Chapter One

It started out on a nice day. It seemed like everything was perfect in
the world and nothing could go wrong... Boy could I be more wrong. It was the
day of my 7th birthday. My patents had put me in the orphanage when I was 17
months old... I'm not mad at them. Heck, I'm glad they did what they did. As to
why...well your about to find out. You see that day there was a small
celebration for me. We had a lot of fun. Then finally it was time to open
presents. I was taking my time. There was little of interest. I got stuff like
some legos, clothes of course, army men, and that's where we are now. 6
presents in one to go. I ripped through the wrapping paper with little
enthusiasm. It was a small letter that read, "Congratulations to Milo! You've
been adopted by John Smith!"

'This was great' I thought 'I'm gonna have a real home!' I read the letter
aloud and everybody clapped. The kids must have already known, for not a single
tear was shed. I wasn't too special but some people had very few friends and I
was their best so... I was torn. I knew I had to go though so I celebrated with
everybody else. Then my new dad arrived! He was dressed in a black suit with a
white undershirt and a black tie. He said with a smile, " hey Milo! Ready
to go?" "Sure!" I responded. I hadn't been so happy in a long
time.

When I got in the car I noticed something, he really liked black. He wore it
all over, had a black SUV with black windows, and had some nice black Oakleys.

He got in and turned on the car. "So where are we gonna live!" I asked
eagerly. "You are gonna live in the A.I.M. bunk room with the rest of you
scum." he responded bitterly. "Huh?" what was he talking about?
"But dad-""DO NOT CALL ME THAT! Now let's go."

Four Years Later

*RING* "finally" I said as I helped up my opponent, "I thought I
was gonna have to finish you." I said with a grin.

"Yeah right, I coulda broken that hold in a snap. I just didn't cause I
didn't wanna hurt you" Andrew said. Andrew was my best friend since my
"adoption". When I first got to A.I.M., I was taken into a room where
they knocked me out. When I woke up my head felt like it had been hit by a bus.
I moaned. "Hey guys. New kids awake." I then proceeded to get hazed
by the older kids. After they all left another kid my age came in, while I laid
on the ground in immense pain. "Hey, I'm Andrew, what's yours?" he
asked in a low whisper. "M-Milo... W-what's y-yours?" I shakily
answered. "I'm Andrew." back to modern day, me and Andrew went to
lunch together. "Hey Milo? I need to talk to you" he said in line.
"Yeah? What about?" he tapped his head. 'Ah' I thought ' he wants to
talk in private' I opened the mental link via Maruth. Maruth was a small- I
don't really know. It was a program in your head, implanted when you first
arrived. They knocked you out to avoid spending huge amounts of money on
anesthetic. Man these IRS people were annoying. But hey, I'll never be lonely
again. Now I probably should explain, our IRS didn't mean internal revenue
service. No it meant international relations service, but people didn't need to
know about them. Thing about these programs is that they are like people. They
have feelings and flaws and personalities. It was incredible. Anyway I opened
up the link and ask what was up. 'Uh I didn't really want anyone to hear this
but you. I'm... I'm a brony.' he said. There was a long silence as we went to
our table. 'My gosh Andrew why didn't you say anything!? I've been a closet
brony for two years now!' from that day forward we were closer than ever.

Two years later

"Somebody get over here NOW!" I had just collapsed in the middle of
a fight causing my block to fail. Andrew had gotten a full power kick to my
temple. "He's got a grade three concussion at the very least! He needs
medical treatment stat!" people were rushing around urgently. "Aaron
call the medics. Josh the first aid kit and the painkillers now!" called
the drill Sergeant. "HURRY DAMNIT" yelled Andrew.

That day was traumatizing for him. Three weeks his best friend was in critical
condition because of him, then he was in a coma for a few years. Milo had
wanted to tell him something really important that day. Maybe there was a
connection. "Icarus? You there?" he asked his 'aimbot' as we had started
calling them. "Yes Andrew?" Icarus responded. "Did Maruth tell
you anything about what Milo wanted to say?" Andrew asked. "No sir,
however he did ask me to- indicators show you are about to pass out. You may be
about to find out. Shutting down critical systems." "Icarus wait!
What do you mea-" he was cut short as he blacked out and entered a state
of mind completely outlandish to him. The last thing he remembered was
stumbling over to the stairs... And falling.