Chapter 1: I Can Do Anything, I'm the Mayor
One more requisition form and…done.
Mayor Mare looked up from the mountain of paperwork on her desk, toward the grandfather clock in the corner of her office.
I can’t believe it’s this late already…I need a vacation.
Just as the earthpony was about to call it quits for the evening, her assistant rushed in.
“Excuse me Mayor, Derpy just dropped this off. She said it’s from the hospital, and it’s very urgent!”
“It’s probably another request for more funding. I know the hospital is important, but I can’t spare-“
Color slowly drained from the mayor’s face as she read the letter. After giving her assistant strict instructions to leave for the night, she hurried to the hospital. Upon entering the lobby, she was approached by Doctor Stable.
“Good evening Mayor, I’m assuming you’re here because you have received my message?”
“Yes, I did. I’m not sure this is going to continue to be a good even given the circumstances…is there someplace in private we can talk?”
Doctor Stable escorted the city official to his office, where they sat in silence. Because of the severity of the situation, they were unsure of the precautions to take. Finally, the mayor broke the ice.
“Do we know who it is?”
“I can’t be certain, there wasn’t much left to examine. From our preliminary autopsy, I believe it may be Bon Bon.”
Mayor Mare ran her hooves through her mane. “Oh Celestia…have you told Lyra yet?”
“No, we usually retain news like this until we are one hundred percent sure we have properly identified the victim.”
“You’re right. It’s best to wait. Do we know what did this to her?”
“We have some ideas, but nothing concrete yet. She washed up a few-“
The physician was interrupted by the perplexed earthpony sitting in front of him.
“Wait…washed up? I don’t understand…”
“Two colts found the remains washed up on shore a few hours ago.”
“Washed up? So her murderer dumped her remains in the water?”
“No…from what we can tell, she was killed in the water.”
Mayor Mare asked for clarification.
“I’m not expert, but I believe Bon Bon was attacked and killed by a shark.”
To say the Mayor was dumbfounded would be an understatement.
“Shark attack? Here in Ponyville?! I find that very…difficult to believe doctor.”
“Look, I’m just giving you my professional opinion. I have spoken with colleagues who work at hospitals where this situation is common. I have described the remains, and they all agree that this was the work of a shark.”
“Ok doctor...let’s say Ponyville does have a shark problem, what in Celestia’s name do I do about it?”
“I’m not sure ma’am, I’m just a doctor.”
Taking a moment to assess the situation, the Mayor decided this situation could wait until morning.
“I’m going to call a town council meeting tomorrow and see if somepony else can shed some light on this scenario. I would like you as well, doctor. Perhaps you could explain things better than I can."
Doctor Stable promised he would attend the meeting. Feeling anxious and exhausted, Mayor Mare called it an evening. Before heading home, she made one last stop at her office. Pulling out a few pieces of stationary, she addressed a simple note to each member of the town council, asking them to meet with her tomorrow. On the last piece of paper, she addressed one last letter to the town librarian.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
There has been an emergency, and the council is going to meet tomorrow at ten. I would appreciate it if you could attend as well.
Sincearly,
Mayor Mare
PS- If possible, can you bring your friend Fluttershy? We may need her talents.
***
“Good morning everypony. I wish this meeting could be held under better circumstances.”
Mayor Mare turned to her council members, Filthy Rich and Mrs. Cake. Twilight Sparkle was also in attendance, per her request.
“What’s the problem Mayor? You said it was an emergency?”
“I was getting to that Twilight.” Taking a seat, the city official took off her glasses and wiped her eyes. “Somepony has been killed.”
The room fell silent as everypony in attendance mourned the death of the pony. After a moment, a solemn Mrs. Cake asked what happened.
“Do we need to worry about our family’s safety?”
“To be honest, I’m not quite sure. From Doctor Stable’s preliminary report, he believes it was a shark attack.”
The behavior of everypony in the room suddenly changed from silent and somber to confused and chaotic.
“What do you mean SHARK ATTACK? How the hell did that happen?”
Doctor Stable’s entrance interrupted the Mayor’s train of thought, thus preventing an answer to Filthy Rich’s question.
“Ah, perfect timing Doctor! Are we sure it was a shark?”
“Yes. After looking over the remains one last time, I am one hundred percent sure the cause of death was indeed a shark attack.”
Mrs. Caked asked if the body had been identified.
“Yes, my initial guess was accurate. The victim in question is Bon Bon.”
The pudgy bakery immediately placed her hooves on her face, eyes wide open with distress.
“NO! Oh Lyra’s going to be so upset…”
Twilight rose to her hooves, butting into the conversation.
“Excuse me Mayor, but this doesn’t make any sense. From my studies, sharks are oceanic creatures…we don’t live near the ocean. How is this possible?”
“That is a question I might be able to answer.”
Taking a map of Equestria off the wall, the elected official told everypony to gather around her desk.
“See how the ice from Caterlot melts and flows into this river here? The river passes around the edge of Ponyville, and eventually leads into the ocean. Could the shark have swim upstream toward Ponyville and attacked Bon Bon?”
The door to the Mayor’s office opened slowly, revealing a yellow pegasus.
“Ah, Fluttershy! Glad you could make it!”
“I’m so sorry for being late, I had some trouble rounding up all my animals for breakfast.” Fluttershy turned to Mayor Mare, looking slightly flustered. “I hope this isn’t about my lack of animal licenses, because I am working on it Mayor, I just-“
“No Fluttershy, it’s not about that. We need some animal advice.”
“OH! I’ll be glad to help! What animal did you have questions about?”
“Do you know anything about sharks?”
The freighted pegasus squeaked and took refuge behind Twilight Sparkle.
“I know they are very s-s-scary, and attack ponies sometimes.”
“Everypony knows that, we were hoping you could provide us with anything else? Perhaps a way to get rid of one…”
Twilight Sparkle explained the situation at hoof to the pegasi, who instantly started crying.
“OH poor Bon Bon! She was such a nice pony…what are we going to do?”
“If I may speak Madam Mayor, I have a suggestion.”
Everypony in the room turned to source of the voice.
“Go ahead, Mr. Rich.”
“Fillydelphia had a situation like this a few years back; it was a lot worse than ours. My sister told me the city brought in some pony named the Shark Fighter to take care of their problem.”
Mayor Mare began laughing at the stallion’s story.
“The Shark Fighter? Sounds like a horrible professional wrestler.”
“I know it sounds unorthodox, but he gets the job done. My sister said he walked right on in the water and dragged the beast out a few minutes later. I think we should look into giving this pony a chance.”
“Excuse me, but…I disagree!”
Fluttershy nervously stood up in front of the group, explaining that it wasn’t the sharks fault for the attacks.
“Like the Mayor said, he probably swam up here by mistake! He’s just a big fishy wishy after all!”
Filthy Rich proposed a new idea, once the pegasus finished speaking.
“We can always throw Fluttershy in the water, maybe she can politely ask him to leave.”
Twilight Sparkle immediately leapt to her hooves, defending her friend. The meeting spiralled out of control, everypony was at each other’s throats.
“EVERYPONY QUIET!!!”
The arguing stopped, and Mayor Mare had both hooves planted firmly on her desk. Allowing her frustrations to boil over, she demanded that everypony sit down and shut up.
“Look, we are all scared, confused and angry. I understand, but we can’t be fighting like this! I called you all here with hopes of coming up with ideas on how to resolve this situation.” She turned to Filthy Rich, “I will certainly take your suggestion under advisement, but for now, let’s look at some other ideas.”
***
“Isn’t the view from here breath taking?”
Miss Cheerilee looked into the eyes to the stallion that was holding her close.
“It’s not as purdy as you, Cheerilee”
“You know Big Mac, for a stallion who doesn’t say very much, you sure know when to say the right thing.”
The couple quietly nuzzled each other, losing themselves in the natural beauty that surrounded them.
“Big Mac, you’ve made me the-whoops!”
The mare’s sun hat was blown off her head and into the chilly water below. She rose to her hooves to retrieve it, but her very special somepony had different plans.
“It’s ah'right, ah’ don’t want yer mane to get ruined, on account of it gettin’ all wet.”
“Big Mac, you sure are a gentlecolt!”
Watching her boyfriend enter the water, Cheerilee felt a sense of pride. Knowing she had this handsome, loyal, and hardworking pony all to herself was a dream come true. Standing on the sandy soil, she watched Big Mac retrieve her hat.
Look at him…he is such a strong swimmer. Wait…why is he going underwater?
Big Mac submerged for a moment, only to break the surface, screaming for help.
“Cheerilee! Ah’ need-” before returning underwater.
Ready to provide assistance, the suddenly mare had an idea.
Big Mac is probably trying to get me into the water…that silly stallion. I’m not falling for his tricks.
Taking a few steps back, the mare sat on the beach. She wasn’t going to fall for his practical joke.
“Cheerilee, please! Ah’ need hel-“
The look of horror and anguish on the stallions face told Cheerilee that it wasn’t a joke after all. She ran to the edge of the water, where she brought her hooves up to her face. Her sun hat was brought to shore, by a wave of crimson water and mane.
***
“So we all agree that this is what we want?”
With the council nodding their heads in approval, the mayor called her assistant into the office.
“We have made our decision.” Pausing momentarily so notes could be taken, the city official finished her statement. “We want two pizzas, one extra cheese, one with daffodils and daisies.”
“Alright Mayor, I will drop this off at the pizzeria in a jiffy!” Before leaving, her assistant asked if they reached a solution for the shark problem.
“Oh that…no, we’re still working on it.” Closing the door behind her helper, the exhausted pony asked Twilight how her research on sharks was coming.
“Great! Did you know that sharks have rows and rows of teeth, so in case one breaks it can easily be replaced?”
“Well…no I-“
“And that some sharks sleep while they swim!”
“Twilight, when I said research, I meant-“
“And the weirdest thing I’ve researched…sharks poop-“
“TWILIGHT!” Mayor Mare snatched the book away from the unicorn and threw it across the room. “When I said ‘research’, I didn’t mean become a shark expert. Just find some sort of weakness or something.”
Before a rebuttal could be heard, the entire room’s attention was drawn to blood curdling screams outside. Fluttershy flew over to the window, carefully peaking through the blinds to find the cause of the horrible shrieking.
“It’s Cheerilee…she looks very upset for some reason.”
Mayor Mare walked over to the window and took a look for herself.
“I can’t believe it…why is she screaming bloody murder in the center of town?”
“Actually Mayor, I think she’s screaming ‘HE’S DEAD, HE’S DEAD!”
“…thank you for clearing that up, Twilight”
The Mayor asked if everypony in the room would mind if she called a brief recess. The room agreed. They spilled out onto the street, fighting their way through the crowd that gathered around the magenta mare. Twilight Sparkle carefully approached her friend.
“Cheerliee…are you ok?”
The distraught mare tackled Twilight, standing over her with bloodshot eyes. She continued to scream nonsense words while the terrified unicorn covered her face.
“HE’S GONE! HE’S GONE AND IT’S ALL MY FAULT! I DID NOTH-“
Cheerilee suddenly collasped. Twilight moved her hooves, to see Doctor Stable standing over the downed mare, a syringe in his hoof.
“Well…that was interesting, my staff and I will take care of it from here.”
“What was wrong with her Doctor?”
“If I had to guess, she had a breakdown of some sort. She should be fine in an hour or so, why don’t you swing by the hospital then?”
***
Twilight, Fluttershy and the mayor arrived at the hospital a few hours later. After receiving permission, the three mares entered Cheerilee’s room. To their surprise, she wasn’t living up to her name. While the magenta mare was calm, she seemed very depressed and distant.
“Hello Cheerilee, feeling better?”
Choosing to ignore Twilight, she faced the curtain next to her, crossing forehooves.Fluttershy attempted to speak to the distraught mare, but the results were the same. Having enough of her childlike behavior, Mayor Mare told Cheerilee to snap out of it.
“Snap out of it?” Cheerilee shot daggers at her fellow earthpony. “How would you feel if the pony you loved more than life itself was killed in front of you, and the very last thing he saw was your face laughing at him?”
Breaking down in tears once again, she demanded that her visitors leave. Once the three ponies where in the hallway, Mayor Mare took off her glasses, took a seat and began to rub her face with her hooves.
“Twilight, Fluttershy…I’m sorry for acting like that. I have no idea what I am doing with this shark situation. What am I supposed to do?”
Twilight suggested taking Filthy Rich’s advice. “It’s the only real idea that we have.”
“Fluttershy, what do you think we should do?”
“Well Mayor, I don’t like the idea of somepony killing a poor creature…but at the same time, I don’t want to lose any more friends or little creatures. Maybe it’s the best option.”
Taking a deep breath, the mayor stood up and excused herself.
“I have a shark killer to hire.”
Chapter 2: That's Some Bad Hat, Applejack
“Excuse me sir? We will be arriving in Ponyville shortly.”
The aquamarine stallion stirred in his seat as he slowly woke up. He thanked the conductor for the update, climbed to his hooves and placed his saddle bags securely on his body. Arriving at the station, he received directions to Ponyville city hall.
“Hello!” The mayor's cheery assistant welcomed him into the building. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
Pointing at the pair of double doors behind the aide, he asked if that room was the mayor’s office.
“Yes, do you have an appointment?”
The stallion shook his head. He walked up to the doors, stood on his hind legs and forcefully pushed the doors open. Locking the door behind him, he took a seat, and placed his back hooves on the mayor’s desk. After a few moments of awkward silence, Mayor Mare spoke up.
“Hello…have we met?”
“Nope.”
“…can I help you?”
“Probably not…you’re the one who approached me to take care of your shark problem.”
“OH! You’re the Shark Fighter! I’m so glad you came!”
She extended her hoof, but the stallion just stared at her with his front legs crossed.
“I see.”The mayor quickly pulled her hoof away. “I have spoken with a lot of city officials from places you’ve worked before. They say you get the job done, but you have a bit of a…attitude problem.”
Leaning back in the chair, he laughed at the mayor’s accusation.
“It’s not that I have an attitude problem…I have a problem with ponies like you.”
“Ponies like me? “
“Yeah, politicians. You claim to care about your constituents, but in reality…you don’t. The only thing that matters to you is their support, and you don’t care how you get it. You’d sell your soul for another term.”
Mayor Mare assured the stranger this time would be different.
“You’ll have my full support in anything you want to do. I just want that thing gone.”
The Shark Fighter nodded attentively, but deep down, he knew she was like all the others.
I give her a day before she stabs me in the back.
“Anyway, what can you tell me about the attacks that have happened?”
“So far we’ve had two. The first was on a mare named Bon Bon. Some colts found her remains washed up on shore about three days ago. The next day, Big Mac, one of our stallions was killed. Unfortunately, his girlfriend watched the whole thing.”
Closing his eyes for a moment, the stallion hung his head. He felt horrible for the poor mare.
“First thing I want to do is speak with her. See if she can tell me anything about the incident. Second, I want to see any remains you still have in your possession. By looking at the marks the teeth made, I can narrow down the exact species of shark we are dealing with. Third, I want to see the location where the attacks have been happening. If I can get that done today, I will have a plan for getting rid of the shark first thing tomorrow.”
The mayor would agree to his terms, as long as he did one thing for her.
“With all due respect mayor, I thought you said you’d give me your full support?”
“I did…if you do one thing for me.”
“Ok, I’ll bite. What’s the one thing you want from me?”
Before the mayor could speak, her assistant called her over the intercom.
“I have Twilight and Fluttershy here for you.”
“Great! Send them in!”
A lavender unicorn and a yellow pegasus walked in and sat next to the stallion.
“Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy, I would like you to meet the Shark Fighter.”
Both mares extended their hooves, but once again, the stallion refused to shake. He simply nodded, which irritated Twilight.
“You know, if somepony offers you their hoof, it’s polite to shake it.”
“So mayor,” the stallion chose to ignore the unicorn. “What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to work alongside Twilight and Fluttershy.”
“Thank you, but your town is on its own. I work alone.”
As Mayor Mare watched her towns only hope open her office door with every intention of leaving, she knew what she had to do.
“Fine, leave because I ask you to work in a team. But be warned, if anypony else is killed by this shark, I will publicly hold you responsible.”
“You wouldn’t dare…”
Leaning back in her chair with her forehooves crossed, the mayor simply grinned at the stallion. He angrily slammed the door and walked over to his new teammates.
“If we’re going to be working together, make yourselves useful and take me to the hospital.”
***
“Excuse me, Cheerilee?”
The magenta mare glanced toward her open door to see a stallion she didn’t recognize.
“Hello, you can call me the Shark Fighter. I’m here to personally take care of the creature that took your boyfriend away, but in order to that, I’m going to need you to answer some questions.”
Cheerilee nodded, so Shark Fighter pulled up a chair alongside the bed.
“What do you remember from that day?”
“I remember my hat blew into the water, and being a perfect gentlecolt, he offered to get it for me. I watched him go into the water…”
Losing control of her emotions, she began to cry. Shark Fighter held her hoof.
“You’re doing a fantastic job. You’ve been through a terrible ordeal, and anypony in your horseshoes would be doing the same thing.” Gently stroking her hoof, he asked if there was anything else she remembered.
“The look on his face will haunt me for the rest of my life. When he first started going under, I thought it was a joke. I just watched him go below the surface, and pop up later…it was actually amusing at first. But right before he went under for good, the look in his eyes…he was in so much pain!”
She leaned forward into the stallion’s front legs, sobbing into his shoulder.
“Am I a horrible pony?”
“Cheerilee, why in Equestria would you ask such a thing?”
“I watched my boyfriend suffer! I could have swam out there and pulled him to safety! He would have at least died in my hooves!”
Pushing the mare far enough away so she could look into his eyes, Shark Fighter did his best to console her.
“Look, I want you to know that you had no idea this would happen. Ponyville has never had a shark problem, so it’s completely understandable that you though he was playing around. And I hate to say this…but if you went in after him, you’d probably be gone too.”
Wiping her eyes, Cheerilee admitted that thought had come to mind.
“But, I feel so guilty I’m alive and he’s not! What am I supposed to do, I feel so alone...”
“In my experience, I think Big Mac would want you to live your life. Go to work, take a walk, do whatever it is you like doing! As long as Big Mac is in here…” the stallion pointed to her head. “..and here…” He moved his hoof from her head to her chest. “…he will always be with you.”
For the first time that day, the magenta earthpony smiled. She had no idea who this pony was or why he cared about her, but she appreciated his help.
“I think I’m ready to leave…can you find a doctor for me?”
***
“Look, you girls wanted to tag along. That means you follow me where I go, and right now, we are going to the morgue.”
“Um…to be fair…the mayor made us come with you. I would have been perfectly happy with my animals back home.”
Fluttershy refused to exit the elevator. She knew what a morgue was, and she wasn’t very eager to see what it looked like on the inside. Twilight Sparkle was doing her best to coax her friend to follow her.
“Come on Fluttershy! It will be like those anatomy books I lent you a few weeks ago! They are just ponies!”
Once inside, Shark Fighter opened the drawer containing Bon Bon.
“Wow…that’s one big fish out there…”
Twilight’s curiosity got the better of her, so she asked how he knew that, just by looking at the remains.
“Well for one thing, there is hardly anything left.” He motioned for the lavender unicorn to join him at the table, but she declined. “If you’re going to keep asking questions, you’re going to do it over here.”
“I would, but Fluttershy is having a difficult time in here…”
Shark Fighter picked up on of Bon Bon’s legs and turned toward the mares standing next to the door.
“Really? Maybe I can lend her a hoof?”
Fluttershy promptly fainted, which caused the stallion to laugh heartily.
“Hey!” A furious Twilight walked over to the stallion. “Fluttershy did nothing to you, why in Equestria would you do that to her?!”
Shark Fighter shrugged. “It seemed like a good idea at the time. Since you’re here, take a look.”
“Well, that was mean! She is very sensitive.”
“You’re right, it was mean. As soon as she comes to, I’ll apologize. Better?”
The unicorn nodded as she moved closer to the table. “How long will it take you to figure out what kind of shark this is?”
“Oh, I figured it about five minutes ago.”
“I don’t believe you! There are so many types of sharks in Equestria, what makes you think you can identify the shark, just by looking at bite marks?”
“I’ve been doing this a while, you can chalk it up to experience.”
“Well, I’ve been reading about sharks for the past three days. Can I try and figure it out?”
Shark Fighter backed away from the table. Twilight examined the pieces laid that were laid out, but excepted defeat after a few moments.
“Would you like me to help you?”
Twilight nodded, so the stallion returned to the table.
“What can you tell me about this wound here?”
“It’s looks different than most pictures I’ve seen. It looks rather…clean.”
“Exactly. This wound tells me that this particular shark doesn’t have jagged teeth. It’s almost like this piece was sawed off, rather than ripped off.”
“Yeah, I can see that!” The unicorn answered excitedly, but began to feel guilty. “So what do you think? Is it a great white?”
Shark Fighter scoffed at the idea of a great white being the perpetrator.
“What is this, a badly written science fiction movie? I have it narrowed down to two species, neither of them are great whites. I need to see the location of the attacks before I make my final assumption.”
“Ok, Fluttershy and I will take you there…as soon as she wakes up.”
***
“Alright, let me make myself clear. I DO NOT want either of you following me into the water. Do you understand?”
Both mares nodded, but Shark Fighter wasn’t convinced.
“Repeat after me, ‘I will not go into the water.’”
Twilight rolled her eyes, repeating the stubborn stallion, with a monotonous voice. Fluttershy squeaked along.
The stallion unsheathed his knife and placed it in his mouth.
“Wait! Um…what happens if the shark comes? What do you want us to do?”
Taking the knife out of his mouth, he told Fluttershy to do nothing.
“I’ll take care of it.”
“What do you plan on doing?”
“Step 1: Stab shark. Step 2: Repeat step one if necessary.”
Before anymore silly questions could be asked, he dove into the water and started examining the area.
Water is pretty cold…a lot colder than I anticipated. I am also seeing a lack lot of fish and other sea creatures around. Not many sharks would stick around here for long.
After a few minutes of exploring below the surface, Shark Fighter exited the water. He purposely shook the excess water from his mane near Twilight and Fluttershy, getting them wet much to their dismay.
“Well, I’ve got good news. The water is pretty cold, and I didn’t see a lot of food in this area. I think it may be long gone by now. As long as you-“
“WHERE ARE YA, YA COWARD?”
The stallion turned around to see an orange earthpony run into the, screaming at the top of her lungs. He turned to the mares beside him.
“Who…who is that?”
“That’s our friend…Applejack.”
“What is she doing in the water?”
“Her brother, Big Mac was killed by the shark. She has been coming out here everyday since he died. She comes out, screams at the shark and goes home.”
“Haven’t you told her it’s dangerous to be doing things like that? Splashing around and noise attract sharks you know.”
“Well…we thought about it. But she is so close to shore, we figured it was ok.
Shark Fighter shook his head as he explained that most attacks happen three feet of water. Sensing the concern in the stallions voice, Twilight asked why he cared so much.
“She’s…she’s…”
A small smirk grew upon Twilight’s face.
“She’s what, Shark Fighter?”
Before he could answer, he noticed a dorsal fin rise above the surface. The orange mare was so upset, she failed to see it.
“She’s about to become fish food!”
Shark Fighter ran as fast as he could, hoping to reach the mare in time. Once he reached her, the stallion wrapped his hooves around her mid section and pulled her out of the way before the shark could attack.
“WHAT IN THE WORLD DO YA’LL THINK YOU DOING?”
Her rescuer was unable to respond. At that exact moment, he saw the horrid beast.
For the love of Celestia…
Shark Fighter helped the orange mare to shore, but to his surprise, she wasn’t happy to see him.
“What in tarnation did ya do that fer?”
“You were about to become victim number three. I just saved your flank.” The orange pony continued to glare at him. “You know, when somepony saves a life, they are usually rewarded with a thank you at least.”
Applejack thanked him with a slap across the face.
“Ah’ don’t recall askin’ to be saved. I could have handled ma’self”
“If you think you could have taken that shark on your own…darlin’, you are a lot dumber than your accent lets on.”
The distraught pony ran away with tears in her eyes. Twilight informed the stallion he didn’t have to be so harsh.
“We have a lot more to deal with right now, than your friends petty problems.” He sat up and looked out toward the water. “I know what kind of shark we have out there.”
***
“Are you sure it’s ok if I stay at your house Fluttershy? I can always stay at a hotel…”
“Oh…well…normally that would be ok. Except Ponyville doesn’t have a hotel…”
“In that case…thank you for letting me stay here. Do you need help with anything?”
The yellow pegasus mentioned she could use some help feeding her animals.
“I would really appreciate your help! Four hooves are better than two, so we should get it down a lot faster!”
“Exactly how many animals do you…”
Fluttershy opened her front door, and the stallions jaw dropped.
“…have?”
“Well, I have a lot as you can see. Most of these critters were hurt, or sick at one point. I nursed them back to health…and they decided to stay I guess.”
The two ponies continued to talk as they fed her animals. Shark Fighter apologized for his prank earlier that day, and she graciously forgave him.
“Thanks Fluttershy.” He said, giving the yellow mare a hug. “So…how many animals do we have left?”
“We just have the otter and the seal left…”
The word otter was enough to form a smile on the stallions face.
“You have an otter!?”
“Yes I do, is there something wrong with that?
“No, I just love otters to death!”
Walking him down to small pond by her house, Fluttershy introduced her house guest to her otter friend. Shark Fighter fell in love immediately.
“Look at him, he’s so adorable!”
Watching the stallion play with the creature confused the yellow pegasus.
“I thought you hated animals?”
“What?” He stopped playing with his new friend long enough to ask why she would think that.
“Well, you kill sharks for a living…I figured you didn’t like animals…”
“Oh, I see. Well, believe it or not, I am…was a marine biologist. I spent my days studying marine mammals like this little guy here.”
“Oh, that sounds nice! Why do you kill sharks then?”
Shark Fighter hung his head, starting to grow uncomfortable with Fluttershy.
“I’m sorry, I can’t tell you. It’s kind of personal…I don’t talk about it with anypony.”
Placing the otter back in the pond, he excused himself, heading back to the house. He sat on the couch and began formulating his proposal for the mayor tomorrow.
“I’m sorry if I upset you…I was just trying to get to know you a little better…”
“Look, I like you Fluttershy, but it isn’t a good idea if we become friends.”
The mare suddenly looked upset. She asked if it was something she did.
“No, you have been a great helper and a wonderful host. I try to stay away from friends because of my line of work. If I
happen to die during a fight, I don’t want to leave somepony behind, crying over me. “
Fluttershy nodded, but the stallion could see she didn’t understand entirely.
“So…um, Shark Fighter…you said you saw the shark earlier?”
“Yes, I did. We are in for a rough couple days…I guarantee it.”
“Why?”
“I’ll explain at the meeting tomorrow” he sighed. “I’m gonna need a bigger knife.”
