"Ah crap! I'm a terrible person for this..." I groaned.

"Damn right you are!" Steven yelled from the corner.

"F*** YOU STEVEN!"

"No thank you!"

"Ah dammit! I fell for it!" Fluttershy started clapping her hooves in my face. I turned to her.

"Hey, you don't need to feel bad. This is normal. Don't worry." She tilted my head up with her hoof so that I was looking into her eyes.

"Yeah, dreaming about f***ing ponies that will never love you is totally normal...." I murmered sadly.

"I do love you Sharky..."

"Yeah, in HERE... Out in the real world I'm just a freak..."

"No, no talking like that!" Fluttershy scolded softly. She pulled my chin forward and gave me a quick kiss.

"Celestia dammit I wish this would happen when I was awake..." I said as we seperated.

"Hey! At least you can enjoy anything!" Steven yelled.

"SHUT UP STEVEN!" I yelled. "Fluttershy... As much as this would be a dream... well a dream really, I can't do this..." I pushed her away from me gently. "It's not right... I shouldn't think like this..."

"I... I understand Sharky..."

"WUSS!"

"GODDAMMIT SHUT UP STEVEN!" Pain lanced through my chest as I yelled. I hissed through my teeth and fell back onto the bed.

"Oh Sharky! Are you ok?!"

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I woke up again, on Fluttershy's bed. She was next to me wearing her nurse's hat. She was turned away from me, and her flank was next to my face. Celestia Dammit.

"Ok, when the fuck did this turn into Inception?!" I shouted. Fluttershy jumped in suprise. She turned around to face me.

"Oh Sharky! You're ok!" She cheered happily. She jumped at me and wrapped me in a gentle hug.

"Yeah... Am I still dreaming?"

"No... why? What did you dream about?"

"Oh, nothing important. So, how long have I been out?"

"Umm... about two days..."

"TWO DAYS?!"

Monday, January 12th (missed the date two chapters ago, sorry.)

"Y-yes. You had us all worried sick..."

"Oh... I'm sorry... I didn't even think about that..." I propped myself up on my elbows, but I immediately fell back in pain. "Oh geez! That hurts!"

"Sharky, be careful! You're going to bust the stitches!" Fluttershy gasped. I looked down at my chest, and sure enough, there were stitches running across my chest in a giant X.

"Who did this?"

"I... I stitched you up... I also disinfected the wounds, and gave you some medecine to make the pain more bearable..."

"HA! Bearable!" I laughed to myself. Fluttershy cracked a smile. "So, how did you stitch me up using hooves?"

"Practice."

"Ah, of course. Well, thanks for taking such good care of me... Wait, where's Unity?"

"Twilight has been taking good care of him." Fluttershy cooed soothingly. "Now, you should get some more rest..."

"Pfft, I'm not going back to sleep, I'm getting my ass over to Shadow so he can heal me!"

"No, no, we already tried that. He doesn't have the herbs he needs..."

"Crap..." *sigh* "Well, I guess if I'm gonna be stuck healing somewhere, the company couldn't be better at least!" I smiled at Fluttershy.

"Aww... Y-you're too s-sweet..." Fluttershy had been fine when it had been her talking to a patient, but now that she remembered she was talking to Sharky...

"Nah, doughnuts are too sweet. Hurt my teeth." I mumbled randomly.

"W-what?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing of vast importance... So, what can I do while I'm just sitting here?"

"H-heal..."

"Ok, besides that."

"W-well... Nothing t-too strenuous... I s-suggest you t-try to sit b-b-back and relax..."

"Huh, speaking of relaxing... It's Monday isn't it? I didn't make you miss your spa day with Rarity did I?"

"N-no... She came over and h-helped me care f-for you..."

"She did? That was nice of her..."

"Y-yeah... H-hey S-sharky... d-do you remember the p-promise?"

"The one where I take good care of Fang?"

"... Y-yes... that one..." Fluttershy sighed sadly. There was no way she'd be able to get Sharky to focus on her with how shy she was... Unless... "S-stay right here Sharky... I'll b-be right back..."

"Ok, have fun..." Fluttershy trotted out of the room. She went to her kitchen and opened a cabinet. She moved the various animal foods out of the way, and reached to the very back of the cabinet. She pulled out a large bottle.

"Apple Family Special" The label read. Underneath it said, "Hard Cider" Fluttershy sighed in relief. She had decided to buy some during the last sale. She hadn't know why at the time, but now she was glad she did. She trotted back to Sharky and placed the bottle on a little table next to the bed.

"Hey, you're back. What's this?" I picked up the bottle and read the label. Fluttershy trotted back out and returned with a few large glasses.

"I t-thought w-we could h-have a drink... To... celebrate y-your victory?" She mumbled the last part like it was a question. I thought for a moment.

"Sounds legit. I think I'd rather drink to our friendship though." I poured some of the cider into the two glasses so that they were full to the brim. I lifted one glass and Fluttershy grabbed the other with her wing. So weird.

"O-ok then..."

"To Fluttershy, one of the best friends I've ever had." I raised my glass and we clinked them together.

"T-to friends..." We oth tilted our heads back and drank our cider. I could actually taste the alcohol in this drink, and Fluttershy seemed to be having a hard time drinking it all at one time. I put my hand on her shoulder to get her to stop.

"Whoa, slow down Shy. You don't need to chug it..." She lowered her glass, still half full. She saw my glass, completely empty.

"W-whoa! How d-did you drink it all already?"

"Hmm? Oh, I guess I have a higher alcohol tolerance than you ponies. I'm also skilled in the art of drinking large glasses in one breath."

"There's an a-art for that?"

"No, that would just be me being a dork."

"... Oh. Well... I n-need to finish my glass now..." She tilted her head back and managed to drink the rest.

"Wow, you just did that... Anyway, why the sudden celebration?"

"O-oh, I was just waiting until you woke u-up." Her stuttering had already significantly decreased.

"Hey, speaking of waking up, I should call Luna for my pay..."

"S-she already sent it..." Fluttershy pointed to a bag next to the bed. I leaned over to pick it up, but Fluttershy pushed me back. "No moving!" She ordered. I groaned and fell back on the bed. She picked up the pouch in her mouth, and had a little trouble lifting her head. She managed to get the pouch to me though. I reached inside, and felt paper. I pulled it out.

Dear Sharky,

Knowing that thou would insist Steel recieve half the pay, we have already given Steel his pay. This note is an order to accept the pay as well. Remember the oath!

Sincerely,

Luna

I opened the pouch wider to count the contents.

"FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUU!!!"

"Sharky? What's wrong?"

"WHAT THE HELL DO I DO WITH 7000 BITS?! I NEVER EVEN BUY ANYTHING!!"

"A-are you complaining about getting money?"

"... I guess I am. Still, what the hell do I need 7000 bits for?! Oh, maybe the Apple family could use this to expand their orchards..."

"I d-don't think the Apples will just take it... They have to feel like they earned it..."

"Do you think they'll take it for being awesome ponies?" Fluttershy gave me a 'are you serious' stare. "Guess not... Hey, where'd the Ursa go?"

"Oh, Shadow took it in. T-turns out they get along real well..."

"Really? The former Psycho-Bear now belongs to the second most docile pony I've ever met? Weird." I filled up our glasses again and threw mine back. I wasn't really effected by it, but Fluttershy seemed to be getting really hammered.

"Hey Sharky..."

"Hey! You stopped stuttering!"

"Yea... I did... Sharky, do ya remember your promise?"

"The one where I take care of Fang?"

"Nah, the New Year's promise."

"Oh that one? Geez, it feels like it has been forever since New Year's day... Anyway, yeah I remember it. Don't worry, like I said, you were drunk and it didn't matter." Fluttershy had started swaying slightly. Geez, I guess that drink was stronger than I thought.

"Nah... It matters. I wanna make good on it." With that, She moved forward, and pulled me into a kiss.

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"Hmm? Twilight? Is something wrong?" Spike asked. Twilight had been sitting down with Unity reading, but all of the sudden she had sprung up and looked to be in shock.

"I... I don't know... I sense... A disturbance..." She muttered.

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"FLUTTERSHY!?" I gasped in shock after she pulled away. "FUCK I'M STILL DREAMING AREN'T I?!" Fluttershy giggled drunkenly.

"You've no idea how long I've been waiting for that..." She stumbled to the side, and I reminded myself that she was drunk.

Ok, calm down. It didn't mean anything. She's drunk, she is just curious, she doesn't really like you. CALM DOWN. I thought to myself. My mind was rushing in a hundred different ways, but I knew I couldn't hold Fluttershy accountable for any of her actions while she was drunk.

"Ok, lets... never do that again."

"W-why?" She looked hurt.

"I know you were just curious, but you don't know what that does to me. Just.. please no more ok? Stifle your curiosity."

"B-but Sharky, I wasn't--" I put my finger over her lips.

"No, don't talk about it. I know it didn't mean anything to you. Anyway, I think I could get that rest now. I'm gonna sleep, and this will be a secret ok?"

"S-sharky..."

"Don't worry, I promise not to tell anypony, and I won't bring this up again, you don't need to be embarassed." With that fell back on the bed and closed my eyes. Fluttershy was going to say something, but she was too hurt by his sudden rejection. She teared up and slowly trotted away from him. At the same time, tears formed under my eyelids as I cursed fate for torturing me like this. I thought to myself until I convinced myself that it didn't matter and it was just a drunk slip. I just thought to myself until I was able to accept it as the truth I believed it to be. I honestly had to try hard not to cry. It was hard enough accepting the fact that I would never be able to have a family of wife in this world. Now fate saw fit to torture me with dreams and drunk actions of my friends. What I felt the worst about though, was that I had enjoyed the kiss. I knew it was wrong. I knew I was taking advantage of a drunk Fluttershy, but still I had allowed myself to enjoy it. I didn't even pull away, she did. I laid there and mentally beat myself up until sleep overtook me.

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Tuesday, January 14th

I woke up to the light of the rising sun shining into the room. I sat up and stretched, but flinched in pain as my chest wounds reminded me of their existence. I looked down at them, and they were much better than they had been yesterday. I tried not to think about the events of the previous night. I kicked my legs over the side of the bed and stood up experimentally. I was able to stand, and my chest only gave me minor complaints. I grunted and walked around. Luckily I seemed to be able to walk now. Running might be pushing it though. I gathered up my coinbag and left Fluttershy's house. I was sorry I had to leave, but being there hurt me. I took off in a random direction, not heading towards Ponyville. I would miss my friends, but they would get over me I was sure. I regretted leaving Unity, but the life of a traveler like I intended to be would be no good for him. He'd be much better off here. Mostly I regretted leaving Fang. Without me he was a wolf among ponies. An outcast with no home. Like I was going to be. I had faith in him though. He was strong and brave, he'd figure something out. I couldn't handle the pain of being around those girls all the time. I loved them, but they could never love me back. The best thing to do was leave. I'll go somewhere where I don't know about anything. Then I'll keep going. I'll move so the pain can't keep up. It's what I convinced myself I had to do. I let a few tears fall down my face as I left it all behind.