Author's Note

Sorry for the delay, I know it's been months, and I'm really, really sorry, so anyway, here's the new chapter, I hope you like and I promise to update soon, thanks Cobalt Blur for the help, and grammar check!

NEW ORDERS

“NEW ORDERS”

Rex slowly rose from the ground and shook his head, "Is everybody all right?".

He looked up to find his men. Those that were left were picking themselves up off the ground and regrouping.

Confident that his men were ok for the moment Rex decided to see where they had landed. So he flipped on his helmet light and looked around. Like he had already seen it was a long tunnel leading to who knows where.

One side had been filled in by debris meaning there was only one way they could go.

Once more he turned to face his men. "Everyone, form up! The droids will be down here any minute we need to move now", While he was talking he started to walk down the tunnel. "We will continue through this tunnel, if we're lucky, we'll find a way out."

At this the rest of them turned on their helmet lights, and quickly made their way deeper into the pitch black tunnel.

Not long after they had left droids started dropping down through the hole. They continued to drop until at least two full battalions worth of Battle Droids, and Super Battle Droids, had assembled. As soon as they had formed up they began their relentless pursuit of Rex and his men.

At the same time Rex and his men were still barreling down the tunnel. They maintained this relentless pace until the walls seemed to disappear from around them.

Unsure of what had happened Rex called for them all to stop. Upon closer inspection he could see the walls had opened up like they had entered a large cave. He couldn't be sure however, because the entire area was shrouded in darkness, and his light was unable to pierce it.

Rex walked a little farther into the cavern and turned back to his men. "Stoker, give me a sticky flare."

One of the clones, Stoker, give the flare gun to Rex. "Here you go sir."

Rex took it without a word and pointed it towards the ceiling. Without a second of hesitation he fired the flare and watched as it soared through the air. As it went higher and higher it bathed the ground in a stark white light, giving the whole area a surreal appearance.

As it continued traveling up Rex only had one thought. 'This really is a huge cave.'

Finally the flare made contact with what Rex hoped was the ceiling. As soon as the flare made contact it burst apart into tiny pieces. Each piece flew through the air like a shooting star, all while casting there illumination around the massive space.

After letting all the flares settle the clones were finally able to see where they were.

"What the hell," muttered one of the clones.

They were definitely in a giant cave, but strangely it had huge walls, Rex was curious to know what this place was supposed to be, but had other priorities to worry about at the moment.

Once again turning back to his men he selected a small group and gave out there orders. "Look for another way out quickly. We don’t have much time."

As those soldiers ran off searching for another exit, he turned back to one of the remaining clones. "I want men covering that entrance." He pointed at the tunnel they entered from and continued. "The droids are still coming, and we need to be ready."

"Sir, yes sir," said the clone as he ran away to carry out the orders.

While the other clones were carrying out there orders, Rex took advantage of his chance to observe the room in more detail. He slowly made his way to the center of the room, and directed his gaze around the room.

For a moment Rex continued to stare into the vast room with only one thought. 'This is sure strange. I don't recall anything like this in any of the databases on Sullustians, or this planet for that matter.'

As he continued to ponder the origins of the strange room another thought came to mind. 'What is this doing here anyways? Initials scans didn't show any underground formations in this area, tunnels included, and the Sullurians backed that up. Did they deceive us, or did they not know about them?'

Suddenly a shout pulled him back to the present. “Sir! Here they come!"

Almost immediately blaster fire began to fill the air. Droids of all sizes started to boil out of the tunnel, firing as they went.

The remaining clones found whatever meager cover they could and returned fire. It was a losing fight however. For every droid they took down two more seem to take its place.

In a matter of minutes the droids had left the tunnel and entered the cave proper.

As more and more droids entered the sheer volume of fire forced every clone to take cover.

Thinking quickly Rex primed one of his grenades and lobbed it towards the mass of droids.

When it exploded it took out a good number of droids, but in the end it was pointless. There was simply too many droids for it to matter, and they were still coming.

Despite there almost certain defeat the clones continued to fight. Making the droids pay dearly for every inch. Their voices never wavered as they continued to fight.

“Super battle droids! Take them down!”

“I need more ammo!”

“Medic! We need assistance here!”

One of the clones next to Rex finally pointed out the obvious. "Captain, they are too many! What should we do?" The whole time he never once stopped firing.

While he took cover from another burst of fire Rex rushed to find a solution to the situation. How could he salvage a victory from this mess? Better yet how could they simply survive? No answers came. There was just no way out.

By this point he realized the sound of blaster fire had been significantly reduced. Sweeping his gaze across his men he saw why. Most of his men lay motionless, dead or dying he didn't know.

Once again Rex turned his attention back to the droids. Only one thought on his mind, ‘there may be no way out of this, but I'll take as many of the clankers with me as I can.'

The handful of clones continued to fight valiantly, but it was like a fly trying to beat a hurricane, futile. There was simply too many droids.

One by one the clone’s rifles fell silent until only Rex remained.

Finally all the droids where focused on Rex. So much fire was pouring into his cover that the stone he was hiding behind was starting to glow. He was unable to do anything, he so much as moved he would be vaporized.

Rex knew he couldn't get out of this situation alive.

He was strangely calm for a man facing his imminent demise. In fact the only thing he was feeling was anger and regret. He regretted the loss of all his men. Had they died in vain? Was it worth it? Under all these thoughts his anger boiled. It stemmed from a more personal reason.

He had been defeated, and worse it had been by these Separatist scum.

Under his helmet he closed his eyes. He began to remember all the brothers he had lost to this war. He recalled all the sorrow and all the pain from there passing’s. No matter how many brothers he lost it never got easier. Each loss was a fresh wound that would never truly heal. Despite that he had soldiered on and done his duty.

Rex hadn’t forgotten though. He had always been able to remember ever one of his lost brothers. He never forgot.

The whole time the droids had continued there relentless advance firing as they went. By this time the rock rex was hiding behind was starting to melt from the shear amount of fire.

Knowing his time was up Rex made one final decision.

With one last farewell to his fallen brothers Rex readied his pistols. With one last breath he burst from cover yelling as he went. "Take this you pieces of... What?" There was nothing.

Where there had once been droids there was now nothing. "What the hell is going on?" was all Rex could mutter.

Taking another look at his surroundings caused even more confusion.

Everything was white, he wasn't even in the cave anymore.

Rex had no idea what was happening. Before long he started to feel a slight tingling sensation spreading across his body. At the same time the white light started tl get brighter and brighter.

Clamping his eyes shut did not help as the light seemed to pierce right through his eyelids. Rex did the only thing he could do in this situation. He screamed in agony, "Aaaggghhh...." The light continued to get brighter until Rex simply lost
consciousness.

As suddenly as the light had appeared, it was gone. Along with any trace of Rex.

__________________________________________________________________

Back in the cave the droids had stopped firing.

One of the Battle Droids slowly made its way over to where Rex had just been. Looking back to the other droids it asked one question. "Uh ... what just happened?

__________________________________________________________________

Rex suddenly woke up, he was still lying in a bed, it had all been a dream. He gingerly massaged his temples to ward off the coming headache.

"Agh, it was that dream again," he mumbled to himself.
Rex pulled the blanket off his body, and swung his legs over the side. As he sat there images from the dream flashed through his mind.

'Ugh... I been having this same dream for the last couple days. It's the last thing I remember before waking up in this crazy world. But how did I get here? Did that bright light have anything to do with it?' At this he shook his head a puzzled look on his face.

'I need answers, but who could help me?'

With that final thought Rex decided to get up and do something.

With a quick glance around the room he was able to locate his armor and weapons. They were all piled on top of a small dresser on the other side of the room.

With a small smile he carefully stood up and inspected himself. He was still wearing his armors black bodysuit and nothing else seemed out of place.

Satisfied that nothing had happened while he slept Rex made his way to the center of the room and began to stretch. As he started making his way through the first series of stretches he began to talk to himself.

"I wonder if Fluttershy made breakfast yet." A second later he added with a stumped expression, "I still don't understand how she so well without hands."

Once he was finished stretching he casually made his way over to the dresser to suit up. A few minutes later he was all geared up and ready for the day.

With his helmet tucked under his arm he made his out the door.

After descending the stairs he quickly made his way to the kitchen.

As soon as he entered he started to look around for something to eat. That’s when he spotted a plate full of fruit salad on the counter.

"Hmm, Fluttershy must have left this for me. I wonder where she could be?"

With nothing else to say he scooped up the plate and walked back to the living room. Upon entering he settled down on the couch to enjoy the salad.

It had been a few weeks since Rex first met Fluttershy, he had secretly been living with her while he recovered from his injuries. Over those few weeks Rex had come to realize he had grown quite fond of her. He didn’t know if it was because she was the only one who had not tried to kill him, or if it was something else.

Besides that however he still couldn’t figure out why she had helped him in the first place. He had nothing to repay her with so why.

During his stay Rex had tried to maintain a low profile, especially now that several of the one's called Royal Guards had appeared in the nearby town.

He hadn’t spent all his time hiding though. He had also been learning about the creatures from Fluttershy. Things like how they were herbivores, and were generally only violent when defending themselves.

At the same time however he still considered them a threat. So he quietly started looking for weakness in there species. Surprisingly they were quite easy to find.

From what he had seen there where three main types of these creatures, the ones with horns, the ones with wings, and the ones that had neither.
If he ran into a horned one he simply needed to break the horn, if it had wings pluck them. Finally if it had neither a good kick to the stomach or hind legs should be enough to incapacitate them.

While Rex had been learning about ponies, Fluttershy had also been learning things about Rex. She had been excited when she first realized that he could eat plants, but almost fainted when she learned he also ate meat.

To her dismay she had come to realize that Rex was a horrible patient. Despite her many attempts to convince him to rest he was always up and about, instead of recovering from his wounds. She had finally had to stare him into compliance witch is something even a Sith couldn't do.

In recent days Rexs stay had not gone unnoticed. Ever since the Royal Guard had shown up they had been going door to door, and searching every house and place of business. It was only a matter of time until they paid Fluttershy a visit.

Until that day came though Rex was content. He was enjoying some of the best food in his entire life, even if it didn't have any meat in it.

In a way it could be said that Fluttershys cooking had become one Rex's few weaknesses.

After polishing off the last of his meal Rex was left with little else to do, and it was boring.

It had been the same thing for the last few days and he needed to find something to do. Even a soldier with as much discipline as him, needs to find a way to pass the time.

There wasn't that many options available to him. So he picked one and went with it, besides the weather looked nice outside.

Making up his mind he got off the couch and gave one final stretch. "Well, I guess I might as well go now. I have to do it eventually."

With that he made his way to the back door and placed his hand on the handle. 'I just need to take care not to be seen, I don’t need more problems from these creatures. Simple.'

With that he swung open the door and stepped outside, but not without one last comment slipping out, "I just hope that little white creature isn't close by, pesky little thing."

__________________________________________________________________

Fluttershy had woken up early to go shopping at the market in Ponyville.

She was walking through the market, looking for supplies, while her mind wondered.

She kept thinking about the last few days she had spent with Rex. There had been a few rough spots, mostly convincing Angle not to turn Rex over to the guard. Otherwise it had been interesting.

Even though Rex was unable to speak her language she had still learned a lot from him, and she liked him. He appeared to be a good person, but was also disciplined and strong.

She still had questions for him like where was he from. What is he? Why does he wear armor? She hoped someday that they would finaly be able to speak the same language so she could ask. She even...

“Psss, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy was frightened by the sudden voice behind her, "Who ... Who's there?"

"It's my Fluttershy, Scootaloo." Scootaloo said, popping her head out from a bush.

Fluttershy was surprised to see Scootaloo, "Scootaloo? What are you doing there?"

"I think you mean, what are we doing here." Another face appeared from the bush, this one being Applebloom.

"Apple Bloom, You too?" Fluttershy said, “Is Sweetie Belle there as well?"

"Yup!" Said Sweetie Belle, also coming out of the bush.

"What are you all doing in that bush... that is if you don’t mind telling me?"

With an enormous breath the three cried in unison, “We’re the Cutie Mark Alien Pursuers."

Fluttershy was confused, "Alien Pursuers?"

"Ya, we want to find the Alien from the other day!" Scootaloo said.

“And try and earn our Cutie Marks for finding aliens, "continued Sweetie Belle, as she placed a sign on a tree. Fluttershy walked up to examine the sign.

It was a wanted poster with a very poor drawing of Rex on it. At the bottom bold letters proclaimed, 'Have you seen this Alien? Call the Crusaders.'

"Oh my," was all that Fluttershy could say.

Applebloom saw what Fluttershy was staring at and smiled. “Cool right? Anyway call us if you see the alien, ok Fluttershy." With that she and the rest of the crusaders jumped back into the bush to keep searching.

Fluttershy was silent for a few moments before shaking her head.

“I just hope they don’t hurt themselves.” With that she left to continue shopping.

__________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile in Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestia was on her balcony observing the landscape of the kingdom of Equestria.

"Sister," hearing the voice Celestia looked back, and saw her sister Princess Luna.

"We can see that thou are still thinking about the Alien," Luna said.

Celestia smiled at her sister, "It's hard not to think about it when you know your subjects are in danger."

"Maybe, but we should not let that stop us from doing our duty’s as well. It’s obvious that thou did not raise the sun to its ideal position."

"Really is it that easy to see?"

"Only to those with a keen eye."

A small smile appeared on Celestias face before returning to a neutral expression. "So why are you so relaxed about this Alien?"

Luna was silent for a few seconds, "We do not know how to explain this sister, but we do not feel evil in that individual. He has
kindness and compassion, but he has something dark inside as well. Whatever that is, we do not know what it is."

"You can feel it?" asked Celestia.

"Yes, but that does not mean that we know its exact location, if that's what thou wanted to ask," Luna said.

"So you're saying that this creature may be a cold-blooded murderer, but it has some goodness inside?"

"Yes," confirmed Luna.

Celestia stared at her for a moment before asking, “Are you completely sure?"

Luna kept silent, but that silence was enough for Celestia to know the answer. With that she got up to leave and turned her back to Luna.

'Yes, we are completely sure,’ thought Luna.

Before Celestia could say anything, a Royal Guard came running in to the room.

“News from Northern Equestria,”shouted the Guard. Luna came near to hear what was going on.

Celestia just had an expression of annoyance. The guard stopped when he realized he was yelling at a Princess. In a more polite manner he continued. "Uh ... Your Highness."

Celestia smiled, "Yes?” Luna only roll her eyes at her sister’s actions.

The guard calmed down enough to continue, "I am simply here to tell you that ‘it’ has returned."

Princess Celestia gasped at the news, while Luna retained her calm composure.

Celestia donned a more serious look, “Find Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, now!"

Without out hesitation the guard saluted, "Yes, your highness." With that he turned and galloped out of the room leaving the Princesses alone.

Luna just stared at her sister with an amused grin. 'Let us guess, she’s going to call the elements to assist us in this disaster.'

Princess Celestia had immediately walked over to a nearby desk and grabbed a scroll and quill, and began to right. "My dearest Twilight, you must come to Canterlot at once..."

With a roll of her eyes Luna stepped in front of Celestia."Thou are so predictable sister, calling the elements every time there is trouble. Endangering thou dear student and her friends, making them do the dangerous job. They may hold the most powerful artifacts in Equestria, but they are not soldiers, they are normal Ponies."

With a small blast of magic Celestia sent the letter on its way. Once it was away she turned all her attention to Luna, no traces of anger in her expression.

"I already told you Lulu, that the elements are strong, and they know how to take care of themselves. Do not take that as ignorance, I also feel fear every time I ask them to help with these problems. If we had any other choice I would take it." With that she got up once again and left the room.

Luna stared at where her sister had just left. "Thou do it your way, and we shall do it our way."

__________________________________________________________________

After finally finishing her shopping Fluttershy was finally on her way back to the cottage. The trip back was nice and relaxing, but it didn’t stop her thoughts from drifting back to Rex.

After a few moments Fluttershy could finally see her cottage. As soon as she opened the door she noticed something was off. All here little animal friends where running around here house.

They had not been inside for a while, mostly because they were too afraid of Rex. The only one who was not afraid of him was angel.

Fluttershy deduced that Rex was probably outside, so she first went to her kitchen to drop of her groceries. With that done she made her way to the back yard to try and find Rex.

She spotted Rex as soon as she stepped outside. He was sitting under a nearby tree gazing at the beautiful scenery of Ponyville.

Curious as to why he was outside she walked closer.

Most of the day Rex had just been thinking while he gazed at the serene landscape. It was really disconcerting to go from a battlefield to a little slice of paradise. That is if you ignored the natives trying to kill him. These had been some strange days for sure.

To top it all off he still couldn’t figure out how he got here. All he could remember was fighting droids, a white light, then darkness, and the next thing he knew he was in middle of a city full of technicolor creatures.

The only answers he could think of is he either teleported here, or he’s dead and this is some kind of afterlife. It still sound crazy even to him, and he was living it.

Forgetting all that for the moment he turned back to admiring the scene in front of him. The whole situation was new to him, in all his years he never had the time to simply admire the beauty of nature and life. All he had ever known was war, and death. He had to admit to himself he was enjoying this moment, so much so that he could lower his guard.

Crack!

At the sudden noise Rex spun around ready to fight. Only to see Fluttershy standing fifteen feet away with an apologetic smile. After seeing it was only her he sat back down and continued to enjoy the view.

Fluttershy was surprised by Rex quick reaction, but seeing him calm down convinced here to get a little closer. As she got closer she took note that he had his armor on again, but had left his helmet at his side.

Once she was next to him she found a comfortable spot she laid down and looked over to him.

As she examined his face she could tell he had lived a hard life, and as she looked closer at his eyes he looked young. However hidden under it all was an internal conflict and plenty of aggression. She could only wonder at what had caused him to become this way.

After a few moments of silence, Fluttershy decided to speak. "Hey Rex, do you fell alright?"

Rex turned his head to see her, and nodded, then he return to looking at the landscape.

Even if they could not communicate, they somehow could understand each other. Probably because Fluttershy’s ability to communicate with animals.

Again the silence returned. Fluttershy was not sure why Rex was so enthralled by the sunset, had he never seen one before? He was still a mystery to her and she had so many questions.

If only they could talk to each other all her questions could be answered.

For now though she would have to be patient.

With a quick glance at the setting sun she could tell that it was getting late, and judging by Rex’s actions he was going to be out a while longer. Seeing no reason to stay she decided to go back inside and leave him alone.

While Rex was sitting there he could not stop wondering what was happening back on the battlefield. He knew that every man could make a difference, and at the moment he was doing nothing.

Anger began to build as he thought about his inability to fight while his brothers died.

He could only hope that everything was going ok.

All at once the sun sank below the horizon jolting Rex out of his thoughts. It was strange it had not moved all day, and suddenly it set in a matter of minutes.

With no idea what could cause it he decided to chock it up on his ever growing list of mysteries.
Rex then realized that Fluttershy had left, and had probably gone back inside.

Once again he returned to the tranquility of the landscape as night fell. He could feel the peace and quiet wash over him until he gradually fell asleep.

__________________________________________________________________

Rex was in a dark forest filled with mist and darkness.

Rex quickly checked himself, he still was wearing his armor and helmet.

"Where am I?" Rex asked.

"Fear not creature," said a voice.

Rex was alarmed and began to look around for the source of the voice. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

"Very well."

Suddenly, the darkness begin to coalesce into one of the creatures that Rex had already seen. Its skin was dark blue while its hair appeared to be composed of the night sky, oddly it seemed to wave in a non-existent wind. Like the other creatures it had a tattoo of the moon on its side.

"You!" cried Rex. Taking out his blaster from its holster, he pointed it at the creatures head. "You're the one who attacked me in town the other night!"

Before he could pull the trigger his gun evaporated. "What!"

The voice once again reached his ears. "Calm down creature, we're not here to harm thou."

Rex tried to regain her composure, "Then why did you attack me the other night?"

"Because we were not sure how to try and talk to thou at the time, so we thought we could detain you until after the wedding. It's a shame that the wedding did not go as planned."

Rex was trying to recap everything that was going on, after a few moments Rex calmed down. "Ok, first of all I want to know who you are. Or even a better question, what are you all?"

She took her time to answer, "We are Princess Luna, co-ruler of Equestria, the land where you are now."

'Equestria? Then that's the name of this planet, and if she is a princess I'd better try to get on her good side … wait, did she said "we"?'

"We?" asked Rex.

Luna sighed at the question, "We are accustomed to speaking in a traditional fashion that has lasted for thousands of years, with the traditional 'we' and 'us'," clarified Luna, "And to your earlier question, our species is Ponies, but I'm an alicorn Pony."

"Alicorn? What is the difference between all of you? I imagine it has something to do with the wings and horns."

Luna nodded, "You're right, the Ponies with wings are called Pegasus, and Ponies that have horns are called Unicorn, they are the ones who can wield magic ..."

Rex just stood frozen for a moment, 'Magic? This must be a joke, even if that explained how they could shoot lasers and how that purple unicorn could get me up in the air with that strange energy ... this just keeps getting weirder.'

Luna continued speaking, "... the ponies that do not have wings or horn are called Earth Ponies.

As you must have noticed we have both wings and a horn that defines us as an alicorn. Our kind are the most powerful, but there are only a few of us."

'Powerful? As much as a Jedi perhaps?' Rex wondered.

"But how is that we now understand each other?" Rex asked.

With a small smile of pride Luna answered. “While we cannot understand each other in the physical world, in here we are connected to your mind. So we can understand with this communication system based on thoughts, that's why."

"Ok thanks for the little explanation. Next question where are we?"

"This is The Dream Land, we are in your subconscious, and you’re sleeping right now. We are the Princess of the Night, we keep an eye on our little Ponies while they sleep, but you creature. Of all the dreams I have ever experienced, you have the most horrible and frightening of all. "

Rex began to put the puzzle together in his head, but the facts were incredible.

"It's hard to fight a war without having bad dreams about the atrocities that can be experienced." After a slight pause he continued. "But I'm sure you know about the war Miss, after all you been getting into my head for several days.”

Luna was shocked, "How did you know?"

Rex just smiled beneath his helmet, "It was not hard to find that out. To start off, these last few days I've been dreaming about past battles that I was a part of. I never dream of them, or more precisely I can't. Due to some genetic modifications I am unable to dream of such events. So I can assume that you were looking through my head when I saw them. So with that being said I would like to ask you to please stop."

Luna was speechless for a moment, she couldn't believe how he had pieced it together. She knew he was smart, but this was more then she had expected. She would have to be careful.

"We ... I apologize," Luna said bowing slightly. After sitting up she continued, "But we needed to make sure you would not be a danger to our subjects." Luna said.

"So your here to lock me up then."

"No," said Luna.

"What?" Rex was surprised by what she said. "With all due respect ma'am, I am a soldier, I don’t know of anything more dangerous."

"You're an endangered creature," said Luna. "But not for my Ponies. From your memories we have seen in your interactions with our subjects. We saw how you saved those little fillies in the forest, how you were kind to Fluttershy, and how you tried not harm Twilight Sparkle and her friends. I don't think you're really a threat to my subjects." As she finished a small smile had appeared.

Rex understood now, but still had to voice a question. "Okay, but if you saw all that, how come I didn't see that in my dreams?"

"Because, we only see the most important parts of your life. This caused some of your memories to accidentally project on your dreams. We tried to avoid many of the battles, but I must say there wasn't much else to see. We were confused until we saw how you age faster than normal. You’re an adult, but your only 13. I must say that it surprised me, Captain Rex."

Rex sighed, "So you really saw it all. Well at least it saves me the explanation."

Luna gave an apologetic smile, “Once more I apologize Captain, but as I said, we had to be sure."

Rex removed his helmet and held it under his arm, allowing Luna to see his face.

"Ok ma’am, I understand your concern, but I hope you didn’t delve into any of my more personal memories.”

"We just saw what we thought was necessary. We saw how important your brothers were to you and how hard it was to lose so many of them. However we didn’t see any of your military secrets if that’s what worries you." At this Luna paused as if debating whether to ask her next question. “However, we are curious. How are you so advanced without magic?"

Rex just laughed a little, "I could explain that to you Miss, but I still have questions of my own."

"We also have many questions Captain, but we are afraid that we must get to the point of our visit." With that Luna adopted a serious expression. "We could have continued to observe your dreams without you knowledge Captain, but because of unforeseen circumstances, we don’t have much time left to keep studying thou. That is why we had to contact thou so soon, and in this fashion. "

"What are you talking about ma'am?" Asked Rex.

"I mean that we require your services Captain, there is a threat in our land, and we require your help to protect our subjects." At this she paused worry adorning here features. "We beg thou, please Captain. We can pay thou whatever you want, after all we are the rulers of a kingdom."

For a moment Rex did not know what to say, he was speechless, he did not expect this. Rex took a few moments before answering, "I'm flattered that you need me ma'am, but I'm a soldier, not a Bounty Hunter. I cannot interfere with your political affairs, the things that happen in your kingdom are none of my business."

"No Captain, it may not be thous business, but we have been watching thou many time’s and we know that thou are not like this. We know thou cannot bear to see an innocent in danger, thou protect the weak, and thou are someone who would give his own life for others. Believe us when we say that with this threat, there are many innocent ponies in danger. After all, that is why you came to this world. "Stated Luna.

"Wait! Then you know how I got here?" Rex asked surprised.

Luna confirms, "Yes, but as we said before, many of your questions will be answered later. But for now we need you Captain, our kingdom need you." She said in a low voice, "Please protect our little ponies, and then the truth about your arrival will be revealed, we beg thou please."

Rex began to consider the offer. He knew that if he found out how he got here, maybe he could get back. Rex was pretty sure of his decision, but he still had to ask a question.

"Why me? Surely there are others." Rex asked, "I'm nothing special, I'm just another clone."

Luna could see the doubt in Rex’s eyes. "Perhaps you are just another clone, but if what we've seen is true, you're not like the others. You have something that others do not have, your aggression on the battlefield, your independent thought, your ability to improvise, your individuality with others, and your natural leadership. These are the things that make you who you are, what you are, and a true warrior.” With a small smile she added. "That's why we choose you instead of somepony else.”

Rex just stared at her with a serious expression, seconds passed and she closed her eyes hoping for Rex to accept.

Rex took another second and finally said, "…Ma’am, I’ll take the mission."

Luna could not help but to smile with joy at hearing that. "Thank you Captain, I really appreciate it."

Rex did not change his expression, followed with his serious look of determination and discipline. "It will be my honor Your Majesty."

Taking the opportunity to snap to attention he continued. "If I may ask ma'am, but what will be the mission?”

"Straight to the point then, fine. This mission is very risky, thou will need all your strength, intelligence, and cunning to pull through. We must remind thou Captain that many lives depend on it, “said Luna.

"I am aware of that ma’am," Rex confirmed.

Once again Luna smiled, then returned to her serious look. "In the frozen north of Equestria, a lost kingdom has returned. After a thousand years The Crystal Empire has appeared again, along with a dark evil, King Sombra…”

Suddenly strange shadows begin to apear around them.

“...the ex-ruler of the ancient Crystal Empire. While this horrible tyrant ruled over the Empire, he enslaved and tortured the ponies who lived there. He was corrupted by dark magic, and threatened to conquer Equestria. He was ultimately overthrown, turned into a shadow, and banished to the ice of the arctic north, but not before he was able to put a curse upon the Empire. A curse that caused it to vanish, but now it has returned. The Empire is filled with hope and love, these things will spread across all of Equestria, but Sombra wants to use the Empire to make hatred and fear take hold throughout Equestria. Which is why we need your help."

"And you want me to stop him?" Asked Rex, he was not sure about the idea of fighting a being with supernatural powers, especially magic powers, he had no idea how to fight that.

"No," said Luna, "My sister, unfortunately, sent somepony else to deal with Sombra. While I accept here decision I do not agree with it, we want to take our own precautions. We request that you protect Twilight Sparkle and her friends while they try to stop Sombra. Our sister does not agree with us on our decision so this needs to be done quietly, don’t let anypony see you."

"Yes ma'am."

"Use the map on the page of the book you took from the library the other night and travels to the north. If I'm not mistaken one train will leave the station in half an hour, get on that train and let nopony see you."

Then all that was around them began to disappear, becoming a storm.

"What's going on?" Rex asked, looking around in surprise.

Luna also looked around before answering. "You're waking up, which means we must go now." With that Luna began to take off.

Before Rex could do anything, everything went dark.

__________________________________________________________________

Rex woke up suddenly, and a quick look around confirmed it was still night. Remembering his dream he couldn’t help but shake his head, it was absurd. If it wasn’t for everything else he had already seen in this world he would have sworn he had gone crazy.

There was no denying it, besides he would never be crazy enough to think of a name like Twilight Sparkle, so it had to be real.
With a deep sigh Rex stood up from the ground put on his helmet, and walked into the cottage.

“Before I leave, I will need some provisions. I’m not sure how long it will take to make this trip but I better be prepared.”

Once there, Rex went to the kitchen where he grabbed some food that he should be able to eat. Finding a black bag in a closet he packed it all up and prepared to leave.

Rex felt guilty from the idea of taking food from Fluttershy. She had helped him and took care of him. He had to at least say good bye, but he knew there was no time.

The quicker he finished the mission the closer he would be to finding a way home.

So with the sack on his shoulder, Rex headed toward the door, when he was about to leave, a slight sound caused him to stop.

Looking back he found Fluttershy with a surprised face.

Rex just sighed, "Apparently things just got more complicated."

__________________________________________________________________

Fluttershy had come down from her room to see what was causing all the noises down stairs, she was shocked to see it was Rex, but what surprised her most was that Rex was stuffing a bag full of food like he was about to leave.

With fear and sadness Fluttershy slowly approached Rex. Once they were close, Rex knelt down to her level and removed his helmet, letting Fluttershy see his face.

Once again, Fluttershy could see a look of determination on his face, but strangely sadness as well. Maybe it was because he was about to leave, and idea witch made her sad as well.

Rex suddenly put his hand on her head, and began to stroke her mane.

It felt good and she couldn’t help but giggle.

A small smile spread across Rex’s face at the sound. After a few calming moments he stood back up and headed to the door.
Before he could make it to the door a wing was draped over his shoulder and gently held him back.

As he turned around to see why he caught sight of a pink tail disappearing up the stairs.

Before he could voice a question Fluttershy returned, but now carrying a blue blanket.

Even knowing that he wouldn’t really understand what she was saying she had to explain something to him.

"This blanket was given to me by my mom when I was a small baby. She told me that this blanket would always protect me, and so far it hasn't failed. So now I want to give it to you, so you will always stay safe."

To her surprise apparently he did seem to understand, so she continued. "In the short time that I've known you I can honestly say that you have become a very dear friend to my, and as with my other friends I care a lot for you, and I know you have to go, but hopefully we can meet again. "

Fluttershy stared into his eyes, noting his expression of surprise, after a few moments he finally took the blanket out of Fluttershys legs.

Rex didn't actually understood what Fluttershy say, but he know that the blanket was something important and sentimental for her, but maybe in the future he could know what she said, it will only be matter of time.

Giving one last smile, Rex put on his helmet and walked out the door, moving away and finally out of sight.

Fluttershy was filled with a sense of sadness but finally smiled, she did not care if Rex was taking some of her food.

For her that was something that could easily be replaced, but to see Rex go, she could not help but feel sad. She had known that sooner or later he was going to have to leave, as with all animals once they are better.

She still hoped that someday they could meet again. Smiling at that thought she quietly closed the door, and headed back upstairs to get some sleep.

Knock …! Knock...! Knock...!

Stopping midway up the stairs Fluttershy turned around and walked back to the door. “Oh who may that be?”

Curious she opened the door, only to find Rainbow dash Fluttershy opened the door, only to find Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy was confused, "Rainbow Dash? What are you do...”

"Fluttershy! No time to talk, Twilight has to go to Canterlot for some kind of test, we have to go and support her!" Shouted Rainbow Dash.

Before Fluttershy could say anything Dash had grabbed her and was flying off towards the library.

TO BE CONTINUED