The sun rose in the west of the clear blue sky, its shine warming the outer walls of the welcoming looking shelter. All signs pointed to it being a bright, sunny day today. Apart from the damp ground, there was not one hint of the monsoon from the previous night. The sun’s rays seeped through a window, into the house, and on the green couch where Zero was sleeping on. The radiant beams shown in his eyes, causing him to stir.

“Ugh…” Zero moaned. He had a splitting headache, as well as a burning sting in his left hand. His right food didn’t feel to good either, probably from kicking those wooded mongrels twice with it last night. Slowly, he sat up on his makeshift bed, the blanket that laid on top of him slipping off, and raised his good hand to his helmet, which he was apparently still wearing. He applied his hand in the spot where he hurt most but immediately recoiled as it sent a stab of pain through his cranium.

“I’ve got to get that treated.” he muttered.

Speaking of treatments, he noticed his banged up hand was wrapped in a bandage as well as his right forearm.

“Odd…” Zero concluded, “How did this happen?” Come to think of it, what am I doing inside the house anyway? And where is my weapon!?” Zero looked to his sides to no avail, he then searched near the edges of the interior, he found it resting on a high shelf on the wall his body faced. “What happened last night?”

His questions were put on hold as he heard the footsteps of something approaching him. He looked to his left at an empty doorway just as the source of the noise came into view.

“What the-“ he thought as he tried to wrap his head around the sight in front of him. It was some sort of equine though nowhere near as big as others he had seen. It looked a whole lot different too, it appeared to be feminine, her coat was a creamy yellow with wings attached. She had a long, pretty pink, flowing mane that partially covered her slightly greenish-blue eyes. She was in a scrunched up position as she entered the room with what appeared to be an ice pack in her mouth whilst she focused on balancing some sort of good smelling soup on one of her hoofs.

Zero was too stunned by the sight to say anything to her as she approached, he had to admit, it looked kind of cute. As she got a bit closer, Zero noticed she was shaking. Right before she reached him she looked up from her soup and locked eyes with his visor.

“EEEEEK!” Her cry half sounded like a scream, half like a squeak. The mare dropped the items she was holding as she bolted back to the room she came from.

“What was that about?” Zero asked himself as he got up from the couch. He limped his way to the doorframe and peeked inside. He heard another squeak to his right, as he turned his head in its direction, he saw her huddled in a corner, looking at him like she was staring down a ghost.

To be fair, perhaps he looked like one to her. “Easy ma’am,” he gently said as he lowered himself to her eye level, I don’t mean you any harm.”

The equine let out a tiny yelp at his words

“Y-you can t-t-talk?” She murmured, barley audible.

“Of course I can.” Zero said, personally surprised that she could speak.

The mysterious mare was shivering so hard Zero almost though she had hyperthermia.

“I’m sorry I startled you Miss. Here, let me get you a blanket.” Zero stood up and returned to the couch where he slept to retrieve the cover he had found on himself when he awoke. When he went back to the other room, however, she was gone.

“Miss?”

A soft whimper from one of the nearby cabinets revealed her location. Zero limped over and began to open its wooden doors but she immediately pulled them shut again.

“Miss, would you please get out of there? I promise I mean no ill will towards you.”

A shaky “mm-mm” showed she had no intention of doing such.

Zero paused for a moment. What had he done to cause her to fear him this much? He was about to instinctively scratch his head before he thought better of it. “Head injury.” he thought. “Injury…”

“Hey,” he began, are you the one who patched me up?

“Mm-hmm.” she confirmed.

“Well I wish you’d come out so I can thank you in person. I promise there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

The door cracked open the smallest of slivers, Zero could see the equine’s eye staring at him.

“I’ll show you.” he offered as he put his hands on his helmet. The mare let out a squeak as Zero slowly removed it, revealing his face. “See? I’m flesh and blood,” he said as he put his hand on his chest, “just like you.”

She didn’t budge from her improvised sanctuary.

Zero let out a sigh, “Welp, I apologize for bothering you Miss, I’ll leave you alone now. Um, sorry for scaring you, and thanks for your aid.”

Still holding his helmet, he got up and turned around to leave before he heard a small gasp coming from the cabinet.

“S-surely not with that wound on your head?” The soft-spoken equine said.

“Well, I’ve got no way of treating it.” Zero replied.

The equine paused for a moment as she looked away from him, seemingly deep in thought. “Um- well- I- I can help.” she muttered after a while as she slowly and shakily exited her hiding place.

Zero made sure to give her plenty of space as she made her way to another cabinet, constantly glancing over her shoulder. Opening the storage space revealed a bunch of first-aid that seemed a good deal less sophisticated than he was used to. She somehow grabbed some bandages from it, she didn’t have any fingers or anything, it’s like the item just attached its self to her. Zero didn’t know if what he was witnessing was real or if it was his head, he decided not to question it. The mare also reached for what looked like some sort of gauze which she put under some running water.

“Um- this way.” She said, hardly any louder than a whisper. She lead Zero back to the room he awoke in, continuing to eye him like he was the strangest thing on the planet, though to be fair, he was to her. When they both entered, Zero was shocked at what he saw, a bunch of little eyes from critters of all shapes and sizes eyeing him down from nooks and crannies around the house.

“I think you have a bit of an animal problem.” he stated.

“Oh- um- th-they’re no problem, these are s-some of my animal friends.” the mare replied.

“So I see.” observed Zero, right before almost tripping on something. He looked down to see the soup that his apparent caretaker had earlier entered the room with was now spilled all over the floor. Some of the animals were eating some of it while simultaneously keeping a close eye on the new strange person in the house.

“Sorry about the mess ma’am, I’ll clean it up before I go.”

“Oh- t-that’s quite alright, I’ll clean it, I don’t mind.” She insisted. She sat down next to the couch Zero had slept on and asked him to lay down. Zero placed his helmet on the ground next to the couch and did what was asked of him as she grabbed her wet gauze. “Ok- this is going to sting just a little bit.”

“I think I can take it.” Zero stated in a slightly sarcastic manner.

“O-ok then.” She said as she started to clean the wound. Zero was surprised with how gentle she was. Apart from the stinging warm water, he didn’t feel a thing.

“I appreciate your help ma’am.”

The fragile-looking equine muttered something in return but Zero couldn’t hear it.

She appeared to still be quite frightened of him, perhaps he should introduce himself.

“My name’s Zero, it nice to meet you Miss…?”

“Oh, um, my n-name’s Fluttershy.”

“Excuse me, could you repeat that?” Zero requested.

The mare slowed down her work a bit, “I’m Fluttershy.”

“I’m sorry?”

She stopped what she was doing and took a deep breath, “I’m F-Flutershy.” Though her hooves were steady, her body and voice were still trembling, albeit less than before.

“Well I’m pleased to meet you Miss Shy.” Zero stated.

“Oh, y-you can just call me Fluttershy.” She said.

“Oh, alright then Fluttershy.” Zero said semi-awkwardly, it was weird being on a first-name-basis with a civilian. Speaking of civilians, where exactly was she a civilian of?

“So, where is this place?” Zero asked.

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy questioned.

“Where are we, what’s the name of this system?” Zero replied

“System?”

How could she not know what a star system was? She must not have payed attention during her schooling.

“Y’know, star system? Solar system? Where a bunch of planets orbit around a star?”

“I, um, don’t know what you mean,” she replied, “The sun and stars rotate around the world. They’re raised and lowered by our princess, Celestia. You know this surely?” she stated, looking at him funny.

“Oh, no…” Zero inwardly started to panic, “Oh, no no no.” Did all the inhabitants believe this? There was no way they could be a space traveling species and still think that ridiculous claim was true. Imagine how strong you’d have to be to move one star, much less thousands! Zero’s fear rose more when he looked around him, there was no data pad, no holoprojecter, not even any kriffing air conditioning!

Fluttershy stopped cleaning his injury, “Is something wrong? Did I hurt you?” she asked seeming concerned.

“Uh, ma’am, er, Fluttershy. Is your home considered… up-to-date?” Zero questioned.

The mare looked puzzled and, if it was possible, more nervous at the awkward change of subject.

“Um, well, it doesn’t have all the modern conveniences like the houses in Canterlot but I wouldn’t say it’s out-dated or anything…”

It seemed like she took the question as a put-down.

“No, I don’t mean it like that Miss,” Zero began, “it’s just, what do you have in the forms of communication?”

“Well, I can send a note through the mail, d-do you need to get in touch with someone?”

“Is that the best form of communication you have?! On, this planet?” Zero questioned. Though he kept his tone calm, his body language let off that he was distressed.

“Um, yes.” she answered starting to shrink away from him.

“Skraig!” he inwardly yelled.

How in the galaxy was he supposed to contact the Republic now? His commlink didn’t reach any friendly ships before. “Maybe it would now?”

Zero sat up and looked down at the forearm armor his radio was attached to, remembering it was, for some reason, covered in bandages. He began to desperately unravel them, making Fluttershy more uncomfortable, only to find it was completely busted after getting chewed on by that monster. This time Zero’s ‘skraig’ was out loud.

This was horrible, he was stranded on an unfamiliar, backwater world, with no means of calling for help. Zero hunched over and put his hands on his forehead, his mind racing with questions. What about his brothers? Were they in the same predicament as him? Was the cruiser that had brought them here still in orbit? If it was, then was the crew searching for them?

“Are- are you ok?” The soft voice beside him asked.

Since the first time since Zero’s slight downward spiral he noticed how scared his newfound acquaintance was getting, even slightly reeling away from him.

“No.” Zero said as he clenched his good fist, “I -*sigh*- I’m sorry for my outburst.”

“What’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked as she delicately put her forehoof on Zero’s shoulder. She stopped shivering now, seemingly because she was too concerned for her strange guest’s emotional condition.

“I, I think I’m stuck here.” Zero grimly stated.

“How so?” Fluttershy’s voice was still soft, though it was now more because she was trying to keep him calm more than it was her fear.

“I don’t know where I am.” Zero responded, “I’m lost, and I have no means of calling for help.”

The kind mare moved her forehoof down from Zero’s shoulder and onto his upper arm. “Oh, that’s ok, I sometimes get lost too, I can help you find your way home if you want? And if I’m no help I know some ponies who are good with maps, perhaps they can find your home?”

Zero was stunned at her suggestion, apart from his brothers, no one had really ever offered to do something so kind for him, it felt weird. He was flattered, not knowing what to say, he figured he should start with the truth. Zero sighed, he knew what he was about to say would be a tough concept for her to understand.

“Fluttershy, I’m not… from around here.” he began.

“Where are you from then?” she asked, clearly confused. Her voice was more steady now as she tried to empathize with the unusual being in her home.

“You know the stars in the sky at night?” Fluttershy nodded. “Well that’s where I’m from.”

She looked dumbfounded, “You mean… like an alien?” she said as she cautiously removed her hoof from the white-clad warrior.

Zero nodded.

“B-but there are no s-such things as aliens!” she exclaimed as she shrank downwards.

“I can prove it.” Zero started as he reached into his utility belt, wiping out his holoprojector. As he activated it, the thin circular device attempted to play the last holoshow that Zero watched. But, of course, it couldn’t get a signal and displayed a hollowpraphic sign that said just that in red aurebesh.

Awestruck, yet scared, Fluttershy slowly raised up a bit, and stared at the machine with wide and cautious eyes. “What is that?” She wondered aloud.

“It’s a hollowprojector,” Zero shrugged, “it can show images from messages, shows, even display words from a book to read.”

“It’s, unusual, but in a good way.” She quickly clarified. “A-are you really from a different world?

Zero nodded.

“Oh my, I-I don’t know what to say,” she stuttered, looking uneasy, “um, w-welcome to Equestria.”

“Is that the name of this planet?” Zero questioned.

“Oh, no,” the mare responded, shaking her head, “that’s the name of this nation, the whole wide world is called Equus.”

Nervously, she then asked him a question, “So… w-where do you come from?”

Zero paused for a moment, all he wanted was to find a way to reach his brothers and get off this rock. But he supposed he owed her some answers, after all she had taken him in for the night.

“I hail from the planet Kamino,” Zero answered, “it’s nothing like here, it’s all ocean, despite this there are grand cities that are sprawled all over the surface. And it’s constantly raining.”

“That sounds fascinating.” Fluttershy spoke, “but also a little dreary.”

Zero shrugged a little, “You get used to it.”

The mare rested her hoof on her chin, though she didn’t dare look away from the strange being in her home. “What are you doing so far away from your home?”

Zero struggled to find a good way to put this. “Well, there’s… a war, raging in the stars, and I’m fighting in it, I’m a proud soldier of the G.A.R.” Zero said puffing out his chest a little.

“A- a war!?” Fluttershy squeaked, scrunching backwards into a ball.

Zero didn’t like seeing her scared again. He gently rested his right hand on her shoulder which made her flinch.

“Easy now, it’s nothing for you to worry about.” Zero assured her, mostly believing what he said was true. “If the Separatists were here, believe me, you would know about it.” he stated more confidently.

“Separatists?” she murmured.

“They’re the organization the Republic is fighting against.” Zero answered as he removed his hand from her shoulder.

“W-what’s the Republic? And w-w-why are they at w-war with the Separatists?” Fluttershy continued to question, a nervousness showed on her face.

“The Republic is the ruling government of the galaxy; its constitution sates that all sentient beings have rights to freedom, comfortable living, stuff like that.” Zero raised his head as he continued, “I am a soldier in the Grand Army of the Republic, or G.A.R.” he explained, “and to be honest… I don’t really know why the war started.

“Y-you’re a soldier? I’ve never meet a s-soldier before…” she shrunk back a bit, the new information clearly made her more nervous.

“There’s nothing to fear,” he reassured her, “being a soldier of the Republic means I protect people, not harm them.”

The small mare gave him as shy smile that warmed Zero’s heart as she calmed down a little. Looking in his eye, she then asked something very unsuspected, “Why would you risk your life to fight in something if you don’t even understand how it happened?”

Zero was a little shocked at the question, “Well,” he began, “it’s not like I don’t know anything about its origins, I’m pretty sure it was because some systems wanted ‘freedom from the tyranny of the Republic’ or something ludicrous like that, so they left. But because they’re all, I would say, evil, it wasn’t enough to simply not be apart of the Republic so they declared war on it and deceived many planets into joining their cause.”

Fluttershy didn’t seem satisfied with his answer, “But why did you join the army if you didn’t fully understand what was going on?”

Zero inwardly cringed, he knew she wouldn’t get what he was about to tell her. “Well, I didn’t chose to fight in the war, I was made to fight in the war.”

The mare looked both puzzled and concerned, “What does that mean?” she asked whilst subconsciously and anxiously fidgeting with her forehooves.

“You see,” Zero started, “the Republic is a peaceful organization, it doesn’t stand for war. So when the Separatists amassed a massive army, the Republic had no way of defending itself. That’s where we come in.”

“Um, who’s we?”

“Me and my brothers. See, many years before the war started, an order was placed on Kamino to create an army big and strong enough to fight, and win, a galactic-scale war. The Kaminoians are specialists in the cloning field, so they found the best person to use as a template, had an above-elite training and fitness regime prepared, and then made us, the clone troopers.” Zero proudly lifted his head, “We’re the best soldiers the galaxy has ever seen!”

Fluttershy’s jaw dropped. “You mean you weren’t born, you were made? How?” she seemed deeply disturbed.

“Oh it’s nothing unnatural,” Zero promised her, “the Kaminoans have artificial eggs cells that, once they fertilize, they can alter the genes by copying them from a template, making identical replicas of the host. They then put the egg cells in an artificial womb until we’re ready to be born, so we do come into life the same way as everyone else, just a little differently is all.”

The answer seemed to take some of the mare’s edge off, however, she didn’t look like she believed or understood what she heard, but she was trying to. “So, are you all, well, the same?” she wondered aloud.

“We have the same face, similar tastes in food and stuff like that but we’re all individuals, like an army of identical twins. At least, that’s how I figure it. The Kaminoans believe us to be unanimous, but if we were, then I don’t believe our personalities would so naturally differ from one another. At least that’s how I figure it.”

Zero looked back at Fluttershy expecting to see her still confused, but much to his surprise, she had a look of sadness on her face.

“So… i-if you were, -made- for the w-war, then does th-that mean you couldn’t chose not to fight?”

Zero begrudgingly nodded his head, he knew she wouldn’t understand…

“So what you’re saying is that you’re all forced to fight? That’s sounds wrong…” she said, her ears drooping.

“It’s not like that,” he assured her, “even if I could choose what life I wanted I would choose to stay in the army. I’m proud to fight.” Zero said earnestly.

“But if your always fighting, then do you ever get to enjoy yourself?” The mare asked.

Zero shrugged, “Well usually once we get back from a mission we have to start preparing for another,” he explained, “if we weren’t constantly fighting the Seps, they’d overwhelm our forces and destroy us, I can’t even imagine what they’d do then...”

Fluttershy looked Zero in the eye, her faced showing her concern and worry, “Are… Are those ‘Separatists’ really that bad?” she asked, slipping more into her anxious state.

A memory flashed before Zero’s eyes, his battalion was assisting in a daring assault on a landed Separatist cruiser. Blaster bolts were flying everywhere, illuminating the ship in blinding flashes of blue and red. The room was filled with the shouts of his fellow troopers, some of them were triumphant yells while many where screams of agony. Zero was spraying down as much fire as he could, but his platoon was losing momentum. “How could this have happened? We planned this attack down to the last detail! How was this ship crawling with so many undetected droids?”

“Everyone. Fall. Back. Now!” ordered the battalion’s captain.

“We can’t just retreat now sir!” A voice spoke up, “We’re so close! If we don’t take this ship now they’ll call for reinforcements! The population won’t stand a chance!” Zero looked to the voices origin. It was his squad mate, Milo.

“We can’t help them if we’re dead! Fall back! That’s an order soldier!” barked the captain.

With an intense glare at the droid force, Milo began advancing backwards without turning his back to the enemy.

“Sir,” he glanced at the captain, “permission to assist stinger platoon in covering our retreat, Sir!”

“Granted.” replied the captain

Milo fired at the incoming wave of droids with his carbine as fast as he could, barely even bothering to aim as he helped send them to the scrap pile. He was surprised when he heard the sound of another blaster firing beside him, it was Zero.

“Aye Zero! Me and the rest of the boys have got this! Go retreat with our squad!”

“Not a chance,” Zero responded, “I’m with you till the end.”

Then, as if fate was playing a cruel joke, a small rocket struck Milo, blasting his body into a gory pulp so hideous that it almost made Zero vomit.

“MILO!”

Zero snapped back to reality, shaking his head a little. He found Fluttershy looking into his eyes awaiting a response.

“Yea…” he said grimly, looking away, “and that’s why I fight, if no one stands up to them, the entire galaxy could fall under their sinister will.” he simply put. “And I won’t let that happen.”

“Oh… Well, that’s very kind of you,” Fluttershy stated as she looked away, seeming a bit intimidated. “you must be very brave.”

“I dunno, I’ve never really thought of it,” Zero said. “Y’know you’re pretty brave yourself.” he claimed as he turned to look at her.

Fluttershy was taken aback by the compliment, “Oh surely you don’t mean that.” she said as she turned her head in a way in which her mane hid one of her eyes.

“No I’m serious,” Zero stated, “I don’t think it’s any secret you don’t exactly have nerves of steel. But when you saw a literal alien lying outside your doorstep, you helped me, despite your fears.”

“Well I didn’t know you were an alien then,” the mare countered, “I’m still not so sure now…” she said meekly.

“Eh, that’s not the point,” Zero argued, “you were scared, but you didn’t let that stop you. Bravery isn’t the absence of fear, it’s being afraid of something but facing it anyway. In that regard I think you’re really quite brave.”

“Fluttershy looked away from Zero, clearly flustered, “oh- um- thank you then.”

“I wouldn’t be saying it if it weren’t true.” the conversation made Zero curious as to why the mare had helped in the first place. “Speaking of it, why did you help me?” Zero pondered aloud.

The mare inhaled to prepare for her answer, “Well I was about to go outside to check on my animal friends, but when I opened the door, I saw you on the ground and I- um,” she started to blush, “I ran inside and hid… for about five minutes.” she said, sounding embarrassed.

Zero held back a snicker as he pictured how adorable she must have looked during the scene. “When I noticed you weren’t moving I decided to help you.” Fluttershy finished.

“Well I am very grateful Fluttershy,” Zero said, “thank you.”

Zero was glad to have stumbled upon the home of such a kind individual.

“Oh- it was really nothing…” Fluttershy remarked.

Zero shook his head, he about to object but the equine let out a small gasp before he could.

“Oh- your head! I forgot to wrap the bandage around it. I’m so sorry!”

“It’s alright,” Zero assured her. “I forgot as well.” He said with a small chuckle. He guessed he was too focused on their conversation to notice.

Fluttershy requested that Zero lay down again, which he did, before she started to wrap the bandage around his head.

She was so gentle in her technique Zero thought, the only time he felt anything when the fabric wrapped around the hurt spot on his head. “She’s much softer than Mak.” Zero thought to himself. Mak was his garrison’s medic, and to be fair to him, Fluttershy wasn’t balancing a dozen patients while light beams of death zipped over her head.

Her wrapping the healing band around his cranium made Zero curious as to why she had apparently put a bandage on his arm armor, like that was going to help it.

“So… why’d you try to fix up my right arm?” he asked as he raised it and shook it a little, “The only thing busted up a little is the armor.”

Fluttershy looked a bit embarrassed, “I- uh- thought you were some creature I’d never seen before, and I assumed your armor was some sort of shell...”

“Huh.” Zero said. “Well that I guess that explains why you reacted the way you did with my helmet, huh?”

“Yes,” she confirmed. Fluttershy decided to switch subjects. “If I may ask, what did you do to get so hurt?” the mare questioned.

“Well I don’t know about the head wound,” Zero began, “though I suspect I got it when I landed here, everything else I got from an encounter with some wooden wolf things in that dark forest out there.” he said as he signaled with his head toward where he came from.

Flutershy stopped applying the medical wrap, partially because she was done and partially because she wasn’t moving. “Y-y-you f- fought t-t-timber wolves, in the e-everfree f-f-forest?”

“Is that what they’re called?” Zero pondered, “well yeah, I did.”

“How d-did you escape?” she asked him.

Zero sat up from his position. “Well at first I tried fighting them, but they kept on… reviving, or something like that, so I ran, eventually I got lucky and escaped.” Zero explained.

“Wow…” Fluttershy exclaimed, looking intimidated again. “You’re seem to be quite good at fighting…”

“Well I’m no Mandalorian,” Zero began, “but apart from G.A.R. special forces, my brothers and I are as good as it gets!” “Besides,” he reasoned, “those timberwolves weren’t that tough. Certainly not like those Nexus on Cholganna…”

Fluttershy perked up after Zero finished.

“You mean there are creatures on other planets?” she asked with a grin. Her manner had completely shifted from concerningly shy, to cautiously, yet joyfully curious.

“Oh yeah,” Zero answered, liking this new side she was showing. “And I’ve got plenty of experience with them.”

Fluttershy stood up from her spot on the floor and sat down on the couch next to Zero which informed him she wanted to hear the long versions of his stories. “Like what?” She sounded eager.

“Well…” Zero began.

**********

The conversation was still going strong after over a half-hour, Zero enjoyed sharing his experiences with someone and Fluttershy loved hearing them. Zero made sure to avoid speaking of anything that might stress out the fragile equine, though there was one story that he couldn’t help but share…

“…and then the whole swarm of them just yanked Devor right off the ground!”

“Oh, no!” exclaimed Fluttershy, who had stayed seated on the couch throughout hearing all of Zero’s escapades.

“Yeah, he was kickin’, screamin’, and everything,” Zero told the mare, trying not to laugh.

“How could you find that funny?!” she demanded.

“I’ll get to that, so anyway he’s all yelling for help as they fly him somewhere, and we don’t know what to do. So we’re all just following them and hoping that we can get to wherever they’re taking him. They finally drop him in a nest, high in some tree, that’s just filled with their fuzzy friends, so we start climbing. No one said anything but I’m sure we all thought he was getting torn apart.”

“W-was he?!” Fluttershy squeaked.

“Oh no no no, he was to busy being… cuddled.”

“What?” Fluttershy wondered aloud, her eyes winding with newfound curiosity.

Zero tried to explain but he started to laugh and couldn’t stop. Fluttershy tried to calm him down, wanting to know what happened next.

Zero pulled himself together just enough to finish.

“*snicker* yeah, apparently those little thing have a form of symbiosis with some white bipedal creature on the planet. Supposedly the biped supplies protection and the fuzzy things supply *snicker* warmth.”

Zero let out another bout of laughter, “Th-they must’ve- ha haa!- they must’ve mistook Devon for one of those things. Anyway, Devon was just sitting there, practically covered from top to bottom by the little mites, all of them were nuzzling him and everything! So he’s staring at us, you could tell he’s ticked off, and he goes, ‘Well come on! Get it over with’,” Zero mocked, trying to imitate his brother even though they already shared the same voice.

“Then Rygg- he he!- then Rygg says, ‘What were you so worried about, scared of a little TLC?’ “

Fluttershy seemed to disapprove of the teasing but Zero went on, “After that it became a running joke in our squad, some other boys from the garrison got in on it as well, even the Serg. joined in! I remember the first crack he made was during a strike operation, we were ordered to press a heavily fortified bunker, Devor voiced his concern with the plan and the Serg. just went, ‘What? you afraid their going to wanna snuggle?’ “

Zero returned to his hysterics as Fluttershy looked down.

“Isn’t that a little… I don’t know… mean?”

Zero contained his laughter, wiping away newly formed tears. “Nonsense, that’s just how we are. In fact, it’s how I got my name.”

“How so?” Fluttershy questioned curiously.

“Well when we’re born, we’re given designation numbers, not names, my designation is CT-30-0700. I got named ‘Zero’ because one time during a combat drill, I hit my head hard, which is becoming too commonplace for me, and blacked out. When I came to, I was asked to give my CT number but apparently I just kept repeating ‘zero’. Well the boys ran away with that, they said it applied to so many different parts of me, like how often I hit my target, how many thoughts were flying through my head, y’know, stupid stuff like that, and it stuck.”

Fluttershy appeared to be a little confused, partiality because she thought it was unusual to give a newborn a number instead of a name, and partially because of how fond Zero seemed of the memory.

“Don’t you mind that your name is a joke at your own expense?” she wondered aloud.

“Not really,” Zero responded, “in fact I like that it’s how I got it. It builds the bond I have with my brothers, plus I like the sound of it.”

“Oh, well alright then” Fluttershy said, satisfied with his answer. “You seem very close with your siblings.”

“I am…” Zero replied.

Zero suddenly recalled the spot he was in, stranded alone on the planet, his brothers lost somewhere out there.

“How could I have lost my focus!?” he inwardly scolded himself. Though he wouldn’t admit it, it was because he had never had someone show such an interest in his life before, and he was enjoying it.

“Speaking of which,” he resumed, “I need to set off to look for them.” Zero stated as he stood up. They could be in trouble, I shouldn’t have stayed as long as I did, sorry about that.” Zero said, berating himself for spending so much time imposing on this kind mare instead of looking for his fellow clones, perhaps one of them had a commlink able to contact a rescue ship.

Fluttershy stood up to object. “Oh no no no, you don’t have to apologize, I enjoyed talking with you, and there’s no way I can let you leave in your condition!”

Surely she wasn’t serious? A fractured hand was common in the army due to the clones’ near-addiction to punching things they probably shouldn’t, and his wasn’t even that bad. Apart from his left hand, all he had was a bruised foot and a lump on the head far as Zero was concerned.

“I appreciate it, really, I do, but I’m fine. And I really ought to be going. My squad might need me. Thank you so much for your generosity and hospitality, I’ll be forever grateful.”

Zero headed for the door but the persistent equine blocked his way.

“No, your not fine,” she shook her head, “you can’t go get in another fight, you could get more hurt or worse.” She looked like she truly believed what she was saying, “I can go into town and ask some pegasi to look for your family, they could cover far more ground than you. And besides, I was about to leave anyway to go-“

She interrupted herself with a gasp, “oh my! I completely forgot! I was supposed to do a rehearsal with my birds to prepare for the summer sun celebration!”

“The what?” Zero questioned.

“Oh, it’s the night we celebrate the summer solstice, it’s being held in Ponyville this year.” Fluttershy’s ears perked up, she looked like she just had an idea.

“You should join us.” she looked unsure of her own words, but she kept going. “Princess Celestia will be there to rise the sun for dawn, if you really are an alien she’ll know what to do, perhaps she can even find a way for you all to get home. Besides, it’s always a wonderful time, I think you’d have fun.”

Though speaking with a leader sounded promising, Zero didn’t think she could really help if her species wasn’t space faring. “I don’t know Fluttershy, I really should be searching for my brothers…”

“But you can’t! I promise those pegasi will find them! You need to stay where it’s safe while you heal. And the summer sun celebration is a great tradition, I’m positive you’d love it!”

Zero looked at her eyes, they seemed so genuine. He wanted to object, but how could he say no to a face like that?

“Well… okay. As long as those pegasi agree to search for my squad.”

“Yay!” Fluttershy quietly exclaimed. “I just know you’ll enjoy yourself!”

“I trust your judgment.” Zero responded.

“Alright, I’ll come back and get you before it’s about to start.” Fluttershy said. She shot him a quick smile before she left. “Goodbye!”

“Uh- bye…” Zero responded as the door closed.

He had never actually been invited anywhere before. It felt very weird, though Zero would be a liar if he claimed it didn’t make him feel good.

He returned to the couch and sat down. “So… what to do for the next couple of hours?” He looked around the house for something that interested him, but nothing caught his eye.

Zero let out a deep sigh. It was going to be a long day, wasn’t it?

Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

If my dialogue felt off, please let me know, as I’ve said, I’m new at this. Any feedback is welcome.

Also feel free to share what you think of the story so far. Like, to the people who are unfamiliar with Star Wars, what are your thoughts on the clones? Do you think the Republic is justified in making them or no?

Anyways, thanks for reading! I appreciate it!