Direct Impact

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

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.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

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.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"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.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
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.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
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.