"Celestia! How good to see you again!" Esmerelda said joyfully. "How have things been for you this past century?" The guards were all staring open mouthed at the talking friends.

"Oh, not as well as I'd hoped. The war really put a damper on thing for those years you were gone. To be honest, I was worried you had been one of the casualties!" I turned to the guards and started shooing them back to the castle.

"Oh, I was worried myself a few times! Luckily, nothing happened to me."

"What about your century nap? You told me it was coming soon before you left. How did you keep warriors from killing you in your sleep?"

"I simply found this cozy little cave far in the north! I guess nopony thought to look for me there." I managed to get the shocked guards to start slowly walking back to the castle, but they were still staring at the conversing girls.

"Well, I'm very glad to see you again Esmerelda! Though, if my memory serves, your nap should have ended... 10 years ago was it?"

"Ha, your memory's failing you old friend! It was 8 years ago." Celestia rolled her eyes.

"Always the stickler for details aren't you? I believe I was close enough. Well, if you woke 8 years ago, why haven't you visited until now?" I got the guards ponies to start trotting back to the castle. I started walking along with them. I decided to leave these two be and go call Twilight to tell her I would be coming back soon.

"I would've visited, but I was too afraid that the war was still going on! I figured it out eventually though!" I had ushered all the guards past the hedge maze and into the statue garden. Celestia and Esmerelda were out of earshot now, so they were able to somewhat clear their heads of some of the shock. They all trotted back the castle of their own accord. I nodded approvingly and pulled out my phone as I followed them into the castle. I hit Twilight's call button. Her face faded into view. She was sitting in a tiny bunk bed, reading a book. There was a window to the left, and an aisle that divided her bed from other beds on the other side of whatever room she was in. I didn't quite understand where she was until I saw a few trees rush by through the window.

"Hey Twilight, what are you doing on a train?" She lifted her head really quickly in suprise, causing herself to hit her horn on the bunk above her. She gasped and rubbed the top of her horn gingerly.

"Ow... Sharky? That thing needs to make a warning noise or something..."

"Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to startle you!" Twilight stopped rubbing her horn and waved a hoof dismissively.

"No no, it's nice that you called! Listen, I don't want you to go fight that dragon ok? Please?" She had apparently totally forgotten her book. She had a tone of desperation in her voice as she pleaded.

"Well, you're a little late Twilight. I already found the dragon!" Her eyes widened.

"You aren't calling because you think you're dying are you?! Ohhh! I told you not to fight the dragon! Wait, you haven't fought it yet have you?! Run away! Run away now!"

"Whoa whoa! Calm down! I already handled the problem." She gave me a look of confusion.

"What do you mean? You killed the dragon already? How?"

"Well, I didn't say anything about killing it..." Twilight's eyes widened again.

"Oh no! You didn't let it go did you? Sharky, dragons are ceaseless revenge-seekers! If you didn't kill it, it'll--"

"No! You won't let me explain jeez!" Twilight shut her mouth and looked at me intensely.

"I made friends with the dragon. Her name is Esmerelda. She was under control of a unicorn. I saved her." Twilight looked even more confused.

"... But a dragon can only be controlled if--"

"Yeah yeah, if the dragon lets them cast the spell. She was friends with the unicorn that tricked her into letting him enslave her."

"... So... you are now friends with a dragon... that you were supposed to kill."

"Yes." Twilight threw her forehooves up and rolled her eyes to look up.

"Of course! Of course you did! It doesn't make sense, therefore you did it!" She let her hooves fall to the matress and buried her face in her book.

"Okayyyy... anyway, why are you on a train?" Twilight lifted her head out of her book.

"Actually, why aren't you? The dragon problem is solved, so why aren't you on your way ba--" I walked past Starswirl the Bearded's statue in the garden. "You're in the royal gardens?! How?"

"Oh, Esmerelda flew me to Canterlot."

"What?! You flew into Canterlot on a dragon?! Sharky, are you insane!? The princesses--"

"Oh, she's friends with Celestia. We're not in any danger by being here." Twilight opened her mouth, then just closed it. She repeated this a few times, reminding me of a fish. Then she just let her head fall back into her book.

"Of course. Of couse. I shouldn't be suprised." Twilight mumbled into her book. Then she lifted her head and gave me an excited smile. "Wait, you're in Canterlot!"

"No shit genius. Yeah, you already said that..."

"This is perfect! Stay in Canterlot ok? I should be there soon!" I gave her a confused look this time.

"Why would you be in Canterlot?"

"I'm coming there to see Shining Armor! I should be there late tonight, then I can introduce you two!"

"Hey! That sounds like fun!" Twilight gave me a confused look before I could respond.

"Really Steven?"

"Ha! Fuck no! Oh Twilight! Don't talk to him! Also... if you're on a train to Canterlot, where is Unity?" Twilight facehoofed.

"Right, don't communicate with Steven. Don't worry, I wouldn't leave Unity all alone! He's with Fluttershy."

"Well then who's heating up his bottles?"

"Rarity."

"Well, you just have all the answers don't you?" Twilight smiled broadly.

"Eeyup! Planned this all out right after you called! Anyway, will you stay? I really want you to meet my brother!" I inhaled and was about to say no, but then she gave me the giant begging eyes. I sighed.

"Ok, fine. I'll stay."

"Oooh! Yay! Thank you Sharky!"

"Yeah... no problem I guess. Now, if you'll excuse me... I have to go find Luna."

"Ok! Bye Sharky!"

"Bye Twilight." I hung up. I passed the Discord statue, and it almost felt like his magic was trying to force me to copy it. I quikly jogged away. I jogged to the nearest guard. "Hey, where's Luna?"

"Uhh... Well, she usually spends most of her time in the flower gardens... Over there." He pointed a hoof towards a bunch of snow covered bushes.

"Thanks!" I turned and started heading in the direction he had indicated. After wandering aimlessly among the bushes, I found Luna sitting in the same place we had our speaking lessons in. Her horn was glowing, and she appeared to be very focused on tending to the turtle-shaped bush.

Guess that explains why she didn't rush in when Esmerelda flew down... I thought to myself. I had been wondering why Celestia had come running but Luna hadn't.

"Hi Luna! Doing some garden work?" Luna jumped with a start, then turned around to face me.

"Sharky? How art thou here?! We hath only recently alerted the trains!"

"Hey! Watch the 'we' Luna! I thought you learned better! Esmerelda flew me here." Luna's eyes widened.

"The dragon is here?! Sharky, Celestia will destroy her!"

"Nope. They're old friends apparently." Luna gave me a confused look.

"They are old friends? We were not aware of this..."

"Geez Luna! You're talking like you haven't learned anything!"

"Curses! Your unexpected apperance startled us to the point of losing our focus when attempting to speak correctly!"

"I'll say! It's a good thing I need to stay in Canterlot for awhile, because you need another lesson!" Luna laughed.

"Quite right, Mr. White!" Luna giggled at the title again. I groaned.

"Still can't take me seriously as a teacher huh? Ok, I guess I gotta be more stern! Then maybe you'll learn better."

"Oh, going to be firm with us now? Well then, let us begin Mr. White!" She tried to keep a straight face, I could tell she was trying. She still burst into giggles though. I clapped my hands together loudly, stopping her mid-laugh.

"Hey! Time to work, not giggle! Let's go!" Luna straightened herself up and gave me a mock salute.

"Yes sir!" We both tried to keep a straight face, but we both burst out laughing that time. Eventually, I managed to get Luna to calm down, and we dove into another lesson. I made sure to sit just far away enough that I wouldn't start absorbing her magic.

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"Good job today Luna! I think we covered a lot!" We had been working so long that Luna now had to leave to raise the moon.

"Don't be ridiculous... I feel I will never truly grasp this speech pattern..." Luna had been having some difficulty this time.

"C'mon Luna! You're already doing much better! Of course you'll get it!"

"I don't know Sharky... 'Tis very difficult to put forth so much effort..."

"Hey! No quitting on me now! I'm going to teach you to talk right! We're going to do this together Luna!" Luna looked at me from her position next to the turtle bush.

"Really? Doth thou truly mean to stick with us? I know I'm not a very good student..."

"Well, taking me a bit more seriously wouldn't kill you, but of course! You're a great student by the way. You put more effort into this than I think I ever did in school." Luna smiled warmly at me.

"Thank you Sharky... Thine words of encouragement mean much to us."

"Not a problem Luna! Now, you've got a moon to raise, and I've got a Twilight to find..." Luna nodded affirmatively and trotted off towards the castle. I pulled out my phone and called Twilight again. She was standing in the aisle of the train this time, and she had some saddlebags on. I guess she saw my face fade into view this time, because she smiled at me instead of freaking out.

"Sharky! Perfect timing! I'm leaving the train now! I trust you waited in Canterlot, right?"

"Eeyup! I'm on my way to the train station now! ... Where is it exactly?"

"Well... It's very close to the castle... As soon as I get off the train and greet Shining Armor, I'll send up a beam of light to help you find it ok?"

"Shining Armor is waiting for you at the train station? Creeper. How quaint. Well, I'll see you two soon!"

"See you soon Sharky!" I hung up and put my phone back in my pouch. Then I just wandered around aimlessly for awhile until I saw a beam of purple light shoot up from the edge of the city.

"Oh, that's my cue." I started jogging in the direction of the light. Soon enough, I encountered a wall that went all around Canterlot castle. I followed it until I reached a huge metal gate with two guards on both sides of it. "Hey guys! Can I pass?" One of the unicorn guards nodded to me. His horn glowed, then the gates slowly swung outward. "Thanks!" I passed through the gate and it pulled shut behind me. The purple light was gone, but I was pretty sure about the direction it had been. I started off down the street again, and it wasn't long before...

"Look! It's the hero!" I groaned.

"One day. One day without a mob. Is that too much to ask? Yeah, the hero! All of you can die in a firey inferno! Heh heh, this is fun." Ponies poured out into the streets as cries of 'the hero' resounded through the surrounding area. I tried to ignore them and keep walking.

"Hey hero! Do you remember me I--"

"Hi! It's nice to meet you! I was wondering if you'd be interested in--"

"What happened to your mane?"

"Caught on fucking fire. Now piss off."

"Are you here to fight that dragon?"

"No, she's my friend." I sighed.

"Where are you going, hero?"

"Can I get you autogr--"

"That's a cool sword! Can you show us--" The train platform came into view as I walked, a growing crowd trailing behind and around me. I moved past as many of them as I could, and there, waiting on the platform was Twilight. A broad grin crossed my face.

"Twilight!" I shouted over the crowd. They all went silent as they realized I was talking. "How are you?" She smiled back at me.

"Fantastic! You certainly do draw a crowd don't you?"

"Uhh... yes." I turned back to the crowd. "Do you all mind? I'm trying to spend some time with my friend."

"No! Go ahead!" One voice called from the back of the crowd. I frowned.

"I mean, leave. Please. Before I kill you all." All of them jumped slightly and ran off.

"Hey! You can't threaten the citizens like that!" I turned back to the platform, and standing next to Twilight was a large white stallion with a blue/light blue mane. He had a very solid-looking build and a shield with Twilight's sparkle in the shield as his cutie mark. I frowned at him. He was scowling at me and appeared to be ready to charge me.

"I didn't threaten anypony. I asked them to leave! I even said please!" He growled a little.

"Do you think I'm stupid?! You just threatened to kill them!" Twilight tapped his side with a hoof.

"Uhh... yeah, something about Sharky that I forgot to tell you Shining..."

"Oh! This is Shining Armor?" I walked over to him and extended a hand. "Nice to meet you! I'm Sharky White!" He spat on my hand. "Bitch you will regret that! Hey! What was that for?!"

"Oh! threatening me now too huh?! I don't shake hooves with those who threaten the ones they are meant to protect!"

"What? I didn't threaten you! I asked why you just spat on me! I didn't even threaten anypony! Twilight, what's going on here?"

"Shining! Listen to me!" Twilight pleaded.

"This thing is filth Twily! Why did you think so highly of him?!"

"Hey! No need to insult me! I was just trying to be friendly and shake hands! I will cut out your damn tounge for that!" Shining whinnied in anger.

"That's it! You're no hero! You're not worthy to be a knight! You certainly aren't worthy of Twily!"

"Wait, what?"

"Shining! You need to listen to me! He isn't bad, it--"

"You're going to defend him?! You heard him! He threatened to kill several times!"

"But Shining, he's--"

"No Twily!" His horn glowed and a wall of pink light appeared in front of Twilight. "This thing is a threat! He needs to be dealt with!" Shining crouched down into an attack stance. I looked at him for a second, then burst out laughing.

"Ahahaha! I'm not fighting you! Especially when you're unarmed! It wouldn't even be a fight! It'd be a slaughter!" Shining scoffed at me.

"Oh, so you'll threaten all day, but when somepony stands up to you, all of the sudden you're a chicken!" I narrowed my eyes.

"What did you just call me?"

"Oh no..." Twilight mumbled from behind her wall.

"You heard me! You're a coward! A chicken! Not even worthy to know Twily!" I pulled off my gloves and unsheathed my sword. I threw them all to the side.

"You know, I really hate hurting ponies, but you just asked for this. Yes! This will be so much fun!" Shining snorted once, steam curled from his nostrils.

"I'll destroy you villian!" He shouted as he charged me.

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Hiya! Well, made this one extra long... ish. Now, don't forget to visit my blog K? I'm making a bonus Q & A chapter, but I need you guys to ask questions to write it. You can ask any character(s) any question(s). Thank you for taking the time. I will be accepting questions from now until midnight 5/12/12 EST.