A New Dawn For Equestria

Chapter One: When You Wish Upon A Star

Edited and Written by The Liquid Gold

// 9451637.M41

// Ultima Segmentum

// Lithesh Sector

// Kronus

// Canterlot

Twilight sat on her bed, fondly remembering the events that had transpired earlier that day, although she had been a bit embarrassed when she had to be dragged out of the palace since she had been screaming "Yes" a little too ferociously. Twilight blushed a little at the memory, but this was suddenly dispersed when a bout of worry set in.

Twilight jumped off of the bed, pacing around, talking to herself as she usually does.

"I hope Princess Celestia doesn't think I was too eager!" Twilight said with an exasperated sigh, spewing discontented air into her room. She had been worried ever since she had been accepted earlier that day. Twilight stopped a minute as she recalled the test.

"I was so worried, I almost failed!" Twilight seemed to be getting anxious again, "But I guess I did succeed in the end," Twilight giggled, " and I can prove it." Twilight smiled as she said this, looking over to the corner of her room, where a small baby dragon was sleeping in a basket.

She had hatched the dragon earlier as part of her entrance test to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. In fact, Twilight had been so impressive, that not only had she passed the test, but she was even accepted as Princess Celestia's personal student!

Twilight had been shocked when she had heard the princess say this, but shock had soon given way to complete and utter joy. It was now time to go to bed, however, and Twilight could hear her parents climbing into their beds in the room next door. Moving her little legs, Twilight made her way across her varnished wooden floor to her bed.

Her bed was set into the corner of the room, and had deep purple blankets, duvets and pillows. Twilight jumped onto it, but curled up on top of it, thinking to herself.

Twilight had tried to get to sleep earlier, but had soon realised that she was simply far too excited at being accepted into the school. She knew her brother would be so proud when he found out!

Twilight's smile turned into a frown, her mouth sagging at the corners just as scales might if comparing two heavy weights, and her eyebrows slanted down. She remembered that her brother had been sent to a training camp for royal guard hopefuls for the duration of the summer, and although Twilight knew her brother would be ok, it saddened her that she would not see him for such a long time.

Twilight then began to wonder about what the future might hold for her, and her usual glad smile returned.

"Oh, I do hope I become somepony who knows lots of things!" Twilight started to muse, talking to herself, pondering, "Like maybe a famous wizard, or a librarian!"

Twilight's smile deepened at the thought of being either of those, especially a librarian. Twilight loved reading, and she reckoned that being around books all day would bring her much joy.

"I wonder who I would be a librarian with, though?" Twilight asked the empty room, sadness starting to return, but at last her eyes landed once more on the basket nestled in the corner, and her smile came running back "Well, I guess I'll have Spike here, and I know Shining Armour will always look after me!"

Twilight, finally content with her ponderings, lay down her head on her lavender pillow and closed her eyes, attempting to fall into sleep just as quickly as a traveller might after traversing a long and lonesome road, and trying to dive into dreams in the same way as a falcon swoops to the ground.

But sleep never came.

Like the snow in the summer, and the blaze in the winter, sleep was just a myth to the filly Twilight. She tossed, turned, re-tossed and re-turned but alas sleep did not find her. It was as if sleep had gotten lost, stumbling in the dark with no lantern, and without a bright moon to guide him he never reached the mind of our filly Twilight.

Sighing, but still buzzing with excitement, as one might be having just been accepted into a highly prestigious school, Twilight rose once more from her bed and started to pace.

On the other side of the room, however, she caught sight of her bedroom window, and curious, she approached the window and opened it wide. She gazed out the window at the night sky, and marvelled at its size and complexity.

Twilight had never truly had time to look at the night sky before, but now that she was she was struck down in awe by its splendour. Just as if ever a peasant, having travelled far across barren wilds to represent his lord's court, dressed in the robes of a merchant but still possessing the mind of a farmer, at last reaches his destination, and is stunned by the scale of a citadel or a town, and he compares his thatched cottage to the gleaming stone monuments, his boot to ornate carriages; and he is overcome with wonder.

In the same way Twilight gazed upon the stars and the cosmos, and she was devoured by the greatest wonder.

"It's so massive!" Twilight exclaimed, bending her head to try and view the whole sky at once, but only succeeding in getting neck cramps and almost falling out the window.

As she gazed, she saw more individual stars than she could possibly count, and saw how bright they were.

"They're so bright, just like Celestia's sun," Twilight remarked to herself, her voice still saturated with amazement, "I wonder... I wonder if anything lives out there?"

Twilight gazed into the deep void and it gazed back. She tried to grasp the complexity of the universe she observed, just like a running criminal trying to make a critical leap to a nearby building as he flees across the rooftops, and Twilight, just like the criminal, fell short and never made it to the other side, her young mind failing to grasp what she was truly looking at.

But she was still inspired.

"I wonder if we'll ever meet any of them?" Twilight said again, casting out her voice into the darkness.

As she did this, she saw across the sky a star begin to streak, falling from the heavens like a rock tumbles from a mountain. She was reminded of what her father always says to her, that a wish made upon a shooting star always comes true.

Twilight concentrated into the night, she closed her eyes and she thought of that star which she saw falling, and she said, "I w-wish, I wish that one day I will meet them. I wish that one day, when I'm as graceful and beautiful as Princess Celestia, and I'm all grown up like mother, I'll get to meet those that step among the stars."

Twilight concentrated hard for many minutes afterwards, but at last opened her eyes and looked back up into the night sky.

"I wonder what they'll be like," she said, slightly worried about what she might have just done, "Will they look like ponies? Will they have books for me to read?"

Twilight eventually closed the window and started to trot back over to her bed, her mood dampened slightly and her hoofbeats echoing around the silent house.

"Don't be silly Twilight, wishes never come true."

Twilight climbed into bed and closed her eyes, and this time sleep found his mistress like she was a beacon of truth, and he a seeker of knowledge. She drifted into the sweet abyss, but not before a single tear was shed from her closed eyes.

// 9234647.M41

// Ultima Segmentum

// Location Unknown

Deep in the void, A fleet of Tau vessels were slowly making their way towards a far off system. Long range scans had proven the planet to be capable of supporting life, and so the decision had been made to send a battlegroup over to the system to scout it out, and maybe even find new races to join the greater good.

In charge of the ground forces assembled on the starships, and overall commander, was the fire caste commander Shas O’Kais.

Shas O’Kais had proven many times before to be a stalwart believer in the greater good, and having lead countless campaigns, he had often offered even the most horrific of foes an opportunity to join the greater good before they were finally erased from existence by the power of the Tau Empire.

Shas O’Kais was on the bridge of an Or’es El’leath Custodian class carrier, the leading ship in the battle group. He was surveying the blackness of space, looking outside the windows in the crowded bridge, and he started to think about the small sphere they were currently approaching, hanging lonely in the void.

Shas O’Kais turned and started to walk back to his quarters, ignoring the hustle and bustle of the shouting pilots and officers that littered the bridge. Tau space faring technology used sub warp drives, and as a result it would be a long while before they reached the planet. That didn’t make the Fire Caste commander any less excited, however.

// 9007648.M41

// Ultima Segmentum

// Lithesh Sector

// Kronus

// Outside Appleloosa

Rock Shard heaved with effort as he struck the inside of the cave with his pick another time. Carrying it in his mouth, for he was an earth pony and had no horn, he was heaving away trying to remove ore from the dusty walls.

Rock Shard had been wandering Equestria for a while without much purpose, until at last, although by accident, he had come across the town of Appleloosa.

Rock Shard needed cash, so he had taken a job at the local mine, only to find that, after all these years, he had finally found his special talent.

Rock Shard loved the sound his pick made as it struck the stubborn rock, and he had always longed to do a job where he could use his impressive strength.

Rock Shard’s bag was now full of ore, so he took it over to a nearby minecart which was being supervised by one of his colleagues, another Earth pony by the name of Stone Shower.

Stone Shower had a grey coat and a black mane, and at this moment he was currently pouring out some ore-filled bags into the minecart. He looked up as Rock Shard approached and dumped his bad on the dusty floor.

“Found anything interesting yet?” Stone Shower said, trying to make some conversation.

“Not yet, but I can only hope!” Rock Shard replied, before picking up an empty bag and heading back over to his section of the wall.

Rock Shard’s own coat was a dull brown, and he had a light blue mane.

Picking his pick back up, he started hitting the wall again, listening to the monotonous sound of his pick hitting rock, knocking out large pieces of stone each time.

The mines here were rather big, and were filled with large expanses of tunnels. Rock Shard was quite deep in the mine here, and as a result it was very dark. Magical lamps also had to be used instead of flame based ones, otherwise they could ignite some natural gas and cause an explosion.

The mines, however, supplied all the metal and stone that Appleloosa needed, although it’s main pride was it’s apple orchards.

Rock Shard was drawn out of his thoughts by the sound of his pick hitting metal.

Intrigued, Rock Shard looked back at the wall and saw he had uncovered a section of a wall, or something.

Everyone else in this section of the cave also seemed interested.

“Quick everyone, help me uncover what this is!” Rock Shard shouted to the others, and they, fueled by curiosity, bounded over to help him.

They quickly managed to uncover what looked like a large metal door.

It was a dark green colour, so dark it almost seemed black, and there was a large metal slab placed back from a large border. Rock Shard assumed this slab was a door.

On the slab there appeared to be a metal skull, but it looked like no skull Rock Shard had seen before.

“I think it’s a monkey skull,” said one of his colleagues next to him, peering closer.

They suddenly all jumped back in fright, however, as the slab fell backwards into a dark tunnel behind it, opens own accord. There was a rush of exchanged air, and now the miners gazed into the depths with heightened curiosity.

Suddenly, a deep buzzing was heard from within the depths of the tunnel, slowly getting louder and louder. The gathered ponies started to step back in fear.

None of them would make it out of the mine alive.

Author's Note

In actual w40k fluff, Kronus is colonised by humanity during the Dark Age of Technology, and it doesn't have a native population of psychic unicorns either. To craft an interesting story, we are going to overlook those facts. The dates which I have made up are also fictional, but it is in the proper date format. If you want to learn about Imperial dates, ask me in the comments.

Also, please provide any criticism and flag up any spelling mistakes.

Regards,
The Liquid Gold