*poke*

"MMmmm....."

*poke*

"Nnnggghh....."

"Psst... Miles. Wake up." I whisper to him. He mumbles something then turns around on the couch. Hmm... there needs to be someway of waking him up.

THUD

"EEP!" I jump behind Miles to hide from the loud noise from behind. Miles wakes up from the noise as well, but keeps quiet as it continues.

"Soarin, be careful." Rainbow Dash says with a chuckle from the stairs. Miles looks back for a second before snapping back to me. When the giggling gets louder I try to sneak a peek, only to have Miles stop me.

"What is it?" I whisper to him.

"Uh..."

"Sooooaarin. I have work later." Rainbow moans.

"Come on, it's my last day here. Just call in sick or something." Soarin says as I hear some fumbling around. Miles looks pretty upset about all of this, but keeps quiet. They giggle some more before finally leaving, making promises of getting... some? Some what?

"Well... that was awkward." Miles says with a huff.

"Um... Miles?"

"Whats up kid." He ask as he lays on his back and stretches a bit.

"Well... remember when you said we'd spend the day together?" I ask as I look away from him.

"Um.... yeah. Why?"

"Well... c-can it be today?" He stands up and stretches a bit more before turning back to me and smiling.

"Why are you so nervous? Of course it will be today..."

"REALLY!?" I ask as I hop to my hooves.

"Really really."

"Yes!"

"Lets start out with a quick shower and then we'll get going. Oh! And we'll have to do a chore but we cab do it on the go. OK?"

"Well.... OK. As long as its just the two of us it's fine." I say with a nervous smile. He smiles back to me before heading upstairs to shower. Once he's upstairs I run to the kitchen and begin making breakfast. I run between the stove and the fridge as I try to find all of the stuff I need to make some crepes and toast. He likes pancakes, why wouldn't he like crepes.

By the time I finish setting the food on the table Miles makes it back down. He steps inside, stares at the counter, then takes his seat. I glance back to the counter and.... it's not THAT messy. I take my seat and begin to eat as Miles sits there quietly, staring down at the food before him.

"Is... is everything OK?" I ask as I set my fork down.

"... yeah." He says as he takes the toast and bites into it. "Hay toast?"

"Yeah..."

"What's in the crepes?"

"... hay." He mumble something under his breath as he takes a drink form his glass. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, it's not a problem. I'm just not a fan of hay, but it's alright. Eat up and we'll get going alright. I'll just get something edible from the fridge." He says as he stands up and goes to the fridge.

"Sorry..."

"It's alright. You didn't know." He says as he digs through the fridge. "You know, we've become pretty close. But I still feel as if I don't know you. So lets use today to learn everything we can about each other ok?" He says as he walks over with some carrots and apples.

"Ok, what do you want to know?"

"Well... whens your birthday?"

"February twenty ninth."

"No way! Me to!" He says, making me smile. "That would make you eight then, right?"

"Y-yeah.... I'm... just small for my age..."

"Well, that's probably due to malnourishment from working the mines. OK, your turn. Ask away." Hmm... I think I'll start with something easy.

"What's your favorite color?"

"Green."

"Huh, mines blue. Your turn."

"Alright... hmm... what are your interest? What do you like to do for fun?"

"Fun?"

"Yeah, what do you do that makes you smile?"

"Uh... well... double chocolate chip cookies make me smile...."

"No, that's a food that you like. What... activities do you like?" Hmm... I can't really pick one. Before it was always me and Lantern Light working, we never really did much of anything else.

"I... I don't know. I never had time for... activities. It used to be just me and my sister working all of the time..."

"There has to be something. Wasn't there ever a moment where you had a day off and did something? What about during your free time? What did you do then?"

"Well, we rested. Working the mines was hard work, so Light made sure that I got my rest." I say as I start to tear up. Miles moves off his chair and kneels beside me as he wraps me up in a hug. I hold him back as I try to hold back my tears.

"It's alright. I understand. When I was a child, your age actually, I didn't have the luxuries of life either. I know what its like to fend for yourself, but it's OK now. I'm here, and I'll take care of you. I promise." He says quietly. I just hold him tighter as I feel a single tear roll down my face. When we let go of each other I have to wipe my face clear of all my tears. I swear I've become such a cry baby now.

"So... uh... where are you from?" I ask to change the subject.

"Heh, finish up and you'll see."

I don't really know where we're going, but I feel... kind of excited. I tried to bug him about it, but he would just say its going to be a surprise. I hate surprises... so I eat as quickly as possible. Once I finish I put my plate in the sink and run back to Miles, practically bouncing in anticipation. We walk out to the back yard and head to his shed. Like the old pony he is, he walks as casually as possible. I don't think I'll ever get why you move slower just because you're old. I have so much energy right now I could explode! Then again, I've gone so long without working.

"What are we doing in here?" I ask as we land inside. He sets me down and goes to a locker in the back, leaving me to explore the room.

"I just need to grab a bag, just hang tight real quick." Miles says from inside as I begin to wonder around. There's a massive white metal thing taking up the middle of the room. It looks like there's a glass dome on top of it, but I can't get a good enough view. Whatever....

"Why is there a giant egg in here?" I ask as I walk towards it. It's... well... it's a giant white egg Just sitting there, in the corner of his shop.... did a dinosaur lay an egg here?

"That's a simulation pod. Um... it basically... well... hmm... it's like sitting in a dream. Only, the dream is a course for the jet. It's to help you learn how to use the jet properly." Miles says as he walks up behind me.

"Can I use it?" I ask as I look up to him.

"Heh, maybe when you're older. Follow me and stay close." He says as he heads to the mico platform in the back corner.

"Where does this go?" I ask nervously as I approach its edge.

"My home town. Topaz Falls. Look, the place has been under a lot of construction, so I want you to stick as close to me as possible. Do not go wandering off and try not to touch anything that's blinking. Got it?"

"Um... OK. Are there a lot of people like you there?"

"...no. Lets go." He says bitterly before stepping onto the platform. After he flashes away I take a few deep breaths before following him. I use the one to Moms place all the time, but they still freak me out.

FLASH

I shake my head a bit before running to Miles side. Why did we teleport to a tunnel? Did Miles' people live underground? That's... odd. We walk to an open metal doorway guarded by two people with big black shields. They stand like statues as we pass through the door way, their yellow eyes never even glancing towards me.

"Welcome to Topaz Falls." I look out and gawk at the city before me. Massive stone buildings loom over the paved street as metal men move about, taking stone from one pile to another. The further back I look, the taller the buildings get until one gigantic skyscraper takes over. Most of the buildings are missing the glass to their windows while others have holes blown through them, signs of something bad happening.

"What happened here?" I ask as we start to walk down the street. Many of the metal people stop and glance at us for a few seconds before getting back to work.

"My home was... abandoned a long time ago. We were attacked and... well...."

"How did you escape?"

"A device a man made sent me into the future. I was actually born over three thousand years ago."

"Wow... did all of these people get sent to the future as well?"

"They aren't people, they're bots. Machines we made to help with day to day life. And no, they didn't. I found them in another human city and brought them here to repair this city."

"Are there more cities out there?"

"Yeah. There are. The next one I'm going to is Jasper. According to my calculations it's right underneath Trottingham..."

"When you go, will you bring all of these bots with you? To keep you safe?"

"Heh, what? You think I can't keep myself safe?" He jokes. I just glare at him until he puts his serious face back on. "No, I'm not."

"But..."

"If there were people there, bring any number of infected bots could be disastrous. Also... well... I'm keeping them here for the future." He says as he quickens his pace a bit.

"What does that mean?" I ask as I quicken my pace as well.

"Well..." he says as as he comes to a stop. "Look, what I'm about to tell you needs to stay between the two of us OK? No one can know."

"OK!" I say as I nod my head vigorously. Not like there are a lot of ponies I could tell anyway. He takes a knee and puts a hand on my shoulder as he glances around.

"Well... there's a fight coming, a big one. Terradisia isn't big enough on its own to fight, that is, if we were to not use the bots. If this supposed fight were to break out, I'd want a trick or two up my sleeves. These bots can hold their own in a fight. If, and this is a big if; if things were to get really bad, I'd use them to win."

"A fight? Who wants to fight you?"

"Don't worry about it. There are a lot of good people working together to stop them. Celestia, Regina, Me, we're going to stop them before anything bad could happen. I just... want a back up plan in case." I look back to all the working bots before nodding to Miles. It doesn't really make sense to me, but I trust him to make the right choice...

"May I have your autograph?"

"AAAH!" I yell as I jump up and latch onto Miles. Behind me one of the machine people just suddenly appeared and SPOKE!

"Easy, glad you're here. I need you and one other utility bot to assist me with something I've been meaning to do for awhile now. Take us to the nearest bank." Miles says as he stands, bringing me up with him.

"Of course, this way please." The light silver man with a golden X on its chest says. I pant a bit before letting go of Miles and dropping to the ground.

"They... can talk?"

"Yeah." Miles says as he walks after it.

"I thought you said they were just machines." I pout as another one follows after us.

"Machines can talk, they just have to be smart enough to."

"... that's dumb." I say quietly as I look away.

"Sometimes it takes someone smart to do something dumb."

"... that's even dumber."

"Heh, yeah it is." He says as he starts to chuckle. I just ignore him and continue to follow the dumb smart machine.

According to Miles the city is looking really good, though I find that hard to believe. It's dirty, broken, and eerily quiet. I don't say any of these things though, not wanting to hurt Miles' feelings, so I just agree with him as we go. There were a couple of times where Miles would stop us and force us to use a different route. I don't get why though. Easy says that the ways Miles says to go would take longer, but he doesn't listen to him.

We finally make it to our destination, a bank. I was a little disappointed when we arrived but Miles said that he needed to get some money for something important then we could do something fun together. With a sigh I follow him inside and look around as he works the massive machine. This place is even dirtier then outside! There must be at least an inch worth of dust on everything thing. Disgusting!

CLINKCLINKCLINCLINKCLINK

I look over to Miles and gawk as platinum bits begin to spew out from the wall. Miles just holds the bag to it and waits patiently for it to fill up. I shake my head and rub my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing things but, there it is. This... this explains why he gave me so much money to buy cookies that one time.

"You OK there?" Miles asks with a chuckle as I walk over and look over all of the money.

"... that's a lot of money."

"Yeah, I had quit a bit saved up before being sent here. Leave money alone and it tends to grow."

"..."

"You going to be OK?" He asks with a chuckle.

"What do you need all this money for?"

"Don't worry, you'll see."

We end up filling three whole sacks up with the money as well as Miles' satchel. I felt a little useless, so Miles made me a small bag to carry my own load. With our bags in tow we head back to the platform. I try asking Miles where all this money is going but again he doesn't tell me, saying that I'll see when we get there. If the rest of today continues like this I think I'm going to explode.

"Whew, it's cold." Miles says as we leave his shed and begin to trek through the snow. We end up leaving one of the bots behind, bringing Easy along instead. The snow from last night plus right now has piled fairly high. Enough to the point where Miles has to carry me so I don't become berried. "How you holding up?"

"G-good." I quiver.

"I think some winter gear is in order. We'll swing by Raritys after this."

"If you say so." Thank you! I'm about to freeze my tail off! We head to the edge of town towards the Manticors Cubs Orphanage. As soon as we step inside a wall of warmth washes over me

"HELLO?" Miles calls out as he peers around.

"Can I... Miles? Can I help you with something?" Some white stallion says as he comes down the stairs. He has orange hair and a cutie mark of a red heart and a yellow sash in the back.

"TenderSoul, I said I was going to sponsor your orphanage, and here I am." He says as he points to a bot. It walks over to the stallion and drops the bag in front of him.

"What is this... is.. is that what I think it is!?" The stallion, TenderSoul, asks as he opens up the bag. "How much is there?!"

"I'd say roughly five or six million credits. Give or take..."

"I can't accept this." He says as he pushes the bag away.

"Well of course you can't, it's not for you." Miles says as he sets his own bag down. He walks over to Tendersoul and kneels to get closer to him. "This is strictly for the orphanage. I want you keep tabs on everything you spend this money on. If I see one credit go towards something unnecessary..."

"What kind of stallion do you think I am?" TenderSoul ask, his offense showing in his face.

"I don't know, but you can spread this among any other orphanages you'd like. Just keep tabs on where everything goes when you do and report back to me..."

"Miles... I... I don't know what to say." TenderSoul says as he looks back to the money. "You dream about things like this happening, but.... when it actually happens..."

"I'd suggest starting by buying thicker blankets for the cold season. Maybe some warm clothing for all the kids, whatever keeps the cold off of them." Miles says as he stands. "I've got a few more places to run to, so I'll leave you to it. See ya!" He says as he begins to walk away.

"Miles!" TenderSoul says as he runs in front of Miles. "Thank you. You have no idea how much this is going to help. We're going to provide so much for so many foals..."

"Hey, if you ever need anything else in the future you come to me and ask. No child should ever go without due to the circumstances they're born into." Miles says before leaving the building. I look back to the stallion and smile before running after Miles.

"I feel... good." I say to Miles as I walk after him, using his foot steps as a path. "Am I OK?"

"Heh, doing something good for others does have that effect on you. Don't worry about it, it just means that you're a good person..."

FWUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMM

Miles a I duck down as something flies above the cloud cover, picking up the wind. A strong gust pushes much of the snow clouds and makes the cloud cover turn darker. We both look around to see if any pegasi come down, but none do.

"What was that?" I ask as I hide behind Miles' leg.

"I'm not sure, but I don't like the look of..."

WHACK

A massive ice ball falls from the sky and hits Miles in the head, knocking him over. I run to his side to check on him and find him still awake.

"Are you OK?" I ask as he lifts his fiery hand and creates a shield. Suddenly a hail storm takes over Ponyville, golf ball sized balls of ice falling all over. Miles stands up, keeping his shield above himself, and looks around.

"C'mon. Lets see if we can get to our next destination as quickly as possible." He says as he picks me up and sets me on his shoulders. Lucky for me he's really warm, so I snuggle close to him as he leads the way through the snow and ice. "Finally!" Miles cheers as we approach Raritys store.

"What are we getting here?" I ask as he pounds on the door.

"Just a few winter things, plus I'm paying her back for all of the free stuff I've gotten."

KNOCKKNCOKKNCOK

"I'll be right theeeeere." Rarity chimes from inside. After a minute or two she finally opens the door and ushers us inside. "Darlings what were you both doing out in the snow.... hm, I didn't know the pegasi were making a hail storm."

"We were running a chore when something flew over head and kicked the storm up." Miles says as he sets his big bag down. "We'd like to place an order for some winter clothes, and a pair of boots."

"I'll be honest, I've kind of been expecting you to show up for this Miles." Rarity says as she scuffs her hoof at the ground. "I've already made a few ensembles I just know you'll just love!"

"Really? Thanks, that cuts our time in half now. Well I'll try a few of them on while you get somethings ready for Shadow. And this is payment." Miles says as he drops his satchel. Rarity looks over to me before peeking inside.

"MILES! This is this is this..."

"I know..."

"I can't..."

"Rarity, you still run a business. After all of the free clothes you've given me it's the least I could do."

"Those were gifts Miles, you don't need to pay me back for those..."

"And I'm not. This is payment for all of the winter stuff we're getting. Now I know you're a generous person, but please let me show you some generosity in return."

"Well... if you insist." Rarity says as she levitates the bag up and sets it on a counter. "Why don't you go over to the fitting room and try on your new clothes while I get Shadows measurements." Rarity says as she begins to walk towards the back of the room.

"Go on, I'll be right out here." Miles says as he sets me down. I glance back to him nervously before following after the fashion pony.

"Now if you could stand there and hold still we'll be done before you even know it." Rarity says as she levitates a couple of measuring tapes out. I close my eyes and hold still as she begins to wrap me up in the tapes. I tense up a bit from their touch, but focus on holding still as Rarity continues her measuring. I don't really like other ponies touching me, but I'll deal with it for now.

"And that's it." Rarity says as she begins to put all of the tapes away. "You are a very good little model." She compliments as she goes to her her work station and begins to cut different fabrics.

"We're done?"

"Well, no. Once I get my first piece down I'll have you try it on to make sure it fits. But after that I won't need you to fit them anymore." Relieved, I begin to wander around the room.

"Is Sweetie Bell home?" I ask as I look over some unfinished dresses.

"Well, yes. But she's at our parents home." Rarity says, never looking away from her work.

"How do I look?" I look over to Miles to see him in a black wool jacket that has pockets on the front, black jeans, and grey boots. A grey scarf is tied around his neck and ends with three little white gems.

I look over his entire outfit before saying, "meh," with a shrug.

"Oh don't listen to her you look smashing." Rarity says as she glances over to Miles. "How do the boots fit?"

"Perfectly... well, I'd like them better with socks..."

"MILES!" Rarity practically yells. "There are foals in here!" She says as she looks back to me.

"What's the deal with socks?" I ask, making Rarity turn red.

"Well.... uh... dear, that's something for adults..."

"Apparently for ponies they're used to be seductive. But for humans they're just something you wear with shoes so your feet don't rot." Miles says as he walks over to Raritys side. "Seriously though, think you could manage some plain white socks that go past my ankles?"

"*sigh* humans. I'll see what I can do. Could you please come here Shadow? Lets see how this fits." She says as she levitates some clothes to me. I start to put them on when she raises a hoof to me. "The changing room is in the front room."

"... but I don't normally wear clothes."

"Shadow, a lady does not get dressed in front of a stall...er... man. Now go and get dressed. We'll be right here when you're ready." I look over to Miles but he has some kind of secret, grown up, wordless conversation with Rarity and asks me to go to the front.

I go to the front changing room and begin to put all the clothes on. I start with the sweater. It's made of a light material and is all grey with a blue trim. Next I grab the scarf and tie around neck; like the sweater it's light grey and blue. Lastly I take the grey saddle bag and toss it on my hips. I look at myself in the mirror before shrugging and trotting off. I like the clothes and all, fashion just isn't my thing.

"...completely agree with you. I can't believe I didn't think of it before." Miles finishes as I enter. "Hey there's my beautiful girl." I blush a bit from the compliment as I walk up to the two of them.

"How does it feel? Too tight?"

"It's good. Nice and warm... what were you two talking about?" I ask nervously as I look between the two of them. I have a bad feeling about this, especially when Miles gave Rarity that look and she left the room. "Am I in trouble?"

"Shadow," Miles starts as he sits on the ground before me, "have you been going to school at all?"

"S-school?"

"Yeah, have you had any education?"

"Um... Lantern taught me to read a bit and some numbers. That's all I really need thought, right?" I ask with a weak smile. Miles just shakes his head and stands back up.

"We'll get you signed up first thing tomo..."

"Wait! I don't want to go to school! I'm too dumb to go, they'll make fun of me and..."

"Shadow." He says firmly. "I'm sorry, but this is happening."

"But it isn't fair! I never went to school before, why should I start now?!" I demand as I stamp my hoof down. Miles just sighs and kneels back before me. I turn away from him and try to think of a way out of this. It isn't fair! I've gotten by this far without going to school, I shouldn't need to start now!

"Shadow, it's more then the learning. Going to school was the greatest thing I did before my life here. It's where I found my friends. And you know what else?"

"... what?" I ask as I glance back to him.

"You will to. You'll be in the same class as Applebloom, Sweetie Bell, and Scootaloo."

"Really?"

"Yup. Don't worry about learning everything else either. I'll help you when I can, and so will Butterscotch and E'Claire. And I'm sure I could get Twilight to tutor you as well, though I imagine her being..."

"But what about all the other ponies? They'll stare at me and make fun of me... I don't want to go through that." I say as scuff the floor a bit.

"Hey, I was bullied to you know..."

"REALLY!?" Rarity yells from behind the door.

"Yup! They called me short fuse, power grid, botman, and all other kinds of things. That is until I became a Spartan. Then they backed off. So how about this, why don't you go and give it a try. A month in school and if you really can't stand it we'll look into home schooling. Deal?" He asks as he holds his hands out.

"You promise? One month and I can try home schooling?" I ask as I turn back to him.

"I promise. We have a deal?"

".... OK." I say as I shake his hoof.

"That's my girl!" He says as he yanks me up into a hug. I hug him back but...

THUD

"HAHA! I won! You know what that means!" Princess Celestia cheers from outside.

"Tia please! I don't..."

"You're getting socks!"

Shout out to Arlan753 for picking Shadows birthday, junior Alien Child for picking what was for breakfast and Jay Kuro Seizen for picking who we followed first. Thanks for reading and like always, Brony on!