I walked out of Luna's room and started looking around for anypony in the now dark halls of Canterlot Palace. Unity garbled out a few happy 'Daddy's as I walked around, but fell asleep quickly. I realized that it was way past his normal bedtime, and tried to keep from jostling him too much while I walked so that he could sleep better. I didn't encounter any ponies along the way for a while, but eventually the hallways began to look familiar. I followed the familiar halls and ended up in front of the room we had stayed in during my knighting ceremony. I cracked the door open out of curiosity, and it was the room we had stayed in. I remembered the beds, which I couldn't remember us ever using. My girls weren't there though.

"Ugh, I'm too tired for this crap..." I had sent too much hunting today already. I didn't want to have to search for the girls too. I resolved to check the next few rooms before giving up. There were six rooms down the hallway, and I found nothing in most of them. The fourth room down though, there was somepony in one of the beds. I saw a familiar purple mane and white coat, though both were disheveled unlike their typical well done state.

"Who goes there? Don't you dare try anything or I'll scream I swear! Then lots of big guards will-- ... Sharky? Is that you?" Rarity sprang from her bed readily the moment I took a step in the room.

"Rarity? You're still awake?"

"Oh thank goodness... You frightened me dear."

"Why are you still up Rarity? It's way late."

Rarity 'hmph'ed at me huffily. "I am a grown mare, I stay up as late as I wish." she sat on her haunches and crossed her forelegs in front of her body. I waited for a small while and she lowered them. "If you must know, you've had me scared stiff all night. Your talk about assassins and killing had me quite frazzled."

"You're in Canterlot Palace though! They couldn't get you here. Bitch, take a damn chill pill. Last thing we need is you bitching tomorrow because you're tired."

"I'll not put up with such insults! You've no idea how worried I've been."

"R-Rarity, all I said wa--"

"Not you! That uncultured alter-ego of yours!"

I sighed and pressed my pointer fingers to my temple. "Rarity, just don't... don't speak to him. How many times must I say it? I'm out anyway. Time for sleep."

"Ooooh! I swear, he gets on my nerves s--"

"Just calm down Rarity. Look, you have nothing to worry about now. The leader of the assassins is dead."

Rarity gave me a slightly worried look. "You killed him? Shouldn't he have been brought in for trial?"

I sighed again as I prepared to explain. "First of all, he was a gryffin. I can't apprehend him as an Equestrian Official without stirring up some international crap I don't want to get in. Second, he took my son and almost killed Fluttershy. I wouldn't have spared him even if I had the choice. Lastly, he was dead when I got there. I didn't kill him."

Rarity seemed to be too tired to process all of the details right away. "Well... alright dear. I think I'll be getting some rest then. Care to join me?" Rarity, tired as she seemed, didn't miss the chance to wink at me and motion towards her bed.

Though normally I would have rejected the invitation, I found the idea of waking up with the warmth of a mare pressed against me pleasing. I was getting really used to it, and it was a nice feeling. After a few moments of thinking, I decided it wasn't a horrible idea.

Then again, I was operating on no sleep and lots of muddled thoughts.

"Sure Rarity, sounds nice."

Rarity's ears lowered and she gave me a pout. "Oh alright dear. Just remember I'll be here if you change your m-- Did you say sure?" her expression changed to a cautiously hopeful grin.

I rolled my eyes at her and set Unity down in the second bed in the room. "Yeah, sure. I'm beat, and it sounds nice. Just remember we're just friends and all that."

Rarity's smile grew into a full grin, like she had just gotten some sort of prize. She bumped against my leg gently and started leading me to the bed. I followed her exhaustedly and let her climb into bed. I stripped off my hard leg armor and slipped into bed next to her. I heard Rarity gasp a little as I slid in next to her, but I simply rolled my eyes. I knew she was likely going to enjoy this far more than she should as a friend, but I didn't care. I settled in comfortably for a hopefully good sleep, and slowly drifted off.

---------------------------------------------------

When I woke up, I was greeted by the comfortable warmth of Rarity's body still curled up against me. A large part of me regretted not finding Twilight to sleep with, but a smaller part reminded me how exhausted I was when I had made the decision. I was sure Twilight would understand so long as I explained myself. I rolled over to see Rarity.

I ended up facing the back of her head. Rarity had turned away from me and not tried to cuddle me inappropriately while I slept. Either that or she had been cuddling me and had rolled in her sleep. I choose to assume the former and felt proud of her for sticking to the 'just friends' rule as much as she could.

"Rarity? Rarity, you awake?" I whispered to her still form. She didn't answer, so I decided to let her sleep and slipped out of the bed as silently as possible. I checked on Unity right away, but he was still sound asleep as well. I gave him a small kiss on the forehead and crystals suddenly sprouted from the headboard of the bed in a jagged pattern. After looking at the sudden growths for a few seconds, I realized they made some crude letters that spelled 'Dad'. I found myself smiling so hard I nearly teared up.

I choked back my sappy feelings and resolved to go find the other girls really quickly. Sure enough, they were all in the rooms further down the hall right after Rarity's. Fluttershy, Spike, and Twilight were in the room right next to Rarity's, and Gilda and RD were in the one after that. All of them were sound asleep, and none looked like they had slept well. Fluttershy was curled into a tight ball on her bed, Twilight was asleep in the middle of the floor as if she had fallen asleep while standing, Spike was asleep next to her, Gilda had torn up her blanket, and RD was laying half-on half-off her bed. I backed out of RD and Gilda's room and closed the door carefully once I was done checking on all the girls.

"Forget something?" an overly calm voice asked from directly behind me. I recognized the voice right away, and flinched when I heard it.

"Oh... Sorry Esmerelda..." I offered weakly as I turned to face my dragon friend. She was in her pony form, of course, and she did not look happy at all.

"Sorry? Sorry? That's all you have to say?"

"I'm really sorry? I didn't mean to leave you at Hoofalulu, I was trying to not get killed by la--"

"Save it. You could at least had one of the princesses give me a message. I shouldn't have had to circle the island six times, terrified you had died, to get Luna to finally notice and tell me you had gone to Canterlot already."

"That didn't even occur to m--"

"Maybe you could've used that magic mirror thing to call me?! You don't seem to have a problem going all the way to my cave when you need something. Oh, but when you're done with me, you can't even be bothered to call! Not even to let me know you're safe!" Esmerelda was stomping closer to me with every sentence, and raising her voice dramatically.

"Now Esmerelda, calm down. You're s--"

"Don't you dare tell me to calm down! You left me alone with an assassin on my back! To think you had died! Not only that, but you made me fly you around at ridiculous hours to places I really didn't want to go! I did it though, because that's what friends do! What do you do for me though? You ignore half my calls, you never stick around me for long, you leave me alone to care for 15 eggs by myself, you make me worry about you all the time and... and... gah!" Esmerelda sat down on her haunches huffily and crossed her forelegs.

I sat down where I stood and took a wary breath. "... I'm sorry."

Esmerelda snorted. "Are you? Because if you keep acting like this, we can't be friends anymore..." she paused for a few moments. I didn't dare to interrupt her. "I mean... I feel like I'm being used. It's like you only ever talk to me when you need my help. You never really stop by just to say hi or hang around. Even when you do it's usually because I called you, and even then you leave really quickly."

"No, please Esmerelda... It's not like that at all, I swear!"

"Then what is it, hmm?"

"Dammit, I go to sleep for a bit and you're already in some shit again? Look Esmerelda, of course you're my friend. I'm just a very busy man. I almost never get to see any of my friends for more than a few minutes at a time. In fact, I visit you more often than any other friend I have. I would never just use you, I swear. I'm just busy."

Esmerelda still sniffed a bit, but she didn't look as mad as she had when we first started talking. "Sure you are..." she muttered sarcastically. She sighed immediately after though. "That was mean. You didn't deserve that, I'm sorry. I've been up all night, I'm frustrated... I'm sorry. I know you're busy, but you could have called last night at least. I was worried sick about you!"

I nodded in agreement. "You're right Esmerelda, I should have told you. I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. I was tired, I'd been tracking and fighting all day, I flew through a wall in my underwear, it wasn't my best night." Esmerelda turned around to face me. She didn't look angry at all anymore.

"Can you promise me you'll at least try to warn me if something like this happens again? Please?"

I gave her a soft grin and opened my arms for a hug. "Deal. Now let's have a good sorry hug."

With a grin, Esmerelda stood up and walked forward into my embrace. "Thank you..."

"No problem. You really don't need to worry so much about me though. I'm a tough guy, I'll find my way through anything."

Esmerelda chuckled in my ear. "I only worry so much because I love you, Sharky."

"Excuse me?" Another voice asked from behind us. I turned to look for the speaker. All the girls, and Spike, were very awake and looking at Esmerelda and I from the doorways of their respective rooms. RD had stepped towards us, and likely was the one that had spoken. None of the girls looked very happy with me. Spike looked scared.

"Shit, we're boned."

--------------------------------------------------------------

Celestia stormed towards her sister's chambers angrily, causing any guard or other staff member to scatter at the mere sight of her. With a magic burst, she blasted her sister's doors open and stomped onto the moon. Luna had been sitting on her bed, staring off into space dreamily. Upon Celestia's thunderous entrance, she nearly leapt three feet into the air.

"Luna, we need to talk!" Celestia thundered, slamming the doors behind her.

Luna was shocked for a moment, but managed to collect herself enough to reply. "What is the matter, sister?"

"Sharky, that's what the matter is! I warned you about him sister, I told you!"

"Celestia, calm yourself. What has Sharky done that has angered you so? I'm sure he would be plenty willing to fix it in any way he can."

Celestia tossed her mane and pawed at the ground angrily. "He has been playing you for a fool, dear sister. His heart does not belong to you."

Luna's peaceful attitude vanished the moment Celestia mentioned Sharky not loving her. "Sister, enough of this foolishness! I've had enough of your silly attempts to deter me." Luna turned away from her sister huffily, as if the argument were already over.

"Do not turn my words away so quickly Luna, I have proof this time." Celestia declared triumphantly. She levitated a paper to Luna.

"No, I'm not even going to look. I trust him, sister." Luna informed her sister firmly. Celestia snorted again.

"Look, I like Sharky as a soldier and an employee as much as you may... well, obviously less than you. I am not out to get him specifically. I am out to protect my sister from those who would hurt her. Please... just read it Luna. I will not make you, but I'm only trying to do what's best for you...." all of the anger drained from Celestia's voice and she left the room silently.

Luna tossed the paper to the ground in annoyance. She very nearly incinerated it, but something in Celestia's behavior stopped her. She always had only wanted the best for her, so why would she lie about Sharky? Luna suddenly found herself torn.

Her sister always wanted the best for her, and Luna felt that she was still trying to look out for her. She trusted her sister above any other being on the planet, but she couldn't help but feel that Celestia was being too protective.

On the other hoof, she loved Sharky, and he said he loved her back. He had proven himself to be an honorable, honest stallion, and never given her any reason to not trust him. He was a good stallion, and Luna felt that she should trust him.

Luna resolved to go ahead and destroy the paper. Whatever proof it was, she knew Sharky would never hurt her. Celestia had to be overreacting to whatever she had found.

She trusted Sharky... So why couldn't she bring herself to destroy the paper?

Luna growled in frustration as she repeatedly tried to summon the will to destroy the little scrap that was testing her trust. She couldn't do it though. No matter how hard she tried, a small part of her knew that the paper could be exactly what Celestia said it was. In the end, Luna simply hid the paper under her matress. She told herself she'd simply not look at it, but Celestia's words still plauged her mind.

Luna found herself wondering if Sharky really was who she thought.