The tale of an Exile

Chapters

Chapter 1: Hunting Accidents
Chapter 2: First Sight
Chapter 3: Settling Down
Chapter 4: Life Changers
Chapter 5: Ghosts of the Future

Chapter 1: Hunting Accidents

*view - a golden space station above a desert planet*

Khalai Space. High orbit of Dylar IV. Orbital station Hoketa 7-JI, main storage facility for the asteroid mining. The doors of a metalic golden hallway slid open, four unicorns passing through.

Two were gray stallions, clad in gold armor, with blue crystals emitting energy through lines in the armor. Each carried a golden staff, which had a similar crystal embedded into the head. One’s mane was black and the other’s was a darker shade of gray. The eyes of both of them were a pale purple.

The third member was a light blue coated mare, with a dark blue and white striped mane and white eyes. She was dressed in a black tunic with golden lining. The last one was another mare with a royal white coat, light pink mane and crimson eyes. Her choice of clothing was golden-lined white robe, which matched her coat, and was also inlaid with blue gems. The clothes covered all of their cutiemarks.

The white mare led the group, while reading a holographic file, coming out from a golden stick-like device. She groaned loudly, before tossing the device behind herself, the blue mare catching it, after which she asked.

“Ma’am?”

“Those damn pirates have raided another cargo ship with a good load of minerals from the outer ring field.” The white mare replied.

They were nearing another door.

“What are your orders?” The blue mare inquired.

Her superior sighted and then began giving instructions.

“Erina, send another request to the High Matriarch to send us more forces.”

The door slid open to reveal a luxurious bedroom, with a large glass wall, giving view to the void of space. Then the white mare continued.

“That’s it for now. I am not to be disturbed for the rest of the solar day.”

Next she entered the room, the door closing shut behind her. Erina worriedly looked down at the ground, before turning to walk towards the communication room. The white mare was backed up against the metal door, breathing slowly, with her eyes closed. Then she took a deep breath, allowing the Khala to ease her nerves.

Her room consisted of a king-sized bed with several big cushions, and pale pink silk sheets. In the left wing of the room was a wardrobe, and a couple of feet from the bed was a small tea table, with three wine glasses, a jug of wine, and three chairs. She walked up to the table and poured herself a glass of red liquid. She raised it and took a sip, after which, looking down in the glass, she spoke in a slightly cheerful tone.

“You can stop with the hiding. Don’t take this ‘shadow’ business too seriously.”

The air in a dark corner next to the entrance door began to move, making a blurry figure in the air, which then became a gray unicorn stallion, with green eyes, his mane was a darker shade of gray. He wore a bluish-purple cloak, brownish silver lined vest, which was crossed by a golden chain with a green crystal embedded in it. His fore legs bore golden warp blade gauntlets with green crystals. Despite his attire, his cutiemark was shown – a black spot with a guideline, forming a pony’s form, raising a warp blade, it being in the color of the crystals on the gauntlets. The stallion made a step forward as he addressed the mare.

"Sorry Amaka, but being your personal bodyguard, as well as your errand boy isn't exactly a care-free job."

She turned towards him, and said with a sly smile.

"Perhaps. But you volunteered to be my personal Shadow remember?"

"I think you're using the word volunteer a bit too liberally. I only did so because Moon Sight’s family was “randomly selected” for relocation to the unprotected outer mining stations. Strange how such a relocation happened so soon after you found out her brother was in the Dark Order." He returned with a deadpan.

"And I relocated your sister’s family for you as a gesture of gratitude for your lifetime of service." Amaka spoke with a light tone.

That did not amuse the stallion, so he only stared blankly at her. Seeing that, she took another sip, before continuing.

“You could have always told higher command about it Karn.”

“When you have buried the information too deep in your brain, that even when being connected to the Khala no one could see it, what worth is the word of a dark templar, next to that of a low matriarch?” He replied.

“Aww…that’s sweet. You still recognize authority. Good.” Amaka stated as she took another sip from the wine.

“I suppose you didn’t call me forth for just small talk.” Karn said questioningly.

Amaka lowered the glass and spoke.

“Straight to the point then. There is a pirate group – The Lost Vikings they call themselves…” Distain was easily felt in her tone. “…that have been harassing our cargo ships on the outer rings, stealing the stock and causing the death of multiple innocents. I want you to track down their leader and kill the bastard. Examples need to be made.” After that statement she gave a light smile.

“Yeah, before I do that…” He began. “You have just enough troops to protect both the station and the mining locations that were ASSIGNED to you. Why reach out and put so much at risk?”

"The material gathered here will help the war effort. I'm simply taking initiative for the greater good of the Khala." Was the reply.

“Yes, and that has nothing to do, with you winning favor within the higher hierarchy” Karn deadpanned again.

“Who? Me? Do something simply for personal gain? And coming from my own shadow. You wound me Karn.” Amaka said, placing a hoof over her forehead, playing out a drama scene.

‘You have no idea, how much I’d enjoy that.’ He thought to himself.

Because he was not connected with her in the Khala, it appeared as if he had trailed off somewhere. Noticing this slight distraction, Amaka got his attention.

“ANY way. I expect you to perform ALL of your duties to the letter.” She emphasized on the ‘all’.

She then turned around, leaving the glass on the table. After which she took off her robe, left it on a chair, and climbed onto the bed, dressed only in her fur. Her cutiemark was a serpent-like stretched scroll. She looked at him and said in a tired manner.

“I had a rough day, so I won’t expect any less from you.”

That made Karn sigh, after which he headed towards the bed, dropping his cloak.

________________________________________________________________________________

*view – heavily forested planet, with three space stations orbiting it*

Unclaimed space. Brokas Hur – abandoned ancient terran storage world, population – minor, exiles and convict settlers, planet constantly harassed by pirates. A pub in a small settlement, in the middle of the woods. The tables were occupied by a few ponies, each keeping to themselves, or to their company.

On the bar were sitting a brown pegasus, wearing a blue work suit, a pair of goggles and a yellow minor’s cap. He was downing a bottle of beer. Next to him sat what seemed like a gray unicorn in a black cloak with a hood over his head, only his muzzle and one hoof revealed his fur color. He was sipping from a small glass of hard cider. On the other side of the counter, the barman – an orange earth pony stallion with a light brown mane, was cleaning a mug.

The door to a stair case, which led up to the second floor with the bedrooms, slid open, and from it two earth pony mares, one was yellow with a blue curly mane, the other was a mint green with a red mane tied into a tail, and a light pink pegasus mare with a chrome blue mane came out. All three of them quickly trotted to a back room behind the bar with tears dripping from their eyes. After them walked out a red pegasus stallion with a greasy black mane and magenta eyes, and was dressed in a greenish-black leather suit. He was walking on his hind legs, and pulled up his zipper as he addressed the barman.

“Wowhee. Veron your girls are top dollar.”

“Yeah…anything for one of the Lost Vikings…” His voice was filled with spite.

“Maybe someday I might come along with the boys, they’ll surely like ‘em.” The stallion sneered.

He received no reaction from the barman, so he simply said.

“Well, I’m off to make a delivery. See ya’ll later.” And walked out of the building.

“Disgusting son of a bitch. Him and all of those shits he goes around with.” Veron stated, then spat on the floor.

Nobody from the customers did anything. All of them knew that despite the old stallion’s words being true, those pirates were bad business. About a minute after he left, the cloaked figure downed the rest of his drink in one gulp. Put the glass and five bits on the counter and walked out as well.

The red stallion made his way towards his ship, which was landed close outside of the settlement. It was a black drop ship based off the medivacs. When he reached the drop door, someone tapped his shoulder.

“Who the buck are you and what do you wa-”

Just as he turned around a hoof struck him right in the face, knocking him, belly first, on the ground. His assaulter got up in a two legged stance, stepped with one hoof on his victim’s back and grabbed one of his legs. He then began twisting it, making the red stallion yowl in pain. In several moments of progressing the clutch, a loud crack forced a shout of pain, which was heard throughout the area. As his victim squirmed, the cloaked figure once again dropped on four hooves, stomping and breaking the other leg, receiving another shout. With that, the red stallion turned on his back and looked into the green eyes shining in the black void which was his attacker’s face.

“Wh-wh-who are you?! What do you want with me?!” He cried out, tears of pain pouring from his eyes.

“Where is your leader?” The figure demanded.

The stallion coughed, before yelling.

“He is going to BUCKING KILL YOU YOU SON OF A BITCH!”

The little feat of blind rage brought a smile onto the figure’s face.

“What’s so damn funny?!” His victim enquired.

“Oh nothing, just the satisfaction of seeing a scumbag like you…not…die happy.” The attacker said, before thrusting a green warp blade through the stallion’s chest.

After a few coughs of blood his body was left limp on the ground. The figure opened the drop door and entered the ship, placing himself in the pilot’s seat. He took off the hood, revealing himself to be Karn. After pressing a series of buttons, a feminine robotic voice spoke.

[Mission logs access denied. Eye scan requested.]

Then a small eye shaped hole, glowing with a blue light, opened on the right wall. That made Karn groan in frustration and after facehoofing he got up from the seat. A red vertical red light slid to the left inside of the hole, and then to the right, after which the ship’s adjutant spoke again.

[Eye scan successful. Mission log access granted.]

“Well, at least he was useful for something.” The templar sighed, before throwing the head of the stallion out of the ship.

After pressing several more button sequences, a green holographic image of an earth pony stallion appeared from a projector.

‘Alright, listen Gup. We blew one Khalai ship, but we didn’t have the inventory to pick up the stock. There are about a dozen crates with Khalai power cells, and we got intel that they were carrying one of those custom made guns their DT boys use. The boss would really like to target practice with it.’

A smile crept on Karn’s face as the recording went on.

‘He’ll be waiting for you to pick up and deliver the stock on Meinhoff. And don’t go for another one of your stupid detours again! Seriously man, those are going to get you killed someday.’

“Huh…guess the poor dumb buck should have listened.” The dark templar quietly said, after which he spoke to himself. “Let’s bring this baby’s cargo back to the station, and then get going to Minehoff.”

Next he started up the ship. It levitated several dozen feet in the air, before the engines burst it into space.

________________________________________________________________________________

*view – desert planet, covered by multiple specs of green and orbited by several space stations*

Consortium space, planet Meinhoff. The Gallows was as busy as any large planetary starport. The city, build next to it, was surrounded by multiple greenhouse farms. Among the crowd seven stallions, standing next to cargo truck, were looking around. Five were in full mech armor, while the other three were dressed in greenish-brown worker suits.

All of them were on all fours, but even the three not armored ones had mech limbs, ready to shift into a two-legged stance, and had a gun on their sides. The three not armored stallions were a white pegasus, with a red mane, a night blue earth pony, with a black mane, which had a two white stripes running across it, and the one on point was a brown earth pony, with a darker brown mane.

A large shuttle landed several meters away from them. A door on the side of the ship dropped open, making a small ramp. Then four unicorn stallions started unloading crates. They too were dressed in greenish-brown worker suits with long sleeves, and all had goggles. One was blue, with a white mane, the second was yellow, his mane a fire-like mix of orange and red, the third was purple, with a dark brown mane, and the last one was gray, with a darker gray mane. That caught the seven’s attention. After the first crate was unloaded, the gray unicorn walked up to the brown stallion and asked.

“So, where do you want these?”

“Say what?” The earth pony confusedly returned.

“What do you mean what? Special delivery, Khalai stock. Ring any bells?” The unicorn continued.

“Where is the guy who was supposed to deliver this?!” The stallion demanded, stomping his hoof.

“Yeah…he’s sorta dead.” The guy replied casually.

“HE’S WHAT?!” The earth pony exclaimed.

Then the unicorn brought his hoof up. On it was a holographic projector, which turned on, showing the green see-through image of a stallion walking to his ship. The next moment a hooded figure appeared, tapped the shoulder of the stallion, and as he turned around smacked him clean on the ground. After that, the figure pulled out a warp blade and thrust it through the stallion.

Then the holograph changed, showing the interior of the ship. The hooded figure was sitting in the pilot’s seat, and was holding something in front of a scanner. When done with it, the mysterious pony threw the thing away, making it clear that it was the stallion’s head. Then the stranger fiddled with the controls, and a small version of the brown stallion who was currently watching this appeared.

All of a sudden something made the figure turn around in his seat, and then it fell on the ground. In a moment a unicorn holding a gun in his magic grip appeared in the holograph, after which it ended. The two stallions looked at each other.

“Your boy kinda bailed on the job. We took care of the problem and since his mission log was open, and we heard what the deal was, we thought we’d make the delivery, probably get the pay? Also, not bad being on the Lost Vikings’ good list.” The unicorn said with a smile.

The brown stallion gave him a questioning look, before asking.

“If you decided to make the delivery…I take it you have the “special” stock?”

The gray pony sneered, before raising his hoof. The blue unicorn walked to them, carrying a 3 foot long suitcase, and tapped it as he smiled. The earth pony cracked his lips as well, before addressing the gray unicorn.

“You got a name bub?”

“Arzaim. And you?” He replied, after which he stretched his hoof forward.

“Rawly.” The stallion replied and shook Arzaim’s hoof.

He took another glance at the other three unicorns, then back at their speaker and spoke.

“Load up the crates in the truck and tell your boys to wait up here. I’m sure the boss would like to meet you personally.”

“You heard the man boys. Lance give me the case.”

The three nodded, and after handing Arzaim the case, they began loading the crates onto the truck.

“Hold on a sec.” One of the armored ponies said when the unicorns loaded the first crate.

Then he opened it, and after seeing the power cells, with a pleased humph he closed it, and motioned for them to continue. Then all seven, plus the gray stallion entered the truck and drove off. Now left alone, the three unicorns got back to the ship as they conversed mentally.

‘That guy is way too full of himself. Telling us to wait for him to get back.’ The purple unicorn thought.

‘You know how dark templar are. Because they are not restricted by any form of honor, they think they are the most unstoppable thing in the sector.’ The yellow one added as he spat on the ground.

‘As much as I agree with you guys, and as much as I dislike them, the black shits are pretty decent when it comes to combat. And this one has been around the matriarch for a while now. He’s bound to know a few tricks. Let’s just give him a day, or so, long enough time for him to kill the pirate, bail out and then cover his tracks.’ The blue one spoke up as the voice of reason.

________________________________________________________________________________

In the truck, a questioning was undergoing. After about ten minutes of riding, Rawly’s curiosity regarding this stranger could no longer be held, so he began assaulting him with questions.

“So, why’d ya even go after our boy and that DT?”

“When you see a hooded figure following somebody, don’t you want to go along and see what you can benefit from that?” Arzaim returned.

“I see.” The brown stallion said, before shooting another question. “Why are you and your boys with that shuttle? Gup’s ship not good enough for ya?”

“Nah, just a safety measure. The Khalai somehow managed to track him down, so we changed ships to certify ourselves that no we were in the clean. Well, clean from any dark templar following us at least.” The unicorn replied, after which he gave a hearty laugh.

“Smart.” Raw complimented.

After that he gave another question, only a slightly different one.

“You ever considered not just having a well oiled organization as ours as an ally, but actually progressing inside of one?”

“Oh, no, no, no. Sorry bro but I must decline. I am a small fry, smuggling myself a living, and it’s a quiet life. I’d prefer to keep it that way.” He refused, shaking his head in decline.

In about an hour the vehicle came to a stop in front of a small building. They were met by about ten guards clad in amor suits, ready to shoot down anyone who did not have a proper invitation. After receiving a gesture from Raw, they let the eight passengers, one carrying a suitcase, pass through them and enter the building, while they began unloading the crates. Despite its outer looks, the building was larger on the inside. They walked down a large tunnel, passing by multiple guards. Five minutes of decent and fifteen minutes of walking through a corridor later, they passed through a metal door, which led into a spacious metal hall. It had a double staircase, which led up to a balcony. On it stood a dark green unicorn stallion.

His mane was black and it went down to his face, forming a beard, and had one golden eye, the other was covered by an eye patch. He was wearing a brown vest and darker brown pants, lined with metal. Arzain stood at the center of the hall, a marine standing on each side of him. The boss looked down at the new guest and asked questioningly.

“Who are ya? Where’s the guy who was supposed to deliver the stock?”

“Yeah, there’s been a slight change in plans regarding that boss.” Rawly said, before continuing. “But, this fine fellow…” He put a hand over the gray unicorn. “…took it upon himself to bring you…this.”

Next Arzaim opened the suit case, revealing a golden gun, with several green crystals embedded in it. One end was thinner, for the projectile, and the other one was for the user to put in his hoof. Then the brown stallion took it, and presented it forward. It got enveloped in a blue aura, and levitated itself up in the pirate leader’s hooves. He put it on his right hoof, and admired it.

“Aye, marvelous work.” He began. “T’be honest Ah never thought a dark templar would bring me his gun.” He sneered.

The gray unicorn’s expression grew cold. All of a sudden, the seven ponies who walked him in took on their two legged stances, and the two armored pirates on his sides grabbed his forelegs and stood him up on his hind legs. The other five pointed their rifles and pistols at him. Next one of the stallions holding the unicorn took off his goggles, revealing his empty green eyes.

“Now, may I have the pleasure of knowing who Ah’m to thank to for this marvelous gift?” The boss said, gesturing at the captive with his free hoof.

The gray unicorn scowled at him, before replying.

“Name’s Karn. And you’re the dirt bag, who’s been harassing the Khalai cargo ships of the Hoketa 7-JI station…” He said.

The green unicorn tipped an invisible hat.

Then the templar continued his statement.

“And the dirt bag who I am going to kill in the next minute.”

That made everybody in the room laugh. When he stopped himself, the boss spoke.

“You’re funny, Ah give ya that. See, you’re not the first DT I’ve had to deal with. She was very…informative regarding you guys.” He chuckled. “Though she had a bit of a hard time talking, if you catch mah drift. Just gatta keep yer arms where I can see ‘em and you’re as safe as bunnies.”

Karn’s face was the living embodiment of non-amusement.

“How did you find out I was a dark templar?” He asked.

“Ah like to keep track of mah delivery vehicles. Rather suspicious for one of them fly into Khalai space.” Was the reply.

“What are you talking about?” The templar enquired.

“Forgot to check the fuel tank, didn’t ya?” The boss gave him a witty smile, before continuing. “Me and my fuel supplier have this deal, he places tracker nano-bots in the fuel.”

In return he received a cold glare. That made the green stallion sigh, after which he pointed the gun at the templar with the words.

“As much as Ah’m enjoying this conversation, it’s ‘bout time we end it.”

Just as he was about to fire, a sly smile crept onto Karn’s face. Just when the boss fired the gun, it started making a quiet hum for about two seconds, after which it exploded, taking off both of the stallion’s arms and sending him back first on the floor. The explosion also sent a giant cloud of smoke at the ponies down the stairs. Karn jumped, twisting his back so his hind legs were at the level of his holders’ heads and kicked them. When the two fell on the ground, their assaulter tore off his suit, with his magic, in mid air, revealing his usual attire – the brown vest, crossed by a golden belt, the purple cloak on his back, and then summoned his two warp blades.

The next moment, still in mid air, smoke surrounded him and in an instant he vanished, then appeared behind one of the armored ponies, cutting him in two through the gut. Upstairs, the green unicorn slowly limped to a control panel with a microphone. He pressed a button with his muzzle and then yelled into the microphone.

“SECURITY! THE GUY WHO ENTERED THE BUILDING WITH RAW IS A DARK TEMPLAR! TAKE HIM OU-”

Something grabbed him by the neck, turning him to face Karn, who spoke with a note of spite in his tone.

“Here’s a helpful tip regarding dark templar. We’re taught to lie our whole lives…and we’re damn good at it.”

“WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE GUN?! It’s supposed to work no matter if you are a Khalai or not!” The pirate yelled.

Then the gray unicorn leaned forward and calmly said.

“Who said I delivered it in full factory condition.”

Then he got up, and spoke in a more cheerful tone.

“On a side note, guns are stupid.”

Next he thrust his warp blade through the stallion’s face. Several gunshots whistled past his head. Karn looked down and was met by six stallions ready to blow his brains out, and they made another attempt. Before the bullets reached him, he vanished in a cloud of black smoke. In a moment he reappeared behind one of the mech suited pirtates and cut off his arm, letting him drop on the ground screaming in pain. That made the other five turn at him, and started firing once again. Karn teleported behind another one, grabbed him, and started to use him as a meat-shield.

Once he was filled with a clip full of bullets, the templar threw the unlucky bastard, toppling another armored guard and one of the guys in suits. As they attempted to get up, he teleported next to them, and shoved both of his blades through them. The only ones left were Rawl and one of the stallions in suits. They were in the two ends of the room. Karn smirked, after which he vanished from his position.

The two stallions started to franticly look around, their trigger fingers itching on the pulls. Suddenly the templar in question appeared from behind-under Rawl, cutting off his left leg from the crotch up to the kidney, after which he fell on the ground. The last man standing was pointing his gun at the unicorn, his mechanical hands shook violently. The templar gave him a smile, and then vanished in a cloud of black smoke.

The white red maned pegasus did not stay for the party. He ran for the door, but in his rush he couldn’t operate the controls properly. He felt a cold chill on his right, after which he heard a whisper in his ear.

“Boo.”

Next, the stallion felt the warm sensation of a warp blade being stuck in his midsection. As he crumbled to the ground, Karn stood up on his hind legs above him. He was proudly grinning, when all of a sudden after two gun shots, a sharp pain in his left shoulder made him kneel. He turned back and saw Rawl, clutching his gun, with death cold eyes locked onto him. The dark templar teleported right in front of him, and kicked him in the head, sending him into a nearby wall. The brown stallion did not get up from that.

As Karn clutched his bleeding shoulder, the large door to the room opened, and over a dozen guards, armed with gaus-rifles ran in and opened fire. In his current condition he didn’t stand a chance, so the dark templar did the only thing he could, he teleported as far away upwards as he could, not caring where he would end up. He appeared next to an elevator on the floor above the room he was in. He limped inside, pressed the button for the highest floor, and as the doors shut, he leaned against the metal wall. In the mean time, when he vanished, the armored pony who led the group of guards, brought his wrist to his helmet and spoke in it.

"This is Prary Dog blue! The DT bailed on us! Commence facility lock down! Jam the doors and block the entrances! Seal the bastard in!"

The order was heard through the entire facility...even in a certain elevator.

"Seal me in, huh?" Karn questioned, as he pulled out a small golden device with a red button.

He dropped it on the ground and pushed the button, while saying.

"Seal this!"

Deep down in the pirates’ lair, the crates full of Khalai power cells started to beep. Under the thin layer of power cells, the crates’ actual cargo – many photon bombs, hidden beneath a false bottom, detonated, decimating the entire facility, and making the ground slightly rumble, but not enough for anyone on the surface to feel it.

All that was left for him to do now was to reach ground level, and make a clean escape. A monitor in the elevator's wall showed that he had reached the last underground floor. Once out, only about ten meters stood between him and the surface.

However, when the doors opened, he was met by another group of armored guards.

"That's him!" A stallion shouted, before continuing. "Take him down!"

Mustering whatever strenght he had left, Karn managed to make another blind teleport upwards, dodging a wave of bullets. This time he found himself above ground, near one of the greenhouse farms, which unbeknownst to its owners was situated on top of a secret pirate lair. The sun had already started to set, but it was still very hot.

After a few moments of catching his breath, Karn slowly tried to walk. As he reached several meters from the dome of the farm, the heat, the amount of blood he had lost and his drained from the teleporting stamina took their toll, and he faceplanted on the ground.

“Oh my goodness!” Someone yelled in the distance.

It sounded like a mare. The unicorn managed to make out a black figure galloping towards him, but before it could reach him, his vision vanished and he blacked out.

Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed. Comment, rate, like, favorite and follow. Have a nice day!

Chapter 2: First Sight

Two weeks after the beginning of Karn’s mission. Orbital station Hoketa 7-JI. Amaka was sitting in front the tea table in her room. She was shifting through multiple holographic pages. After a few minutes, she left them on the table and gave out a loud groan as she threw her arms up and behind her head. Suddenly Erina and the two gray guards ponies entered. The matriarch sighed, before addressing her secretary.

“What news do you bring me this time?”

“The Lost Vikings’ leader has been killed, and their main base of operations was destroyed. Also we have started receiving reports that both their forces, and those of other pirate groups who have harassed our ships are pulling out of Khalai space.” The blue mare stated.

“Good. He did the job perfectly.” Amaka’s eyes slightly glimmered, as she spoke her next couple of lines. “So where exactly is our favorite dark templar? I’ve planned a great big thanks for him.”

Erina looked down at the floor, her eyes filled with regret. The white mare took notice of that, her cheerful expression darkened, then she asked the most obvious question.

“What happened?”

The blue mare’s sorrow gaze met her superior’s, after which she replied.

“I regret to inform you that…Karn’Aaziim has died in action.”

Amaka sighed once again and lightly facehoofed.

“M-ma’am?” Erina worriedly said, but stopped as the white mare raised her other hoof, motioning her secretary to be quiet.

In a couple of moments she lowered her hooves and spoke.

“Fifteen years, and then he draws the bottom line.” She groaned, after which she continued. “Get someone to write his family an apology letter from me, and a speech. “He died a hero...” “Despite being different, dark templar are still our Khalai brothers and sisters…”, one of those kind of speeches.” As she listed her requests, she made circular motions with one hoof.

“Also, get me a list of the DO operatives in the Dylar system, and any relatives they have that live here too.”

“As you wish.” The blue mare returned.

Then she bowed and exited through the door, followed by the guards. But just as she went out, and the two were half way through, Amaka stopped them.

“Wait.”

All three turned around.

“I want you two to stay here for a while.” The white mare said, pointing at the two stallions.

With that, the trio split, and the door closed. But Erina didn’t go right away. She stood in one place, her back turned towards the door, for a couple of minutes, bearing a grim expression. Not long after, certain sounds began to emit from the room. Then the blue mare slammed her hoof in the wall, tears slowly starting to drip from her eyes.

‘Someday…you stuck up cold hearted bitch…someday you’ll get what’s coming to you.’ She thought.

Her next thought, brought her hoof from the wall, over her heart.

________________________________________________________________________________

It was a dark storage room. The door slid open, and two ponies entered, one was a mare and the other was a stallion.

“I’m not sure we should do this.” The mare said.

“Come on Erina, we finally got some free time, and you want to waste with that?” The stallion asked.

“I know Karn, but…what if someone walks in on us?” She returned with worry in her tone.

“Who is going to bother? The patrols are done, maintenance hours are over, and there is no surveillance in the room. We are free to do as we please.” He stated.

She put on a seductive smile as she said.

“You always manage to talk me in.”

“And that’s why you love me.” He returned with a devilish smirk.

“And this, is why you love me.” She stated.

Then she wrapped her hooves around his neck and engaged him in a passionate kiss, after which she pulled him down in the darkness.

________________________________________________________________________________

Erina was with Amaka in her room, receiving a lot of finished paperwork, when all of a sudden the door slid open, and a rather angry dark templar bolted inside. He held up a holographic sheet, before loudly asking.

“What the buck is this?!”

“By the Khala what do you mean?” The white mare enquired innocently.

“Last night, the COMPLETED list of the families selected to be sent to the outer ring fields, got an update. Why is my sister’s and her family’s names on it?!” The stallion shouted.

The matriarch shrugged, before replying.

“I don’t know. Those names are selected at random.”

“Like hell they are! Two days ago you got intel on me and Moon Sight being related, and then she ends up sent to the least defended parts of the system!”

“I assure you, I had nothing to do with it.” She continued with the sweet and innocent act. “Buuut…I can remove their names from the list, if I could be persuaded somehow…” She gave him a seductive look.

Erina was forced to witness her beloved utter the words, which would doom their relationship, without being able to do anything to prevent it. Karn sighed, before saying.

“I wish…to be your shadow.” After which he bowed down.

“Splendid!” Amaka cheerfully exclaimed as she clapped her hooves.

Then she addressed her secretary.

“Erina, be a dear and get this gentlecolt’s relatives off of the list. We need to talk over the duties in his job description.”

A tear escaped the blue mare’s eye, before she hesitantly bowed her head in understanding and left the room.

________________________________________________________________________________

Erina sighed, letting the Khala calm her, after which she walked off to do her assignments.

________________________________________________________________________________

Karn found himself in a pitch black room, tied to a metal table. He remembered that he was shot in the shoulder, but for some reason he did not aknowledge the pain. There was a small lamp, making a circle of light around the table. Suddenly he heard a noise, after which he called out.

"Who's there?! Where am I?!"

A familiar pink maned white mare walked into the light.

"Amaka? What's going on here?" He enquired with surprise in his tone.

"Oh, not much." She started talking lightly. "You didn't come back in time, so your family took a trip to the outer ring fields. I was wrong, instead of crumbling down, the pirates got more zealous. And before you ask, Erina is probably downing mugs in a bar somewhere, and giving freebies to every stallion who passes her by."

Her words stung him deep. The pain from the bullet wound returned, but it was hardly a comparison to that which the mare brought on him. His eyes shut tight, a few tears managing to squeeze through. Then she spoke again.

"And now, you are stuck in here, with me, to remind you of all of your failures, for...ever."

He couldn't take it anymore. His eyes shot open, and he forced himself up, tearing off the bindings, the thought of ripping off the head of the mare standing in front of him being his main drive. But just as he got off of the table he faceplanted on the floor. When he looked up Amaka was gone. He found himself in a basement filled with multiple farming tools and provisions.

Next his attention was caught by a sharp pain in his shoulder. He noticed that it was bandaged, and that there was a bandage around his neck, which supported his arm.

'Where the buck am I?' He thought.

He began scanning his surroundings. In the room there was a bed, and next to is was a wooden plank, with a bowl on it, and inside of it was a wooden spoon. Aside from the bandage he wasn't wearing anything, and his stuff was nowhere to be found in the room. Soon his gaze found a couple of stairs. He followed them and saw a staircase going up to a door.

He got up on his hind legs, and using the wall as support, he slowly started making his way up. In about two minutes he reached the door, but when he was about to open it, when it slammed him, sending him down the stairs.

“Oh my goodness!” A mare exclaimed, when Karn hit the wall. “I’m so, so sorry! Are you okay?!” She asked worriedly as she ran down to help him up.

Then he opened his eyes, and saw who addressed him. It was a light purple earth pony mare, her mane was a darker purple with teal locks, and light orange eyes. The moment of awe he had passed when she was a step away from him. Then he surrounded himself in black smoke, and when it cleared he appeared next to the bed. Then he grabbed the first thing he could and pointed it at her as he loudly said.

“STAY BACK! Where am I?! Who are you?!”

Instead of the desired intimidating effect, the mare broke out a laugh. That’s when Karn noticed that his weapon of choice was the wooden spoon.

“Calm down.” She began through a giggle. “You are at the Reneema de Steel Wing family residence basement.” The mare spread her arms in a two legged stance, showing off the place, and put on a large smile.

The unicorn blinked a few times as he stared confusedly at her.

“Heheh…” The mare quietly chuckled, before continuing. “As for your other question, I am Rain Drop Reneema de Steel Wing.”

He continued to blankly stare in disbelief.

“Soo…aren’t you going to at least ‘thank you’ to the mare who saved your life?” She asked.

“This is your work?” Karn enquired as he pointed with the spoon at his bandaged arm.

“Well…mine and my mom’s.” Rain began. “You had lost a lot of blood when we found you. Good thing you were close to the house, so we didn’t have to drag you for too long.”

That did not do much, as he continued to just stare at her. She put her hooves behind her back, and put on the most innocent smile she could, before asking.

“So, would you like to join me and my parents upstairs for dinner?”

Karn still did not say a thing.

“I’ll take the silence as a yes.” Rain said, after which she returned the spoon in the bowl, then took the stallions hoof and walked him up the stairs.

________________________________________________________________________________

On the table in the dining room sat Rain Drop, Karn and an old purple earth pony stallion, with light gray-white short mane and dark blue eyes. He was giving the dark templar a disturbingly mistrustful look, which made the said templar and the mare feel rather strange, as they both had put on comically awkward smiles. The unicorn slightly leaned towards the purple mare and quietly asked through his teeth, still keeping the smile on.

“Does he always look like that?”

She in turn slightly leaned closer to him as well, and also spoke through her teeth, keeping up the smile.

“No, not usually. I’m not sure, but I think he likes you.”

“You think?” He questioned, a tad bit louder.

“So…you finally decided to wake up.” The purple stallion said.

“Uh…yeah.” Karn began. “Sorry sir, but may I ask how long was I out?”

“Nearly a week.” The old timer said lightly.

The unicorn was stunned, barely holding his mouth from opening, then he sheepishly said.

“Yeah, sorry to disturb you, but I have to catch a ride.”

“What ride?” Rain Drop asked.

“Well I came to Minehoff with a few friends, and they have been waiting for me for a while.” The templar replied.

“Are these friends of your, by any chance a blue, yellow and purple unicorns?” The old stallion enquired.

“Yes…” Karn said with surprise in his tone, then he asked a question of his own. “How do you know that?”

“About a day after we found you, when I was at the star port market, I overheard two guys in mech armor saying something about their boss being dead, and their base getting blown up, and then one of them said that a dark templar got killed. Surprisingly, the three unicorns you described were also listening to the armors. After they heard the part about the dark templar, they got on their shuttle and hightailed out of orbit.” The purple stallion replied.

Karn’s expression hardened in a scowl. He just sat there for a few moments, before slamming his healthy hoof on the table, leaving a small dent in the metal surface. The sudden outburst made the mare slightly jump in her seat.

“What is it boy?” The old timer enquired.

“That guy in the armor told the truth…I’m dead.” The templar replied.

“But…you’re here? How can you be dead?!” Rain Drop exclaimed.

“When a dark templar is reported dead, he officially becomes dead.” Karn said.

“Why? Won’t they send a search party, to investigate if that’s true or something?” She persisted.

“You are not very familiarized with Khalai society, are you?” He began with a deadpan. “Dark templar are not the most beloved through our people. It’s kind of the opposite actually. Any other Khalai wouldn’t mind if our entire cast was eliminated. So why bother saving us. Some who are even more fanatical scare their kids by telling them that a dark templar will come in the night and steal them for the Dark Order if they misbehave."

"But why?" The mare continued. "I know that the rest of the Khalai send you to do the political talking for your people, and trust you with top secret missions. Why do they hate you?"

"Because we know how and want to survive." He said.

Rain Drop just gave him a questioning look, which demanded explanation. Karn sighed, before doing so.

"Have you ever gone to high-school? You know how the "popular" and under average kids make fun of and bully the smart ones, right?"

He received a nod, after which he continued.

"Well that is pretty much the deal with the dark templar issue, only a lot more extreme. We don't want to blindly die for no reason, and in turn not do anything useful just in the name of honor, and we don't want to share our secrets with other ponies, so we disconnect from the Khala entirely. Because of that we are hated. Honestly, I think that if the supreme matriarch didn't protect our cast, the rest of the Khalai would have personally terminated us."

The ponies on the table sat quiet for a while. In a minute the silence was broken when an earth pony mare with red fur, almost gray teal mane and orange eyes entered the room, carrying a metal pot. She left it on the table and said cheerfully.

"I hope you're in the mood for tomato-carrot stew."

She then brought four bowls and spoons, poured portions for everybody, and then started an introduction.

"Hello, we haven't been properly introduced. I am Hay Seed Reneema de Steel Wing." She gestured at herself.

"You have already met our daughter Rain Drop." She gestured at the purple mare.

"And mister frowny-pants here is my husband Axon." She finished as she wrapped her hooves around her husband's arm, after which she asked.

"And you are?"

"I am Karn'Aaziim. Pleased to meet you and your family miss..." He began, but got lost in his words for a moment, before saying. "Forgive me, we only use first names in the Khala, I don't know with which of your surnames to address you."

"Oh are you a polite one. You can just call me Hay Seed, it's not a problem." The mare returned.

"Well boy, it's not a proper introduction for two stallions without shaking hooves." Axon said, before extending his right hoof.

Karn did likewise. He felt that the old stallion was trying to tighten his grip, but with no effect, after which he stated.

"Sir I would really appreciate it if you stop calling me 'boy'. There is a good possibility that I am older than you."

"That so? And how old are you actually?" The purple stallion asked.

"Dad!" "Axon!" The two mares exclaimed at the same time.

"Don't be so impolite in front of our guest." Hay Seed stated.

"61." Karn said, as if the mares' intervention never happened.

"73." Axon returned with a smirk on his face.

"Really?" The unicorn began. "You look very young for your age." He said with a light smile.

"Are you saying that because you mean it,...or because you don't want the local militia to find out there is a dark templar in our house?" Axon asked.

"Dad!" "Axon!" The two mares stepped in once again, but this time, they did not silence the stallion.

"You do know that you folk have a bad reputation not only among your people."

"If that's so, then why did you take me in, keep me alive and didn't alert the authorities?" Karn asked, a serious expression coloring his face.

The purple stallion leaned in his seat, receiving disapproving looks from both mares, and then replied with a calm tone.

"I like to think it's because me and my wife were raised properly, and we managed to do so with our daughter too." Then he chuckled. "I could be wrong though."

That made the mares chuckle as well. Then Axon spoke again.

"We're glad to help anyone we can, no matter the faction they are or were with." He gave the gray pony a reassuring smile.

Karn sighed, lowered his gaze and stared in his stew, after which he spoke.

"And I am thankful for that, but I think you have just wasted your resources." He looked up. "When I heal, I can't get to Khalai space, and even if I somehow manage, it wouldn't matter. My job would have been long since taken...and I am certain that won't be the only thing I would have lost." His gaze fell once again.

Then he felt a light touch on his left shoulder. When he looked in that direction, he saw Rain Drop had placed her hoof on his shoulder, and then she said.

"You could stay here with us, make a new start. It's no trouble at all, and I doubt that dad would mind another set of hooves to help around the farm." She gave him the most sincere smile possible.

Karn then turned his head, to be met by the purple mare's parents' reassuring expressions. Not only did he come from another culture, but he was also part of those most scorned from that culture, yet these ponies took him in, patched up his wound and now, after he had found out his previous life was gone, they offered him a roof over his head and a chance to rebuild. The situation made him smile, as he barely held back a tear from coming out of his eye.

Chapter 3: Settling Down

Meinhoff, Reneema de Steel Wing greenhouse farm, four months later. Kanr and Axon were hoeing the vineyard. The trees provided a little protection from the burning sun above the glass dome.

“Boys! Lemonade anyone!” Hay Seed yelled, as she and Rain Drop brought out a tray with several glasses and a glass jug filled with the yellow liquid, pieces of lemon and several ice cubes. The two stallions didn’t need another call. They armed the farming tools on their shoulders, and headed for the porch of the house. When they reached it, there were two glasses of sweet cold salvation from the sun waiting for them. As they downed them, the purple mare asked the gray unicorn with a cheerful tone.

“You ready?”

“Ready for what?” He enquired with a puzzled look on his face.

“I can’t believe you forgot!” She exclaimed, before continuing. “You said you would come to help me at the market.”

“Oh, right!” The unicorn recalled.

A light ashamed blush spread over his face, as he rubbed the back of his head and asked.

“So…when are we going?”

The purple mare gave him a disapproving scowl, with a quiet growl, after which she answered him.

“As soon as you load up the stock in the Crazyhorse.”

“Alright, then le-whoa, whoa, whoa!” Karn exclaimed. “What do you mean ‘after I load them’?” He questioned.

“Well you forgot your promise.” Hay Seed began with a smile. “Seems like a fitting punishment.”

The gray stallion’s gaze shifted to Axon, who simply shrugged, bearing a smile himself, and then said.

“I can’t argue with that logic.”

“Another great win for democracy.” Rain Drop sneered.

Then she took the unicorn’s glass, and gestured with her head towards the barn, and bore a mischievous smile, while saying. “Come on boy, go and do your job.”

Karn scowled, before walking off to do his task.

________________________________________________________________________________

The market was swelling with ponies, even if it was nearing the end of the day. At their stand, Karn successfully closed a sale, giving a teal elderly unicorn mare a bag with six corn-cobs. She gave him twenty bits, and waved him and Rain Drop goodbye.

“So, how do you like it doing something else than physical labor?” The purple mare asked.

He sighed as he leaned onto a crate, before replying.

“As someone who has spent most of life staying out of sight, all this social contact is rather unnerving.”

“Oh come on you.” She spoke as she lightly punched him in the shoulder. “Don’t lie to me, you like it better than all the hours in the fields.”

He cracked a smile, after which asked with a chuckle.

“Nothing gets by you, does it?”

"Shut up and go bring another crate of grape." She returned, bearing a smile of her own.

Karn got up from his seat and headed for the APT. Rain leaned on the stand as she sighed in frustration.

'What does it take to get that guy's attention?' She thought.

Her train of thought was cut off by a night blue pegasus stallion, with a half dark brown and half white mane and yellow eyes, dressed in a black work suit who slammed his arm onto the stand's counter. She quickly got a hold of herself, put on a friendly smile and addressed the 'customer'.

"Good day sir, may I help you?"

"You sure can doll face. Do I pay per count or per pound for you?" He replied with a smirk.

She caught wind of what this guy was, so her smile turned into an unamused stern expression, and she said with a note of displeasure in her tone.

"Not for sale. If you don't plan on taking something beat it."

"Oh, but I do plan on taking something." He returned as he grabbed her hoof.

"Hey let go of me!" She exclaimed.

At that time Karn was returning with a crate in a gray aura. When he saw the display he dropped the crate, and rushed to the stand and commanded with an angry tone.

"Leave her alone!"

"Piss off!" The stallion shot back at him, before addressing Rain Drop. "Come on sugar, let's get to my place and I'll show you the universe."

"Let go of me!" The struggling mare demanded.

"I said, leave her alone!" The gray unicorn stated, as he grabbed the stallion's suit's neckpiece, and pulled him a couple of feet away from the stand.

"You wanna meddle in other ponies' business jack ass?!" The stallion got up on his hind legs and pushed Karn.

To that the templar returned, by hitting him square in the jaw with a right blow, knocking him down on the ground, and then said.

"Yeah, I do."

The pegasus spat out some blood, after which he got up and lunged at the unicorn. The two stallions engaged in a hoof fight on the ground.

"Somebody help!" Rain Drop began yelling.

Karn could easily kill the dirt bag, but that would show that he was a dark templar, so he had to stick to common brawling . In a minute a voice was heard.

"ALRIGHT BREAK IT UP!"

Then both of them were picked up from the ground by an armored pony. The two stallions' faces had multiple bruises and small streaks of blood leaking down either from their temples or muzzles. A third pony in armor stepped forth. His visor was pulled back, so his yellow fur, orange mane and green eyes could be seen.

"What's going on here?!" He demanded.

The purple mare rushed from behind the stand to the gray unicorn's side, and clutched to his right arm, before explaining.

"This swine..." She pointed at the pegasus, who was still held by the militia pony. "...assaulted me and my boyfriend defended me!"

"Hey Rook, aint that tha guy who robbed ol'man Jenkins's place?" The armored pony who had held Karn addressed the yellow stallion as he gestured towards the captive pegasus with his gauss rifle.

The addressed pony placed his gun on his side, brought his left mech arm in front of his face, and a panel on it opened, revealing a small keyboard and a small holo-projector. He pressed a few button sequences, and a holographic image of the pegasus appeared with some text next to the photo.

"He is." The militia pony began.

He then turned towards the captive and spoke.

"First robbery, now sexual assault? Apparently morons like you Umar don't learn."

Rage quickly colored the pegasus's face as Rook gave the other two ponies an order.

"Get him to the joint. It would seem he needs a little more time of rehab."
The armored stallions nodded and walked off with Umar. As they walked off he turned around and shouted at Karn.

"I'll get you back for this you son of a whore! You hear me! I'll get you and your whole family!"

Rain Drop was shaken by the whole situation, so she walked to the stand and leaned on it. The last armored pony walked next to the unicorn, who was still on his hind legs and glaring daggers at the walked off pegasus, and said to him.

"If you want my advice bro, pack up for the day and get her home. This isn't the first assaulter I lock up. The whole situation tends to be very heavy on a mare's mentality."

The gray stallion nodded in understanding.

"I have to commend you for holding your ground against that bastard." The militia pony complimented him, before introducing himself. "I'm Rook by the way."

"Karn." The unicorn returned, after which he said. "Thanks sheriff."

Rook chuckled, then said.

"Nah, still just a deputy. Hopefully someday I'll earn the badge."

“Good luck and have fun with that.” Karn returned, after which he went to pack the stock back into the APT.

________________________________________________________________________________

Rain Drop and Karn were driving the truck back to the farm. The mare was feeling rather shaken up, so the stallion sat behind the wheel. After about fifteen minutes of driving, the purple earth pony broke the silence.

“Thank you for sticking out for me.”

He smiled, after which he replied

“It’s not a problem. You and your folks give me food and shelter, the least I can do is offer a hoof when you need it.”

A few silent minutes followed. After them, it was the gray unicorn who broke the quiet.

“What was that about me being your boyfriend?”

“Hey! I panicked alright! You try getting assaulted in any sort of way by some stallion and keep your cool!” She returned.

He tilted his head in her direction and gave her the ‘seriously?’ look.

“Oh…sorry.” She said in an apologetic tone.

A mischievous smirk colored her face. She put on an offended expression, after which she spoke.

“What, am I not good enough to be your girlfriend?”

“Uhh-nn-n-no, I didn’t mean it like that!” He began to lose himself in his words, as his cheeks became more and more crimson.

“I mean y-you are pretty, and, and, you are…attractive, and nice…”

“Buuut…?” She continued to tease him.

“But I-I-um…I-uh…”

Rain Drop’s laugh silenced him. He turned around to see her rolling and laughing in her seat. In a little while she stopped herself, taking long breaths and rubbing a tear from her eye. “You are so adorable when you are at a loss for words.” She said. To that Karn ‘humphed’ and turned to look at the road, bearing a scowl. Suddenly without any warning Rain gave him a light kiss on the cheek. He turned around and stared at her, as his face quickly reddened. She crossed her forelegs, and put on an innocent smile, which went along perfectly with her also slightly crimson face, before saying.

“Thank you for helping me…again.”

“Yeah…no problem…” He returned as he slowly turned his eyes towards the road, and raised his hoof over his cheek.

“This little number wasn’t included, but overall my plan worked.” The purple mare leaned back in the seat, placing her hooves behind her head, and putting on a proud smile.

“What plan?” The gray stallion enquired, bearing a puzzled look.

“Well, since you will be staying here for a while, I wanted you to come to the market, meet new ponies and possibly make a friend. And I am pretty sure you succeeded at that with the deputy. You guys should hang out sometime.” Rain Drop returned.

“Well…if you think it’s a good idea, then I might.” He said.

The purple mare looked at the clock on the vehicle’s desk, and slightly jumped in her seat, after which she exclaimed.

“Step on the gas!”

“What? Why? Is someone chasing us?!” Karn asked worriedly.

“No you dodo! We’ll miss the movie! It’s Earth era night.” She replied.

The unicorn groaned, before giving her another question.

“Are you for real right now?”

“Yes I am, now STEP ON IT!” She yelled.

________________________________________________________________________________

When they reached the farm and exited the vehicle, Hay Seed and Axon ran to them, and embraced their daughter in a group hug as her mother frantically spoke, with tears in her eyes.

“Oh my god Rain, are you okay sweetie?! Did that brute hurt you?!”

“I’m alright mom. Karn here beat that guy until the militia arrived.” The purple mare said to her mother as she returned the hug.

After hearing that, the red mare broke off and tightly squeezed the gray unicorn’s neck in a hug, while constantly repeating.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!...”

He tried to spread her hooves, but as his head turned blue and his eyes began to come out of the sockets, his limbs fell limp, and he barely managed to breathe out a request.

“Mm-ham…plea-se…a-ir!”

“OH! Sorry!” The elderly mare exclaimed as she let go.

Taking the chance, Karn filled his lungs with several quick deep breaths. The three earth ponies looked at him with light smiles on their faces. When he caught his breath, the unicorn said to Rain Drop.

“Your mom is a lot stronger than she looks!”

To that the family returned a laugh. After that, the purple mare asked her parents.

“How did you find out about what happened?”

“Deputy Rook called and told us about it.” Axon replied.

“Alright then. Now can we go inside?” Rain began. “It’s been a tough day.”

“Yes, of course.” Hay Seed started. “I’ll get you kids something refreshing to drink.”

“Thanks mom.” “Thanks miss Hay Seed.” Both of them said in union, after which they stared at each other, causing a chuckle from both of the elderly ponies.

________________________________________________________________________________

“Rain, are you coming? You know I can’t sit through these things alone!” Karn yelled over his shoulder.

“Just a second!” The said mare yelled back.

“You’ve been saying that for the past five minutes!” He interjected.

After receiving no reply, he groaned and sank in the pink sofa. In about a second Rain Drop jumped over the sofa and landed on the seat next to the unicorn, after which she asked.

“So, what’d I miss?”

“About half of the terrans got eaten by the slimy eyeless ones.” He gave her an unamused look.

‘Oh brother, is he really going to start that discussion again?’ She sighed mentally.

Then he continued.

“And those “predators”…” Karn flinched hooves making quote marks. “…killed the ones above the ground and entered the pyramid.”

“What’s your problem with the predators? Every movie I’ve shown you with them, you’ve been going all “exterminate” regarding them.” Rain Drop asked with irritation in her tone.

“Well the fact that their entire arsenal is a cheap and not to mention primitive rip off of Khalai tech kinda offends me personally. In addition these guys are incredibly stupid.” Karn explained.

“What do you mean ‘stupid’? Excuse me sir, but even primitively ripping off Khalai tech is not a Sunday stroll through the park.” She said in a matter of fact sort of way.

The unicorn once again looked at her with a blank expression, gestured at the TV and then said.

“Their greatest enemies have acid for blood, and they use weaponry made of metal! Stu-pid.”

“So first you go on about how can the xenomorphs navigate without eyes, ears or noses, and now this?” The mare enquired.

He simply shrugged, continuing to stare at the screen.

“You are the worst company to watch a movie with, you know that?” She stated.

“Dark templar are the most acceptive Khalai regarding other cultures. If you think I am the worst company to watch movies with, you do not want to meet regular Khalai.” The unicorn returned.

“I guess I don’t.” Rain sighed.

On the TV played the scene where two of the terrans were embedded in a wall of flesh. One had a face-hugger over his face, and the other managed to pull out a gun, and shoot another of the spiderlike creatures which jumped at him. But just as he started to feel safe, he noticed about a dozen more eggs hatching. Gunfire and his screams were heard through the chamber, and the ponies’ room. Just as the scene ended, Rain slightly jumped from her seat, clutched onto Karn’s arm, closing her eyes, and letting out a quiet ‘eep’.

The stallion looked down at her, as he blushed. A moment later he asked in what was supposed to be a serious tone.

“Why do you watch “scary” movies when they actually manage to scare you?”

“I’m trying that thing, where when you expose yourself more to something which brings you discomfort you stop paying attention to it.” She replied.

‘Huh, that explains why the special meetings with Amaka stopped bothering me.’ He thought.

“You…don’t mind if I stay here for a while, do you?” The mare asked as she looked up into his eyes.

“N-n-no, no problem.” He stuttered in return, as he shifted his gaze towards the TV.

Despite the his faked disinterest, she managed to hear that his heart rate slightly quickened. That made her smile as she nuzzled on his chest.

‘She’s so sweet, and pretty…’ The unicorn thought, after which he shook his head, shifting his thoughts. ‘No! I shouldn’t think like that. What good will it be for her to get together with someone like me. If the militia found out what I am, they would probably execute me, following with her being emotionally distraught and the possible eviction of her family off world for harboring me.’

As his train of thought continued he noticed that she was sleeping. Karn tried to move himself away, but every movement he made resulted in a groan of displeasure from Rain Drop. After several unsuccessful attempts he sighed in defeat and gave up, continuing with the gloom and doom going on inside of his mind. But when he laid a glance on the mare, all of the darkness left his thought, and eased his mind, allowing him to soon lay victim to sleep as well.

________________________________________________________________________________

Eight days later, Rook and three of his friends convinced Karn to go out with them to the local pub. All five of them situated themselves on a corner table, made their orders, and after the waitress brought them all a round of beer mugs, the deputy raised his and stated.

“Alright guys, let’s give a cheer for our fifth wheel!”

“Come on guys, it’s not that big of a deal.” The gray unicorn said.

“Like hell it isn’t!” A green earth pony stallion with an orange mane and blue eyes began. “You’ve been on world for what? Few months? And the only people you’ve socialized with are the folk you live with and the ones you met at the market. By the way, good job with that dirt bag.” He complimented as he raised his mug.

“Yeah, really liked that sucker punch you threw him after blocking his left hook.” A silverfish pegasus with a chrome mane and orange eyes added.

“So Karn, usually when someone joins our little circle we share stuff.” A white unicorn with a yellow mane and red eyes began. “I hear you’ve hooked up with old man High Ground’s daughter. I’ve attempted that quest myself, but failed miserably at it.” He said with a note of comical self pity, before asking. “So how are things going on between you two?”

“Yeah, have you rocked the chamber of secrets yet?” The yellow pegasus filled in, bearing a mischievous smirk.

“What?” Karn asked in surprise.

“Yeah man, has a new hope, been found on stranger tides?” The green stallion enquired, as he sneered.

“I…don’t think I follow.” The gray unicorn said, after which he picked up his drink.

“Come on guys, enough with the Earth era heading poetry.” The silver pegasus stated, then he addressed Karn. “So did you bang her already?”

After hearing the question, the stallion it was directed towards choked on his beer, then slammed the mug on the table and exclaimed.

“Excuse me?!”

“Damn Jeff, you never were the subtle one.” Rook said, earning a shrug from the other pegasus.

Then he turned to the gray unicorn.

“But still man, don’t worry, we’re all buds here, you can share. How does she rate?”

“Okay, let’s get some things clear.” Karn began. “First, me and Rain Drop aren’t a couple. She said that because she was hyped by the situation. Second, if we were a couple, I wouldn’t treat her like an object, my playtimes with which I would share at a bar.”

“Rook why didn’t you say our fifth wheel is henpecked?” The green stallion asked the deputy.

The two ponies, besides the one who was addressed, gave a hearty laugh. Then the white unicorn teased Karn.

“What? Little colt afraid to get his D wet?” That earned him another couple of laughs.

After taking a sip from his drink, the unicorn in question replied.

“Yeah, I am ready to bet I’ve gotten laid more times than any of you guys.”

That got him an ‘oooooh’ from his little crowd.

“And what makes you so sure?” Jeff enquired.

“Before I came here I was in two long relationships.” He started to explain. “Well, more like one relationship and a business matter.”

“What sort of business matter involves getting laid?” Rook asked.

He thought for a moment, before shooting another question.

“You weren’t a sell stallion, were you?”

“No! How could you even think that?!” Karn snapped back.

“Well you didn’t exactly give me anything to go with.” The yellow pegasus returned.

“Mind giving us a little explanation?” The green stallion asked.

“Due to certain circumstances I was forced to work as a bodyguard/errand boy/…bonus services for an important figure. That however, ended my previous relationship.”

“What was the pay?” The white unicorn sneered.

“Pretty much the satisfaction of the job.” The gray stallion replied.

“So how’d you end up on Meinhoff?” Jeff enquired.

That made Karn’s face darken.

“My family died in a transport ship accident. After that my productivity drastically dropped so I was fired from my job. With nothing else left for me, I hitched a ride and ended up here.” He lied.

Apparently they bought it, since each said their sorry to him. At least his acting skills hadn’t gone to waste, he thought. After a few awkwardly quiet minutes, Rook broke the silence, changing the subject.

“Seriously though, why don’t you make a move on getting things going between you and Rain Drop? The mare obviously has interest in you.”

“Really?” Karn asked in disbelief, before continuing. “Even if she does, what good can a guy who has nothing, and works as a farm hoof at her father’s farm give her?” Then he lifted his mug.

“You can make her happy by giving her the chance to be with the stallion of her dreams.” Jeff said.

That made the gray unicorn lower the drink, and quietly stared at it.

“Look man.” The green stallion began. “It’s obvious that she likes you. The question you need ask yourself is does she deserve better, or to be happy. Or even better, do you feel anything for her.”

All of them gave him a questioning look, as he continued to stare at his mug. Then the earth pony asked.

“Well…do you?”

________________________________________________________________________________

Karn returned to the farm later in the evening. He wasn't in a hurry, but not because of alcoholic influence, but because he was deep in thought regarding his feeling towards Rain Drop. Because it was pretty late at night, he assumed she was asleep, so he decided to wait until morning.

________________________________________________________________________________

At about 11 am, Karn walked up to the door of Rain Drop’s room and knocked as he asked.

“Rain, are you in there? I want to talk to you.” He received no response. He knocked harder. “Rain?” Again, there was silence.

Worry was drawn on his face, so he opened the door and entered. “Rain?!” The room was empty.

The unicorn looked around from his position at the door. It was just a normal room, nothing out of the ordinary. Just as he was about to exit, he noticed half of a newspaper sheet on a tag wall. He closed in to get a better look, and the heading puzzled him. It read ‘The Dark Children of the Confederacy’.

________________________________________________________________________________

Axon and Hay Seed were having a meal in the dining room, when Karn entered the room, sat at the table and asked.

"Is Rain Drop here?"

"No, she said she had something to do today, so she will be gone all day. Do you need help with something?" The red mare returned.

"I was hoping to ask her about this." He said as he placed the newspaper article on the table.

That made the old couple's eyes widened for a moment. They looked at each other, and after a moment the purple stallion sighed and then spoke.

"Son, I think it's time you learned some family history."

Karn stared at him confusedly, as he began explaining.

"As you've probably guessed from our name by now, we are Confederates."

"Well...yeah. The de Steel Wing - one of the confederate noble houses." The unicorn returned.

"Yes." Axon continued. "And given that you were into the Khalai spy business you are also aware how the Confederacy uses zerg as a military force?"

"Yeah..." He hesitantly began. "The ground forces are injected with a modified strain of the virus, which infests them not enough to cause mutation, but enough for the zerg to not attack them. What of it?" The unicorn enquired.

"You see, it was later discovered that infested soldiers could not breed with normal mares. Their reproductive cells ravaged those of their partner. So if a soldier wanted to have a family with a mare, she had to be infested as well. In a few years the entire population of the Confederate core worlds was infested." The purple stallion explained.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a second! You mean to tell me that the Confederacy is ruled by a zerg brood?!" Karn exclaimed.

"If you put it that way, yes." Axon replied, before continuing. "Even if I don't look the part, I used to serve in the Confederate military."

"So...you..." The unicorn pointed at the two. "...and Rain Drop...?"

The two slowly nodded.

“Okay, but what’s the deal with the article?” Karn asked.

“In the early days of research on zerg, the von Black Horn scientists discovered that the critters had a psychic connection made of void energy. Later when the strain used to infest the soldiers was perfected, the scientist theorized that due to that connection, a dark templar and an infested Confederate could produce a stable offspring. But that theory was never proven, because there were no dark templar volunteers to test it.” Axon explained.

That left the gray stallion with a puzzled expression. His mind was processing the information he was given. After a quiet moment, Hay Seed broke the silence.

“Don’t you get it dear? You are Rain Drop’s knight in dark armor. So to say.” She said with a giggle.

“Son, I’ve been around you for a while now, and you are a swell guy.” The purple stallion began. “If you and Rain get together, I want you to know that you two have our blessings.” He finished as he wrapped a hoof around his wife, and each gave him a smile.

About a moment of thought later, Karn returned the smile, and said.

“Thank you.”

________________________________________________________________________________

Later in the evening, Rain Drop returned home. Despite their taste difference, she would enjoy any movie Karn had picked for their movie night. She entered the living room, only to be surprised by the scent of popcorn and a scented candle.

“Okay…what’s going on?” The mare asked, suspicion obvious in her voice.

“I…thought I could freshen up the place a bit.” The gray unicorn said, as he showed his head above the sofa.

“So, what are we watching tonight? Supernatural?” She questioned.

“Actually, I went through your favorites playlist and picked something from there.” He replied, with an awkward smile on his face.

That left Rain Drop with a dumbstruck expression.

“You picked one of the ‘saps’ I enjoy, over your favorite brotherly duo killing monsters?” She asked in disbelief.

"They aren't...all saps..." He returned, his awkward grin slightly growing.

"Alright then..." The mare decided to just go with it.

She sat next to him on the sofa, and asked with a smile.

"What have you planned for tonight oh yoyo master?" After which she got some popcorn.

The stallion's bizarre expression shifted to a smirk, as he played the movie.

"Heroes of the Periphery?" She questioned, looking at him with a very surprized stare.

"What? I thought you liked this movie, since it was in your favorites?" Karn enquired.

"No, it's not that I don't like the movie...your choice is just...surprising, that's all." Rain Drop finished as she returned to watching.

About half way through the movie, both of them had put on awkward expressions, but kept them away from the other.

'Is it the right time? Should I go for it? Is it right?' And other thoughts from the same type were bruising through their minds, until both of them thought. 'Buck it!' and said in synchronized union.

"Rain/Karn I need to tell you something."

Their cheeks turned a reddish shade.

"Um...you first." He let her speak.

"Well...you see, I don't know if I'm rushing things, but...I...really like you." She said.

"I wanted to say the same." He returned.

"Really? For how long?" Rain asked.

"For the past two months actually." He admitted, scratching the back of his head in slight embarrassment.

"Well I've been from the first week we found you. Why didn't you say anything until now?" She demanded, a minimal hint of irritation residing in her tone.

"I thought that it would be better for you to find someone who could actually offer you a better life. I mean, I work for your dad, I have no other means to support a family, so what good would I be for you." He defended.

"That's it? You don't understand-" Rain began, but Karn cut her off.

"I do now. Your parents told me."

She looked at him with wet pleading eyes. Then he continued.

"I promise you, I will do my best to make you happy." He finished with a reassuring smile.

Instead of the expected sincere smile in return, she hugged him, and engaged him in a deep passionate kiss. After several seconds they broke off, and looked at each other's eyes.

"I love you." Rain Drop said.

"I love you too." Karn returned.

After that, they kissed once again, and she slowly pushed him back on the sofa. He used his magic to stop the TV with the remote, and the two were left inside of the darkness of the room.

________________________________________________________________________________

*Three weeks later*

Rain and Karn stood at an altar. She was wearing a lovely royal white dress, and he wore a black tux. Between them stood a mint green unicorn with a white mane, who was speaking the ceremonial vow. A couple of steps next to the gray unicorn stood Rook. He held a purple pillow, with two golden bracelets on it.

In front of the altar on benches sat a large group of ponies. Friends to the family, the bride and the groom, and at the front row, sat Axon and Hay Seed. The purple stallion also wore a tux, and his wife a lovely yellow dress. She was wiping tears from her eyes with a golden serviette.

"May I have the bracelets?" The green unicorn asked.

Rook stepped forward, and the golden jewlery was enveloped in a green aura.

"Do you Karn, take Rain Drop to be your loving wife, in good or bad, in wealth or in poverty, in health or in sickness?" He asked the gray unicorn.

"I do." Karn replied.

"Do you Rain Drop, take Karn to be your loving husband, in good or bad, in wealth or in poverty, in health or in sickness?" He asked the purple earth pony.

"I do." Rain Drop replied.

"Does anyone here know of a reason, for these two souls to not be bond together?" The green unicorn addressed the crowd.

No one uttered a word.

"In that case, by the power bestowed upon me..." He placed the bracelets on the happy couple's hooves. "I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." He finished.

Just as the newlyweds engaged in their first kiss as a married couple, the crowd began to cheer and stomp their hooves.

"My little girl *sniff*...I never thought *sniff*, that I would see the day..." Hay Seed said through her tears of joy.

"I know honey. I know." Axon returned as he comforted his wife.

Soon after the new family broke off from the kiss and looked at each other, after which both gently placed a hoof over Rain's tummy.

Chapter 4: Life Changers

*six years later*

As it usually was on Meinhoff, the weather was pretty hot. But that did not stop the children from playing at their school playground. Fillies and colts ran around playing either tag, or hide and seek. Some others preferred to practice their engineering skills in the sand box. Six colts gathered in a circle underneath a tall oak tree, with disappointed and tired looks on their faces. They all looked at each other, and after nodding in agreement one of them yelled.

"Alright Rust, you win again! Come out!"

A moment later, a reddish-brown earth pony colt with a black mane and yellowishly-green eyes dropped from the tree above them, right in the middle of the circle. He stood up on his hind legs and raised his hooves in the air, as he victoriously announced.

"Still the reigning champion of hide and seek!"

"Man, how do you manage to both find at record time and hide so well?" An orange pegasus with a red mane and yellow eyes asked.

"My dad taught me well." Rust replied as he snickered.

"Wow, I guess he must have been amazing at the game if he taught you so well." A white unicorn with a violet mane and eyes said.

"You have no idea." The brown colt replied, with a smile on his face.

All of a sudden a car's honk made them turn around towards the road. The sound came from a parked APT, a purple earth pony stallion with a gray mane showing his head from the window.

"Rust, you coming?" The stallion called.

"Right away grandpa!" The colt returned as he sprinted towards the vehicle and said to his friends. "Bye guys, see you all tomorrow!"

He received multiple goodbyes in return. Not even a minute after he got in and the car drove off, Rust couldn't hold himself and asked excitedly.

"Is it today grandpa Axon?! Is it?! Is it?!"

The older stallion chuckled and ruffled the youngling's mane as he replied.

"Yes champ, it is."

________________________________________________________________________________

Half an hour later they arrived at the White Light hospital. At the reception Axon asked the white unicorn mare with a blue mane behind the counter.

"Excuse me miss, we are looking for Rain Drop High Ground de Steel Wing's room."

"Of course sir." She replied with a smile, and checked her computer, before giving him the desired destination. "That would be room 302G in the west wing on the third floor."

"Thank you very much." The stallion said as he and his grandson walked off.

"Have a nice day." She called behind them.

Fortunately there weren't any severe cases today, so the two had a pretty calm walk through the building. Well, that wasn't entirely true, as the little colt kept bouncing around his grandpa with excitement. After a few minutes they reached the room. When they opened the door, inside were Rain Drop, lying on a medical bed, and next to her stood Hay Seed and Karn, who looked slightly older since he had detached himself from the void's rejuvenating embrace on his wedding day. Rust ran in and hugged his grandma as he said.

"Hi grandma."

"Hi there dear." The red mare said and returned the hug, after which she turned towards her husband with a smile. "What took you two so long?"

The purple stallion chuckled and replied.

"Traffic, you know."

In the mean time, the gray unicorn wrapped a hoof around his son and ruffled his mane as he asked him.

"Hey sport, how was school today?"

"Pretty good dad. I am still the HaS champ on the playground!" The colt proudly said.

"That's my boy." The stallion said as he gave his son a hoofpump.

"Hey, don't I get a hug or something?" Rain Drop said with a fake offended tone.

The two chuckled and Karn lifted Rust up on the bed, and the colt embraced his mother in a tight hug.

"So, when can she go home?" Axon asked the gray unicorn.

"The doctor said that they would sign Rain out tomorrow morning." Karn replied with a smile.

"Mom, can we go see her?" Rust asked, bearing a grin from ear to ear.

"Now, now Rust, mommy needs some rest, before she can walk. Doctor's orders." Hay Seed said.

"Oh come on mom." Rain Drop began. "I am perfectly fine. Plus I doubt the doctor has had much experience with ponies with zerg DNA." She finished with a giggle.

After that she got off from the bed. After a few troubling shakes she managed to station herself on all fours. She gave an awkward smile to her family, to which they returned with a synchronized sigh. With that done, they made their way towards the room where the newborns were kept. They stopped in front of an incubator and Karn said.

"There she is..."

Rust got up and looked inside to see a small purple earth pony with a black mane and green eyes, sucking on one of its hind legs.

"...your baby sister." His dad finished.

The little colt's amazed expression turned into a large smile, as he leaned in closer and said.

"Hey there!"

In return, the filly looked up at him with surprised eyes, and after a moment she let go of her leg and started to giggle as she reached with both hooves towards her brother's face. That caused both couples to let out a quiet 'aww'.

"She's such a little precious." Hay Seed said.

"Yeah, she looks just like her mother." Karn added.

"And she's also got her daddy's eyes." Rain Drop said, after which she and her husband nuzzled each other.

Then Axon asked the obvious question.

"Have you come up with a name yet?"

"Well..." The unicorn began. "...we haven't actually got around to think one." He admitted.

"How about Rain Sight?" Rust asked out of the blue.

All four of the ponies looked down at him with surprised looks. Then he explained.

"Because she looks like mom, and because her eyes are prettier than those of other ponies." He finished with a smile.

The family returned the warm expression as the purple mare said.

"I like it. Is anyone against it, or have a better idea maybe?"

After a moment of silence she turned towards her son and said.

"Rain Sight it is then."

As they walked out, they were met by a familiar yellow pegasus.

"Hey there folks. How are ya?" He asked.

"Hey Rook, I didn't think I'd see you here?" Karn returned as he stepped forward and the two exchanged a hoofshake.

"What can I say, being the new sherif in town has its perks." He chuckled.

"You didn't come here just to gloat about that, did you?" Rain Drop enquired, a sly smile coloring her face.

“No. I came to congratulate you.” Rook replied, after which he asked. “Karn, can I steal you for a second?”

The gray unicorn nodded with slight hesitance, and followed his friend down the hallway.

“So, what do you want?” Karn asked.

“Me and the boys got you a little present.” The pegasus replied as he pulled out a cigar from his coat.

He then said with a smile.

“It’s Nelythian.”

Karn chuckled and shook his head, after which he said.

“Give the guys my regards, but I must decline, I don’t smoke.”

“Oh…well in that case…do you mind if I…?” Rook asked.

“Knock yourself out.” The unicorn returned.

“Anyway…” The pegasus continued. “We planned something for next Wednesday, you in?”

“I just became a dad for the second time. I think I’d be spending my next few months with my family.” Karn replied.

“Suit yourself man. That’s about all I had to ask you.” The yellow stallion said, after which he walked backwards, leaving with the words. “I’ll be seeing you around bro.”

Karn slightly smiled, shook his head and walked back to his family.

________________________________________________________________________________

*three years later*

It was a quiet Saturday. Karn and Rain were enjoying the morning by cuddling in bed. Downstairs, Hay Seed was watching the news, while Rust was playing building blocks with his sister behind their grandma.

Axon passed by the room they were in as he coughed violently.

"Honey, are you alright?" The red mare asked her husband, as he observed the small amount of blood he had coughed out on his hoof.

He wore a very sickly look. He turned around to reply to her, but instead fainted and fell on the ground. That caused Hay Seed to scream in horror. Karn and Rain Drop rushed down stairs to see what was going on. The sight of the purple stallion lying on the ground, without moving a muscle made the purple mare let out a scream as well. All of the elder ponies gathered around him, as Rust and Rain Sight simply stared from the other room, not understanding what was happening.

The unicorn was the first one to regain his composure, so he began giving instructions.

"Rain, go and start up the APT! Hay Seed, help me get him on my back."

Rain Drop ran out to start up the car, as her mother helped get her husband on Karn's back.

"What should we do?!" Rust exclaimed.

"You two stay here. Rust look after your sister and Rain Sight listen to your brother." Their father returned sternly.

That slightly frightened the fillies, and the little mare started crying. Her brother went to comfort her as their parents rushed out of the house. When they reached the vehicle, Karn let Axon lay on the back seat, and the two mares sat there too to look after him, as the gray stallion hopped behind the wheel and drove as fast as possible towards the hospital.

________________________________________________________________________________

When they arrived and entered the building, the staff got the elderly stallion on a stretcher and rushed him into emergency, leaving his family to worry in the waiting room. About an hour and a half later, a white unicorn mare with a pink mane, which wore a blue doctor's suit, walked up to them with a sorrow expression.

"I am terribly sorry, but...we didn't manage to save him." The mare said.

That made the elderly mare cry. Not managing to hold her tears as well, he daughter gave her a tight hug, in an attempt to comfort her. During that, Karn asked the medic mare.

"What caused it?"

"We discovered he had a terrible condition of skin cancer. Probably inflicted by the high UV output of the star." The medic replied, before enquiring. "Did you have any knowledge of that?"

"No! If we did, we would have sent him to be treated." Rain Drop stated, after which she turned towards her mother. "Why didn't he tell us anything?"

Hay Seed did her best to calm down a bit, before replying.

"From what he had told me, stallions from his side of the family tend to be very 'independent', thinking they can handle something, without worrying their loved ones...until it's too late."

After saying that, the tears once found their way out of her eyes. Karn and Rain looked at each other, bearing depressed expressions.

________________________________________________________________________________

Three days later was the funeral. They were laying Axon to rest in the town’s cemetery. The ponies who had gathered to send him off into the afterlife were either personal, or family friends and his family. Pretty much the only positive note of the day was that the sun was being hidden by large clouds, and not roasting everyone alive. Everyone gave their final words, after which the coffin was lowered into the hole and slowly covered with dirt.

________________________________________________________________________________

*five years later*

"The stars are very beautiful tonight, aren't they?" A yellow unicorn mare with a dark blue mane and color matching eyes asked as she gazed into the deep of space.

"Yeah, I guess they are." Rust replied, as he too gazed up.

Then he chuckled, turned his eyes towards the mare sitting next to him and said.

"But you are far more beautiful Goldy."

"Oh stop it you." Golden Sea sheepishly returned, as she covered her blush.

Awkward gripped the atmosphere. The two ponies were sitting on one of the hills near the town, famous for its great views at the sky, and comfortable structure. A few moments later, the two slowly began to turn and then lean towards each other, closing their eyes. But before they could engage, an unpleasant voice was heard from behind them.

"Well, well, well, ain't this a surprise?" An orange unicorn colt with a red mane and brown eyes stated.

He was followed by two pegasi. One was cyan with a magenta mane and eyes, and the other was white with a blond mane and blue eyes. The mare scowled, before asking, spite obvious in her tone.

"What do you want Brad? I told you we were through!"

"Quiet you." The colt in question stated, before addressing Rust. "Listen here pipsqueak, get lost and start runnin', and maybe I won't beat ya too much."

"Hmm, tempting..." The brown colt tapped his hoof on his chin, then dropped it and continued. "...but how about this - you get lost, and I won't beat you at all."

That earned him a cold glare from the unicorn, as his pegasi underdogs gave out a laugh. Their leader rose his hoof and both of them shut up. Then he said.

"Don't say I didn't give you a chance."

"Come and get it 'Brat'." Rust taunted.

"Please, stop this!" Golden Sea exclaimed. "Rust you don't have to get in trouble because of me!"

The brown colt turned towards her and said with a smile.

"Don't worry Goldy, this guy ain’t so-"

He didn't manage to finish his statements as the orange unicorn's hoof hit him in the face, making him take a few steps back. He wiped a little blood from his lip, and then glared daggers at his opponent, who in turn was giving him a proud grin.

"How do you like them apples?" Brad taunted.

To that Rust returned nothing. He dashed forward, catching the orange colt off guard, and struck him in the face as well, only because of his momentum, the unicorn was knocked on the ground. Just as he was about to make his next move, the two pegasi grabbed him by the sides and stood him up on his hind legs.

"Oh, you are going to be sorry you did that you little bitch." The orange colt muttered as he got up.

"Why don't you call of your straggly dogs and fight like a stallion dickhead?!" The captive shouted as he attempted to break free, but the two larger colts had firmly gripped him.

When he was up, and staring at Rust, Brad brought out a knife from its kevlar, situated on his side, with his magic.

"NO!" Gold yelled, and attempted to pull the knife away with her own magic, but the colt's was stronger, and managed to push her off.

Then he raised the bade, and thrust it in the brown earth pony's chest. Suddenly a yell was heard from behind.

"Alright kids, enough with disturbing the peace around here!"

The silhouette of a stallion in power armor could be described at the bottom of the cliff.

"Shit! Cops!" The white pegasus exclaimed as he and his companion dropped their captive on the ground, and along with their leader bailed out.

That left the mare to pull the knife out, and apply pressure on the wound to slow down the bleeding as she yelled to the officer.

"Help! We need an ambulance!"

When he heard that, the stallion ran up to them. After seeing the bleeding colt, he spoke in the communicator inside of his helmet.

"This is officer Jade! I am on the scene and there is a colt with a stab wound in his chest and he is losing a lot of blood! Send an ambulance here ASAP!"

'Copy that officer! Ambulance ETA six minutes.' Someone said on the other line.

Goldy continued to press down on the wound, and the stallion helped her get Rust down to the road.

'Man, and I thought there were just some kids making noise...' Jade thought.

________________________________________________________________________________

Rain Sight was watching a documentary about the Confederation campaigns against the Dominion.

"Grandma, did grandpa do such things?" She called over to the kitchen, where Hay Seed and Rain Drop were preparing dinner, a note of distain being felt in her tone.

"Your grandfather wasn't a bad person like those ones. When we met, he actually helped save several patients who were in a bad condition." The red mare replied.

Then she turned to her daughter.

"Honestly dear, why do you let her watch these things?"

"We can't stop her. If she wants to watch this, she simply does. We even coded the channels, but she figured out the codes just a day later. She's a crafty one." She replied.

"You know you can forbid her to watch them." Her mother said.

"We tried, we even resorted to punishment for a time, but she just doesn't give up." The purple mare returned with a sigh.

Before Hay Seed could suggest something else, her granddaughter called again.

"But he was with those who caused their bad condition, and didn't stop them from doing so, did he?" The filly returned.

Often at school some of the other kids would call her names, push her around or stray from her like she was some sort of monster. From what she had watched about Confederates she was wondering if she should blame them. As much as she loved him, she simply couldn't accept the fact that her grandfather used to comit such atrocities, even if he was slightly exceptional compared to other soldiers. The constant reminding of that by her peers made her hate her heritige even more. For her it was a mystery how her brother had managed to make it through that and actually have friends.

'Probably his "buck-whatever-others-say-and-live-your-life" policy.' She thought.

But for some reason she couldn't apply that policy herself. Whenever she tried, others always managed to somehow get to her.

Her words had left her grandmother speechless, and she simply looked down at the floor with saddened eyes. Making note of that, Rain Drop called back to her daughter with a stern tone.

"Young lady, sadly me and your father can't keep you from watching these documentaries, but I swear, regardless of my love for movies, I will tear that TV off and sell it for scrap if you don't stop bothering your grandmother like that! Am I clear?"

"Yes mommy. Sorry grandma." The filly returned with an apologetic tone.

That made Hay Seed chuckle, before saying.

"If anything I have managed to teach you how to handle a naughty girl."

"Oh shut up." The purple mare said jokingly, returning the chuckle.

Then the front door opened and entered Karn.

"Okay, the new orchid is freshly dug." He stated, before asking. "Honey is dinner ready?"

"Almost. Give us ten minutes." She replied.

With a sigh, he walked up stairs to get a shower, when the phone on the ground floor rang.

"Sweetie, can you get that?" Rain called.

"Yeah, no problem." He returned with disinterest.

The phone rang a few more times, before Karn got to it. He picked it up and said tiredly.

"High Ground Reneema de Steel Wing residence." 'We need a shorter answer for the phone.' he thought.

"Mr. High Ground, this is nurse Mint Breeze from White Light hospital." A mare spoke.

"Yes...what is it?" He hesitantly asked.

"Well...I don't know how to tell you this, but...your son..." She continued.

Karn's expression turned to one of cold fright as he listened to the mare.

"Who was it dear?" Rain Drop asked.

The stallion put the phone down as he replied with horror in his voice.

"Rust is in a hospital..."

________________________________________________________________________________

Rust laid in a bed, when he heard someone yelling from outside the door.

"Sir stop! You need to arrange a visit at registration first!" Some stallion yelled, but apparently his words fell on deaf ears.

Not a moment later, the door of the room burst open. His father entered and embraced him in a tight hug as he said.

"Thank the void you're okay!"

"Yes, I'm glad to see you too dad, but can you loosen it a bit?" The colt barely managed to say, but his words did not have any effect.

Suddenly a purple hoof grabbed the unicorn's ears and pulled him back several feet, as he let out multiple 'ows'.

"Mister, who do you think you are, leaving us like that in the middle of the lobby and rushing off?!" Rain Drop enquired with a good amount of anger in her tone.

"Sorry honey...never again...promise!" Karn said through quiet yelps of pain.

The scene made Rust and his sister giggle. That's when the colt noticed that not only his parents, but his baby sister and grandma were here as well.

"You sure?" The purple mare sternly asked.

"Yes! Yes! Absolutely! 100%!" The unicorn yelped.

Nodding her head in satisfaction, Rain let go. The stallion rubbed his ear to ease the pain. When it subsided he addressed his wife.

"Was that necessary?"

"Yes." She casually replied, before turning her attention to her son. "Rust, how are you? What happened?"

"Well..." He rubbed the back of his head, before replying. "I sort of got in a fight because of a girl and I was stabbed."

The look on his mother's face would have made death itself pale in fear, so the colt quickly attempted to ease her wrath.

"Buuut I am okay now! Doctor gave me a shot of nanites..." His next words came out as a quiet mutter. "That combined with some other natural bonuses I have..." Then he finished speaking normally. "...and said that I'd be out in a day."

"You forgot to mention that the knife missed you heart by a couple of inches." A stallion said from behind them.

The family turned around to be greeted by a beige stallion with a black mane and beard, and dark brown eyes. His statement caused Rust to awkwardly chuckle.

“You are very lucky young man. Not only the blade missed you, but you also survived the massive blood loss. I am doctor Bernard.” He said as he extended a hoof.

“Pleasure…” Karn said as he hesitantly shook it.

“I believe you will be glad to hear that the ones responsible are apprehended.” The doctor said.

“Okay, that’s the good news. What’s the bad?” Rain Drop asked.

The doctor pulled Rust’s chart with his magic, flipped a page and answered.

“Well, during the accident his adrenaline and other hyping chemicals’ quantities highly spiked. It caused slight mutation in some cell strains, making them hyperactive regarding their functions.” He explained.

Rain Sight and Rust stared blankly, while the older ponies’ eyes slightly widened in horror.

“It’s nothing serious, but it may cause overtiredness, so don’t push him too hard with work or anything.” Bernard calmed them down.

“Yeah, thank you doctor. So when can we get him home?” The gray unicorn asked.

“You can come and pick him up tomorrow at about one or two in the afternoon.” The medic replied.

“Thank you.” Rain said.

After that, the doctor left the family. Several minutes later they let Rust rest. Through the night however, he felt some strange tingling around the wound. It wasn’t anything too bothering, so he just let it slide and tried to get some sleep.

________________________________________________________________________________

The next day his dad came to pick him up and drove him home. Everyone was very happy that he was back, and healthy enough to at the very least stand, but just as the doctor ordered, he had to rest, and not allowed to do any heavy labor. However the tingling around the wound had begun to intensify, but Rust decided to keep it to himself.

Several days later, in the middle of the night, Rain Sight got up and went to the bathroom. When she tried to open the door, it was locked. She could hear grunting from inside.

“Rust? Rust are you in there?” She asked.

“Rain I’ll be a while. Please leave me.” He said with a grunt.

“Rust I really need to go! Come on out of there!” She exclaimed.

“Rain, I said leave me!” He raised his tone.

“What are you even doing in there?!” She enquired as she pushed the door.

Her brother was no longer telling her away. In a few more attempts, the door gave in and she entered…but the sight made her regret that. Rust was hanging on the sink, his wound was covered by what appeared like a carapace, and it had slowly begun to spread. Also, there was a strange lump on his back. During that time he was still grunting, with a little saliva dripping from his mouth.

A moment later he managed to get a hold of himself. He slowly got up and walked towards his sister, who barely kept herself from passing out from stress.

“Rain…” He grumbled as he placed his hooves on her shoulders.

He looked into her eyes, put on a serious expression and said sternly.

“Sis, I want you to calm down. I’m fine, now go back to bed.”

“You didn’t seem fine! You need a doctor! I’m going to tell mom and dad-” She was cut off, as Rust shook her violently and exclaimed.

“NO!”

He saw that she was on the brink of crying, so he took a deep breath and spoke again.

“You can’t tell anyone about what you’ve saw now! Not mom, not dad, not anyone! Can you do that for me little sis? Can you promise me that you won’t tell anyone?”

“Uh-I-I don’t know-” She stuttered.

“Promise. Me!” The colt said sternly.

Still bearing a worried expression, the filly slowly nodded its head.

“Good. Thank you very much sis.” Rust said.

After which his hooves wrapped around her in a hug, and kissed her on the forehead. He then let go and walked out, closing the door behind himself, leaving a very confused and frightened Rain Sight.

________________________________________________________________________________

Several days passed, and somehow, Rust managed to keep his condition from his family, with the help of his sister, but things had begun to intensify.

*eight days later*

It was a very hot evening, and sharing a bed with someone definitely didn’t help Rain Drop in the aspect of keeping cool. She got up and went downstairs to get some water. As she splashed some of it over her face, she heard some strange sounds coming from her mother’s room. She walked over to the hallway which was right at the bottom of the stairs, where were the rooms of both Hay Seed and Rain Sight. Under the moonlight, coming from the only window in the hallway, she opened the door to her mother's room, only to be horrified by the sight of a brownish creature, it’s back covered by a carapace, each of its legs was adorned with a trio of claws, and there was a limb coming from its shoulder, and ending with a scythe like claw, gnawing on the red mare’s flesh.

After a brief moment she screamed loudly. As she did, the creature turned around to reveal its blood covered maw, filled with sharp teeth, and its glowing green eyes, and then lunged at her.

The scream woke Karn, and he rushed downstairs, only to see how some creature stood over the ripped open corpse of Rain Drop.

"RAIN! NO!" He shouted, tears making their way out of his eyes.

Then he looked at the creature above her. The sorrow was quickly replaced by rage. The unicorn shouted as he galloped and tackled it. They rolled over a couple of times, after which the creature pushed the stallion off of itself. Karn did a back flip in mid air, and landed once again ready to attack, staring down the beast.

For a moment his glance passed though his mother in law's room. His heart filled with regret about not being able to protect his family. He shut his eyes, letting out some more tears, before snapping them open, with a burning rage blistering in them.

Then the door, right in front of which stood the creature, opened, revealing a scared Rain Sight. She looked up and saw the monster in all of its glory. Then she noticed it had a black mane and the color of its eyes, after which she barely manage to utter questioningly.

"Rust...?"

It turned its head towards her, making her father exclaim.

"NO!"

Karn then surrounded himself in back smoke and vanished, reappearing between the two in a two legged stance, with his forelegs spread to the side. For a moment the creature's eyes widened, then it turned around and jumped through the window. The unicorn eyed it as it ran away. He was about to give chase, when he heard his daughter angrily whisper under her breath.

"No, no, no! This is my fault! I should have told mom and dad!"

He knelt down, and placed his hooves around her head, making her look at him, and asked.

"How is this your fault? What was that thing?"

Tears began to pour from the filly's eyes. It sobbed a few times, before explaining.

"About a week ago, I walked in on Rust in the bathroom. *sniff* There was something wrong with him. His wound had some strange covering and on his shoulder there was some sort of bubble, *sniff* and he was in pain. Then he said he felt better, and said that he would be fine, but he asked me to promise not to tell anyone, *sniff* even you and mom. You told me to always listen to him, so I promised."

She couldn't say anything else, and began crying. Her father bore a stunned expression. He pulled the crying filly into a hug, and began to gently stroke her mane and hush, attempting to calm her down.

"Shh, shh, shh. Don't cry honey. It's not your fault." Karn said, but there were other things going through his mid.

'Rust...that was you...?'

When Rain Sight calmed down a little, he got up and spoke to her.

"Rain, I want you to go to your room, and don't go out untill I tell you."

Then he headed for the basement.

"Where are you going daddy?" The filly asked, rubbing her eyes.

The stallion sighed, before replying.

"I'm going to get your brother back."

Once his daughter went in her room, Karn made his way down in the basement. He opened a crate, and stared at its contents with slight hesitation. But the moment soon passed and he put on his dark templar attire, and a warp blade gauntlet on each of his forelegs. With a deep sigh, he vanished in a cloud of smoke.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Think you can get away easy, don't you?" A familiar night blue pegasus muttered to himself as he made his way towards the de Steel Wings' farm.

He flied a few feet off of the ground, while in his forelegs, equipped with precision gloves, he loaded bullets into a gun. He could already see the building, but he quickly hid behind a rock, when he saw the stallion he was after appear out of nowhere. He mentally praised his fur coat for its color, because the gray unicorn ran to somewhere, without noticing him, so he thought he hadn't seen him.

He brought out the gun and aimed, but a strange shine, coming from something his target wore on its legs, made him lower the weapon.

"What the buck?" He said.

Since the unicorn was galloping away, he decided to follow.

________________________________________________________________________________

Karn followed his son's tracks, barely paying attention to anything else. In about half an hour he found himself on the outside of the city. He moved through the shadowy back alleys, avoiding anyone seeing him in his work suit. Soon he heeard the loud talk of ponies. He neared and saw that many different ponies had gathered around the torn body of a mare. The unicorn looked around and noticed that there was a barely visible trail of dried blood on the ground, leading away from the scene. He turned on his invisibility and moved through the ponies, following the trail.

It led him on the outside badlands around the city, so he became visible in order to save his energy. Not long after, the hard rode ended and he found tracks once again. As he followed them, he found a hole behind a large rock. He jumped down, landing in some rot of cave. It was quiet, so he used his void magic to enhance his hearing. Suddenly he heard a rock move. He dropped on the ground as Rust flew over him. The mutated colt slid a couple of feet after landing, and roared while glaring at his father.

"Rust, please, you are not a monster." Karn said, after which he moved to the left, dodging a rock being thrown at him.

But it was only a distraction. The colt had ran up to him, and slashed with his claws. The unicorn did not stop his fall, and ended up with his back on the ground, dodging the strike, after which he grabbed his son's extended limb and pulled him down, wrapped his hind legs around his head and threw him over, then he got up.

As the mutant once again stood up, Karn made another attempt of reasoning with him.

"Rust I'm begging you, I don't want to fight you! Come with me, you need help!"

Sadly his words flew away with the wind, as the colt just stomped the ground, letting out several hisses and grunts, before charging. The unicorn closed his eyes, his expression showing his sadness, regarding the fact that every last bit of his son had been converted into a mindless beast. Rust jumped in order to slash with every sharp appendage he had at his disposal, but just as he was about to hit Karn, the stallion vanished in a cloud of smoke.

The colt stood in one place, looking around in confusion. Then suddenly his target appeared right in front of him.

"I'm sorry." Karn quietly said, as he wrapped one hoof around his son's neck in a hug, activated the warp blade on the other, and stabbed it in Rust's chest.

For a split second the mutated pony looked at his father's face. His eyes were squeezed shut, tears dripping from them. In the next moment he felt a burning sensation as the blade slid down his body.

"I'm so sorry!" The unicorn repeated as he felt his son's body falling limp in his embrace.

He slowly left him to lay, and then sat on the ground, bringing his hooves to his face, as his quiet sobs filled the darkness.

________________________________________________________________________________

"So...that's your secret, eh?" A certain stallion said, as he pulled his head out of the hole, and then flew off.

________________________________________________________________________________

*two hours later*

Karn returned home, carrying his son on his back. He called Rain Sight out of her room.

'At least she listened and stayed there.' He thought.

After telling her what had happened, both of them got all three bodies and wrapped them in bed sheets. After that the stallion made a platform of wood and hay out in the back yard. They put the bodies on it, and Karn used his warp blade to light them on fire.

"May your spirits find comfort in the void." He said, as he looked into the flames.

Rain Sight looked up at her father's face with worry in her eyes, after which she gazed into the flickering light as well.

Once the flames died down, the two returned into the house. It was deathly quiet. As Kan headed to leave his clothes, the door bell rang, followed by Rook's voice.

"Karn, come out! We know!"

The unicorn's eyes snapped open. He then walked towards the door. If they knew about him, it was best if he cooperated. He opened the door, to be met by Rook and several other stallions in power armor, equipped with gauss rifles, as well as a few other townsponies who were friends of the family. All of them eyed him and his attire. It was an awkward silence, which the sheriff broke.

"You? Out of all ponies you were the last one I would think is a dark templar." His voice was filled with a mix of dread and disappointment.

"I suppose I'll be meeting the executor now, aren't I?" The gray unicorn asked with indifference.

The yellow pegasus sighed, before saying.

"Not just you. Rust needs to come with us too."

"He's already taken care of sheriff." A night blue pegasus said, as he stepped into view, bearing a proud grin.

It was the stallion who came at Rain Drop all those years ago. Who swore he would get it back at Karn. When he saw him, the unicorn heard something clicked in his head as his rage build up.

"You..." He said.

"I kept my promise, did I not?" The stallion sneered.

In the very next moment, the templar had him tackled to the ground, and began to beat him in an outburst of blind rage. The pegasus did his best to protect his face with his hooves, but his defense was failing. As Karn pounded at him, Rook grabbed one of his hooves, before it could land a hit, and loudly stated.

"Enough!"

That stopped the unicorn's outburst. Then the sheriff turned to one of the stallions in armor.

"Get this scum out of my sight."

"Yes sir." The stallion saluted, after which he picked up the beaten pegasus, and dragged him away.

Then Rook looked down at the knelt stallion, whose hoof he still held. Karn bore a blank expression as he stared at the ground.

"If you had killed him, that wouldn't have made things any better for you." The yellow pegasus said.

"I had to burn my family. All I have left is my daughter. Why can't I have revenge?" The templar said as he looked up at his friend's face.

"Because you still have a daughter." Rook replied.

Then both of them turned they gaze towards the front door. Standing there was Rain Sight, shaking with fear, because of she had just seen.

Suddenly Karn felt like his mind was broken to pieces and then put back together. Then he asked.

"I know what's going to happen with me. What's going to happen with her?"

"Either put in an orphanage, or some of the scientists on the planet or in the sector would want to research a Khalai-Confederate hybrid." The sheriff replied.

The unicorn engulfed himself in smoke, and appeared between his daughter and the gathered ponies, activated his blades and said coldly.

"Over my dead body."

"Don't make this any harder than it is Karn." Rook said, as he and the other armored ponies raised their weapons.

Neither party made any move for about a minute. Then the yellow pegasus sighed and said.

"No one but the ponies here and that guy know about what's happened. You have 24 hours to get off world. After that I'll have to report about it, and probably the whole planetary militia will come after you."

Then he lowered his gun, his men following suit, and gestured for all ponies to leave. As he walked off, Rook managed to hear the quiet 'Thank you.', but instead of turning around and saying something, he just continued walking.

Karn and Rain went back in the house.

"What are going to do now daddy?" The filly asked.

The stallion took a deep breath, before replying.

"Pack our things. I need to do a little work."

________________________________________________________________________________

Axon brought a suitcase, and left it on the table in front of Karn. He opened it, revealing various documents.

"What's this?" The unicorn asked.

"Karn, I'm aware that I won't be around forever, so I want you to know about this. These are the documents for selling the farm. Everything is pretty much set up, the only thing required is the signature of the owner of the property, and for them to be delivered at the 'Meinhoffian Contact' facility in town. The land has been estimated to be worth 6000 bits. If you ever find yourselves in a crisis situation, this should help you stay afloat." The older stallion explained.

Karn took another glance at the documents, before stating.

"I promise you Axon, I'll do my best to keep this family from ever needing to use this."

"I know you will boy. I just want you to have this in case of emergency. Let's hope there won't be one though." The purple earth pony chuckled.

________________________________________________________________________________

'I'm sorry Axon. I couldn't keep my promise.' Karn thought as the mare behind the desk he leaned on worked over the documents.

"Everything is in order Mr. High Ground. Your currency will be transferred to your account immediately." The mare said with a smile.

"Sorry, but I have emptied my account. Is there any chance for me to get the bits on hoof?" He asked.

She gave him a questioning look, before saying.

"Of...course." She took a sheet of paper, and quickly wrote down something, after which she handed it to Karn while saying. "Go to the exchequer down the hallway on the lower floor. Present them this, and you can receive your bits."

"Thank you very much." He said as he walked away.

"Thank you for using the services of the Meinhoffian Contact!" She stated.

As he walked, Karn's phone rang. He picked it up and was greeted by a friendly voice.

'Hey Karn, it's me Starburst. Look I heard about what happened and I am very sorry for your loss.'

"Thank you Star, I appreciate it." He lied, mimicking an interested tone.

'Yeah...look I will be making a delivery to Augustgrad on Korhal, and I was wondering if you and Rain Sight wanted to take a ride?' The stallion on the other side of the line asked.

Karn thought about it for a moment, before replying with a question of his own.

"How much do you tax dark templar and their children for such travels?"

'Usually pretty high, but friends in need can ride free of charge.' Starburst replied.

"Alright then, I will give Rain a call and tell her your boys will come to get our things." The unicorn said.

'Wait, won't you be there?' The stallion asked.

"I have a little more work I have to do. I will meet you at the star port." Karn replied.

'Okay...see you there.' The stallion hesitantly said.

Next Karn closed the phone and called at his now previous home.

________________________________________________________________________________

Rook was sitting in his office, with Jeff as company.

"Man, who would've thought that Karn..." The silverish pegasus didn't finish his sentence.

"I know." Rook returned.

Then he looked up at the clock.

'20 hours...' He thought.

"Rook, I don't know about you, but I need to get stoned, pronto!" Jeff exclaimed, after which he exited the office.

"I feel ya. Wait up!" The sheriff said, as he too walked out, turning off the lights in the room.

Several minutes after they left the floor of the police department empty, the computer on Rook's desk turned on. It began to open up folders regarding criminals. Several password requests were made, and after their satisfaction and a few more opened folders on the monitor appeared the picture of the night blue pegasus, holding a sign with his name - Brian Clover. The screen was scrolled down to a text which showed Brian's current address.

A pen lifted itself and wrote it down on a piece of paper, which vanished in thin air. Then the computer shut down and darkness once again engulfed the building.

________________________________________________________________________________

Karn walked up the drop door of the shuttle. There he was waited by a blue earth pony stallion with a golden mane and eyes, and his daughter. The stallion was dressed in a pilot's suit, with a pack of cigarets showing from a pocket on his chest.

"What took you so long?" Asked Starburst.

"I had to make a delivery." The unicorn replied. 'I hope Rook likes that package.' He thought.

"Well, alright...are you ready to go?" The earth pony questioned.

Using his magic Karn pulled out a cig from the pack, placed it in his mouth, lit it with his warp blade and took the smoke in. When he exhaled it he said.

"Yeah, ready."

And the three of them walked in.

________________________________________________________________________________

As the ship left the planet’s orbit and set on its course for Dominion space, Karn and Rain Sight were accommodated in the cargo bay of the ship, given the lack of beds. Even the crew didn’t have the luxury of a pillow. The unicorn had leaned on a large crate, and was stroking his daughter’s mane as she laid on his chest.

“Daddy…” She said.

He looked down at her with a ‘hmm’.

“I’m scared.” She finished, burying her face in his fur.

He sighed and put on a smile as he pulled her head up so she would look him in the eyes and said.

“Don’t be. I promise you I will protect you at any cost! I would lay down my life for you to be okay. And I promise I won’t die until I am certain that you are in good hooves. Deal?”

She thought about it for a moment, then nodded happily and wrapped her hooves around his neck. He in returned the hug. After about a minute he said.

“Try to get some sleep. It’s going to be a long flight.”

She just nodded. The events which had happened in front of her, exhausted her emotionally, so she welcomed the sweet embrace of sleep, and dozed off, her dad serving as the perfect bed.

“Goodnight daddy.” She said before completely falling asleep.

“Goodnight honey.” He returned, giving her a kiss on the forehead and commencing his watch over her.

Chapter 5: Ghosts of the Future

The shuttle shook violently, waking up Karn and Rain Sight. After each of them rubbed their eyes, Starburst’s voice was heard through the ship.

‘Okay fillies and gentlecolts, our several day voyage is at its end. We will be touching down in Augustgrad’s starport in a couple of hours. I’d recommend getting your luggage.’

The two ponies looked at each other, after which Karn sighed, and said with a faked happy tone.

“I guess this is our stop.”

“Yeah…” She returned with a sigh of her own.

Then they began to collect their stuff. As they neared one of the space platforms, Starburst, the pilot and the co-pilot were addressed through the coms.

‘This is DSP Gorger 45 Delta. Approaching space craft, identify yourself and state your business.’

The blue stallion leaned closer to a microphone, pressed a button underneath it and said.

“DSP Gorger 45 Delta, this is cargo shuttle Moya. We are transporting food, minerals and two passengers, father and daughter. Requesting permission to land on world.”

There were a few quiet moments, after which the pony on the other side spoke.

‘Roger that. Permission granted. Prepare for ship inspection upon landing.’

“Copy that.” Starburst returned.

When they landed, several armored ponies from K-Sec came and inspected the ship.

Once their luggage was checked, and they were given the all clear, Karn and Rain Sight waited for a bus, which could take them to an apartment building, in which to stay. They were dropped off in front of a seven story building, with a large neon sign atop of it, spelling ‘Sunset Apartments’.

They entered, walked over to the register, and the filly got to ring for the receptionist. A goldish-brown pegasus mare, with an orange/yellow mane and teal eyes trotted over, and said in a cheerful voice.

“Welcome to the Sunset Apartments. How may I help you?”

“Good day. We just moved on world, and we would like a place to stay.” Karn said.

“Well, you’ve come to the right place. We have a great room for two, with a view of the city park, on the fifth floor, for only 1000 bits a month.” She replied with a smile.

“That does sound good. We’ll take it for a few months.” The unicorn said as he pulled up a suitcase on the table. From it he took 3000 bits, and handed them to the mare.

She took the money and placed it in a safe behind the counter. Next she pulled out large open book, and handed Karn a pen.

"Now just sign your name, surname, and signature." She said, pointing at the required spots.

The stallion did so. Then she put the book back under the counter, turned around to a board, on which hung many keys. She took one, and handed it to Karn, while saying.

“Thank you for choosing the Sunset Apartments.”

The stallion gave her a smile, after which he and Rain Sight walked off to their apartment. It consisted of a bathroom, small kitchen with a table, four chairs and a tv in front of the table, one bedroom with two beds in the opposite ends of the room and a large window next to them. Each went to his bed, and began unpacking.

“So what are we going to do next daddy?” Rain Sight asked.

“Well, first thing tomorrow, we have to find you a school to go to. After that I need to look for work. The bits we got for the farm aren’t going to last forever.” He replied.

“Do I have to go to school?” She asked with slight irritation in her tone.

“Young lady, what talk is that?” He exclaimed. “I thought you loved to learn new things?”

“I do, but…” She got quiet.

Karn’s expression turned from one of surprise to one of understanding.

“You’re afraid they will treat you bad because of our name?” He enquired with a quiet tone as he walked up to her.

“Why did grandpa have to be a Confederate?! Why did he have to ruin my life before it even began?!” She cried out, barely holding back her tears.

Suddenly a sharp pain made her put a hoof over her cheek, as her father’s made its way through her face. He lowered himself to her eye level and spoke sternly.

“Your grandfather was a great stallion. Caring, loyal, loving, kind and a good friend. He did not choose to be born a Confederate. No one chooses as what to be born. I have tried my best to be patient with you, but I will not stand you speaking in such a manner about him. By doing so, you besmirch not only his memory, but also that of your mother and your brother. Do I make myself clear?”

She slowly nodded, as tears made their way from her eyes. The unicorn’s expression softened as he pulled her in for a hug.

“Shh, shh-sh-sh-sh. It’s alright. I’m sorry sweetie.” He tried to calm the filly, as she continued to quietly sob. In about a minute she stopped, and pulled back.

He put on a gentle smile and said.

“Listen, we still have about half a day, and some bits to spare. How about we go out for ice cream?”

She sniffed once and asked.

“Banana-pineapple?”

“Yeah. We will search this city from top to bottom if needed and get you the best banana-pineapple ice cream this world has to offer!” Karn said enthusiastically.

It appeared to have an effect, as the filly wiped her eyes, and put on a smile of her own. It seemed like the moment was better than any other he would get today, so he added.

“As for the issue with our name, it’s not of utmost importance to share it. Just use High Ground and keep the other part to yourself.”

She nodded in understanding.

“That’s my girl.” He said and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

“Now let’s go.” He stated, getting the filly to smile, and the two walked out.

__________________________________________________________________________

*the next day*

When they had walked in the search of the ultimate banana-pineapple ice cream, they had passed by a school, which was near the apartment building. There, Karn met with the principal and had Rain Sight registered in the school. With the ice cream at hoof, he brought the filly back home, letting her watch some movies, after having Lenora - the receptionist mare, block certain channels. Then, with a list provided by the principal, he went school books shopping. In the evening Rain was pleasantly surprised with a new duffle bag filled with new books for her to read.

It was the first day at school all over again for her. Accompanied by her dad, Rain Sight was led to and introduced to her class. Despite her insecurity at the start, the fillies and colts were very friendly and accepting towards her, each offering her a seat. She decided to station herself next to a few fillies, who appeared to share her desire for learning. That formed the image of a dork in the opinions of some of the “popular” fillies, but the colts did not think the same. With that done, Karn went out to find himself a job.

*the next day*

He bought a newspaper from a stand, and began looking through the ads. Through the day he crossed a large portion of the options.

"Alright, scratch The Taste in China china shop. What's next?" He spoke to himself as he walked, and held the newspaper and pen in his magical grasp.

As his eyes rolled down the ads, the next one slightly disturbed him.

"Korhal Security hiring new officers..." He sighed. "Well I guess two grand per month is worth the risk."

In about an hour and a half he found himself in front of the K-Sec department. Inside he walked up to a mare behind a desk and asked about the ad. She gave him a blank CV form and pointed him over an empty table with a pen on it. When he filled it, careful to leave out certain details, he returned the form to the mare. She put it inside a vent and it got sucked to parts unknown to Karn. Next she asked him to wait until the interview supervisor was done with the pony who was currently in his room. So he walked over to a set of chairs and sat on one.

Ten minutes later, the door of the interview room, which was down a visible hall, opened as a green unicorn stallion with a brown mane walked out.

"Next." The mare behind the desk said loudly.

Then he got up and made his way over to the room. Inside he was greeted by a deep blue furred unicorn stallion in his mid forties, who had an orange mane and moustache and red eyes. He wore a blue uniform coat, with a golden badge on it, suggesting he was the sheriff, if not of the whole K-Sec, then at least for this establishment.

"Sit down son." The stallion gestured the chair in front of the desk he was at.

His voice was pretty loud, which only added to his already angry looks. Karn followed and stationed himself. Then the stallion pulled out a sheet of paper from some sort of machine and said.

"Alright, let's see what you wrote about yourself."

He carefully scanned the sheet from top to bottom, occasionally giving the gray unicorn a cold glance.

"So, what is the reason that made you take this interview?" He sternly asked.

"Well I-" Karn began, but was interrupted.

"And don't give me that 'I felt my duty towards society call' bull. I want the truth."

The green eyed stallion sighed, and decided to actually be honest.

"The truth is, I've looked for employment at pretty much every possible place in the city. This the only place I have not yet been given the 'We'll give you a call.'."

"Uh-huh. I see." The stallion nodded, writing something down on something hidden behind the desk, before shooting another question. "What is the thing which made you seek employment even at a job as dangerous as Korhal Security? The local hospital now make discounts for knee wounds of officers."

"I just moved on world with my eight year old daughter." Karn replied, but before he could continue, the stallion took over once again."

"I see. Alright, here..." He lifted the CV into view. "...it say that you are good at tracking. That true?"

"Yes, it is. I was...uh-..." The gray unicorn put on a tense expression and rubbed the back of his head. "...into hunting. I also used to often help the local militia when they got lost."

"Good. Well welcome aboard. NEXT!" The stallion yelled.

"Wait, I'm hired?" Karn asked in disbelief.

"Didn't ya hear me. Yes." The sheriff returned.

"But, don't you have any other questions? A test or something?" The green eyed stallion questioned.

The blue unicorn looked him right in the eyes, and spoke slowly.

"Question 1 - you showed me that you are honest, and ready to follow orders. Question 2 - you showed you have a great motivator to both do your job properly and to still come out alive at the end of the day. Question 3 - you have a skill K-Sec could use. As for tests, if you lied for anything said here, then you will mess up at the job, either losing a good number of bits, cripling yourself, or dying, which will result in your daughter growing an orphan, which on this world will most probably turn her into a problematic for society individual, ending with her either in prison, raped, and/or killed in some cold back alley. And I am pretty sure you don't want any of that. So tell me, do I need to hear or see anything else from you?"

Karn was dumbfounded for a moment. Then he got a hold of himself and replied with certainty in his voice.

"No sir!"

Before the stallion could say anything, his phone rang.

He pushed a button on it, and asked sternly.

"What?!"

'Sir, Eye Glass is here.' The mare which was in at the desk in the lobby said.

"Good, tell him his new partner will be arriving shortly."

'Whoa, what new partner?!' A stallion spoke through the phone. 'Boss you know I work alone.'

"Listen you ungrateful ten-eyes, if you wanna work alone, become a private detective. Until you get your pay checks from me you will work with whoever I say! Got that?!" The orange maned unicorn shouted.

There were a few moments of silence, the stallion on the other line replied with a groan.

'Fine.'

Then the line closed. Karn just stared silently at the sheriff, who turned his attention towards him and stated rather loudly.

"And what are you waiting for? The Spanish Inquisition? Get out!"

Not waiting for a second warning the gray unicorn got off the chair and walked for the door. After he got out, he walked down to the lobby to meet his new partner. When he reached there, he was met by a chubby looking red unicorn stallion with a brown mane and blue eyes. He wore a plaid shirt, in the chest pocket of which could be seen a pair of black shades, which Karn recognized from a certain movie series, and brown pants.

'Oh no. Not another movie fan. I can barely hold myself around Rain, now I have to work with one?' He thought as he stared, his expression showing a little disgust.

Eye Glass noticed that and walked up to him, saying.

"Are you looking at me?" Making a quick gesture with his hoof first at Karn and then at himself.

"Sadly yes..." The gray unicorn began. "I take it you are my partner Eye Glass?"

"Oi! What was that 'sadly' supposed to mean?!" The red stallion exclaimed.

"Sorry, because of the glasses I thought you were a movie fan." Karn tried to apologize.

"That's right, I am. So?" Eye Glass enquired.

"Oh brother..." The green eyed stallion sighed, after which shivered, despite the fact that the cooling system had been turned off.

"The boss expects me to work with this guy?" The red unicorn retored, gesturing at Karn and turning his head towards the mare behind the counter.

'Yes I am!' The voice of the sheriff was heard through the building.

"How'd he even-" Eye Glass tried to question, before the mare tapped his shoulder and pointed at the clock on the wall.

"Oh, it's that time." The red stallion said.

"What? What time?" Karn asked.

"Every day at about four seventeen pm, someone, somewhere in the building asks a question regarding the sheriff's judgement, so he replies through the coms. Guess today I am one of the few." The detective explained.

"Wow. He knows that's kinda messed up, right?" The gray unicorn retored.

'Yes I do!' The transmitters announced.

That made Karn give another questioning look to Eye Glass, who sighed and said.

"Four twenty pm. Questioning his way of handling questions about his judgement. Don't worry, you get used to it. So, now that we are partners, and there is not much of the day left for a case to crack, how about we go out and get to know each other a bit?"

"I guess there's no harm in that." The gray unicorn said.

The two started walking off and then Eye Glass spoke.

"Bye Ginger."

That earned him a wave from the mare, who was reading a magazine.

"Bye boss."

'Just get lost already!'

The red stallion gave his companion a smirk, to which the gray unicorn replied by shaking his head and saying.

"I don't - I don't even!"

That made his partner laugh.

__________________________________________________________________________

The two stallions sat at a corner cafe. A waitress brought each a cup of the dark liquid, and then the socializing began.

"So, you are a good tracker?" Eye Glass asked.

"You can say that I have an eye for detail." Karn replied.

"Really? How good are you?" The red stallion enquired.

"Well I can't say for sure, but it seems the detective thing sells pretty well." The gray unicorn said.

"What do you mean by that?" His companion questioned.

"Have you UVed that shirt lately?" Karn replied with a question of his own.

"What the- DAMN IT!" Eye Glass exclaimed.

His horn lit up in a blue hue, which revealed a pair of lip prints on the collar of his shirt.

"I am never using that laundry company's services again!" He again exclaimed in displeasure.

The sight made Karn chuckle.

"What's so damn funny?" The red stallion asked.

"I must admit, despite you being a 'geek', you are a nice guy to hang with." The gray unicorn replied.

That in turn made Eye Glass chuckle, after which he said.

"Well to be honest, even if you are an unbearable a-hole, you are not bad for company as well."

Then both of them raised their cups and sipped. When they put them down, Karn asked.

"Why'd you want to get coffee?"

"Man, I know this place, where the hard cyder flows like water. You need to get your throat ready with some coffee, before we go there." Eye Glass explained.

"I'd love to come, but I don't want my daughter to see me come home drunk after her first day at school." The gray unicorn said.

"Don't worry. Help yourself to a mug or two, and I'll drink the rest for you." His partner said with a laugh.

"Well in that case, think one cup of coffee is enough?" Karn asked.

"Most definitely." Eye Glass returned.

Each left a few bits for the coffee, and made their way to the 'Misty Grove'.

Despite the off start they had, the two stallions appeared to complement each other perfectly, which resulted in both doing their job well, and building up a strong friendship.

__________________________________________________________________________

*a few months later*

One night, after cracking another case, Karn came home, but something felt…odd. He walked over to their room, to be met by a black earth pony stallion, with a black mane and golden eyes, and wore a black full body suit and two precision gloves on his forelegs. He had leaned on the wall, and twisted a knife between his metallic fingers. The green eyed unicorn immediately took up a battle ready stance and slowly said in a threatening tone.

“Who are you?”

“Whoa, easy there killer.” The stallion removed himself from the wall, raising his palms in defense, before continuing. “I am commander Goldeneye Fleming from the DI, and I have some things to say to you.”

Suddenly Karn vanished in a cloud of smoke, leaving a slightly surprised Francis, and reappeared several seconds later, now bearing both of his warp blades. The stallion raised his hands, as the templar spoke.

“Well I don’t want to hear anything from you.”

“Oh I think you do.” Goldeneye sneered as he looked outside the window.

A red dot appeared on Karn’s forehead, as his gaze shifted in the same direction. He saw a red pegasus stallion, with a black mane and eyes, wearing a red and black suit, the model being the same like the one the pony with whom he was in the room wore, held a sniper rifle and waved to the gray unicorn, still keeping his aim. The two once again looked at each other, and the templar asked.

“You think your buddy’s trigger finger is faster than me?”

“First of, he is my brother, and second - true, you may be able to dodge the bullet…” He began.

Then he gave a light nod to the sniper. The pointer shifted from Karn, it went behind Francis and stopped itself over Rain Sight’s head, who was still sleeping in her bed.

“…but I am pretty sure, she can’t.” He gave him a devilish smirk.

The gray unicorn glared daggers at the stallion, while imagining some making contact with his body. He in turn lowered his arms as he said.

“So, shall we talk…Karn?”

The templar’s eyes widened slightly, before he sighed and lowered his weapons.

‘Good job Moonraker.’ Goldeneye said in a comunicator earpiece.

‘Any time brah.’ Moonraker returned.

“Now, as you are probably aware, DI knows everything about everyone in K-Sec.” The black earth pony began. “You were a very peculiar case though. I had the boys dig up as much as they could about you.” He made several ‘tisk’ noises. “Dark templar, lost family, killed his own son…” He looked over his shoulder to the sleeping filly. “…half-zerg daughter.”

That earned him a grunt from Karn.

“Despite that I have no idea what got you on Meinhoff, or what you’ve been doing before that-”

“Get to the point.” The templar interrupted.

Goldeneye stayed silent for a moment, before continuing.

“I was building to that. In any way, you are not like any other dark templar I’ve had the pleasure of sniffing out. You’ve not made contact with the DO for a good 14 years, you have settled down and gotten a family, and now you’ve come to the most dangerous place for any dark templar, or Confederate to be, and got a job in its police force. Also I really admire your organization skills. Never thought a full grown stallion can fit a box that size.”

The templar grumbled.

“To the point, right. SO, as someone, who is open-minded for possibilities, I want to make you and offer.”

“An offer?” Karn questioned.

“More of a choice, really.” Goldeneye returned, before explaining. “Option A - you and your daughter become Dominion Intelligence agents. You get a triple increase in salary, a house to call your home. Today’s schools are pretty dull. Your daughter will receive proper education in everything they teach in school, plus mechanics, tactics, computers and ect. She will also receive martial arts and firearms training, she will be able to defend herself.”

“Why do you want her as an agent?” Karn asked sternly.

“You don’t find cooperative people, who have zerg DNA in them at your local stores now days.” The black earth pony chuckled.

“And what is option B?” The templar enquired.

“You get killed, and your daughter either dies as well, becomes a test subject for the DI science boys, or we send the Khalai something they consider an abomination as a sign of good will, and proposal for future cooperation.” He said lightly.

The templar fell in deep thought for a few moments, when the stallion asked.

“Well? What’s it gonna be?”

Karn thought about it for a little more, before saying.

“Okay. Deal.”

“Splendid.” Goldeneye spoke in a cheerful tone. “I’ll take my leave, and let you break our little talk to little sleeping beauty.” He walked off.

On the door he stopped and said.

“Oh by the way. Your partner is also getting a promotion. You two are continuing to do your job.”

“And what exactly is our job?” The templar enquired.

“Catch other dark templar and do any task the DI gives you. Simple as that.” Goldeneye then left.

As he exited through the front door, he yelled back at Karn.

“See you around coworker!”

‘Moonraker, operation successful. Abort termination.’

He messaged his brother.

‘Copy.’ He returned, and picked up his rifle.

“Daddy…?” Rain Sight groggily said.

The yell had woken her up.

Karn walked over to her bed, and sat next to her.

“Daddy, what is it?” She asked worriedly.

He sighed before answering.

“Daddy just got a new job sweetie, and you got transferred to a new school.”

“Does this mean we have to move?” She enquired.

“Yes, but this is the last time. And we get a new house.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

He gave her a tight hug, which she returned.

“Things are about to turn for the better sweetie.” He said.

Author's Note

Well that's all folks. Commet, rate, favorite and follow. Also check out the main story. Have a nice day!