Beep...beep...beep... beep...beep...beep...

I roll over and turn off the alarm on my phone. With a quick stretch, I roll back over to Luna and put myself by her ear as I wrap my arms around her, putting her back to my stomach.

"Hey..."

"Uhhmmm..."

"Time to get up."

"Mmm... five more minutes." She mumbles as she turns around and buries her face in my chest. I laugh a little as she tries to get the best position possible, but her horns getting in the way. " *sigh* what time is it?"

"Four." She sighs again and moves herself so we're face to face."Heh..."

"Whats so funny?" She asks sleepily.

"I didn't know you could get bed head with energy hair." There's a portion of her hair that's going flat out on the side of her head. I bring my hand to it and try to pat it down, but it's staying up fairly well.

"Don't ask, I don't even get how it does that." She says before she gets up and heads to the restroom. I get up and get dressed, ends up I was naked under the hospital gown the entire time... whatever. I go and open my closet only to jump back as swords, axes, spears and other assorted weapons fall out. "What was that?" Luna calls out from the restroom.

"Uh... when did my closet become filled with weapons?" I ask as I look through my closet.

"Remember, I told you we left a bunch of the enemy weapons for you to keep."

"Right..." I start to try to go through the weapons, sorting them on my bed as best I can. I don't get the swords. They're wide and thin, with only a single blade. Why do they do it like this? It makes their blades weaker, not to mention you limit your fighting capabilities. I hear the toilet flush as Luna walks out of the restroom, looking awake and refreshed.

"What are you doing?" She asks as she walks up beside me.

"Cataloging the weapons... do you know anything about these?"

"Well... they're all of griffin design."

"Right, would you happen to know why they make them single edged?"

"So they don't cut themselves." She says as she levitates one to herself and positions it underneath her wing. "They don't use sheaths, so they put a single edge on it." She puts the blade back and looks at the assortment with a troubled expression.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, its just... I don't know why those dogs all had griffin weapons. Regina assured me that it was a black market deal, but Celestia isn't convinced."

"I'm not either. Who arms a group of people to fail."

"What do you mean fail?"

"They had the numbers and the means to take the town, so why didn't they? Not to mention the assault force was larger then the occupational force. I don't like this, they had an objective that we either stopped them from reaching or were to blind to see them achieve it." The room falls quiet as we think about what really happened. Whatever they have planned, I'll be sure to put an end to it. "Let's forget about it for now and get something to eat." I say as I usher her out of the room and down the stairs. She takes a seat in the living room as I head into the kitchen and look for something for the both of us to eat. I open the fridge and look through it.... where's my spaghetti?

SLURP...

I look behind me to see Storm sitting at the kitchen table, eating my spaghetti.

"Dude... did you eat my spaghetti?" I ask, making him jump a little as he looks back to me. We stare at each other for a second before he slowly starts to chew the food in his mouth. I walk up to him and look in the bowl to see that its now empty.

"When did you get out of the hospital?" He asks after he gulps the last of my spaghetti.

"Earlier today, did you really eat my spaghetti?"

"What? How was I suppose to know it was yours?"

"Miles?" Luna calls from the living room. Storm raises an eyebrow to me as I head into the living room to find Luna looking out the window. "I think you should see this." I walk up beside her and look out to see three massive, full grown dragons flying high above Ponyville. They all match the colors of the dragons from before; they're just larger.

"What do you think they want?" I ask as I watch them fly around.

"Probably revenge for their young being killed... I think you should stay inside... hey look, there's Twilight." I look down to see Twilight running full speed for my house.

"STORM! MILES IS IN TROUBLE!" Twilight yells as she opens the door magically and heads straight to the back, missing us completely.

"Should we go see what she wants?" I ask Luna as I look back.

"Mmm, you should, I have to get going." She says before she gives me a quick peck on the lips. "Try your best to stay out of the hospital."

"I will, so... when do you think I'll get to see you again?"

"I... I don't know. I'll try to get over here as quickly as possible, but I don't know how soon that will be." I pull her in for a hug. She returns the love and we hold each other there for a bit until we hear a cough from the side. I look over to see Twilight and Storm staring at us.Twilight looks like she's on the verge of a heart attack while Storm is just smiling. Luna gives me a small peck on the cheek before she says "I have to leave now. I love you."

"I love you to." I say before she lets go of me and trots up the stairs, trying her best to avoid Twilight's gaze. Once Luna's gone I stare back at Storm and Twilight, standing there awkwardly. "So... there are dragons..."

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" Twilight yells as she magically forces me to sit on the couch.

"What do..."

"Why was Princess Luna here!? What did she mean she loves you!? I thought this was just a little crush thing..."

"Uh Twilight..."

"This is bad. This is really really REALLY bad. Celestia's going to banish you for sure. Or imprison you. Or imprison you in the place she banishes you to." She says as she starts to pace back and forth. Storm just shakes his head and takes a seat next to me.

"Why would she do that?"

"BECUASE YOU BUCKED HER SISTER YOU IDIOT!"

"No I didn't. We didn't do anything. Yeah sure we spent the day in bed together, but nothing sexual happened."

"*cough*virgin*cough*." Storm says as he holds a hoof to his mouth.

"Yeah, basically." I say with a shrug, making Storm shake his head.

"Well, that doesn't change anything. Celestia is really protective of her little sister..."

"Trust me. I know."

"THEN WHY ARE YOU STILL DOING THIS?!"

"Well, I figured with less then a year to live I could pursue a relationship with someone who genuinely wants to be with me, despite my limited time."

"Miles..."

"Look, I'm not going to apologize for having feelings for her. And if she feels the same way, why wouldn't I pursue this?"

RRAAAAAAAAAWWWW

I look out the window to see the dragons landing near my home. With a sigh I stand up and start to head to the door, only to get blocked by Twilight and Storm.

"Where do you think your going?" Storm asks.

"I'm going to go talk to them..."

"Are you insane! They probably want revenge..."

"If they wanted revenge they would have attacked already. Either I go out there alone or I bring you with me. Your choice." They look to each other before they move aside and allow me to pass. I walk down the steps and wait for them to notice me. The large red one points me out and leads the others over to me.

"Are you the one who destroyed my youngling?"

"I am."

"And how did you do it?"

"I magically pulled his heart out from his chest." The red one takes a deep breath before stepping back, letting the other two approach me.

"And mine?" Asks the all blue one.

"I...uh..."

"How did you vanquish my youngling!?" The dragon yells. Shit. I don't know what to call that power. I need to think of something real quick. "Answer..."

"I used icy void on the last two dragons." The two of them step back and take a moment to reflect on what I said. After a few minutes of silence they all turn to leave, but stop when I call out to them. "Why did you need to know this? Aren't you mad at me?"

"The younglings chose their fates. We only came so we could learn their fates for the archives." The red one says before they all take off. As I watch them fly away, Storm and Twilight walk up beside me and gape at the dragons.

"Ho-how did you know they wouldn't attack?" Twilight asks in astonishment.

"I didn't. But waiting around never solves anything. Besides... I'm pretty sure I can take a few dragons out if I needed to."

"Now you just sound cocky." Storm says as he turns and walks back to the house. I shrug and follow after him, leaving Twilight to gape at the dragons on her own.

"Hey Storm, I need you to do something." I say as we walk into the living room.

"What do you need?"

"Go get Big Mac and bring him here. I'm going to make him some armor and a weapon."

"Why do I have to go?"

"Becuase you ate my spaghetti. Plus I'm a higher ranking officer, so you pretty much have to."

"*sigh* fine. I'll go get him." He says as he gets up and walks outside. He stops by Twilight and waves a hoof in front of her face. With a sigh he puts his head underneath her and lifts her onto his back before he walks off for Sweet Apple Acres. I go upstairs and finish cataloging the weapons. Eighteen swords, twelve spears, fourteen axes, three scythes, and nine hammers, all made of steel. Once I get all of the scavenged weapons out of my closet I find all of my weapons and armor in the back of the closet. I put my armor on one of the racks in the closet and my blades on the weapon rack. I start making trips from my room the dinning room, moving all of the weapons downstairs. The last weapon I grab is the chain gun Celestia had, being the heaviest one. When I make it downstairs I see Storm and Twilight leading Big Mac, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie towards my place. You grabbed a few extra Storm... whatever. I set the gun down at the end of the table and walk out to the front porch to greet everyone.

"Hey, whats up everyone." I say as I lean against a post.

"Hiya Miles! Glad to see your out of the hospital!" Pinkie says in her usual cheerful manner as she hops into my place.

"It's good to see you in good health Miles."

"Sup Miles."

"Howdy Miles!" After Twilight walks in I step in front of Storm.

"I said get Big Mac..."

"I know, but when I got to his place Applejack insisted on coming. Then we ran into Pinkie on the way here and she asked if she could come to which Twilight said yes and when we got close to getting here Rainbow kind of invited herself... is this going to be a problem?"

"A little. I need to discuss some Spartan business with the two of you... when did you pick up Fluttershy?"

"Uh... I'm not sure... should we ask them to leave then?"

"No... it's nothing big.... yet. They can stay as long as they keep whats said here a secret. But lets get to that when we get to that." He nods to me and walks in, leaving me and Big Mac outside. "Big Mac."

"Eeyup." I nod to him and motion for him to follow me inside. I lead him to the dinning room and motion for him to stand there.

"Alright. First things first, we need to make you some armor. After that I'll make your weapon, is there any kind you would prefer?"

"Hmm... nnope."

"Well... I see you as more of a power shot person... so how about a halberd then?"

"Eeyup."

"OK, what about enchantments, anything sound appealing to add to your weapons attacks?"

"Hmm... fire." He says with an evil smile.

"Alright, armor first... lets see... Storm, go get yours while I work on his, there some things I want to add to it as well." He nods and goes up stairs as I grab a couple of the swords and lift them up with my magic. I start to crumple them together, turning them into a solid chunk of metal. Next I start to pull all of the imperfections out, letting all of the spare metals fall to the ground. After that I bring the metal over to Big Mac and start to form it to his body, following the basic form of Storm's. Storm walks up with his armor so I use it to set the basic form before grabbing two of the gems I brought down and set them on the back. I take a few of the other swords and purify them as well, only to get more of the scrap metal. Once I have enough, I take all of the scrap metal and make the Spartan logo on the front of his armor. Next I separate parts of the metal and join them in certain spots so it'll bend with his movements. "Alright, give it a try." He pulls the armor on and looks it over before he looks up to me.

"Uh... a little tight in the mid section."

"Alright, one sec." I say as I kneel next to him and start to loosen the armor around his mid section. "Is that good?"

"Eeyup."

"Alright, now for the rest." I say as I take the chunk of metal and start to form bracers for them. After a few minutes of forging the metal to their legs and creating the buckles for them, I finish the leggings for them. "OK, give them a try." They walk around, testing the weight and movement of the new armor. After a few test walks they both nod to me in approval. "OK, that'll have to do for now. The helmets require certain things that I just don't have at the moment. Now we..."

"Uh... Miles." Big Mac says, getting me to look over to see the girls all looking over at us.

"Right... you all can listen, but whats said here, stays here."

"I Pinkie promise! I won't say a word." Pinkie says as she goes through the motions of a pinkie promise.

"I won't say anything." Rainbow says as she lays back in the recliner, putting her hooves behind her head.

"I promise." Fluttershy says timidly.

"I promise to keep your meeting a secret." Twilight says.

"Alright... well. Here's the deal. We are currently in a sticky situation. I fear a war will break out in the..."

"A WAR!" Twilight yells as all of the girls run over to us. "Equestria hasn't had a war in over three thousand years, why would you believe one would happen now?"

"First off, don't interrupt me again or I'll have to ask you to leave."

"Sorry..."

"And I believe one will happen becuase of what the diamond dogs did. They were armed and had an objective that I believe they achieved. I don't know what it was, but they achieved it. It's the only way to explain why they backed off at the end of the fight. Now comes the real question, what does this mean for the Spartans. With Topaz gone we become our own government institution, so what do we do?"

"What do you mean what do you do?" Twilight asks. "If Equestria went to war, you'd defend us... wouldn't you?" I take a breath as I re-position myself in my seat. Everyone is staring at me, dreading my answer.

"We can't..."

"What!" Rainbow Dash yells. "How could you be such a traitor! I thought you loved being in Equestria! Why would..."

"We can't support Equestria becuase we don't know who's the villain in this..."

"What in tarnation does that mean?" Applejack says.

"Miles, have you told Luna these thoughts?" Twilight says.

"Yeah, how could Equestria be the villains in this." Rainbow Dash adds.

"We can't choose their side becuase the Equestrian forces are broken!"

"And what does that mean...if you don't mind me asking..."

"Give me one good reason the Equestrian forces are broken." Rainbow Dash says as she sits down and stares at me.

"A guard, appointed by Celestia herself, turned out to be a rogue agent who wanted to kill Storm. Breaker was able to get high enough into the government to be one of the go to people for Celestia, and he was plotting to help destroy Ponyville. We don't know who we can trust besides ourselves, so I will not allow us to be used by any outside force. Its obvious someone is plotting against Equestria, and I will not allow another country I love fall to enemy forces. The best way for us to do that is to stand aside and let the enemy show itself. That way, if they end up being internal we wont hesitate to take them out. That's what the Spartans are for. We're the true sentinels for the good, becuase we are unaffected by either side. We can look at a situation and decide in an unbiased opinion who we would support, if we choose to support anyone."

"I don't believe the Princesses would ever allow anything like this to happen." Twilight says as she looks away and thinks about what I said.

"They wouldn't if they could stop it, but the attack by the Diamond Dogs proves that they can't stop everything. I will not allow us to be caught off guard again. That's why, starting tomorrow, I'm moving us to a readied stance. I want the two of you to show up at my place every morning before sun up for a work out regiment and a weapons training regiment. We're going to do two hours of each..."

"What? Ya can't work mah brother like that! We need 'im on the farm." Applejack says as she runs to his side.

"Don't worry about that. Storm and I will assist on the farm as much as we can. But we're doing this, it's too late to change my mind." They all look to one another, each of them giving each other looks of concern but not saying anything until Storm breaks the silence.

"Alright. Just wake me up when you wake up and we'll wait for Big Mac to join."

"Storm..." Twilight says as she walks over to his side.

"He's right. There's a threat out there and we can't afford to assume that it's not internal. So... lets get ready for it."

"EEyup."

"Alright, now onto the next piece of business. Having no captain I automatically take the position. I'm now the Captain of the Spartan regiment, any rebuttals.... no, then without any challenges I ascend to the rank of Captain. I will need a Lieutenant, I will hold a contest tomorrow morning between the two of you to determine who will be the new lieutenant. OK, girls, I'm going to have to ask you all to leave now so I can discuss the last thing..."

"What could be more important then a possible war that we couldn't hear about it?" Twilight asks. I wait silently until they take the hint and all step outside to give us our privacy. Once they're gone I flare my hand and raise it above my head, making a sound barrier. "Alright, so it's military that if you are to get married, you do it in non-combat uniform..."

"Who's gettin married?" Big Mac asks. I look over to Storm and smile at him as he stares daggers at me.

"I thought you promised to keep that a secret." He says flatly.

"And I have, but I think Big Mac can keep a secret. Now comes the real problem, where do we get these uniforms?"

"We could have Rarity make them." Storm says."I can pay for them to, it would not be a problem."

"Alright, after we work on the farm tomorrow we should all go to Rarity's to set the orders." I say, getting them to nod in response.

"So... when are you goin ta pop the question?" Big Mac asks, making Storm sigh.

"Soon.... I hope... I'm trying to plan something big for when I do ask."

"Which brings me to my next point, if and when you do get married, your spouse becomes Terradisian. The reason we care is becuase Spartans protect Terradisians before we protect Equestrians. I know that sounds a little obvious, but I feel that it needed to be said. Well, unless either of you two have any questions, you can go home now."

"I've got one. If Equestria goes to war, and we're still unsure who's pulling the strings, what do we do then?" Storm asks.

"Then, we wait. We watch the fight from the side lines, fire when fired upon, and if the true aggressor shows their face we pick a side and fight. Any other questions?"

"No."

"NNope."

"Good, go ahead and take off you armor and leave it here, I need to super treat it. I'll have your halberd ready tomorrow so you'll get that...uhh.. yeah, dismissed." I say as I drop the barrier. They nod to me and head out the door to the others. I turn back to the weapons on the table and contemplate where to start. I guess the best place to start would be making Big Macs weapon, then ding all of the duel enchantments..."

"Miles?" I turn around to see Twilight standing with Storm.

"Hey, what do you need?"

"Well... I promised I wouldn't say anything, and I won't, but I really think you should discuss this with the Princesses. They deserve to know about the possible threat to our country and how your basically making another country within it."

"*sigh* your right. When I have the time I'll make the trip down to Canterlot and talk to them. Thank you for keeping your promise." She nods to me and starts to leave but stops and faces me again. "There's one more thing I wanted to ask you about..."

"Sure, shoot."

"Topaz Falls..."

"What about it?"

"Well... can we visit...."

"No."

"Why not.."

"I almost got killed going there. Do you really think I'll chance your lives as well? No. Topaz Falls is far too dangerous to navigate..."

"What if Big Mac and I..."

"That's still a no. You two are prominent fighters, but the bots down there still out gun us. Going down there would be suicide, and not to mention rather pointless. No one is ever going down there, EVER." Twilight looks away a bit before she trots away, with a look of determination on her face. Storm shrugs to me before he chases after her, leaving me to get back to work. I don't know when I'll get the chance to go talk to Celestia and Luna about my concerns... but I think I'll do it at night.

Shout out to Squishy for picking Big Macs weapon, and to BBB for picking the element that it'll hold. Thanks for reading, and like always, Brony on!