Friday, January 25th

*HAAAALLELUJAH*

"GAH!" I sprang up in the bed, knocking Twilight clear off the bed. She hit the ground rolling, which caused her to keep going and fall off the little ledge.

"Whoa!" *BAM* "Ow!"

"Oh, sorry Twilight! How'd I end up in this bed?"

*HAAAALLELUJAH*

"Oh, phone!" I grabbed my phone and hit the answer button. Luna's face filled the screen. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as she greeted me.

"Greetings Sharky! We... I trust thou hath slept well?"

"I was... Why you calling so early Luna?"

"We... I apologize, but there is an emergency."

"This early in the morning?" I looked out of the window. The sun hadn't even come up yet.

"Yes. There has been a dragon attack on a town know as Stalliongrad, in the far northern reaches of Equestria."

"... Stalliongrad... Is that a big city?"

"No, 'tis a relatively new town. Younger than even Ponyville."

"Huh... Not exactly the same then... Well... wait, you said dragon..."

"Yes, this is what we... I said..."

"You want me... to fight a... dragon..."

"If necessary. We... I would much prefer you negotiate a peaceful resolution."

"... You want me to negotiate... with a dragon..."

"Luna! That's insane! There's no way you can make Sharky do that!" Twilight had climbed back up onto the bed ledge.

"Hey, my job. I'll do it Luna. Sounds like it could be fun. Well, not fun persay... Just an event. I'll do it."

"Hey! You can't possibly fight a dragon!" Twilight argued.

"I'll sure as hell try! Now, let me say goodbye to Unity and grab my sword. Then I'll call you back for teleportation Luna."

"Yes... About that... Stalliongrad is outside the reach of typical transportation... thou shall have to ride a train for a full day before thou reaches Stalliongrad..."

"Whoa... so that means a two day trip without fighting time?"

"Unfortunately..."

"No! You can't just leave for us for two whole days!" Twilight wailed.

"Well, if it's for the good of Equestria, I'm in. I'll call you back in a minute Luna." I hung up without another word. I leapt off the bed and walked over to a gasping Twilight by the edge of the ledge. I knelt down and pulled her into a hug. "Looks like I'm gonna be gone for a while. Think you can handle Unity while I'm gone?"

"N-no... Don't leave me..."

"Sorry, you know I have to. Thanks for being a fantastic friend Twilight."

"W-why are you talking like you're leaving forever?!"

"Well, call me crazy, but even I don't think I can handle a full-grown dragon all alone. I'll sure try though!"

"S-so you're going to just go anyway?! T-that's c-crazy!"

"Like a fox. Wait, don't let him go! I don't wanna die!" I stood up and leapt off the small ledge.

"N-no! You j-just came back to life! I don't want you dead!"

"Then I'll try not to die." I went to Unity and bent over to kiss his forehead. He smiled and one of his ears flicked. I turned to walk towards the stairs.

"T-try?! Don't you trot away from me mister!"

"Who are you, my wife? I'm going to get my sword, then I'm leaving." Twilight froze at my word choice. By the time she was able to think again, I was already downstairs. She ran after me. I grabbed the Buster Sword from it's corner with my right hand and pulled out my phone with my left. Right then, a rush of energy slammed me into the wall, holding me there so that my chest and face were smooshed up against it. I acidentally released my phone in shock, and it ended up being pressed against the wall with me. Twilight's aura was surrounding me.

"No! I won't let you leave just to die again!"

"Phone, add Twilight Sparkle to my call list." A blue light shot from my phone from it's position against the wall. The light enveloped Twilight and she jumped back in shock, releasing me from her magic hold. The light disappeared suddenly and I caught my phone as my phone and I both fell from the wall. I quickly hit Luna's call button after my phone registered Twilight as a contact. "Hi Luna, no talk time crazed Twilight Sparkle, teleport please?" Luna's eyes widened.

"Immediately!" In a flash of black light, I was gone.

"Dang it! I let him get away again!!!" Twilight wailed.

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

I flashed into Luna's bedroom. The moon. Luna was sitting on her bed and I was standing next to the exit doors.

"So wait... You can teleport me directly from the planet to the moon, but you can't teleport me to northern Equestria?"

"Tis not as simple as thou thinks. We... I can teleport you to the moon because it is our element. The rest of the world is an entirely different matter."

"Well, why'd you bring me here? I thought I was on my way to Stalliongrad."

"Thou will be, we... I first must give thee travel fare..." She levitated me a small coin pouch. "This will cover the price for both train tickets. Now, when we... I send thou back, thou will arrive at a train station in the town closest to Stalliongrad as I can manage. Simply purchase a ticket to Stalliongrad, then ride there to deal with the dragon."

"Wow Luna, I really have to applaud your effort with the speaking." Luna blushed at my sudden compliment.

"Oh, doth thou truly think so? We... I have been trying tirelessly to master this speech... 'tis difficult to say the least."

"Well, it's really showing. You're doing much better just correcting yourself. Keep practicing and you'll be speaking like everypony else in no time at all!"

"I thank thou... Thine praise is most helpful in keeping our spirits high in this endeavor."

"Well, I'm glad to help. Anyway, I should get going now. I don't want to spend any more time away from Ponyville then I have to." Luna shook her head as if clearing her head.

"Right, I shall teleport thee immediately. Be safe, and good luck to thou."

"You got it boss!" In another flash, I was gone.

"... Oh no... I neglected to tell him the town because of his compliment! I do hope he doesn't find out on his own..."

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

I was standing on a wooden platform. There was a small ticket booth on the right, and benches aplenty lining up beside it in two neat little rows. The benches were nearly full of all kinds of ponies, mostly earth pony mares. They were all sleeping soundly, and the sun had not risen. The horizon was not even starting to brighten, so I could only assume that it was still very early. There was a light coming from the ticket booth however, so I walked over. There was a small glass window seperating me from the mare in the booth. She was a gray unicorn with a long black mane. I had to look down through the window to see her, because she had laid down and fallen asleep. Her head was propped up on her forelegs and she snored loudly. I gave the window a gentle knock. She jumped into position at the window. Her eyes were still closed, and she started to speak sleepily.

"Yes... This is the ticket sales... how may I zzzzzzzz... Huh? Help you?"

"Uh yes, I need one ticket to Stalliongrad please." The mare snorted.

"Nopony goes to Stalliongrad... There's a dragon..." She opened her eyes lazily, then they widened greatly and her sleepiness seemed to disappear instantly. "Oh my Celestia... It's you!" She shouted excitedly. A few of the mares nearby began to stir.

"Oh, no no no, stay calm! I'm not a big deal--"

"Are you kidding!? You gotta be the biggest thing in Equestria right now! You're the somepony everypony wants to know!" More of the sleeping ponies were beginning to wake. The mare's speaking volume was increasing and she seemed to be bouncing on her hooves.

"Shhhh! Look, I don't want to draw attention! I just need a ticket to Stalliongrad so I can get the dragon!"

"Ooooh! You're going to fight the dragon?! How heroic! Your marefriend must be so proud!" Now almost all of the ponies were waking up, and some of them were looking around sleepily. A few of their gazes locked onto me.

"You mean Rarity? Look, she isn't really my marefriend. Please, just give me the ticket!"

"Oh, of course! 50 bits please!" I reached into the small pouch Luna had given me and pulled out 5 silver bits. The mare levitated them out of my hand then levitated me a ticket. "Oh, not really your marefriend, huh? So, you're available?"

"Not to you! Well yeah, I guess you could say that. I'm human though, so it's not like anypony would really be interested in me though." The mare didn't seem to hear Steven. Either that, or she flat-out ignored him.

"Well, maybe I could prove you wr--"

"Hey! Is that the hero?!"

"You know, I'm beginning to wonder how everypony knows me, but only by 'hero', not my name..." I muttered to myself. I turned to the waking crowd. "I'm not a hero! Just somepony that does what anypony else would if they were me! Please, don't freak out!"

"Aww, so humble. It's very becoming of you hero..." The ticket counter mare said like she was sighing. Which was weird.

"He's so down-to-Equestria!" Another pony shouted.

"Oh son of a... You done it now dude."

"Holy Celestia! What's that thing?!" A stallion shouted. A bunch of surrounding ponies turned to him.

"That's the hero!"

"He's a Lunar Knight!"

"He beat an Ursa Minor all by himself!"

"I heard he can't die!"

"He spends his free time saving fillies' lives!"

"I heard he can outfly the Wonderbolts easy!"

"I heard that he's an angel!"

"Oh no... Things are getting out of hand... I'm not all that fantastic guys! I'm not an angel! Celestia, who even started that rumor?" I mumbled to myself. The crowd was starting to get up and slowly approach me.

"I want to meet him!"

"I want his autograph!"

"I wanna ask him a few questions about being a hero!"

"I want him!" Wait, what?

"I want to go a day without a mob... I want to live! Run you fool!" The ponies quickly surrounded me, leaving my back up against the ticket booth. "Uhh... you're all a little close don't you think?"

"I want clothes like that! Doesn't your marefriend make them for you?"

"Yeah! Tell us about your marefriend." For some reason, I found myself realizing just how many mares I was surrounded by. There were stallions too, but they seemed to be at the far edges of the small crowd, being more quiet than the mares.

"Uhh... Rarity? She really isn't my don't say it! marefriend. We're just good friends. The press messed that up... Oh god we're gonna die..." The mares seemed to tighten the circle around me.

"Really? No marefriend?"

"What a shame..."

"That means you're free right?"

"Somepony like you shouldn't have to be alone..."

"Uhhh... girls..." I had about one foot of clear space in any given direction. Even the ticket booth pony had come out of her booth and was slowly closing the gap on my right side. "What's going on?" Somehow my Buster Sword disappeared from my side. "Uhh... I need that!"

"Not right now you don't!"

"... Ok, I'm seriously freaking out now..."

"Oooh, is the big hero suddenly afraid of a few mares?"

"A few? No. A crowd showing surrounding behavior... I'm getting there..." The mares were so close I could feel the warmth from their bodies.

"Oh, lighten up... From what I hear, you work to hard anyway..."

"Yeah, you need to... relax..."

"Come on, maybe we can help..."

"Yeah, come on... if you like that..."

"Dear god we are going to die!... Yet I still find myself enjoying this. Uhh... Oh look at the time. I think I have to go..." I tried taking a step to my right, but I was halted by the mares. They refused to move.

"Where you goin' in such a hurry?"

"Yeah, you just got here..."

"Stay a while, here, with us..."

"Uhh... I feel very endangered right now... Somepony please tell me this is some kind of practical joke..."

"Oh, it's no joke hon. You belong to us for now..." Then I noticed a sign for the name of the platform. It had the name of the city I was in as well.

"This town is named Rutville? What on Equestria kinda name is that? Wait a minute... doesn't rut mean... Oh no... oh no...

"Oh yes..." One of the mares said darkly. Then they jumped at me.