A Forgotten Trooper

by TheIronPone035

Chapter 10: Good Memories, and Great Friends

Space is quite a beautiful thing. The quiet, peaceful void all across the galaxy and beyond, filled to the brim with stars and planets. But some things lurk in that void that aren't so beautiful, or easily undisturbed.

Deep in the outer reaches of space, a single Republic attack cruiser was flying through the black sea of stars. On board the cruiser and inside one of the many firing ranges, were five clone troopers. One of those troopers, was currently aiming a DC-15A at a deactivated test droid, which he shot right in the head.

"Ha! Bullseye right on the first try!" The clone who had fired the shot cheered, smiling at his miniature victory.

"Lucky shot Rust," A clone standing behind rust proclaimed, before taking a sip of water from a cup he was holding.

"Yeah yeah you always chalk it up to luck Strider." Rust responded, walking over to a water cooler to get some water for himself.

"Fork over the blaster, it's time to show you how it's really done." A third clone claimed, grabbing the blaster from Rust's hands on his way to the firing line.

"Sure Trigger, like last time when you said that and missed the droid by a foot." A fourth clone commented.

"Shut it Cosmo, last time I checked, you were nearly smashed into paper by a door." Trigger replied, aiming the blaster at a set of droids.

"That was ages ago!" Comso emphasized.

"Yeah, like when you got a face full of door when the motion censors were down for maintenance?" The final clone questioned. That had caused all the other clones on the room to laugh.

"No one told me that the door to the restrooms were being fixed and you had to open it manually Matt!" Comso shouted.

Trigger managed to contain his laughter enough to focus back on aiming. Once he was sure he lined the shot up correctly, he fired. Two bolts launched from the blaster, one flying right over the droid while the other struck its left arm.

That caused the group to burst out laughing again. All except Trigger, who grunted and threw the blaster down on the ground. It clattered against the metallic floor, before coming to a halt at Strider’s feet.

"Alright, let's see," Matt muttered while looking at Triggers helmet, which had been stashed with the rest of the squads helmets.

Triggers helmet however, had a set of tally marks on the front of it. Matt grabbed a marker from his utility belt and put another black tally on the helmet, pocketing the marker shortly after while giving the helmet a quick pat.

"Why do you even have a marker in your belt?" Strider asked.

"For marking down how many times Trigger gets triggered over missing a shot." Matt replied, smirking.

"You guys are the worst." Trigger mumbled, but in his head, he was laughing himself.

Strider smiled, setting his cup down on a table and walking over to his brothers. Rust did the same, clearing his throat to gain the attention of the four men.

"We did good today boy's, every clanker that’s seen us has always been left for the scrap pile afterwards. This war is gonna be over faster than Cosmo tripping over his own foot." Rust exclaimed.

"Hey!" Cosmo barked, before ironically tripping over one of his boots and falling face first to the ground.

"Welp, wars over." Matt said blankly, before the room was engulfed in laughter once more.

The group of troopers quickly returned to target practice, completely unaware of the Separatist ship that had just come out of hyperspace right in front of the attack cruiser...

---

Strider cracked open his eyes, light instantly filling them. He quickly realized that his helmet and armor had been removed, leaving him in his black body glove. That was probably for the best, considering how uncomfortable his armor was while lying or sitting down.

He glanced around the area, quickly taking notice of the fact that he was no longer in the tower of the castle. He had been laid down on the green couch in Fluttershy’s cottage, the light from earlier emitting from the large open window.

As Strider got himself into a sitting position, he spotted his armor resting in a pile on a nearby chair. He managed to get to his feet and began putting the armor back on, saving the helmet for last. Once each piece of armor was back in its proper position, he picked up his helmet and looked it over.

Most of the helmet seemed to be in tact, but there were a few cracks at the very edges of the visor and the back arrow com-link located on top was banged up beyond repair.

"Dang it, com-link’s busted." Strider muttered, examining the bent arrow style relay.

He had already tried to contact the Republic with his armor, but didn't get anything due to nothing being in range. But with the relay busted, it would be impossible to contact them with his armor’s built in com-link. His only option now was to find a communication station with a strong enough signal to contact Coruscant.

Strider put the helmet over his head and made his way over to the front door. Fluttershy seemed to have repaired it, sparkling new silver hinges replacing the broken gold ones. Strider opened the door, which now swung outwards, and was instantly greeted with the light of the nearby star.

The trooper looked down the path, spotting Fluttershy who was wearing a pair of saddlebags. She had probably gone shopping for supplies or something similar. She trotted faster when she saw Strider standing in the doorway, stopping right before him.

"Hello Strider, it’s good to see you’re up. If you hadn't been wearing that armor then you might of broken a few bones." Fluttershy explained.

"I've taken worse, but thanks for your concerns and giving me shelter. But I am gonna need to make a trip to the L.A.A.T. to get another---" Strider trailed off as he spotted a familiar snow white bunny sitting on top of Fluttershy's head. "You..."

The two exchanged glares, both unhappy about the skirmish that had happened only a day ago.

"Oh, you’ve met each other already? Well that’s great then! This is Angel Bunny. I'm not sure how but he’d been locked up in a cupboard when I returned. He also wanted to throw your helmet in a trash can." Fluttershy stated.

"Yeah, we've met… " Strider grumbled, his stare masked by the visor.

Fluttershy went past the trooper and into the cottage, setting Angel Bunny down on the wooden floorboards of the living room. The bunny quickly bounced off, not wanting to be near Strider at all, who shut the front door behind him.

Strider followed Fluttershy into the kitchen, leaning against the wall as he watched her grab a bag of tea and put a kettle on to boil water. She looked so calm, happy with the peaceful life she had been given. This only nagged at the horrible feeling inside Strider.

Fluttershy, along with everyone on this planet, had zero clue about the war above. They could be dragged into the war and none of them seemed to have proper weapons or soldiers to fight. Their world would be crushed in a few rotations by the Separatists.

"Fluttershy? Does this place have a leader?" Strider asked.

"Yes, we have Princess Celestia and now Princess Luna. You were unconscious when Princess Celestia showed up to help Princess Luna recover from getting freed by the elements." Fluttershy explained.

"Princesses huh? Do they have a castle nearby?"

"Um, in Canterlot. You can actually see the city from Ponyville if you look at the mountain it was built into."

"How can you reach the city?" Strider questioned.

"Well, you can fly there by air ship or winged carriage. Or you can take the Friendship Express, but you need a ticket to get there." Fluttershy claimed. "Why do you want to go there?"

Strider took a deep breath in, before letting it out.

"I need to inform the Princesses about the war that's going on." Strider exclaimed.

"Tickets to Canterlot aren't cheap." Fluttershy claimed, taking two cups down from a cupboard and setting them down on the counter. "But if you want, I might be able to-"

"No, you don't need to use your credits, or whatever you use here. I have a ship, it's just, a little broken." Strider said, remembering the horrible state the Gunship had been left in.

"Didn't you say you crashed in the Everfree Forest?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah, but I need that ship. It has weapons and machinery that might still be working, and i’m gonna need all of it in order to contact the G.A.R." Strider emphasized.

Fluttershy put a hoof to her chin, brow furrowing. "How heavy is it?" She questioned.

"Don't know, but it is massive. Even 16 troopers wouldn't be able to move it.”

Fluttershy took the ready kettle off the stove and put it on a tray with the cups. She carried it over to the main room and set it down on the newly made table to replace the one Strider had destroyed.

"Give me a moment." Fluttershy asked, before leaving the cottage.

---

After what seemed like an hour, Strider opened up the door to the cottage and looked around. The mare was nowhere to be seen, not on the trail to Ponyville, in the sky, or even by the Everfree. Where did she go?

Not only that, but the cottage seemed quiet again. Strider quickly glanced behind himself, half expecting Angel Bunny to be standing there with a knife or something. But the bunny was also gone.

Strider's attention was quickly taken by a scraping noise coming from the Everfree Forest. He took off in the direction of the noise, only to freeze when he spotted something large emerge from the Everfree Forest.

"How… out of all things in the universe… did you get this?" Strider muttered, eyes wide with shock at the sight.

Resting in front of him was the Gunship, as beaten and run down as he had left it. Standing in front of the Gunship, was Fluttershy.

"Oh, I have some friends who were more than willing to help." Fluttershy claimed.

Strider looked around the side of the Gunship, spotting two bears standing behind it, both giving each other fist bumps. A flock of birds above the ship let out a sigh of relief and let go of the massive ship. But what was probably the strangest thing was the pink pony who was sitting in one of the pilot seats.

"Hi Strider! This thing is so much fun!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, before hopping out of the cockpit and bounced away towards Ponyville.

Strider looked through a small gap in the doors at the interior of the ship, seeing that all the bodies of the clones were still there, ready to be buried. He was very thankful that the doors had been shut, sealing the bodies from view. A few boxes full of supplies rested comfortably against the back of the interior.

"W-wow, just… wow, you have no idea how much this is going to help. Thanks Fluttershy." Strider said, looking at the mare.

"Heh, i-it was nothing. Except for a-all the t-terrifying creatures i-in there." Fluttershy stammered, before waving to the animals who had lined up alongside the ship. "T-thank you everyone for the help!"

All the animals gave her their your welcomes, before going their separate ways back towards the cottage. Strider looked back at the Gunship, ideas already forming in his head.

This day just got all sorts of better.

Author's Note:

What a piece of junk!

Also, if your wondering why Fluttershy or any of the animals hadn't reacted to seeing the dead clones. They had been sealed from view inside the closed hull, the doors having fallen back into place after Strider had left.

Comments

[RDDash]

"How...out of all things wise...did you get this?" Strider muttered, eyes wide with shock at the sight.

My question exactly

[WolfLover]

In the state the gunship is in now it is a piece of junk, I felt a part of my soul die after writing that statement as the gunship is the second best thing in the clone army besides the clones.

[ThatGuyJayce]

The reaction to the dead troopers was a bit meh, clone troopers love thier brothers and the idea that he didn't go back for thier body's sooner is a bit weird for a trooper.

The ponies also showed a bit less emotion to the dead troopers then you think they would.

Great story overall though, not a ton of star wars fics running around here so it's nice to get another one.