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.