"DEATH!" I yell as I burst into his chambers. "WHY DID YOU ALLOW RUPTOR TO DIE!" I march straight up to him and wait for him to respond. Instead he just stands there, sharpening his scythe.

SHINK

SHINK

SHINK

"Well!?" I yell as I take a step towards him. "Answer me!"

SHINK

SHINK

SHINK

"DEATH!"

"Do you think me a fool?" He asks calmly as he continues to run the stone down the length of his blade.

"I do now, why would you have him go just to..."

"Who am I War?"

".... Death."

"And why would Ruptor dying be a problem for me?" He asks as he checks the sharpness of his scythe with a finger.

"We need him for the herald of dragons. Without him we...."

"I'll ask you again, who am I?" He asks as he sets the scythe aside and looks to me.

"*sigh* forgive my intrusion." I say with a slight bow.

"It is alright. You think in the mortal scheme, the thoughts of a god would be far too complex for you comprehend. But I am merciful. Go now. I must meditate now." He says as he turns away from me and lays down, holding his bag close to himself as he retreats to his mind.

"If you don't mind, I have one last question." I ask as I step to his right.

"Very well."

"Why speak to the human? Why not just kill him and take the power? And don't give me that mortal thoughts crap. I'm over two thousand years old..."

"Age and mortality do not go hand in hand War, but I will humor you this time. He intrigues me. I haven't seen one likes him since... well, since my epiphany. But, that was a sad day that I do not wish to remember." He says as he reaches up and runs his fingers down his mask."Why speak to him you ask? He is far more precious to me alive then deceased; for now at least. Let him live in ignorance for the time being. One day my blessing will find him, find everyone. Time.... is on my side."

.................................................................................................................................................................................................

"But I don't want to go to bed, I'm not even tired." Shadow says as I escort her up to her room. The past days been a ton of fun for the three of us. We played almost all of the time, then went to her friends place to play some more, but I've nver felt so drained in all of my life. There were a few times when she started to get sad, but Butterscotch and I cheer her up almost immediately by either getting her to laugh or giving her a hug.

"Shadow, it's almost ten, you need to go to bed." I say as lovingly as possible.

"But..."

"Bed Shadow. We'll see you tomorrow morning OK." I say as she open the door to her room.

"Fine." She says as climbs into bed, need a bit of help to do so. "Can I..."

"If you drink another glass of water your bladder is going to explode..."

"No, if Miles comes home tonight can I get up to say hi?" She asks, puckering her lips as she gives her best puppy dog face. Oh no you don't. I saw that work on Butterscotch, I'm not falling for that one.

"Maybe. It depends on the time he gets here. Good night Shadow." I say as I tuck her in. She looks a little shocked that I didn't fall for it, better let Butterscotch know she got played.

"OK, good night Claire." She says as she look over to the door and puts a large smile on her face. "*gasp* can Puppy sleep with me!?"

"Uh.... I don't know..." I say as I look back to the wolf. I know Miles says its safe, but I can't help but be nervous about a full grown wolf sleeping in the same room as Shadow.

"Puppy! Wanna sleep with me?" She asks, getting him to run in and jump onto her bed. He immediately goes for the pillow and lays on it. "Hey! That's mine!" She says as she try to push him out if the way, only to roll onto his back. "NO, not belly rubs! I want my pillow back!" She begins to pull on the pillow, trying to get it out from under him. She stands up and begins to pull with all her might... "WHOA!" She yells as she fall back, empty hoofed.

"I don't think you're getting it back." I say with a chuckle. "Here I'll go get you one from the other room." I says before heading to the other bed room, finding Butterscotch laying face down on it. "What are you doing?" I ask her as I approach the bed, getting a long groan from her.

"I'M SO TIIIIIIIRRRRRED!" She whines into the pillow. "Why do foals drain all of the energy from me?"

"That's how they have so much energy, they drain it from older ponies." I say, getting her to look up to me and pout.

"I'm not old..."

"You're twenty five..."

"But... that's like the new eighteen." She says with hope.

"No, eighteen is eighteen and twenty five is twenty five. Now give me that pillow, the wolf took Shadows." I say as I bite onto it and yank it out from under her.

"Claire." She says softly, getting me to pause and look back to her. She sits up on the edge of the bed and looks around a bit before sighing and looking me in the eyes. "Being around Shadow has got me thinking... you know... about us having a foal..."

"Need a penis to do that." I say as I hold the pillow in my mouth.

"I know, but... maybe once we get the whole Terradisian thing down... maybe... adopt? Or just find a suitable stallion and get him drunk, something." She says as she holds onto her knees, looking away as she thinks to herself. I set the pillow down and take a seat beside her, leaning against her as she does the same.

"Sure. Not today obviously but... one day." I say as I wrap a hoof around her. We look to one another as we begin to drift closer and closer...

"PUPPY! GIVE! ME! MY! PILLOW!" Shadow yells down the hall, getting us to chuckle as we both get up.

"Let go diffuse that before getting to that." I say as I begin to walk out of the room, picking up the pillow along the way.

"Do you think Miles would get mad if.... if... do you feel that?" Butterscotch asks as we enter Shadows room, finding her on top of the wolf, trying to rock him off the pillow. I stop and stay still, feeling a slight tremble under my hooves grow.

"SHADOW! Under the bed now!" I yell as I run over and pick her up. We both slide under the bed as the shaking begins to grow more and more violent.

"Whats going on!?" Shadow asks as she latches onto me, burying her face in my neck.

"I don't..."

FOOOOOOSH

A loud roaring sound fills the room as a bright light shines through the window, brightening the room. I look over to Butterscotch as I try to shield Shadow from the light. She stares at the two of us for a moment before climbing out and running to the door.

.................................................................................................................................................................................................

I groan a bit as some loud noises from outside begin to wake me. I pull Twilight a bit closer and bury my face in her mane, trying to ignore the noise as much as possible.

"Storm.... can you go check on that?" Twilight asks.

"It can wit till morning." I say as I just lay there.

"Mmm.... ok..." She says as she turns around and wraps her hooves around me.

"Uh... guys?" Spike says from behind. "I think we're being invaded." Of course we are. With a low sigh I get out of bed and go over to the window. I take a long look out there before walking back to the bed and climbing back in behind Twilight.

"It's just a bunch of bots heading towards Miles' place... no big deal." I say as I let the warmth of the bed take me.

"Uh..."

"WHAT!" Twilight yells as she flashes out of bed. "What in Celestia is going on over there!" She yells as she opens up the window, letting a cold breeze come in.

"Its probably nothing. Lets just go back to sleep." I say as I pull the blankets close to myself. Why does it have to be so cold out this time of year?

"Storm! We need to see whats going on." Twilight says as she starts marching around the room.

"It can..." I begin but stop when Twilight levitates me out of bed and carries me down stairs. I just sigh as I cross my arms, this better be good. When we make it outside Twilight sets me down before taking off down the street. I contemplate going back to bed, but once Spike took off after her I decided to check it out anyway.

"Why are all of these bots coming here!?" Twilight asks as we gallop through town, along with most of the other residence.

"Probably because Miles sent them." I say as I run beside her. "Honestly, why are we over reacting to this?"

"What if they're here to take over? What if they start to enslave everypony and try to take over Equestria? Or the world? Or what if..."

"What if the milkmare came to town and gave every stallion a...."

"Storm!" Twilight snaps.

"What? I'm telling you, it's probably nothing." I say as we find a crowd at the edge of town. We pause and look to each other before pushing our way through. Most of the ponies move out of the way thanks to Spike, but once we make it to the front we get stopped by a few city guards.

"By order of Princess Celestia none are allowed to interact with these.... things." One guard yells over the crowd of murmuring ponies.

"See? Miles even cleared it with Celestia." I say as I look over to Twilight. "Can we go back to..."

"Sir." Twilight says as she steps forward. Buck me over sideways. "May I have permission to inspect these bots a little more closely?"

"Mrs. Sparkle, Celestia gave us very specific orders..."

"And I am her prized student. I will not interact with them..."

"Buck it, move." I say as I begin to walk forward, getting a guard to jump in my way.

"None shall pass..." He starts but stops when I punch him in the muzzle, making his nose bleed as he falls back.

"What are you going to do? Bleed on me?" I ask as I walk around him. "Don't worry, I'm from the same place as these things. They won't harm me." The other guards help the other pony up as they glare at me. Twilight looks between them and me before running after me, apologizing to them as she does.

"Storm! That was incredibly rude."

"Yeah, whatever. I'm not in the mood right now to play nicely with the guards. I'll go, figure out whats going on, then go back and apologize, OK?"

"... fine." When we get to Miles' house I immediately run towards the back where I see Butterscotch being held prisoner by a group of bot.

"HALT! YOU HAVE SIXTY SECONDS...."

"I am Lieutenant Storm Cloud of the Spartan regiment. I demand that you release her immediately!" I yell as I march straight up to the group of bots. They respond right away. Instead they just stare at me as they continue to hold Butterscotch by her mane.

"Uh... Storm. I don't think it worked." Twilight whispers to me as she eyes all of the bots.

"Storm." Miles voice says from out of no where. "You are one lucky son of a bitch."

"Uh..."

"No, they don't know who you are. I haven't added you guys to the core yet. They only listen to me. Now back up so I can land."

"Land?" I mutter as I look over to Twilight.

FOOOOSH

"What the buck is that?" I ask as a white craft flies above head, quickly followed by two more of the Aquilas. "Uh...."

"Miles... are you flying?" Twilight asks aloud.

"TWILIGHT!" We both look over to see Rainbow fly down from her home and lands before us. "Whats with all of the bots?"

"Rainbow Dash?" Miles asks through one of the bots. "Good, you're here. Tomorrow is Spartan Training. Show up at my place at sunset, you to Storm."

"Training.... is tomorrow?" Rainbow stutters as she looks around nervously.

.................................................................................................................................................................................................

I take a deep breath before banking back towards Ponyville... and shut off the engines.

"Aquilas..."

"In position."

"Do it." I say as I look out to the four Aquilas now following me. They mover all around me and extend their tethers, wrapping my jet up and stopping me from falling. I sigh in relief as they carry me to the back of my home, where I see the mass of bots waiting. I glance back to Ponyville and notice all of the ponies gathering around the edge of the park. This is going to be fun... maybe.... no, Luna would kill me if I did that.

The Aquilas take me over to my back yard and begin to set me down. I watch nervously as one side pitches down faster then the other. I'd really should have jumped out when I had the chance. At least there's only a few meters left....

CRASH

"SON OF A BITCH!" I yell as the left wing snaps off and drops the remainder of the way. The rest of the jet is set down gently, but that nothing to stop me from fuming about the broken wing.

"Miles!" I hear Butterscotch yell from somewhere. I look around and find her being held prisoner by a few bots. Once the tethers release me I open the cockpit and straight over to her, getting the bots to back off of her.

"Butterscotch, head back inside while I get everything here organized."

"But..."

"Scotch."

"*sigh* fine." She says as she gets up and walks back inside, rubbing her scalp all the way.

"Storm! Rainbow! Come over here real quick, you to Twilight." I yell over to them as I look around for Easy

"Miles, what the buck is going on?" Storm asks as they all race over to me.

"I've brought them all here to consolidate our forces and repair Topaz Falls. Hows the town reacting?" I ask as I look back to a group of guards walking towards us.

"Well.... not good." Twilight says as the group stops near us.

"Miles Eremita." The leader says.

"Yeah?"

"Princess Celestia has requested to speak with you tomorrow to discuss political matters. She will be here at noon..."

"Wait wait wait.... really? Political shit? Awesome. I'll be here then." I say as I shoot a smile to Storm.

"Yes... well be sure to keep your forces out of Ponyville or..."

"Don't worry. They wont go anywhere unless I tell them to." I tell him, getting a nod in response before they turn and walk away. "Awesome timing huh? I guess..."

"MILES!" Twilight yells as she starts to sweat. "Princess Celestia is coming to YOUR home to discuss POLITICAL matters!"

"Yeah.... and?" I ask as I look to the others for help.

"AND!?!?! We need to get cleaning! We need to get a banner welcoming her and to get rid all of the bots and..."

"Twilight!" I yell, getting her to pause. I stare at her for a second, seeing her eye twitch, before I chuckle a bit. "Don't worry about it..."

"But..."

"I know that her coming here to discuss 'political' matters is important. I'll be ready for her. Go home, go back to bed, and try to spend as much time with Storm as possible. Spartan training will start tomorrow at sunset, you will not be seeing him for a month, make the best of it." She looks over to Storm before nodding too me and stepping back, going to Storms side quietly. "Storm, before you go home can you run over to Big Macs and let him know as well."

"I'll do that. See you tomorrow Miles." He says before they both begin to walk to Sweet Apple Acres, leaving me with Rainbow Dash.

"Miles..." Rainbow starts as she kicks at the ground. "I... uh... well..."

"Having some second thoughts?" I ask as I motion to one of the bots to come over.

"Yeah. I asked my coltfriend about it, and he basically said yes no. He doesn't want me putting myself in danger, but he also believes that this would be good for me. Scootaloo thinks I'll turn into a super pony if I do it, so she's on board..."

"What about you?" I ask as the bot stops before me. I tell it too bring me Easy before looking back to her, seeing the troubled look on her face. With a sigh I take a knee before her and set my hand on her shoulder, getting her to look me in the eyes. "What I'm about to tell you is what I believe to be the honest truth. You should do this."

"But..."

"I can see it in you, you have what it takes to be a Spartan. Maybe even one of the best. I can tell that you're in a slump right now. Low self esteem, a facade of confidence, questioning you own cause, you need this. Yes, there will be danger, but one day you will look back and smile when you think about how far you've gone from doing his. The decision is yours to make. But whichever one you make, support it one hundred percent. Leave no room for doubt. Now go, I'll see you tomorrow at sunset."

"Thanks Miles... I'll put more thought into it... see ya." She says distantly before flying off for her home. I stand back up and watch her fly off for a bit. I sincerely hope she chooses to join.... and lives through training. She could do so much...

"MILES!" I look back to the house to see Shadow running straight for me, a large smile plastered on her face.

"Kiddo!" I yell back as I take a knee and catch her in a tight hug.

"You're back, I missed you." She says as I stand back up.

"I missed you to. Were you good for Butterscotch and E'Claire?"

"I..."

"She was a perfect angel." E'Claire says as she steps out with Butterscotch, nervously eyeing the bots. "We'll have to steal her again sometime soon."

"How about tomorrow night for a month?" I ask, getting them to look to me in bewilderment. "Spartan training is coming up tomorrow, so I wont be here for a month, I know I have no right to ask, but..."

"No Miles, I don't want you to go away for that long." Shadow says as she tightens her hold on me.

"We'd be more then willing to watch your daughter, as long as we can teleport back and forth so she can see her friends." Butterscotch says as E'Claire grows a massive smile.

"Dau.... yeah. Yeah that'll be fine. But that'll be tomorrow. I'll take over tonight." I say, making E'Claire pout a bit. "Its pretty late for you, lets get you back to bed." I tell Shadow as I begin to take her inside.

"I don't want you leaving again Miles." She says as we make our way in.

"I know you don't, and to be honest I don't want to leave you for that long. But this is something that I have to do." I say as I enter her room. I lay her back down and begin to tuck her back into bed. "But how about this. Get through this with some dignity and keep strong, and we'll do something special. Just the two of us. What do you say?"

".... only on one condition." She says as she starts to shy away from me.

"Name it."

"Can.... can I call you Dad?" She asks as she tightens the blankets in her hooves. I feel my heart skip a beat due to the suddenness of the question.

".... Dad?" I ask as I try to comprehend what she said.

"I know we've only known each other for a little bit... but... I don't know how to explain it. I see you and... I want you to be my daddy. If you don't want me that's OK but..."

"Shhh." I say as I stop her from continuing. I can see her eyes watering up as she begins to whimper. "There's something you need to know about me Shadow... something that's... not good."

"What?"

"I'm... dying." I tell her, making her expression soften. "One day my power will be too much for my body to control and... I'll burn up. Do you want a father who will not be around for much longer?" She stares at me for what feels like an eternity; thinking the entire time in complete silence. I shouldn't have said that.... its too much for a child to have to think about...

"Miles." She says as she sits up.

"Yeah Shadow?" She takes a deep breath before leaning forward and hugs me lightly.

"I love you Daddy." I can only smile as I hug her back. Daddy... I never thought I'd hear those words used for me before. I break the hug and begin to tuck her back into bed.

"I love you to Shadow." I say before kissing her forehead. "Sweet dreams corculum." I get up and walk away from her, glancing back as I shut the door slowly.

"So we have a daughter now?" Luna says from behind.

"Yeah... sorry Luna. I know I should have spoken to you... but..."

"It's alright Miles. I don't mind." She says as we hug one another, stifling a cry as we do. "I'm sorry. I thought.... maybe one day..."

"I know. I did to." I say as I stoke her mane. "But lets move past that now. I need to to find Night Fury for me. I remember her wanted to be a Spartan as well, we're going in tomorrow."

"I'll do that. Miles..."

"Yeah?"

"I still love you.... I always will." She says as she pulls back to look me in the eyes.

"YEAH ME TOO!" Shadow yells as she bursts through the door and latches onto my leg.

"Shadow, bed." I say as I pull Luna under a single arm and look down to her.

"But you just got back, can't I stay up a little bit? Come on, Princess?" She asks as she pouts a bit.

"Well..."

"It is fairly late." Luna says as she looks over to me, giving me a look.

"Yeah..."

"But... its Daddy." She says as she goes into cute mode.

"Well... OK. But only for a bit." I say, getting a squee from her.

"Oh lord." Luna mutters as we all make our way down stairs, Shadow leading the way.

"What?"

"I just realized something.... you can't say no to kids.... Shadows going to destroy the world."

"No I'm not!" Shadow says, sounding almost offended. We all share a small laugh as we take up the living room. I can say no to kids.... "Can we have popcorn?"

"..... well...."

"No Shadow, its too late." Luna says as we lay on the couch, everyone snuggling close to me.

"But... Dad." Shadow begs as she looks up to me and goes teary eyed.

"Uh... well...." oh shit.... I'm doomed.

Next Chapter: Chapter 147 My Miles Estimated time remaining: 51 Hours, 11 Minutes