I leaned against the barn and waited for Applejack to trot out of eyesight. Once she was gone, I left the cover of the barn and walked up to the Apple house. Applejack's mysterious behavior aside, I still needed that health potion and to hang out with Shadow. Fang would find me when he was done, so there was no real need for me to hide behind the barn for Celestia knows how long. I stepped on the porch and was about to knock on the door when it opened suddenly. Shadow darted out of the door and right into my legs.

"Ow! What the..." Shadow rubbed his snout irritatedly and looked up to figure out what he had just hit. His face expanded into a broad smile when he saw it was me. "Hi Sharky! How've you been? Geez, it feels like it has been forever since..."

Shadow looked down and noticed my bloody bandage. He covered his mouth with his hooves.

"Hey dude. 'Sup bitch. I've... I've been better, to be honest."

"Oh man Sharky... What happened? Come in, come in. Let me get a potion for that..." Shadow turned and trotted into the house. I followed him and wound up in his room, which was even more full of random test tubes and fluids than last time I had seen it.

"I got into a fight with a giant star scorpion. I'm glad this is all I got, to be honest."

"You have got to be more careful dude! May I remind you that my potions can't cure death?"

"Well what was I supposed to do? 'No Luna, I won't fight the scorpion about to eat Los Pegasus because it might hurt me.' Whaddya take us for? A wuss like you? I had to go Shadow, you know that."

"I didn't say you shouldn't hunt, I said to be careful." Shadow clearified. "I know you feel like you have to protect, and I won't ask you to stop what you feel like you need to do. Just... be more careful while doing it." he selected a vial from among the mess of glass and liquids and hoofed it over to me. "Here, drink this."

"Alright." I pressed the vial to my lips and tossed it back. The liquid burned as it travelled down my throat, but it left behind a pleasant tingle. I could feel my stomach and back healing almost immediately.

"How do you feel? I've been working on a new version of the potion that won't make you sleepy, hyper, or knock you out for two days!"

I waited for a few moments before responding to gather my feelings about the potion. I didn't feel tired, I wasn't out cold, and I wasn't bouncing around the room.

"I think you did it. I don't feel anything other than healing! Still tastes like shit though. You think with all the experimenting you did, it would at least taste like cherries instead of shit."

"Hmm... I didn't even think about taste... Thanks Steven, I'll get on that."

"Wait, I helped? Awww, dammit! You know, it's bad to talk to him directly."

"Right, sorry. Well, you're healed. See you later then." Shadow turned away from me and began to fiddle with some vials.

"Actually I wanted to know if you'd like to hang out today."

Shadow dropped the vials and turned back around quickly.

"What? Really?! You aren't too busy?"

"Nope. I'm technically on vacation from monster hunting and Twilight said I could hang out with you today."

Shadow gave me a confused look. "You need permission from Twilight?"

"Well yeah. She's my marefriend for this week. She wants us to spend as much time as possible together, but she let me come hang out with you for now."

"Why did you say 'for this wee-- You know what? It doesn't matter. Let's just enjoy some quality time, right bro?"

"You bet dude. So, what do you want to do then?"

"How about something nice and calm? Let's go to a cafe or something and just catch up, you know?"

"Yeah, sure! That sounds nice. Hey, when I got here, you ran into me. Where were you going?" I questioned suddenly as I remembered the rush Shadow had been in earlier.

"Oh, I was just about to begin giving all the trees some special growth hormones that would make them grow bigger apples. It can wait though. AJ wanted me to take a break anyhow."

"Alright then. You ready to go?"

"Yeah, sure." Shadow grabbed a few vials off of his alchemy table and started to trot out of the room.

"Alright then, where's a good cafe to go to?"

"In town." Shadow offered with a sarcastic tone.

"Oh ha ha, very funny. I meant to say: do you actually know any good cafes in town?" I clearified as I rolled my eyes and followed him out of the house.

"No, not really. You've been here longer than I have; don't you know any?"

"Actually no. I never really get to walk around town and see what's actually here. We're busy, bitch. You think we just wander and check out the town all the time?" I explained nervously. It was a bit odd that I had no idea what the town I lived in was even like. Something bumped into my leg before we had even left the farm. I looked down and saw Fang.

"Oh, that's where Fang went! I was wondering why he wasn't with Winona." Shadow exclaimed as if it had been some big mystery.

"Yeah, I took him back to hang out with him for a bit."

Fang nudged me again and lifted his head to show me what he had gotten. He had a single, thin, tall, white candle in his mouth. I took it and gave him a pat on the head.

"A candle? Why did Fang have a candle?" Shadow asked interestedly. I tucked it into the coin pouch on my hip.

"I don't know." I answered honestly. "Why don't you mind your own damn buisiness?"

"Alright, alright."

"Now... what would AJ be doing with candles?" I mumbled to myself. "Fang, you should go see Winona while Shadow and I go out." I waved Fang away from my side distractedly and my Robin left my shoulder to go with Fang.

Let's see... What would AJ be doing with a candle? In the orchards no less. She could start a fire! Nah, she'd be more careful than that. Hmmm... Maybe she found a cave or something and needed light to explore it... No, if there was a cave, it likely would've been discovered and explored long ago. Wait, candles...

I suddenly recalled the day I had gotten RD a position on the Wonderbolts. That night, her house had been filled with candles and we ate a nice meal that she had prepared herself together. Looking back, I realized that she was trying to make it a romantic moment, which I had totally failed to notice. Which meant...

AJ is totally planning a secret dinner date! I bet I know who it's for too! I looked down at Shadow and grinned knowingly. He wasn't looking at me though, so the grin was lost on him.

"-- anything yet Sharky?" Shadow finished. I flinched when I realized he had been talking to me while I thought.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I said: Do you see anything yet Shaky? I said we should both be looking for cafes just a minute ago!"

"Oh... uhhh, no. I haven't seen any. We didn't care enough to look."

"Alright, let's just keep looking then."

"You got it." I began to survey our surroundings, searching for a nice place to get some coffee and talk. I was a bit startled when I realized that we were already in town and I hadn't noticed, but I got over it quickly. I also noticed that we hadn't been swarmed by reporters yet. In fact, the only other ponies that were out and about looked tired and seemed to be in a hurry.

"Oh, look! There's a place!" Shadow declared abrubtly, tearing my away from my analyzation of the town. He was pointing excitedly to a place named 'Java Joint'. It looked like a relatively simple place, but I wasn't about to complain.

"Oh, sweet! Let's go in, Shadow."

"Right behind you."

We headed into the little restaurant eagerly. The inside of the building was just as plain as the outside. There was a little counter with a bored-looking mare behind it, a wide open area to the left of the counter with about ten or so tables, and an outdoor area to the right with only three tables lined up in a neat row along the wooden platform they sat on. The door didn't set off a bell when we entered, but the mare heard our steps and looked up up to see us.

"Oh! It's you!" she declared excitedly. I was about to sigh and tell her not to freak out when her happy expression turned to horror. "Dear Celestia! What happened to you?!" she nearly screeched as she pointed a shaking hoof at my midsection. I looked down to see that I still hadn't removed my bloodied bandages.

"Oh geez! Forgot that was there! These are the rags I use to soak up the blood of mares that scream too damn loud..." I ripped the bandages off of my stomach to reveal the thin pale scar that was left from the gash the Scorpio had given me. I looked back to the mare, expecting her to be relieved. Instead, she only looked more terrified. "You ok? Look! I'm not hurt!"

"P-please d-don't kill me and soak up my blood..." the mare whimpered in reply. I gave her a confused look.

"Why the heck would I do that?"

"Ummm... Sharky?" Shadow tapped my leg hesitantly. I turned my attention to him.

"Yeah?"

Shadow mouthed the word 'Steven' to me. I facepalmed and groaned.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you, no matter what you just heard. I promise." with a few more steps, I was in front of the counter. "I'm a good guy, right? Trust me, I won't hurt you."

"T-then why did you--"

"That wasn't me that said that. Look... uhh... I have two voices. One is the real me, the one talking now. The other is violent, crude, sarcastic, and mean. That one is Steven, the one that threatened you. Got it?"

"... That made... no sense..."

I sighed again and nearly slammed my head into the counter. Instead, I turned away from the mare and threw my hands over my head. Which caused me to hit the ceiling. Luckily I didn't cause any damage to it.

"Fine. Shadow, please order for me. I'll be sitting at a table outside." I didn't pause to wait for a response before I stormed off to the outdoor area of the building. I picked the furthest table and tried to sit down. The seats were too small for me though, so I ended up having to sit on the ground next to the table. The brief time I had spent in this shop was doing a fine job of reminding me that I didn't belong here. Shadow appeared at the table eventually, which helped drive away my growing sadness about not belonging.

"Here you go Sharky. I wasn't sure what you wanted, so I just got you a plain coffee." Shadow set two tall paper cups down on the table and slid one over to me.

I put on a little smile. "Thanks bro. Now, how've things been at the farm?"

Shadow took a few seconds to form his answer. He started with a heavy sigh.

"It's actually not as fun as it used to be. I keep getting this strange feeling that Big Mac and Granny Smith don't like me too much..." he admitted.

"Really? Why would you say that?"

"I dunno Sharky... I just see Mac looking at me disappointedly, or Granny Smith frowning at me when they think I'm not looking."

"Well that seems strange... Applejack isn't doing anything like that, is she?"

Shadow seemed to brighten up instantly. "No, AJ and I get along great! She's really nice, and she's always looking out for me."

"That's good to hear then. How's it going between you two, by the way?"

"Oh, good." Shadow mumbled very quietly. He was blushing a little.

"Good? That's all you got to say?"

"Yeah..."

"So, what was your first date then?" I asked interestedly. "Wait, I got this. You're too much of a coward to ask her out, aren't you?"

"D-date?!" Shadow squeaked. "Y-you're right... I-I could n-never ask AJ out..."

I raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Oh? Why not?"

"W-what if she said no? I could ruin our friendship! I c-can't risk it... Plus, AJ is so bold and sweet and strong and confident and--"

*snap snap snap* I snapped my fingers in front of Shadow's face before he got lost in some sort of Applejack-based dreamland.

"Dude, she wouldn't say no. I may not be the brightest when it comes to females and non-platonic affection, but I'd say she likes you too."

"I-I t-thought she might too..." Shadow admitted.

"Look, you gotta ask her next time you get the chance."

"B-but--"

"Nuh uh, no buts. You gotta be a stallion and ask her out."

"Alright, alright! I-I'll try... Wait, you're one to talk about asking mares out! AJ was telling me how desperately those four mares were trying to get your attention!"

"Hey, that got resolved! Look, like I said, I'm not the quickest when it comes to mares hitting on me. I quite literally had no idea they liked me until they flat out told me. He's not kidding. I half thought we would get raped in our sleep before he got it." I countered defensively. Shadow wasn't letting up though.

"Well, you liked them long before they told you, didn't you?"

"Yes, but--"

"Then according to your own argument, you should have been a stallion and asked them out!"

"Hey, the difference is I'm not a pony like you! I thought it was impossible for them to like me because of what I am."

"Well, think about it. If you can like them, did you ever stop and think that it worked both ways?" Shadow leaned forward intently and gave me a hard stare. I struggled to think of some sort of excuse, but I didn't have one.

"No, no I did not. Bah, this is a dumb topic anyway. Tell me, have you developed any cool new potions?"

Shadow snorted and sat back down normally. He took a big drink of his coffee before speaking.

"I've been big into hormones and pheremones lately. I can use them to affect the growth of the trees and attract insects to pollinate them. Other than that, I haven't done much else other than improve my healing potions. Specifically for you, in case you decided to light yourself on fire and slice yourself all over your body again."

I let out a big laugh at his comment. "I never decide to hurt myself, it just ends up that way! I actually got those injuries while pulling off a really important job for Celestia."

"Really? I thought you worked for Luna..."

"Yeah, I do. Celestia asked me to do something specific and difficult for her that a normal knight couldn't do. Well, I guess another knight could do it, I was just the first one to care about the issue."

"What issue was this?" Shadow asked interestedly before taking another sip of coffee. I picked up my cup and took my first drink before continuing. The coffee was bitter and unsweet, but I didn't mind it too much.

"Well, dragons." I leaned in and lowered my voice just in case somepony was close enough to hear me. "I had to steal the dragon eggs from her."

Shadow's eyes widened and he looked at me like I was insane. "You're the thief that took all the eggs?!" he hissed. "Dude, why would Celestia want you to do that?!"

"She doesn't like taking them. She has to in order to look like a strong leader though. So, I took them for her that way they didn't become magic experiments." I leaned back away from Shadow with a confident grin. He shook his head at me with a small smile.

"You're crazy bro. A good guy, but crazy."

"So I've heard, on both accounts."

"Hey, you said you resolved that issue with the girls, right?" Shadow asked randomly. "How did that go? Which girls did you form a herd with? All of them?"

I frowned a little. "No, there's no herd. In my world, it's considered pretty wrong for a male to take multiple wives. At least, it is in my culture in particular. I'm dating each of the girls for one week to see who makes the best marefriend."

"Really? That seems so... unhappy. I mean, why would you make some of them unhappy purely based on your old culture?"

"It's... it's just the right thing to do, ok? I feel it's the right thing to do. Anyway, how has that Ursa pet of yours?"

"He's doing great, actually! He's like a big cat, so he sleeps a lot and stuff. He's really easy to care for."

"That's good, I'm glad you two get along so well."

"Me too... So, Sharky..." Shadow began hesitantly.

"Hmm?"

"How are you so strong?" he leaned forward intently again, clearly very interested in my response.

"Uhh... well, I've got some magic in my body that let me--"

"No no, not here." he poked my arm. "Here." he poked my chest near my heart. "How do you face down monsters and not falter? How do you look at death and not cower? I've seen you near death, I've heard your reluctance to approach those you love and ask for their love in return. What I've never seen from you is fear. Even when you were near dead on our porch, I didn't see any worry on your face. You weren't afraid of dying. How can I be like you? How can I be strong like that?" he asked desperately.

"Shadow, why do you want to be--"

"I'm a coward Sharky..." he sighed. "I'm scared almost all the time. If I saw half the things you've fought, I would never be able to stand up near them, let alone fight them." his stare increased in intensity and he was almost in my face. "I want to be strong enough to protect. Like you do for Equestria. Like Blade did for me..." Shadow slumped back into his chair suddenly.

"... Shadow... It's not about not being afraid. If I wasn't afraid, I'd never be able to fight a monster."

Shadow's ears twitched and he gave me a confused look.

"The trick is, I'm not afraid of what happens to me. I'm afraid of failing. All I can think about while I'm hunting is the concequences of failing. I'm terrified of not being able to protect the innocent. That fear gives me power. When I remember what's at stake, I can fight a little harder. I get a little braver. I can take a little more."

"I-I'm only afraid for myself though..."

"Shadow, if AJ was near death on the other side of the continent, what would you do?"

He didn't hesitate in his answer. "I'd get there and help of course!"

"Why?"

"Because I care about her!"

"You're afraid of losing her."

Shadow stopped moving suddenly as it dawned on him.

"If AJ's life were at stake, you'd cross a continent. Now, would you do the same if you weren't afraid for her? No. Fear isn't something I'm immune to Shadow, it's my greatest strength. I wasn't always like that though. My biggest fear for myself is being alone in the dark. Then I discovered the fear of losing somepony you care about."

"That... You're right... It's... it's ok to be afraid..."

"Right. As long as you have fear for others, you're never really working for yourself, so you're never really alone. I guess you could connect it to love, in a way. When you love, you fear for those you love. The more you love, the more you have to protect. The more you have to protect, the stronger you can make yourself be."

"Sharky..." Shadow jumped out of his seat suddenly. "Sharky, teach me to fight! I want to protect those I love, like you do!"

"Uhhh... Shadow, I don't know if that's a good idea..."

"Please! I want to feel strong, I want to turn my fear into power!"

"Shadow... Uhh... Ok. I'll teach you to fight. For now though, just stick to what you know. I'm a warrior because I love all of Equestria and want to protect it. If you just want to be strong, I don't think it would be a good idea to teach you just yet."

Shadow hung his head in disappointment and sat back down.

"Anyway, I think you said something about feeding the trees in the orchard some hormones." I reminded him. "You may want to get to that. Oh..." I pulled the candle out of my pouch and handed it to him. "You should return this to AJ as well. She's likely wondering where it is."

Shadow gave me a questioning look, but didn't openly ask me anything as he took the candle.

"We should do this again soon. With less philosophical speeches from me next time though. Hell, I'm not even sure if that made sense to me. Anyway, bye Shadow." I waved goodbye and left before he could return my gesture.

On my way to the library, I thought over my own words. Where had they come from? I had never even really considered it myself, so how had I been able to answer Shadow so well?

... I also found myself wondering why the hell everypony assumed I was making a herd. It just seemed wrong.

Wasn't it?

Author's Notes:

Well, I ALMOST posted 2 chapters 2 days in a row... Instead, have this roughly double-sized chapter. Hope it's an ok tradeoff.