After dealing with Soarin, Shadow and I make our way back home. It's getting late and the poor kid is tuckered out from our run around town. It was fun and I can tell she craved the bonding. I open the door to our home and carry her up to her room, tucking her in bed and kissing her forehead. She falls asleep almost immediately, giving one last yawn as she pulls the blankets close to herself. I set her things on a nearby night stand and leave the room quietly. She didn't really like or want much, but we were able to find a couple of things here and there.

I open the door to my room.... fucking Soarin. With a disgusted sigh I remove all of the blankets and sheets and take them down to the wash area out back. How Equestrians could have refrigerators but not have a single washer machine, I'll never know. Once I get them all washed ( taking four times longer then usual due to my evaporating the water and having to set enchantments for them not to freeze in the snow) I hang them up to dry before heading to the spare room...

"What the fuck?" I ask ask aloud as I see some mare laying in the spare bed. She looks over to me, lust filling her eyes, and smiles.

"That'll be eighteen hundred bits for watching..."

"OH SWEET BARBRA IT'S A GUY!" I yell as I nearly fall back.

"Aw, you forgot my name already." Heshe pouts as heshe continues to writhe under the sheets.

".... Squishy?"

"Ding a DINg, easy down there." He says with a shutter as he lifts up the blanket. From underneath the sheets Pinkie Pie crawls up and latches her lips with his.

".... what are you doing in my house?" I ask, breaking their kiss.

"We've been here since the party last night silly!" Pinkie cheers as... she... begins....

"... huh?" I ask as I feel my cheeks begin to burn. Why does Pinkie have to be open about everything.

"Well, I guess you wouldn't remember, you were so wasted after all." Squishy says as Pinkie sits up and begins to make her movements more aggressive. "Lucky for you we got it all on your phone." He says before tossing my phone at me. I catch it and look it over...

"How did you know how to use it?"

"Hammer did it..."

"Of fucking course he did." I grumble. I begin to back out of the room but stop when Squishy calls for me. "What?"

"I wasn't joking. Eighteen hundred."

"Sure, right after you pay for using the room." I say as a joke.

"Deal." He says before rolling on top of Pinkie.

"..."

"..."

"... uh..."

"Leave now or stay and let things get weird, your choice." Squishy tells me.

"Pinkie, we leave for..."

"I know, I know." She pants. I quickly shut the door and try to burn these images from my mind. Why? Why my house? I look down to my phone and quickly pocket it, not wanting to know what happened.

"Dad?" Shadow asks sleepily from the doorway, rubbing an eye as she sways from side to side. "What's going on?"

"It's nothing... I just have to sleep on the couch tonight..."

"You can share my bed, I was getting lonely anyway." She says as she finishes rubbing her eyes.

"Shadow..."

"Please."

"You need to..."

"Please."

"It would..."

"Please."

"...*sigh* fine. But tonight only OK?" She nods and runs over to me, smiling broadly. Dammit... she knows of her control over me. I pick her up and take her to her room, getting her to rest her head on my shoulder. I lay in her bed and pull the sheets over us, cuddling Shadow close to myself as I lay there.

"Miles?" Shadow whispers to me. "Are you going to make it back for Hearths Warming Eve?"

"I will try my best to." I tell her. "I can't promise that I'll be on time though."

"... OK." She says, sounding disappointed.

"Hey, don't worry about it OK. We'll be together for the holidays..."

"Just you and me?"

"... just family. Lets go to sleep now, OK." I tell her as I stoke her mane a bit. She nods and closes her eyes, too tired to argue with me. Just... family...

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

I wake up to the sound of someone knocking on the door. I slip out of bed as quietly as possible as I head down to check on the door.

"Alright alright.... Damian?" I say as I open the door. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"You called all Spartans, here I am." He says as walks inside. "Heh, beat Night Fury here."

"Beat Night... why are you here?" I ask as I follow him into the living room.

"You called all Spartans, so I..."

"I called all Spartans that are going to the cities. I thought you'd be too busy with your group to help us out." He looks back to me and stares at me in disbelief. "Well... we'd gladly take you..."

"Son of a bitch." He mumbles as he sits down. "No, I actually should get back to them."

"Well... since you're here, what are your plans for Hearth Warming Eve?"

"... nothing." He says as he looks up to me, caught off guard by the question.

"Nothing? You don't have any family that you're going to visit? What about your group?" I ask as I approach him, seeing him become a bit uneasy.

"I don't talk to my family... it's... complicated. Hammer is probably going to spend it with his mom and brother, but the rest of us don't really have family..."

"Well congratulations, you now have a family. I expect to see you here for Hearths Warming Eve..."

"What? No... I..."

"Don't make me make this an order." I tell him.

"... how would you make..."

"Spartan etiquette dictates that our unit be a functional and cohesive regiment. That means we need to better understand each other. This holiday is a perfect excuse to bring all Spartans together and be around one another for a... social gathering. Now its an order." I say with a smile. He stares back to me and sighs in defeat.

"Can I at least bring CC? She doesn't have anywhere to go either."

"Sure, bring your little girlfriend as well."

"... not cool."

"Miles?" Storm calls from the door. "Hey... Damian.... I didn't know you were coming with us." He says as he and Twilight walk through the doorway.

"I'm not actually. I just... had to make Hearth Warming Eve plans... I guess I'll see you all in a few days." He says before standing up and heading for the door.

"Damian." I call out, getting him to pause at the door. He looks back to me and gives a simple nod before leaving, silently agreeing to come.

"What was that about?" Twilight asks.

"Making plans for Hearths Warming Eve. Speaking of which, what is Hearths Warming Eve?" They both face-hoof as Shadow comes down, rubbing her eyes a bit. "Lets talk about it over some breakfast."

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

"... and that's how Equestria was formed!" Pinkie cheers joyfully as we all listen over some breakfast. Over the course of her story telling the rest of the girls as well as Night Fury showed up. Now we just need True Will and Dust Devil.

"Huh, so... presents, a warm atmosphere, and family stuff. Got it." I say as I begin to take all of the plates.

"So I take it we're doing it here then." Storm jokes.

"In the great and many words of Big Mac, eeyup." I say from the sink as I rinse the plates and hand them to Shadow to dry off. She still likes to help out around the house, so I let her. At least with the simple stuff.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"I'll get it." I say as I head to the front door. I open it up to... find... "Really? More Mercs?" I ask True Will as his group stands before my house.

"Yeah... about that." True Will starts as he and Dust Devil stand before me. "We're actually being let go from the Ursa Majors. This will be our last mission with them."

"Really? Why?"

"Because neither of us would give up Spartan secrets." Dust Devil says proudly. I smile back as I step out and look over the new group.

"Let me introduce them." True Will says as he steps before the first person, a light tan pegasus with a ruffled black mane and a mark of a trio of explosions. "This is Ghost, our explosives expert."

"Hi." He says quietly. I nod to him and move to the next person. He's a griffin with black fur, grey feathers, and a large steel battle ax on his back.

"This is SteelClaw, our two handed expert."

"Ello." He says with an odd accent.

"Next is...."

"HI! I'm Snow Bound! The archer of the group." A female griffin says as she steps forward and shakes me hand. Her eyes are a bit odd, having blue centers with a yellow ring around them. The rest of her seems fairly normal, the only other noticeable thing being how her feathers end in grey.

"Right... anyway. Who're you?" I ask the next person. He's a Pegasus as well, with a dark purple coat and black hair that has a lighter shade of purple going through it. His mark is that of a sword mid swing. He doesn't answer me, backing up a bit as looks back to his comrades. "Come on, what's your story?"

"His names Purple Edge. He doesn't talk a lot." True Will informs me.

"Not ever since the Ursas took over his old merc group." Snow Bound tells me, getting the guy to shy away a bit more.

"ANYWAY!" True Will snaps, silencing Snow Bound. "The last one in our group is Subtle Shift. You may remember him..."

"Yeah." I say as I stand before the last one, getting a good look at his cobalt face. "You're that assassin from before. The one that delivered the message to True Will. What are you doing here?" He looks back to everyone before looking back to me, keeping quiet. "Well?"

"... I was hired for this mission." He tells me quickly. I step back to look them all over, gauging all of them together.

"The last group of mercs that accompanied us to a city lost half of its members. I will not be responsible for your lives, you will..."

"We can hold our own." Snow Bound says as she nudges the griffin beside her.

"Really? Because they sent those others first, so that puts you in second in their eyes." I snap back. "Your jobs are to keep my people safe. That means you're putting your lives before theirs. If you can't do that then don't come." Of course none of them move. I just shake my head as I pull True Will and Dust Devil aside. "Have you properly warned them about the dangers involved?"

"I've tried, but they're convinced that they can do this." True Will says as he glances back to them.

"Can they?"

"... dunno. I've never worked with these ones before. Heard a few reports, they can hold their own in an average fight." True Will offers. I sigh as I walk back to them, trying to determine if they can do this or not.

"Uh... Miles, sir?" Purple Edge says timidly as he steps forward. "But, do you know what to expect from this next city?"

"Well... not exactly..."

"Then how do you know what to look for?" He asks with a bit more confident. "We're mercenaries. We're adaptable to anything we come up against. We will do our best, just as your ponies will.... sir." I stare at him until he shies away, hiding behind Subtle Shift a bit.

"... why do I even try? Very well then. Lets see how adaptable you all are. Wait out front while we get everything packed up. Then we'll head out."

"If you don't mind me asking, where exactly are we going?" Ghost asks.

"Trottingham." I tell them before stepping inside.

I take all our people to the shed and inside the armory. They were less reluctant this time around about taking weapons, though I'm not too sure how I feel about that. Rarity and Twilight stayed behind, saying their guns were enough for them. I take out some E.A.R.s and hand them out to... where did Fluttershy go?

"Fluttershy?" I ask aloud as I walk along the aisles of weapons. "Fluttershy?"

"Oh, I'm... I'm right here." She says from the last aisle. I walk over and find her staring straight at a... at...

"Uh... something interest you Shy?" I ask her.

"Um... no... well... I was just wondering if I could take that one." She says as she motions to a the rifle before her.

"Fluttershy... that's a fifty caliber, anti armor, snipers rifle." I tell her, making her eyes go even wider.

"So... is it OK?" She asks as she inches closer to it, nearly drooling as she eyes it.

"It's meant to take out vehicles..."

"So... maybe?"

"It kills in one shot!"

"*gasp* that's.... that's..."

"I know. It's..."

"...wonderful!" She exclaims as she jumps into the air and hugs it.

"WHAT!" Everyone yells at once.

"One shot, one kill. No pain. No suffering. Just a moment of discomfort and then it's over! Can I? Please please please please plEEEAAAASSSEE!" She begs as she pouts to me. I look back to everyone for help, but only find gaping faces.

"Tell you what. If you can carry it, then you can take it." I tell her. She squees in delight and begins to remove it from the rack. She slings the strap to herself and pulls it tight. Taking a few breathes before hand, she steps off the counter and tries to stand with it.

"S-s-ee?! Ea-easy.... peasy..." She says as she fights to stay standing on all four.

"Pull it out now." I tell her, getting a scared look from her. She takes a deep breath as she looses the strap and tries to lift it up. She topples to one side, then the other, before getting the rifle correct in her hooves with the barrel pointing down. Wincing from the weight she lifts it up and points it towards me.

"S-see."

"What do you think?" I ask everyone behind me.

"Well... she really wants it." Rarity says, looking to the others.

"Plus she's a good shot. Maybe it would be useful." Rainbow says as she glances to the others.

"Ah don't know... she's havin sum trouble holding it." Applejack says.

"Well, to be honest, you don't hold that rifle while standing. The recoil would knock you on your ass..."

"Then why are we lettin her take that gun!?" Applejack almost yells. "Why would we let Shy use somthin that kills in one shot!"

"I don't want to torture anypony Applejack!" Fluttershy yells back. "If I have to shoot then I don't want to have to do it multiple times! AJ I understand your concern but this is the best way for me to fight." Shy says before she re-straps the rifle to her side and drops to all four. "Now, unless you're going to stop me, lets please just.. just go." She says as she squares off with AJ. The room falls quiet as they stare at each other, neither of them backing down.

"Fine. Lets jus go." Aj huffs as she backs off. Everyone looks to one another as AJ leaves the room. What the fuck was that about? And when did Fluttershy grow a pair?

"Uh... Flutter..."

"I don't want to talk about it." Fluttershy says as she walks out of the room.

"Anyone know what the fuck that was about?" I ask everyone else.

"Hormones?" Night Fury offers, getting glares from the rest of the mares. "What?"

"I'll talk to them in a bit, the rest of you just.... get ready to head out." I head over to the opening and press the switch on the ground making panels from the opening drop down. As everyone walks up the steps I stop Applejack and wait.

"Miles, right now..."

"Applejack..."

"Look, ah know ah was..."

"Just tell me one thing. Is this going to be a problem?" She takes a deep breath as she looks away, thinking deeply about her answer.

"...no." Did.... did Applejack just lie?

"AJ, what happened yesterday that would have you so mad at Fluttershy?"

"Nothin! Now can we just get going!" She yells as she makes her way up top. I'm sure I'll find out soon enough, right now we need to just get going. I make my way up to fins Storm and Twilight fixing a cart to my jeep.

"Fluttershy, come here." I call out as I head over to the jeep, jumping in the back.

"Yes Miles?" She asks as she walks over to me.

"Give me your rifle..."

"But you said..."

"So I can fill it with ammo."

"Oh... sorry." She says as she removes it and sets it in the bed.

"Mind telling me.... oh sweet Barbra." I say as I remove one of the drums from the machine gun.

"Who?"

"This ammo is enchanted." I say as I pull the belt out. Each round has archaic markings going around the bullets.

"What does that mean?" Fluttershy asks as she flutters up to see.

"Well, this was the easy way to duel enchant. You'd enchant the weapon and the bullet.... these all look as if they do different things."

"How can you tell?"

"Look at the text. See how it differs? Different text, different spell.... and it doesn't look like any of these aren't enchanted." I say as I look over the entire belt. There have to be at least six different enchantments on these.

"What does that mean for me then?"

"It means that this thing will hit a lot harder then it normally would... speaking of which. I need to enchant your rifle with a recoil damper. Otherwise this thing will take out your shoulder after a few shots. Take these rounds and feed them into you clip while I do that. Here, let me show you."

We spend a few minutes going over the weapon. Racking rounds, the added weight of the bullets, how the eye scope works. She takes her time loading the one clip, tying the belt of bullets around her chest, and fixing the red eye com over her right eye. She freaked out a bit when the lens sent the wire straps around her head, but got over it quickly.

"So... I just close my left eye and my right eye will see what the scope sees?"

"Exactly. Try it." She closes her eye as I point the rifle at her, making her jump a bit.

"That's... odd."

"You'll figure it out. Now, what's going on between you and Applejack." I ask as I glance over to her, finding her talking to some of the mercs. Fluttershy just falls quiet as she looks away.

"It's... it's nothing." She says quietly.

"No it's not. What happened yesterday?" I ask as I finish my enchantment. "Just between the two of us."

"Well... I was at their house, having dinner, when... well... Applebloom..."

"All done!" Storm yells out. "Lets load up already!" Everyone cheers as they run over to the jeep.

"I'll tell you another time, OK Miles?" She says as she moves to the back cart.

"Yeah, I'm sure you will. *sigh*." I say as I stand up and close up the Spartan Pen. As everyone gets situated I run over to Shadow and pick her up in a tight hug.

"Come back soon OK." She tells me as she hugs me back.

"I will. Be good for Butterscotch and E'Claire while I'm gone OK?" I tell her.

"Don't worry, I like staying with my Moms. I'll be good." She tells me. I was about to question something but stopped when I heard the others calling for me. I walk her to the Mico platform and watch her go to Moosden. So, I guess Butterscotch and E'Claire are her mothers now... odd.

"Miles!"

"Alright already." I yell back. "Off to Trottingham we go, Jasper here we come." I announce as I run over to the drivers seat. As we drive off, I glance back to see Applejack and Fluttershy keeping as far away from each other as possible. This can't be good.

Next Chapter: Chapter 156 Jasper Lies Estimated time remaining: 47 Hours, 53 Minutes