I'm running down a dark grey hall. At the end is a bright light with dark figures standing in the light. I look behind me to see a darkness rapidly approaching me. I'm running as fast as I can, but with every step I take, the light gets farther away and the darkness gains on me.

"Miles..."

I look back to the darkness to see black arms shoot out and take hold of me, grabbing my legs and arms and wrapping all around my waist and chest. I twist and pull as I try to escape but I can't break free. I fall to the ground and begin to be dragged into the darkness. I scream and scratch at the ground as I try to grab hold of anything to stop being pulled in, but I soon find myself in the dark abyss with a pressure building on my chest.

"Miles..."

I jolt awake and almost smack my face into Twilight's. There's a cool layer of sweat built up all over my body and I seem to be panting. I look around to see Storm out of uniform to the right of me with a worried look, and Twilight standing over me with her forehooves on my chest. I fall back down and take a moment to gather myself.

"Uh... Twilight, why are you standing over me like this?" She hops off and looks back to me with a similar look of concern.

"I was trying to wake you up, you were having another nightmare." I sit up and rub the sleep from my eyes. Another sleep terror, just what I needed. "Are you going to be okay? Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry about it. What time is it?" I ask as I stand up and stretch a bit.

"It's six o'clock. Are you sure you're alright? This is the second night in a row you had a nightmare, maybe we should talk a bit about it-"

"Maybe another time, right now let’s finish getting ready for the trip," I say as I head over to the pile of stuff that we had to find yesterday. Twilight and Storm accompany me at the pile and look down to the stack of items.

"You guys just couldn't make a neat, organized stack, could you?" Twilight asks in an irritated tone.

"What do you mean, it's organized enough," defends Storm, only to get a deep groan from Twilight. She levitates everything into the air and begins to move everything into groups of similar items. Books with books, writing items with writing items. Once she finishes moving everything to it's appropriate group, she begins to stuff them all into three satchel bags, making sure to utilize every centimeter of space. Once done, she levitates the two of us a bag.

"Okay, now it's organized enough," I say as I grab the bag. I watch Twilight set the bag to rest on her hips, and look back at my bag. It has two holding compartments and a single strap connecting the two together. There's really no way for me to carry this without having to hold it in my hands. "Can you let me into the weapon chest? I need to grab something." Twilight looks to Storm, who only shrugs, before looking back to me.

"What exactly do you need from there?" she asks cautiously.

"I was going to grab the sling from my rifle and use it on this satchel." Twilight gives me a skeptical look before walking over to the chest. She touches it with her horn, making it shine. After a second of this, the shine fades away and she opens the chest.

"Alright, take what you need." she says while taking a few steps back from the chest. I walk over and set the satchel down next to it before I pull out my rifle. I disconnect the sling and look it over. I then pop the cartridge and unload the round inside the chamber. I grab the round and put it inside the cartridge.

"What are you doing?" asks Storm as he comes beside me.

"Just stripping my weapon down. I don't like leaving it operational without me around." I say as I begin to disassemble it, setting all the parts into the corner of the chest. When I finish, I’m about to stand when a thought comes to mind. "Hey Twilight, how dangerous is this going to be?"

"Well, we have to go to Mt. Skyscraper, which is half a day’s journey, traveling along the Everfree, so we might run into some problems here and there. Why?"

"Think it would be alright for me to bring one of my weapons?"

"What?! Why would you need a weapon?" Twilight asks in a shocked state.

"Well, protection obviously. I doubt that I can punch out a creature that is two stories tall." I say with a shrug.

"We’re not going to go start a fight, we're just going to talk it out of the area." Twilight tells me, as if lecturing a child.

"Yeah... why would a dragon ten times the size of you comply so easily?"

"Because we're going to go ask in a sensible and level headed manner, that's why!" she says with a look of confidence. I look over to Storm to see him facehoof.

"If it makes you feel better, I'll be bringing my sword." he says from behind his hoof, getting a wild look from Twilight.

"You have a sword on you!?" He walks over to his armor and pulls a blade out from the inside. It's a simple short blade, but what confuses me is how he's able to hold onto it with his hoof. His hoof seems to wrap around the handle, but that still seems to defy logic. He twists it from side to side before re-sheathing it.

"Standard issue for royal guard." he says matter-of-factly.

"That's nice and all, but I would feel better if I had my own means of protection." I say, looking back to Twilight while crossing my arms.

"Agh, fine, one weapon! But the minute we get back to Ponyville it goes straight back into the chest. That goes for you too! I don't want any weapons in my home." Storm and I glance to one another and give a slight nod.

"Your house, your rules," Storm says as he begins to put his armor back on. I turn back to the chest and look at my selection. I don't think I'll use any guns until I absolutely have to, save the ammo for the important stuff. And if we're traveling around and ponies are already terrified of me, I don't want to give the complete wrong impression, so the sword will have to stay. I grab my trench knife and fit the holster to my belt. I shut the case and pick the satchel and strap up as I stand up.

"That's a pretty weird looking blade, what is it?" Storm asks as he approaches me and looks it over. I pull it out and show it to him. Twilight looks a little disgusted by this, but comes up to look it over as well.

"It's my trench knife. A long, long, LONG time ago, humans had a war that was basically a stalemate for a majority of the time. They ended up trenching their lines, and there came a need for a short blade for more effective hand to hand combat. Thus the trench knife was born."

"Why does the blade have three sides?" Storm asks.

"It's a stabbing blade. The three sides ensure that the wound created wouldn't heal easily and make the largest wound possible." Twilight gasps at that.

"Why would you want that?" she asks in bewilderment.

"Well, if I fall, I want who ever beat me to suffer for as long as possible," I say as I re-sheath the blade.

"That's horrible."

"Yeah, but no one said war is pleasant. Now let's finish getting ready." I walk over to my cot and begin to put my shirt back on. From behind I can hear Twilight re-lock the chest and walk away, probably towards the kitchen. Storm walks next to me and sits next to the cot.

"So your people were at war?" I glance to him before preoccupying myself with my shirt.

"Yeah."

"With who?"

"The Unfamiliar."

"Who are they?"

"No one knows, they showed up one day and started attacking, so we fought back. We had the better fighters, better tech, all around better odds, except for numbers. When the war started, it was estimated that for every one our of soldiers killed, forty three point six of theirs fell. But after every fight, more would show up. It was just a matter of time until we lost the armada, then the colonies, then Diamond Halls... then Topaz Falls." I finish buttoning my shirt and look down at my hands. I should've seen that second shot coming, maybe then I could have been able to stay and help in the fight.

"Hey, you don't know if Topaz Falls fell or not. If they fight like you do, then they should have been fine," Storm says, giving a small smile. I return the smile - he doesn't know what they did to Diamond Halls, but he's trying to make me feel better. so I'll try not to think about it. I pull the satchel out and set it on the cot. I take the strap and slide it as long as it'll go. I tie the end to the strap on the satchel. When I finish I sling the strap on my left shoulder, and have both of the satchels rest against the right of my hip. I look to Storm and give a slight nod before I walk into the kitchen. Twilight's at the stove working on some food, so I take a seat at the table.

"Where's Spike?" I ask.

"He's probably still asleep," Twilight says as she works on whatever's cooking.

"Mmm, where is he sleeping?" I glance around, but don't see any bed or cot lying around.

"In his bed in my room."

"Okay... wait, you mean he slept in a smoke filled room all night?"

"He's a dragon, the smoke doesn't affect him the way it would us." I settle down and let it go. Fucking dragons.

"I'll be right back, I'm going to grab my armor from the other room."I say as I stand.

"Could you do me a favor and grab the potions I had made, they should be on a table in the room. Oh, and can you also wake Spike up for me?"

"No prob." I walk all the way to Twilight's room an take a look around. The smoke has cleared up now, making it easy to see my way around. I look around and don't see a bed for Spike. I walk up to Twilight's bed area and see him in a basket behind the bed. I guess that's normal. I wonder if he likes not fitting in his basket?

"Spike," I say, trying to wake him, but only get mumbles in response. "Spike," I say a little firmer, only to get louder mumbles.

"SPIKE!"

"Mommy?" he says as he jolts awake.

"Yeah, mommy's here, go on downstairs for breakfast." I say in a sweet voice.

"Hmm, you're not mommy," he says as he lies back down to sleep. Whatever, I'll get him after I get the armor and potions. I go down to the other room and see a table set up in the center of the room. Various beakers and tubes have different colored liquids in them, sitting stagnant. I see a few small racks of potions on the edge of the table and assume that they’re the ones Twilight needs. I see that my armor has been moved under the table, so I go and equip them first. It feels kind of weird putting these on in casual wear, but I'll get over it. I can't exactly go down to the armory and issue... I really need to stop thinking about there.

Once they're on I grab the vials and make my way back to Spike. He's still asleep, even snoring at this point. Hmm... I think I've got an idea. I kneel down and get right next to his face.

"Sapphires." I whisper.

"Where!?" he screams as he jolts awake, looking around for sapphires.

"I don't know, maybe they're downstairs waiting with breakfast." I say as I begin to walk back. I make it downstairs and see Twilight and Storm eating at the table, talking to Fluttershy.

"O-oh, good morning Miles," she says timidly.

"Good to see ya Fluttershy." I say as I set the potion racks on the table and take a seat. Twilight levitates a plate over to me and sets it on the table. It's filled with light tan strands of... stuff that looks like it was lightly fried. I take a fork and try a chunk. Aw fuck, this is disgusting! It's like someone shredded the bottom of my boots and fried it. I try to finish the food in my mouth but eventually have to spit it out.

"Something wrong with your food?" Twilight asks.

"Sorry to say, but that was the worse thing I've ever ate. What is this?" I tell her as I wipe my tongue clean of the awful substance.

"It's fried hay."

"Damn man, I can't eat this." I say as I push the plate away from me.

"I'll eat it," says Storm as he pulls it forward and begins to eat.

Spike finally makes it downstairs and walks over to the cabinets. He pulls out some garnets and brings them to the table. I watch in horror as he eats them as if they were simple snacks. Such a waste.

"So, Miles... what do you eat, if you don't mind me asking that is!" Fluttershy asks.

"Well, I don't know what I can and can't eat here, everything is so different."

"Whaddya mern bur thurt?" Storm asks with his mouth full.

"Our food was manufactured from roots and various minerals."

"How does that work?" Twilight asks. That... is a good question. I never really looked into it myself actually. I just ate it.

"Howdy everypony!" Applejack yells from the front room. I turn back to see her with Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and a sleepy Rainbow Dash. They all have satchels on them that have copies of their marks on them.

"Ah good, everypony is here. Once we're done here we'll get going," Twilight says as she levitates all the plates to the sink. Storm wasn't done with his and watched with sad eyes as the plate left him. "Alright, if everypony is ready, let's get going!" Twilight says as she trots out of the room.

"Um, actually Twilight, I was wondering if I could wait here, if you don't mind that is," Fluttershy says while trying to hide behind her hair.

"This again, Fluttershy? You've done this before ’Shy, I know you can do it again!" Twilight says encouragingly.

"I don't know, I don't think I can."

"Well then you can't." I say bluntly, getting glares from everyone. I ignore them and turn to Fluttershy, who looks like she's on the verge of tears. "If you say you can't do something, you'll never be able to do anything. But I've seen the braver side of you before, and I know you can do this, so what do you say: can you do this or not?" She looks away and thinks about this, then turns back to me.

"I-I, I can try."

"Excellent, no one could ask for anything more!" I say as I stand. Fluttershy stands up and we walk out together, leading the group out the door. We all stop outside the door and wait for Twilight to leave. She comes out with Spike and stops at the doorway.

"Alright Spike, you're in charge of the library. Be sure to get your chores done and don't eat all of the gems in one night," she lectures him.

"Yeah, yeah, just be safe okay?" He leans forward and whispers something into her ear before going back inside.

"What was that about?" asks Pinkie Pie.

"Nothing important, now let's get a move on, we have a lot of ground to cover," Twilight says as she begins to trot down the road. We all follow suit, and I have to do a light jog to keep up.

We travel through the town pretty quickly. Any ponies that were outside either quickly run inside or watch in horror. When we make it out of the town we slow down to a walk and continue down the path. The area to the left is filled with what I assume is the Everfree, while the area to the right is mostly gentle hills covered in green. A few trees dot the area to the right, with hundreds of flowers spotted throughout the field. The trail head leads towards a distant mountain range, filled with three peaks, two lower ones and one climbing high into the sky. We walk for a few hours in silence. Everyone looks like they want to say something but are holding it back. I guess I'll break the silence.

"So, what should we expect to find?"

"Well, a dragons den usually has mounds of gems or gold, but don't try to take any of it," Twilight says. "Most dragons are extremely greedy, and will attack if you try to steal from them, so don't." Don't steal, got it.

"Anything else?"

"Well, no. Ponies and dragons don't really interact with one another, so we don't know too much about dragons." Well, that was helpful. Silence returns after that, and after the sun hits the highest part of the sky we stop for lunch. We lay a red and white cloth down and fill the center with various foods. As we start eating, I make sure to grab the carrot. I bite a chunk off and give it a few chews. It's actually pretty good. I like the flavoring, and the texture makes it some weird combination of chewy and crunchy; it’s a good thing. I look around and all of the girls still look like they have a million questions. Well, may as well.

"Alright, you've all been too quiet and I can see you all still have questions. So, lets go, another round of questions, lets start with-"

"I've got one!" Rainbow Dash yells. "What's the deal with you and friends? Like, why would you only have friends you would be willing to die for?"

"Well... I think it has something to do with the way I was raised. I grew up in an orphanage that was basically every person for themselves, corrupt deans, and daily abuse from anyone bigger or stronger than me. When I was drafted, the only people I ever cared about were the ones in my unit, and we were taught that you die for those around you." She gives a few nods and looks over to Fluttershy, who is to the left of her.

"Um... well..."

"Feel free to ask anything."

"O-okay, well I was wondering, that's if you want to tell us that is, did you have a special somepony?" Fluttershy turns bright red as every eye turned straight to her.

"Well, Fluttershy, no. I didn't have a special somebody in my life." Well... that was awkward. Twilight is next.

"Hmm... well, you once said that you liked to read about early aeronautical and space flight. What exactly does that mean? Like, I get that it meant flying into space and stuff, I guess I just want some more explanation." Ho ho, thank you Twilight for picking something that's actually interesting and not depressing.

"Alright, so humans can't naturally fly, but we can create. So, as time and technology moved on we were able to craft machines that would allow us to fly, both in the air and into space. We perfected it to a point where all aircraft doubled as spacecraft as well, though they couldn't do trans-galactic jumps." I can see that Twilight is just eating this up. I'll have to talk to her another time about the subject. Next is... me.

"Alright, my turn. Why are you all naked?" Everyone turns a little red from this, and they stay quiet until Storm answers.

"Well, our 'parts' are mostly internal. And whatever isn't is covered by our tails. So wearing clothes all the time is a little redundant. Though there are some that do, but that's mainly a luxury." That's weird. Storm's question is next.

"How much training have you received from your military?"

"I was a Spartan. Of the four hundred thousand soldiers in Topaz Falls, only a hundred were able to call themselves that. I spent the last ten years of my life training with different weapons, martial arts, and even battle theory and statistics." He looks a little impressed by this, good to know. Applejack is next.

"Uh... well. This is a bit embarrassing, but it's been racking muh brains all day. Why is your...'thing' so small?"

"..."

"Uh, Miles?"

*EYE TWITCH*

"I thought ya said we could ask-"

"I'M NOT LITTLE!"

"Well, compared ta a stallion ya-"

"Son of a bitch, I'm not a stallion now am I? Plus, you only saw it when it was down. For a human, I'm actually considered to be fairly large!" Fluttershy, Twilight, and Applejack share glances with one another before giggling.

"Those poor human mares," Applejack says.

"Aw son of a..." I cross my arms and look away. There's just no pleasing women, human or pony.

"Well, not that this isn't a riveting subject, but I am a lady and will not stand to continue listening to such filth," chimes Rarity. Thank you. "Now it's my turn - Miles, what does your cutie mark mean?" Cutie mark? Oh, right, my tattoo.

"It's not a cutie mark, it's a tattoo. I had a guy take a needle with ink and stab me a bunch of times. It's my unit's symbol." As I say this, I roll my sleeve up and show them my tat. They all lean in to have a look. "It's supposed to show how even in death, Spartans will fight for those they have to protect, or something like that; I was out sick the day Susurrans explained it."

"Who's Susurrans?" asks Pinkie Pie.

"He is... was my commanding officer. He basically mentored me during my time in the military." Yeah... in the military.

"Were you close?" asks Twilight.

"Heh, not your turn. I think that's enough questions for now, we should get going," I say as I stand up. Everyone else stands and helps put away the rest of the food and cloth. Once we finish, we resume our walk to the mountain. We’re only a few kilometers away now, so we should get there soon.

Thanks to Vaxadeki for being the next person to use the Brony Point system. He got to choose what weapon Miles took from the chest. Thanks for reading and like always, Brony on!