On my way back home, I realized how tired I was. My injuries and exhaustion had been mostly forgotten in the wave of adrenaline I had suddenly gotten in the fight. Now though, I knew I was in a pretty serious spot. Not life threatening, but I really just needed to rest and restore some blood. I really needed to just rest in general, actually. In retrospect that fight with the worms should have been no trouble from the start, but I was slipping. I could remember my first hunt, with the timber wolves. Back then I had taken on a full pack without my powers! Now though, a simple bunch of worms nearly did me in.

"I really need to rest up and get back on my A game. That display back there was pretty pathetic." I mumbled to myself. "Yeah, no shit. Maybe you can just hand the body to ol' Steven every once in awhile. Eh?" Eventually I made it back to the library, one hand full of gems and the other hand holding Unity. Which presented a bit of a problem since the library was once again surrounded by paparazzi. "Shit..." I cursed quietly, then silently ridiculed myself for cussing in front of Unity. I did my best to cover Unity up with the gems and held him above the eye level of the press ponies.

"Hey! It's him!" One of the camera ponies shouted.

"It has begun." with a few quick steps, I plowed right through the ponies and right to the door of the library. I flicked the door open long enough for Fang to slip in then slammed it behind us.

"Oh hey, you're back!" Twilight greeted from across the room. She was sitting quietly near the bookshelves, but she wasn't reading.

"Yeah, I'm back." I returned hollowly. I started to walk towards the stairs.

"Whoa! Sharky, what happened this time?!" Twilight ran up to me and stared at my new scar. This one was a circle that perfectly encompassed all my previous scars with triangular spikes that pointed inward. That thing had some seriously sharp teeth.

"Long story short I went to get Unity food and he made giant worms."

"... Worms?"

"Yes, worms."

"... You're telling me... worms did this to you."

"... Shut up." I mumbled as I turned away from her to walk up the stairs.

Twilight followed right behind me. "Oh, I didn't mean to offend you! I'm sure they were very deadly worms. Did they like... breathe fire? Were they made of steel as well as being large?"

"No they were just very large worms. Lots of very large worms."

"Then why is your scar cauterized?"

"Oh, there was a dragon too."

Twilight beamed at this. "Oh, so that's how they were able to hurt you!"

"No no, the dragon was helping me." I admitted glumly.

"Then... I don't get it! Did you sleep through half the fight?"

"Look, it just wasn't my day." I snapped as I placed Unity down in his bed for a nap.

"Awww, I'm sorry Sharky. I'm sure you'll do better next time." Twilight stood on her hind legs and hugged my waist.

"Hey, lay off! We don't want your damn sympathy. That's nice Twilight." I sighed as I patted her head. "Hey, why aren't you mad at me for coming back hurt?"

"I guess I'm kinda used to it now. I mean, it's in your nature to attract trouble. I can't really be mad at you for that."

I finally smiled and picked her up after putting Unity's gems in a pile next to his bed. "I'm proud of you for that, Twi. It'll be much more fun coming home without being afraid of you being angry."

"So, what're your plans now?" Twilight asked sweetly as she nuzzled her head against my shoulder.

"I just wanna lay down and get some rest, honestly. I'm falling apart. Those worms shoulda been a piece of cake."

"Yeah, I didn't wanna say anything... but you're really bad at taking care of yourself. Like... really bad."

"I get it, I get it." I chuckled a little as I climbed up onto the ledge that held our beds. "Well for the rest of today I'm just gonna try and take it easy. Try."

Twilight nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a plan. If you put me down, I can go make some lunch for the two of us. That way you can still eat but not have to lift a hoof!"

"Great idea, go make us a sandwich, woman. Twilight, you know how I feel about you cooking." I said sternly as I plopped her down on the bed. Twilight rolled her eyes at me.

"I'm not cooking because I feel like I have to, I'm cooking because I want to. You need to learn to let me do things for you too, you know."

"Sorry, it's just not in my nature I guess. You're right, I suppose. If you don't mind making lunch, I would appreciate it."

Twilight smiled at me again and shook her head. "I don't mind at all. Now," she hopped off the bed and her horn began to glow. Suddenly I was hoisted off the ground.

"H-hey! Whoa!" I shouted nervously as I flew for a bit. It was a really unnatural feeling that put me on edge every time. My weapons were removed and placed on the ground. I was gently lowered onto the bed by Twilight's magic embrace. Then the covers were lifted to my neck magically.

"Now you stay here and take it easy, got it?"

"No promises." I responded with a sly grin. Twilight giggled and trotted over to give me a quick kiss. I returned her kiss with just a quick peck on her lips before wiggling into a comfy position on the bed.

"Alright you, I'll be back in just a bit."

"Ok Twilight, see you then." I replied lazily as I leaned back further into my pillow. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply, wondering if I could fall asleep before Twilight even finished lunch. I was disturbed by something jumping on my bed though. I opened one eye and turned my head slightly to see Fang. I had kind of been expecting him, but what I wasn't expecting was that he was holding Unity by the scruff of his neck in his mouth.

"Sweep wif daddy?" Unity asked shyly. I smiled at him and waved Fang over.

"Sure, come on over guys."

Fang placed Unity by my left arm then curled up next to my right side. Unity nuzzled my shoulder as he settled in. I smiled at the both of them before closing my eyes and settling in again.

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

"Hey, Sharky..." somepony whispered. They were gently nudging me, obviously the cause of my waking up. I groaned sleepily and blinked my eyes open to see Twilight standing next to my bed. "Hey sleepy. I'm sorry to wake you, but lunch is ready."

"Oh, ok." I grunted. I twisted my neck slowly to release a few *pop*s.

"Sorry it took so long, I had to run to the market and pick up some fresh peppers."

"Peppers? What did you make?"

"I tried out this new recipe, it's called a jalapeno popper! It's a jalapeno filled with melty cheddar cheese and deep fried with some breading."

"You have fryers here?" I asked skeptically as she lifted the plate of delicious looking golden brown poppers into my field of vision. I couldn't help but drool a little bit.

"It's just heated oil, why wouldn't we have it?"

"Fair point... Umm, would you mind lifting these guys off me? You can probably do it without disturbing them since, you know, magic and all."

"Oh yeah, of course." Twilight lifted the two furballs off me and gently set them down on her bed. As soon as they were off me, I sat up and stretched to work out the last bit of drowsiness from my limbs. Then I snatched up the plate of poppers and popped one into my mouth. "Oh wait Sharky they're--" Twilight started to say something but stopped as I chewed.

"They're what?" I asked through my mouthful of food. The popper was absolutely delicious. The breading was crispy and had a light salty taste, which complimented the burst of juice and flavor from the incredibly fresh tasting pepper. The cheese in the middle was zesty and strong tasting, rounding off the whole flavor nicely. Twilight stared at me open-mouthed as I swallowed it.

"... F-fresh out of the oil." she muttered.

"So?" I asked disinterestedly as I started on another one.

"Sharky that thing should be scalding! We were supposed to sit and talk for a while so they could cool off for a bit! They should be burning you right now..."

"Oh. Well I guess they aren't so hot as you thought." they just felt warm to me, like they had been cooked and cooled as they normally would be. Twilight still looked skeptical though.

"Let me see..." she muttered as she reached for one of the poppers. The moment her hoof made contact, she pulled away hastily. "Ow!" she grumbled quietly as she could, likely since there was a sleeping child near. "Sharky, that thing is piping hot still!"

"Well... I dunno." I muttered disinterestedly as I finished eating my second one. I didn't really care how I was eating them, it only really mattered that I keep eating them. They were absolutely delicious.

"H-hey! Save some for me... this was supposed to be our lunch." Twilight pouted as I devoured another in just two bites. "We were supposed to sit and talk for a while so they could cool, then eat together."

I sighed and set the plate down at the foot of the bed. Then I patted the empty space beside me. "Well, hop up and let's talk then." Twilight jumped up as I said and settled in by leaning into my side. "Alright, well what did you want to talk about."

"Well first of all, I'm really concerned about you eating things that should be amazingly hot. What's even stranger is that you don't seem to feel it."

I thought for a little bit before coming up with an answer. "Maybe it's another species difference between us. I mean, we've never eaten hot food like this before together."

"Are all humans seemingly immune to extreme heat?"

"Well no, but I'm saying maybe you feel temperatures differently than we do. What's cool to me could be scalding to you."

"Hmmm... I guess that's a possibility... No, wait! I've seen you have burns all over your body before. No less or more severe than a pony would have gotten in the same situation."

"Then... then I really don't know." I replied simply with a small shrug. "Perhaps we should just move on from it. I mean, never look a gift horse in the mouth, right?"

Twilight leaned forward and looked up at me with a bewildered look.

"It's uhh... just a saying on my planet."

"Okay, moving on then." Twilight moved back to her place leaning against my side. "The second thing I really wanted to talk about was your job."

I groaned and rolled my eyes. "Twilight, I'm not quitting. We had this discussion several times."

"No no, I'm ok with you working to defend Equestria now. I actually was more talking about your boss."

"Luna? What about her?"

"... What exactly do you think of her?"

"Well, she's nice, pays well, and we're really good friends."

Twilight groaned loudly. "Oh buck, she is in love with you!"

I leaned away from her and gave her a confused look. "What? How do you figure?"

"Just trust me on this one, ok? I don't want you in any possibly amorous situations with her. It's bad enough you've got 5 mares after you already."

"Twilight, don't be so silly. She's my boss and a princess. Do you even know how odd that would be?"

"Oh come on Sharky, don't tell me your world didn't have fables. Stories where the gallant knight defeats a great evil and wins the heart of the fair princess, you know? You basically are that knight every day!"

"We're just good friends Twilight, cool it. I mean, she told me I can't even tell ponies we're friends on the grounds that the relationship we had was not socially acceptable. So if just being friends was like that to her, how in Equestria could she like me more?"

Twilight gave me a hard stare for a while. "This is the same sort of circular thinking you used to tell yourself that I didn't like you, isn't it?"

"Well no, not exactly." I stated defensively.

"Oh, and how does her situation and actions differ from mine?"

"Easy, she's from olden culture. Courting and stuff. That's a long and complicated process from what I understand."

Twilight opened her mouth to respond but closed it and seemed to be thinking. "Actually that makes sense..."

"See? I told you so. I mean really, a princess and an alien knight?"

"It does sound kind of silly when you phrase it like that." Twilight giggled a little. "I must've just been imagining things then when I saw the love in her eyes." Twilight's voice had been light and airy when she started talking, but it dropped to a dead serious tone after the word 'imagining'.

"Look Twilight, I know you may think you saw something like that, but I'm telling you it's just not true. Maybe what you saw was just affection, ya? I mean, I'm her best and only friend right now."

"Sharky, it wasn't just me that saw it. Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and even Esmerelda saw it."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Isn't it possible that you all just made the same mistake? Look, I've got a dinner with her later. As friends. While I'm there, I'll ask her straight up how she feels about me."

Twilight smiled. "Good, then you'll see I'm right."

"Hey, maybe I'm right. There's every chance you're completely wrong about this."

"Not a single bit of chance, Sharky. Know how I know?"

"How?"

"The way she looks at you is exactly the way I look at you. She's in love with you, just like me." Twilight snuggled into my side a bit. "... No matter how dumb you can be."

"Hey, I am very intelligent, thank you very much. You can't really call him dumb when you're the one trying to argue with the brick wall that is Sharky."

"Heh heh, sometimes. Sometimes you are very smart. Other times... you can miss the obvious. We'll leave it at that."

"Well, I can agree to that. Anypony can miss the obvious if they're not paying attention."

*HAAAAAAALLELUJAH!!!*

"Gah!" Twilight gasped as the ringtone for my phone suddenly went off. She rolled off the bed in shock as I calmly answered the phone.

"Hey Luna. What's up?" I asked casually. "Got a mission?"

"No, we were going to dinner tonight, remember?" she looked mildly upset at the idea that I had forgotten about her.

"No, I remember that. It's only midday though. I'm actually just now eating lunch."

"Hey! Ask her Sharky, see if I'm right!" Twilight whispered from somewhere on the floor. She was just now standing back up.

"Not now, I'll ask her at dinner."

"Ask me what at dinner?" Luna asked abruptly.

"Nothing, I'll ask you at dinner. Anyway, why did you call so early?"

"Well, I called to see if you wouldn't mind coming earlier. We could go see a play or go for a trot or... something." Luna seemed pretty nervous about asking me. It suddenly struck me that Luna had gone from being a regal authoritative figure to an almost girlish mare in the time we had known each other. She must be really nervous since I was her first friend in a while.

"Well..." I mulled for a bit. I didn't really want to leave, but hanging out with Luna sounded nice too. "Twilight, what do you think?"

"I think you should go. I don't want to give you the impression I'll keep you cooped up with me all the time, and it's good to spend time with friends."

"Awesome, I'll call you when I'm ready to go Luna. I just wanna finish my lunch."

"Of course! See you soon." Luna hung up suddenly and I shrugged as I slipped the phone back into its place.

"Well, I'm kinda surprised you gave that the ok Twilight." I stated curiously. She was usually a bit... greedy when it came to me, so far as I had seen. "Especially since you think she likes me."

"I'm not really worried about her stealing you away from me... us." Twilight scoffed confidently. "You've told me you loved me and I believe you. You're an honorable stallion, and would never fall for her while you're with me... us."

I didn't speak for a while. I just reached down and pulled Twilight up into my lap. I hugged her lightly and nuzzled her neck a bit. "Thank you... It means a lot to me that you trust me, you know."

"Oh... Uh... I always trusted you." Twilight said gently as she wrapped her hooves around my neck.

"No, no you didn't. You were always worried about me not being careful on missions, and never wanted me to be around other mares you thought liked me. Don't try to deny it, I remember all those glares you gave me back before I knew you liked me."

"... I guess I do trust you more now then. Anyway, hurry with your lunch. I'm eager for you to see Luna and prove me right."

I laughed a little and released her. "Yeah, right." I scoffed as I turned to grab my plate of food. I ate a few poppers before I really got to thinking. "Hey Twilight?"

"Yes?"

"What... Let's just say you're right. If you're right... how do I let her down easy?" pissing off a goddess wasn't exactly high on my list of priorities.

"Just be as nice as you can. If she gets upset, give her some space. I'm sure she can be mature about it."

"Yeah, you're right. She's thousands of years old. Odds are she's been interested in quite a few ponies that didn't return the feelings by now."

"Exactly. Trust me, it'll all work out after you find out I'm right and turn her down."

I nodded and there was a long silence for a while. After I finished my poppers and stood up to call Luna, Twilight piped up.

"Just uhh.... Don't forget your weapons, alright?"

"Why would I need my weapons?"

"Oh, you know... M-maybe she finds a mission for you while you're out."

"Good point. Thanks hon." I picked up my weapons from their place on the ground and strapped them to my back. "Can never be too careful knowing my luck." I whipped out my phone and hit Luna's call button. She answered before the first ring was even half over.

"Sharky! You're ready?" she asked excitedly. I nodded.

"Yep, let's get going Luna. Geez, calm down crazy."

"Excellent!"

In a flash of light, I vanished from the library.

"... Good luck." Twilight whispered worriedly to the empty room.

Author's Notes:

This took so long because I couldn't get to a decent damn cliffhanger. This still isn't good, but it's good enough.