... Stalliongrad is outside the reach of typical transportation... thou shall have to ride a train for a full day before thou reaches Stalliongrad..."

"Whoa... so that means a two day trip without fighting time?"

"Unfortunately..."

"No! You can't just leave for us for two whole days!" Twilight wailed.

"Well, if it's for the good of Equestria, I'm in. I'll call you back in a minute Luna." I hung up without another word. I leapt off the bed and walked over to a gasping Twilight by the edge of the ledge. I knelt down and pulled her into a hug. "Looks like I'm gonna be gone for a while. Think you can handle Unity while I'm gone?"

"N-no... Don't leave me..."

"Sorry, you know I have to. Thanks for being a fantastic friend Twilight."

"W-why are you talking like you're leaving forever?!"

"Well, call me crazy, but even I don't think I can handle a full-grown dragon all alone. I'll sure try though!"

"S-so you're going to just go anyway?! T-that's c-crazy!"

"Like a fox. Wait, don't let him go! I don't wanna die!" I stood up and leapt off the small ledge.

"N-no! You j-just came back to life! I don't want you dead!"

"Then I'll try not to die." I went to Unity and bent over to kiss his forehead. He smiled and one of his ears flicked. I turned to walk towards the stairs.

"T-try?! Don't you trot away from me mister!"

"Who are you, my wife? I'm going to get my sword, then I'm leaving." Twilight froze at my word choice. By the time she was able to think again, I was already downstairs. She ran after me. I grabbed the Buster Sword from it's corner with my right hand and pulled out my phone with my left. Right then, a rush of energy slammed me into the wall, holding me there so that my chest and face were smooshed up against it. I acidentally released my phone in shock, and it ended up being pressed against the wall with me. Twilight's aura was surrounding me.

"No! I won't let you leave just to die again!"

"Phone, add Twilight Sparkle to my call list." A blue light shot from my phone from it's position against the wall. The light enveloped Twilight and she jumped back in shock, releasing me from her magic hold. The light disappeared suddenly and I caught my phone as my phone and I both fell from the wall. I quickly hit Luna's call button after my phone registered Twilight as a contact. "Hi Luna, no talk time crazed Twilight Sparkle, teleport please?" Luna's eyes widened.

"Immediately!" In a flash of black light, I was gone.

"Dang it! I let him get away again!!!" Twilight wailed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I flashed into Luna's bedroom. The moon. Luna was sitting on her bed and I was standing next to the exit doors.

"So wait... You can teleport me directly from the planet to the moon, but you can't teleport me to northern Equestria?"

"Tis not as simple as thou thinks. We... I can teleport you to the moon because it is our element. The rest of the world is an entirely different matter."

"Well, why'd you bring me here? I thought I was on my way to Stalliongrad."

"Thou will be, we... I first must give thee travel fare..." She levitated me a small coin pouch. "This will cover the price for both train tickets. Now, when we... I send thou back, thou will arrive at a train station in the town closest to Stalliongrad as I can manage. Simply purchase a ticket to Stalliongrad, then ride there to deal with the dragon."

"Wow Luna, I really have to applaud your effort with the speaking." Luna blushed at my sudden compliment.

"Oh, doth thou truly think so? We... I have been trying tirelessly to master this speech... 'tis difficult to say the least."

"Well, it's really showing. You're doing much better just correcting yourself. Keep practicing and you'll be speaking like everypony else in no time at all!"

"I thank thou... Thine praise is most helpful in keeping our spirits high in this endeavor."

"Well, I'm glad to help. Anyway, I should get going now. I don't want to spend any more time away from Ponyville then I have to." Luna shook her head as if clearing her head.

"Right, I shall teleport thee immediately. Be safe, and good luck to thou."

"You got it boss!" In another flash, I was gone.

"... Oh no... I neglected to tell him the town because of his compliment! I do hope he doesn't find out on his own..."

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I was standing on a wooden platform. There was a small ticket booth on the right, and benches aplenty lining up beside it in two neat little rows. The benches were nearly full of all kinds of ponies, mostly earth pony mares. They were all sleeping soundly, and the sun had not risen. The horizon was not even starting to brighten, so I could only assume that it was still very early. There was a light coming from the ticket booth however, so I walked over. There was a small glass window seperating me from the mare in the booth. She was a gray unicorn with a long black mane. I had to look down through the window to see her, because she had laid down and fallen asleep. Her head was propped up on her forelegs and she snored loudly. I gave the window a gentle knock. She jumped into position at the window. Her eyes were still closed, and she started to speak sleepily.

"Yes... This is the ticket sales... how may I zzzzzzzz... Huh? Help you?"

"Uh yes, I need one ticket to Stalliongrad please." The mare snorted.

"Nopony goes to Stalliongrad... There's a dragon..." She opened her eyes lazily, then they widened greatly and her sleepiness seemed to disappear instantly. "Oh my Celestia... It's you!" She shouted excitedly. A few of the mares nearby began to stir.

"Oh, no no no, stay calm! I'm not a big deal--"

"Are you kidding!? You gotta be the biggest thing in Equestria right now! You're the somepony everypony wants to know!" More of the sleeping ponies were beginning to wake. The mare's speaking volume was increasing and she seemed to be bouncing on her hooves.

"Shhhh! Look, I don't want to draw attention! I just need a ticket to Stalliongrad so I can get the dragon!"

"Ooooh! You're going to fight the dragon?! How heroic! Your marefriend must be so proud!" Now almost all of the ponies were waking up, and some of them were looking around sleepily. A few of their gazes locked onto me.

"You mean Rarity? Look, she isn't really my marefriend. Please, just give me the ticket!"

"Oh, of course! 50 bits please!" I reached into the small pouch Luna had given me and pulled out 5 silver bits. The mare levitated them out of my hand then levitated me a ticket. "Oh, not really your marefriend, huh? So, you're available?"

"Not to you! Well yeah, I guess you could say that. I'm human though, so it's not like anypony would really be interested in me though." The mare didn't seem to hear Steven. Either that, or she flat-out ignored him.

"Well, maybe I could prove you wr--"

"Hey! Is that the hero?!"

"You know, I'm beginning to wonder how everypony knows me, but only by 'hero', not my name..." I muttered to myself. I turned to the waking crowd. "I'm not a hero! Just somepony that does what anypony else would if they were me! Please, don't freak out!"

"Aww, so humble. It's very becoming of you hero..." The ticket counter mare said like she was sighing. Which was weird.

"He's so down-to-Equestria!" Another pony shouted.

"Oh son of a... You done it now dude."

"Holy Celestia! What's that thing?!" A stallion shouted. A bunch of surrounding ponies turned to him.

"That's the hero!"

"He's a Lunar Knight!"

"He beat an Ursa Minor all by himself!"

"I heard he can't die!"

"He spends his free time saving fillies' lives!"

"I heard he can outfly the Wonderbolts easy!"

"I heard that he's an angel!"

"Oh no... Things are getting out of hand... I'm not all that fantastic guys! I'm not an angel! Celestia, who even started that rumor?" I mumbled to myself. The crowd was starting to get up and slowly approach me.

"I want to meet him!"

"I want his autograph!"

"I wanna ask him a few questions about being a hero!"

"I want him!" Wait, what?

"I want to go a day without a mob... I want to live! Run you fool!" The ponies quickly surrounded me, leaving my back up against the ticket booth. "Uhh... you're all a little close don't you think?"

"I want clothes like that! Doesn't your marefriend make them for you?"

"Yeah! Tell us about your marefriend." For some reason, I found myself realizing just how many mares I was surrounded by. There were stallions too, but they seemed to be at the far edges of the small crowd, being more quiet than the mares.

"Uhh... Rarity? She really isn't my don't say it! marefriend. We're just good friends. The press messed that up... Oh god we're gonna die..." The mares seemed to tighten the circle around me.

"Really? No marefriend?"

"What a shame..."

"That means you're free right?"

"Somepony like you shouldn't have to be alone..."

"Uhhh... girls..." I had about one foot of clear space in any given direction. Even the ticket booth pony had come out of her booth and was slowly closing the gap on my right side. "What's going on?" Somehow my Buster Sword disappeared from my side. "Uhh... I need that!"

"Not right now you don't!"

"... Ok, I'm seriously freaking out now..."

"Oooh, is the big hero suddenly afraid of a few mares?"

"A few? No. A crowd showing surrounding behavior... I'm getting there..." The mares were so close I could feel the warmth from their bodies.

"Oh, lighten up... From what I hear, you work to hard anyway..."

"Yeah, you need to... relax..."

"Come on, maybe we can help..."

"Yeah, come on... if you like that..."

"Dear god we are going to die!... Yet I still find myself enjoying this. Uhh... Oh look at the time. I think I have to go..." I tried taking a step to my right, but I was halted by the mares. They refused to move.

"Where you goin' in such a hurry?"

"Yeah, you just got here..."

"Stay a while, here, with us..."

"Uhh... I feel very endangered right now... Somepony please tell me this is some kind of practical joke..."

"Oh, it's no joke hon. You belong to us for now..." Then I noticed a sign for the name of the platform. It had the name of the city I was in as well.

"This town is named Rutville? What on Equestria kinda name is that? Wait a minute... doesn't rut mean... Oh no... oh no...

"Oh yes..." One of the mares said darkly. Then they jumped at me.

Train

Suddenly I was buried in a pile of mares. I could feel their hooves all over my upper body, but luckily my entire lower body was protected by armor. I was more worried about them ripping my shirt or cutting themselves on my blades than anything else. I had been knocked to the ground, not by the mares tackling me, but a unicorn had knocked me to the ground with magic. I couldn't see anything other than brightly colored sides, flanks, and the occasional face of the writhing mares. Oh, and plot. Lots of plot. I flipped my hands over so that my blades were pinned against the ground and tried to think of a way out of this without hurting anypony.

I am not calling Luna for this. Celestia that would be akward... Ok, it seems they can't seem to figure out pants, so I'll be ok for a while. They took my sword, so I can't just shove them all away with the flat of the blade... I can't use thundraga to scare them off, there's a roof over us... Right then, I could feel magic start tugging on my armor. I pressed my lower body against the ground as hard as I could. Crap! Think time over! Uhh... I... guess I have no choice...

"Oooh! I almost got him..." One of the mares on me said excitedly. I brought up my hands as fast as I could, throwing two mares off to the side. I heard the smack against the wooden patform and I flinched, but the rest of the mares remained focused. I sat up as fast as I could, rolling a few mares to the side. I pulled off my right glove, then used my right arm to smack most of them away from me. They all flew off me in the direction of the blow, almost colliding with the benches. The magic cut off instantly. The unicorn had been one of the ones I had hit. I was still surrounded by mares, but none of them moved towards me.

"H-ok. Let's stop that right now. Oh good! Look, I appreciate the interest, but NOOOO. You disgusting mares will never be good enough for me. You all seem nice, but' I'm not like that. Please don't do that." One of the mares nearest to me managed to speak up.

"W-what? You mean you didn't come here for--"

"Rutting? No. I'm here to get to Stalliongrad and fight a dragon." I said simply. The mares all seemed a little upset. Another mare on my left spoke up.

"Oh... Sorry... we just thought..."

"Oh, I get it. Single guy, moderately well known, shows up in a town apparently meant for... yeah... Like I said, I get it. I'd prefer to not discuss this again. This has been an... eye opening experience however..."

Apparently, mares can like humans! Well... maybe just these fanmares though. I'm sure it's not all mares... I thought ruefully as I thought about my friends. Yeah... just friends...

*CHOOOO CHOOOO* A train whistle interrupted my thought process.

"Oh, look. A train. I problably have to go. Please give me my sword so I can leave." A few of the ashamed looking mares on my left stepped gingerly apart, revealing my Buster Sword behind them. I stood up and walked over to it. I slipped on my right glove and I lifted the sword up in my right hand. Then I slung it over my shoulder Cloud-style.

"W-we're r-really sorry hero..." The ticket mare spoke up directly from my right side. I turned to look at her.

"No, it's ok, I understand."

"Oh, thank you for being so gracious hero..."

"Don't mention it."

"No, I really mea--"

"Seriously. Never speak of this. Any of you." I gestured around the crowd. "This never leaves us. I won't say anything, you won't say anything, got it?"

"... What if we do?" Another random mare asked.

"I'll sick Steven on you. I'll rip out your damn spine and use it to rape you before I pull out your skull and beat you to death with it." All of the nearby ponies gasped in fear. The brakes of a train squealed as it pulled into the station. "In case you couldn't tell, that mean voice that I assume just spoke was Steven. He's not the same as me."

"Train to Stalliongrad! All aboard! Oh, no passengers again cause there's a dragon and we continue to waste time with these trips? Good, bye." A green stallion unicorn in a blue uniform stepped out of the lead train car and very sacrcastically announced the train's purpose. He finished and turned to trot back into the train when I shouted after him.

"Wait! I need to board that train!" He turned back around.

"What kinda crazy idiot goes to a town under dragon att-- oh hey! It's you!"

"Yes yes, it's me. Whatever. Here, here's my ticket." I handed him the small slip of paper I had recieved from the ticket mare.

"Oh! Of course." He levitated the ticket out of my hand. "Please, follow me!" He stepped onto the train and I turned around to adress the crowd again.

"Thank you all for your... eager... hospitality. It was a pleasure to meet you." With that I turned back to the train and stepped on board. The stallion led me through a few cars of the train before he stopped at a car consisiting of beds lining the left and right sides of the car. All the beds were bunk beds and were made with plain white blankets and sheets.

"Here hero! You can stay here until we stop at Stalliongrad! Lucky for you that you caught this train! This is our last trip to Stalliongrad!" The train's whistle blew and I could feel it set into motion.

"What do you mean last trip? I've got to go back home!"

"Whoa whoa, easy friend! I mean our last trip until the dragon is gone! After you beat it, I'm sure our train'll be up and running again!"

"Well where will it be until then?"

"Well, after we get to Stalliongrad, we'll go back to the very beginning of our normal route, so just one town behind this one. If you get the dragon, we should be running that same day. Assuming the news reaches us."

"So that means, even if everything goes smoothly, it'll be at least three days until I get back home? That's assuming I beat the dragon almost instantly, and that's assuming I can beat it at all."

"What? You doubt yourself? You're supposed to be the great hero! I'm sure you can do it!" I snorted.

"Yeah, thanks. Well... If you don't mind, I'm gonna catch some z's." I gestured towards one of the beds.

"Oh, of course! Can I get you anything else before I go?" I put my sword down and crawled into the nearest bed, I had to curl my legs into my chest to fit.

"Well, a bigger bed would be fantastic... but no, other than that, I'm fine." The stallion started looking nervously from side to side. Then he let out a sigh.

"Well... I'm not supposed to do this... but you are our only passenger... and you're the hero so... Follow me." He turned and waved for me to follow him. I un-wedged myself from the bed and stood up to follow him. I grabbed my sword and started after him. He led me through a few more cars, until we reached an extravagant looking car with decadent decorations, a large, plush bed, and a window with violet curtains drawn over it. The walls and floor all appeared to be furnished with the same carpet, so the car was fuzzy and soft all along it. The bed had fluffy red blankets and more pillows than I would think anypony could ever need.

"Wow! This looks... soft."

"I'd hope so. This is one of our first-class cars. I'm normally not allowed to let a passenger use these unless they pay for them. Seeing as how your our only passenger, and it's... well, you, I don't think anypony will mind."

"Oh... are you sure?"

"Of course! Please, I insist you make use of this room."

"Well... Ok. Thank you very much sir!"

"Not a problem! Now, if you'll excuse me..." He turned and walked back out of the car. I propped my sword up in a corner and took off my gloves. I set my gloves down on the floor next to the sword and walked over to the bed. I gently climbed into it and laid down on top of the blankets.

It was awful nice of him to let me use this room, I'll try not to mess up the bed too much so he doesn't have to deal with it... Man, three whole days away from everypony... at least... Assuming I live in the first place... At this I took the time to actually consider what I was doing. Basically this is a suicide mission. I really don't think have any chance against a gigantic, flying, fire-breathing lizard. I may be strong now... but not that strong. Well, maybe I can pull it off. I doubt Luna would send me on a mission if she thought I had zero chance to succed. I nodded my head assuredly. I would survive, Luna knew my limits... maybe. I shrugged and closed my eyes to sleep.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke up to the sunshining on my face. The stallion was in my room, and he had drawn back the curtains to reveal that the sun was now relatively high in the sky, but still visible through the window. If I had to guess, I'd say it was either almost afternoon, or just after. Depending on whether the window faced east or west. Assuming we were headed north, which we should have been, and since the window was on the right side of the train car, it had to be almost afternoon.

"Good morning hero! Well, more like afternoon, but that's beside the point. Here, I took the liberty of bringing you some breakfast!" He levitated me a tray with some toast, scrambled eggs, and a half grapefruit. There was a glass of orange juice as well, and a fork and spoon. I grabbed it from his aura.

"Wow! Thanks! That's awfully nice of you!"

"Nonsense, it's my job!"

"Well, thank you! Thanks for waking me up ya bastard. Now I gotta beat you to death." The stallion's eyes widened and he started cowering slightly. I groaned. "Did I just say something mean?" The stallion nodded fearfully. "Look, if my voice changes and I say something mean, it's not really me. I've got two personalities. The one that says mean things isn't the real me."

"O-ok? I g-guess that m-makes sense..."

"Yeah, sorry about that..."

"Right, no problem." The stallion regained his composure. "Can I get anything else for you sir?"

"No, I'm fine. Thank you."

"Very well. I'll be back to check on you later."

"Ok, bye!" The stallion walked out of the car and I dug into my breakfast. Within a few minutes, I had finished all the food and drained the glass of orange juice. "Wow, I was hungry. No shit Sherlock." I sat back and contemplated what to do next. I was basically on a train for the next 24 hours with nothing to do. Not even really anypony to talk to. "Oh, I'll call Daring! I haven't talked to her in a while..." I pulled out my phone and hit Daring Do's call button. An image faded into view. All I could see was water and steam. "Hello? Daring are you there?"

"Waagh! Who's here?"

"It's me, Sharky!"

"Oh, Sharky! Hi!" The steam seperated for a moment and I could see that I had called Daring while she was in the shower. A deep blush spread across my face.

"O-oh... Y-you're taking a s-shower... My bad, I'll call back later..."

"No no, it's fine. What's up?"

"Fine?! You're taking a shower!"

"Yes, and?"

"N-naked..."

"You mean like I am all the time? Oh yeah, how horrible." She was heavy on the sarcasm. The blush faded from my face.

"Oh... Oh yea... Forgot that didn't really matter to you ponies..."

"Why? Does it matter to your kind?"

"Yes. A lot. This would be considered very bad if you were a human."

"Why is that?"

"Well... humans are more guarding of their... physical properties..."

"Why? Everypony has the same anatomy..."

"Don't ask me to explain it, it's a cultural thing I suppose."

"Oh, I see. Well, why did you call?"

"I'm on a train to Stalliongrad to fight a dragon, but the trip is going to take a whole day. I've literally got nothing to do."

"Oh, so you only called me out of sheer boredom?"

"Well... I would call more often, but I'm always so busy."

"Eh, I understand, I'm busy all the time too. As a matter of fact, you caught me during my only down time."

"Well... lucky me."

"So, I've heard you're the hero of Equestria now, what's that like?" I groaned.

"It sucks like you wouldn't believe. I can barely go anywhere without being mobbed."

"Aww... I'm sorry. I thought it woulda been more fun."

Not really... Well, I'd love to talk more Daring, but to be honest talking to you in your shower is very weird for me..." She laughed.

"That's ridiculous. Oh well, to each his own I suppose. Call me again sometime soon Sharky!"

"Will do Daring. Bye!" I hung up and the steam filled screen faded to my contact list. "Huh... I suppose I could call Twilight..." I hit the call button for Twilight and she popped up on my screen. She was sitting on her haunches in the kitchen, cradling Unity in her forehooves and magically holding a bottle up to him. "D'awww!" Twilight jumped and almost dropped Unity.

"Whoa! Who's there? Spike?" Twilight looked around wildly until her gaze settled upon a floating magic image of me. "Sharky? You don't have a horn right now! How are you--"

"Magic phone. I added you to the call list before I left."

"Oh yes, the blue light you used to distract me and make your escape."

"Yeah... Sorry about that. You wouldn't have let me go unless I tricked you."

"With good reason! This is a suicide mission Sharky! Why would you take it?!" Unity continued drinking the bottle. This time, instead of drinking the milk or the bottle down, he seemed to be sucking the empty space out of the bottle. With every drink he took, the milk had expanded until the bottle shattered all over Twilight and himself. "Ugh! Unity!"

"Hey, don't yell at him! It's not like he means to do it!"

"Oh... I'm sorry, I'm just mad at you, and I guess I acidentally took it out on him... It won't happen again."

"I don't care if you're mad at me! You don't yell at my son!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"

"Where's Fluttershy? I think Unity need some kindness. Obviously it's not gonna come from you!"

"Hey! Calm down! I only yelled once! It was just an accidental outburst of excess anger you always seem to give me!"

"You know what? I'm forgetting why I thought calling you was a good idea! I want Fluttershy to take care of Unity until I get back. Oh, by the way, it'll take at least three days for me to get back. Goodbye. Well, this is funny."

"Wait! Sharky! I'm sorry!" I paused.

"Me too. I'm just stressed too. You don't have to give Unity to Fluttershy, but I would like it if she was there to help."

"Ok... you're right... I'm sorry I was so upset... I'm just so worried for you..." Twilight mumbled. I thought for a moment.

"Me too." With that, I hung up and started thinking about the dragon.

Boredom

"Well... This is still waaaaaay boring." I sighed to myself as I laid back on the bed. I had sat on the bed, just staring at the ceiling for about an hour. "Ugh... what to do, what to do..." In sheer boredom, I rolled off the bed and fell onto the floor in a push-up position. I started doing push-ups and decided to just keep going until I collapsed. As my arms pumped away, I let my mind wander.

Well... No matter what, I can't seem to get my mind off of those mares... The way those mares had so obviously been interested in me was haunting me. Why does it still bug me...? I can't figure it out... I wonder if it's only those fanmares... Now that I think about it, didn't another mare ask if I was free back in Canterlot? So, it might not be only those more... available mares in Rutville. Maybe... maybe all mares can like me! I thought back to the mane six. Well... Almost all mares... Damn, I think I got myself stuck in a friend zone with them... They'd never think of me as more than that. I sighed to myself and focused back in on my work out. Obviously the miasma had effected me much more than I thought. I had been going for almost a solid minute, but I was only barely sweating. I started pushing myself off the ground slightly with every push-up and clapped before I went back down.

"Damn man. You did not just think they friend-zoned you."

I really shoudn't have yelled at Twilight. She really didn't mean anything... I need to make it up to her somehow... What would Twilight want? I racked my brain, thinking about everything I knew about Twilight from the show and from knowing her. I couldn't think of anything she would want. Wait, she said she really wanted me to meet Shining Armor... Maybe I can call her when she's visiting him and talk to him... Yeah, that'll make her happy. Oh, there go the arms. I fell forward on my face as my arms hit the ground.

"Oof." I had been so enveloped in my thoughts that I hadn't realized how tired my arms were. I had been thinking for about 10 minutes about what to get for Twilight. Now I was really sweating and my arms ached. I rolled onto my back and got into a sit-up position. I started doing sit-ups.

Yeah, talking with Shining Armor. If he's Twilight's brother, he's gotta be nice. I'm sure we'll be great friends. I've still gotta take Rarity out to dinner too... Huh, and I haven't spent almost any time at all with Stormy recently... I should hang out with Shadow sometime soon too. He lost Blade and seems to look up to me now... Celestia help him. Not only that, but I can't remember a single time I've been here that I've gotten to talk to AJ one-on-one. Man, I've got so much to catch up on! My abs were starting to burn from the sit-ups. Also I should eat better. I can't remember a day when I had all the meals I'm supposed to. I'm gonna end up damaging myself if I keep skipping meals. I let my thoughts drift away as I kept going with the sit-ups. I let the motion take over my thoughts, as if the only thing that mattered was the repeated motion. A few minutes later, my abs failed to allow me to sit up again. I let myself fall back into the carpet and lay there gasping for air. I was drenched in sweat and my arms and stomach were pained and heated from the workout.

"I should really work my legs while I'm at it... but where can I run in this little car?" I thought for a moment before I got an idea. I grinned broadly. "I've always wanted to do this... Oh no... you can't be serious..." I forced myself back on my feet. I walked over to the window and checked to see if it opened. All I had to do was turn a little lock, and the window pushed open. The wind from the motion of the train blew it further open and slammed it against the side of the train. I poked my upper body out of the window and looked towards the roof of the car. Right next to the roof was a rail that ran all the way down the length of the train. I grinned and reached up to grab it, the wind whipping my side as I pulled myself out of the window. I pulled myself up using the rail and managed to pull myself on to the roof of the car. I rolled onto the roof and lay there for a moment to rest my aching arms. The wind rushed past me with astounding speed, doing wonders to cool my aching muscles.

Dear Celestia I'm insane... I managed to stand up on the roof of the train, the wind forced me back a few steps before I gained my balance. I turned to the back of the train, and ran with the wind all the way to the caboose, jumping as I passed the gaps inbetween cars. I reached the caboose and stopped quickly. I realized I had to pee, so I lowered my armor a little and let loose. I looked at the surroundings as I relieved myself. The landscape around me was frozen and desolate. There was snow everywhere, but no trees or animals in sight. I gave a mental thanks to Rarity for the warm gloves and shirt. I pulled up my pants, then turned back against the wind, towards the front of the train. I crouched down in a runner's starting position, then took off into the wind.

"Glad to see I can rely on you to not do anything stupid..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hello Fluttershy." Twilight had trotted all the way to Fluttershy's house to get her like Sharky requested. She was carrying Unity with her.

"Oh, hello Twilight, please, come in..." Fluttershy stepped gingerly out of the way for Twilight to enter her house. Twilight trotted in, magically setting Unity down in a chair near the door.

"Thanks Fluttershy... Sharky asked that I get your help for taking care of Unity."

"He did? Oh good... I was worried he didn't want to have anything to do with me any more..." Twilight gave her a confused look.

"Why would he want that?"

"Well... After I... kissed him..." Twilight flinched. "He started trying to avoid me it seems like... He refuses to talk about it too... I thought he was mad at me..." Twilight let out a deep sigh.

"Why is he so difficult? He should know we like him by now!"

"I don't know Twilight... I would've thought he'd know... since I... kissed him..."

"I would have assumed that to be a dead give away as well..."

"Where is he anyway?"

"Ugh... he left to go fight a dragon in Stalliongrad..."

"W-what?! That's crazy! He can't do that!" Twilight nodded sadly.

"I know... He said he knew too... He thinks he's going to die..."

"N-no! He can't die! He just came back!"

"Don't worry. If I know anything about Sharky, he'll find a way to handle it..."

"... Y-you're right... I'm sure he's being smart about this..."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Whooooooooo! This is bucking awesome! It's official, I'm stuck with a crazy idiot." I was running full-tilt against the wind towards the front of the train. I leapt over the gaps between cars as they came, which was very difficult because the wind tried to shove me backward each time I left the roof of the cars. I continued my sprint all the way up to the engine of the train. The smoke billowed from the smoke stack and enveloped me as I reached it. I coughed a few times and started running back through the wind and cold. I made my way back to my car and lowered myself down on the railing. I worked my way back into the car through the window, pulling it shut behind me. I went over to the bed and collapsed on it in pure exhaustion. Right then, a knock came from the door. "Come in!" The green stallion came in with another tray.

"Good afternoon sir, here is lunch... why do you look so exhausted?"

"Oh, I was just running on the roof of the train."

"... You were... running... on the roof of the train?"

"Yes."

"... Why?"

"Because I was bored off my ass. Just training. On a train."

"Ah... I suppose I understand... Well, here. A nice daisy sandwich with some hay tea." I flinched.

"Uhh... I'm very sorry, but that stuff is inedible for humans..."

"Oh! My humblest apologies sir! What would you prefer?"

"A nice pony steak... Just a salad will be fine."

"Dear Celestia... that other voice of yours is quite unnerving..."

"Oh man... I'm sorry if he's bugging you. Just try to ignore him."

"Right... simple salad sir?"

"Yes, thank you. I'm very sorry..."

"It's no trouble sir, I shall be back momentarily." He turned and left the car. I let my head roll back on to a pillow.

"Phew... That was a good workout..." I focused in on slowing my breathing. I laid there for a few more minutes, slowly recovering from my workout. Then I decided I needed to start strategizing for the dragon. "Ok, I know I won't hear you respond, but no talking to the dragon Steven. The last thing I need is for you to piss it off before I can try talking him out of attacking the town. Hey, I'm not an idiot! I wanna live to ya know!" I continued my thoughts, only hoping Steven had agreed.

Ok... First I'll try flattery. Rarity almost got it to work, as long as I don't offer to take his gems... After that, I doubt I'll get another chance. I'll have to fight it. I guess I could try to sneak up to it and kill it... but that doesn't seem very honorable... No, I'll challenge it outright. I'd rather die brave then live a coward.

"I'd rather live a coward! You idiot, suprise attack! Stab it in the throat while it sleeps!"

Yeah, definitely not sneaking up on it. I've got more honor than that. Plus, wasn't part of my oath to conduct myself with honor? I don't think I physically can sneak up on it. I wonder if they know who I am in Stalliongrad. I hope they do. I don't want to scare the crap out of everypony I'm trying to help. I also hope they aren't fans though... Knowing me is good, but this weird mob thing needs to stop. There was another knock at the door.

"Come in!" The green unicorn trotted back in holding a new bowl and a glass. He levitated them over to me.

"Here you go sir, a simple salad with a glass of water." It was a bowl of lettuce, tomato, onion, topped with some mozzerella cheese and lightly sprinkled with pepper. The water was well... water.

"Oh! Thank you very much!" He bowed respectfully.

"It's my pleasure sir. Do you need anything else?"

"No, this is perfect. Thank you."

"Very well. I will see you later sir!"

"Ok, bye!" He turned and trotted out of the car. I dug into the salad hungrily, finishing it in just over a minute. "Well... now I've got nothing to do again... I think I've thought about just about everything I need to... Hey Steve, can you sing? ... Yes? I'm going to assume you said yes. Ok, I'll sing a line of a song, then you sing the next.

Where is the moment we needed the mooost?

You kick up the leaves and the magic is looost!

You tell me you blue skies fade to graaaay!

You tell me your passion's gone awaaaaay!

An' I don't need no carryin' oooooooon!"

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After singing half a song for about an hour to myself, I got bored again.

"For the love of Celestia... What the buck can I do now? You know what? I'm just going to sleep until we get to Stalliongrad. Finally. I was worried you were going to make me sing 'who let the dogs out' by the Baha Men next." I turned in my bed and closed my eyes, desperate for sleep to overtake me and dispel my boredom. Within a few minutes, my wish was granted and I fell into an uneasy sleep.

Flames

Saturday, January 26th

"Sir? Sir?" I was woken by the stallion shaking my shoulder.

"Hmm? Oh, yes? What is it?"

"We've arrived in Stalliongrad sir! I'm here to escort you off the train."

"Oh! Wow, I slept longer than I thought... Ok, lead the way." I stood up from the still made bed and stretched. I walked over to my weapons corner and pulled on my gloves. Then I grabbed my Buster Sword and started after the stallion. We walked through quite a few cars until we reached the car where he led me out of the train and on to a wooden platform.

"Here you go, Stalliongrad! Goodbye hero!" The platform was totally empty.

"Wait a minute, something's wrong here. Why aren't there a ton of ponies here trying to flee the dragon attacks? Did they all leave already?" The stallion shook his head.

"The ponies of Stalliongrad are too proud. They refuse to leave even in this danger." Off in the distance, I heard a dragon roar sound off, it carried enough volume and force to shake the ground beneath me. "Well, if you'll excuse me, that sounds dangerous. I hope to see you again hero!" The stallion dashed back into the train and I shrugged my blade off my shoulder.

"Well, duty calls." I ran off the train platform right as it started pulling out. I saw a dirt trail that led to a small town. It consisted mostly of wooden buildings, like in Appleloosa, but it had a few more permenant stone buildings as well. Above it, there was a huge, blue dragon circling lazily in the night sky over the buildings. It roared again before sending a jet of flame down at the city. After that, it quickly flew away towards some desolate looking mountains to the north of the city. I knew I wouldn't be able to chase it down on foot, so instead I ran into the city to see if I could help with the fire. I quickly ran down the dirt path to the town. As soon as I got close, I could hear yelling from ponies as I passed them. I couldn't tell if it was screams of joy or fear, and at the moment it didn't matter. I easily located the burning building by following the smoke plume it was sending into the sky. The building was of course, wooden. It was totally enveloped in flames and looked to be on the verge of collapsing on itself. There was a mare in front of it, screaming.

"Help! Help! My husband and child are still inside! Please, somepony, anypony help me!" There was a crowd gathered around, but even though they all looked like they wanted to help, nopony moved forward.

"Out of my way!" I barreled through the gathered crowd, they all screamed. I could tell it was in fear this time. I tossed my sword to the side and into the snow as I charged the burning door. I rammed it with my right shoulder, breaking it in and littering myself with burning wood. I quickly brushed the wood off, and coughed a few times due to the smoke that filled the room. Flames licked at the armor around my lower body. I had to find the ponies and get out fast before I was fried like a crab in my own armor. My shirt had already caught on fire, and I pulled it off quickly before throwing it into the flames. I gazed through the smoke, searching for a sign of the endangered ponies.

"Daddy..." I heard a whimper from above me. The sound had come from upstairs. I stumbled blindly through the smoke, searching for a staircase.

"Hey! Whoever's in here, keep calling!"

"Who is that?! Please! Daddy needs help!" I found some stairs and crawled up them as fast as I could.

"What's wrong with your daddy?" I called back, desperate to keep the young voice talking so I could find him.

"He got hurt! He needs help! Please..." I ducked low to the floor, risking letting the flames on the ground burn my chest so that I could locate the young voice. I saw it, a young colt cowering under the body of a large stallion.

"I'm on my way! Stay calm!" The building was breaking apart around me, burning beams fell from the ceiling as I crawled to the colt. The colt was alive and fine, but the stallion... A burning beam had fallen from the ceiling. It had landed on him, I assume snapping his spine. Judging by the way he was positioned over the colt, it was obvious he had saved the colt's life by ending his own.

"My daddy! You have to help my daddy!" The colt looked up at me with tears in his eyes. I coughed through the smoke.Suddenly, the floor began to give way beneath me with a symphony of cracks. I quickly reached out and grabbed the two ponies as I fell through the floor. We all went down through a new hole in the building. I managed to pull the colt in my arms as we fell. My back slammed into a burning table, crushing it beneath me and covering me in flaming splinters. The dead body of the stallion landed next to me heavily.

"We have to get out now..." I mumbled to myself. I cradled the colt in my left arm and lifted the stallion in my right. I picked myself up from the remaining shards of the table and dashed towards the light filtering through the smoke, only hoping it was coming from the door. With a gasp, I plowed out of the smoke and into the cool air of the night. I breathed in heavily and fell to my knees.

"My child! It saved my child!" The mare screamed. I relesed to the colt and he ran over to his mother. The building collapsed behind me, sending a new wave of heat and flame at my back.

"Mama! Mama! I love you mama!" The colt cried joyfully as he embraced his mother. The mare tore her gaze from the colt and looked back at me.

"My husband! You saved my husband as well, yes?!" I grimaced and slowly shook my head. I slowly held out the dead body of the stallion and laid him gently in the snow.

"I'm sorry... I wasn't fast enough..." The mare looked horrified at the blackened corpse of her husband.

"No... no! No!" She released the colt and ran over to the body. She cradled the corpse's head in her forelegs as tears ran freely down her face. "No... no.... He is gone..." She sobbed gently. Her tears fell like rain, dotting the stallion's burnt mane. The colt walked over as well.

"No... papa... He can't be dead!" He turned to me. "Strange creature! You help him! You save him! Please!" I slowly shook my head with a sorry frown on my face.

"I'm sorry... I can't..." The colt looked at me in disbelief.

"N-no... No! Papa! I don't want you to be dead!" The colt wailed helplessly and curled up next to his father's corpse. I turned away from the distressing scene.

"I'm... I'm so sorry... It's his own damn fault. Killed himself to save a kid. What a prick. You know, if he had saved himself he could've just made more." I muttered quietly. Everypony was to absorbed in the shock of my appearance to notice Steven. One mare spoke up.

"Uhh... sir... You are a sir yes?" She was talking to me. I turned to her. She was a brown pegasus mare with an orange mane. I nodded quietly. "... Your mane is on fire..." I jumped and shoved my head in the snow. This got a small awkward laugh from some of the crowd. I removed my head, and water hissed as it ran down my neck. I was really hot from running through a burning building. My armor was super heated and was melting through the snow.

"Thank you... I'm going to go hide for a moment while I take off these pants before they destroy my legs." With that, and a few questioning looks from the crowd, I grabbed my sword and ran behind the nearest building. I quickly stripped off my armored pants and shoes. My legs were very red, and heat blisters were beginning to form. "Wow... this is way worse then the small roasting I got from the demon snowman..." I mumbled to myself. My skin on my upper body was red and sensitive to the touch. I was covered in splinters from the snowman still on my left arm, and I could feel them all over my back from the table. My hair was most likely ruined, not that I actually cared. Not to mention that I still had bruises galore. I sighed heavily. I was reaching my limits on physical damage. "There's no way we can kill that dragon. We should turn around and walk to the nearest operating train station." I rolled my armor out in the snow in an effort to cool it off quickly. Then I laid out in the snow next to it in an attempt to cool myself off as well. I started picking out all my splinters in my left arm as I cooled off. I managed to get most of them out, making a small pile of wood in the snow.

"Hello? Are you still back here sir?" I heard a mare's voice call from around the corner of the building. I quickly jumped to my feet and started pulling on my armor.

"Don't come back here! Give me a moment!" My armor was cool enough to wear now, so I slipped on my armored boots as well. "Ok, I'm decent. You can come here now!" A dainty blue unicorn with a light purple mane came around the corner of the building I was behind. She looked scared, but determined.

"Y-you saved that colt..."

"Yes... I'm sorry I couldn't get the stallion too... I didn't get here fast enough..."

"Oh no! We are... very thankful... Saving the colt alone was fantastic..."

"No. I should've been here sooner. I should've ran faster. Then I'd have saved the stallion too..."

"... You are a very kind creature. I can see this. Why did you come here?"

"... I'm glad you aren't scared. Hi, I'm Sharky White of the Lunar Knights. I'm here to help you with your dragon problem." She jumped in shock and her eyes widened.

"Alone? You believe this is wise?"

"I never said it was a good idea. I was just hoping I could convince it to leave... but after that... It must die. How often does it attack like that?"

"At least once every few days... Do you believe you can fight it yourself?"

"How much damage has this town taken?! No. I don't believe so."

"Come. I will show you... you believe you can't win?"

"Yes, I don't think I can win."

"... Then why do you choose to fight?"

"Because if I don't, who will?"

"... That is a very noble thing to say. I do hope it doesn't get you killed. Follow me." She trotted off around the building. I grabbed my sword and stood up to follow her. She led me to the sites of several buildings burnt to the ground. Often they had small groups of ponies in front of them. They were always crying. I could only assume they were the previous owners of the burnt husks. My heart cried out for them. Steven inwardly laughed at them. After seeing a few buildings though, I noticed a strange pattern. In every attack area, there was only one burnt building. In every scene, no matter how close the houses were, only one building had been burnt to the ground. Others nearby had been burnt, but not to the ground.

"I have a question, what is this building?" I pointed to the latest husk.

"That? That was Silt's blacksmith workshop. Here in Stalliongrad, we pride ourselves on being the number one producers of weapons. Our craft is legendary. Sadly, with these attacks, only few of our workshops still stand..."

"Right... What is this building?" I pointed to another husk off in the distance to another husk.

"That was Flare's blacksmith workshop."

"What about the one I ran into?"

"That? That was Burner's blacksmith workshop."

"Riiiight... I think I need to see this dragon... Where is a still standing workshop?"

"My workshop still stands. Why?"

"I need my sword repaired. After that, I'm going to kill this dragon." She nodded happily.

"Thank you! Oh thank you! I shall gladly repair your blade! Please, follow me!" She led me around the town a bit more. Ponies gasped as I went, but I ignored them. I was brought to a stone building. "Here we are! Please, give me your blade." I held out the Buster Sword for her. She levitated it away from me and trotted into the building. I waited patiently for her to fix up my sword. As I waited, a small crowd of ponies gathered a few buildings away from me. They were whispering and pointing at me.

"What are you lookin' at?! Piss off!" They all suddenly scattered and I scratched my head in confusion. I stood there for a few more minutes, then the unicorn came back out with my sword.

"Here! Good as new!" She levitated me the Buster Sword and it was clear of all rust and shone like a mirror. The blade was so sharp the felt like I could cut the air with it.

"Wow! Fantastic work!"

"Thank you. Now, please go! Celestia knows how long until it comes back!" I turned away from her and headed north to the mountains. I gazed at the burnt husks as I walked.

"... Something isn't right about these attacks..."

Dragon

I was walking steadily towards the mountain range. I would have run, but I didn't want to exhaust myself further before fighting the dragon.

"Still, something isn't right... Why would a dragon only attack black smiths? What's stranger, it only burnt down the buildings then flew off... It might have made more sense if it flew down and stole some gems or metal..." The entire walk, I had been debating why the dragon attacks seemed strange. "Maybe it's a dragon black smith. I've read about those in books back on Earth, supposed to be legendary. Maybe it's upset by the ponies poor quality comparison work? Maybe, it's threatened by their finesse with the craft. Yeah, maybe it's eliminating competition. That would explain why it only attacked one building at a time... but then why wouldn't it just fry the town? Maybe it's a nice dragon... but if it were nice, it wouldn't attack in the first place. Actually, scratch all of that. If it were maddened by competition, it would need to be bringing in buisiness. Something tells me a dragon isn't the first thing ponies would go to for a black smithing job..."

"You're right, they wouldn't." I whipped around, searching for the source of the voice. I scanned the landscape, seeing only a few thin trees, Stalliongrad off in the distance, and the mountains nearby. The voice seemed to come from all directions at once, and had the volume of a person whispering in my ear.

"Who's there?!" I yelled wildly. The voice laughed.

"You've no need to know me hero. Just be warned, do not interfere with our plans..." The voice gradually faded as it spoke. I kept searching wildly.

"Wait! What plans?! There are more of you?!" I recieved no response from the strange voice. "Hey! HEY!" Still no response. I sighed. "Well... that was weird. Maybe I'm finally going insane. Well, coming from the OTHER voice that only exists in your head, I have to disagree. I heard it too." I shrugged and continued to walk towards the mountains.

Well... Might as well think this out rather than talk to myself... I don't want to drive myself insane... Well, according to the voice... that may or may not have been real, the ponies wouldn't go to a dragon. That means it can't be trying to eliminate competition. That almost rules out it being a black smith all together... I sighed again. I had reached the base of the mountains.

"Well... What to do from here..." The mountains were not huge, but there were tons of them in a line as far as the eye could see. I had no idea where to start my search. "Ugh... Well... I think it flew to that mountain..." I chose a mountian slightly off to the right that I thought I might have seen the dragon fly to when I first arrived here. The sun had finally come up, and as I approached the mountain I had chosen, I saw a cave way up, almost at the top of the mountain. I never would have seen it at night, but there were twin trails of light smoke drifting out of the mouth of the cave. "Jackpot." I mumbled to myself. Now there was only the question of how to climb the mountain. It wasn't enormously tall, but it was very narrow, almost like a spike.

Ok... unlike ponies, I don't think I have the ability to walk up impossible angles... Guess that means old-fashioned rock climbing for me... I sighed again. This was turning out to be far more of a hassle than I had imagined. I walked over to a nearby sapling, and used my sword to relieve it of a few long flexible branches. I tied the braches together into a small series of loops. I slipped it onto my shoulders like a backpack, leaving only one loop on my back. I slipped the Buster Sword into the final loop, and the the impromptu sheath held. The Buster Sword was now secured firmly on my back. I turned back to the mountain. I flipped my hands around so that my palms faced me, and stabbed the shark blades into the side of the mountain. I started scaling the side of the mountian using my blades to keep me attached to the wall of ice. I was on my way to face the dragon.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ah... ha... ha..." I gasped for breath as I pulled myself up onto the ledge next to the cave. I pulled myself up and rolled onto the ledge. I was laying on my back, breathing heavily, when I heard voices coming from in the cave.

"N-no! You can't make me!" A deep, rumbling, but somehow femenine voice said. It sounded like it was almost begging. Another deep, but much smaller voice replied. It was a male's.

"On the contrary Esmerelda, I can make you do whatever I want! You belong to me now!"

"B-but... I don't want to hurt them! They never did anything to me!"

"I don't care! It doesn't matter if they did anything to you. What matters is that you destroy my competition!" I frowned deeply. Something was definitely not right here. I slowly crawled over to the mouth of the cave. I moved in quietly and peeked my head around the stone wall to see what was going on. Inside the cave, a black stallion unicorn with a red mane was yelling at the gigantic blue dragon. His horn was glowing, and there was a black magic chain wrapped around the dragon's neck like a collar.

"Why?! Why would you do this? Why do you make me kill them?!"

"Because it will get me loads of bits! With me being the last remaning blacksmith of Stalliongrad, I'll be legendary! Ponies will come from all corners of the world for my services! I'll make fortunes! The best part is, when that hero I asked Luna to send gets here, he'll kill you and destroy the only evidence!" He cackled evilly.

"This isn't right! Please stop this! You weren't like this when I met you! What happened to my friend?" The black unicorn seemed to become angry.

"He's gone! He died when I lost everything! Now you're going to help me get it back! Now, burning the wooden buildings has worked for now, but we need to do better! I want you to fly down to the city and destroy the stone workshops! I don't care how and I don't care who gets hurt! Just do it!"

"I... I don't want to!" The chain around the dragon's neck started flashing.

"You dare to disobey me?!" The collar crackled with black lightning and the dragon cried out in pain.

"Ahhh!" It fell to the floor in a quivering heap.

"Now, do as I say!" The dragon got back to her feet.

"Y-yes Forge... I... I'll do it..." I stepped out from behind the cave mouth and un-sheathed the Buster Sword.

"Well, it seems Luna was a bit wrong about my mission!" I shouted. The dragon and the unicorn both jumped. "I thought I had to save the ponies from a dragon, but it seems I'm saving a dragon from a pony!"

"You! What are you!?" The unicorn shouted.

"Me? I'm the Lunar Knight, Sharky White! Your worst nightmare." I charged at the unicorn, sword raised and ready to end him.

"Esmerelda! Protect me!" The gigantic blue dragon rushed in front of me, quickly covering the short distance of the cave. Up close, I could see that she was very tall and thin. Her body had curves similar to a human female. The spines along her head were short and non-threatening. Her talons were long and pointy, but from the way they shone I could assume that she never used them for violence. Her scales were a rich, deep sapphire, but the ones on her chest and underbody were a pale white. Her eyes were large, turquoise orbs with a normal pupil instead of a slit. She looked at me with a miserable expression of sadness on her face.

"Help me..." She begged before she sent a giant blast of fire at me. I jumped to my right and rolled on the ground as the blast flew by my shoulder.

"Kill it Esmerelda! I won't have it ruining my plans!" Esmerelda turned to follow me as I scrambled back to my feet. She blew another blast of flame at me, but I blocked it with the Buster Sword. The flame split on the sword and flew off to either side of me. The blast of flame ended, but she followed up by swinging at me with her right talon. The blow hit me on my right arm and the force threw me into the wall at the back of the cave. The unicorn was near the right wall of the cave, and Esmerelda was now blocking the exit. I fell away from the wall and landed on my feet.

"Let her go! I will mount your skull on my wall!" I yelled as I charged at the unicorn again. This time I started focusing my void on his magic. I could feel it begin to run into me, but it was slow and felt wrong. Like it was tainted. I ignored the odd feel of his magic and continued my rush.

"No! She is my ticket to fortune! Get him Esmerelda!" Right before I got into swinging range of the unicorn, another talon came towards me. I ducked and rolled forward, sliding under the talon. I stood back up and reared back my sword to end the unicorn, but then Esmerelda's tail wrapped around my waist and pulled me away from him. She lifted me up and moved me towards her face. A tear fell out of her right eye as she looked at me.

"I'm sorry..." She whispered. Then she opened her mouth and threw me forward towards her maw. I fell forward, but in a last-ditch effort, I threw the Buster Sword at the top of her mouth. In suprise, she clamped her mouth shut. I smacked into her jaw and fell to the ground.

"No! Esmerelda you idiot! Kill him quickly!" The Buster Sword clattered to the ground next to me noisily. I quickly grabbed it right as Esmerelda lifted a huge, dainty foreleg to crush me. With no time to move, I crossed my arms above me protectively. Her forelegs smashed into my arms, but she immediately pulled it away with a cry of pain. I was splattered with warm, dark red blood. I ignored the blood and hoisted my sword as I charged at the stallion again.

"God damn you have so earned this death!" Esmerelda's tail flew at me again, but I got to Forge before she reached me. His eyes widened and he cowered below me. At the last moment, I lost my resolve to kill him. No matter what he did, I couldn't find it in my heart to cut him open in front of my own eyes. Then, my arms swung down of their own accord. "I'll kill him then!" The Buster Sword plunged through his chest. The glow on his horn stopped and he gave a dying gasp. He looked at me, and for a moment, I could swear his eyes were orange. Then he blinked, and they were brown. He opened his mouth and whispered one last thing. I had to lean in to hear him.

"Thank... You..." With that, he coughed once, then the light faded from his eyes as his head rolled back. I heard a shattering sound, and when I turned to look at Esmerelda, the chain around her neck was gone. Her tail still charged me, and I was wrapped up and lifted again. My sword was left behind, still in the stallion's dead body. I felt true fear grip me as I was once again held in front of the dragon's face. Tears were flowing freely from her eyes. I closed my eyes, and prepared to die... again.

Instead, I felt a warm, firm, scaly snout press up against my face.

*mwah* The snout clicked with a small kissing noise as it pulled away from my face. I opened my eyes and looked at the dragon. She pulled me forward an held me to her breast.

"Uhh... you aren't going to kill me?" I asked hesitantly. "Steven, keep quiet. We can make it out alive if you don't piss her off!" I whispered quietly. Just barely loud enough for me to hear. "Don't have to tell me twice." Esmerelda's chest was shaking with sobs.

"K-kill you?! You saved me! Thank you hero! Thank you so much!" She wailed as she hugged me.

"Well... This is not what I expected to happen today at all." Her sobs steadily slowed to a halt and she started sniffling. She extended her tail a short distance and set me down. She was wiping her eyes with the back of her left talon.

"I'm so sorry for attacking you... I had no choice..." She whimpered.

"No, I understand. Now... I've got a very interesting report to make... Nice to meet you by the way." She sniffled a few more times before sending me a gentle smile.

"My name is Esmerelda... Thank you..."

"No problem. It's very nice to meet you Esmerelda... despite the circumstances."

"Yes... thank you for not killing me..."

"Bwahahahahaha! You are worried about me killing you?! Do you realize how much weaker I am than you? I'm happy you aren't killing me!" I pulled out my phone and called Luna.

"Ah, greetings Sharky! Hath thou slain the dragon?"

"Uhh... not exactly... Luna, meet my new friend. Esmerelda."

Flight

"Thou hath befriended the dragon?! Sharky! This borders on betrayal!" Luna looked pissed as I showed her Esmerelda.

"Whoa! Calm down! It wasn't her fault that the houses were being burnt down!" Luna blinked at me a few times.

"So, this is not the dragon responsible for the attacks on Stalliongrad?" I frowned.

"Well... I didn't say that... She did attack, bu--"

"Then she is an enemy Sharky! Thou should be slaying her!"

"Wait! It wasn't her fault! A unicorn blacksmith was making her do it!" Luna snorted.

"Tis impossible! The only spell strong enough to hold a dragon must be cast with the dragon's cooperation!"

"Yes... it's true... I let him cast the spell that bound me to him..." Esmerelda confessed. I gave her a confused look.

"You let him control you?"

"No! It wasn't like that... You see, Forge had been my friend... I found him wandering all alone in the mountains, starving and dying of thirst. I took him in... saved him..."

"Well... then how did this 'Forge' manage to control you?" Luna asked.

"We became good friends... He... he started taking small trips out of the cave one day... each time he came back, he seemed more angry... he talked about becoming rich... Then, one day when he came back... he asked me if I trusted him... I said yes. He asked me if he could preform a small spell on me... he wouldn't tell me what it did or why... but he kept asking me if I trusted him... He tricked me. I ended up bound to him and unable to keep from attacking the town..." Esmerelda broke down into sobs as she finished her tale. Luna looked upset as well.

"Oh... I apologize for thine troubles... Sharky, it appears you have surpassed expectation once again."

"No problem Luna. If you could just inform the train of the defeated dragon, that'd be fantastic. I don't want to spend more time away from my friends than necessary." Luna nodded.

"Very well Sharky... Again, I apologize for thine troubles..." Esmerelda nodded to Luna.

"Thank you miss. That means a lot to me..." Luna opened her mouth again, but no words came out. She simply nodded then hung up. Esmerelda sniffled a few times before wiping her eyes. She gave me a small apologetic smile. "I cry too much don't I?" She gave a short laugh. I walked over to her and patted the talons on her right foreleg gently.

"No, it's fine. You've been through a lot it sounds like..." She nodded.

"I have..."

"Now... I have a question... You look different from any adult dragon I've seen. Why is that?" She swallowed audibly to cut off a few sobs.

"Oh... that's an easy one... You see, dragons can grow with extreme feelings, or with age." She turned her head to look down at me. "I'm willing to bet that you've seen masculine-looking dragons with huge spines that walk on all fours, right?" I nodded. "Yes... those dragons are either greed, rage, or aged dragons. They are so common, and they give the rest of our race a bad name."

"Oh, so those dragons are the only bad ones?" She nodded.

"Only those, and the rare case of an unordinarily grown dragon, cause anypony trouble." She sniffled a few times. "I, am a compassion dragon. I love being nice and helping ponies... but they usually run away from me screaming... I didn't have any friends until I met Forge..."

"Aww... I'm sorry Esmerelda... What about other dragons? Don't you have any dragon friends?" She shook her head.

"Nice dragons like me are hard to find, and it's impossible to befriend those greedy, crotchety dragons..." She unconsciously lifted me up with the foreleg I had been patting and held me to he chest. The blood on the bottom of her talon was dried.

"Huh... this is what it feels like when I lift the girls..." I mumbled to myself. It was nice. Warm. I could get used to it.

"So, you said something about getting back to some friends? What are they like?"

"Oh! You'd really like them! Let's see... There's Twilight, she's a unicorn. She really good with magic..." I droned on about my friends. Esmerelda seemed really interested, She asked plenty of questions, and always wanted to know more about them. She seemed very interested in Blaze.

"A dragon-pony?! That's amazing! How was he concived?!" I blushed deep red.

"Ah... I never really asked that... neither did he I think..." Esmerelda seemed disappointed.

"Huh... Well darn. Oh, sorry... That question must have been akward for you, wasn't it?" I shook my head.

"No, it's alright. I wonder that myself sometimes... Oh well, not too important I guess. Anyway, the last friend of mine is Spike. He's a baby dragon."

"Ooooh! You know a baby dragon?! How?"

"Well, my friend Twilight magically hatched him from an egg." Esmerelda gave me a confused look.

"The unicorn? How did she get an egg?"

"She had to hatch it to get into some magic school or something like that. Celestia let her keep the baby dragon."

"Celestia! That old girl's still kicking huh? How is she?" I gave her a confused look.

"You know Celestia?"

"Why of course! I met her about... 300 years ago was it? She was one of my best friends!"

"... You were friends with Celestia while Luna was imprisoned?"

"Who's Luna?"

"Celestia's sister." Esmerelda blinked at me blankly. "Nightmare Moon?"

"Oh! That one! Yeah, Celestia was always upset about her... I didn't know she was her sister..."

"Yeah, Luna is the mare I just talked to actually."

"Ah, it all makes sense now..."

"So, you said something earlier about greed and age dragons walking on all fours... Don't all dragons do that?"

"Why of course not! Most of the nice dragons like me walk on two legs. Like you!"

"Then why are you on all fours right now?" She laughed.

"Does this cave look tall enough for me to stand in?" She pointed to the ceiling and accidentaly hit it with her talons. "See? Can't even raise my talon in here..." She looked down at me. "So... you said you wanted to get back to your friends soon yes?"

"Yeah, I do. Sadly, the train won''t be here for almost two days. It still has to finish it's trip back to the town behind Rutville, then come here..."

"Well... umm... If... if you think it's ok... I think I would like to meet these friends of yours..."

"Of course! I don't think you can get on the train though!" I joked. Esmerelda gave a short laugh.

"Actually... I was going to offer to fly you back..."

"YES! I mean *ehm* Uh... sure. He was wondering what it would be like to ride a dragon this whole time." Esmerelda frowned at me.

"What was that?"

"Oh... just excited about riding a dragon... sorry."

"No, not that, the voice. Why did you change your voice?"

"Ohhhh... Sorry... That voice is my other personality. I have two people in my head, normal me, then Steven. Steven is a prick, don't listen to him if he talks."

"So... the deep scary voice is really another person?"

"Well... kinda. Anyway... about flying..."

"Oh yes! Please, come with me." She set me back down on the ground and walked out of the cave. As soon as she was out, she stood up on her back legs and stretched out her arms. If she had been tall on all fours, she was TALL now. She stretched out two huge, translucent blue wings. I could see faint violet lines running through them, and the light of the sun passed through them. It cast eerie, but pretty shadows across the floor of the cave. She leapt off the ledge, flapped her wings, and flew off. I ran out to the ledge.

"Hey! What about me!?" Esmerelda circled the mountaintop and came back around.

"Jump off the ledge!" She shouted as she flew by.

"Are you insane? No way bitch! Ok!" I went back to Forge, removed my sword from his chest, and strapped it to my back. Then I sprinted forward and leapt off the ledge. I was falling freely for a few seconds, then Esmerelda appeard below me. I feel right on her neck, inbetween two spines. I immediately groaned in pain from the racking I had just recieved, but then grabbed the spine in front of me.

"You holding on tight?" Esmerelda asked excitedly.

"Yeah!"

"Good! Where is this Ponyville?"

"It's just a little distance away from Canter--"

"Ooooh! I haven't seen Canterlot in ages! Let's go there first!" With a mightly flap of her wings, we blasted off into the sky.

Well, let's face the facts here. I'm a physically enhanced badass that rides a dragon and can cast magic. Face it. I'm Eragon!

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Esmerelda was fast. Not rainboom fast, but near it. What was even more impressive, we had been flying for several hours, but she didn't even seem to be winded. We had left all the iceland behind, and she was flying relatively low to the ground so that I could breathe. I couldn't help but laugh every time we flew over a town and ponies scattered everywhere.

"So, you know where Canterlot is?" I asked. I was trying not to talk too much while we had been flying. I had to strain my voice to be heard over the sound of the wind rushing by us.

"Why of course! I used to visit Celestia all the time!"

"Why don't you visit her anymore?"

"There was a huge war between dragons and ponies about a century and a half ago! Celestia told me to go into hiding! Say, that war isn't still going on is it?"

"No, no war. Why didn't you check sooner?"

"Well, I would have, but I knew it was still going for the first 40 years! After that, I had to take my first century nap! When I woke up, I was too scared to check! Forge told me though! I was going to check after he was fully healed and went back to his town... that won't be happening now..."

"Right... I'm sorry..."

"It's not your fault... well, it is your fault, but you did the right thing..."

"Ok... so, how long until we reach Canterlot?"

"Right abooooout... now." She flew around a mountain we had been heading towards. On the side of the mountain, was Canterlot.

"Oh... I guess I should've seen that! Well, lets... land in the royal gardens!" Esmerelda nodded and started a gentle descent towards the castle. We passed the many towers of Canterlot castle, then touched down next to the hedge maze. Esmerelda leaned down and came to a rest on all fours. Guards came pouring out of the castle and rushed into the gardens. One of them, brandishing a spear threateningly, approached Esmerelda. He was a white pegasus dressed in gold armor. Like the rest of the guards I had seen in the show.

"What are you doing here dragon?! You know your kind are not allowed near our land! Leave or die!" I stood up on Esmerelda's neck and ran up to the top of her head. I stood up just over her eyes.

"Well! That's quite the greeting to my new friend!" The guards that had gathered in a small semi-circle around Esmerelda all gasped.

"Sharky?! Are you mad? Is this some kind of attempt to attack the castle?!

"What? No! Do I look like an idiot to you? Esmerelda is nice! She's a compassion dragon!"

"... I don't know what that means, and I don't care! Bringing a dragon into Canterlot is forbidden!" The guard yelled at me. I leapt off of Esmerelda's head and landed in front of of him. He gasped and almost fell backwards. He ended up dropping his spear harmlessly to the side.

"I don't see why! I heard there was some dragon war a long time ago or something, but it should be fine now."

"Yes, but they are still considered enemies! Get her out of here! Celestia's going to--" Celestia dropped out of nowhere and landed next to me with a boom. She was facing Esmerelda.

"Greet my old friend!" She said with a smile.

Shining

"Celestia! How good to see you again!" Esmerelda said joyfully. "How have things been for you this past century?" The guards were all staring open mouthed at the talking friends.

"Oh, not as well as I'd hoped. The war really put a damper on thing for those years you were gone. To be honest, I was worried you had been one of the casualties!" I turned to the guards and started shooing them back to the castle.

"Oh, I was worried myself a few times! Luckily, nothing happened to me."

"What about your century nap? You told me it was coming soon before you left. How did you keep warriors from killing you in your sleep?"

"I simply found this cozy little cave far in the north! I guess nopony thought to look for me there." I managed to get the shocked guards to start slowly walking back to the castle, but they were still staring at the conversing girls.

"Well, I'm very glad to see you again Esmerelda! Though, if my memory serves, your nap should have ended... 10 years ago was it?"

"Ha, your memory's failing you old friend! It was 8 years ago." Celestia rolled her eyes.

"Always the stickler for details aren't you? I believe I was close enough. Well, if you woke 8 years ago, why haven't you visited until now?" I got the guards ponies to start trotting back to the castle. I started walking along with them. I decided to leave these two be and go call Twilight to tell her I would be coming back soon.

"I would've visited, but I was too afraid that the war was still going on! I figured it out eventually though!" I had ushered all the guards past the hedge maze and into the statue garden. Celestia and Esmerelda were out of earshot now, so they were able to somewhat clear their heads of some of the shock. They all trotted back the castle of their own accord. I nodded approvingly and pulled out my phone as I followed them into the castle. I hit Twilight's call button. Her face faded into view. She was sitting in a tiny bunk bed, reading a book. There was a window to the left, and an aisle that divided her bed from other beds on the other side of whatever room she was in. I didn't quite understand where she was until I saw a few trees rush by through the window.

"Hey Twilight, what are you doing on a train?" She lifted her head really quickly in suprise, causing herself to hit her horn on the bunk above her. She gasped and rubbed the top of her horn gingerly.

"Ow... Sharky? That thing needs to make a warning noise or something..."

"Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to startle you!" Twilight stopped rubbing her horn and waved a hoof dismissively.

"No no, it's nice that you called! Listen, I don't want you to go fight that dragon ok? Please?" She had apparently totally forgotten her book. She had a tone of desperation in her voice as she pleaded.

"Well, you're a little late Twilight. I already found the dragon!" Her eyes widened.

"You aren't calling because you think you're dying are you?! Ohhh! I told you not to fight the dragon! Wait, you haven't fought it yet have you?! Run away! Run away now!"

"Whoa whoa! Calm down! I already handled the problem." She gave me a look of confusion.

"What do you mean? You killed the dragon already? How?"

"Well, I didn't say anything about killing it..." Twilight's eyes widened again.

"Oh no! You didn't let it go did you? Sharky, dragons are ceaseless revenge-seekers! If you didn't kill it, it'll--"

"No! You won't let me explain jeez!" Twilight shut her mouth and looked at me intensely.

"I made friends with the dragon. Her name is Esmerelda. She was under control of a unicorn. I saved her." Twilight looked even more confused.

"... But a dragon can only be controlled if--"

"Yeah yeah, if the dragon lets them cast the spell. She was friends with the unicorn that tricked her into letting him enslave her."

"... So... you are now friends with a dragon... that you were supposed to kill."

"Yes." Twilight threw her forehooves up and rolled her eyes to look up.

"Of course! Of course you did! It doesn't make sense, therefore you did it!" She let her hooves fall to the matress and buried her face in her book.

"Okayyyy... anyway, why are you on a train?" Twilight lifted her head out of her book.

"Actually, why aren't you? The dragon problem is solved, so why aren't you on your way ba--" I walked past Starswirl the Bearded's statue in the garden. "You're in the royal gardens?! How?"

"Oh, Esmerelda flew me to Canterlot."

"What?! You flew into Canterlot on a dragon?! Sharky, are you insane!? The princesses--"

"Oh, she's friends with Celestia. We're not in any danger by being here." Twilight opened her mouth, then just closed it. She repeated this a few times, reminding me of a fish. Then she just let her head fall back into her book.

"Of course. Of couse. I shouldn't be suprised." Twilight mumbled into her book. Then she lifted her head and gave me an excited smile. "Wait, you're in Canterlot!"

"No shit genius. Yeah, you already said that..."

"This is perfect! Stay in Canterlot ok? I should be there soon!" I gave her a confused look this time.

"Why would you be in Canterlot?"

"I'm coming there to see Shining Armor! I should be there late tonight, then I can introduce you two!"

"Hey! That sounds like fun!" Twilight gave me a confused look before I could respond.

"Really Steven?"

"Ha! Fuck no! Oh Twilight! Don't talk to him! Also... if you're on a train to Canterlot, where is Unity?" Twilight facehoofed.

"Right, don't communicate with Steven. Don't worry, I wouldn't leave Unity all alone! He's with Fluttershy."

"Well then who's heating up his bottles?"

"Rarity."

"Well, you just have all the answers don't you?" Twilight smiled broadly.

"Eeyup! Planned this all out right after you called! Anyway, will you stay? I really want you to meet my brother!" I inhaled and was about to say no, but then she gave me the giant begging eyes. I sighed.

"Ok, fine. I'll stay."

"Oooh! Yay! Thank you Sharky!"

"Yeah... no problem I guess. Now, if you'll excuse me... I have to go find Luna."

"Ok! Bye Sharky!"

"Bye Twilight." I hung up. I passed the Discord statue, and it almost felt like his magic was trying to force me to copy it. I quikly jogged away. I jogged to the nearest guard. "Hey, where's Luna?"

"Uhh... Well, she usually spends most of her time in the flower gardens... Over there." He pointed a hoof towards a bunch of snow covered bushes.

"Thanks!" I turned and started heading in the direction he had indicated. After wandering aimlessly among the bushes, I found Luna sitting in the same place we had our speaking lessons in. Her horn was glowing, and she appeared to be very focused on tending to the turtle-shaped bush.

Guess that explains why she didn't rush in when Esmerelda flew down... I thought to myself. I had been wondering why Celestia had come running but Luna hadn't.

"Hi Luna! Doing some garden work?" Luna jumped with a start, then turned around to face me.

"Sharky? How art thou here?! We hath only recently alerted the trains!"

"Hey! Watch the 'we' Luna! I thought you learned better! Esmerelda flew me here." Luna's eyes widened.

"The dragon is here?! Sharky, Celestia will destroy her!"

"Nope. They're old friends apparently." Luna gave me a confused look.

"They are old friends? We were not aware of this..."

"Geez Luna! You're talking like you haven't learned anything!"

"Curses! Your unexpected apperance startled us to the point of losing our focus when attempting to speak correctly!"

"I'll say! It's a good thing I need to stay in Canterlot for awhile, because you need another lesson!" Luna laughed.

"Quite right, Mr. White!" Luna giggled at the title again. I groaned.

"Still can't take me seriously as a teacher huh? Ok, I guess I gotta be more stern! Then maybe you'll learn better."

"Oh, going to be firm with us now? Well then, let us begin Mr. White!" She tried to keep a straight face, I could tell she was trying. She still burst into giggles though. I clapped my hands together loudly, stopping her mid-laugh.

"Hey! Time to work, not giggle! Let's go!" Luna straightened herself up and gave me a mock salute.

"Yes sir!" We both tried to keep a straight face, but we both burst out laughing that time. Eventually, I managed to get Luna to calm down, and we dove into another lesson. I made sure to sit just far away enough that I wouldn't start absorbing her magic.

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"Good job today Luna! I think we covered a lot!" We had been working so long that Luna now had to leave to raise the moon.

"Don't be ridiculous... I feel I will never truly grasp this speech pattern..." Luna had been having some difficulty this time.

"C'mon Luna! You're already doing much better! Of course you'll get it!"

"I don't know Sharky... 'Tis very difficult to put forth so much effort..."

"Hey! No quitting on me now! I'm going to teach you to talk right! We're going to do this together Luna!" Luna looked at me from her position next to the turtle bush.

"Really? Doth thou truly mean to stick with us? I know I'm not a very good student..."

"Well, taking me a bit more seriously wouldn't kill you, but of course! You're a great student by the way. You put more effort into this than I think I ever did in school." Luna smiled warmly at me.

"Thank you Sharky... Thine words of encouragement mean much to us."

"Not a problem Luna! Now, you've got a moon to raise, and I've got a Twilight to find..." Luna nodded affirmatively and trotted off towards the castle. I pulled out my phone and called Twilight again. She was standing in the aisle of the train this time, and she had some saddlebags on. I guess she saw my face fade into view this time, because she smiled at me instead of freaking out.

"Sharky! Perfect timing! I'm leaving the train now! I trust you waited in Canterlot, right?"

"Eeyup! I'm on my way to the train station now! ... Where is it exactly?"

"Well... It's very close to the castle... As soon as I get off the train and greet Shining Armor, I'll send up a beam of light to help you find it ok?"

"Shining Armor is waiting for you at the train station? Creeper. How quaint. Well, I'll see you two soon!"

"See you soon Sharky!" I hung up and put my phone back in my pouch. Then I just wandered around aimlessly for awhile until I saw a beam of purple light shoot up from the edge of the city.

"Oh, that's my cue." I started jogging in the direction of the light. Soon enough, I encountered a wall that went all around Canterlot castle. I followed it until I reached a huge metal gate with two guards on both sides of it. "Hey guys! Can I pass?" One of the unicorn guards nodded to me. His horn glowed, then the gates slowly swung outward. "Thanks!" I passed through the gate and it pulled shut behind me. The purple light was gone, but I was pretty sure about the direction it had been. I started off down the street again, and it wasn't long before...

"Look! It's the hero!" I groaned.

"One day. One day without a mob. Is that too much to ask? Yeah, the hero! All of you can die in a firey inferno! Heh heh, this is fun." Ponies poured out into the streets as cries of 'the hero' resounded through the surrounding area. I tried to ignore them and keep walking.

"Hey hero! Do you remember me I--"

"Hi! It's nice to meet you! I was wondering if you'd be interested in--"

"What happened to your mane?"

"Caught on fucking fire. Now piss off."

"Are you here to fight that dragon?"

"No, she's my friend." I sighed.

"Where are you going, hero?"

"Can I get you autogr--"

"That's a cool sword! Can you show us--" The train platform came into view as I walked, a growing crowd trailing behind and around me. I moved past as many of them as I could, and there, waiting on the platform was Twilight. A broad grin crossed my face.

"Twilight!" I shouted over the crowd. They all went silent as they realized I was talking. "How are you?" She smiled back at me.

"Fantastic! You certainly do draw a crowd don't you?"

"Uhh... yes." I turned back to the crowd. "Do you all mind? I'm trying to spend some time with my friend."

"No! Go ahead!" One voice called from the back of the crowd. I frowned.

"I mean, leave. Please. Before I kill you all." All of them jumped slightly and ran off.