Direct Impact

Chapters

Prologue: Living in Exile
Chapter 1: Moving Out
Chapter 2: The Caravan and The Massacre
Chapter 3: Bounty Hunting
Chapter 4: Canterlot
Chapter 5: Questions and the Future

Prologue: Living in Exile

Author's Note

These first few chapters are going to be very short. Also forgive me if my story-telling is a bit bland, its been a while since I've done anything fanfiction related. :moustache:

Prologue: Living in Exile

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POV: Impact

I took a deep breath as I looked through the scope of my DC-15X. I spotted a timberwolf standing out in the open, this one was alone, and it was too close to my shelter for my liking. I focused and aimed at the timberwolf's head and pulled the trigger. The bolt shot out of my rifle and smashed into the timberwolf's head. I exhaled as the timberwolf fell over, dead before it even hit the ground. I knew that sooner or later, I was going to have to find out where these things kept coming from.

I've killed at least ten of them in the past week. I'm glad my training helps me sense everything around me, otherwise, I wouldn't be able to hear and kill these things. With the help of my survival training I was able to take shelter in a nearby cave, and I was able to defend it pretty well. There were a lot of things out here that wanted to kill me so I made my shelter go underground. I put my rifle on my back and began to walk back to my home.

When I arrived back at my shelter I checked to make sure I had all my equipment. I was pretty armed when I was...killed, I shuddered as I thought about the events of what happened on Devaron. I remember seeing the axe of a separatist agent coming down on me, and the darkness that followed after it. I knew that right then and there, my career as a soldier came to a halt. In the darkness I thought I would join my brothers and the two Jedi that were there with us. But it seems that fate has other things in mind for me. I sighed as I looked at my weapons, which consisted of a DC-15A, a DC-17 pistol, my DC-15X, my vibroknife, and a few thermal detonators.

My shelter was just a very small cave, it didn't go deep underground or anything like that. I had used the furs from some of the animals I had killed to make a small fur door, and by door, I mean a flap. I didn't mind this lifestyle, I preferred to be here instead of in the public eye. I did meet a few of the inhabitants on this planet. When I first arrived, I even met their ruler, Princess Celestia. The thing that kinda surprised me was that she was a horse, or as she put it, a pony.

She helped me out by giving me some information about this country I was in, and she gave me a few books. They were all about surviving in the wilds, and about the animals that were here. Overall, the princess was friendlier than I thought she would be. I read through the books as fast as I could and learned quite a bit about how to survive. Its how I was able to make the door and the small little bed. I'm pretty much living off the land with what knowledge and the gear that I have with me.

Occasionally, Princess Celestia, somehow, keeps sending me scrolls, and she asks me questions about myself. It wasn't like an interrogation, it was more like a conversation with a friend. It was quite nice to have someone to talk to. She did ask me to come out of exile and meet her in the capital at some point. Princess Celestia told me her student also wants to know more about me. I keep thinking about doing what she asks and going to the capital, but, going off the information Princess Celestia gave me, her student is quite the talker. I was told that they've never met a species like mine.

I never really told her what my job was, or the fact that I was a clone of someone. The only thing I told her was my name and that I was a human. I didn't even show the ponies my face, mainly because I wanted to keep my face hidden.

I decided that it would be best for me to keep my helmet on, except when I'm alone. I didn't want to scare these ponies with stories of how I got the scars on my face. I did realize that eventually, I would have to come out of exile and rejoin society; or, as Celestia said, 'Living in exile is no way to life your life, you don't have to live a solitary life.'

I was snapped out of my thoughts by the sound of steps outside the door. I rolled towards my weapons and grabbed my pistol. I remained quiet as the steps were getting closer and I heard a small whine. It didn't sound like a timberwolf, the steps were much softer. I slowly crept up and moved the door and peeked outside. I was surprised when I saw a small dog laying down in front of the door.

I looked away, and I scanned the area around the dog for any hostile creatures. When I didn't see any other animals I relaxed. It was clear that the dog in front of me wasn't very old at all, it also wasn't like any other dog I had ever seen. I noticed it had a claw wound on its side and was bleeding a little bit. I looked at the scared dog, and I had to admit that I began to feel a little bad for it. I lowered my weapon and I put it back in my holster. I slowly began to walk over to the small dog and I crouched down.

The dog was watching me with caution, I knew that it was just an animal but I reached for my helmet slowly. I took it off, revealing my face, I think the dog relaxed a tiny bit, but it was still watching my every move. I slowly moved my hands to its head and slowly began to scratch the top of it. The dog was slowly but surely beginning to ease up. I said in the calmest voice possible, "Alright buddy, I'm going to try to pick you up. Please, try not to move." I don't know if this thing is smart or not but, I was just saying what was coming to my head.

I don't know where I got this soft side from, but I didn't mind since the puppy was calming down. I put my hand under its back and one arm near its tail. I picked up the dog slowly and cradled it, I felt it shake a bit from being picked up. I tried calming the dog down by rubbing the top of its head, it seemed to work as the pup stopped shaking. I then realized that it was still bleeding, so I began to make my way back inside.

When we were back inside I sat down next to my backpack and got out a clean bandage. I received some medical training back on Kamino, so I at least knew the basics of medical treatment. I also found out that the dog was a boy as I was looking over its body. I don't know what attacked it, but I could tell the wound was very recent. The wound wasn't showing any signs of infections so I began to apply the bandage. I heard a loud yelp come from the pup as I applied the bandage. I was putting the bandage on slowly as I didn't want to scare the little guy. Once I was done I set the pup on the makeshift bed and let it stay there.

I then realized that my helmet was still outside and I got up from my spot. I walked outside and grabbed my helmet and put it back on my head. Just as I started to walk away, I heard a few bushes from behind me move. When I looked in the direction the sound was coming from the noise stopped. I began to wonder if the dog was being followed by whatever it was that attacked it. I turned away from the bushes and began to walk back inside the shelter. Once I was back inside I saw that the dog had made itself comfortable in my bed.

I walked over to the bed, I grabbed my DC-15A on my way over and sat next to the bed. I looked to the dog and said, "Well buddy, it looks like you're stuck with me for a while." The dog seemed to understand what I was saying and shut his eyes.

As I watched the dog go to sleep I had a small grin on my face. It was moments like these that I enjoyed, saving a life always makes you feel good. As I turned back to watch the door, I heard distant thunder and I let out a small groan as I realized that it was about to storm. I took one last look at the dog before focusing on the entrance to the shelter.

Chapter 1: Moving Out

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POV: Impact

I sighed as I heard the sounds of the storm getting closer to the shelter. By this point, my gut was telling me that nature wasn't going to be on my side. I had heard from the princess that the ponies controlled the weather. Now, I don't believe that, but all I need to know at the moment is that I got a storm coming, and I have a dog to protect.

Speaking of which, the dog was no longer in bed anymore. Somehow while I was keeping watch, the dog got off the bed, and he is now lying beside me. By this point, I knew that I was responsible for this pup, or at least until I could find its owner or someone that could take care of him.

I quickly said to the dog, "Until we find out where you came from, your new name is Orion." The dog gazed up at me and gave me what I assumed to be a smile.

If I remember correctly, there was a pony town nearby. I started to think that this pup might've come from there but then that got me thinking."Could this be someone's pet?" I shook that thought out of my head as I remembered that I'm in the middle of the woods. I took my focus off of the door and began to think about where Orion came from. I looked down at him and saw that he was shaking again. I set my gun down and picked him up. I set Orion down in my lap and began to try to calm him down.

I turned my attention back to the door as the pup began trembling even harder. Something was telling me that the dog knew something bad was going to happen. I got up from my spot with the pup still in my arms and I put him on the bed. I made my way to the door and looked outside. As I looked at the storm raging on I could feel something watching me. I immediately put my scanner in front of my right eye and scanned the area.

As I scanned from left to right I could make out something in the bushes ahead. I had a really bad feeling that whatever was watching me wasn't friendly. I kept watching as the scanner picked up something in front of me. I turned around and jogged back towards my weapons and grabbed my sniper and went back to the door. I went prone at the door and set up the bipod on my weapon.

The storm was making it difficult to make out the animal that was in front of me. I zeroed in on the animal as I saw a pair of yellow eyes looking back at me through the scope. Not wanting to take any chances I hurried back and grabbed my DC-15A. When I got back to my sniper and looked through the scope I could see more than one pair of yellow eyes.

"Karabast! Where did they all come from?" I watched as the eyes slowly began to get closer. I could see the shadowy forms of a few animals. Eventually, a bunch of timberwolves came out of the bushes, and they began making their way towards me. I counted six and without hesitation, I fired my sniper at the nearest wolf and killed it. Seeing the fight coming, I quickly began shooting my DC-15A.

Seeing as I was attacking, the timberwolves began to charge at me. I was able to eliminate two of them before they could get close. One of them jumped at me and I punched it right in the face. Another slammed into me as I was getting up, and I fell to the ground. I watched as a timberwolf went into the cave. I realized that they could probably smell Orion. The timberwolf on top of me tried to bite my head, but I quickly moved my head out of the way.

I grunted as I tried to move my gun; I couldn't move my right arm as the timberwolf's paws were crushing it. Trying to get out of the wolf's grip, I fired my weapon and a laser bolt went through the timberwolves paw, it yelped and lifted its paw. Seeing the opportunity, I quickly pushed the timberwolf off of me and attempted to get up. Just as I got up, the other timberwolf that was still alive hit me.

Not wanting to get trapped underneath the other timberwolf, I quickly rolled out of the way. I was lucky I didn't topple over; I quickly grabbed my DC-15A off the ground and shot the two timberwolves. Not wasting any time I ran into the shelter and saw the remaining timberwolf chasing Orion around. I aimed at the timberwolf and fired three shots at it, all of them hit the timberwolf in the head. As it fell over, I took a deep breath and went down on my knees.

Unfortunately, it seems that one of the timberwolves survived getting shot as I heard a growl, I then felt it bite my shoulder. I yelled as I got lifted into the air and slammed on the ground. I felt the timberwolf shake me around, the pain in my shoulder getting worse. I grunted as I elbowed the timberwolf in the face.

It let go of my shoulder and I felt myself bleeding a little under my armor. I quickly spun around, only to see it jump at me. I grabbed my blaster and quickly aimed it up and pulled the trigger a few times. I began to scoot back as the timberwolf's body hit the ground in front of me with three holes in it. My eyes were glued to the door in case any other more wolfs decided to surprise me.

After a few minutes had passed I looked back to see Orion hiding in the corner. I sat up, and I quickly fell to one knee as I could feel the bite wound on my shoulder. I took a deep breath and got up; I made my way over to Orion. When I made it over, I knelt beside Orion and began to pet him. "Its okay boy, there gone now."

Orion looked up at me with scared eyes and it nearly melted my heart. I looked over Orion's body to make sure that the timberwolfs didn't hurt him. I lifted him and looked around my now destroyed shelter. The door and the bed were wrecked by the timberwolves and rain from the storm began to get through.

"Well buddy, it looks like were going to have to move out of this cave." I was now convinced that there had to be a cave of timberwolves nearby. There was no way that there were this many timberwolves here; I also began to think about Orion's safety. The little guy could've been killed by one of those wolves. I set him down and began to gather my things so we could leave. Thankfully, I was given a map by the princess, I got it out and began to look at it.

From what I could tell, the nearest town was Dodge Junction. I looked at the area of the map we were in and began to look for a nearby path. After figuring out the quickest way there I put the map in my backpack. I attached my sniper to my bag and holstered my pistol. I didn't have much on me, but I put whatever was important in the bag.

I then looked to Orion, and then at the bag. I went over to him and picked him up, I did notice when I picked him up that he seemed calmer. I rubbed his head a little and put him in the backpack. He seemed to enjoy being in the bag as I could hear his tail smacking against the bottom of the backpack. I grinned as I went over to the destroyed door and picked it up. The fur seemed to be in decent shape even though a timberwolf crashed right through it.

I walked back over to my backpack and I saw my vibroknife right next to it. I smacked myself in the helmet as I realized that I could've stabbed the timberwolf that was on me if I had it with me. A sigh came from me as I picked it up. I began to cut around the damaged area of the fur. I made sure that the fur was still big enough to cover the top of my backpack. I was trying to make sure that no water could get through the top and into the backpack.

I flinched as I could feel the wound on my shoulder. I'm guessing that the adrenaline had runoff and that the pain is now hitting me in full force. I began to take off the top half of my armor to get a good look at the wound. I saw that it was bleeding pretty badly, but I was just able to see where the bite mark was. I got a few clean bandages and began to apply them to the wound. I wasn't able to tell if there was anything else wrong with it. I flinched every time a layer would go over the bite mark, but I stayed strong and relaxed.

Once the bandages were on I put my armor back on and flinched even more as the plates were pressing against the bandages. I tried my best to disregard the pain in my shoulder, but it wasn't getting any better. I took one last look around the shelter before going over to my backpack. I set the fur on top of the backpack and made sure that Orion could breathe. I carefully lifted the backpack and made sure that the fur was still fully covering the top.

I grabbed my remaining weapons and holstered them with the exception of my DC-15A, which I was going to carry. Luckily for me, the storm seemed to be letting up a bit and the rain was slowly going away. I made sure everything was on me and I stepped outside of the cave. Once I was out of the cave I began to lightly jog towards the trees. I was hoping that I could get to the river before morning.

I was watching every direction, I was hoping that the timberwolves wouldn't be hunting us as we traveled throughout the night. Orion was constantly poking his head out of the backpack as we went. I could tell when he was peeking out of the backpack, when he did I could feel his body move.

Luckily for me, I got plenty of sleep before doing this. Back when I was fighting against the separatists, I remember staying up for 48 hours on scouting missions. My body got used to me staying up for long periods of time. I also don't know if the Kaminoans made it so that clone troopers don't need as much sleep as others, but it didn't matter at the moment. I stopped thinking about all of that and regained my focus on finding Dodge Junction.

After jogging through the woods for a bit I came across the river, I set my pack down and grabbed my map. Looking at the map I found out we needed to go northwest if we wanted to avoid going back into the woods. Judging from how quickly we got over to the river, I assumed that we should reach Dodge Junction by early morning, maybe even a bit earlier if we end don't end up stopping. I put the map back in my backpack and I checked on Orion one more time before putting the backpack on. I started following the river as I kept watching my surroundings.

Author's Note

FYI, I'm going to be using this map of Equestria this story. for
http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/poohadventures/images/c/cb/Map_of_Equestria_April_2013.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20160408092752

Chapter 2: The Caravan and The Massacre

Author's Note

This chapter will contain some content from SWTCW, but I have changed a lot about the Battle of Devaron. Also thanks for the positive feedback! I honestly didn't know how this story was going to do but thanks for the support. Also Orion is a husky, just wanted to point that out.

Chapter 2: The Caravan and The Massacre

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POV: Impact

It had only been a few hours since I began making my way towards Dodge Junction, and things have been way too quiet for my liking. I thought that there would be more timberwolves following me and Orion. Also worth noting, I don't know how, but Orion fell asleep. He hadn't popped out of my backpack, and I didn't feel him move at all. Which was concerning at first because I thought he was suffocating but no, he just fell asleep.

I don't want to call myself paranoid or lucky, but the fact that we haven't been attacked yet is nothing short of a miracle. I keep looking behind me thinking that there was going to be something there, but there never was. I keep trying to make my mind focus on something else, but I'm afraid that if I do, I'll be unprepared for a surprise attack. I sighed in frustration as I tried to focus on getting to Dodge Junction.

As I was walking, I ran into the river coming from two different directions. I looked both ways before remembering that I needed to keep going straight. I mentally calmed down as I now knew that we weren't that far from the main road. We were also coming out of the dense woods and into a field. Getting out of these damn woods made me feel even better.

(Rain Stops)

After walking for another hour or so, the rain was completely gone, and I stopped worrying so much. Being able to hear everything around me definitely helped in getting me calm. However, I was still on edge, I didn't want to let my guard down for a split second. As I was walking I could hear noises coming from up ahead.

It sounded like there was a struggle going on ahead of me. As I began to get closer to the noise, I could hear the sound of metal hitting each other. I turned my gun off safety and began looking for the source of the noise. When I made it up to the road I looked towards the bridge and saw a bunch of big dogs attacking a wagon. Also near the wagon, I could see a handful of ponies defending it.

But my attention was drawn to the beings attacking it. "Diamond dogs..." I watched as they were attacking the ponies. I assumed that they were civilians since the ponies protecting it didn't seem like they were part of the military. I set my pack down and went forward; I watched as one of the diamond dogs were going to kill one of the ponies. Reacting quickly, I fired my gun at the diamond dog.

The shot landed and the diamond dog toppled over with a loud thud. The pony I saved was still covering its face. I walked over to the pony who didn't realize I was there. I looked at the pony and asked, "You going to get up or what?" The stallion looked up at me and when he did, he seemed even more nervous. I only repeated myself, "I said, are you going to get up?"

Snapping out of it, he quickly said, "R-Right!" and grabbed his sword. I turned to the other guards fighting off the dogs.

I smiled under my helmet as I was finally getting some action. I charged forward and tackled a diamond dog to the ground before stomping on its head; it didn't kill it but the dog was out cold. Both the ponies and the diamond dogs were surprised by my appearance. Taking advantage of their surprise I gunned down another dog. The ponies, realizing they had the upper hand, began attacking more fiercely.

The fighting went on, during the fight I heard a diamond dog speak from behind me, "Idiot monkey! You ruin our raid! Now I make you pay!"

I turned around and looked at the diamond dog, this one was bigger than the others. I assumed he was their leader since he had more armor than the rest. While looking at his armor, I saw a weak spot on his neck. I chuckled and said, "Yeah, well, sucks to suck."

The leader charged at me and I tried to shoot him. He quickly knocked my gun away with his axe; as my gun was knocked away I punched him in the jaw. I jumped back as he swung his axe at me. While dodging his swings I pulled out my vibroknife. My smile was only getting bigger, this was the first time I was having fun since I got here.

He went for a couple swings but they were easily avoided. It was clear that he was swinging blindly at me. I moved in closer, and he made the fatal mistake of going for a downward strike. I quickly jammed my knife into his exposed throat. Blood started to gush out, and it only got worse as I yanked my knife back out. As he fell to the ground, I quickly got my pistol out and shot him in the head.

All of the adrenaline was starting to get to my head. It had been to long since I fought something that was actually sentient. I walked over and grabbed my DC-15 off the ground, and I looked back at the ponies. They were finishing off the remaining diamond dogs. I quickly remembered that Orion was still in my backpack. I quickly ran back to Orion's position, when I opened the top of the backpack, I saw that he was still there, and still asleep. I put the backpack back on and went back to the ponies. As I made it back, the ponies turned to me.

One of them walked up to me and said, "I don't know who you are, put your timing couldn't be better." He stuck his hoof out and I shook it as best I could. "I'm Sword Stance, I don't think I've seen your kind around here before."

I bluntly said, "I'm Impact, and as far as I know, I'm the only one of my kind around here." I looked over the ponies and then their wagon. "You guys merchants?"

"Yes, well...I was hired as a guard, we're guarding a merchant named Lucky Coin."

"And where is this Lucky Coin?"

The ponies looked around and then one of them yelled from behind the wagon, "He's over here in the back! He's wounded!" I quickly went over to the back of the wagon. Sure enough, a pony was lying there with an arrow in his back hoof.

The other ponies ran over to us as I began to look at the wound. As I was looking at his wound the mare next to me asked, "Can you help him?"

I looked at her and replied, "I'll do what I can, I need you to keep him calm." I gave the arrow a small pull, which caused Lucky Coin to hold back a scream. It seems that the arrow wasn't that deep in his leg. I looked at Lucky Coin and said, "I can pull the arrow out, but this is going to hurt." I looked at one of the ponies, "You! When I pull the arrow I need you to put pressure on the wound." The pony came forward and nodded to me.

Sword Stance came up from behind me, "Use this," he gave me a towel, and I handed it to the pony next to me. He asked me, "Is it safe to pull an arrow out?"

"From what I know, no, but this arrow didn't go in that far. I don't even think the diamond dog was aiming at him." Sword seemed to take my word for it. I was quite surprised with how trusting these ponies were.

I looked over the wound, "Alright, here we go, one, two, three!" I yanked the arrow out with ease, and a small amount of blood came out with it. Lucky yelled in pain as the pony next to me covered the wound with the towel. I got one of my last bandages out; the pony who was putting pressure on the wound held it there. Once the bleeding slowed down I began to put the bandage on.

The wound wasn't bleeding that bad; I tossed the arrow aside and kept wrapping the bandage on his leg. "We probably need to get him to a doctor, I know basic medical treatment, but he should probably get this checked." I asked Sword, "How far are we from Dodge Junction?"

"It's about an hour and a half from here."

"Good, we need to get moving as fast as we can." As I got up I heard rustling in my backpack. We all looked over to see Orion pop out of the backpack. The ponies let out a collective 'aww' and I smiled at him under my helmet. I rubbed his head and said, "Yes buddy, I know your there. I need you to stay in there a bit longer." Orion quickly disappeared into the backpack. Shaking my head I said, "Come on, we need to move."

They all stopped adoring Orion and began to clean up the mess. We picked up what the diamond dogs were trying to take and put it back in the wagon. Whatever they were trying to make off with was very heavy. Out of privacy, I didn't ask what were in these things. Once everything was back on the wagon we began to go on our way. They offered me a ride but I insisted that I walked beside the wagon.

I'm still very surprised that they aren't that scared of me. I remember going into Canterlot for the first time and all the nobles being scared of me. It was funny watching the nobles flee, I could do the simplest of scares and they'd run off like they were being chased by a Rancor.

As the wagon began moving, I checked to make sure my DC-15 was still in good shape after getting hit by that diamond dog. There was a small dent on the side of the gun; I was surprised that it didn't go right through the gun. Out of curiosity I shot at a nearby rock, the gun still fired correctly even with the damage.

While we were walking, I heard hooves coming up from behind me. I looked to my side as Sword and another pony came up to me. I heard Sword ask, "Hey Impact, mind if I ask a few questions?"

I shrugged and said, "Go ahead, I'll answer them as best I can. But first, I don't believe I know your name yet." I looked over to the new pony.

"I'm Soft Shield, I'm Sword Stance's sister, it's a pleasure to meet you." She looked like she was trying her hardest to remain calm. I could see that she didn't want to be next to me at all.

Ignoring Shields uncomfortableness, I said "Right, well Sword, ask away."

"What are you? What are those weapons you have, and where did you come from?"

Oh boy, here we go, "I'm a human, these weapons I have are called guns or blasters." I began listing off the weapons as I pointed to them. "DC-17, DC-15A, DC-15X, vibroknife, thermal detonators." I had their full attention as they looked over my weapons in curiosity. "How I got here however, quite the story..."

Both of them smiled a little and Sword said, "We got plenty of time to listen."

I took a deep breath and said, "Alright, but can we go to the wagon, I might need to sit down for this story." When we went back to the wagon, Lucky was more than happy to let us sit in the wagon. All the other ponies came closer to the wagon, all of them were interested in hearing my story.

I leaned my head back and said, "Well, I guess the story starts on Devaron..."

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Flashback

"When do you think we'll get off this rock Impact?" That was one of my buddies, Boost. We were both close to each other, the two of us were survivors, we had survived some of the harshest battles of the Clone Wars. I call it luck but Boost keeps saying its skill. We somehow survived both battles of Geonosis, the Battle of Christophsis and the Battle of Axion. Since we had shown great combat skills in those battles, the two of us were sent back to Kamino to become ARC troopers.

The two of us made it through the brutal training program and we soon graduated to become ARC troopers. After completing training, we joined the 327th on a mission to Honoghr. The two of us got to put our new skills to the test. Needless to say, the seps didn't stand a chance. After that mission, we were reassigned to Jedi Master Halsey and Commander Trauma's battalion. Nowadays, all we seem to be doing is guarding this temple.

Everything seemed like a normal day until I heard a clone yell, "Droids!" We all looked down the path, only to see squads of droids coming right at us. The droids began to fire at us as we were all standing out in the open. I watched as the two clones next to me were gunned down by a hail of laser bolts.

I pulled out my DC-15A and fired at the incoming droids. The droids seemingly came out of nowhere. We didn't see or hear any transports fly by. The other clones that were out here with me fired back at the wave of droids. The droids were attacking with super battle droids and regular B1 battle droids. I was focusing my fire on the supers that were hammering the troopers in the front.

I heard Commander Trauma yell out from behind me, "Hold your ground men, don't let the droids get through!" Following behind him were Jedi Master Halsey and Padawan Knox. They both ignited their lightsabers and they began to deflect the blaster fire back at the droids. There wasn't any cover where we were standing, so we all had to watch the enemy blaster fire.

As the fighting continued, I saw as a ship land behind the droids. I yelled over to Commander Trauma, "Commander! Look!" He looked at what I was pointing and saw the ship land. We stopped focusing on the ship as we had to dodge the blaster fire.

As I kept destroying droids, I felt my gun overheat, so I pulled out my sniper. I quickly aimed at a super battle droid that was ahead of all the other droids and shot it multiple times. As the droid fell over I saw something running towards us. It was a horned man with an axe, and he was gunning straight for our lines.

I watched in horror as the man killed a few clones that were unlucky enough to get in his way. I heard Commander Trauma yell, "Get him!" He ran forward only to be cut down by the axe-wielding maniac. The clones that went with him didn't stand a chance either.

I yelled to the others, "Fall back!" A few of the clones, including Boost, fell back behind the Jedi. I looked towards Halsey, "General, what do we do?"

Halsey turned around and said, "Fall back into the temple, we will deal with this separatist!"

All of the remaining clones went inside the temple. I turned just in time to see Halsey jump towards the separatist. We quickly closed the doors and locked them. After catching my breath, I looked around to get a head count. Boost was here, along with four other clone troopers.

I heard one of the clones ask frantically, "What was that thing?"

"I have no idea, but that thing cut through Commander Trauma and the rest of our unit!" We were all saddened by the sudden deaths of our comrades and our commander. We tried to stay strong but our morale was wavering after what just happened.

Another clone spoke, "How did the separatists get here? I thought we had full radar coverage?"

Boost replied, "Who knows? Maybe the seps made some stealth sort of vehicle."

I looked at the door and I tried to listen for the sounds of lightsabers. There was a deafening silence that filled the air around us. I looked to the other clones, "We need to get a distress call out to the Republic." I looked towards Boost and one of the clones, "You two, head up to the control room and warn the Republic. The rest of us will stay down here and defend."

Without saying any other words, the two ran to the stairs. I looked at the three clones that were with me. "This might be it boys, if that thing killed the general, there is a good chance that it will kill us as well." They looked at each other as I tried to give some words of confidence, "If that thing does come in here, do as much as you can to kill it. If we don't kill that thing, who knows how many more clones will end up getting killed."

One of the clones stepped up and said, "We were born for this, we just need to hold out." The clones raised their weapons, "We're ready to fight to the last!"

I had a sad smile under my helmet, however, I lost my smile as I heard something hit the door. The four of us immediately got into cover and aimed our guns at the door. "Here they come!!!"

The door blasted open and droids started to pour in. The four of fired at the incoming droids, not letting a single droid get through our line. The four of us were fighting to the very end. One by one, the three other clones were killed off as wave after wave came through the door. The fighting felt like it would go on for eternity. Eventually, the droids stopped coming inside, and I peeked out from my cover.

In the entrance stood the monster, I took a deep breath. Knowing that this was where I was going to meet my demise. I stepped out of my cover, and I yelled, "Come on you separatist scum!" The horned separatist charged at me as I fired as fast as I could. I knew it wouldn't do much, but all hope for survival was thrown out the window.

I rolled out of the way and kept firing at him. The separatists dodged my shots and went for my legs. His axe smashed into my knee, I felt my leg buckle. Not going down without a fight, I waited for him to strike again. As he lifted his weapon I shot him in the arm. He grunted and backed away while looking at his arm. He glared at me and let out a loud roar. I tried to get up and dodge, but the pain in my leg was too much.

At that moment, I could only hope that Boost and the other clone would get the distress call out. As he closed in on me, I shut my eyes, I fired as my vision was starting to go blurry. I felt a searing pain go throughout my stomach. Everything was going dark quickly as I fell to the ground. I had just enough time to look up and see the separatist's axe coming down towards my face. As the axe hit me, I felt a calming darkness take over. All of the pain went away and darkness was all I could see.

Chapter 3: Bounty Hunting

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Chapter 4: Canterlot

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My eyes were shut as the sounds of the train moving filled my ears. I had been leaning back against the seat for the whole train ride. As I sat there, I could feel Orion moving around in my lap. On instinct, my hand was rubbing the top of his head. Every time I started to rub his head, he would snuggle closer against my armor. I highly doubt that it was comfortable but he looked like he was happy.

Everyone else on the train didn't seem to mind my presence. There were a select few that seemed to move away from me. I didn't pay any attention to them, my focus was getting to Canterlot and meeting with Princess Celestia. I still don't know what it is that she wants from me. Besides coming out of exile, she hasn't mentioned anything else. I have a few guesses at what she wants from me, granted, I don't know if they are true, but it keeps me focused.

I finally lifted my head up as I heard the train worker say, "Attention all passengers, we are approaching Ponyville Station." I popped my neck very loudly at the news. We were getting close to Canterlot, and I couldn't be happier. Sitting on this train with nothing to do is killing me.

I could only inspect my weapons so many times on this trip. By the fourth time I checked my weapons, I realized that I would drive myself insane by doing this. As we arrived in Ponyville, ponies started to get out of their seats and new ponies would take their place. After the last of the ponies were on board, I heard the train worker announce, "Attention all passengers, we are making our way towards Canterlot. Please remain seated and enjoy your trip."

I heard one of the ponies ask, "How far is it to Canterlot?"

I listened closely as another pony answered saying, "About two hours if I remember correctly."

I could only lean my head back, "*siiiigggghhh*......for kriffs sake, this trip is going to be the death of me." It was moments like these where I wish that I had an LAAT. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see a red colt with a silver mane looking at me. I didn't turn my helmet, but my eyes were looking at him. He was looking over my armor and my weapons. It was the same look I got from the other ponies when I first came here.

He was looking at me in awe, I recognized the look he was giving as I had seen it many times. I remember getting the same look when I would do mercy missions in the outer rim. The looks the civilian population would give the clones were always mixed. Sure, there were some occasions where they were hostile, but most of them were friendly to us. I took pride in those types of missions. It always reinforced the idea that I was fighting for the freedom of all of those people.

However, The Republic wasn't always innocent, I've read reports about the Republic doing some very unpleasant things. I don't want to think about those but the good we've done outweighs the bad. Of course, being an ARC trooper had its perks. Being an independent thinker, I wanted to learn more; I was able to study some of galactic history whenever I had downtime. I learned some things that the Republic probably didn't want me to seeing. As bad as some of the things were, I was still loyal, mainly because being a trooper was the only life I knew.

Returning my attention on the colt, I turned my head towards him a little. He didn't seem to notice my small head movement, so I spoke in a calm voice "Can I help you?"

The colt nearly jumped out of his fur when I spoke. He started to stutter, "Oh! I-I'm sor-r-ry m-m-mister."

"No worries little one, not the first time I got that look." I watched as the colt just sat there shaking, I grinned a little under my helmet. "I'm not going to bite you."

He started to pull himself together, the commotion also woke Orion from his sleep. He lifted his head and the colt's attention immediately went to Orion. Orion looked over to the colt and he did a head tilt. I was trying very hard not to smile, "This dog is way too cute, he's gonna end up giving me a heart attack." Orion hopped off my lap and walked over to the colts seat.

The colt looked at me and asked, "Can I pet him?" All of his fear had gone away, it was almost like it was never there in the first place.

I nodded and watched as the colt got off his seat and began to pet Orion. Orion just sat there and let himself be petted. The mare that was sitting next to the young colt smiled. I assumed that the mare was this colts mother. She looked over to me, I nodded to her and continued to watch the two as they started playing with each other.

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Watching the colt play with Orion was very enjoyable. It seemed like the whole train was watching the two play together. I talked to the mother and learned that her name is High Flight, and the colts name is Red Wing. I talked with Flight about who we were and what were going to do in Canterlot.

I told her that I was heading to the castle to meet with someone. I didn't say the princess because I didn't want to draw even more attention to myself. We were talking for so long that we didn't even realize that time was flying by. The only way I was able to tell where we were was when the conductor announced, "We will be arriving in Canterlot Station in thirty minutes."

Flight and I talked for a couple of hours without even realizing it. Orion and Red were still playing together with each other the entire trip. The two of them seemed to have the same amount of energy. I looked out of the window behind me to see the city getting closer. My eyes were glued to the castle that was inside the city. "No turning back now..."

"Impact? Are you alright?"

I looked back to Flight and said, "Yeah, just a bit nervous, going into a city like this after spending time away is frightening." She nodded and turned to watch Orion and Red.

The next twenty or so minutes consisted of Flight telling me more about her family. I only replied to a few answers as I started to zone out. I looked towards Orion and whistled, he stopped playing with Red and ran over to me. He barked happily and I picked him up. As I picked him up, the train was pulling into the station. I set him in my backpack and the doors to the train opened up.

I looked at Red and Flight and said, "I hope we cross paths again, it was nice to have someone to talk to."

Flight nodded her head, "It definitely made this trip a bit more enjoyable. Thanks again for keeping Red busy, I was afraid he would die from boredom."

"Thank you as well, I bet Orion's going to sleep like a rock later." I stuck my hand out, she looked at my hand and stuck a hoof out. She shook my hand and looked at me with a smile. I looked over to Orion who was poking his head out of the backpack. Red was giggling at him and I smiled at the two. I looked back over and said, "Catch you later Flight." I walked over to the backpack and got it off the ground.

Once Orion was on my back, Red asked, "Will I see you again?"

I leaned down and rustled his mane, "Don't worry kid, I'm sure we'll run into each other at some point."

"You promise?" He looked at me with big eyes, I could almost feel my heart explode. I could only give him a small nod as he smiled and walked back to Flight. He turned back and waved at me, I raised my hand a little and waved back. I stood there and watched the two walk out of the train.

After they had left, I saw both of them disappear into the crowd of ponies. I shook my head and realized that I was still on the train and had to get off. I quickly hopped off and looked around the inside of the station. There were bright colors throughout the station, and the ponies had smiles on their faces. After admiring my surroundings I began to make my way to the castle.

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"That is one big castle..." I had made my way over and stood in front of the gate, the two guards stationed in front of it were looking at me. I could tell that they were seeing if I was a threat or not. They may look stoic but I've been on guard duty many times, and I know what all the body gestures mean.

As I walked forward the two guards put their spears in front of me. "Halt! State your business creature!"

"I am here to meet with Princess Celestia." I kept my cool as I continued, "She has asked me to come out of exile and meet with her here."

The guards slowly moved their spears away, and one of them said, "We will inform the princess, whether she decides to meet you is up to her."

"Very well, I shall wait here; and before you leave, my name is Impact, she'll recognize that name." One of the guards went through the gate and went towards the main hall. I walked over to the side of the gate and began to wait.

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POV: Celestia

"By my mane...it seems that more, and more problems keep appearing." I was seated on my throne looking through the seemingly endless amount of paperwork. Today seems to be a very busy day as more referendums, requests for tax raises, and even some requests for military expansion keep coming in.

I was reading through them when one of my guards came in. "Your highness, a tall bipedal being is requesting to speak with you."

I looked at the guard in curiosity, "And who is this bipedal being?"

"He said his name was Impact, he said that you would recognize that name." I dropped the paper I was holding and looked at the guard. "Shall I bring him in your highness?"

"Yes, bring him in here immediately." The guard bowed and walked back out of the door."So, you finally decided to come out of hiding." I smiled to myself as I was finally going to talk with the 'human' again after all this time. I pray that Twilight doesn't get to him first. She'd drive him away before he would even be able to get to the throne room. I giggled to myself as I sat there patiently and watched the doors.

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POV: Impact

I still couldn't believe how incredible the castle looks, even though I was here before, it still puts me in awe at the design of this place. The ponies inside still had similar reactions to me, almost identical to the ones when I first got here. The nobles looked at me in disgust, the guards were watching me, and the servants ran in fear. When I stopped admiring the place, I focused and kept my eyes on the ponies around me. When we got to the end of the hall, my eyes were looking at the pair of doors in front of me. The guard that was escorting me stopped in front of them. "I need you to hand me your weapons. Guests can't bring weapons near the princess."

As much as I didn't like leaving my weapons I didn't have a choice. I put all my weapons down in front of the door. I turned to the other guards that were outside. "Just so you know, if any of those go missing, we're going to have a serious problem."

Without any more words being said, the guard opened the door and I walked in. I was having some serious dejá vu walking into the throne room. It was almost identical to how I got here, except that last time, I had ten guards escorting me.

As I walked forward I could hear Princess Celestia say, "Greetings Impact, it is good to see you again." I only gave her a nod for an answer. "I must say, I am quite surprised to see you here. I thought that I would have to convince you to come out of exile."

I grinned, "Certain events forced me out of exile your majesty."

She tilted her head in curiosity, "May I ask what these events are?"

"Well, a bunch of timberwolves wrecked my home, and I found a dog that I now have to take care of."

"A dog?" I nodded and went to one knee, as I was grabbing my backpack, I was greeted with a spear pressing against my head. I immediately froze, all of my instincts just told me to be still. "Guard, remove your spear from our guest's face. He is causing no harm to me or anypony around us."

I mentally thanked Celestia as the spear moved away, I continued opening the backpack. Orion squirmed as I lifted him out of the pack. I looked back to see Celestia smiling at me and Orion. "You see, I found him outside my home, he was wounded and I patched him up. Afterwards, a pack of timberwolves appeared and wrecked my home, and injured my shoulder." At the mention of my shoulder, I realized that I never got it checked out. "If it would be alright princess, I would like to get my shoulder checked by a doctor. I don't know if I need treatment or not."

"We will have our doctor in the castle look at both yours, and Orion's wounds."

I bowed my head, "Thank you, princess." I looked up and asked, "I am curious as to why you wanted me to come back here. May I ask why you wanted me back?"

She lowered her head, "I could sense that you felt alone and that you were depressed. Even though I couldn't see it, I could feel it. You never told me how you got here, but whatever it was, you were saddened because of it. It is my duty, as a princess that all of my subjects are happy."

"But...I'm not one of your subjects, why help me?"

"You may not be from here, but you are still in my country. It is my duty to help those in need, whether or not they are from here."

Once she gave me her answer, I asked, "What do we do now? I mean, how are you going to help me?"

"I want you to make friends with the ponies here."

"Friends?"

She nodded her head with a large smile, "Everyone needs a friend, you already have one and I feel that he's already helped you." She looked at Orion and I followed her gaze. I looked down at Orion and scratched the top of his head. When I looked at her she said, "Since I want you to make some friends, and I know a certain pony who also needs friends; I want you to meet her."

"And who is this pony you want me to befriend?"

"My student, Twilight Sparkle, knowing her, she should be coming in soon."

I was about to ask what she meant, and then I heard the sound of a large crash outside. I looked back to see a purple unicorn burst through the doors, she was panting heavily. "Princess! I heard that the-" She stopped mid-sentence as her eyes locked on me. I braced myself as I got ready for a bombardment of questions. In an instant, the unicorn was right next to me with a quill and a parchment. "Yes! Your here! I have so many questions to ask!"

Twilight was practically bouncing in excitement, I quickly tuned her out, and looked at Princess Celestia. She just grinned at me while holding back a giggle. I hesitantly said, "You want me to be friends with her?"

She only nodded, "It will help Twilight with her anti-socialness, and she needs to learn to trust other ponies, and she needs to make new friends."

I looked at Twilight who was still rambling on with no signs of stopping. I took a deep breath, "Twilight..." She stopped talking and looked at me with excitement. "I will gladly answer your questions..." She was about to say something, but I quickly cut her off, "...after I get my shoulder checked out!"

She calmed down and asked, "What's wrong with your shoulder?"

"Timberwolve attack, me and Orion still need to get our wounds checked by a professional." At the mention of his name, Orion barked at me. "You can ask me questions as I'm getting my wounds fixed, sound good?"

Twilight nodded her head excitedly, "I need to write down everything! I'm going to need a lot of paper and ink to write down everything!" I only groaned as I realized what I just got myself into.

I heard Princess Celestia laugh, "As much as I would want to ask you a few questions myself, I have a country to run." She looked at Twilight and asked, "Can you tell me anything important about him once you two are done?"

"Yes Princess! I'll give you a copy of everything once we're done!"

"Thank you Twilight, can you kindly show Impact where he can get his injuries checked?"

"I'll get him there right away!" Her gaze turned to me, "Come on! We need to get going so I can ask all my questions!" She was pulling on my arm trying to get me to leave.

I shook my head, "Alright! Alright! Relax, I said I'll answer all of your questions once we get there. Just let me get my weapons and then we can leave." Twilight practically squealed in joy and began to make her way to the door. I grabbed my pack and walked over to her with Orion still in my arm.

I heard Princess Celestia quietly say from behind me, "It seems like its already working." I could tell that she was happy everything went well. However, I began to think to myself whether or not coming here was a good idea.

Chapter 5: Questions and the Future

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