I felt the rush of air as I sailed towards the ocean. Oddly enough, I didn't scream, I didn't panic, I simply accepted fate. I was living on time I shouldn't have anyway. Maybe this was like a Final Destination kind of thing. I saw Gilda crash through the cloud behind me, but it was obvious she'd never get to me in time. Even if she did, I'd just drag her down with me. Rather than try to slow my fall so she could catch me, I pointed my body towards the ocean to pick up speed so she'd have no chance of getting to me. Sure, I didn't want to die, but I'd rather die myself then kill Gilda as well. I fell and kept falling for quite some time. As I neared the ocean and the waves rose up to meet me, the water flashed bright white. I figured it was the reflection of the moon, and took it as a final goodbye from Luna. I closed my eyes as I prepared to meet the ocean. Kind of ironic actually, being a Marine Biologist, I loved the ocean. Now it was going to kill me. Life is a bitch. I hope death isn't the same.

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Gilda saw him rush for the ocean. She saw as he adjusted his body to fall faster, ruining her chances to catch him. Still she flew on, desperate to try to save him. She saw the ocean flash beneath him right before he made contact. Then she saw the bloody impact as he hit the water. Her new and only friend had left her as soon as he'd met her. Gilda stopped her flight in pure horror, then cried.

"No... not now..." Gilda let tears of pain flow freely from her eyes. Sharky had been the only one that hard even tried to be friends with her ever since Dash had abandoned her, and now he was gone thanks to her. Gilda wailed and flew back to her house, blaming herself for her only friend's death.

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"No... he... he's dead..." Twilight muttered. "He was killed by a fall... Not... not even by a monster... That's not how he would've wanted to die..."

"It doesn't matter how he wanted to die! Why'd he have to die anyway?!" RD wailed.

"He's gone... he's just gone... He left us again, it's what he does..." Twilight whispered to herself.

"This never woulda happen if he'd just stay here! Why? Why did he have to leave again?!" Rd continued her wailing, oblivious to Twilight's rambling. In the other room, Unity stopped his crying as soon as it had begun. Nopony paid him any attention.

"He left... he fell through a cloud. He won't come back again. He's gone for good this time..." Twilight's eyes had no focus. She stared blankly off into space, rambling about Sharky leaving again.

"I... I can't believe he's dead... This is all his fault! He left and he didn't have to! He got himself killed!" RD's sadness quickly turned to anger. "That irresponsible jerk! He went and died on us! He left Unity AND Fang behind! How could he?!" RD let tears of pain roll down her face. Spike didn't really feel too bad, he'd only barely known Sharky. He did know Twilight was in pain, so he walked over and hugged her. He didn't know what else to do. Twilight didn't react to him in the slightest, so he pulled away. He decided the others should know too, instead of being suprised with it later.

"I... I'm gonna go tell the others... I'm sorry guys..." He turned and left the library. Behind him, Twilight continued to mumbled while RD cried her eyes out.

"Gone... just gone..."

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"Oh, hello Spike, what brings you here so late? I suppose I could find something for you to help with..." Rarity greeted Spike as he walked in.

"Actually Rarity... Fluttershy... I've got something to tell you about Sharky..."

"Oh, we were just talking about him... Did the Princesses find him?" Fluttershy asked excitedly. Spike flinched.

"Uhh... Yeah, they found him... You girls may want to sit down..."

"Why Spike? Did something bad happen? Is Sharky hurt again?"

"Uhh... You could say that... Girls... Sharky is dead...." Both Rarity and Fluttershy's mouths dropped.

"W-w-what?!" Rarity exclaimed in disbelief.

"He's dead. He fell off the cloud that holds up the Gryffin Empire...."

"... What?" Fluttershy asked numbly.

"Girls, Sharky is dead. He won't come back. Gone. Forever..."

"N-no! This can't be happening! T-this... this is worse than the worst possible thing!" Rarity wailed. "He just can't be dead, he simply can't! He's strong right Spike!? He'll live! He has to be alive!"

"He's dead... He can't be dead... It was just yesterday that I kissed him..." Fluttershy whined softly. "No... no... no... I... I need to be alone..." With that Fluttershy took off out the door, leaving tears behind her. Spike couldn't help but shed a few tears himself. Rarity suprised him by grabbing him and pulling him into a hug.

"Oh Spikey! Please tell me it isn't true! He can't be dead right? He was too strong! Too nice!" She started rubbing the top of his head with her hoof like he was a cat. Spike sighed. This was the first time a hug from Rarity hadn't made him happy.

"I'm sorry Rarity... The princesses said he would die..."

"B-b-but... There's a chance right?! I mean, we don't know a lot about humans! Maybe he could survive the fall!" Spike thought for a moment. the gryffin kingdom was about 1000 feet over the ocean. Even a full grown dragon would be lucky to survive that kind of fall.

"Y-yeah Rarity, I'm sure there's a chance..." He lied. Better to let her hope then just deny it outright.

"Y-yes, that means he might come back! He could stil be alive! He's going to be ok... everything is ok..." She slowed down her frantic rubbing and kissed the top of Spike's head. "Thank you Spikey... I'm going to go prepare something for Sharky's return." She put Spike down. "Now run along dear, I've work to do." She gave Spike a gentle push towards the door. He turned to look back at Rarity before he left. She was alredy busy grabbing different kinds of fabrics and such. He sighed and hung his head. At least she wasn't crying, he wasn't sure if he could handle that. He left the boutique. He still had more ponies to tell about Sharky's death.

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"Hi Applejack..." Spike said as he walked up to the barn. Applejack was carrying a barrel of apples.

"Well howdy Spike, Ah'd love ta talk, but Ah got work ta do thanks ta Shadow. What a hard workin' feller..."

"Actually Applejack, this is pretty important, can yo-- wait, how do the trees already have apples?"

"Oh, his magic stuff makes the apples grow faster an' more often too! We're gonna be raking in profit like never before!"

"Huh... that's cool... Listen Applejack... Sharky... is dead." Applejack stopped dead in her tracks.

"Ah beg your pardon?"

"Sharky is dead... He fell off the Gryffin Empire and straight into the ocean..."

"Oh my... That... that's mighty terrible..." She stopped to look at the house. "Shadow's gonna be awful sad..."

"You aren't?"

"Oh, Ah'm sad... Ah just... don't..." She sighed. "Look, Ah'm a tough mare. Ah don't like cryin' or bein' sad, so Ah'm not gonna be. Shadow though... he liked Sharky like his new brother... He's gonna be hurt real bad..."

"Well... I suppose I better go tell him..." Spike turned to walk to the house, but Applejack caught him with her hoof.

"Now hold on Sugarcube, he's just now gettin' some sleep. 'Sides, he... needs somepony ta break it to him gently... Ah'll tell him mahself..."

"Ok Applejack... If you say so..." Spike turned back away from Sweet Apple Acres. "I'm gonna go tell Pinkie now... bye Applejack..." He slowly trudged towards town.

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"Hi Spike! What are you doing here so late? Twilight's gonna be real mad you're staying up past your bedtime! Did you want a cupcake or something? Try coming back tomorrow afternoon, I would give you one now, but it's already so late, and the sugar wouldn't help you sleep at all! Like that one time I ate a whole cake all by my--" Pinkie gushed as Spike entered Sugarcube Corner.

"Pinkie! Calm down! I... I have something important to tell you about Sharky..."

"Oh yeah, I heard he left Ponyville! Did he find a better place or something?"

"Uhh... Yeah, I guess you could say that... Pinkie... He died..." Pinkie's eyes widened as her mane went flat and her coat darkened.

"W-what?! No! I still haven't even gotten to throw him a party yet! He was my..." She started counting hooves. "3rd newest friend! He can't just be gone!"

"I'm sorry Pinkie... he is gone..."

"No! He can't be! I'll... I'll... I'll find a way to make him not dead! That's what I'll do!" Before Spike could react, Pinkie ran out of the building at full speed. "You'll see!" She shouted behind herself. Spike sighed.

"Well... She took that well... Now I've only got to tell Stormy and Blaze... but... I'm so tired..." Spike yawned and decided to go back to the library. He'd had enough misery today anyway.

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So, this is death... The last thing I remembered was my nose touching the water, then nothing. Now, I felt surrounded by water. Not normal water, but something like really watery jell-o. I was floating in it. I tried reaching out my hands a few times, but I always made contact with some kind of barrier a few inches away from my body. God this is boring. I thought to myself. I still hadn't opened my eyes, for fear of the sight that awaited me. After all, it would be hard to go from the heaven of Equestria to the hell I was sure I was in.

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Fang traveled alone in the forest. He may be just a wolf, but he had enough sense to know what had happened. He was on a special trip. He was on his way to a large cliff he had discovered back before Fluttershy had met him. He only traveled there every once in awhile. It was sacred, and he didn't want to spend to much time there for fear of disturbing it. It was a long trip too, and the walk usually wasn't worth his time. The forest suddenly dispersed around him, and he was standing on a bare ledge overlooking a huge lake. Below him reflected in the water was a brilliant full moon. Above in the sky, the moon glowed at him, almost as if it were glowing for him. Fang sat down to look up at the moon. This was the place where he talked to the moon, asked it for things and gave thanks for what it brought him. The last time he had come here had been when he asked it to find him an owner. He remembered that day. It had been late fall, the end of adoption season for the most part. Almost all the other pets had been chosen and carried away. At the least, they got attention and love from visiting ponies. Not Fang. All ponies had been afraid to even approach him. He had come to the moon in pure sadness, honestly believeing that nopony would ever be able to love him. Then, not long after, the moon had given him Sharky. How happy he had been. The very next day he had gone and given many thanks to the moon. Now he was here again, and he howled his pain to the moon. It had tricked him. It gave him his owner only to cruelly rip him away again. He howled and howled out all the pain in his heart. He asked the moon a single question that night.

Why?