Iron Hearts: Book 4 - Emerald Dawn

by SFaccountant

Rating: teen
Tags: Human, Main 6, Princess Luna, Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Warhammer, Comedy, Trixie, Science Fiction, Big Macintosh, Adventure, Violence, Crossover
Length: 171941

MLP/Warhammer 40K crossover, part 4. The Tau have left, but now a new threat threatens to overrun Equestria and its home planet. This time, though, hope lay with the darker powers...

An MLP/Warhammer 40K crossover, part 4.

The Tau threat has passed. The fleet that once thought to sweep aside the tainted pirates of the 38th Company has fled the system. The Lamman Sept is broken, demoralized, leaderless...
... And victorious.

With Lamman's plan put into motion, an alien horde hurtles through the Warp toward the Centaur system, its soldiers without number and thirsting for violence. Equestria's heroes must find a way to stop them, or the entire planet will be overrun with ease and its inhabitants butchered. While they could afford some pretense of neutrality and disinterest in the fight between the Iron Warriors and the Tau, now it is their world that lay in the crosshairs of the foe. Ponykind will need help to survive, and they look to the forces of Chaos for aid. But is there any hope to be found in the darkness?

EXPLOSIONS ARE IMMINENT.

(Dark humor warning; mild grimdark)
(Cover Art by Ahrimatt)
(This series now has its own TVtropes page!)
(This series is a contestant in the Tournament of Canterlot, a charity event to raise money for Syrian refugees! Go here for details and donations!)

Published 2014-08-02 05:30:06 UTC
Last updated 2014-12-27 03:22:46 UTC

New Blood

Iron Hearts: Book 4

Chapter 3

New Blood

****

Ponyville - Twilight's library

"So then I said, 'Oatmeal? Are you crazy?' and he was all like, 'Fhtagn!' It was SO awkward!"

Pinkie shouted her story over the rumbling beat of the music booming through the library, a party hat strapped to her head and a plate of snacks on her withers. DJP0N3 was the source of the music, of course, her turntable set up under the stairs.

In addition to the usual assortment of ponies partying, there were also a dozen humans in attendance, as well as a trio of Iron Warriors that were clustered in a corner with their helmets off.

"Hey, Dest! Hey, extras! How are you liking everything?" Pinkie asked as she bounded up to the Chaos Marines.

One of the less familiar Astartes was observing a cupcake critically, and he spared the pink equine a suspicious glance. "I find this auditory environment uncomfortably pleasant, and your consumables satisfactory despite a distinct lack of nutritional value."

"That means he's having a good time," Dest assured the pink mare before eating another slice of cake.

"Awesome possum! Thanks for coming, you guys!" Pinkie shouted, giving each of the armored warriors a hug on the leg. Or trying, rather. The last one intercepted her mid-lunge and grabbed her by her mane before flinging her away.

Pinkie took the rejection with exceptional grace, tucking into a roll and then bounding to her hooves right between Twilight and Gaela.

"Hiya, girls! What's shaking?" Pinkie asked, causing the two to recoil from her sudden appearance. They had been doing their level best to separate themselves from the rest of the party-goers and talk between themselves. Which, of course, went against the spirit of Party and thus needed to be corrected.

"Gaela was just going over some of the functions of her new servo arms," Twilight said as she steadied herself and the levitating cup of punch that she had yet to take a sip of.

"Oh, yeah! They're super! Now you can punch even more bad guys when your main arms are all punched out!" Pinkie said as her eyes looked over the Dark Techpriest. She had no party hat, her rubber cloak had been cleaned of confetti, and she was holding a cup of tap water. No, that would not do at all.

"We were actually discussing how unfortunate it is that I hadn't thought to ask for a tranquilizer dart attachment," Gaela said as she stared down at Pinkie, "I didn't think of it when my actuator rig was being replaced."

"Oh, I know! We can have you hoof-wrestle six ponies at once! Doesn't that sound fun?" Pinkie asked, her eyes locked onto Gaela's and utterly unflinching.

"No. It's also physiologically inaccurate, since I do not possess hooves," Gaela said sharply. She didn't like the look in Pinkie's eyes at all; this level of focus and intensity was unusual to the bubbly mare.

"So anyway, how does the ion blaster work? Does it use magnetic fields to contain the radiation pulse, or emit a directed particle stream?" Twilight quickly tried to shift the topic to a more technical level, hoping Pinkie would get bored and leave.

"Ooh! And how many shots per turn?" Pinkie asked, bouncing on her hooves and dashing Twilight's hopes.

Also, turn? What kind of a time frame was that?

Then Twilight's front door exploded inward.

The purple alicorn quickly stopped the shattered pieces of wood with her telekinesis, freezing them in the air before they could land and possibly hurt someone.

"Tellis! Stop doing that!" Twilight snapped as the Raptor Lord ducked into the room. "Just because our doors don't open automatically doesn't mean you have to break them down!"

Tellis ignored Twilight as he looked over the ponies in the room, most of whom were quietly edging away from him.

Then he looked over to the purple alicorn. "Is Fluttershy here?"

THAT raised a few warning flags. "Why?" Twilight asked cautiously. "Is there something you need to talk to her about?"

"Yeah. Is she here?" Tellis asked again, walking up to Gaela and Twilight. His tone was calm and his voice just loud enough to be heard over the music, which was a sure sign that something was off.

Twilight was about to begin a long series of probing questions to determine if it was safe to let Tellis into the same room with her meekest and most sensitive friend, but Gaela wasn't willing to tolerate the Khornate for that long (and also didn't care about Fluttershy in the slightest).

"I believe it was mentioned that she's upstairs with Dash," Gaela said, ignoring the sharp look from Twilight.

"Cool," Tellis started toward the stairs, then glanced back at the Dark Techpriest. "Heh. Nice hats, nerd." With a snicker crackling in his vox grille, he headed toward the stairs.

Gaela frowned. "Hats?" She swiveled a servo arm around to sweep over her head, with the intention of checking for any small paper accessories that had been put on her.

Then she saw that the servo arm itself had a small paper hat secured above the pincer claw. A quick check of her other servo limbs revealed that they had all been thus decorated.

Gaela looked down into her cup, which now held a bright pink fluid rather than the water it was supposed to have.

"I looked away for PRECISELY three-point-six seconds," Gaela fumed, scanning the room for Pinkie Pie.

"You, uh, have 'Party girl' written on your robe in chalk," Twilight pointed out, "along with a few smiley faces."

"One day I am going to dissect that pony," Gaela growled as she dumped her punch over a potted plant, "and then her secrets will be mine."

****

Upstairs

"You YELLED at him? At Tellis? That's what this is about?" Rainbow Dash asked from where she was restlessly rolling back and forth over Twilight's bed. It had taken her some time to coax the story out of Fluttershy, but she knew the other pegasus well and could be very persistent when she thought the subject was important.

Fluttershy was seated at the edge of the bed, facing the balcony.

"Well... it was more like screamed, really," she said quietly, fidgeting with her front hooves.

Rainbow Dash raised her eyebrows as she stopped rolling about, and then settled on her back. She knew what Fluttershy was like when her seemingly infinite patience broke. But she also knew what Tellis was like when he was agitated.

"Well, you're still in one piece, so it couldn't have been that bad," Rainbow reasoned.

Tears started welling up in Fluttershy's eyes as she thought back on the encounter. "Oh, Rainbow, it was awful! I said so many terrible things to him!" She sniffled. "And not even about the things that are actually his fault, like how I don't feel safe in my own home, or how Angel Bunny has a new hobby making necklaces from the skulls of fish and rodents! I blamed him for everything the Tau did, and called him useless! And now he's not even going to be leaving like I thought! I feel horrible!"

Rainbow Dash clicked her tongue. "Okay, but I stand by my earlier thing. When Tellis gets upset, he doesn't mess around. So he can't be that upset."

"What if he was just holding back so he didn't make you mad?" Fluttershy asked, shivering.

"Yeah, no, I'm pretty sure he isn't capable of planning that far ahead," the blue pegasus scoffed, "Tellis makes ME look cold and collected. C'mon Flutters, just talk with him. Normally I'd say you could just give him some room and let the whole thing blow over, but you're roommates. Still. For some reason." She frowned at that thought, and then shrugged it off. "You can't not go home again just because you yelled at him."

Fluttershy said something in response, but Rainbow couldn't make it out.

"Huh? Speak up," Rainbow Dash said, squirming up closer to the yellow pony.

Fluttershy cringed and took a deep breath. "I... also... kind of... hit him."

Silence followed the reluctant admission, allowing the thumping beat from downstairs to permeate the room.

"Bwah ha ha ha ha!" then Rainbow Dash laughed, rolling onto her back. "No wonder you had that funny limp all yesterday! You're crazy, Shy!"

Fluttershy moaned and rubbed at her foreleg. It no longer hurt, but she could still vividly remember the pain of trying to break through a shell of ceramite and adamantium with her bare hoof.

"It's... It's not funny, Dash..." Fluttershy mumbled.

Due to the heavy noise coming from downstairs, neither pegasus noticed the thumping of power armored boots coming up the stairs until it came from within the room. Rainbow rolled over onto her belly again and then craned her head around to see who had joined them.

"Tellis! Dude! Perfect timing!"

Fluttershy immediately launched herself toward the balcony, her wings pumping furiously like those of a startled bird.

Tellis was faster, though, and the meek pegasus yelped as the Chaos Lord caught her tail and held firm. Her wings immediately folded tightly against her sides, and she clamped her hooves over her eyes as she hung in the air by her tail.

"Dash! Tell my animals I love them!" Fluttershy squeaked as she prepared for The End.

Tellis stared down at the pony hanging from his fist, and then up at Rainbow Dash, who was still seated on the bed.

"What's her deal now?" the Iron Warrior asked. Last time he had seen the yellow pony she had screamed at him for his incompetence, and now it looked like his presence filled her with mortal terror. Again.

Rainbow couldn't restrain a chuckle, even though she felt bad for her longtime friend. "She thinks you're angry at her."

"Oh. Okay, yeah, then this is a pretty reasonable reaction, actually," Tellis mused as he stared down at Fluttershy again.

"Please make it quick," Fluttershy whimpered, still holding her eyes shut with her hooves, "oh, and, uhm, if you don't mind, could you leave my wings intact? It's really important for pegasi funerals. Would that be too much trouble?"

Tellis wordlessly dropped Fluttershy onto the bed next to Rainbow Dash, and then crossed his arms over his chest. "Shy. Look at me. I want your attention for this, because it's only going to happen once."

Still shivering, Fluttershy pulled her hooves away from her face with some effort, forcing herself to meet the masked gaze of the Raptor Lord.

"I'm sorry," Tellis said.

Fluttershy blinked.

"There aren't a lot of things I'm willing to apologize for," Tellis said quickly, continuing before the pegasi could really process what he had just said, "but not killing enough is one of them. I'm sorry I didn't murder the Tau that doomed your entire world."

Fluttershy blinked again, but this time more slowly. "Uh... that's... not really-"

"Look," the Astartes interrupted, "you don't need to pepper me with details. The fact of the matter is, this is a problem that could have been solved by killing more people, and I didn't do that. If I had been on top of my game, there wouldn't be enough Tau left on this rock to build a see-saw, much less a super Warp beacon or whatever. So I'm sorry for not being violent enough. Okay?"

Fluttershy stiffly turned her head to glance at Rainbow Dash, but the other pegasus was just watching expectantly.

"Uhm. It's really okay," Fluttershy said, droplets of sweat crawling down her head, "I was mistaken, really. I'm sorry I lost my temper. You don't need to be more violent. In fact-"

"Are you turning down my apology?" Tellis said, sounding somewhat indignant.

"APOLOGY ACCEPTED!" Fluttershy yelped, her fur nearly standing on end.

"Awesome! Now we're all friends again!" Rainbow Dash said brightly as she threw a forearm over Fluttershy's withers.

Fluttershy honestly didn't know whether to laugh or cry anymore, so she simply laid as still as possible with a nervous smile on her face.

Rainbow stood up on the bed. "Hey, you guys wanna head down to the party now?"

"Nah. We need to get home," Tellis said before he walked over to Fluttershy and picked her up off the bed, "her animals are all worked up because she hasn't been home. Also, Angel is holding a bunch of kittens for carrot ransom. Flutter might want to defuse that." The Iron Warrior tucked his landlord under his arm, and then walked back toward the balcony.

Fluttershy gulped as she was carried along, and then gathered her courage to speak. "Oh, uh, thank you Tellis, um, but I can walk on my-"

"We ain't walking," Tellis said as he ducked outside and let the wings of his flight pack spread to his sides.

"Oh... Oh dear..." the yellow pony mumbled as she squeezed her eyes shut and promised herself that she wouldn't scream.

****

Downstairs

Twilight's head snapped up as she heard the sound of booster engines activate from her room, and she frowned as she heard a feminine shriek of terror.

"Spike, remind me to check with Rainbow Dash later to make sure Fluttershy's okay," Twilight shouted over to the dragon. Then she turned back to Gaela. "Sorry about that. You were saying?"

Gaela's robe had been scrubbed clean of the chalk, and she had successfully removed the party hats from her servo arms. Twilight didn't actually know why she'd bother, since Pinkie was likely to show up again and reverse her efforts, but Gaela had always been rather over-dignified.

"The notices are being disseminated to Equestria's major cities even as we speak," the Dark Techpriest explained, "the selection process is tomorrow, in Canterlot."

Twilight pursed her lips. The 38th Company really was wasting no time in preparing to construct the Nethalican, and that first meant collecting the psykers that Serith apparently needed.

Unicorns across Equestria were receiving notices that their presence was requested in Canterlot for possible conscription, and many were no doubt already on their way. Many would not show up, Twilight was sure; either because of conflicting obligations, inability to get to Canterlot on such short notice, or simply fear of having to work for the 38th Company. But if Serith only needed around a hundred psykers to make his plan work, he was sure to get them.

"I wonder what he needs them all for," Twilight grumbled, "how does having a lot of unicorns help?"

"I know little about sorcery," Gaela admitted, "it is one area of knowledge that the Dark Mechanicus treads lightly."

That seemed odd to Twilight. Certainly Gaela's prayers to her "Machine God" seemed to generate a tangible magical effect. Was that really so different?

"But I do know that certain psychic tools work best in choir. Astropathy in particular is best done with several individuals," the Dark Techpriest finished.

"Fair enough, I suppose. I'm just suspicious since all of this is coming from Serith," Twilight couldn't keep a sneer off her face at the name. It was a conditioned response by now.

"Yes. We feel the same way," Gaela noted, briefly checking her water to make sure it was still water before taking a sip, "you're exceptionally fortunate that the Warsmith decided to build the Nethalican after all. Both Lord Sliver and Magos Kaelith were strongly opposed, and their opinions are not easily dismissed."

"I know. And thank you," Twilight said with a smile, "I can't say for sure, but I bet you helped us, didn't you?"

Gaela shifted uncomfortably for a moment, the plates of her armor suit scraping against each other. "I... did not make a very good case for your people this time. Whatever swayed Warsmith Solon, it was not I."

"Well, even so, I appreciate it," Twilight said happily, raising one foreleg up to the cyborg, "hug?"

"There will be no hugs," Gaela snapped.

"Please?"

"Put your leg down."

Twilight pouted as she did so.

"In any case, I should go. Macintosh is also joining us, and I need to explain his function to him, as well as perform a maintenance check on his augments."

"His function? Why is Big Mac coming?" Twilight asked, tilting her head to the side. "Applejack would make sense, I suppose, but Big Macintosh hasn't joined the 38th Company."

"Correct. But he follows orders anyway, so we've taken to treating him like he has." Gaela shrugged and finished her cup of water before turning to head out the door.

"Uh, Gaela?" Twilight stopped her. "You have 'Boot Me' written on the back of your robe."

With a long, grumbling sigh, Gaela headed to the kitchen instead.

****

Canterlot - train station, the next day

As she departed the train, Twilight idly wondered if there was any kind of frequent traveler discount she should apply for, what with how often she was traveling to Canterlot these days. Spike was following closely behind her, carrying a backpack with several books and a few dataslates. Gaela was behind him, her new harness and thicker armor barely fitting through the passenger cars' doors.

Twilight looked back at the train, seeing Big Macintosh slowly exiting behind them. He was wearing his power armor suit, complete with heavy bolter, and the train car had leaned over to one side quite noticeably from the weight as he and Gaela disembarked.

After the armored stallion came, of course, the rest of the pony passengers, most of whom had been either staring at the sight of a power armored pony or simply waiting for the massive passengers to get out of the way. The vast majority were unicorns, and most had satchels levitating behind them or resting on their withers as they headed out into the streets.

Twilight offered Big Mac a sympathetic smile. "All the staring can be a little embarrassing, huh?" The glimmering crimson visor turned toward her. "I remember how it was to travel just after I was crowned as a Princess. Ponies tend to notice when an alicorn is sitting in the same train car with them. Although I don't think I stick out quite as much as you do!"

"Eeyup," Big Mac mumbled, keeping his helmet on. It was much easier to ignore the curious gazes and quiet whispering coming from the other ponies with his face completely encased in metal.

The sound of jet engines screamed from overhead, and they looked up as a Thunderhawk transport zoomed through the air.

Twilight might have supposed it carried the Iron Warrior leadership, but there was another Thunderhawk lifting off from behind the palace, headed in the opposite direction. In addition, she couldn't help but notice that the train station employees didn't look up. Apparently there were enough gunships going to and from Canterlot now that the ponies living here had come to dismiss the vehicles as part of the ordinary background noise.

As she led her small party through the streets, it was hard not to notice that there were quite a few humans around, now. All of them were armed, naturally, and she didn't see any Iron Warriors or Dark Mechanicus about besides Gaela, but unlike before the humans here didn't seem to be on any particular mission. Most of them were standing about and chatting with ponies, a few were seated at restaurants while mildly nervous pony waiters served them, and some carried small packages, apparently out shopping. Almost all the debris from the battle in Canterlot had been cleared, and she could also see a few humans standing by with ranks of equine workers as architect and engineer ponies pointed to partially collapsed buildings.

"So this is what a xeno alliance looks like," Gaela remarked as she joined Twilight in staring, "fascinating."

"Eeyup," Big Macintosh agreed, keeping pace toward the castle.

"An alliance, huh?" Twilight mumbled. Two weeks ago, she wouldn't have dared consider such a thing. Two days ago it had seemed a desperate hope. But here they were.

"I'm really glad," Twilight said, grinning as she picked up her pace to follow Big Mac, "it's scary to think of how close we came to ending up as enemies."

"I too am satisfied with this result," Gaela agreed, "it seems my initial decision not to pulverize Apple Bloom when I first met your kind was correct."

The others had to roll their eyes at that, although Twilight distinctly remembered fearing exactly that result when she had first seen the woman.

Approaching the palace, Twilight could see that the large transport gunships had landed in the ruins of the garden, probably waiting for equine passengers. Unlike in the city, there were plenty of Iron Warriors patrolling around the castle, and she was surprised to see a full squad of them standing at the main doors, looking for all the world like they were conducting an ordinary guard detail. The only thing that ruined that perception was the ACTUAL guard detail for the front gate; the spear-armed ponies had grouped together to either side of the doors, and they stared forward grimly even though they stood too far away from the entrance to plausibly do their job properly.

Twilight had to admire them for bothering to stay for their shifts, honestly. They must have felt horribly redundant and not a little intimidated thanks to the massive, armored super soldiers next to them.

One of the pony guards spotted Twilight's group while they were still some distance away, and he quickly ducked into the castle entrance. Twilight almost giggled at the way the Chaos Space Marines tracked the stallion's movement and watched him enter the doorway, as if the castle's own soldiers were a potential threat.

By the time that her group had reached the gates, the guard had re-emerged with another stallion in tow.

Prince Blueblood strolled up between the Iron Warriors on guard, casting a subtle glance to either side of him before his gaze settled on Twilight.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle," the blond unicorn said with a diplomatic nod of his head, "as always, it is a pleasure to have your Highness with us in the palace proper."

Twilight normally would have asked a pony greeting her not to refer to her as "Highness", but she was surprised and uneasy enough to see Blueblood that she let the formality stand. "Prince Blueblood? You're receiving us?"

The unicorn stallion nodded again as his eyes darted to Gaela. "Yes. Normally such menial tasks are beneath me, but the royal family has been very busy as of late, as I'm sure you're aware. So they called me in to play dignitary."

He glanced to the side again, comparing the Iron Warriors to Gaela's armored form. Then he frowned and addressed her directly.

"Pardon me, Sir, but may I inquire as to... well, what you are, exactly?"

"I am a Dark Techpriest, a keeper of the Machine and servant to the Omnissiah," Gaela explained, "my name is Gaela."

"And she's not a Sir," Spike pointed out, since Gaela apparently didn't care enough to specify her gender.

"Is that so," Blueblood mumbled as he walked into the entry hall. Twilight's group followed, and he tilted his head at a unicorn Captain off to the right. "He will see to your weapons, Techpriest."

"No, he won't," Gaela replied immediately, "or do I need to relate to you what happened the last time one of your soldiers tried to disarm me?"

Evidently the Captain knew that particular story; he scowled deeply at the woman, yet made no move to try to take her power axe.

"Don't worry about her! She's with me!" Twilight said quickly, figuring that as long as she was being treated like a royal figure she may as well use the influence to smooth things over.

Blueblood halted and quirked an eyebrow, but let the matter go. Then his eyes moved over to Big Mac.

"And you must be one of the ponies that helped make a mess of the gardens," Blueblood mumbled, staring deeply into the glowing red slit on Mac's helmet, "I believe the servants referred to you as 'Ironside' Macintosh."

Twilight, Spike, and Gaela all stared at the power-armored stallion, who merely dipped his head and looked away in embarrassment.

"'Ironside'? That's new," Gaela noted, "and quite appropriate."

Big Mac continued to remain silent, hoping that attention would pass from him soon. The new nickname was one that Tolken had come up with as a token reward for his first successful mission. Naturally, all the other Astartes had started calling him that immediately, although he hadn't expected other ponies to overhear. Or care, for that matter.

"This is Macintosh Apple, Applejack's brother," Twilight said, figuring that Big Mac wasn't going to properly introduce himself any time soon, "he's with me, too."

"Nice legs," Blueblood said to the farmer with a hint of amusement, "quite an... unusual bodyguard detail you keep, Princess."

Gaela decided to be diplomatic and not display her offense by testing her new ion blaster on the stallion. A largely verbal threat seemed much more appropriate for a formal affair. "Refer to me as a 'bodyguard' again, and I will beat you," she said coldly, her servo claw clanking open and closed.

Blueblood recoiled, stepping away and then glancing at Twilight.

To his shock, the alicorn just shrugged, a nervous smile playing over her muzzle. Clearly she was used to this sort of behavior. The Royal Guard captain was also making no move to berate the woman, although his scowl had increased slightly in intensity.

"Well, I see that they don't teach you Techpriests much about manners, do they?" the Prince grumbled before he turned around sharply.

"No, they do not," Gaela admitted blandly, "why? Is there a certain etiquette to threatening violence against you?"

Blueblood assumed she was joking, and let out a dry snort as he lead the group down the hall. "You know, Princess, I figured this would happen," the Prince muttered to Twilight as they walked, "and now it's official, even! Equines and hominids, standing together as a force united."

"You, uh... don't sound very happy about that," Spike said.

Blueblood favored the dragon with a long glance, as if finally noticing his presence. "I have some... reservations about the matter," he admitted before turning back to Twilight, "I sure hope you know what you're doing, Princess."

"The entire reason we need the 38th Company is because we DON'T know what we're doing," Twilight retorted, "but I don't intend to abandon Equestria. We'll get through this, and with time and understanding, make a better, safer world for everyone!"

"That's rather unrealistic," Gaela noted, "you may want to try for an objectively worse, but highly efficient and ultimately tenable world. That seems more likely."

Prince Blueblood scowled. "Quite a sense of humor your friend has."

Gaela looked down at Spike. "I have a sense of humor?"

"He doesn't know any better," Spike whispered up to her, "let it go!"

After several minutes, and after having passed by another two patrols of Iron Warriors along the way, they reached the entrance to the throne room.

Blueblood turned toward Twilight again, although this time there was a very obvious nervousness to him.

"The Warsmith is already here, in audience with the Princesses," the Prince said, which explained why he was trembling, "the meeting is informal, it would seem, and the 'selection ceremony' or whatever isn't for another half-hour, so you may enter if you wish, or wait here." A very audible gulp came from his throat. "I advise waiting here."

Twilight couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for him being so terrified just at Solon's presence. And slightly smug that she had no such issues anymore. "We'll be fine. Thank you, Prince."

She levitated the door open, and quickly trotted inside.

"Ah, Techpriesht Gaela! Hello!" Solon said cheerfully as the purple pony and her entourage walked through the doorway.

Twilight made a quick check of the situation. Serith was here, which was bad but expected. Trixie was here, which was not expected, but good, sort of. Celestia was on her temporary pillow-throne with a look of tired resignation on her face, which was the best that anypony could really hope for. And Luna was next to Solon, looking over a stack of some kind of large colored panels, which was probably a good thing.

"Hello Twilight, Spike," Princess Celestia greeted them one by one, her eyes narrowing as she got to Gaela, "Dark Techpriest," waiting a moment to let the frost in her tone settle, she got to Big Mac and nodded. "Ironside." Macintosh winced at the realization that Equestria's sovereign now knew him primarily by his squad nickname. "The Warsmith was just presenting us with a gift to commemorate this event."

Twilight froze, and she immediately glared at Serith. "Don't tell me that he broke into the Hall of Elements, stole the Elements of Harmony, and then presented them to us as a gift again!"

"No, it'sh theshe window panesh," Solon said, pointing to the armorglass panels in front of Luna, "these are manufactured from armorglash composhites. They should prove more reshilient than the onesh decorating thish hall before."

"Oh. Well, uh... that's very nice of you," Twilight said, looking embarrassed.

"To be fair, I DID try to steal the artifacts again," Serith admitted, glancing in the direction of the Hall of Elements, "but whoever makes your enchanted doors knows what they're doing. I can't get through the barrier without bringing down much of the castle along with it. And that would be wrong."

As Twilight tried to glare a hole through Serith's helmet without the aid of magic, Spike moved to an angle where he could see the window pane that Luna was looking at.

"Hey, that's pretty good!" The colored glass was designed into pictures like the old windows, and the one being levitated featured a pair of stylized alicorns laying at the bottom, one light and one dark, while an Iron Warrior faced off against a Crisis Suit.

Celestia didn't seem nearly so impressed. "I don't suppose you made one of you being decapitated, did you?"

"Shecond one from the bottom," Solon replied.

Luna quickly levitated most of the stack to the side so that she could lift up the pane in question. Solon was at the center, dominating the image with his helmet separated from his shoulders, and Voidsong's battlesuit was pictured in mid-flight just behind him with power blade extended. Luna promptly snorted as she tried to suppress laughter.

"You do realize that window makes Voidsong look like the hero... right?" Trixie asked.

"I do. The High Commander wash taking on a foe far more powerful, experienced, and capable than hershelf in a deshperate ploy to shave her people," Solon explained, "from a certain pershpective, she very much wash the hero. Beshidesh! I play besht as the antagonisht, don't you think?"

"We like this one better," Luna said as she placed the window pane down and levitated up the last one. This piece of armorglass featured all the Equestrian Princesses plus Rarity surrounding Voidsong's battlesuit and shooting it with magic. It reminded Twilight immediately of the image of her and her friends defeating Discord, and may even have been modeled off of it.

"Trixie thinks this window is the best one, personally," the armored unicorn said, levitating up a different panel from the stack. Unsurprisingly, it featured herself, in her armor, standing against Fire Warriors in front of a background of stylized flame. Below Trixie was Applejack and Big Macintosh, both rearing up atop a pile of Tau bodies.

"Not bad," Celestia admitted before facing the Warsmith. "Much better than your last present. And so long as we're all trying to get along here, I have a gift for you, as well."

Solon leaned back slightly as Celestia's horn started to glow, uncertain if he should order Serith to intercept whatever was about to happen.

"What are you doing?" Gaela demanded, her bionic hand tightening around her axe.

"Gaela, relax," Twilight whispered, "the Princess isn't going to hurt him." They did need him, after all.

Seeing as none of the ponies seemed at all alarmed, Solon remained still as Celestia's horn pulsed and released a wave of magic into him. His armor was blanketed with warm yellow light, which faded away after a few seconds.

"... I feel shtrange," Solon admitted after a few seconds, looking down at his chassis. Nothing seemed any different, and his diagnostics didn't reveal any issues. "What jusht happened?" Gaela was also running a host of scans, but whatever had just occurred was beyond her optical scanner's ability to detect.

Princess Celestia got up and started heading toward the exit to the residency halls. "A little something to help you make friends more easily. I have to get ready for the ceremony. I'll see you again soon."

Solon watched her leave, and then went back to staring down at himself, utterly confused.

Twilight likewise stared at the Iron Warrior, a hoof to her chin. There was definitely something different about the Chaos Lord after the spell had taken effect. Not a physical difference, but something more... primal. Perhaps even... emotional?

"Ah ha!" the purple alicorn shouted suddenly, pointing to Solon. "I see now! She purified that fear aura you have!"

"Wait, what?!" Solon shouted, recoiling.

"Right! Trixie sees now!" Trixie acknowledged. "Trixie couldn't tell at first because Trixie isn't afraid of you anyway, but now Trixie doesn't get that scuzzy, dirty feeling Trixie usually gets when looking at you, either!" Serith chuckled at that.

"That aura wash a daemonic gift and a major tactical ashet!" Solon complained, slamming a leg on the ground and smashing a new hole in the flagstones. "She can't jusht 'purify' daemonic mutationsh! They're usheful!"

"That IDIOT," Gaela growled. She was quite tempted to follow after the white Princess and berate her. Physically. With her guns.

Luna clicked her tongue. "T'was quite rude of Sister. But surely it will be of aid to thee to meet ponies without them fleeing in terror?"

Solon leaned forward on his chassis toward her. "That'sh hardly the point! I shpend more of my time in battlefieldsh than conferencesh!"

"Really, I don't see the difference. I think you're plenty scary already," Spike pointed out.

"When you aren't talking, anyway," Trixie sniggered.

"Enough of this," Serith said with a wave of his gauntlet, "we have much to do, and little time. I imagine that the Princesses have questions."

Twilight didn't need any further invitation. "Why do you need so many unicorns - or psykers, rather - to make the Nethalican? Is it a physical building, or an energy form?"

"It is both," Serith answered as Solon started bringing up hololith screens and scrolling data in the air, "psykers are necessary to breach the Materium. The Nethalican itself is needed to maintain the breach and translate the master's will into reality. Or unreality, rather. First the lodestones must be constructed and deployed. Then the offerings laid bare. Then the choir shall rend this world open, and our task will be complete." Twilight didn't fully understand that, but it was more helpful than she'd expected Serith to be.

"Dost thou truly need so many unicorns, however?" Luna asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Princess Sparkle and We hath many times more magic power than the average mage. Surely we may account for some great portion of the magic necessary?"

"That's not how it works, I'm afraid," Serith replied, "if anything, your considerable power makes you unsuitable for the choir. The psykers that call upon the Warp thusly must be taught to act in concert, which is difficult when one will smothers those around her. You two will not be used in establishing the Dark Portal."

The two alicorns shared a glance, uncertain as to whether that was good news or not.

"I assume Trixie cannot help for the same reason," the sole unicorn in the room sighed melodramatically, "a pity, but there's nothing to be done."

"Sure. Why not," Serith shrugged, "shall we head outside? I do believe our new recruits await."

****

Canterlot Castle - Royal Plaza

Shining Armor stepped out into the yard, his gaze taking in the ranks of hundreds of unicorns clustered amongst the damaged statues and dried-up fountains.

Most looked nervous, and understandably so; the letters that had summoned them to Canterlot had not been very detailed, explaining only that their service to the 38th Company was required for a matter of absolute urgency. None of them knew how dangerous the task was going to be, how long it would take, or what kind of compensation they could expect.

Then again, neither did he.

The unicorns started looking up as some of them spotted Princess Celestia emerging from a tower balcony overlooking the plaza. Before long the entire crowd was craning their necks upward to stare in awe and wonder, deciding that the matter had to be important indeed for Princess Celestia to oversee it personally.

Shining Armor's horn flashed with magic, and when he spoke, his voice was magically amplified to be heard across the plaza.

"LOYAL UNICORNS OF EQUESTRIA!" Shining said, playing out the short opening speech in his head. "I AM SHINING ARMOR, CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD! I THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SWIFT TRAVEL TO THE CAPITAL FOR THIS ADMITTEDLY AUSPICIOUS OCCASION!"

He paused, glancing at the other Royal Guards standing at attention around the plaza. They nodded back at him. There were also several Iron Warriors watching the spectacle, and much to his surprise, some of them nodded too.

"I KNOW YOU HAVE BEEN TOLD LITTLE, AND MUCH OF WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS EVENT HAS BEEN COBBLED TOGETHER FROM RUMOR AND HEARSAY! LET ME TELL YOU NOW: A DIRE THREAT APPROACHES OUR PLANET FROM THE DEPTHS OF SPACE! A THREAT THAT COULD EASILY WIPE OUT NOT ONLY EQUESTRIA, BUT ALL OF OUR WORLD IF IT IS NOT TURNED AWAY!"

Shining Armor paused to take a breath. "BUT WE HAVE HOPE! THE 38TH COMPANY HAS TOLD US OF AN ARCANE CONSTRUCT TO STOP THE ONCOMING HORDE! AND MANY OF YOU WILL BE THE KEY TO THIS MAGIC DEFENSE!"

There was a lot of talking now among the crowd, and a great deal of fear mixing with excitement. As was expected.

"I KNOW IT IS NOT A SIMPLE THING WE ASK OF YOU, AND THERE MAY BE DANGER! BUT THE FUTURE OF OUR ENTIRE WORLD LAY IN YOUR HOOVES!"

He turned toward the castle's entrance behind him. "WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY, ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 38TH COMPANY IRON WARRIORS, WHO WILL CONDUCT THE SELECTION!"

The doors opened, releasing a pair of quadrapedal power-armored figures out of the castle.

Trixie and Big Mac lumbered forward, their helmets on and their weapons aimed high. Gasps and pointing came from the unicorns, and Trixie grinned widely behind her vox grille as she basked in the attention.

With a dull hiss, their helmets cracked open and depressurized. Trixie levitated hers off her head and then settled her wizard hat over her horn, while Macintosh shook his mane out after his headgear disengaged on its own.

Behind them came Serith, and the Sorcerer walked up between the armored ponies before bowing deeply to the crowd.

"MAY I PRESENT THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE, MACINTOSH 'IRONSIDE' APPLE..."

Big Mac promptly slapped his bionic hoof against his face at hearing his introduction. This only served to make the augmetic limb - and the reason for his nickname - more obvious, however.

"... AND HIGH SORCERER SERITH OF THE IRON WARRIORS!" Shining finished. A moment later he heard the unmistakable sound of Solon approaching, and he took a deep breath. "FINALLY, THE HIGH COMMANDER OF THE 38TH COMPANY HIMSELF: WARSMITH SOLON!"

The shock at seeing ponies in powered armor was soon eclipsed by the startled gasps of seeing Solon himself walk out into the plaza. He was followed by Twilight and Luna, but the Princesses were barely noticed in the shadow of the hulking Chaos Lord.

To Celestia's satisfaction, none of the ponies screamed and ran, however. Solon also noticed the difference and felt thoroughly annoyed, though he had to admit that sending the crowd of psykers into a panicked stampede would have been inconvenient.

The Warsmith's legs lifted his chassis higher, and he beckoned to the crowd with his flesh-arm. "Equeshtria'sh citizensh! I come to-"

"Warsmith, please," Serith suddenly interrupted, causing his superior to halt mid-speech, "allow me." Serith was normally perfectly happy to watch powerless civilians trying not to laugh at Solon's slurred speech, but in this case he wanted their full attention and plenty of fearful respect.

Solon lowered himself down again and then grumbled something under his helmet. Luna patted one of his legs sympathetically, although she was giggling as she did so.

"Greetings, ponies," Serith said as he spread his arms wide. Despite the lack of any perceptible magic energy, each member of the crowd heard his voice as if he was speaking right into their ear. Most found it quite unsettling, and would have preferred Shining's simple magic loudspeaker approach.

"You have been gathered here because you have a gift. A gift that places you above the meager pegasus and earth races of your world, and makes you uniquely suited to the task that lay before us."

The unicorns shared dubious glances and nervous whispers as the earth pony and pegasus guards around the plaza looked properly affronted.

"The power you refer to as 'magic' will shape the ocean of power known as the Warp and stop the Orks before they can lay waste to your home." Serith paused briefly. "Let me keep this simple. I shall personally select those of you most suitable based on a psychic assessment. If selected, you are to give your name to the Astartes," he pointed briefly to one of the Iron Warrior squads at the plaza's periphery, "and then proceed to the waiting gunship."

A certain pale green unicorn mare near the front raised a foreleg into the air. "Question!"

Serith's helmet tilted forward to look at her. "There are two exemptions from service to the Company: we will not take your soldiers, as your nation has need of them. And the Princesses themselves will not be taken. We already possess two of them, after all."

Lyra's jaw hung open, her leg still raised. "... How did you know what I was going to ask?"

"Your mind is... poorly protected," Serith said simply, "incidentally, we don't want you. You are excused."

"Woo-hoo!" Lyra whooped happily and galloped away.

"We will begin immediately," Serith said to the remaining equines, ignoring the hooves rising up to indicate that more of the potential conscripts had questions.

He walked to one corner of the crowd, and pointed to a unicorn with a bright yellow coat. "You," he said simply, turning away immediately. He then passed by another two ponies before pointing at another. "You."

He continued down the row in this manner, barely offering each unicorn a passing glance before either pointing and speaking or moving on to the next one. Those selected hesitantly plodded toward the waiting Iron Warriors, nervous but also quite curious.

Serith passed by a unicorn with a blue mane and a monocle, and then his visor lingered on a shapely unicorn mare next to him.

"You're trying to hide your potential from me," the Sorcerer said as the mare gasped, "very impressive. Report to the Marines at once."

"Fleur! No!" Fancy Pants cried out, his jaw hanging open. "Please! Don't take her! Take me instead!"

"Fancy! Don't leave me!" Fleur de Lis wailed, throwing her forelegs around the other unicorn and sobbing into his shoulder.

"Oh, cruel, cruel fate!" Fancy Pants shouted up at the sky with a scowl as he hugged his crying lover. "For the sake of my country, you would separate me from my love? Neigh! NEIGH!! For even if-"

"STOP that," Serith interrupted dryly. He was still standing in front of Fleur de Lis, his arms crossed over his chest.

Fleur quickly stopped crying and cleared her throat awkwardly. Fancy Pants pulled away from the hug and then straightened his suit, brushing at the new damp spots.

"I didn't think this would come up, but if any one of you wishes to volunteer service to the Company for whatever reason, you may. Simply follow the others that are selected," Serith explained blithely.

"Capital! Come along, dear," Fancy Pants said, cantering alongside his marefriend toward the Iron Warriors.

To Serith's surprise, nearly a dozen other unicorns broke ranks and did the same, apparently not wanting to wait to be judged.

"So it's not a problem if you get some ponies that aren't 'suitable' or whatever?" the next mare in line asked.

"Not at all," Serith chuckled, "no matter your talents or deficiencies, we will find a use for you. Chaos accepts ALL within its ranks, my little pony." He started walking past her. "Also: you."

The unicorn mumbled a curse under her breath and trudged off toward the waiting soldiers.

"Well, this is FAR less intriguing than We hast imagined," Luna grumbled as she watched Serith walk and point.

"When do you think he'll have enough?" Twilight asked, fidgeting with her front hooves.

"When he shaysh he doesh," Solon answered simply.

Then his optics caught sight of a particular blond unicorn waiting behind a group of pony soldiers, separated from the rest of the unicorns in the plaza.

"Who ish that? I think I shaw him before," Solon asked, pointing his augmetic claw toward the stallion with the exquisitely styled mane.

"Oh, that's Prince Blueblood, Celestia's nephew," Twilight replied. She would have followed up with a brief description or some relevant information, but found that none came to mind; she barely knew a thing about the Prince other than who he was and the fact that he and Rarity didn't get along.

"Hey, Sherith!" Solon called suddenly, causing the Sorcerer to halt. "What about that one?"

Prince Blueblood recoiled as the metal goliath pointed at him, and he started looking back and forth as if for an escape route.

Serith stared at the white stallion for a few seconds before turning away. "We don't need him."

Blueblood would have been immensely relieved to hear this, except that Solon was already lumbering toward him. His guards, meanwhile, moved from in front of him to behind him in short order.

"Oh, come now! He'sh a Prince! That hash to be worth shomething!" Solon insisted as he loomed over the terrified pony. "Don't the Dark Godsh favor thoshe with rank and title?"

Serith sighed as he pointed to another unicorn stallion. "Warsmith, if you want that one, then we can take him too." He continued with his selection process, deeming the matter concluded.

"W-Wait! Hold on!" Blueblood stuttered. "I'm part of the royal family! I'm exempt!"

"Was that the agreement?" Luna asked, tilting her head to the side. "We thought the only allowances were for Princesses and soldiers. Thou art neither, as far as We art aware."

Blueblood sputtered incoherently for a moment, intensely aware of the way his guards were continuing to back away from the encounter rather than trying to help.

"Auntie Celestia! Say something!" Blueblood cried, looking up toward the balcony where Celestia watched over them.

The white alicorn shook her head sadly. "Forgive me, my nephew. But I cannot spare those close to me. How could I after asking Equestria's citizens to sacrifice for our nation's future?"

"Easily!" Blueblood countered. "Nopony would judge you for that!"

"Trixie would!"

"Shut up, traitor!"

Prince Blueblood yelped as Solon's servo claw reached down around his middle, closing around his body just tightly enough to hurt. Solon walked over to the nearest Iron Warrior and unceremoniously dropped the whimpering stallion in front of him. "Here you are. Take him along with the othersh."

Deciding the matter concluded, Solon turned back to his former waiting area.

He paused when he saw a new pony in dark purple armor hovering in front of Luna, whispering something to the Princess. At first he thought it was just a pegasus guard, but a closer inspection revealed that the pony had a pair of bat-like wings instead of feathers.

Luna nodded to the Lunar Guard, acutely aware of Solon walking up to her again.

"Very good. If Nightfall can hold court properly in our absence, then that may relieve much of Sister's burden," Luna said, finishing up the discussion she was having with her agent.

The Lunar Guard nodded back, choosing not to point out that Luna had already been neglecting the Night Court by spending an obnoxious amount of time dreamwalking as of late. With her report given, she turned about to leave.

"And what'sh thish one? A bat variant?" Solon asked, causing the Lunar Guard to freeze.

"Warsmith, this is Midnight Blaze, a Lieutenant of our Lunar Guard," Luna introduced the batpony mare, who was obviously doing a rough tactical assessment of the Chaos Lord and not liking the results.

Midnight Blaze stared hard at Solon, her face twisting into a grimace. "So YOU'RE the one who our Princess has chosen to serve, hm? Disappointing."

Luna's expression hardened, and she was about to chastise the guard when Solon started laughing.

"Oh, would you jusht look at her, trying to be all dark and edgy? That'sh adorable!" Solon said brightly as his optics whirled in their sockets. "I'll take two shquadsh of them!"

Midnight blinked in shock, but Luna looked pleased.

"Very well! Lady Blaze, awaken Shadow Lancer to see to the selection! Only our finest warriors shalt join the crusade against the green tide!" Luna commanded.

The batpony's eye twitched, and she glared up at the crimson lights of Solon's optical array. "Do you want us gift-wrapped, while you're at it?" she growled.

"And they even have a shenshe of humor! Make it three shquadsh!" Solon decided.

"D'oh!"

As Serith and Solon went about recruiting ponies in their own ways, Twilight settled in between Big Macintosh and Trixie.

"Trixie has to agree with Princess Luna; this selection process is DULL," the unicorn complained, pointing a foreleg at the crowd, "Serith is quite capable, but he has no flair; no sense of showmanship. He could at least do a little light show or something during the selections."

"I think that would be quite a waste of time and energy, actually," Twilight mumbled.

Trixie noticed that the purple Princess looked rather preoccupied, her brow creased in thought and her expression fixed into unusually deep concentration for a pony that wasn't in the middle of casting a spell. Determining that her old rival was probably rather stressed by the rapid pace of recent events, Trixie decided to help ease the Princess's mind and heart with the sound of her voice, which always made things better.

"Trixie has to hand it to you, Sparkle, you really made a breakthrough this time," Trixie said, making sure not to sound TOO impressed, "the 38th Company was already starting to move vehicles for off-world transit when the order came down to suspend the withdrawal. If it wasn't for you, right now Trixie would be in space picking a bunk to live out the rest of her life from."

Twilight blinked and looked over to the unicorn, who was very deliberately avoiding eye contact. "Well... thank you, Trixie. Although Princess Luna did more than me."

"Princess Luna certainly made an effort in reaching out to the Iron Warriors, but she has only so much room to act while staying at Celestia's side," Trixie continued, "whether on purpose or not, you brought the 38th Company here, and you've been bringing the Iron Warriors and Equestria together ever since." She coughed lightly. "Trixie is... very surprised it came this far. Trixie recalls that it wasn't long ago that you were stumbling around Ferrous Dominus with the idea that you were going to assassinate the Warsmith."

Twilight couldn't help but cringe at that. She duly regretted taking on the mission that had first brought her to the Iron Warriors' doorstep, although even at the time she hadn't thought of her goal as an "assassination".

"Trixie's first action upon meeting the humans was to take up a job with them, but even Trixie had never thought they could actually be allies with Equestria as a whole. The slavery thing alone makes it almost impossible in any circumstances OTHER than imminent, worldwide destruction."

Twilight blinked. "You're right... I actually forgot about that."

"Exactly! The impending apocalypse tends to obscure niggling little details like a vast and well-organized system of cruel exploitation."

Twilight smirked slightly, although she wasn't very happy to be reminded of the Company's atrocities on the same day that they were forcibly conscripting hundreds of unicorns into their service.

"Thanks, Trixie. It means a lot to me to hear that," Twilight said, her head drooping slightly as she felt some of her tension fade away. She had been pushing herself quite hard recently, and she wasn't so foolish as to think that trying to manage the relationship between Equestria and the Iron Warriors - mostly against Celestia's wishes, at that - hadn't taken a toll on her.

"It's no matter," Trixie said, waving an armored hoof nonchalantly, "besides, as your superior, Trixie needs to be generous with praise to maintain morale, tempting as it may be to begin listing your myriad flaws for Trixie's own amusement."

The uplifting mood died a harsh and painful death as Twilight's eyes narrowed. "Excuse me? Superior?"

"Well, of course! Trixie joined the Company before you, so Trixie is your senior!" the unicorn explained happily. "You don't have to worry about giving Trixie tummy rubs, since Suuna has that covered, but don't think Trixie isn't going to put you to work!"

"Trixie, you're my 'senior' by less than a month," Twilight said tightly, "I think being an alicorn Princess might have priority over your 'experience'."

"Really, Sparkle?" Trixie asked, unimpressed. "You're trying to lord your noble status over Trixie? Not very progressive of you."

"You're an ENTERTAINER, Trixie!" Twilight said through clenched teeth.

"So what's your job, then?" Trixie countered.

Twilight opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

After several seconds, she closed her mouth, and then put a hoof to her chin.

"Huh... I don't actually know. I didn't really think about it before now," the alicorn admitted. In Ponyville she was a librarian, but surely there was no need of such a pony to manage the 38th Company's electronic data stores.

"Pft. And you think you're going to outrank Trixie?" the armored unicorn scoffed. "Don't worry. Trixie will find something for you to do. Trixie could always use a sideshow to warm up her crowd, if nothing else."

Twilight rolled her eyes before turning to Big Mac. "Hey, Big Macintosh? When you were staying with..." she trailed off once she realized that the other armored pony wasn't there.

Which was very strange, when she thought about it. Big Mac was hardly stealthy, especially with two bionic legs and a power armor suit. How had he snuck off?

****

Canterlot Castle - main armory

"I'm sorry, Princess, but there's no way."

A hefty earth pony with burgundy fur shook his head as he stood over Big Macintosh, a set of jeweler's glasses resting over his muzzle. Big Mac was standing stock-still in the middle of the armory, his helmet disengaged and a worried expression on his face.

"Reverse-engineer something like this?" Forge Coals scoffed, taking off the lenses. "You might as well ask me to raise the moon for you."

"Tch! So nothing can be done? Not even with magical substitutions?" Luna was overseeing the two stallions from the corner of the armory, looking disappointed. Having grown bored with Serith's recruiting process, she had caught Big Macintosh staring at her and had been struck by a sudden whim.

Well, two sudden whims, actually. But the armor wasn't very conducive to making out, so she went with the second one and teleported Macintosh to the armory to have his gear inspected by their master smithy.

Forge Coals grunted as he banged a hoof against Mac's shoulder pad. "Hardly. I don't even know what this thing is made out of, but you can't pack a pony in this much metal. The pegasi and unicorns won't be able to move, and even the earth ponies will tire themselves out too quickly to be much use in a fight. You can enchant it to be lighter, I suppose, but not enough that a pegasus will be able to fly, and it will still be too cumbersome for a guard to fight well. I don't know how this guy is supposed to get around in that."

Big Mac was thoroughly ignoring the stallion as he tapped and prodded his armor, wondering if he could get away with putting his helmet back on. His rather dim mood was due in part because he hadn't had anything in the way of warning before he had been teleported away from the plaza. The other part was undoubtedly because of the other stallion poking at him and talking around him as if he was some sort of armor mannequin. This wasn't going quite like the last time Luna had spirited him away.

"These seals are something else, though. I don't even see how he's supposed to take this thing off," Forge grumbled, inspecting the seams closely. Then he tapped Macintosh on the back. "Hey, put the helmet on."

Mac sighed before doing as asked, and the plates of metal slid up over his muzzle and engulfed his head before interlocking and sealing with a sharp hiss.

Forge's ear twitched at hearing the sound. "Wait... is that thing PRESSURIZED?" he asked Luna, pointing a hoof at Big Mac.

Luna shrugged, not knowing or understanding the significance of such a thing. Big Mac knew the answer, but since he hadn't been asked he kept his mouth shut.

Really, Macintosh didn't know what he should have expected. What was he to Princess Luna, anyway? A source of amusement? A fling? A passing curiosity? The first time they had met, Luna had spent much of a festival with him because he was the largest and most able pony there. The second time she had wanted to play around with his augmetics. This time she wanted to look over his power armor. Even if their last encounter had been surprisingly enjoyable, there was a dubious pattern to their interactions.

"The slug-thrower I could do SOMETHING with, probably," Forge muttered as he kicked lightly at the heavy bolter, "at least I have an idea of how those human guns are supposed to work, so a magic-powered mock-up is possible. But the armor may as well be magic already for all the sense I can make of it." Then he grimaced at Big Mac's left legs. "What they hay happened to you, anyway? How'd you end up with so much alien tech wired into you?"

"The result of an altercation with the Tau, it would seem," Luna volunteered what little of the story she knew, seeing how Macintosh was unlikely to tell it; the draft pony was as silent as ever. "His recovery and equipment was provided by Warsmith Solon himself!"

"What, that metal spider creep?" Forge asked, shuddering as he looked at the bionics. "Do those metal legs even move right?"

"Aye!" Luna answered again, smirking to herself, "they art surprisingly limber, in fact!"

Big Mac kept his head held high, enduring the other stallion's grumbling. Regardless of how annoying this was, his presence had been demanded by a Princess, and he wasn't going to get all huffy because he had foolish, unlikely expectations of what a veritable pony goddess wanted him around for.

"Well, as long as we're here, let's test out that gun," Forge muttered as he pointed to a corner of the armory that served as a small practice area. There were several wooden pony-shaped dummies set on metal pegs, all of them covered in deep gouges and the odd arrow shaft. "Fire a shot over there and let's see what it can do."

Big Mac looked over to the area, his visor glowing softly. "... Nnope."

The smithy recoiled, looking affronted at having his orders refused. "Excuse me? Why not?!"

"S'not safe," Big Mac said simply. He'd seen what the heavy bolter could do, and had no intention of firing it outside of an actual battle or a purpose-built gun range.

"I think I'll decide if it's safe or not," Forge Coal said, his tone carrying a hint of warning.

"Nnope." Big Mac brushed him off again with ease, and Luna had to restrain a giggle at Forge's frustrated expression.

"All right, then strip that thing off, soldier. I'll give it to somepony who knows how to follow orders," the other stallion growled, blowing some steam out of his nose.

Big Mac didn't even bother to answer this time, still staring straight ahead. He didn't answer to "soldier".

"We do not believe matters art that simple," Luna interjected before Forge Coals started getting belligerent, "that armor is Mister Macintosh's personal affect, not an artifact given to Equestria's ruling family and then loaned to him."

Forge gave the armored stallion a suspicious look. "That mean he's one of those ponies that joined up with the humans, doesn't it?" His eyes narrowed. "Bunch of traitors, if you ask me. Bad enough we have foreign soldiers in Canterlot, but actually working for the creeps should count as treason!"

"We suppose thou hast not heard, then," Luna said with a distinctly less amused tone, "that We hast offered service to the Company as well. Would thou have us judged as traitor?" Her eye twitched. "Again, that is?"

Forge Coals stood shock-still for several seconds, suddenly regretting his decision not to stay fully updated on the specifics of the impending human/pony alliance.

"I... I, uh... well..." he stammered for a moment, and then bit his lip. "I can't really think of anything to say to that to make this less awkward, so I'm just going to leave."

"Aye. Thou art dismissed," Luna grumbled before the smithy scurried out of the armory entrance and into the hall.

Big Mac sighed as the door closed behind the other stallion. "Sorry," he mumbled. It wasn't really his fault, but barring a destructive accident things almost certainly would have gone better if he'd just done as the smith instructed.

"Not at all, Macintosh," Luna said breezily, "We must apologize for Mister Coal's behavior; he is a military pony through and through, and stubborn as they come." She paused as she approached him, peering deeply into the ruby lens of his visor. "We suppose it was absurd to show thine equipment to him in any case; there is no possibility of pony artifice matching such devices, and little point when we may turn to the Dark Mechanicus itself."

Big Mac remained silent as she did her own close observation of his power armor, albeit with a gentler touch than the stallion had. Which was saying something, since Luna was definitely not very gentle.

"How doth it feel to wear something of this nature?" Luna asked, prodding at a piece of exposed hosing.

Big Mac took his time to think it over, lifting his back leg and noting how it felt almost weightless.

"It's not somethin' easy to explain," he said finally, "it's like having a shell all around ya all the time, blockin' everything out and feedin' sight'n sound to ya. Makes me uncomfortable at times, not bein' able to feel nothin' around me. And it really bugs some ponies to try 'n talk to me with this helmet on." He shifted his weight from side to side. "When it comes to movin' though, it don't feel like Ah'm wearin' armor at all. The suit lifts mah legs fer me rather than makin' me lift it. It's mighty strange, being surrounded by metal and movin' so easily."

"And in battle?" Luna asked eagerly. "How did it feel to take to combat in such wargear?"

Big Mac frowned beneath his helmet. "... It's like there's a wall between you and all the fightin'," he said finally. "The visor draws up targets, the helmet blocks out the worst noise, and then Ah just tense mah chest a bit and the grays got torn up. Until Ah got hit by somethin,' it almost felt like Ah was just watchin' from behind a window rather than fightin' too." He turned his helmet to look at the Princess through him visor, watching as targeting sensors bracketed her and started beeping at him. "Ah felt like the armor was carryin' me along with it, fightin' as much as Ah was."

He chose to leave out the part of the battle where he had been subjected to combat stimulants and mauled dozens of aliens in a bloody-minded fury. That had less to do with the armor than his personal augmentation, and besides, his memory of it was hazy.

Luna nodded thoughtfully, and then her expression hardened.

"Macintosh, We know that thou art no soldier, and that thou hast not pledged thyself to the 38th Company." She held up a silver-encased hoof to forestall any interruption, apparently imagining that Big Mac might actually speak out of turn. "We shalt not ask thee to do any such thing. But thou hast been given gifts to aid thee in the making of war, and We would ask that when the time comes that thou would stand with us against the alien threat to defend our nation and planet."

Big Mac hardly needed to deliberate on the request. "Eeyup," he said simply, smiling slightly.

"Thou hast our deepest gratitude," Luna said with a gracious nod, "so then, back to the matter of your armor..."

Her smile took on a decidedly salacious nature as she drew a hoof across the horn of his helmet. "Show us how to take it off."

****

Canterlot Castle - Royal Plaza

Princess Celestia gazed sadly at the last batch of unicorns that were being led away into the gunships, the colorful cluster of equines flanked by silver and gold bodies walking in escort.

One hundred and sixty-two unicorns was the final tally; substantially more than the "hundred" that had been mentioned when Serith had first revealed his idea, but not so many that she could seriously object on the basis of there being too many recruited.

Of course, that was just the unicorns. There would also be eighteen Lunar Guard taken on a whim, ten earth pony cooks that had made the error of watching the ceremony close enough to attract attention, and it had even been suggested by some overly-helpful advisor that the Wonderbolts could be used as aerial scouts. Luckily, Equestria's elite team of pegasus stunt fliers hadn't been here to be snatched up and herded onto a transport like Prince Blueblood, but Shining Armor had seemed entirely too receptive to the idea of "loaning" them out.

Celestia shifted her view downward, toward Solon. He was talking to Twilight as the last of the Royal Guards dispersed to return to their usual duties. Celestia's eyes narrowed, and she spread her wings to carry her off the balcony and toward the ground.

"Your job? Well, I wash conshidering ranking you ash a Shorcerer, shince your talent lay with the arcane artsh," Solon explained to the lavender pony staring up at him.

Twilight cringed. "Would that... make me Serith's subordinate?"

"In a way, yesh," Solon admitted, "although hish actual command authority over the other pshykersh ish meager, on the battlefield you would be expected to follow hish ordersh."

As Twilight chewed on that (rather distasteful) idea, Solon noticed Celestia landing gracefully off to the side and approaching them.

"I believe your shovereign wantsh to chat," Solon said, his legs carrying him backward, "if you're kept too long, you can ride one of the other transhportsh back to Ferroush Dominush. There are gunship convoysh shcheduled throughout the day."

Princess Celestia cleared her throat gently. "Actually, I was hoping to speak to you, Solon," she said calmly, glancing at Twilight only briefly, "alone."

"No," the Iron Warrior answered curtly before swiveling his torso around.

Celestia recoiled, surprised at the flat rejection. "What? I merely wish to-"

"I don't care what new troublesh you want to bother me with now, Princesh," Solon interrupted, "I have had ash much of your 'hoshpitality' ash I can tolerate, and I have important mattersh to shee to back home." He started to walk away, not deigning to face the alicorns. Twilight sucked in her breath through her teeth, trying to think of a way to de-escalate the tension.

Celestia was stunned for a moment at being brushed off, but then quickly recovered. "It's about the Elements of Harmony!" she admitted, irritated at having to shout the matter at the Chaos Lord's back. "You have all the ponies you need for your task and you've even taken the planet! You don't need Twilight and her friends! There's no reason for it! Release them back to Equestria's service!"

Solon didn't even bother to acknowledge her plea, reaching a squad of Iron Warriors and speaking to them instead.

Twilight could feel Celestia's temper boiling, and she quickly moved between the larger alicorn and the Chaos Lord. "Princess, is that what this is about?"

Celestia's anger fell to a simmer as she met the eyes of her faithful student, and her wings hung from her sides. "You've already sacrificed plenty for Equestria, Twilight. You and all the Elements. You six least of all should have to offer yourselves up to these killers like prize livestock."

"That's... very kind of you to say," Twilight said, an embarrassed blush playing on her muzzle, "but we can't start chipping away at the deal now, before anything important has been done."

Celestia continued to grimace at Solon's back. "I simply cannot understand how you can tolerate these Chaos Marines. The smaller humans at least don't seem beyond reason, but the Iron Warriors are utterly repulsive," she growled.

Twilight's ears flattened against her head, and she wondered if it would be wise to try giving a preachy friendship speech about tolerance to the Princess.

"Warsmith Solon was actually really offended when you purified his aura," Twilight said instead, sighing, "as far as he knew, he was making a real effort to keep everything cordial."

Celestia's grimace shrank to a frown. "I was doing him a favor."

"He... didn't really see it that way," Twilight insisted, "the Iron Warriors don't look at Chaos as a blight to be cured."

"Of course. To them it's the 'truth' to be spread," Celestia grumbled.

"Not really." Celestia looked surprised to hear her student contradict her. "The Iron Warriors are surprisingly... pragmatic about Chaos. They emphasize control, and are actually very skeptical about claims of an objective truth. To them, Chaos is a means to an end, not an end in itself." She shrugged. "They certainly haven't put much effort into spreading their cult since they got here. Me and the others haven't been subjected to any sort of 'Chaos pitch'. I really don't think they care."

The elder alicorn considered Twilight's words for several seconds before replying. "You can't possibly think them benign, Twilight. They don't even pretend at such things."

"No, they're not," Twilight admitted, "but I think Spike said it best when he pointed out that they're not evil 'at us'."

Then she paused and wet her lips, looking away. "Besides that, I think..." she trailed off uncertainly.

"Twilight?" Celestia asked.

"I think... they're changing," Twilight mumbled, "I mean, it could just be my imagination, or wishful thinking, but... Gaela's been acting differently since I first met her. Dest has DEFINITELY changed. Even Tellis seems somehow less dangerous since he's started living with us." She looked up at Celestia again. "Harmony and friendship may act as a countervailing influence against Chaos. I believe that's what protects ponies from corruption, at least in part: without the cycles of fear, violent hatred, and depravity that seem to drive Chaos worship in humans, we're almost invisible to it. And I think we may be eroding those cycles in the 38th Company."

Princess Celestia was clearly mulling over the matter with intensity now, and Twilight pressed forward. "I want to go with them, Princess. I want to study them, learn from them, and... maybe... someday... I can save them."

The two alicorns stood in silence for a long moment, and Celestia sighed as she looked up at a thunderhawk gunship blasting into the sky.

"Do you really think it's possible?" Celestia asked quietly. "You saw Solon fight. You saw what he did... what he IS. His corruption is total: body, mind, and soul, completely given over to the Lord of Plagues. You think friendship can heal that?"

"I don't know," Twilight admitted, "but we have a chance to try. The influence of Chaos isn't stronger than that of Harmony. I know it isn't. It's what you taught me, after all."

Celestia found herself chuckling at that, and suddenly felt much of the despair that had burdened her lifted. "Perhaps I've been too cynical after all. Thank you, Twilight. As ever, Equestria and the royal house stands in your debt."

Twilight bowed her head. "It's an honor, Princess. I hope I don't regret whatever comes in service to the Company, but no matter what I'll miss serving Equestria as your student."

Celestia nodded sadly as another thunderhawk roared overhead. "And you will be missed dearly, Twilight." Then she paused. "Will you and Luna be leaving straight away?"

"Well, I was planning to go soon; I know that Gaela is waiting on me." She looked around uncertainly. "I don't know about Luna, though. Where did she go, anyway?"

"I'm sure my sister is working hard right now getting ready to leave Canterlot," Celestia said solemnly, "arranging for her sudden departure is no small matter, and she's normally sleeping at this time of day. She will be along when she feels we can make do without her." She let out a heavy breath. "At least Luna can still handle the moon from her new station. I certainly don't want to shoulder THAT burden again."

"Sparkle."

Gaela's voice, filtered though it was from her vox grille, got the attention of the two alicorns as she and Spike approached.

"The last of the thunderhawks is being loaded. If we do not depart with it, the next aerial transport will not be here for two-point-four-seven hours," Gaela remarked, "are you ready to leave?"

"Oh, sure!" Twilight said, glancing to Celestia again. "Goodbye for now, Princess. It shouldn't be too long before I'm able to visit again."

"Farewell, Twilight. And farewell to you too, Spike." Her eyes met the glimmering emerald visor of Gaela's helmet uncertainly. "Dark Techpriest Gaela."

The helmet shifted to face her, as if suddenly noticing the Sun Princess's presence.

"Obviously our relationship has been... strained since we first met. In part due to your actions and countenance, but my own prejudice played no small part in your treatment while a guest of the Equestrian royal house," she lowered her head in a display of humility. "I apologize for my past rudeness, and beg your forgiveness. It was unbecoming of a leader of Equestria, and a poor display of my own creed of love and tolerance."

Gaela stared at the white alicorn silently, and then looked over to Spike.

"Say something back!" the young dragon hissed up at her. "Something NICE!" he amended quickly.

"I have no way of properly communicating my contempt for your sovereign and rejecting her entirely inadequate contrition while also being 'nice'," she explained to Spike.

The dragon groaned, slapping a hand over his face. "Then, please, DON'T."

"That is an acceptable compromise," the Dark Techpriest noted.

Then, without another word, she walked off toward the gunship landing zone. Spike offered the ponies a helpless shrug before he scurried after her.

"...... So, that's Techpriest Gaela after she's been 'changed' by friendship, is it?" Celestia asked dryly as she and Twilight stared at the armored woman's back.

Twilight winced as she said, "I would like to point out that taking advice from someone friendlier than her and deliberately avoiding confrontation is a SUBSTANTIAL improvement over her past behavior."

"Even friendship must be taken one step at a time, I suppose," Celestia sighed, "good luck, Twilight."

****

Ponyville - Delgan's market

Applejack grimaced as she looked at the dataslate in front of her, her eyes locked on the rather unimpressive number featured on the bottom.

"Ya ain't serious, are ya? That's all Ah can earn on one of yer contracts?" she looked up at Delgan, trying to keep from scowling.

"That's all," Delgan said calmly, his face betraying no apparent sympathy for the apple farmer, "and that's generously taking you on the same contract offered to our regular mercenary corp, who usually come to us with extensive experience. And hands."

Rarity was standing behind Delgan, silently thinking of any avenues she could take to help her friend while pretending to inspect a riot drone.

"Well, what about them workers? Ya know, the menials? What do they make?" Applejack asked.

"A little more than half that," Delgan replied.

"What?! How can anyone live on those kinda wages?!" Applejack demanded angrily.

"Our mercenaries and workers are supplied with food, housing, medical attention, and have precious few shopping opportunities," Delgan explained, "there isn't enough for them to spend their money on for them to experience any true poverty, although many make a fair attempt by wasting every stipend of credits on underdeck liquor."

Applejack fixed him with a suspicious stare. "You sure seem to do pretty well fer yerself, though."

"Oh, don't get all Greater Good on me," Delgan scoffed.

"Delgan, what if she joined your guards rather than the general mercenary corp?" Rarity asked, jumping into the conversation.

The Trademaster shot her a narrowed glance. "I don't see that happening. She hardly qualifies."

Applejack smacked a hoof against the table she was seated at. "Come again? You think Ah can't handle mahself in a fight?"

"I've heard that you're quite capable, actually," Delgan assured her, "but I'm not hiring anyone known as the 'Element of Honesty'. Lying is a critical job skill."

Applejack clicked her tongue in annoyance as she went back to the contract. Even if she got an advance on her annual pay and spent every credit to cover the farm, it would barely put a dent in their current deficit.

"Excuse me? You're Miss Applejack, aren't you?"

The farmer twisted her head around to see who was speaking, and then raised her eyebrow. Standing at the entrance to the market space, and looking quite out of place, was a well-dressed unicorn mare in a dark red jacket. Her coat was a rich burgundy, and she had a crumbling vase for a cutie mark.

"Yeah, that's me. Can Ah help you?" Applejack asked after assessing the unicorn.

"Oh, it's a relief to finally meet you," the mare said with a tired sigh, "I'm sorry I didn't contact you earlier, but there was that dreadful conscription affair at Canterlot today and I rushed here as soon as it was finished." She shuddered. "I just don't know WHAT I would have done if I had been selected! You earth ponies are quite lucky nopony's asking you to serve the humans; those big ones in armor are just TERRIFYING!"

"Ah AM servin' the humans," Applejack deadpanned, "volunteered 'fore that conscription hullabaloo even happened. Already ran a mission fer 'em, even."

The unicorn's jaw hung open for a few seconds before she seemed to collect her bearings well enough to change the subject.

"Oh, but WHERE are my manners? My name is Relic Duster, and I'm a junior director at the Canterlot Institute of Equestrian History. It's so nice to meet you!" She smiled nervously, and extended a hoof. Applejack shook it firmly, almost lifting Relic off her hooves.

"And what would a historian want with me?" Applejack asked. "You doin' some work on the Elements of Harmony?"

"Oh, no, not that," she said before quickly stuttering, "I mean, th-that's not a bad idea! A great idea, even! But that's not why I'm here! Why, did you want to talk about that?"

"Miss Duster, why don't ya sit down and calm yer nerves a bit?" Applejack asked, mildly amused at the unicorn's tension.

"S-Sorry. I don't get out of the Institute much," Relic mumbled, shifting to move opposite Applejack at the table and looking around uncomfortably.

"Yeah, ya remind me a little of how Twilight Sparkle used to be," Applejack chuckled, "but that's okay; she's one of mah best friends. Now what can Ah do ya fer?"

Relic Duster took a few seconds to puzzle out that question before she spoke again. "Well, the reason I'm here is that the Institute has taken up my proposal to fund the construction of a museum dedicated to Equestria's first contact - and subsequent conflict - with alien life!" Relic looked proud as she turned to look at the chimera APC and human guards around the market. "And clearly I've come to the right place! Ponies have said that Ponyville is the nexus of human-equine coexistence, but you can't really appreciate it until you see this place!"

"Okay, Ah get it," Applejack said, "yer here fer an interview, right? Collectin' stories and such?"

"Oh, no, not at all," Relic said quickly, looking bashful at once again refuting Applejack's assumptions, "I mean, I'm sure you have some great stories to tell, don't get me wrong! Lots of them! Did you want to tell me one right now? I have a notepad and-"

"It's all right, sugarcube," Applejack said gently, "Ah should just stop makin' guesses if yer gonna get so worked up."

"Right. Sorry. Uh... the first thing that the Institute wanted before beginning the project was to make sure we'd be able to secure sufficient artifacts for study and exhibition," Relic sighed, "When I mooted the idea, I had hoped there would be sufficient wreckage left over in Canterlot to fill a museum, but the 38th Company was very thorough in salvaging the remains in our capital. But then I heard that a certain region of Ponyville had been subjected to unusually frequent alien attacks."

"That would be mah farm, all right," Applejack said dryly.

"I don't suppose you would happen to have any alien artifacts scavenged from the encounters, would you?" Relic asked timidly, tapping her front hooves together.

Applejack laughed, startling the unicorn. "Are ya serious? Filly, Ah got more space junk than yer Institute knows what to do with!"

"Really?!" Relic asked eagerly, leaning forward onto the table. "Er, anything you can name, off-hand? I mean, you probably can't guess at an alien device's function, but if-"

"Lemme stop ya right there," Applejack drawled, "Ah got Tau guns. Ah got human guns. Ah got ammo and energy cells. Ah got Tau armor and human respirators. Ah got engines. Tools. Med-packs. Busted drones. Gunship wrecks, Tau and Company. Transport wrecks, Tau and Company. Fuel tanks. Flak armor vests. Dismembered bionic limbs. Sensors. Battlesuits. And besides all that, yeah, Ah got plenty'o stuff that Ah can't make heads or tails of."

Applejack had been slowly leaning forward as she listed the junk that had accumulated on her farm, and by the time she reached the end she was looming over the unicorn mare.

"Ah have the wreck of a Tau space ship - an ACTUAL SPACE SHIP! - sittin' in a big hole where mah orchard used to be!" she shouted at the wide-eyed historian.

Then Applejack dropped backward, falling back into a seated position. "So Ah'd say ya came to the right pony, Miss Duster."

"I... I see..." Relic said meekly. "I'm very impressed. It couldn't have been easy to collect all that."

Applejack was so overwhelmed with potential sarcastic responses to Relic's presumption that she couldn't decide on one before the unicorn continued.

"And I don't suppose these relics are... for sale, are they?"

The apple farmer's eyebrow arched.

"Well, that's convenient," Delgan mumbled, "and here she was complaining that my men had never gotten around to salvaging everything on her farm."

He and Rarity had been waiting together behind the table, expertly looking like they weren't eavesdropping on the conversation next to them.

Rarity looked thoughtful. "Delgan, I don't suppose you can help her out, can you?"

"Why?" he asked, giving Rarity a slightly annoyed look. "She seems to be doing just fine on her own to me."

"Oh, come on. It doesn't cost you anything," Rarity whispered, pressing a hoof against the man's leg, "please? I'd owe you a favor."

"ANOTHER one, you mean," Delgan mumbled, "I don't know why you thought to swear service to the Company when you owe so much time to me already."

"... And there's HOW MANY of these articles?" Relic asked, gaping.

"'Bout two barn fulls," Applejack explained, not really understanding that Relic Duster would have no concept of a barn's potential volume. "The vehicles that wouldn't fit inside are just piled up behind it. And that don't count the ship, which o'course is bigger'n the barn. Though Ah don't know how ya might plan on gettin' that off'o mah farm, much less into a museum."

"We'll work something out!" Relic said excitedly, clearly trying to restrain herself as she discussed the prospect. "Maybe... Maybe an exterior exhibit! Maybe we can even refurbish the craft and put exhibits INSIDE it!"

Then she shook her head. "But anyway, as to payment for the relics... would 100,000 bits be enough?"

Applejack raised her eyebrow again. THAT amount would cover the harvest quite nicely, and then some.

She would have agreed then and there, but she was suddenly aware of Delgan stepping up behind Relic Duster and looking surprisingly bemused.

"Excuse me, Miss 'Duster', was it?" the Trademaster drawled.

Relic looked straight up, blinking in surprise. "Oh! Hi! You're a human! Wow! I've never actually talked to a human before!"

"Charmed, I'm sure," Delgan mumbled, "I couldn't help but overhear your offer, and I wanted to stop you before you offended Miss Apple, here."

Relic immediately locked up nervously. "Offended? D-Did I do something wrong?"

"Hey, why would Ah-" Applejack was immediately cut off by Rarity, who levitated the farmer's chair around one hundred and eighty degrees.

"So, Applejack! How IS Apple Bloom doing nowadays? I'm afraid I haven't had much time to look into our sisters' condition since you-know-what happened!"

"What in the-Rares! Not now!" Applejack complained, trying to turn around again.

The snow-colored unicorn leaned in close to stop her, whispering, "Let the man work, Applejack. Trust me."

Relic Duster gulped as Delgan stared down at her, feeling much like a prey animal caught in timberwolf territory.

"Did you know that the artifacts you seek to purchase are from the very first human-Tau conflict on your planet?"

"Er... no?" the unicorn replied.

"Then you may be forgiven for such an insulting offer," Delgan said sharply, "but many of the items you seek to purchase are the very articles that were present, used, and in some cases, destroyed, when equines met humanity and did battle with the Tau Empire for the very first time. Others document the Tau's escalation in hostilities as they began sending armored vehicles and then even full-blown assault forces into pony-populated regions. Surely you, as a historian, recognize the inherent value of such things?"

Relic gasped, slapping her hooves to her face. "I am SO sorry! I really didn't know!" She fidgeted with her hooves for a moment. "Maybe... 200,000 bits, then?"

As Applejack's eyes widened, Delgan clicked his tongue. "Well, at least you're approaching the market value of the scrap material alone. Although I know for a fact that Miss Apple has some entirely functional weapons among her 'inventory'. The 38th Company has been too busy up until now to take all these artifacts for salvage, but I assure you, they are of value to us humans, too."

Relic Duster sputtered. "Th-Three hundred thousand! Final offer?" The questioning inflection at the end of her statement wasn't doing the poor mare's bargaining position any favors, and Delgan had to wonder why anyone would trust this pony to promise large sums of money that wasn't hers.

"I'm sure you're on a budget of some sort," Delgan mused, scratching at his mustache, "historical institutes don't typically operate with exorbitant treasuries. So let's be fair about this: 500,000 bits for the vehicle and equipment salvage. If you want the void ship wreck as well, then the total cost will be a clean million."

Relic Duster gaped. Applejack gaped too, for that matter. Rarity raised a hoof to her mouth as if in shock, but it was entirely for appearance's sake.

"Well... uhm... let's start with the smaller artifacts, then," Relic said meekly, "I'll, uh, have to talk to the other directors to see if we can do anything useful with the ship wreckage before we can commit to that payment."

"Fair enough. Miss Apple?" Applejack jerked her head up to stare at the Trademaster. "You'll need to draw up an inventory. Nobody pays that kind of money without an itemized receipt."

"Ah... uh... okay," Applejack mumbled as her head swam. Five HUNDRED THOUSAND bits! They could rebuild the entire farm for that much, and easily cover all the seasons' harvests they'd miss in the process! All for having the alien junk cleared off of her property!

"Oh, that would be perfect!" Relic Duster said, regaining some of her earlier cheer. "Is it possible for me to come look over the artifacts first, though?"

"Sure thing, Ma'am," Applejack said with a sharp nod, "Ah can show ya down to the farm whenever yer ready."

"Oh, but can I take a look around the market, first?" Relic asked, stepping away from the table. "I've visited the Iron Chest in Canterlot, but the inventory here is very different..."

"Of course," Delgan said quickly, gesturing to the booths set up nearby, "do you do a lot of field work? We may have some tools that can help you with your trade..."

Applejack collapsed back onto her chair, and then she took off her hat to fan herself.

"... Rares?" the farmer asked after a moment of deep concentration.

"Yes, darling?" Rarity replied, taking some effort to conceal her victorious grin.

"Ah'm not sure if all that just now was dishonest or not," Applejack confessed.

"It's quite a common feeling when working with Mister Delgan," Rarity giggled, "you get used to it."

****

Ferrous Dominus - Solon's Forge

Solon's servo welders burned noisily as he worked at a small circuit wafer hovering in front of him. On the tables all around him were small pieces of machinery and stripped parts, most of them salvaged from the considerable cache of Tau equipment the 38th Company now possessed. Huge servo tools of various functions rumbled along ceiling-mounted rails, and hololith screens flickered on the walls around him to display random torrents of data. He was alone, and surrounded by the hum and rumble of industry.

At last, for the first time in days, no other matters demanded his attention. The unicorns were being processed and housed, Serith was working on the foundations of the Nethalican, Twilight had literally teleported into the newly rebuilt secondary data repository to make use of her new security access, and Sliver was seeing to the defensive disposition of the fleet. With no overriding priorities, the Warsmith was at last able to get back to rebuilding his chassis; although it functioned well enough for basic mobility, he'd barely started replacing the many devices that had been destroyed during his duel with Voidsong.

This was where Solon was at his best; where he truly felt at peace. Being at work in his forge with nothing pressing for his attention and time was the only thing that could truly balm his battered soul, and he reveled in the sense of freedom and power counter-intuitively granted by the gloomy halls and choking atmosphere of his work space. When his subordinates remarked that he should have been given over to the Adeptus Mechanicus rather than the Iron Warriors, they were not offering insult to the Warsmith. Although he had early on been taken into the ranks of the Techmarines after his initiation into the Astartes, even that hybrid status of warrior and engineer had never truly suited him.

Like all Iron Warriors, Solon was a dim reflection of his Legion's Primarch, and where Sliver embodied Perturabo's slow-burning rage and harsh paternalism, Solon's natural gifts were enhanced by the Siegemaster's subtle artistry and cold intellect.

Alone in his forge, surrounded by the accumulations of metal and the seething alchemies of technology, Solon created things on a whim that others would deem impossible or useless. And it was only in this state that he truly felt complete.

"Yo! Solon! How ya doing, big guy?"

Okay, what the hell.

Solon swiveled his torso completely around, quickly catching sight of a hovering blue figure zipping toward him.

"Hey, funny meeting you here!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Thish ish my forge," Solon said blithely, "it'sh the firsht place you would expect to find me."

Rainbow chuckled as she waved a hoof in front of her face, trying to dispel the foul gases that polluted the forge interior. She wasn't nearly as cautious as her friends when it came to breathing protection in the fortress, but in this case she wish she'd worn her respirator. She'd forgotten how nasty this place was.

"Yeah, I guess you have a point, there. So anyway, I have a problem I was hoping you could help me with," the pegasus continued, landing in front of the hulking Chaos Lord, "you see, a lot of you aliens seem to carry weapons, I've noticed. And as undeniably awesome as my body is, it isn't plasma, laser, chain-saw, or bullet-proof."

She trotted over to the Iron Warrior and then positioned herself to jab her elbow into his foreleg. "I was hoping you could help me out with that. Eh? Know what I'm saying?"

Solon was silent for a solid twenty seconds as he stared down at the pony, his optics rotating in their sockets.

"... How did you get in here?" he finally asked.

"Tellis let me in," Rainbow Dash answered, "so: power armor. I was thinking-"

"Tellish doesh not have accesh to thish area," Solon interrupted, "I keep him out becaushe he might do shtupid and dishruptive thingsh. Like letting xenosh into my forge to annoy me."

"Yeah, he couldn't get in on his own. He went around the manufactorum looking for Dark Mechanicus people and throwing them at the door until it opened for one of them."

Solon sighed. "Of courshe. Anyway, if you want armor, check the armoriesh. I'm shure a flak vesht can be modified to offer you shome protection."

"Whoa, whoa, a FLAK vest? Come on," Rainbow scoffed, placing a hoof against her chest, "I'm RAINBOW DASH, Element of Loyalty and the most awesome pegasus ever! I can't fly around a battlefield in that flimsy stuff your redshirts wear!"

"Feel free to bother shomeone elshe about it," Solon said as he made a shooing motion with his flesh-arm, "now get out."

"C'mon man, don't be like that," Rainbow said, smiling brightly as she hopped up onto one of his legs, "I get that ponies and evil cultist humans haven't been best buds for long, but I work for you now! You've gotta protect your investment!"

A sharp puff of air was all the warning Rainbow Dash got, and all the warning she needed. The pegasus leapt into the air as a tranquilizer dart zipped under her, and its needle snapped off when it struck Solon's leg plating.

"C'mon, Sol! Do you mind if I call you Sol? I'd totally owe you one, Sol!" Rainbow Dash held out a hoof as if for him to shake.

Then she cut to the side and twisted in the air to avoid another pair of darts fired in rapid succession.

"I have to admit that your agility ish rather impreshive," Solon said as his targeting systems adjusted to her reflex action.

"I know, right? And you'll want to be protecting this agility with top-quality power armor!" Rainbow said proudly.

Before dodging another volley of three darts. She veered back and forth to avoid the first two, and then slapped the last one out of the air with her wing when it seemed she had been boxed in.

"Ha! Did you see that? I am the BEST! So how big a gun do you think I can carry while flying?"

Solon paused, and then glanced at the mechatendril that expelled sedative darts. Its jaw was hanging open, and it seemed to be panting in exhaustion. "You know, after I run out of dartsh, I'm going to shtart ushing lashersh."

"Pft! Come on. In the time it would take you to actually hit me, you could just build me the armor," Rainbow insisted, hovering closer to the Warsmith but just out of his augmetic arm's reach, "now let's talk features. Obviously, it has to have holes for my wings to stick out. That's a basic requirement."

"That'sh shtupid," Solon countered, "you'd be too heavy to fly with your natural wing power."

"Well, obviously that's where your egghead sciency stuff comes in," the pegasus said decisively, "you'll need to make the armor pretty light. I'm really strong, though, so you don't need to worry too much."

"Even if I accept that, it'sh shtill shtupid," Solon insisted, "making any appendage work againsht the armor'sh weight defeatsh the whole point of powered armor. Beshidesh, leaving your wingsh exposhed would leave two large, extremely vulnerable pointsh on your body. Jusht a bit of shrapnel would completely incapacitate you."

Rainbow Dash rubbed a hoof against her chin as she mulled that over. "Huh. Okay, I see your point. So what do you suggest?"

"Impulshe rocket clushtersh," Solon answered, the nearby hololiths flickering to reveal engine schematics, "they would be built around a wing cashing, and controlled by the angle of your wing poshition. Perhapsh alsho in the legsh, to aid aerial mobility."

"Awesome!" Rainbow Dash said with a grin, landing on the Chaos Lord's pincer-tipped augmetic. "What're we looking at for weapons? How big a laser to you think this beast will have?"

Solon shook his head. "Lashersh are unshuitable. The heat dishpersion ish already going to be shignificant, and the flight pack will make a poor firing platform for a weapon that reliesh on accuracy. The problem with ballishtic weaponsh, of courshe, ish that you'd need to be weighed down by ammunition, and that you wouldn't have a shervo arm to help reload."

The pony and Iron Warrior fell into a thoughtful silence. Several seconds later, Solon saw a distant hololith wall randomly display a picture of an Eldar witchblade.

"Got it," the Warsmith said suddenly, "a shuriken catapult. Excellent firing shpread and damage potential, low energy ushe, and the ammunition shupply ish extremely light and..."

Solon trailed off, and he swiveled his helmet around to gaze into Rainbow Dash's grinning face.

"Thish ish really happening, ishn't it?" Solon sighed, realizing that he had actually created most of the armor's design in his head already. He rather wanted to build it now that he'd worked out the main propulsion and weapon systems.

"Just so you know, I REALLY appreciate this, buddy," Rainbow Dash could barely contain her excitement. If it weren't for the relatively claustrophobic area and the fumes that were leaving her short of breath, she would have done a victory lap in the forge.

"Great," Solon drawled, "well, fine. At leasht I'll have the petty shatishfaction of getting to drill holesh in you."

Rainbow Dash's smile dimmed somewhat. "Uh... say what?"

****

Sweet Apple Acres - farmstead

"Really? Ya mean it, Sis? We're gonna be just fine?" Apple Bloom asked, her face lighting up.

"Ah ain't lyin'," Applejack said with a grin as she pulled her little sister in close for a hug, "lemme tell ya, it woulda eaten me up inside to leave mah family with no money and no crops to go work fer Solon. With the kinda cash we're gettin' fer that space trash, ya won't want fer nothin', Bloom!"

The redheaded filly giggled happily, but her expression soured as Applejack non-too-quietly sniffed at her mane.

"Siiiis! Ah been bathin' every day like normal, just like ya said!" Apple Bloom protested, trying to squirm out of the orange mare's grip.

"Just checkin'," Applejack said with an embarrassed chuckle, "and ya ain't come down with nothin'?"

Apple Bloom pouted and kicked at the floor. "Naw. Not even a cold."

"Good," Applejack said decisively, "'Cuz with all this money we can finally set up a proper college fund fer ya, but it's hard to attend class from quarantine."

"Ah don't even know what that means," Apple Bloom grumbled.

"It's where we put really sick ponies who can't be saved from their diseases," the elder sister said grimly, taking off her hat and pressing it to her chest, "they live out the rest of their short lives there, unable to be with anypony else."

"That's dumb," Apple Bloom scoffed, "why don't they just send 'em to a Temple of Nurgle? They could live a long time and have lots'o friends!"

"Well Bloom, that's..." Applejack trailed off as she thought about that. "Huh. Ah guess that's actually an option now, ain't it? Weird."

The door slid open behind the two ponies, and Applejack put her hat back on as Big Macintosh walked into the house.

"Hey, Mac! It go well in Canterlot?" Applejack asked as she turned around.

"Eeyup."

The stallion was still wearing full power armor, including his helmet, and Applejack frowned at the blood-red visor that stared back at her.

"Well, take off the suit, Mac! Yer back home, now!" Applejack said, pounding a hoof into one of the ceramite shoulder pads.

"Nnope," Macintosh said, much to his sisters' puzzlement.

Deciding that Big Mac could wear his armor all he wanted if he liked it so much, Applejack shrugged it off and turned so that she could address both her siblings at once. "Well, Ah got some mighty good news, Mac! Ya seen some skinny little unicorn out there pokin' at the junk in our barn?"

"Eeyup," Mac confirmed, turning his armored head in the general direction of their barn and principal scrap piles.

"Well, she's from some kinda history club or somethin' and she's droppin' half a million bits to take all that garbage off our hooves!"

Applejack grinned as the stallion's head jerked back, clearly as surprised by the amount as she had been.

"Ha! She was nervous about the payment at first, but y'all shoulda seen the way her face lit up when she saw the barn! Now she's runnin' around out there like a filly at her first rodeo!" The Apple siblings shared a laugh, immensely glad that the destruction of their land and business had eventually provided the means for its survival.

Then the main door opened up again.

"Miss Apple!" Relic Duster shouted as she staggered into the farmstead. Her pale yellow mane was quite out of sorts, and her horn was sparking with magic. "One of those gunships! The human one! It still has dead bodies in it!"

Applejack felt her heart sink like a stone as the unicorn panted desperately.

Big Macintosh winced. He'd known there were a few corpses still lodged inside the gunship wreck, but they'd been crushed into the folds of metal so badly that he hadn't been able to get them out. Luckily the barn's ventilation system handled the smell of rot quite well, so he'd completely forgotten about them.

Applejack swallowed deeply as her ears fell flat against her head. "Ya don't say? Is that a... problem, Miss Duster?"

"Problem? It's FANTASTIC!!" Relic shouted, bouncing on her hooves and washing away the farmers' sudden fear. "I hadn't even considered a biological exhibit! I assumed the aliens would intern their dead! The moment I found the corpses I cast a preservation spell to prevent further decay! They come with the vehicle, right?"

"Uh... sure," the middle sibling briefly considered the possibility of using this strange turn of events to get even more money out of the bargain, but she decided against it. No telling what would happen if she got greedy about this.

"The only thing that could make this more perfect is if there were Tau bodies too!" Relic Duster gasped, literally prancing in place.

Applejack shared a glance with Big Mac - or rather, the visor that he refused to take down - before turning back to the ecstatic unicorn.

"Well, we do have some buried across the fields. They been in there just a few days."

Applejack managed to restrain her disgust at seeing a pony making "Squeeee!" noises at the prospect of finding more corpses, but it was a near thing.

Relic was about to demand to be shown to the graves at once, but then she finally noticed the rather easy-to notice pony that was wrapped from head to hoof in alien armor.

"Oh! What about this? Do we get this, too?" she asked, zipping over to the stallion and looking him over.

"That's mah brother," Applejack said with a smirk, "and Ah'm afraid he's not fer sale. Rent, maybe, as long as ya bring 'im back in good shape." Big Mac snorted from within his helmet.

"Maybe later! Oh, I still have to check on the starship wreck! Oh, but those alien bodies need to be preserved right away! Blast it all, why aren't there any good digging spells, anyway?"

Applejack chuckled lightly, leaning over to Big Mac again. "Ah think Ah've got some diggin' to do. You gonna help?"

"In a little bit," Macintosh rumbled as the he headed to his room. He needed to clean up some hickeys before he wanted to be seen without his armor on.

"All right. Come with me, Miss Duster. We'll see about diggin' up them grays fer ya," Applejack said as she strolled out the door.

"Oh! I hope I'm not being a burden!" Relic said as the apple farmer walked past her, trying to tone down her excitement somewhat. "I mean, after you went through the trouble to bury them all, I know it's a bother to exhume them!"

"Oh, that's all right," Applejack said with a note of dry humor as she trotted out into the fields, "come a few weeks from now, Ah think we're gonna have more bodies to fill 'em with anyhow. Follow me."

Author's Note

Will love and harmony overcome the power of Chaos? Will the Iron Warriors finally find their true calling by defending Equestria from the horrors of a hostile galaxy?
Will Fluttershy finally be left in peace to care for her animals rather than being hurled into the fires of intergalactic warfare?!

No.
But Rainbow Dash got power armor. Good enough.

Gearing Up

Iron Hearts: Book 4

Chapter 4

Gearing Up

****

Canterlot Castle - dining hall

Princess Celestia sighed with contentment as she levitated a napkin to her lips, wiping them clean of the remains of her breakfast. That done, she finished off her tea in short order, slurping down the last remnants of the dark, slightly tangy liquid.

Her meal complete, Celestia sat by herself quietly, completely relaxed. She didn't find any particular joy in solitude, calming as it was. However, peaceful moments had become increasingly rare as of late, so she intended to savor each one as much as possible before diving back into the day's chores.

Then the doors to the main hall opened, and as Kibitz trotted through Celestia knew that her respite had come to an end.

"Good morning, Kibitz," the Princess said as she stood up from the table, "the palace repair and cleanup crews have made remarkable progress on restoring the palace. Aside from that laser burn on the wall, this room looks just like new. Please give them my thanks."

The unicorn stallion shifted his weight to one side and then the other, looking quite uncomfortable. "Oh, yes, of course, your Highness. I'll see to that."

Celestia frowned in concern. Kibitz wasn't a hard pony to read, and it was quite obvious something was the matter. "Kibitz, what's wrong?"

"Well... uh... there's a... certain matter that requires your attention, your Highness. A matter that is quite... off-schedule." Kibitz took his scheduling seriously, Celestia knew, but this unease was different from the normal frustration of his being unable to plan out every single aspect of her day.

"Is it something to do with the humans?" Celestia asked, forcing calm into her tone.

"It is, Princess," Kibitz admitted, wiggling his mustache, "a group of them have requested an audience with you at once. They're waiting in the throne room. They haven't followed the usual procedures demanded of your petitioners, however."

Celestia nodded slowly. "Very well. I shall accommodate them." She started heading into the hall, and then noticed that her assistant still looked quite out of sorts. "Is there something wrong with these humans, Kibitz? You seem worried." Not that there was much right with the humans they had met so far, but then her assistant should have been used to the maniacs by now.

"Not so much worried as... confused, your Highness," Kibitz admitted, "as for whether there's something wrong with them... well, that might be a matter of opinion, really."

Celestia didn't really know what to make of that, other than the fact that these humans at least didn't have any obvious deformities or ill intent, which could only be a good thing. She still wasn't sure what to make of her assistant's mood, though.

She magically opened the throne room doors and trotted in quickly, fixing a neutral expression over her face as she stopped before the cluster of surprised humans gathered inside.

Surprised humans wearing long, white robes. Robes with suns stamped or sewn on them. That was new.

"She stands before us! The Goddess Celestia!"

And now all of the humans were bowing. Celestia had definitely not seen this coming.

The white alicorn swept her gaze from side to side, having no idea of what to make of the aliens prostrating themselves before her. Eventually she settled on treating them the same as she did her own subjects when they did this sort of thing.

"Please rise, my little... erm, humans," she said awkwardly, although she had at least dropped her serious expression for a gentler one, "tell me what brings you before me today."

They moved from their bowing positions to kneeling positions, which hardly made the meeting any less bizarre. One of them pulled back the hood of his robes and spoke.

"My name is Farian, oh Goddess, and I speak for the Sunsworn! We have come today to seek audience with you and receive your blessings!" He placed his hands together as he spoke, and then bowed his head again.

Celestia took a few moments to ingest that revelation, and then glanced at Kibitz.

"Kibitz, what is this, exactly?" Celestia asked.

"I think it's just what it looks like, your Highness," the stallion murmured.

"Indeed!" Farian said happily, "we Sunsworn have seen your light, Goddess Celestia, and thrown off the barbed chains of Chaos that once thought to ensnare our very souls! With your blessings, we shall be redeemed of our sins and live out the rest of our lives in your service as penance!"

Again, that took some time to fully digest. "... Sunsworn?" Celestia finally asked.

"The name is negotiable," Farian said quickly, "we were going to go with 'Enlightened', but didn't know how your Holiness feels about puns."

"R-Right," Celestia stuttered, "just... let me see if I understand this correctly: You humans have left the service of Chaos and wish to serve me under the premise that I am a Goddess?"

"Indeed!" Farian said exuberantly as the others Sunsworn nodded and murmured agreement. "Your holiness controls the very sun! This we have seen with our own eyes and most sophisticated instruments!"

"I mean, technically, we know you control the planet's spin," another cultist interrupted, "but you do it explicitly to manage the solar cycle, and it's still pretty damn impressive."

"And for that you think I'm divinity?" Celestia asked cautiously.

She was hardly unfamiliar with religions devoted to her, although she avoided encouraging such institutions. Even if actual churches and formalized worship to the Royal Sisters were rare (in Luna's case, practically nonexistent), most ponies casually associated them with divinity as a matter of course simply due to their extraordinary age and magic power. The fact that said "Goddesses" lived among them and handled mundane matters of state tended to undermine the sense of awe that such extraordinary powers might have evoked, however.

"What is 'God' but a word borne of clumsy philosophy and the hope of mortals?" Farian asked, spreading his arms and tilting his head. "Your world lives or dies in accordance with your own fate. Your care and power has given your people prosperity and happiness in a galaxy full of strife and bloodshed. You bear the mark and power of the sun! You create life from sheer will! What more need one do to stand as divinity?" Farian said, raising his arms higher and higher.

"I can't actually do that last thing," Celestia interjected.

"Okay, well, you're still doing pretty good from a strictly mortal perspective," Farian lowered his arms, "also, have you SEEN the last batch of Gods we were worshiping? Eesh."

"For too long have we begged and scraped at the feet of Warp monsters who would as soon watch us bleed for their own amusement as reward us for our devotion!" complained another Sunsworn.

"We've had enough of the darkness! Bring us into the light, oh Goddess of the Sun!" shouted another.

Celestia magically shut the door behind her and then calmly walked past the throng toward her new throne, which had just arrived that morning from the magic lacquer shop. Her countenance was peaceful, but her mind was racing the entire time, trying to work out this very unexpected turn of events and judge whether it would be ethical and worthwhile to use it.

On the one hoof, she certainly wanted to encourage humans to leave the twisted cults of Chaos and embrace the ideals she championed as the path to happiness and prosperity. She didn't necessarily want them to idolize and serve her as well, but if they needed some living icon to tell them to embrace love and not to hurt others, then so be it.

On the other hoof, she was in the awkward position of learning to tolerate Chaos worship as part of a desperately needed ploy to save her kingdom. The cruel fact was that she needed the power Chaos offered in order to protect Equestria, and the Iron Warriors offered a means of controlling that power without dabbling in it personally. Undermining their cult with one of her own could be a serious diplomatic blunder, and she had made too many of those already.

"If I may ask..." Celestia began slowly as she settled down on her new throne, "you all aren't on this planet of your own volition, correct? You were brought here while serving the 38th Company. Won't they come looking for you when they find you've abandoned your duties?"

Farian shook his head. "Not at all, your Magnificence. Many of us are former mercenaries, and the terms of our contracts with the Company were ended formally and properly before we arrived here." He paused while looking over some of the robed figures behind him. "Others among us are menials, and while they don't strictly have a 'contract', and can't really 'quit' their jobs, per se, it's not at all uncommon for some to sneak off when the fleet makes planetfall or docks with a space station. They won't be missed."

He looked like he was about to keep speaking, but was suddenly interrupted by a series of angry shouts from just outside the throne room.

"Halt!"

"Stop! You can't just walk in there!"

"Sir, if you'll just make an appointme-"

The doors to the throne room burst open, and the Sunsworn flinched back as Virgil stalked into the room.

Princess Celestia locked eyes with the Chaos Priest immediately as he approached. Then she saw her Royal Guards rushing in to surround him.

"Guards, stand down, please," the alicorn commanded calmly, "I realize that this is highly irregular, but it has been a highly irregular week." Then she cleared her throat and addressed the dark-skinned man. "I remember seeing you before, but at the time I did not allow you the chance to introduce yourself. Please do so, Sir."

"I am Virgil," the Chaos Priest stated simply, maintaining unflinching eye contact with the white Princess.

After a few quiet seconds it seemed that he wasn't going to offer up anything else as way of introduction, so Celestia continued.

"And what brings a Priest of Chaos to my halls?" she asked dryly, having already guessed at the man's purpose.

"I am here on behalf of Discord, Arch Daemon of Chaos," Virgil replied.

Celestia blinked. That wasn't quite what she was expecting. "And what does the 'Arch Daemon' want?" She added a mocking tone when she spoke Discord's apparent title.

"He wants to know if you've seen his keys," Virgil answered, his gaze burning into hers.

Silence.

"... They'd probably be in your lounge," Virgil clarified, "he thinks he may have dropped them when you immolated him and then kicked us out."

Celestia blinked. Again. Several times. "So... when you say 'keys', are you speaking metaphorically, or talking about some sort of powerful magic artifact, or..."

"They're a collection of small pieces of metal, each one precisely shaped to open a certain mechanical lock," Virgil explained in detail, crossing his shackled arms over his chest, "they're all attached to a small metal ring, which also holds his Barnyard Bargains membership tab and a decorative plastic lanyard he made as a Harpy Scout back from an age before Time began."

The guards looked over to the Sunsworn, clearly wondering if the other humans had any special insight into this absurdity. They shrugged helplessly.

"Why would DISCORD have KEYS?" Celestia asked incredulously.

"Discord is a creature of pure energy manifest, whose power is literally beyond fathoming," Virgil noted, "there is no reason whatsoever for him to have keys. But he does. And they're missing. Have you seen them?"

Celestia gaped for several seconds, and then glanced over at Kibitz.

"Just a moment, you Highness. I'll check the lounge," the mustachioed stallion trotted out of the throne room, leaving the rest of the rather confused ponies and cultists with the Chaos Priest.

A few minutes passed quietly as those in the throne room waited for Kibitz to return. Neither Celestia nor the Sunsworn wanted to return to their previous topic with the Chaos Priest in the room, and the white-robed humans coughed and fidgeted nervously in his presence.

"Well, this is awkward," one of the Sunsworn mumbled, breaking the stifling silence.

Celestia shifted uncomfortably, her eyes still locked onto Virgil's. "So, just to be clear, you're only here for Discord's keys? That's all?"

"Yes," Virgil answered.

"So, you're not here to punish us for blasphemy? Or drag us back to the Company?" Farian asked nervously.

"Chaos offered you a chance at immortality, and you all turned away from its power and glory to worship a horse's ass," Virgil explained in his usual bland monotone, "you're an embarrassment to humanity, and the Dark Gods are better off for your absence." Celestia frowned at that statement, but didn't challenge it.

"Well, that..." Farian seemed angry at first, but then he trailed off. "That... works out rather nicely for all of us, actually."

"Found them!"

Everyone turned to face Kibitz as the unicorn galloped back into the room with a set of keys hovering in the air in front of him.

"They were next to that old couch that I'm pretty sure shouldn't be there," the Royal advisor said as he floated the keys over to Virgil.

The Priest snatched the keys out of the air. "Thank you." Then he turned toward the Royal Guards standing at attention to either side of him. "Flash Sentry, Star Blitz, Shield Bearer: I have listened to the whispers of the Gods to divine that which may yet be, and have determined that Sunday night poker is back on this week."

Flash raised his head in surprise. "Really? But I thought-"

"She'll be fine. Bionic lung. See you at eight." Without further explanation or fanfare, Virgil turned on his heel and walked out of the throne room. Many of the guards followed, closing the main doors behind him.

After a few more silent seconds, Farian turned back to Celestia and pointed to her.

"So. Celestial church. Where are we at?"

"You may do as you please if you intend to live among us ponies, so long as you abide by our laws," Celestia declared, trying her best to completely forget the previous encounter.

"Awesome. Any divine wisdom you can share with us lowly mortals to build a religious code around?" he asked as the other Sunsworn nodded eagerly.

"'Love and Tolerate' is a personal favorite of mine," the alicorn replied, "treat others with kindness and seek to spread joy and happiness wherever you go. Stay your hoof - sorry, hand - from violence and retribution whenever possible, and never let the poison of hatred consume your hearts."

"Perfect. We're going to go inscribe some stone tablets now. Thanks, Holiness!" the cluster of humans started bowing again as they headed backwards toward the door, some of them tripping over their robes in the process.

"You're, uh... You're welcome. Farewell, my little... well, farewell. And good luck."

****

Ferrous Dominus - psyker dormitories

Spike scratched at his belly as he plodded down the empty metal halls of the psyker dorms, heading toward the secondary data repository with a respirator under his arm. He had already had a handful of rubies for breakfast, and after getting a very late start getting out of bed, had found a few messages waiting for him on Twilight's dorm cogitator console.

He was quite proud of how well and quickly he had adjusted to the shift from a low-tech living space where magic was an everyday commodity to a high-tech alien environment where magic was rare and treated with suspicion. Gaela had run him through using the basic residential consoles, and although he absolutely refused to pray to the device when he turned it on, he now knew its use far better than Twilight did.

Partially because his claws functioned as well as fingers for using the touch-screen while Twilight had to use a stylus. And partially because she hadn't been there when Gaela had explained the machine to him.

She also hadn't been there when he'd finished unpacking the meager collection of belongings stuffed in a magic fifth-dimensional bag and arranged them in her new living space. Or when he'd made dinner the previous evening. Or when he'd gone to bed. Or had breakfast. He hadn't seen Twilight for more than sixteen hours now.

Not that he had any doubts as to where she was.

"Morning, Twi," Spike said as the door to the repository slid open, recognizing the security key in a small bracelet around his wrist.

Twilight didn't answer. She was laying on a metal bench in a corner of the data repository, her face illuminated by the pallid glow of a single dataslate. Her mane and tail were out of sorts, and she had very obvious bags under her eyes. Despite this, she was staring at the dataslate with a deep, almost disturbing intensity.

"Hey, Twi! Twilight! Hello!" Spike shouted, getting a few annoyed glances from a Dark Acolyte on the other side of the room.

No response from Twilight, though.

"Hey Twilight, I saw Serith rooting through your stuff before I left. When did you let him into our room?" Spike asked.

"I WILL MELT DOWN HIS HELMET AND TURN IT INTO A TEA KETTLE!!" Twilight roared as she bounced to her hooves, her horn flaring with power.

"And a good morning to you, too," Spike said dryly.

Twilight shook her head dizzily, and then winced as she realized that her legs had fallen asleep. "Spike? What time is it?"

"Time for you to take a break from the information hyper-highway," the young dragon answered gruffly, "did you even eat?"

"Nutrient paste," Twilight replied as she shook out her legs, "really, it's hard to imagine how I got by without it! Cooking is so inefficient!"

"But I do all our cooking," Spike pointed out.

"Right! And now that frees up your time to do more... uh... well, whatever you want, I guess," Twilight trailed off uncertainly. If her role in service to the 38th Company was ambiguous, then Spike's was a complete mystery. She absolutely objected to Serith's classification of him as a 'thrall', but he had come along with her as a matter of course when she joined an army of space pirates.

"Anyway, was there something in particular you wanted? I was reading up on the specific treatments used to prevent organic tissues from rejecting mechanical augmetics. I wanted to finish the section on nerve-input technology before taking a nap. Assuming I don't find some other subject that catches my interest."

"At this rate the Orks are going to show up and find an alicorn skeleton laying here on a pile of notes and dataslates," Spike grumbled, "I came to tell you that you have a pair of messages. Rainbow Dash is already here, and she wants to show everypony something in about an hour at the main manufactorum block in sector 11. The other is from Rarity. She wanted to let you know that she, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack should be here soon to 'check in for assignment' or whatever."

Twilight frowned. "Not Fluttershy?"

"Not Fluttershy," Spike shrugged, unsurprised.

"Well, I knew this would be a hard sell to her. Just give me a few minutes to finish this section, and I'm sure we can meet..." Twilight trailed off as Spike walked up to her bench, picked up the dataslate she had been reading, and then tossed it like a frisbee into a pile of similar objects.

"Let's go," the young dragon said bluntly, walking toward the exit and holding up the respirator above his head. "I've got your mask and security band and everything. Move it."

Twilight's eyes narrowed as she followed after her assistant. "You've gotten awfully cheeky lately, Spike."

"Well, I've been hanging around Gaela a lot," Spike replied as he tossed her the respirator mask, "I guess she's been inspiring me to be more assertive."

Twilight frowned as she caught the mask in her telekinetic grip. "You know I like Gaela, but she isn't the best role model, Spike."

"Isn't she, though?" the dragon asked seriously. "She gets to brush off anypony she wants, even Princesses, and ponies and humans both practically beg for her help. That's pretty impressive!"

"She's a sociopath who literally thinks kindness and empathy are personality flaws," Twilight deadpanned, "the only time I've ever seen her smile was when she was hacking apart a Tau battlesuit. Most people and ponies - even the Iron Warriors, for crying out loud - only tolerate her because she's so useful to them."

Twilight paused to fit the mask over muzzle, and then followed Spike out into the polluted exterior of Ferrous Dominus. "You're handy to have around, AND you're nice. Don't start thinking that kindness is a weakness."

"Did you know that Gaela thinks I'm a slave?" Spike asked as he plodded down the walkway. "I told her I wasn't, and then she started arguing with me. I couldn't prove her wrong."

"You know how humans are about friendship," Twilight countered, "they think about all relationships in terms of servant and master or commander and subordinate. As long as YOU know better, that's all that matters." Then she paused. "Besides, I'm more like your surrogate mother than your master, anyway." She trotted ahead as she deemed the conversation concluded, bounding lightly up the stairs onto the train platform.

To her surprise, there were several ponies waiting at the platform along with the expected assortment of humans and post-humans waiting for rail transit. This probably wouldn't have been so surprising to her if they were all unicorns, given that a significant number had been moved into the city yesterday, but to her surprise all three pony races were represented among the dozen waiting for the train, all of them wearing black, pony-shaped respirator masks. She hadn't thought that enough pegasi or earth ponies had moved into the fortress for her to run into a few of them at any given gathering point in the base.

Then she realized that she recognized one of the unicorns.

"Prince Blueblood?" Twilight asked.

One of the masked ponies swiveled toward her, his scowl thankfully hidden behind the thick protective rubber.

"Princess Sparkle," Blueblood practically growled out from where he was sitting next to another white unicorn.

Twilight paused at the tone, unsure if the Prince had any reason to be upset at her personally. "Is... something the matter?"

"Mmmph mrmhph mmn," said the other unicorn.

Blueblood's eye twitched from behind his mask. "Is something the matter? You meet me in the middle of a fortress-slash-war-factory-slash-SLAVE-PEN where I've been pressed into service like a common conscript! Plucked from Canterlot like a garden flower and shipped to this hideous city of vile smoke and ugly metal! And you ask if something's the matter?!"

"Mnn mhm mmph," said the other stallion.

"So... yes," Twilight deadpanned, "Prince, I know that your coming here must have been an unpleasant surprise to you, but your recruitment was necessary to save Equestria!"

"No it wasn't!" Blueblood countered angrily.

Twilight briefly thought back to the conscription back at Canterlot. "Oh. Right. Fine. But you're here now, so you may as well make the most of it. There are a lot of remarkable things in Ferrous Dominus besides metal and smog."

"Hmm mrrph mmnm hmph!" said the other stallion.

Blueblood slammed a hoof down on the platform below him. "Fancy Pants, would you QUIT that? I know you can talk through the blasted masks just like the rest of us!"

"Oh, you're no fun," Fancy Pants said, his voice muffled by the mask but still perfectly comprehensible, "Fleur fell for it."

"So where are you two headed? Dark Portal training?" Spike asked.

"Not at all, my good dragon," Fancy replied as Blueblood ground his teeth back and forth, "whatever magic quality Mister Sorcerer was looking for in his unicorns, we don't meet it. So we're headed to an assessment."

"They're going to test us to find out what we're good at and give us a job based on that," Blueblood growled, "can you imagine?!"

"Uh... yeah. I can," Spike replied.

"It's not so bad as our Royal Highness makes it out to be," Fancy said as he patted the other stallion on the back, "after our assets are approved for transfer to the trade corp we can acquisition better quarters and such."

"Oh, what joys and luxuries await us in the Company's PREMIUM suites!" Blueblood said melodramatically, still scowling. "Just think! I'll have a personal washroom again! May Celestia forgive such decadence!"

"The Prince is taking a distinctly 'glass half-empty' view of things, you may have noticed," Fancy said as the train swept in from around the corner.

"Well, I hope things get better for you," Twilight offered as she moved to embark on the train. She wouldn't wish for anypony to be taken into the 38th Company against their will, but if there was one pony who could undoubtedly benefit from the spartan accommodations and laborious discipline, it was Prince Blueblood.

"Farewell, Princess!" Fancy Pants called out as the stallions boarded a different car.

The ride to the gates was short, and mostly spent speculating with Spike on the number of ponies that had moved into Ferrous Dominus, and for what reasons.

They disembarked behind a squad of Iron Warriors, and then used the higher vantage point of the train platform to look over the line of vehicles and individuals undergoing security screening, searching for their friends.

It didn't take long, and soon Twilight and Spike were rushing toward Pinkie Pie and Applejack, who were standing in front of several parked transports.

"Wow, you guys really are moving here after all, huh?" Spike asked. It seemed like a dumb question, but he was rather impressed by the three chimera APCs that were idling behind the three mares, each one stuffed with luggage while large furniture was stacked on top and tied down to the vehicles' roofs.

Applejack snorted. "You kiddin'? This is all Ah got," she was balancing a large suitcase on her back, and briefly rolled it back and forth to emphasize the piece, "almost all o'that is Rarity's junk."

Pinkie giggled. "There was barely enough room for us! We had to squish super tight! It was fun!"

Twilight looked alarmed at seeing the sheer volume of things that the fashionista had taken along with her. On their first trip to the fortress Rarity had apparently packed enough to furnish an entire room. This time it was patently clear that she had taken everything but the house itself with her.

"Where is Rarity, anyway?" Spike asked, glancing around with barely concealed eagerness.

"Clearin' somethin' up with the traders. Ah guess she managed to nab us a few trading corps rooms rather than them closets we were in before," Applejack explained. Then she snorted. "Gotta hand it to Delgan; the guy's shady as all get-out, but knowin' him sure gets ya a heap'o favors."

"Twilight! Spikey! Hello!" called a muffled but cheerful voice from off to the side.

Rarity approached the others at a light gallop. As expected she was wearing the "outfit" she had assembled for use in the polluted exterior of the fortress, although she had found time to color the layers of rubber a surprisingly tasteful pattern of white and purple. She was also being followed by Daniels, who was carrying a cat cage with a sheet over the top.

"Explain to me again why I have to carry your cat?" the mercenary asked irritably.

"I'm sorry to trouble you, darling, but Opalesence gets quite agitated when I try to levitate her. And I can't very well carry the cage with my hooves like this, now can I?" the unicorn asked.

"No, I meant why do I, specifically, have to carry it?" Daniels groused. "You have your own bloody servitor and there are dozens of menials around. Any of them could do it."

Rarity tuned the man out as she approached Twilight. "Darling, I'm glad you came to meet us! Did you need a room too? I hope they didn't put you next to Serith again!"

"They did," Twilight admitted, "but it's also next to the data repository, so, you know, silver linings."

"I had to take away her dataslate, or she wouldn't have come out here," Spike whispered to Applejack, who snickered.

"Well, as long as you're sure," Rarity said uncertainly, "and how is Rainbow Dash faring? Apparently she flew here with Tellis just after you left."

Twilight frowned. "I didn't know about that until this morning. We're supposed to meet her in sector 11, apparently."

The other mares shared a look.

"Wonder what she's got to show us," Applejack mumbled. As friendly as Rainbow was with the Iron Warriors in general and Tellis in particular, she didn't think the pegasus racer had built enough ties amongst the humans to be wandering around Ferrous Dominus alone or leading her friends to points of interest.

"Daniels, can you see to it the transports get to the proper dormitory block? We have to go meet up with Rainbow," Rarity asked, glancing over at the mercenary.

"Okay, seriously, when did I become your personal secretary?" the man groused. "You work with Master Delgan, right? He can get you one of those, you know."

"Well, I'd ask Spike to do it, but I don't think the drivers would listen to him," the unicorn reasoned, "oh, and don't leave Opal unattended, all right? She doesn't like being left alone in the cage."

"Why didn't I stay on the bloody apple farm..." Daniels grumbled, carrying the cage over to the idling transports.

"Applejack, dear, why don't you swing that bag on top, since it's heading to the same place anyway? All right, let's go!"

****

Ferrous Dominus - sector 22

Blueblood tapped a back hoof against the side of his chair as he waited impatiently, trying not to let his nervousness show.

He was sitting in front of a stony-faced administrator who had an optics visor over his eyes and a shock baton at his side. The man was staring intently at a dataslate, and taking far too long about it in the Prince's opinion.

Blueblood had tried to keep an appropriately regal bearing since he'd been shipped off to Ferrous Dominus like a head of cattle, but it was proving quite difficult. The presumption seemed to be that the ponies being tasked with new jobs around the fortress were to be assigned and judged according to merit, which was annoying, but tolerable. Despite what many ponies assumed after meeting him, Prince Blueblood was not some simpering idiot of a noble whose only worthwhile trait was his family name. That may have been his BEST trait, but he was also well-educated, trained in the arts, and far better than the average unicorn when it came to magic proficiency.

No, the unsettling thing was how INDIFFERENT these humans were to him. He'd met plenty of ponies that had called him out for his arrogance or openly resented his status. The title of Prince created as many enemies as sycophants, to be sure, but it was still a kind of recognition. But he wasn't used to being ignored. Despite being dragged here for being a Prince, to the human guards and administrators that were judging him, his title meant literally nothing. He was just another pony to them, no different from any of the unicorns dragged here from rural backwaters like Ponyville. That, among everything else, he found most intolerable.

Blueblood heard the gentle sound of a dataslate dropping onto a table, and he jerked his head up into the green lenses of the administrator's visor.

"Well, Blueblood, I think we have enough data to find you a position." The man laced his fingers together as he leaned forward across the desk, looking down at the stallion. Blueblood was unfamiliar with sapien body language, but that pose immediately gave him a bad feeling.

"According to my assessment, you suffer from an extreme sense of entitlement and a general disregard for the comfort and well-being of others. You're entirely self-interested, very judgmental, and have an extraordinary superiority complex. A model sociopath. And you're apparently a Prince? I'm sure that doesn't help."

Prince Blueblood stared up at the human, then down at the dataslate. Then he looked up at the human again.

"All I did was list my talents and skills, like the form asked me to," the stallion said, looking fairly stunned, "where did you get all that from?"

"Oh, I wasn't reading the form," the administrator explained, holding up the dataslate, "one of the guards recorded a text transcript of your ranting and complaining at the other ponies in the lobby. He thought it was so funny that he gave it to me to review."

Blueblood took a few seconds to recall all he had said while waiting to be called into the office and be given a job to do in this wretched military fortress for an indeterminate amount of time. In his defense, he found the current circumstances unusually upsetting, but ultimately that analysis seemed about right for what the man had apparently been told.

"So... what happens now?" Prince Blueblood asked quietly.

The administrator smiled pleasantly. "How would you feel about a position as a slave overseer? The pay is poor, but you get to bark orders to others and hurt them if they don't obey. Or if you just feel like hurting them. I think it's an excellent fit for you, and it will give us an exciting new way to demean our forced laborers by putting them under the command of a talking barnyard animal."

Prince Blueblood considered this offer silently for almost a full minute before he clicked his tongue. "I'm not sure I could... as a member of the nobility, I'm expected to uphold the values of kindness and harmony central to the Equestrian way of life. Directly assisting the implementation of slavery is a rather blatant violation of those tenets," he explained calmly.

The man across from him nodded slowly. "I see. How about menial overseer, then? It's harder, since their jobs are more complex and there's much less discretion on when you're allowed to beat them, but they're not slaves. Technically."

Blueblood smiled. "When do I start?"

****

Ferrous Dominus - sector 11 manufactorum block

"REALLY! Prince Blueblood, stuffiest of the Canterlot nobility, snob among snobs, being put to work in a human fortress?!" Rarity had to keep from cackling as she walked down the path toward the looming manufactorum, so funny and satisfying was the mental image. "I'd heard that the Company grabbed more ponies than they had suggested they would, but that is DELICIOUS! What do you think he'll end up doing? Oh, I can't even imagine!"

Twilight watched a land raider rumble by, its fresh, unblemished armor gleaming despite the haze of ash overhead blocking out much of the sun. "Yeah, it's pretty strange. Still, I hope nothing bad happens to him. If he gets into trouble around here, he might not survive it."

Rarity's giggling trailed off as she thought that over. As much as she disliked Prince Blueblood, she didn't want to see him physically harmed, much less killed.

"True enough. Still, he's not a COMPLETE idiot. He'll keep his head down low enough so that he doesn't lose it. Probably." Rarity looked around at the enormous shutters leading to the manufactorum entrance, and she started looking at the sky for any blue figures. "Well, here we are. More or less. Did Rainbow give any directions more specific than which sector to look in? Each one is rather large."

"She said the 'main manufactorum block', which is this. I guess," Spike mumbled, also searching the sky. There were a couple of pegasi flying through the area, but he could tell at a glance that neither of them was Rainbow Dash.

"Why would RD wanna meet here, anyway?" Applejack asked, nodding her head to a pair of Iron Warriors that were walking by.

They nodded back, both of them immediately recognizing the mare from a widely-circulated recording of a pony savagely beating a Tau Fireblade. It was quickly becoming a fleet-wide favorite.

"Ooh! It's a surprise! I just love surprises!" Pinkie said, bouncing up and down in place. "Do you think she has a new mission? Or maybe a new air trick to show us! Or maybe she had a mission yesterday and used a new trick to complete it and we're here for another medal ceremony which would be awesome because we didn't get any new medals for helping out in Canterlot although the Company did most of the work this time and Twilight pretty much just watched since magic didn't work so maybe she'll just get a lead bolt this time but I'm hoping for gold and then we'll get promoted and raise our stats and..."

Twilight tried her best to tune Pinkie Pie out as she rambled, and found herself growing impatient. She had neglected to bring her dataslate with her to placate Spike, but with nothing to immediately distract her but Pinkie Pie, and nothing of importance immediately demanding attention, she dearly regretted leaving it behind.

The familiar noise of Solon's approach cheered her up instantly, and she sighed in relief as the doors started to grind open in front of them.

"Ooh! It's Shmithy! Maybe I was right! Gold bolt, here I come!" Pinkie cheered as the other mares diligently ignored her.

"Warsmith Solon! Good morning!" Twilight said as the Warsmith stepped out from the heavy blast doors.

He halted, seeming surprised to see the equines. "Oh. You're here already. Well, good." The Chaos Lord said.

"Just arrived this mornin' and reportin' fer duty, Warsmith. But we're here 'cause Dash wanted us to come. Somethin' up?" Applejack asked.

"Dramatic reveal time!" said a vaguely familiar voice distorted by a vox grille.

Solon crab-walked to the side, and Twilight's eyes bugged out.

"Heh. And you thought it'd never happen, didn't you?" Rainbow Dash asked as she watched her visor bracket her friends in green reticules.

"Well, Ah'll be..." Applejack murmured as Rarity put a hoof to her mouth in surprise.

"Awwww... I guessed wrong. No promotion, then." Pinkie seemed disappointed, but nopony took her reactions seriously anyway.

Rainbow Dash was covered in a shell of gleaming powered armor, bearing her cutie mark on her right shoulder pad and the Iron Skull on her left. Her helmet had a pair of backward-sloping, pointed horns, like an antelope, and the boots were noticeably thick and bulky as compared to the rest of the leg sleeve.

However, the two features that undoubtedly dominated the suit was the strange-looking gun mounted over the left shoulder pad and the pair of large, metal wings that stretched out from an engine built onto the armor's back. The wing fins were made up of a number of small thrusters, not unlike Tellis' flight pack, although Dash's was necessarily much smaller.

"I call thish P-variant Centaur-pattern power armor," Solon said as Rainbow tested the wings' range of motion. "It'sh main feature-"

"Check this out!" Rainbow Dash interrupted. "I have a gun that shoots Ninja stars! Is that the coolest thing ever, or what?" The shuriken catapult on her shoulder swiveled from side to side with her head as she took in the impressed and surprised expressions of her friends.

Then she frowned behind her helmet. "Hey, it's not shooting. This thing broken already?"

"It'sh on shafety lock," Solon explained, "you're not allowed to have discretionary acesh to your weapon until you've trained with it shufficiently."

"What? That's dumb!" Rainbow complained.

"At the time you were intending to tesht-fire it, you were aiming at Princesh Shparkle'sh face," the Warsmith pointed out.

As Twilight recoiled, Rainbow Dash tilted her head to the side. "Oh! Okay, so the little cross is where the gun is aiming! Good to know."

"You're a very smart person, and I appreciate your foresight," Twilight said to Solon, a few beads of sweat crawling down her head.

"Anyway, ash I wash shaying, the main feature of the armor ish clearly the-"

"Awesome wings! Solon says I'll be able to keep up my incredible flight speed with these puppies!" Rainbow interrupted again, flapping the wings of the flight pack. "I'm not sure if they're THAT good, but, y'know, I guess I can give up a little air speed for the armor and Ninja stars!"

"... Am I not needed here? I can leave if I'm jusht getting in the way," Solon offered.

"All right, all right, sorry. Go ahead," the pegasus sighed through her vox grille as she sat down on her armored haunches.

"Good. In addition to the high-output flight pack, each boot ish equipped with a light impulse blashter for quick take-offsh and re-direction mid-flight. The mosht unique feature ish the kineshish refraction field, however."

"The what, now?" That question, oddly enough, had come from Rainbow Dash.

"It negatesh the reactionary energy of a kinetic impact, allowing full-"

"Okay, wait, hold up," Rainbow interrupted yet again, raising a foreleg, "can you put that in terms that normal, non-egghead ponies can understand? I don't want Twi to have to play translator."

The hulking Chaos Lord groaned, slumping forward on his chassis. "Okay. Have you ever crashed before?"

Applejack and Pinkie started snickering as Rainbow Dash turned her head to the side and coughed.

"Well, sure. You know, once or twice," the pegasus answered, happy that her helmet hid her current expression.

"You've probably noticed that it hurtsh," Solon continued.

"Yeah. I noticed," Rainbow gave an annoyed grunt. He didn't have to dumb it down THIS much.

"The kineshish refraction field keepsh crashesh from hurting you as you impart the full force of the impact upon whatever you crashed into," the Warsmith finished.

Rainbow Dash froze in place. "That... That... AWESOME!!" she finally managed to spit out, her wings spreading up behind her. "I gotta try this out!"

"I advishe you practice low-velocity high-altitude flight firsht," Solon said in warning even as Rainbow Dash turned toward the streets, "although your wing movementsh shtill control the direction and acceleration of your flight, it will be very different from-"

He was interrupted yet again as Rainbow's flight pack roared to life, lifting her up off the ground.

And directly into the side of a rhino APC parked on the other side of the avenue.

The ponies winced and looked away from the loud, ringing impact, and the rhino actually pitched to the side far enough for one of its treads to leave the ground entirely. Then it fell back into its former position, dumping Rainbow Dash back onto the ferrocrete below.

"You desherved that," Solon said bluntly.

"You... said it... wouldn't... hurt..." Rainbow Dash groaned, her wings twitching and spitting out bursts of sparks.

"You have to turn the field ON in the momentsh before impact, you imbecile," Solon explained.

"Why isn't it on... ALL the time?" grunted the pegasus as she slowly got up.

The Chaos Lord swiveled his torso away. "I am SHO done with thish. Shparkle!"

Twilight straightened instantly, standing at attention like the soldier she kind of was, maybe. "Yes, Warsmith!"

"Mish Dash is your reshponshibility from here on out. Try to keep her from breaking her new armor before any actual enemiesh arrive to do it themshelvesh," Solon commanded.

"I'll do my best, Warsmith!" Twilight promised. "Thank you for your help!"

The Chaos Lord grumbled something unintelligible as he stomped back around to face the manufactorum. Applejack trotted up beside him before he left, however.

"Well, that's a mighty impressive piece o'work! What'd ya have in mind fer mah suit?"

Solon halted, and then turned to look down at the orange mare. "Your shuit? Why would I make you power armor?"

Applejack looked surprised. "Well, ya made RD a suit... why would ya make her one but not the rest of us?"

"I only made her the blashted armor becaushe she annoyed me into it!" Solon complained, one of his legs rising up and slamming into the ground angrily. "It wash the only way to get her to leave me alone!"

Applejack blinked, and then looked over to Rainbow Dash as Pinkie Pie helped the pegasus up.

Then she looked up at Solon again. "Well... Ah guess Ah could do that too, but wouldn't ya rather Ah just ask ya?"

Solon was silent. After several seconds, the silence was interrupted by the sound of Rainbow's flight pack again. Followed by the sound Rainbow impacting a wall of metal again.

"Dash! Are you trying to use the flight pack or the refraction field?" Twilight demanded, levitating the armored pegasus off the ground.

"I'd settle for either one of them at this point!" Rainbow replied irritably as she squirmed about in the air. "Wait, let me try those impulse blast-WOAH!!"

Solon sighed as the shriek of metal scraping against metal filled the air again.

"Oh, the hell with it. Power armor for everybody. I may ash well try to have fun with thish."

"Even for me?" Spike asked, raising a hand.

"Of courshe not. I don't even know why you're here," Solon scoffed as he started stomping back toward the forge, "beshidesh, you're obviously a youngling. You'll grow right out of any shuit I made you now. If you want armor, turn to Chaosh and ashk for a proper mutation or shomething."

As Spike grumbled to himself, Solon beckoned Applejack along with him. "Come on, you firsht. After that I think I'll do one for Fluttershy next. It will give me shomething to ushe all those shpare narthecium gauntletsh for."

"Fluttershy isn't here yet, though," Rarity pointed out.

"Then bring her here!" Solon shouted as the shutters started to close behind him and Applejack. "Thish should take a good eight hoursh to put together. You have until then."

The doors slammed shut.

Twilight wet her lips, her mind whirling. She hadn't taken Rainbow Dash's efforts to get a power armor suit very seriously before, but it seemed that she had inadvertently equipped their whole team.

With gear made by Warsmith Solon himself, apparently, which was obviously highly significant in itself. She was pretty sure that "kinesis refraction fields" weren't a very common technology around the Iron Warriors. It was likely the equivalent of having Celestia herself enchant a weapon or armor piece for a soldier. Granted, she'd never heard of her mentor actually doing that, but still.

"Eight hours? It only takes that long?" Rarity asked.

"Well, mine took longer than that," Rainbow Dash noted as she got up again, "but let's be fair: obviously the awesomeness of MY armor is much higher, and so it took longer to make." Then she paused. "Also, I did keep arguing with him the whole time and telling him what I wanted it to do. That could have had something to do with it."

Twilight fought off a groan. "Okay, well, he wants to see Fluttershy next. Rainbow, do you think you can figure out the flight pack well enough to make a trip to Ponyville and pick her up?"

"Sure, no problem!" the pegasus laughed behind her vox grille.

"I don't," Spike said.

"I have doubts," Rarity agreed.

"I wanna see her try!" Pinkie said eagerly. While holding a pict-capture unit in her hoof.

Rainbow Dash snorted as she turned around sharply, lifting her visor toward the sky. "Cut me some slack! Flying with rocket power is just, you know, COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from flying with wing power! I'll get the hang of it!"

"All right, well, maybe I can help," Twilight offered, "what's your control scheme like?"

"I dunno. Solon was talking about something like that earlier as we were heading out here, but I was busy working out my visor settings," Rainbow explained, "it used to dump a bunch of technobabble at me every time I focused on something, but now I got it to just tell me how cool a target is."

"I refuse to believe that your visor has a 'coolness sensor'," Twilight deadpanned.

Rainbow turned her helmet toward her, and then watched as the targeting reticule circled around the alicorn.

After a moment, blinking green text automatically appeared over Twilight's head, reading: Cool factor 0.2 - NOT AWESOME.

"Hey, you can believe whatever you want, Twi," Rainbow said.

"Whatever. Since you've apparently squandered your chance to get a proper explanation as to your suit's control mechanisms, you'll just have to feel it out. Hopefully without putting any more dents in the architecture." Twilight frowned, placing a hoof to her chin. "You've obviously figured out how to activate the boosters, right?"

"Yeah. It's all in the wings," Rainbow explained, "if I tense them up like I'm going to take off like I normally do, then the rockets start up."

"Okay, then do that, but GENTLY and GRADUALLY," Twilight ordered.

The pegasus nodded, and then looked up at the soot-stained sky.

The engines fizzled to life again, but this time gently enough that Rainbow's armored form wasn't flung through the air.

"Okay... then, I think if I move like THIS," Rainbow spread her wings higher and tilted them upwards, and she felt her body lift a few inches off the ground.

"Fantastic, Rainbow! You've got it!" Rarity congratulated her. Pinkie blew a party favor in celebration.

Rainbow gave a haughty chuckle. "Of course I've got it! Flying is in my blood!"

To be honest, however, her "flier's blood" was fighting her savagely at the moment. Every impulse she had built up over a lifetime of flying was telling her to flap her wings now that she had left the ground. With her flight pack, moving her wings changed the direction of thrust rather than creating it. It was an extremely awkward change, and she found it more than a little frightening.

But there was no way she was going to complain or give up now that she finally had the power armor that she had badgered Solon for.

"Okay, now let's work on forward movement," Twilight said carefully.

"Yeah, let's do that," Rainbow agreed, "forward to Ponyville, that is! Later!"

Before Twilight could shout a warning, Rainbow suddenly blasted forward and upward, curving into the air on a trail of flame and (curiously) rainbow-colored sparks.

"Woooo! Go Rainbow, go Rainbow, GO!!" Pinkie Pie cheered as the gleaming (though fairly battered) pony zoomed over the tops of the nearby buildings.

Well, mostly.

Twilight cringed as Rainbow Dash clipped the rigging of a macrocrane and bounced off into a downward spiral. Rarity gasped and hid her eyes. Pinkie Pie took pict-captures of the dive. Spike slapped a hand over his face in exasperation.

The impact occurred out of their line of sight, but the sound of a ceramite-shielded shell smacking into ferrocrete easily reached their ears despite the distance.

"... TWIIIIII?!" shouted a voice from several blocks away.

"What?!" Twilight shouted back irritably.

"YOU THINK YOU COULD HELP ME FIGURE OUT THAT FIELD THING BEFORE I TRY THAT AGAIN?!"

"I have to hand it to Solon. Four crashes in and she's still conscious and lucid. Very impressive armor," Rarity offered.

Twilight sighed. "Coming!"

****

Ponyville - Fluttershy's cabin

"Oh dear, oh my..." Fluttershy mumbled as she looked over the assembly of hololithic figures on the table in front of her. "I'm... I'm not really sure what to do."

On the other side of the table, Tellis was leaning over the opposite edge of the Blood Bowl hololithic game board, his helmet propped up by his elbow.

"Well, you remember what the goal is, right? Get the ball in the area at the other side of the playing field."

Fluttershy looked up at him pensively. "Oh, yes, I understand that, but all your figures are in the way! And they're so big and scary!"

"Well, that's kind of the point. I'm not supposed to make it easy for you," Tellis reasoned. Then he pointed to a spot on the field. "Okay, check this out. You see how you have this player surrounded? You can hit him, and that will make it easier to get a player through that you can pass to."

The yellow pegasus chewed her lip nervously. "Oh. Well... I suppose it's just a game. And he won't get hurt, right?"

"Of course he might get hurt!" Tellis laughed. "If you roll well, he might even die!"

Fluttershy's face turned ashen, and she recoiled. "But... But aren't they just playing a ball game? Why would they risk their lives for that?!"

The Raptor Lord scoffed. "Don't ask me to try to explain sports, Shy. I don't get it either."

Then the front door opened.

"Wouldn't you know it? I get my keys back, and it turns out your front door is broken anyhow!" Discord clicked his tongue as he walked into the room.

Tellis looked up at Discord, tilted his helmet to the side, and then looked over to Fluttershy.

"Oh, good afternoon, Discord. Tellis, this is my friend Discord, the spirit of Chaos and an ancient tyrant that brought fear and mayhem to all of Equestria," the pegasus said brightly, gesturing to the draconequus with a hoof, "Discord, this is my roommate Lord Tellis, a crazy and very violent Iron Warrior who decided on his own to live here. He's teaching me to play Blood Bowl."

"Ooh! I get to play winner!" Discord called out as he walked into the kitchen.

Tellis stared after the creature, utterly perplexed.

"So... you a greater daemon or something?" he asked as he sized up the newcomer.

"Arch Daemon, actually," Discord explained as he pulled a carton of milk from Fluttershy's fridge.

"I've never heard of Arch Daemons," Tellis confessed.

"There aren't many of us left," Discord shrugged and then raised the milk carton to his lips, taking several long gulps.

Fluttershy frowned. "Discord, I have cups, you know."

"It's fine," the ancient creature scoffed, "I'll finish the carton." Then he opened his jaws wide and dropped the entire milk carton inside before closing his mouth and chewing.

After swallowing his snack, he walked back into the room and smiled at Tellis. "You may not have heard of me, but I've heard of you. Big Red isn't my favorite Dark Liege ever, but I'm a big fan of your work! It's always nice to meet a cultist with the gumption to have a sense of humor!"

"Oh yeah?" Tellis stood up, quite interested. "You ever met Kharne the Betrayer?"

"Met him? I used to vacation on his summer planet back in the day!"

"He has a summer planet?"

"Not anymore. Burned up during a clam bake in 34'," Discord said sadly.

Fluttershy blinked. "His PLANET burned up?"

"I swear that when I invited the Flesh Tearers, I thought they were a Chaos Legion!" Discord said, placing a palm against his chest. "Between the name and the fact that most of their members are CLEARLY insane, how was I supposed to know?"

"Honest mistake," Tellis agreed, "could've happened to anyone."

Tellis was going to continue the increasingly obscure and absurd conversation, but he halted as he heard an engine roar approaching from outside.

"Is that a missile?" the Raptor Lord asked, staring up at the ceiling. Fluttershy yelped and leapt under the table.

"Orks here already?" Discord asked, checking his wristwatch and watching as the hands spasmed and swirled about the face. "They're early."

"WHY DIDN'T HE BUILD THIS THING WITH BRAAAAAAAAKES?!?!" came a howling scream.

The impact came a moment later, although it was quite clear that whatever it was had missed the cottage, at least. It was also clear that whatever it was wasn't a missile, judging by the lack of a fiery explosion.

Fluttershy gasped as her home rattled and shook around her, and she started scrambling out from under the table. "That was Rainbow Dash!"

Tellis glanced down at her. "Wait, really?"

The yellow pegasus nodded as she trotted to the door. "I'd recognize her screams of terror and regret anywhere! Although the actual crash sounded different than usual."

Fluttershy rushed outside, and Tellis moved to join her, intrigued.

Discord, for his part, decided to wait.

Thus he was the only one present when Angel bunny bounced down the steps, looking furious.

"What's wrong with you?" Discord asked, glancing over at the rabbit.

Angel shook his fists and hopped up and down angrily.

"If a little tremor like that was enough to disrupt your dark ritual, you probably weren't even doing it right," Discord said, rolling his eyes.

Angel bunny pointed upstairs and nodded firmly before stomping his foot.

"As if. You'd have better luck with Malal," the draconequus scoffed as he decided to head outside and join the others, "and take off those fish skulls around your neck; you look ridiculous."

Leaving the cottage, he saw that there was a deep furrow that originated from a rather impressive impact crater and ran almost to the edge of the Everfree forest. Tellis and Fluttershy were at the end of the scorched trench, with the former pulling a power-armored pony up from the dirt.

"Man, things are going to get SO much better when I remember to use that stupid field before I hit something," Rainbow Dash groused as she wiggled free from the Raptor's grasp and landed on the ground.

"Nice suit, Rainbabe!" Tellis chuckled. "I can't believe you actually got the Boss Nerd to make you one!"

Dash's helmet hissed as its seals disengaged, and the headpiece split vertically before opening up and sliding back.

"Well, it wasn't easy, but I can be VERY persuasive when I want to be," the blue pony said with a grin.

Fluttershy had to raise an eyebrow at that. Rainbow Dash had plenty of good traits, but "persuasive" was not one of them as far as she knew.

"I was SO persuasive, in fact, that Boss Nerd decided to make the whole Element team power armor suits!" Then Rainbow gestured to Fluttershy. "That's why I'm here, actually. Solon wants to make yours next, so we've gotta get back to the Fortress fast!"

The other pegasus recoiled and started stepping back. "Oh... no, no. I couldn't. I... don't want him to go to so much trouble! Yes. That's it."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Yeah, see, the thing is, it would actually be a lot of trouble if you DIDN'T show. It sounded like Solon was giving us an order to me."

Fluttershy stopped backing up toward her home. "So... what will happen if I don't?" she asked nervously.

"Nothing," Tellis answered, causing Fluttershy to sigh in relief. "But that nothing probably also includes not fitting out the rest of Team Horse. Defying the Warsmith is no big deal if you don't want anything from him, but if you do then you should probably do what he says."

"You hear that, Shy?" Rainbow Dash asked, her expression hardening dramatically. "If we don't get you to Ferry D, then Twilight, Pinkie, and Rarity won't get their own awesome customized sci-fi pony armor! We CAN'T let that happen!"

Fluttershy wilted, finding herself honestly conflicted. She didn't want to live in Ferrous Dominus, obviously, but she certainly didn't want to disadvantage her friends. As strange as it was that their new wargear depended on her.

"And really, you might as well up and move to FD anyhow," Rainbow Dash continued, "it's a pirate's life for us, Shy! We're Company mares now!"

Fluttershy cringed. "But... But what about my animals?"

"I'm sure you can take Angel with you," Rainbow said, "I'm gonna bring over Tank eventually." Then she gave a rather pointed stare at Discord. "I don't know how they'd feel about your OTHER pet, though." Discord snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, but what about the other animals? I couldn't just leave them!" Fluttershy fretted. "Without me around, who will take care of them? I just can't leave Ponyville!"

Rainbow Dash fell silent, and then she glanced up at Tellis pensively.

"Do you want to tell her, or should I?" Tellis asked.

"Here it comes," Discord said, looking away.

Rainbow sighed. "I'll tell her. I've known her the longest."

"What? Tell me what?" Fluttershy asked nervously, looking back and forth between the others.

"Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash started, stepping over to the other pegasus as her power armor shifted heavily with her movements, "about your animals... they're..." she frowned and glanced down at the ground. "Well, they're animals. WILD animals."

Fluttershy blinked. "Yes. Uhm... so?"

"Animals usually know how to take care of themselves," Rainbow explained further, "they're all staying with you because they like having you feed them and stuff, but they can get by on their own." Then she paused, glancing away to the side. "And really, if they can't remember how to live on their own, then you're not doing them any favors by keeping them fed, you know?"

Fluttershy looked over at Tellis and then at Discord, watching as they nodded solemnly.

"Wait, but... what about when an animal comes to me hurt, or sick?" Fluttershy challenged, raising her voice ever-so-slightly. "What will happen to them if I'm not around to care for them?"

Rainbow Dash winced, and then turned toward Tellis. "Tag out! You handle this." She raised an armored hoof, and the Chaos Lord tapped it and stepped forward.

"What will happen is that those animals will die," Tellis said bluntly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Fluttershy nodded rapidly.

"And those dead animals will feed other animals who were lucky enough to be born as meat-eaters," Tellis continued, "c'mon Shy, you know this stuff. Veggie-eaters die, meat-eaters eat. Circle of life. All you're doing by saving an animal's life is depriving some other critter of its lunch."

Fluttershy sat down heavily, completely aghast. "You mean... You mean I'm... useless?" Tears started forming in her eyes as her ears drooped.

"No! No, we're not saying that!" Rainbow interjected quickly.

"Well..."

"We are NOT saying that!" Rainbow shouted at Tellis before turning back to the pegasus. "We're just saying that the critters around here aren't going to starve to death if you aren't around to care for them!" She quickly put a foreleg over Fluttershy's withers, and the yellow pegasus yelped at the feeling of hard (and dirty) metal closing around her.

"But you know who DOES need you? A lot? WE DO!" Rainbow said firmly. "Equestria needs you! Our planet needs you! You're not useless, Fluttershy! But it won't do those animals much good to be fed and housed when the Orks come and... and..."

Rainbow Dash trailed off and looked over to Tellis. "Line?"

"Eat them, mostly. Mister bear might get hacked up for sport," Tellis said, "and NOT in an environmentally sound 'nature is so fascinating!' way."

"Yeah! This is for them too!" Rainbow said grimly.

"The green horde IS marginally more thorough in its destructive tendencies than Chaos," Discord agreed, "not for lack of trying, mind you."

Fluttershy wavered for a moment longer until she finally straightened up and steeled herself. "You're right, Rainbow Dash! I've spent enough time cowering here! I made a... Well, you made a commitment for me to save our home, and if joining the 38th Company is what I have to do, then that's what I'm going to do!" She set her jaw and turned around. "Angel bunny!"

The generally grouchy rabbit hopped from their domicile, wondering what could have brought his servant and landlord to actually raise her voice to call him.

"Pack up! We're moving!" Fluttershy barked, utterly shocking the rabbit. Then she looked over at Rainbow Dash again. "When is the transport arriving?"

"Huh? Transport?" Rainbow blinked, then frowned. "I didn't actually think to bring a transport with me."

Fluttershy tilted her head to the side. "Rainbow, you know I can't fly that far! How am I supposed to..."

Fluttershy trailed off as she felt herself being picked up by a metal-encased arm. "Oh. I, uh... okay." Her newfound courage seemed to wither away as Tellis held her firm.

"Yo, c'mon Angel!" Tellis held down his free hand, and the bunny hopped up to him hesitantly. "No time to pack! We're leaving now!"

Angel paused and glanced up at the Chaos Lord suspiciously.

"No, I don't have seat belts," Tellis said, "you can either fly with me, or fly with Dash."

Rainbow Dash shifted in her suit, the gears whirring softly around her. "I haven't really mastered that whole 'landing' thing yet." She looked back at the considerable furrow she dug into Fluttershy's yard and chuckled.

Angel sighed and hopped into Tellis' hand.

Tellis stood up, and his flight pack spread out behind him as hot gases hissed from the boosters. "All right, preparing for take-off in five... four... NOW!!"

Fluttershy shrieked as she was suddenly carried into the sky, blasting toward Ferrous Dominus on a trail of flame.

Discord watched the gleaming comet tear through the air, a small smile on his face. "Well, I think I'll busy myself by telling all the animals that they've been abandoned to the cold, harsh wilds once again."

"Yeah, you have fun with that," Rainbow Dash grunted as she flexed her own wings and concentrated. She lifted off gently from the ground, and then started to pick up speed in the same direction that Tellis had gone.

"Oh, I WILL," Discord said as he watched the pegasus gain altitude. Then he withdrew a pict-capture unit from nowhere. "Hey, isn't that one of those Wonderbread ponies over there?"

"Wonderwhat?! Where?!" Rainbow tried to veer around using the reflexes built from a lifetime of flying practice, and promptly sent herself into a tailspin back toward the ground. "WHY DIDN'T I PUT MY HELMET BACK OOOOON?!?!"

Discord quickly snapped a series of pictures before Rainbow was obscured by her impact with the ground, and then he snickered to himself as he turned back toward the cottage. "I've still got it."

****

Ferrous Dominus - entrance to Solon's forge

"... so as soon as we got here we rushed Rainbow Dash to the medicae center to have her concussion treated," Fluttershy explained as she stood in front of the massive iron vault leading to Solon's personal forge.

Twilight was standing in front of an obviously annoyed Rainbow Dash, and she was staring critically at the exposed lacerations on her head. "I'm surprised she managed to fly back here in that condition," the alicorn mumbled.

"Pft! I have LOTS of experience flying off severe blows to the head!" Rainbow said haughtily. "Barely slows me down! Sure, the double vision means twice as many obstacles, but if you get to the right altitude there's nothing much up there for you to run into!"

Fluttershy nodded slowly. "That's true. And then, well, she eventually got back here. And crashed again."

"WITH my helmet on, though!" Rainbow clarified. "Heck, I even figured out how to turn on that field thing that's supposed to protect me! But it disappeared after like a second!"

Twilight frowned. "As I understand, the power required for the refraction field is too high to sustain for longer than that. It's a matter of timing."

"Well, that's dumb!" Rainbow complained. "I might as well just learn how to land normally!"

"Yes. Yes, you might as well," Twilight deadpanned, "anyway, putting aside your difficulties with energy fields and propulsion technology, how did you fare with the medicae?"

"They gave me a once-over, declared that nothing was broken and that my injuries were non-fatal," Rainbow Dash answered.

Twilight blinked. "And then what?"

"Then they told me to stop being such a whiner and go walk it off," Rainbow rolled her eyes, "which is what I TOLD Fluttershy I should have done in the first place!"

Twilight slapped a hoof against her face. "Rainbow, I can't believe you badgered Warsmith Solon into building you customized, fully-functional power armor, but couldn't be bothered to demand medicine from the medicae workers."

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "You can't?"

"... Point taken," the purple pony grumbled, "I should really know better by now."

The heavy doors next to them started to shift, and Fluttershy yelped in shock. Rainbow Dash quickly spun around, a grin on her face as she imagined what she would see emerge from Solon's workspace. Twilight was similarly intrigued, and just as excited, but tried not to be as obvious about it.

They were hardly disappointed.

"Aw, did y'all wait up fer lil' ol' me? Shucks girls, Ah'm right flattered!" The voice was heavily distorted by a vox grille, but not so much that it could hope to disguise the accent.

Applejack's armor was big. That was Twilight's first and most obvious observation. The power armor suits she had seen before now, which were obviously quite heavy and bulky by design, were nonetheless much lighter and smaller than what she was seeing now. Applejack's armor was about as large as Big Mac's, despite their obvious difference in body mass.

Solon stomped up behind the apple farmer, raising a leg up and letting it rest on the pony's back.

"Quite a fine piece, ishn't it?" the Warsmith asked, pride evident in his voice. "You've no doubt noticed the shize differential between the other armorsh and Mish Apple'sh. I modeled her deshign after our tactical dreadnought armor for additional plating, sheeing ash she didn't require flight shyshtemsh or shenshitive psionic componentsh."

Twilight nodded dumbly. Where the other pony armors had neck plating and a gorget, Applejack's suit had her head and neck protected by a large armor block behind and under it that was part of the torso plating. The helmet poking out of the front had a pair of thick, elephant-like tusks mounted on either side of the vox grille. Applejack's stetson sat on top, of course, somehow fitting into the helmet cavity like it was made for it.

"The shuit hash two weapon shyshtemsh. The firsht ish a shimple heavy flamer shyshtem here," Solon tapped a dual-nozzle flamer attached to Applejack's right foreleg, "I ushed a lot of Tau gear to make it shmall enough. Their sholid-fuel cellsh were alsho handy, shince they're shmall and quite shtable. The heavy flamer will require minimal reloading while on deployment."

Twilight gave the flamer a quick glance, but the more interesting weapon was definitely whatever was attached to the tail. Unlike the other armors, which had a simple curved plate to cover the backside and leave enough room for them to bundle their tail inside, Applejack's had a segmented tail extension that curved up and forward like a scorpion's stinger. It also had a very obvious protrusion on the end, with some sort of device set in the end.

"But I'm sure you've noticed the zero-point projector," Solon continued, gesturing to the tail, "Mish Apple inshishted on shome proxy for her lasho, sho I miniaturized one and ushed the tail nervesh for control. I call it the 'gravity lash'."

"Mighty sportin' of ya, Warsmith," Applejack chuckled.

Rainbow Dash had re-engaged her helmet by now, and was looking at the other armored pony through her own visor. Applejack was clocking in a cool factor of 4.3, and with a rating of "Dangerously Awesome", was threatening her own supremacy (naturally, she assumed that she topped the scale at 5).

"In addition, your greavesh carry micro-gravity plating," Solon explained as he backed away, "each limb can shubshtantially increashe itsh weight at will, which will aid you should you lash shomething a little too large."

Applejack raised a foreleg before turning the mechanism on, causing her hoof plating to glow a dark purple. She didn't feel any strain from holding up the artificially weighty appendage, but when she stomped her foot down it emitted a tremendous clanging noise and the floor trembled underneath her. Fluttershy actually yelped and leapt up into a hover, despite knowing exactly where the impressive force came from and that it wouldn't be directed at her.

"Well, Ah think Ah can find a few uses fer that," Applejack said, grinning behind her helmet.

"I'm mostly surprised that you went through the trouble of securing her hat in place," Twilight said.

"I didn't," Solon confessed, "I don't know what the deal ish with the hat."

"Well, thank ya kindly, Warsmith! Ah think Ah just might be able to keep up with Mac in this thing!" Applejack said cheerfully, ignoring the speculation about her stetson.

Rainbow Dash snickered. "With how huge you are now, I doubt you'll be keeping up with anypony! And really, your special suit power is to make yourself HEAVIER? I think that's an area where you didn't really need the armor to help!"

Applejack struck like lightning, her gravity lash snapping forward before sending a crackling beam at Rainbow Dash. Even so, the pegasus was faster, blasting to the side and out of the way.

Using her flight pack.

Indoors.

Rainbow yelped as she slammed into a wall and then bounced off, crashing into a pile of metal crates and toppling them onto her.

Applejack clicked her tongue as the gravity lash flickered away. "Dang, Ah missed. Guess Ah need some proper practice with this gizmo."

Twilight and Fluttershy stared at the collapsed pile of crates.

"I have to admit; it's very impressive how many high-speed impacts she's been able to shrug off in that armor. To say nothing of the armor itself still functioning after so much abuse," Twilight said.

"Nothing but the besht for our dear Rainbow," Solon slurred sarcastically. Then he focused his optics on Fluttershy. "Now then. You're next."

Fluttershy cringed away, hiding behind her hair. She thought there was something slightly less scary about Solon now, somehow, but having the massively-armored Iron Warrior looming over her and glaring with those blood-red optics was still plenty intimidating.

"I, uh, d-don't need anything d-dangerous," Fluttershy stammered, pawing at the floor, "I mean, I'm n-not really very good with weapons or... or hurting others in general."

"I had that impression, yesh," Solon agreed, "that'sh why your shuit took some creativity to deshign. A shupport unit, mainly."

Twilight heard a heavy stomping noise coming from down the halls, past a set of doors that were still closed. Such noises were hardly uncommon in the manufactorum, but this almost sounded like it was running toward them.

"Oh, uh, that sounds okay," Fluttershy admitted, looking relieved, "thank you very much, Mister Warsmith, Lord."

"Excellent. We will begin the shurgery immediately," declared the Iron Warrior.

In an instant, Fluttershy was terrified again. "Wait, surgery? What?"

"Yeah, sorry, I forgot to mention that part," Rainbow Dash grumbled as she kicked aside a metal crate and stepped back onto the floor, "we have to have some kind of little metal holes drilled into us for the power armor to work. It's not like a dress that just anypony can put on."

Fluttershy gaped, stepping back. "D-d-drilled? Doesn't that h-hurt?"

"Pft! It's nothing!" the other pegasus scoffed.

"It ain't nothin'," Applejack rumbled, "but it ain't THAT bad. And Ah like the results!"

For some reason, hearing reassurances from Rainbow Dash and Applejack, the two toughest and most headstrong mares she knew, did not go very far in reassuring Fluttershy.

"I'm having second thoughts," the yellow pegasus confided as she started trembling.

"Overruled," Solon said simply, "come along. I have to get you into the frame sho that I can begin..."

The Iron Warrior trailed off as the heavy clanging noise barreling down the closed-off hallway became too loud to ignore. "What the blazesh ish that? Ish there a walker running looshe in here?"

A few seconds later the doors to that hall shifted open, revealing that, yes, there was a walker running around the manufactorum.

"Hey, girls! Hey, Shmithy!"

A Dreadnought, specifically.

"Oh, dear sweet Celestia, NO," Twilight gasped, taking a shaky step back.

"I got a Dreadnought!" Pinkie Pie shouted cheerfully, her head looking comically small sticking out of the assault walker's gorget.

"We, uh... we can see that," Applejack mumbled, taking a few steps back. Even in her new, extra-large power armor she found that she was barely taller than the Dreadnought's knees.

"Oh, hey! Super cool suit, AJ!" Pinkie chirped, stomping over to the other earth pony and reaching over with the walker's power fist. Which was the size of Applejack on its own.

"Th-Thanks! No touchin', please!" the farmer yelped as she backpedaled.

Solon, meanwhile, was stunned into silence as he looked over the assault walker and the bubbly pink mare that was controlling it. It was a newer model, bearing a plasma cannon on the right shoulder and a power fist with an integrated heavy flamer on the other. It had no apparent mechanical mutations or modifications, either.

"You can't do that," the Chaos Lord finally said.

Pinkie halted, and the noisy whirring of gears issued forth as she twisted on her enormous metal hips.

"What? I can't keep it? But why?!" Pinkie said sadly, her ears dropping flat against her head and her eyes watering up.

"I mean it'sh physhically imposhible," Solon clarified, "Dreadnoughtsh operate ushing a complete neural shubmergence interface. There are no manual controlsh for you to manipulate. You can't poshibly control that thing."

Pinkie turned all the way around to face the Warsmith, finding with some satisfaction that their eyes were about at the same height now.

"So... does that mean I CAN have it?" the pink pony asked eagerly.

Solon was silent for several seconds as he ran scan after scan of the Dreadnought and its grinning pilot who couldn't possibly be a pilot.

"That'sh Brother Kellian'sh Dreadnought shell," the Warsmith said, "what happened to him? He'sh not currently in the pilot baysh. He should have been deployed."

"Dunno," Pinkie said, shifting both massive arms upward into a shrug, "there wasn't anyone like that in here when I found it."

"Warsmith Solon, I must advise that letting Pinkie have a heavy walker is NOT a good idea," Twilight said nervously.

"I'd agree with you normally, but I'm rather intereshted in the proshpect now," Solon admitted as he stepped over to Pinkie to observe her more closely. Pinkie Pie withstood the attention proudly, lifting her chin up and planting the Dreadnought's power fist against its hip. "Alsho, thish way I don't have to build you a shuit too."

"Nope! I'm good!" Pinkie gave the Iron Warrior a massive thumbs-up.

"Excellent. Then I'll take Mish..." Solon trailed off as he looked about, finding no sign of Fluttershy. "Blasht. She got away."

"Who, Flutters?" Rainbow Dash asked, pointing a metal-clad hoof toward the partially-toppled stack of crates. "She's right here."

A startled "Eep!" came from the pile of iron boxes, and a yellow blur bolted from behind them and made a break for the halls.

"Apple!" Solon shouted.

"Ah got her!" Applejack's gravity lash cracked loudly as the writhing tendril of energy locked onto Fluttershy and struck her in the side.

The pegasus stopped right there, although she tried to keep moving. Her hooves scraped at the floor and her wings beat at the air, but Fluttershy suddenly found that she couldn't get enough traction to move.

"Very good. Follow me, then," Solon commanded, walking back into his forge.

"Flutters, relax, it's going to be fine," Rainbow promised as Applejack started hauling their meek friend along on the string of crackling white energy.

"I'm sure it will be over before you know it!" Twilight added optimistically.

"Actually, it takes him dang near half an hour to get them little nerve buggers in," Applejack admitted as she crossed the threshold of the main doors.

Twilight cringed. That sounded pretty bad. "Well, can't he put her under, first?"

"Nah, I asked that," Rainbow Dash explained, "he gives you a general painkiller, but he says you need to be awake during the process because of sciency reasons. It has to do with your brain or something, I don't know."

"NOOOOOO-" Fluttershy's scream of terror was cut off by the forge doors slamming closed behind her, silencing her cries with grim finality.

"Phew!" Pinkie leaned over toward Twilight, tilting the Dreadnought chassis over so far that it looked like she might fall over. "I'm glad I don't have to go through any of that! I hate needles! I mean, I don't really hate drills, but I've never really thought about them before! It seems like they'd be even worse than needles!"

"There are needles too," Rainbow informed her darkly, "first needles, then drills, then those little servo arms jamming stuff into you, then welders, then more needles..." she trailed off uncomfortably. "Eventually you just stop paying attention and try to think about something else."

Pinkie Pie shuddered, and Twilight frowned at her.

"Are you SURE there wasn't anybody in that walker?" the alicorn asked suspiciously. "That doesn't look like the kind of gear that an Iron Warrior would just abandon for no reason."

"Well, there WAS, but he was dead," Pinkie admitted, rolling her eyes, "so I guess it wasn't technically 'abandoned', but whatever."

Twilight took a step back in surprise. "Oh! I, uh... I see. Getting him out must have been... very unpleasant."

Pinkie Pie snorted. "You're telling me!"

****

Ferrous Dominus - sector 27 salvage processing

"Faster, you maggots! Faster!" Prince Blueblood growled, standing on top of a raised platform as menials dug, scraped, and sorted the piles of wreckage and trash heaped all around them.

The unicorn had a respirator on with an integrated vox amplifier, and above him he levitated an electro-whip that writhed in the air threateningly.

Blueblood hadn't had to use the electro-whip yet, for which he was quite thankful. He disdained violence, even when it was part of a grossly indulgent power fantasy inexplicably come to life. But seeing the implement of pain swaying overhead like a snake preparing to strike, combined with the occasional crackling of its electrical discharge, proved to be quite a motivator on its own for the workers placed under his oversight.

"By the Sisters, did they stick me with all the sick and injured workers as a hazing prank?" the white unicorn bellowed. "Pick up the pace! I'll not be humiliated by you buffoons when the Dark Techpriests come to check the stocks!"

He had only a vague idea of his section's progress, actually, and much less of a clue how it stood relative to that of the other menial blocs, but he wasn't about to risk a mediocre performance on his first day. Pampered noble he may be, but when Prince Blueblood was given a task, he buckled down and saw it done.

He glimpsed a female menial standing at the edge of his platform, looking nervous. As well she should have been, since she wasn't carrying anything.

"Did you want a break, Miss? I may be able to arrange for a nap in the infirmary, if you'd like," Blueblood said blithely, the electro-whip curling down under his neck as he glared at the woman with disdain.

"No, Lord! Not at all, Lord!" she said quickly. "It's just that we, uh, have a situation, Lord."

"Naturally. First day on the job, too," Blueblood growled, cracking the whip against the floor at his side and watching the human flinch, "well? Out with it!"

"We found a sarcophagus in the scrap piles, Lord," she continued, "there is a corpse inside."

Prince Blueblood grimaced.

"And... And it talks, Lord. Kept screaming about some pink devil and swearing bloody revenge."

The grimace shifted to a cringe. Blueblood had known that the Iron Warriors dealt with all manner of dark magic and techno-sorcery, but he had been hoping to get settled in a bit better before he had to deal with it himself.

"And what do you think I'M supposed to do about it?" the stallion demanded. "You've been here much longer than I have! How do you usually deal with this sort of thing?"

"I deal with it by informing the overseer, Lord."

The unicorn silently cursed the double-edged sword that was authority, trying to think of a proper response to this emergency.

"If I may, Lord, don't you have that primer?" the menial asked, pointing to a dataslate on a stool behind the pony.

"Why yes, I suppose I do," Blueblood groused, momentarily dropping his lash so that he could levitate over the dataslate and a stylus, "but I doubt it mentions what to do with dead bodies found on the job."

Prince Blueblood tapped the dataslate and looked over the table of contents.

"Or, alternatively, they might have three chapters written on the topic," the unicorn mumbled, "was the body a friendly, an enemy, or unknown?"

"I think the corpse is Astartes, Lord. So... friendly. Technically speaking."

Blueblood tapped on the appropriate chapter icon. "All right, let's give this a look. Although even if there are guidelines on how to deal with dead bodies, I doubt there will be any mention of how to deal with suspiciously talkative corpses that appear in nevermind, I found it." He cleared his throat before reading from the dataslate. "Over the course of operations in a Chaos Legion, it is possible for dead bodies to be brought to a state of undeath, reanimation, or even full revival thanks to the various arcane energies and dark experimentations. Should you find such an experiment discarded in your work area, the proper thing to do is to contact your Legion masters to have the body identified such that it can eventually be determined who is discarding potentially dangerous individuals or research materials with the general waste for salvage processing."

The menial nodded slowly. That made sense.

"The SMART thing to do, however, is keep your mouth shut and discreetly dispose of the body," Blueblood continued, "the sort of Dark Techpriests and Sorcerers who would discard a living corpse so carelessly would certainly have no compunction teaching an uppity overseer their place, and often may be attempting to rid themselves of the remains of a bested rival whose absence will be noticed and investigated. It is never wise to interject oneself into the politics of Astartes."

The menial winced. "That's a REALLY good primer."

"It is highly recommended that the corpse be silenced and then treated as a an ordinary body belonging to an enemy combatant, as per section 315-B. For help silencing the corpse, see the following diagram." Blueblood tapped the stylus against the dataslate to move on to the next section.

"I don't get it," the unicorn mumbled, "there's no diagram, just a picture of a bolt pistol."

He paused.

"Okay, now I get it." Prince Blueblood sighed and levitated over a pistol holster that was laying on the stool where he had put down his lash.

"First day on the job and I'm already burying the bodies of other people's enemies. I may as well have stayed in Canterlot and joined the Senate." He withdrew a bolt pistol from the holster with his telekinetic grip, and then pulled the hammer back. Then he glared at the menial woman. "And you! Back to work!"

****

Ferrous Dominus - secondary data repository, the following day

Twilight hummed pleasantly to herself as she scrolled through the list of topics in the data core, flagging those that caught her eye for download onto her dataslate.

She felt much better than yesterday, mostly thanks to Spike insisting that she have a real meal and a solid eight hours sleep before diving back into the repository and losing herself in the vast stores of knowledge that lay within. She was slightly resentful of her assistant taking it upon himself to tell her what to eat and set a bedtime for her, but she could only complain so much when he was right.

The main doors opened, and she spared a glance toward the entrance. Oddly enough, there was nobody there.

"Are the doors malfunctioning? I should tell someone about that," the alicorn said to herself before deciding to add "sensor technology and maintenance" to the list of topics.

The door shifted closed a few seconds later, meaning that she wouldn't have to close them manually, at least.

"Twilight?"

Twilight jerked to attention, her head swinging from side to side.

There was nothing. She was alone.

"Twilight? Uhm, I'm sorry to interrupt you... am I interrupting you?" said a static-distorted voice from behind her.

Twilight felt her heart rate start to pick up as her eyes shrank. She was definitely hearing a voice. A voice that knew her name, and seemed to come from nowhere. A curiously polite voice, perhaps, but that barely eased her sense of rising panic.

"It's nothing. I'm hearing nothing," she whispered, her eyebrow twitching as she levitated her dataslate in front of her and stared hard at it, "I have reading to do, and I'm going to do that, because that's what nice, sane ponies do with their free time. They do not converse with disembodied voices." Twilight stiffly turned toward a bench, her eyes fixed on the dataslate as if she feared it might try to run.

"Twilight, what are you... oh! Sorry!"

An armored face appeared in front of her.

Not, like, jumped in front of her or dropped in front of her. It just materialized, as if from a teleport, but without the noise or magical reverberation.

Twilight would look back on the incident later and decide that she reacted to the surprise very well.

"AAARGH!!" she screamed, using her telekinesis to smash the dataslate against the intruder.

"Yeep!" The helmet recoiled as the electronic reader broke apart on top of it. "Twilight! Please, stop! That... uh... well, it doesn't hurt at all, actually, but it's still very scary and I'd like you to stop, if that's okay with you?"

As the purple pony scrambled backward, her thought process finally caught up with the surge of pure survival instinct.

"F-Fluttershy?" Twilight asked, stunned.

"Uhm, yes! It's me! I'm so sorry, I'm still getting used to the cloaking field! I just got so comfortable being invisible that I forgot to turn it off!"

The gentle, high-pitched voice came from behind a helmet bearing two curled, ram-like horns. Twilight also couldn't help but notice that rather than two blood-red slits that slanted inward, like on Rainbow Dash's and Trixie's suits, Fluttershy's visor slits slanted at the opposite angles. That was a rather nice (and perhaps sarcastic) personal touch Solon had given the helmet.

"Fluttershy!" Twilight finally said, realizing that she had been staring mutely. "Your armor is done!"

"Oh, yes. It's very nice, actually," Fluttershy mumbled as she lowered her head, "the, uh, surgery was not so nice."

Twilight was already circling her and looking her over, identifying the key differences between Fluttershy's suit and Rainbow Dash's; she assumed that the two suits might have some similarities since they were both constructed for pegasi. And they did have a key similarity, in that Fluttershy's armor also had wings. Even the flight packs were different, though. Rather than being a line of thrusters placed in a manner vaguely resembling feathers, Fluttershy's armor featured wide slats of metal with some sort of disk-shaped boosters on the bottom, and at the tips of each of the wings was a small propeller turbine.

Fluttershy's foreleg plating also boasted an array of tubes, hoses, small blades, needles, and capsules wrapped around them. There were a pair of small servo arms folded against the chest plating as well, and unlike Big Mac's, they didn't seem like they'd be of any use to replace ammunition.

And as far as her actual weapons systems went, well...

"Is that a grenade launcher?" Twilight asked, pointing a hoof at a wide-barreled weapon mounted on Fluttershy's back, on top of her flight pack. She recognized the weapon from an armory inventory log she had looked through the previous day.

"Uh, yes, I think so," Fluttershy mumbled, "Mister Solon said it fires photon grenades, though."

"Tau weapons? Interesting," Twilight backed up a few steps as Fluttershy looked down at the ground again, embarrassed, "but that stealth system is impressive! I couldn't see a thing until you turned it off!"

While Fluttershy's suit was mainly gunmetal and gold, with black shoulder pads, her armor featured more hard angles rather than the largely curved surfaces of other suits, and also had strips of softly glowing blue running through the exposed plating.

"Oh, it's not that great, really," Fluttershy mumbled, pawing at the floor and generating an awful metallic scraping noise as a result.

Then the armored pony suddenly started, remembering why she was here. "Oh! I almost forgot! Twilight! I need you to come with me!"

"Is it my turn?" the alicorn asked, her voice thick with anticipation and tinged with a little bit of anxiety. Having nerve sockets installed did sound VERY unpleasant, after all.

"No, it's Rarity's turn!" Fluttershy corrected. "But she, uhm, wanted to see the design first. And then she wanted to fix the design."

Twilight blinked. "Fix it? A power armor schematic?" Rarity didn't know the first thing about armor, her specialty was fashion!

Twilight slapped a hoof over her face as she realized what likely went wrong. "Oh no..." The power armor suits were anything but elegant and pretty; a perfect example of function over form. Of COURSE Rarity would have a problem with that.

"They started shouting at each other before I left to get you," Fluttershy said nervously, "it was really scary!"

"I'm on it!" Twilight said as her horn started to glow. After a few more seconds of concentration, she teleported away.

****

Ferrous Dominus - Solon's forge

"What the blazesh?" Solon lurched back as Twilight appeared in a flash of purple.

Servo arms and ceiling-mounted turrets started swiveling around on their mountings, immediately classifying the teleporting figure as an intruder and preparing a properly lethal response.

Solon deactivated the alert with a thought, and the various tools and weapons ground to a halt as he stepped forward again.

"Didn't anybody warn you not to teleport inshide the fortresh perimeter?" Solon said as Twilight started glancing around.

"I know, but I thought it was an emergency," Twilight replied as she spotted Rarity and Spike standing on the other side of the room.

"And an emergency it is!" the unicorn claimed. She was levitating a drawing slate and a stylus above her head, and at a glance looked quite annoyed. "Twilight, have you seen what this man wants me to wear?"

"No, but I doubt it's any worse than anypony else's armor," Twilight quickly pointed out.

"True. At least it doesn't have a set of animal horns on it," Rarity sniffed, "but Lord Solon simply will NOT listen to reason! Talk to him, Twilight!"

The purple pony turned toward the highly bemused Iron Warrior behind her. "I am SO sorry about this!"

"That isn't the kind of talk I meant, Twilight," Rarity groused.

"Your friend here hash shome deshign requirementsh for her shuit that I am MOSHT unwilling to accommodate," Solon growled.

"What's so hard about letting my tail out the back?" Rarity demanded, shaking the drawing slate in the air.

"It'sh not hard, it'sh shtupid!" Solon spat. "You can't properly sheal a shuit againsht void exposhure and environmental hazardsh if there'sh a part of you shticking out!"

"Oh, come on," Rarity scoffed, "how likely is it for me to find myself in 'hard void', as you refer to it?"

"It'sh becoming more likely the longer thish dishcushion continuesh."

Twilight fought the urge to facehoof again. Rainbow Dash may have been too dense and fearless to treat the Warsmith with proper respect, but Rarity really should have known better than to start arguing with a Chaos Lord over something so petty.

"I don't think this design is a bad compromise!" Rarity insisted, levitating the drawing slate over to face the Chaos Lord.

"I think it's very nice," Spike agreed, "although a helmet would probably be a good idea." He really liked Rarity's face, after all, and thought it would be best that her face be protected from oncoming bullets.

"Oh, don't even get me started on THAT," the unicorn scoffed, patting her curled, purple locks with a hoof, "as if I could stuff all this Fabulous into one of those tiny, compressed little shells. No helmet hair for Rarity, thanks."

A heavy servo arm crawled over the ceiling and plucked the drawing slate out of the air, orienting it to face Solon properly.

Then it flung the device against a wall, shattering it into pieces.

"You're going to be difficult about this, aren't you?" Rarity asked, her eyes narrowing.

"You can either accept the deshign I've preshented, or refushe it," the Warsmith said, "I've heard enough of your shniveling."

"Shniveling?!" Rarity repeated angrily, so incensed that she even copied Solon's slur. "I'm merely trying to help you create something that any mare of taste wouldn't be embarrassed to be wearing!"

"Okay, whoa, time out, Rarity," Twilight interjected, moving toward the unicorn, "Warsmith, could you excuse us for a-" the purple pony yelped as a massive metal leg slammed down in front of her, obstructing the path to her friend.

"Now you lishten here, you insholent white pesht," Solon growled, looming up higher over the unicorn.

Rarity recoiled immediately, but Spike quickly jumped in front of her and spread his arms out. "Oh, no you don't! You want to hurt her, you go through me!"

Solon casually plucked Spike off the ground by his head crest and flung him into a pile of spare parts.

"I make WARGEAR, not show piecesh," Solon continued, looming over Rarity and finally cracking the mare's indignant fearlessness. "With or without my armor, you will shoon find yourshelf on a battlefield. There ish every chance you will die. And if you DO perish, it will be due to your own incompetence or the proficiency of the foe, NOT becaushe I produced inferior equipment. Ish that CLEAR?" His eye pulsed brightly on the last syllable, and a shudder crawled down Rarity's spine.

She gulped, and her ears pinned back while she pursed her lips anxiously. "I... have to respect your dedication to your craft," she mumbled. She was surprised to find that she meant it. As a fashion designer, she could sympathize with him taking such pride in his creations. She had really assumed that he wouldn't care about such a thing, given the Iron Warriors' obsession with industrial efficiency.

"Then you will accept the deshign I have offered?" Solon inquired. Off to his side, Twilight was helping Spike out of the scrap pile.

Rarity chewed her lip as she looked over at the schematics that were splashed all over the wall hololiths. She honesty could only make so much sense of the finished appearance from the technical sketches, but it didn't look much different from Trixie's armor. The main difference - putting aside the cape and hat that Trixie wore on top - was that rather than an integrated cannon there was a plasma gun and a power sword sheathed against the armor's barrel for her to employ.

"What about colors?" Rarity asked.

"Gunmetal and gold trim. With shome black," the Iron Warrior said flatly, "shame ash everyone elshe. Too much variation and you'll be at rishk of friendly fire."

"Could we do... platinum instead of gunmetal?" the unicorn asked hesitantly.

"Deal. Can I get shtarted now?" Solon asked irritably. "The temporal dilation engine ish going to take shome time to modify sho that it can draw on a pshionic energy shource."

"The temporal... what?" Twilight asked as Spike timidly made his way back to Rarity's side.

"It's the suit's main system, it would seem," Rarity said with a weary sigh, "if I understood the Warsmith's explanation, it speeds up the wearer by shifting the flow of time around it."

Twilight's eyes were wide as she considered the implications of such a device. "And you were worried about whether or not it would show off your TAIL?"

"Please, darling, don't remind me," the unicorn said sourly, "such is the cruelty of war! That in order to protect my beauty from the hazards of the battlefield I have to cover it in a cold, decidedly unglamorous metal shell!"

"I have never wanted to shquash an equine underfoot more than I do right now," Solon informed the ponies, his leg pistons releasing uneven spurts of steam, "in any cashe, I'll get the chirurgeon prepared for another shurgery."

Rarity sighed as the Chaos Lord summoned a new cascade of hololith screens. He turned to face away from the ponies and Spike while he started tapping away at the air, and his smoke stacks released a sudden puff of noxious fumes.

Then a rather large, dull green insect clambered out of the smoke stack.

Rarity immediately took several steps back, repulsed. Twilight found herself drawn forward, instead; she never had been able to identify the creatures that had emerged from Solon's body in his duel with Voidsong.

The Equestrians watched the insect scuttle down the exhaust pipe and onto the chassis proper with varying levels of unease, and then Rarity cleared her throat.

"Warsmith Solon, do you mind if I ask you a... personal question?" the unicorn asked.

"If thish queshtion ish hygiene related, then yesh, I mind," Solon replied as he continued to work.

"Not... directly related, no," Rarity assured him awkwardly, "it's just that I find myself wondering how one ends up worshiping the Chaos God of Plague."

Solon stopped working, and then he swiveled around on his chassis to stare down at the snow-white mare.

"While I can understand the general appeal of Chaos and even some of the specific gods - to a point, anyway - I don't understand this 'Nurgle' cult," Rarity admitted, "even after seeing Apple Bloom subject herself to Nurgle's worship, it doesn't make any sense to me. Why would you join a cult that worships death and disease as an end in itself? What's the appeal?"

Solon didn't answer right away, and Twilight eventually spoke up.

"I was wondering that too, actually. I know that ritual devotion to a specific Dark God can yield specific mutations and abilities, but only in Nurgle's case do those changes seem to be... well, exclusively bad. Being tortured by disease hardly seems like a gift, even if one is protected from the symptoms."

Solon seemed to think on the matter for another minute, looking over the smaller creatures staring up at him patiently.

"I undershtand your revulshion and confushion," Solon finally said, "but it shtemsh from a bashic mishundershtanding of Nurgle'sh nature. The Plaguefather ish not a god of death, but a god of life."

The Equestrians shared a doubtful glance.

"You're going to have to explain that one to us," Spike admitted, looking back up at the Chaos Lord.

"What ish disheashe?" Solon asked in response. "What caushesh it?"

"Dirt and filth," Rarity answered immediately, barely stopping herself from gesturing at the Warsmith himself.

"Well, specifically, most diseases are caused by parasitic micro-organisms, such as viruses and bacteria," Twilight clarified.

"Preshicely," Solon confirmed, "these populationsh infesht the body, and draw shushtanence from it. Your body fightsh theshe parashitesh, and often inflictsh grievoush shuffering upon itshelf to do sho."

Then Solon placed his flesh-arm against the Mark of Nurgle on his waist. "Nurgle changesh thish relationship from the parashitic to the shymbiotic. Organishmsh that would normally be shnuffed out are allowed to grow, multiply, and mutate. Nurgle turnsh every one of Hish children into a colony of disheashesh and peshtilence, putting the cultisht at peace with that which would undo him otherwishe."

"Fascinating," Twilight breathed.

Rarity was less impressed. "Oh-kay... I still don't see what the appeal is," she admitted, grimacing at the hairy fly/roach/Warp bug that was crawling over Solon's leg.

"Mosht would agree with you," the Iron Warrior noted, "fear of disheashe and infection ish well-ingrained in the inshtinctsh of most intelligent creaturesh. To the outshider, He ish a patron of death, carelehshly shpreading hish giftsh to friend and foe alike. To the children of the Plaguefather, He ish protector and provider, a font of life and love rather than pain."

The Warsmith turned away again. "Ash for the 'appeal', well... immortality ish a prize often dangled before the cultishtsh of the Eightfold Path, and Grandfather Nurgle tendsh to grant it more than the othersh. Beyond that... a fondnessh for arthropoda helpsh, I shupposhe." The strange insect that had emerged from Solon's chassis buzzed irritably and then flew up onto his shoulder.

Rarity grimaced. Twilight wanted to capture the bug for observation, but didn't know if doing so would offend Solon somehow. Spike was standing sentinel next to Rarity with half a breath of fire in his cheeks, ready to incinerate the Warp-spawned insect if it approached her.

A heavy grinding noise came from a raised platform in the corner of the room, and the Equestrians watched as a dozen needle and drill-tipped servo arms dropped into position around it.

"Mish Rarity, I am ready to begin. Shtep onto the platform," the Chaos Lord commanded.

Spike and Twilight gave encouraging looks to Rarity, and the unicorn nodded thankfully at them before walking over toward the chirurgeon.

She stopped just on the edge of the platform, frowning at the four mechanisms in the middle that presumably locked around her legs. "I don't suppose-"

"Shtep into the shacklesh or we're doing thish without aneshthetic," Solon snapped.

Rarity yelped in fright before practically jumping into the middle of the platform, and within seconds her hooves were secured to the floor.

"The things I do for my country..." the fashionista murmured to herself as the drills around her started to spin up.

****

Ferrous Dominus - the next day

"What did you call this device again?" Twilight asked as she looked over a cross-shaped machine on a pedestal in front of her.

"It'sh technical name would be a pshionic evocation dishtributor," Solon explained as a cascade of hololith screens surrounded him, "it'sh a pshionic weapon, and a far more potent and dynamic piece than Mish Trixie'sh cannon."

"What does it do?" Twilight asked with carefully-measured enthusiasm. In truth it was all she could do not to stand back and start pumping magical energy into the machine then and there; only her fear of breaking the device with a stupid and easily avoided mistake stayed her hoof.

"A number of thingsh," Solon replied unhelpfully, "but itsh mosht usheful functionsh will doubtlesh be itsh ability to quickly and shafely dishcharge your pshychic powersh ash a focushed energy blade or barrier." The Warsmith took several steps back. "Go on, try it out."

Twilight wet her lips before touching the machine with her telekinesis, her horn glowing softly.

The reaction was instantaneous. Thin lines of glowing purple flooded over the device as her magic reached it, lighting up the dimly-lit forge interior. When Twilight lifted it telekinetically, she was quite surprised to feel it move through the air with barely any effort, as if she was lifting a pair of twigs rather than a metal object.

"Now, focush on any two polesh to activate a blade between them. Activating all four polesh will generate a one-way barrier," Solon explained.

Twilight turned the cross in the air so that it formed an "X" in front of her, and then filled the two poles pointing upward with her magic.

The device crackled to life, and a triangular blade of what appeared to be violet glass formed between the energized poles. It was just over a meter in length, and it hummed with subtle power as Twilight rotated the weapon in front of her.

"If you inshtead push your energy into the central core between the polesh, it will emit a beam. Redundant, perhapsh, depending on your pshionic shpecialty, but very energy-efficient."

Twilight nodded approvingly as she swung the weapon about in a few small, tightly controlled arcs, listening to the blade hiss as it cut through the air.

"It's magnificent," Twilight said, marveling at the arcane weapon that had been designed and created overnight. She idly wondered what sorts of things Solon would be able to create if he wasn't utterly devoted to conducting warfare. What kind of incredible things was humanity missing out on because his genius was needed for the construction of weapons?

The purple pony shook her head to clear it. Now wasn't the time for such speculation. For now, weapons were exactly what they needed.

"It needs a name," she said finally, smiling as she let the sword configuration fizzle out. The "glass" that made up the weapon edge dematerialized immediately. "I think I'll call it... the Twiblade!" she said triumphantly.

"No," Solon said flatly.

Twilight blinked. "But I-"

"I built it, I get a veto. You're not calling it that," the Warsmith said firmly.

Twilight's ears flattened against her head, and she stared up at the metal cross quietly thrumming with power. "Well... how about... Sparkle Sword?"

"You're awful at thish," Solon noted before pausing, "it'sh a force harmonizer. That ish itsh name now."

Twilight pouted as she looked over the hololith screens depicting the rest of her power armor suit's schematics. "So we're ready to start, then?"

"Indeed. Shtep into the chirurgeon," Solon commanded as the array of servo arms shifted into place around the raised platform.

Twilight chewed her lip anxiously as she stepped up and into position, but she didn't hesitate. She and the other Elements of Harmony had come too far to hesitate now.

"It ish time to begin," Solon said, interrupting her thoughts, "would you like me to pontificate dramatically during the final ashembly procesh?"

Twilight thought that over. "Yes."

****

"In the grinding indushtry of war are we broken. In the firesh of battle are we forged. And in iron are we reborn."

Twilight hissed through her teeth as the last servo arms moved away from her new nerve sockets. Even with the anesthetic, her legs and neck throbbed painfully.

"You who have given yourshelf over to me and shworn yourshelf to the Legion Iron Warriorsh shall now receive the toolsh by which you will enforce my will."

More servo arms moved in to replace those that had drawn away. These ones carried shaped pieces of metal.

"Iron ish the ancient metal, the mother of indushtry. It shtrengthensh and protectsh. Iron doesh not betray."

Frames of adamantium were slowly sealed around Twilight's barrel, and her ears were filled with the crackling of welders and whirring of gears.

"Trusht in your wargear, for it ish loyal in waysh that even the mosht shtalwart ally might fail you."

Bands of metal squeezed tight around Twilight's legs as layer after layer of machinery and plating were wrapped around her extremities.

"Thish armor will be your shield and your weapon. With it you may shatter your enemiesh wherever they think to face you, whether in the cold of the void or the choking heat of the volcano."

Twilight felt her wings tense as they were pressed under layers of impact foam, which were then covered by plate after plate of metal shielding intricately linked into a heavy sheath.

"But it ish alsho your prishon. From here on out, my enemiesh are yoursh ash well. Regardless of whether you accept the truth of Chaosh or not, you will sherve the darker powersh, and you will help to further shpread their blight over thish accurshed galaxy."

Twilight's vision went dark as the first pieces of her helmet were pressed into place around her and fitted around her face. Soon the servo arms moved away and she could see again, albeit in a limited scope and with a strange, crimson tint to everything.

"You bear the Iron Shkull and our Legion colorsh, now, Princesh. You are the property of the 38th Company. MY property."

Light poured into Twilight's eyes, and she blinked repeatedly. Her vision was much clearer now, although still tinted red. Targeting matrices, icons, and rapidly scrolling text swam before her eyes in a confusing jumble. In a few seconds most of it vanished or shifted into miniature icons on the periphery of the visor, leaving her sight largely unobstructed.

"Iron within. Iron without."

The shackles around Twilight's legs cracked open and the servo arms drew away.

Solon walked up to the chirurgeon platform, and Twilight looked up at him as targeting brackets and data readouts surrounded the Warsmith.

"How ish it, Princesh?" Solon asked, his servo claw clanking shut.

Twilight paused to think. "I liked it. Paradoxically, I think the part about the armor being a prison was the best line. It really gave a sense of-"

"I meant the shuit," Solon interrupted.

"Right! The power armor! Of course!" Twilight lifted each of her legs in turn, noting that the limbs moved without difficulty or any apparent resistance from the heavy armor plating. "It's fine! Great, even! Still a little sore where it's plugged into my nervous system, but that'll pass, hopefully."

She frowned behind her helmet. "It's going to take some time to sort out everything on this visor, though. What's this bright red thing on the side?"

"That'sh a combat alert. Look at it and blink," Solon instructed.

Twilight did so. A new block of text opened up in front of her for her to read.

After a few seconds, she gasped. "Wait, is this-"

"Yesh. The firsht Ork veshelsh have transhlated into the shyshtem. We have incoming," Solon said calmly as his mechatendrils hissed angrily, "prepare yourshelf, Princesh. War hash once again come to Equeshtria."

Author's Note

R.I.P. Brother Kellian, who unwillingly gave up his horrific state of living death so that Pinkie could jack his walker.

No regrets.

Also, before anyone bothers to point it out, I know that the fanfic covers (and most power armored ponies in general in art) have the ponies with their tails sticking out in the rear, but let's be real; that's not good armor design, and Solon wouldn't stand for that malarkey. So you should consider that artistic license on the part of our good friends in the DevArt community, bless them all.

Third Contact

Iron Hearts: Book 4

Chapter 5

Third Contact

****

Ork kill krooza - Centaur star system

"Ere she is, boyz! Chekk 'er out!"

A guttural laugh issued from a thick, muscled throat as a battered display screen slowly uploaded data from the ship's scopes.

Planets were drawn onto the display, and then the image zoomed inward onto the main planet of interest. The third planet, specifically.

"Well, ain't she a beaut!" said a hulking Nob as his power claw clanked shut in anticipation. "Even comes wit' her own fleet o' humies! I told ya'z gits followin' da signal wuz a good idea!"

"Loot! Loot! Loot! Loot!" chanted a twitchy helmsman as he stamped his foot against the floor.

The door to the bridge creaked open behind the crew, and the Nob glanced backward to see who was entering.

"'Ey, Boss Coggz! Chekk out da mark!" the burly Ork chuckled heartily, and ropes of spittle dripped onto the dirt-stained metal flooring.

Hazarr "Coggz" Wrencha was a rather elderly Mek. His skin was a pale, waxy green where it was visible, but much of the Ork's body was covered by a ramshackle mechanical exoskeleton. Servo claws hung over his shoulders and tools rattled at his belt, and his entire left arm had been replaced by an oversized welding torch.

The Big Mek said nothing as he stomped over to the display panel, gazing through the flickering red visor that was built into his welding mask.

"Whaddya tink, Boss?" asked the helmsman in-between chuckles. "We'z gonna loot dem humies 'til 'ere's nuttin' left! And den-"

"Dat ain't roight," Hazarr interrupted, scratching his power claw against his helmet, "where's all da boyz?"

"Say wot?"

"Da boyz, youz lunkheads," Hazarr growled.

"Wot, da rest'o da gang? Deyz roight behind us, Boss!" the Nob said, sounding mildly confused.

"Not us, ya git!" Hazarr snapped. "We fallahd a WAAAGH signul! So wayr's da Mork-dammed WAAAGH?!"

He stomped up to the display panel, and his crew backed away as his claw pressed against a slider with surprising care (as he didn't break it outright).

The picture zoomed in further, and Hazarr could make out the details of the ships lying in low orbit over the third planet.

"Humie ships...bust'd ships... and... a grayskin ship?" Hazarr shook his head. "Dere's a sahvere lack o' GREEN 'round heah. I dun loike it."

The Nob scoffed. "Wot's it matta? Less boyz means more lootin' an' fightin' fer us, roight?"

"Mebbe it duhs," Hazarr grumbled, "but den, who set up da WAAAGH signul if dere ain't no WAAAGH heah?"

The Ork crew was silent, offering each other confused shrugs.

"Boss, da udda ships is headin' fer da humie fleet," mumbled another crew member, "shuld we go wid 'em?"

Hazarr's jaw slid from side to side as he gazed at the monitor display.

"Dat big 'un shoor does look invitin'!" giggled the helmsman. "Bet dere's all sorts'o neat scraps in dere!"

Hazarr focused on the megafreighter in the display, and his visor flickered softly.

"Dat big 'un is cursed," the Big Mek spat.

This surprised his crew, who immediately leaned closer to the display and squinted.

"How can ya tell, Boss Coggz?"

Hazarr snorted. "I jus' can. It dun feel roight. It'z gonna take a lotta boyz ta nokk dat one ovah. Mebbe more den it's worth." He grunted. "Let da udda ships go fer da little 'uns."

"So what're we gonna do, Boss?"

"We'z goin' to da planet," Hazarr growled, sliding his claw over and moving the display squarely over Centaur III. "I wanna see wot's down dere... and den I wanna stomp it FLAT!"

****

Ferrous Dominus - sector 11 training grounds

Red circles flickered in front of Twilight's eyes as her visor scanned over the firing range, lighting up an arrangement of shifting metal cut-outs. Ranges and velocities flashed over the reticules, and her eyes narrowed as she worked out the proper geometry in her head.

Almost...

The force harmonizer floated above her, slowly spinning along its axis as it floated in her telekinetic grip and waited for her attention.

Twilight charged up her horn, feeding the power to the weapon behind her. Purple arcs of energy flashed and curled around the harmonizer's poles.

Twilight flinched as a searing beam of violet cut across the field in front of her, ripping every one of the six metal figures asunder. And tearing open a sandbag barrier. And lopping off a piece of a ferrocrete wall. Not bad at all.

Or so she thought. But then Twilight's vox system crackled in her ear.

"Sparkle, why did it take you fifty-two seconds to line up a shot?"

Twilight grimaced at the identification rune on her visor. The Armsmaster. "It only took me thirty-nine seconds to decide on a targeting angle. The rest of the time I was waiting for the targets to shift into an ideal position."

"You DO realize that live targets will not adhere to predictable and repeated patterns of movement, and that they will be shooting back the entire time, do you not?"

"Yes, Armsmaster Tolken. Thank you for your critique," Twilight grumbled, trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

"Maintain short, frequent bursts for maximum effect," Tolken's voice continued to rumble in her ear, "aim across the tops of the cover foundations. This will keep the wary foes suppressed, and cull the more foolish."

Twilight concentrated as more metal cut-outs popped up, and then shot another beam over the pieces of cover scattered downrange. She got two of them this time.

"Still too slow, Sparkle."

Twilight grit her teeth. "I don't suppose Rarity could use your help about now, Lord Armsmaster?"

"Not really," the vox crackled back, "she's inexplicably quite good at this."

Twilight turned her head toward the next range over, her visor zooming in with a thought.

A steady rhythm of shimmering green bolts screamed down the range, evaporating the targets almost as fast as they popped up. At the origin of the deadly fusillade was Rarity, a smoldering plasma gun hovering over her head.

Rarity's armor was much shinier than hers, and had flared edging along the segments of plating for a more subtle attempt at style. Still, Twilight was sure that the suit fell well short of the fashionista's standards as a piece of clothing. Although it was certainly better than her previous outfit for walking about Ferrous Dominus.

Twilight turned back to her own range, suddenly aware that she had been letting power seep into the force harmonizer continuously while she was distracted. That probably wasn't a good thing to do when handling psionic weapons.

She picked a few targets clustered together next to a sandbag wall, and released the collected energy.

The purple pony yelped as a thick, screaming energy beam lanced forward and exploded through the sandbags, utterly demolishing them and the targets behind them.

Her vox crackled in her ear again. "That was good. Do more of that."

As Twilight sighed and started rethinking her energy distribution, Tolken evidently decided to continue talking.

"Not that it matters a great deal to me, but aren't there supposed to be six of you in your unit? Why are only two of you practicing with your new weapons?"

Twilight grunted as she released another heavy beam downrange, this time blowing a hole in a ferrocrete bunker.

"They all have reasons. Rainbow Dash is mostly getting the hang of using her flight pack. Fluttershy doesn't have any offensive weapons. Applejack's main weapon is a flamethrower. And Pinkie Pie..." she trailed off. "Pinkie should probably be here, actually, but she insisted on tinkering with her dreadnought shell."

"Her what?" crackled the Armsmaster's voice.

"Her dreadnought body. She uses a dreadnought assault walker instead of power armor."

"That's impossible," Tolken pointed out.

"We have yet to impress that upon her," Twilight admitted blithely.

Another beam tore through the firing range, cutting another gouge into the bunker.

"Off-center," critiqued Tolken, "either aim for the center of the construction or the firing slit. You're not going to do any damage that matters blasting bits of..."

The voice trailed off, and Twilight looked up as alert icons flashed in the corner of her helmet.

"You know what I like most about having power armor?" Twilight said suddenly, blink-clicking on the icon. "I mean, the protection from pollutants and gunfire is great and all, but I REALLY like having access to the same data nodes as the rest of you. It's really nice not having to stand around obliviously until an Iron Warrior decides to let us know what's going on."

"I read the alert intercept and checked the sensorium cache while you were yammering to yourself," Tolken informed her, "a herd of you winged creatures are making an unauthorized landing in the manufactorum block."

"... Well, the important thing is that if you hadn't decided to share that, I wouldn't be left completely out of the loop," Twilight mumbled as she finished reading the system alert. It informed her only that there was an unidentified aerial incursion and that the main defensive batteries had not been cleared to fire.

"Are you going to do something about this?" Tolken's voice once again crackled in her ear.

"Should I?" Twilight asked, earnestly torn. "I mean, my role in your army is pretty ill-defined, and I wouldn't want to get in the way of a proper security response."

"That's a good point," Tolken admitted, "I was just wondering if you wanted to leave your brethren completely at the mercy of the very displeased security teams that are en route."

"Thanks for the practice, Armsmaster! Gotta go!" Twilight shouted, her flight pack spreading as the boosters warmed up.

Within seconds she was airborne, zooming over the Armsmaster's kiosk as the force harmonizer floated along behind her.

Tolken shook his head, wondering why he had even bothered to say anything.

"I must be getting soft as the Warsmith, coddling these beasts."

He snorted in amusement, and then turned to look at Rarity. The unicorn was still plugging away at her firing range; apparently she didn't even notice Twilight leave.

He linked up his vox.

"I don't suppose you want to go help?"

Rarity stopped shooting, and her weapon floated upright so that it aimed at the sky. "Go help with what?"

"The security breach," Tolken clarified.

Rarity hesitated. "There was a breach? It must not be very bad; I've seen the sort of din the base unleashes when there's a real problem."

"... Are you just ignoring the combat alerts your suit receives?" the Armsmaster asked after a pause.

"Oh, I turned those off right away. I couldn't BELIEVE how often this horrid machine wanted to bombard me with useless information about dangers and problems that have nothing to do with me! As if my stress levels aren't high enough! I'll get wrinkles!"

"I really have no idea how you're still alive," Tolken mumbled.

****

Ferrous Dominus - sector 17

"We do believe there has been a misunderstanding. Art thou unaware that We art thine ally?"

Princess Luna gave her best "diplomat smile" as she stood in the middle of the avenue, but it didn't seem to sooth the tempers of the thirty Iron Warriors and two sentinel walkers that had surrounded her and her eighteen batpony guards.

"Drop your weapons, xenos," snarled a Chaos Space Marine with a power fist as he pointed the hefty claw at Luna, "submit or die where you stand."

Luna was surrounded by armored batponies with ebony-tipped spears, all of whom seemed surprisingly unafraid of being surrounded and outnumbered by much larger and better-equipped enemies. They continued to form a protective circle around their charge, unflinching spears aimed at the nearest Iron Warrior on each side.

Luna's fake smile withered. "Well, We suppose that given those options-"

"As if we would surrender our weapons while you aim yours at our liege!" snapped a batpony mare as she stalked forward toward the squad leader. Her spear was inexplicably held in one hoof as she approached the giant with the point aimed squarely at his exposed head. "Lower your arms at once!"

Luna frowned. "Ah. That IS a rather important code of conduct ingrained into our personal guard," she mumbled, looking honestly embarrassed as she shifted from hoof to hoof, "We did not think this through. It seems we art at an impasse."

"Indeed," the Champion murmured, "let me show you how an Iron Warrior addresses an impasse."

Perhaps the batpony facing the squad Champion expected the enormous and heavily armored soldier to be slow enough that she could get in and out of melee range faster than he could. Or perhaps she didn't think that actual hostilities would break out. Either way, she was very wrong.

The squad Champion didn't even bother to activate the power fist before backhanding the Lunar Guard across the avenue. Bits of broken armor clattered across the ferrocrete ground, and the guard's spear landed at Luna's hooves.

The Iron Warrior pointed at the shocked ponies. "Fire."

Luna's horn flared just a fraction of a second before the surrounding boltgun muzzles, establishing a barrier dome. Her personal guard flinched back as they suddenly found themselves staring at a flurry of small explosions, and they tightened the protective circle while at the same time wondering just what the blazes they were supposed to do in a situation like this.

"This situation is curiously familiar!" Luna shouted as her horn glowed brilliantly, maintaining the shield against the salvos of mass-reactive rounds. "We art certain that this matter can be resolved without further violence!"

"Let's try further violence first, and then we'll see. Sentinels!" the squad leader barked, waving toward the barrier dome.

The two light walkers shifted their stances, making sure to get their lines of fire clear of the Iron Warrior squads as they took aim with their lascannons.

"Wait! Stop! Cease! Halt!"

The rattle of boltguns faltered as the Chaos Space Marines looked over at the new disturbance. The voice had clearly come from a vox grille, but sounded feminine.

Whatever the Astartes was expecting, they were plenty surprised to see a power-armored pony swooping down from overhead and landing at the edge of the barrier dome.

"Oh, look! It's Princess Luna, who has sworn service to the 38th Company already and is here to help! Ha ha!" Twilight's laughter sounded distinctly manic as her helmet cracked open around her head. With a pulse of levitation, it slipped off and joined the harmonizer in the air behind her.

"Silly Luna! This isn't the security station where you need to go through before entering the fortress! Ha ha ha!" her laughter wasn't sounding any less stressed as she glanced over at a dazed batpony guard staggering to her hooves several meters away.

"Do you know these creatures, Sparkle?" growled the Iron Warrior.

"Do you know these brutes, Princess?" demanded a Lunar Guard.

"Yes! Yes I do!" Twilight quickly answered, facing first the pony and then the Chaos Marine. "Really sorry about the confusion! I'll have them checked in properly right away!"

"You will have them disarm immediately," the Marine demanded.

Luna finally let the shield dissolve, finding herself somewhat at a loss for words. Unfortunately, that gave her guards scope to speak for her.

"We're not surrendering our spears! Those freaks SHOT at us!" yelled a batpony.

Twilight's eye twitched as she watched the Iron Warrior's brow crease. "Just a moment, my lord."

Her horn's telekinetic pulse flared brighter, and an arc of purple energy whipped about it.

All at once, every batpony's spear was wrapped in a violet glow and yanked from their grip.

"Hey!" "What the-" "Stop that!"

Twilight quickly levitated the eighteen spears into a bundle and floated them over her head, fixing the Lunar Guard with a cold glare.

"There we are. Now we'll be going to the security station, and along the way, I'm going to explain a few of the ground rules around here," Twilight said, flashing the Champion a nervous smile.

"Aye, that is acceptable," Luna said, pre-empting any more protests from her soldiers, "assist Nightshade at once, and we shalt depart!" A pair of batponies surged forward toward the guard that had been hit and lifted her up.

"I feel like we should slay two or three of them," murmured an Iron Warrior drawing a chainsword, "just to make a point."

"Ooh, no can do," Twilight answered anxiously, backing away from the crowd of super-soldiers, "Warsmith's orders. He wanted three full squads of Lunar Guard, you see. Sorry!" She quickly began herding the other ponies down the street, heading toward the gate.

The squad leader watched the armored alicorn leave, saying nothing.

Then he gestured to the two sentinel scout walkers. "You two. Escort the xenos. The rest of us have other duties to see to."

The humans piloting the walkers acknowledged the command and swiftly turned to follow the equines, leaving the Chaos Marines to disperse.

"Well, that was most troublesome," Luna murmured as she glanced around at the fortress-factory around them, "We had forgotten that We had only before ventured in this place in the world of dreams. 'Tis most different in the waking world."

"I can't believe those savages! Do they not know who stood before them?" seethed a batpony guard.

"No," Twilight answered in exasperation, "no, they had no idea."

That gave the Lunar Guard pause.

"They're an army of alien space pirates," Twilight went on to explain, trying very hard not to sound sarcastic, "why would they know or care about the Equestrian royal family? There are maybe twenty or thirty humanoids in this entire fortress who even know who Princess Luna is."

The dark alicorn's ears flattened against her head. "... Truly?" she asked sadly. She was pretty sure way more humans than that knew about Celestia.

Twilight winced at the forlorn expression on Luna's face. "It's nothing personal, Princess. Humans generally aren't that interested in our political structures, and they've been very distracted recently. You know, what with the impending battle."

Luna perked up immediately. "Of course! We received thy missive sent to our sister, Sparkle, and hast made haste to join thee on the eve of battle! Where art the Ork raiders? When shalt we face them?"

Twilight paused. "As far as I know, the Orks are still making their way to our planet. They translated in pretty far away. I've been trying to get as much practice as possible with my new armor before they get here."

The purple pony took a moment to arrange the three objects floating behind her, and her helmet dropped down to hang from her gorget while the force harmonizer mag-locked onto the top of her flight pack.

"Can we have our spears back now?" asked one Lunar Guard irritably as she stared at the bundle of polearms hovering over Twilight's head.

"NO," Twilight snapped, "you get these back when the humans say you do. You're in the 38th Company's fortress now, and you follow their rules. If you don't..." she trailed off. "Well, never mind. You already know what happens if you don't."

Then she glanced at Luna hesitantly. "Speaking of which, you're taking that whole incident pretty well, Luna."

The larger alicorn shrugged. "'Tis only fair. We attacked the Warsmith when he visited Canterlot, and without such generous warning."

Twilight blinked in surprise. She hadn't thought of it that way. Then she snapped the bundle of floating spears back through the air and away from a batpony who was trying to sneak up on it. "No! Quit that!"

"One indignity that Solon hath not suffered at our hooves is being searched and questioned like common thieves, however," Luna continued, looking at the sentinels following them with an irritated expression, "surely the Warsmith can exempt us from such tedium so that We may plot the downfall of the hated enemy."

Twilight took a moment to consider that.

"Well, I suppose he could if we asked him, but I can't really call on him whenever I want," Twilight reasoned, "and we can't go wandering around the fortress until you all have security clearance, so unless we were to just find him randomly wandering around the-"

"That's him, right? Giant metal spider guy?" asked a Lunar Guard, pointing a hoof off to the side.

Twilight jerked her head in that direction, catching sight of Solon standing outside of a refinery. And standing in front of him, with a stream of smoke wafting from her armor...

"Oh, what the hay, Dash?" Twilight whispered. Only the fact that her hooves were sealed in sharp-edged adamantium plating kept her from slapping one into her face.

"How did thish even happen? Are you TRYING to kill yourshelf?" Solon demanded, his mechatendrils hissing angrily at the pegasus standing below him.

"Of course not! I've just been putting the armor through its paces! You know, breaking it in!" insisted the blue pony.

"It sheemsh to me you've jusht been plain breaking it," the Warsmith mused.

Both of Rainbow's wing sheaths were battered and torn, with smoke rising from the flickering boosters. One shoulder pad was gone, as was much of Rainbow's helmet above the vox grille. Miraculously, her shuriken catapult was still intact and even seemed to be in working shape.

"Look, this flight pack is great, but it takes a lot of practice to get the hang of it," the pegasus insisted, "and we have like, what, a DAY before we're up to our necks in Orks? I have to be flying in top form if people are going to be shooting at me!"

"Then you shouldn't be battering yourshelf against the manufactorum blocksh!" Solon countered. "You're not going to be in top form with broken power armor and a concushion!"

"Okay, I'm sorry! But I almost have that kinesis thing down! Just fix me up this one time, all right? My jets are making this funny hissing noise even when they're not on, and one of my wings is a lot warmer than the other."

"Do you really think I have nothing better to do when we have an Ork raider fleet en route?!"

"C'mon, Sol! Be cool!"

"Shtop calling me that!"

"GREETINGS, WARSMITH!! WE HAST ARRIVED TO JOIN THEE IN GLORIOUS COMBAT AGAINST THE ALIEN THREAT!!"

Luna's intrusion upon the conversation quickly ended the argument, and the Chaos Lord turned toward the group of approaching ponies and sentinel escorts.

Then he turned toward Rainbow Dash again. "Go gather up the mishing armor piecesh firsht. I'm not building you an entirely new helmet."

"Aw, are you serious? The helmet scattered everywhere after it broke!" Rainbow complained.

"Then you'd better shtart looking right away," Solon advised the pegasus.

"Tch!" Rainbow ground her teeth in annoyance, then hesitated as she saw the walkers following alongside Luna's group. "Hey, you guys! In the scouts! Help me find my armor pieces!"

One of the pilots leaned out of her walker and frowned at the other one. "Do we take orders from the horses now?"

"Shtarting now, you do. Do whatever she shaysh sho that she'll go away," Solon demanded.

"This is setting a troubling precedent," grumbled the other sentinel pilot as the scout walkers broke off from their escort formation and stomped after the rainbow-maned pony.

"Princeshesh! It ish a relief to shpeak to equinesh with half their witsh about them," the Warsmith grunted as he walked over toward the other ponies, "and may I ashume theshe are the batpony conshcriptsh?"

"Aye!" Luna confirmed. "We art here to fully join our strength to thine own!"

The batponies seemed to be increasingly perturbed as the hulking Iron Warrior approached, and one of them nervously turned toward Twilight. "Can we PLEASE have our spears back now?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "For the last time-"

"Sure! Shparkle, releashe their weaponsh," Solon commanded.

Twilight spent a moment gaping in confusion, but then hesitantly lowered the spears onto the ground. The Lunar Guard practically lunged for their polearms, quickly racing back into formation to stand between their Princess and the Chaos Lord.

"There was a minor altercation earlier with thy men," Luna confessed as her guards finished re-arming themselves, "they insisted that we go through some manner of security protocol prior to having free reign throughout thy fortress."

Solon's optics flickered briefly, and a hololith screen appeared for roughly three seconds, vanishing long before any of the equines could manage to read it.

"All done. I've requeshted accesh amuletshfor you all, shecurity tier shecundush. The shervitor should arrive within the hour. It'sh a long walk, though."

One of the batponies leaned in toward Twilight. "I like this one WAY better than that last guy."

"Yeah," Twilight murmured back, sighing, "Solon is... well... helpful."

Another batpony leaned toward her from the other side. "What's wrong with his voice?" She ignored him.

"Most excellent! Then let us discuss the coming battle!" Luna insisted. "If the foe hath not yet landed upon pony soil, We may seek rest first; we art normally asleep at the current hour."

"That's a 'we' we, not a royal We, by the way," interjected one of the Lunar Guards.

"Shparkle, shee to their lodgingsh," Solon ordered as he started turning his chassis around, "come with me, Princesh. I can give you a quick briefing, but there ish much I musht yet shee to. BESHIDESH repairing that blue idiot'sh armor."

Twilight frowned as she watched Luna and Solon walk off together, leaving her with the herd of batponies. Somehow it felt a little bit galling to be given a task like assigning sleeping space while Luna left to discuss warfare strategy. She supposed it shouldn't be a surprise though, since Luna was the second most powerful pony on the planet in magical and political terms and (inexplicably) seemed even closer to Solon than she did.

"Was he drunk? Or sick, maybe? He sounded sick. He shouldn't be working if he's sick."

Twilight fought off a sigh as she turned to face her current charges. "No, he just talks like that. Anyway, we have to wait here until the servitor arrives with the ident-tags, so I have some time to explain how you can go about your business around here without getting SHOT."

"Actually, is there a hospital or something in here?" asked a guard who was helping along the mare with battered armor. "Nightshade took a pretty bad hit back there. She's not looking too good."

"You callin' me... UGLY?" the aforementioned mare slurred, her head slowly swaying from side to side. "I'm gonna... kick all yer flanks... as soon as you all... stop dancing..."

Twilight shook her head. "The humans have a very relaxed approach to treating severe concussions. It's doubtful they'd do much."

She cleared her throat to start instructing the batponies on some of the finer point on not annoying the Iron Warriors, but noticed a stallion with his hoof raised in the air as he used his spear for support.

"Yes? You had a question?" Twilight asked.

"Is it true you can buy people here?" he asked seriously.

Twilight winced. "That... That's true, yes. The 38th Company does trade in slaves. Although it's a cruel and terrible practice, we haven't really thought of a way to convince them to stop."

"Do you know how much they go for?" the batpony asked bluntly. "Oh! And do they have any minotaurs, by any chance? I always thought it would be cool to have a minotaur for a butler."

Twilight stared at him. He stared back. The other batponies patiently waited for her to answer the question, not obviously disturbed.

"What? You just said it's legal here, right?" he asked, failing to understand why Twilight was hesitating.

"... Is this the reason why we don't let you guys live in normal pony settlements with the rest of us?" Twilight asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Not the only reason, no."

****

"The Ork fleet ish shlightly shmaller than our own, numbering eight veshelsh of conventional shize," Solon explained as he projected a hololith of the Centaur system in front of Luna, "we hold the advantage in termsh of firepower and shkill. But Orksh are eashy to undereshtimate, and alwaysh dangeroush. We cannot count on a shimple victory."

Luna nodded grimly at the cluster of red spots floating through the solar system. "And when shalt the foe arrive?"

"They will be within reach of high orbit come tomorrow morning. After that, we're not completely sure what they'll do," Solon admitted, "they might attack the fleet, mishtaking ush for helplesh freightersh ash sho many foolish raidersh before them. Or they may rush to make planetfall. The only thing we can count on ish that the greenshkinsh will be eager to reach combat."

"And what is the ideal scenario?" Luna asked, a hoof to her chin.

"The besht-cashe would be for the Orksh to utterly empty their shipsh onto the planet shurface, perhapsh under the impression that there'sh already a ground war going on," the Iron Warrior said, "ash Ferroush Dominush is the only obvioush military fortification of any worth, they would attack ush at our shtrongesht point and break themshelvesh againsht our wallsh."

Luna considered this, frowning. "But would the danger to Equestria's lands not be much greater if the green beasts art allowed to make landing upon our soil?"

"Meh," Solon replied.

Luna stared at him in disapproval.

"My firsht priority ish my shipsh," Solon stated blithely, "it'sh alsho more helpful to our eventual goalsh for the Orksh to die here, on the shurface. Xenosh that perish in the void will not empower the Dark Portal."

Luna nodded reluctantly, accepting the logic. "Very well. We suppose the danger is necessary." Then she cleared her throat. "Then but one matter remains before us."

The alicorn's demeanor changed entirely, a wide, indulgent smile crossing her muzzle. "We hast seen that both the Elements of Magic and Loyalty bear thy plate armor, Warsmith. Surely thou dost not intend to send us into the fray without similar protections?"

Solon was silent for several seconds after that.

"You know, I'm actually upshet with myshelf right now," Solon eventually said as the hololith vanished, "I should have sheen thish coming."

Luna said nothing, batting her eyelids at the mechanized Astartes.

"Look, I can't poshibly deshign and build you a power armor shuit before the Orksh reach orbit," the Warsmith sighed, "don't you have any armor of your own? Your kind treatsh pshionic-reshonance artifactsh like common trinketsh."

"We hast such armor, yes," Luna said dismissively, "but it simply doth not compare to what We hast seen of Macintosh Apple's plate, and as We understand it his was merely the first. With our warriors equipped as such, what chance hath the green brutes before us?"

"Yesh, well, that'sh a problem, actually," Solon admitted. As Luna's enthusiasm petered out, he continued. "Ash Mish Dash hash extenshively demonshtrated, posheshion of shuperior wargear doesh not confer competence. Your Elementsh are well-equipped, but shtill relatively new to open warfare and completely new to their armor shyshtemsh. They will have almosht no opportunity to train with their equipment before sheeing heavy combat."

As Luna's expression turned thoughtful, Solon shrugged. "Learning experiencesh on the battlefield are effective, of courshe, but often fatal. I do not expect to shee the equinesh performing to their full potential againsht the Orksh."

"So we require a method of simulating combat in a compressed period of time, whilst ensuring the safety of the trainees?" Luna asked.

"Affirmative," Solon grunted, "we do not poshesh shuch shimulation facilitiesh. Almosht all of our warriorsh are experienced veteransh, sho training areash are not a priority."

Luna smiled. "But we do possess such facilities, Warsmith."

Solon paused. "Come again?"

The dark-furred Princess turned away, still smiling. "We must see to our rest for now. Please ensure that thou also sleeps come the fall of night. We shalt be coming. And We will be bringing friends."

****

???

"So then we spent nearly half an hour discussing whether legality is really an objective measure of moral legitimacy before the servitor arrived. I'm pretty sure I made a winning point there, but then he wanted to discuss whether there could be such a thing as universal morality in the presence of objectively advanced civilizations with starkly different values systems. That would have taken all DAY," Twilight grumbled as she sat on her haunches.

The young alicorn was sitting next to Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy as they waited in the midst of what appeared to be a manufactorum block of Ferrous Dominus. None of them were wearing their armor suits, nor did they possess any of the other articles that one usually needed to safely travel around the fortress, such as a respirator or security badge. Strangely, the manufactorum was completely empty; the normally bustling avenues were deserted, and the perpetually active machinery of the massive factory was silent.

"So I assigned them some rooms in the mercenary dorms and had the servitor show them to it," Twilight finished, "and good riddance. I'm glad Solon didn't make me show them around."

"... I think you should have asked that guy out," Rainbow said after a few seconds of thought.

Twilight spent a moment sputtering in confusion before shaking her head. "No! Not a chance! His reaction to being introduced to a slave-holding society was to ask about prices! I wouldn't date anypony like that! That's a deal-breaker!"

"Why? It doesn't bother you enough that you can't make friends with the humans," Rainbow pointed out, "and I thought you'd appreciate somepony who could talk with you about lame egghead stuff."

Twilight groaned. "Well, it just so happens that my standards for a special somepony are a little higher than that, Dash."

"Ya should be a little more open-minded," Applejack advised, "ya don't exactly have stallions linin' up outside yer door, Twi."

Twilight tilted her head to the side as she frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"Applejack! Too honest!" Fluttershy hissed.

The discussion was thankfully cut short as a pool of shadows appeared on the walkway in front of the mares. They turned to watch as the darkness bubbled up and spilled two new ponies into the area.

"Woo-hoo! Time for intensive dream training!" Pinkie Pie shouted gleefully as she bounced out of the shadow gate. Luna stood behind her, a smile playing on her muzzle.

"Howdy, Pinkie! Hope yer dream 'fore now wasn't too interestin'!" Applejack said, tilting her hat to the side.

"Eh, it was okay. Gumdrops, caramels, you know, the usual," the pink mare shrugged.

"The candies had been fused into a massive fortification not entirely unlike this one," Luna said, "though We still wonder at the possible use of 'peppermint mines'." The Princess of the Night spread her wings as the shadows pooled beneath her hooves again. "We shalt retrieve the Element of Generosity, and then thy trials shalt begin!"

The shadows surged upward and consumed the dark blue alicorn, and then she was gone.

"I have to admit, this was a brilliant idea," Twilight said as she stood up and looked around at the fortress, "with Luna's dream-walking magic and Solon's programmable lucid dreams, we could generate any kind of scenario we wanted!"

"Kind of wish we arrived in our armor, though," Rainbow murmured as she looked up at the smoke stacks, "that way I could at least get in a little flight practice while we're waiting."

"Silly Dashie! This is a dream! All you have to do is imagine what you want, and it will appear!" Pinkie said with a giggle.

Rainbow Dash looked back down, and sure enough, Pinkie was now in the dreadnought shell she had "found", her head barely poking out of the gorget.

"Whoa! Really?" Rainbow asked, standing up eagerly.

Pinkie giggled again. "Nah, I'm just kidding! I have a cheat code."

"A... cheat... what?"

As Rainbow mumbled to herself in confusion, Pinkie twisted the walker around to look down at Twilight. "Hey, where is Shmithy, anyway? Isn't this his dream, technically?"

"He's around," Applejack said with a shrug, "he said he had ta get everythin' set up fer us."

"What were you doing all day, anyway?" Twilight asked. "I didn't see you at the practice range."

"I was making some modifications to the Easy Bake 500 here," Pinkie said with a self-satisfied smile.

"Modifications? Like what?"

Pinkie ducked her head into the walker, and then the entire mechanical body flickered in place.

When Pinkie's head emerged again, the dreadnought armor was painted bright pink. Pinkie's cutie mark was drawn over the right shoulder pad just like on the others' armor suits, and the letters H-U-G-S were written across the four fingers of the power fist. There was also a cannon mounted on each shoulder now, which would have made for a substantial firepower upgrade if they didn't both appear to be party cannons of Pinkie's own design.

"...... It's, uhm, very nice, Pinkie," Fluttershy finally said, being the only one who could bring herself to compliment the "upgrades".

"Yer gonna stick out like a pear in an apple tree with those colors, though," Applejack murmured, "ya ain't worried them Ork varmints'll shoot you first?"

"That might happen!" Pinkie admitted with no loss of cheer. "But from a strategic perspective, that just means that there will be less Orks shooting at the other big walkers, who are all much better fighters than me!"

"That's... grim, but entirely logical," Twilight mumbled.

Then the pool of shadows reappeared next to Rainbow Dash.

Those ponies that were still sitting quickly stood up as Rarity and Luna emerged into the empty street. They noticed right away that the unicorn seemed rather anxious, however.

"Whatsa matter, Rares? Bad dream?" Applejack asked, lifting her hat up.

Rarity blinked. "A bad... YES! Precisely! Simply horrid! It was so awful that I dare not recount its terrors! Let us speak no more on the matter!" Her eyes nervously shifted left and right, sneaking a glance at Luna.

The Princess simply smirked, saying nothing.

"Hey, Sol!" Rainbow Dash called out, shouting straight upward as she had no real idea where the Warsmith was. "We're all here! Let's get this show on the road!"

A flare of light heralded the Chaos Lord's appearance. He was in his modern form, with his usual armored chassis and an augmetic that was just a cluster of other servo arms.

"Good. All the preparations are complete," Solon said as he gestured to the heavy doors of the manufactorum, "I have set the program to release the Ork-"

"IMPOSTER!!" Pinkie suddenly roared, surging forward with her eyes ablaze and her power fist crackling.

Solon barely had time to mumble in confusion before the massive dreadnought fist came down on his head, utterly obliterating it and also crushing most of the rest of his torso all the way down to the chassis.

"PINKIE!! WHAT THE HAY?!?!" Twilight screeched, her mane sticking straight up in shock.

The Warsmith's remains let out a blast of compressed gases after a moment, and then the chassis collapsed onto the ground in a heap.

"You... You killed Solon," Rainbow Dash mumbled, her eyes wide as saucers. She wasn't the only one. Only Luna didn't look completely stunned by the outbreak of violence, and even she still offered a few surprised blinks.

Pinkie shook her head. "That WASN'T Shmithy," the party pony said darkly, glaring down at the shattered body. "... Er... isn't Shmithy, I mean."

The reason for her correction was because the mechanoid Astartes was rapidly regenerating, his armor swelling outward back to its proper form like a shaped balloon being filled with air. Within seconds the head had been completely restored, and soon Solon was standing up again to make eye level with Pinkie Pie.

"Would you care to explain that, or did you want to just waste more of our time?" the Chaos Lord asked.

In retrospect, he regretted offering her the choice.

Twilight cringed away as the Warsmith was once again smashed by the energized fist of Pinkie's walker. "Pinkie! Seriously! Stop that!"

"Aye. 'Tis not at all productive," Luna agreed, "this is a dreamscape. Thou cannot harm another dreamer so easily."

Pinkie pouted as she backed away from Solon, watching the Chaos Lord once again return to an undamaged state. "But where's the real Solon?"

"What are you talking about? Why do you think that's a fake?" Rainbow Dash demanded.

"Because his voice is all normal!" Pinkie complained.

Silence reigned as the pink dreadnought pointed a huge finger at the Iron Warrior while its pony pilot sniffed, looking heartbroken.

Twilight turned to address the fully regenerated Warsmith. "If you want to drop her out of this, I wouldn't hold it against you."

"Oh, no, that's fine," Solon said, waving his flesh-arm, "I'll get to watch her explode multiple times tonight. It will make up for this, I'm sure."

"Miss Pie, We assure thee that this is most definitely the Warsmith," Luna calmly reassured the anxious pony, "he never slurs his speech in the realm of dreams."

"Awwww..." Pinkie's walker leaned forward as she looked despondent, and Twilight couldn't decide whether she'd rather offer the pink mare a hug or a lightning bolt to the face.

"If that confusion has been resolved, then I will continue," Solon murmured, pointing at a spot in the street.

In a flash of light, there was a new figure standing out in the open. This one was a green-skinned, humanoid figure wearing dirty pants and a shirt with several ramshackle metal plates attached to it. Its head was hairless, and large tusks jutted upward from its heavy jaw.

"This is the common Ork soldier," Solon began as the muscular green alien glanced around obliviously, "it possesses dull senses, poor reflexes, and a distinctly low intellect. Barely capable of verbal communication and basic tactics, it truly understands but one thing: that fighting is fun."

"Well, they don't sound too impressive," Rarity mumbled as she looked the creature over.

"Kinda big, though," Rainbow Dash frowned up at it. It was slightly hunched over, but still obviously larger than a human, who were themselves significantly bigger than ponies.

"Indeed. Orks are big. And there are a lot of them. Besides that, they have an irritating talent for turning their weaknesses into strengths. They don't feel much pain and are so feeble-minded as to be unpredictable on the battlefield. And their technology is so crude that it can be assembled from the scraps found in the trash heaps of more intellectual species. They are slow and dull-witted, yes, but also very easy to underestimate."

"Well, then let's get to fighting them!" Rainbow Dash snapped, shaking a hoof at the alien.

"Of course." With a gesture from Solon, the Elements of Harmony found themselves in their power armor suits (aside from Pinkie, anyway). The Ork vanished.

"I have set up the opponents to arrive in waves of increasing size and strength," Solon explained, "once you take lethal damage, you will be teleported to a different area where you will wait for your allies to join you in ignominious failure. Then you will be attacked again."

"Oh dear. This isn't going to hurt, is it?" Fluttershy whimpered, already feeling the urge to trigger her armor cloak.

"It will not. Sensation within the simulation can feel realistic, but it will not trigger a pain response." Hearing no other questions forthcoming, Solon backed away. "Luna and I will be observing from an elevated location."

The Warsmith vanished from sight, and Luna bowed her head.

"Good luck to thee, Elements. May thou lay waste to entire armies of the foe!"

She started to lift off, but hesitated as Rarity trotted over.

"Remember, you cannot tell ANYONE what you saw!" the unicorn hissed, leaning in toward the Princess.

"Aye, We know," Luna rolled her eyes as she took off into the polluted skies.

Seriously, as if Rarity's was the first conceited, sexually-charged power fantasy she'd ever walked into. Mare needed to lighten up.

"Okay, so how we gonna do this?" Applejack asked, her helmet sweeping from side to side nervously.

Twilight cycled the vision modes on her visor to see if it could detect the incoming enemies somehow. "Well, I'm not sure how the Orks are going to come to us. Do they teleport in, or-"

She almost bounced into the air as a banging noise suddenly came from the manufactorum door next to the avenue.

"Well, that answers that question," Rainbow Dash muttered, lifting off the ground into a hover as her flight pack began a slow burn.

"All right! Everypony stay together! Attack as soon as the door is breached!" Twilight called out as the banging noise intensified.

The doors started to bow outward from the pressure on the other side, and Twilight levitated her force harmonizer into position above her.

"All right, you savages," she mumbled through her vox, "let's see how you fare against the Twibla-"

"Twi, knock it off. That ain't what it's called," Applejack interrupted.

"... Oh, whatever. Here they come!"

The blast doors suddenly burst open with explosive force, and the ponies' visors promptly started tagging hostile targets through the smoke as a crowd of whooping aliens charged through the breach.

Applejack was quickest on the draw, as she had by far the least discriminate weapon. The roar of flames swallowed the roar of the simulated Orks as she let loose her heavy flamer into the horde.

And into her friends, most of whom were in front of her.

"Aw, horseapples! Sorry!" Applejack called out as the others started screaming. "This thing spreads a lot further'n Ah thought!"

"FIRE! I'M ON FIRE!!"

"IT BURNS!! CELESTIA ABOVE, IT... actually, no, this doesn't hurt at all. Strange."

"Help! I can't be invisible like this!"

"AJ, you team-killer!"

Only Pinkie had been standing behind the apple farmer at the time, and she soon erupted into full-blown laughter as she watched her friends start running in circles and rolling around on the ground to put out the flames that surrounded them.

And then, of course, there were the Orks.

"Blugh!" Rainbow Dash yelped as she caught a massive axe to her helmet, and she staggered for a moment before three more Orks surrounded her and started beating at her scorched armor with their axes and heavy pistols.

Similar scenes played out around the other burning ponies, and Applejack cringed and backed away as she watched aliens surround and pummel her friends.

"Uh... should Ah... um..." then her eyes narrowed, and the apple farmer set her jaw. "Aw, the hay with it! It ain't real, anyhow!"

With that declaration, she turned toward the nearest cluster of Orks (who were stomping on Rainbow Dash's mangled body) and once again unleashed her heavy flamer.

"GAH!! Now you're doing it on purpo-" Rainbow's voice vanished as she was cooked inside her armor, and her body vanished in a puff of dark smoke.

"Applejack! This is NOT a proper display of friendshi-" Twilight was similarly cut off as the tongue of flames passed over her.

"Tell Angel I'm sorry Mommy won't be coming home!" Fluttershy managed to squeal before her own armor gave way to the devastating heat.

"OF ALL THE WORST THINGS THAT COULD POSSIBLY HAPPEN!!" Rarity cried as she burned.

Pinkie Pie continued to howl with mirth as the Orks and ponies burned together, her entire walker shaking back and forth in imitation of a belly laugh.

Then her eyes snapped open as she sobered instantly. "Twitchy tail!"

She paused. "Oh, wow, that even works in virtual reality? Neat!"

Then a loud clanging noise came from behind her, and she spied an Ork sprinting away to the side.

"Hey! Did you put a 'kick me' sign on my back? Because that's kind of funny, but pretty pointless! In this thing I don't think I'd even feel-" the tankbusta bomb chose that moment to detonate, and the rest of Pinkie's warning was lost as bits of her dreadnought were scattered over the avenue.

Applejack whirled around at the explosion, and she whipped her tail forward at the Ork carrying explosives.

The gravity lash struck true, and Applejack immediately yanked the greenskin off his feet and onto the ground in front of her.

"Stay off our planet, ya green varmint!" she howled as she reared up and activated the gravity plates in her greaves. Her forehooves landed on the Ork's body with tremendous force, crushing the alien to a paste and splattering the underside of her armor with gore.

"How do ya like them apples?! Who's next?!" Applejack twisted her head around left and right, but couldn't see any more movement among the piles of torched aliens and steaming bits of dreadnought wreckage.

Then a message appeared on her visor, stating "Wave one complete."

"Wait, Ah won? Really?" Applejack asked, surprised.

"Yes. Yes, you did," said Solon as his vox link connected to her helmet.

Applejack could swear she heard hysterical laughter in the background, but decided to ignore it. "All right, good. So what now?"

"Now you and the rest of the survivors face wave two," Solon explained, "there will be almost twice as many opponents."

"... Wait. Me and the survivors? But..." Applejack looked at the veritable wall of flames in front of her, and her head sunk in embarrassment. "Oh."

"Normally I'd take the time to give you a lesson about teamwork, but I think the Orks will demonstrate that well enough for you in a moment. Good luck."

The vox line was cut, and Applejack cringed as she heard a furious bellow coming from deeper in the manufactorum.

****

"I can't BELIEVE she did that! As soon as she dies she's getting a face full of ninja stars!" Rainbow Dash growled, her flight pack sputtering flames as if in angry sympathy.

Twilight rolled her eyes behind her visor. "Rainbow, would you let it go? It was an accident."

"The FIRST jet of fire was an accident!" the pegasus retorted.

"The whole point of this is to learn to use our equipment properly," Twilight countered, "better that Applejack torch us now and learn her lesson. Tomorrow the fire is going to be real."

Rainbow's helmet sunk slightly, which Twilight chose to interpret as submission to her logic.

"All right, so when Applejack re-joins us, let's all remember NOT to stand in front of her when we're lining up for a defense," the purple pony said with a nod.

"But what if AJ doesn't join us?" Pinkie asked, turning her walker toward Twilight. "You saw how easily she wiped out those Orks! Well, okay, you DIDN'T see because your visor was covered in licking flames, but I did, and it was intense! What if she just burns through the remaining waves while we're just waiting for her to die, and then we spend all night just standing around because-"

"EEEEEYAAAAAH!!!"

Pinkie's extended question was cut off as a vox-distorted scream boomed through the vast, empty fortress.

"Okay, never mind," Pinkie mumbled as a flare of light appeared next to her.

"Sam Apple's ghost!" Applejack gasped as she rematerialized. "That Ork was huge! Bigger'n a Space Marine, even! Ah think he-"

She was promptly cut off by a spray of shuriken to the faceplate.

"Dash! No! Bad girl!" Rarity barked, slapping Rainbow Dash's helmet with the butt of her sheathed power sword.

"What? Now we're even!" the pegasus protested.

"Rainbow! What did I say about that?" Twilight growled.

"It's all right," Applejack sighed, looking back up, "Ah'm really sorry about the flamer. Ah figgered our run was ruined anyway, so Ah got carried away."

Twilight nodded. "Apology accepted."

Rainbow Dash stepped forward, her visor magnifying the view of Applejack's helmet.

"Whoa, what the hay? My ninja stars barely scratched you!"

"Really? Huh. Weird," the apple farmer mumbled, "mah weapon seemed to work pretty well 'gainst you."

She was glad her helmet concealed the smirk on her face.

"If you're done re-enacting holovid sitcoms, the next round is about to begin," Solon's voice said as it poured from a nearby vox caster on a wall. There was still laughing in the background. "Miss Applejack managed a fair score on her own, considering it was her first attempt, but obviously you're going to have to work together so that your weapons and abilities complement each other rather than kill each other."

Pinkie pouted. "Can't you slur your S's just a little bit? Like, maybe every other one? It sounds like I'm being lectured by a stranger, otherwise!"

"In this new round, you'll be starting at wave one again. However, this time all opponents will be armed with anti-armor charges, and will make your walker support a priority target."

Twilight blinked. "Is this to teach us the common patterns of Ork battlefield tactics?"

"No."

The vox cut out, and a new banging noise came from another adjacent doorway.

"Well, here we go again," Rainbow grumbled as she again lifted off into a hover, "AJ, this time you're in FRONT." The largest of the armored mares moved forward, her flamer glowing in preparation for the eventual release. "Flutters, can you..."

Rainbow looked around, but only saw three other power-armored ponies and one assault walker. "Fluttershy?"

"Present," came a voice from nowhere.

"Getting a head start on turning invisible this time, huh?" Rainbow asked. Fluttershy nodded in reply, forgetting that nopony could see the gesture.

The doors started bowing outward again, and Twilight's force harmonizer lit up in a blaze of violet power. "Get ready! Here they come!"

The doors were torn open.

This time, Pinkie Pie was the first one to fire, wary of the fact that apparently the aliens would be going straight for her. Her plasma cannon let out a tremendous whine as it blasted an orb of energy toward the oncoming horde, sending it sailing over the heads of her friends.

Or at least, it WOULD have went over their heads if one of them wasn't hovering over everypony else.

Rainbow Dash didn't even have time to complain this time as the plasma sphere instantly vaporized her, and the orb promptly detonated to consume the rest of the closely-packed ponies.

By the time Pinkie's vision recovered fully from the light flare, the only one of her friends remaining was Applejack, and the other earth pony was clearly struggling as the outer layers of her armor melted around her.

"...... How is your hat still okay?" Pinkie asked.

Applejack was immediately dogpiled by Orks, cutting off any response she might have offered.

"Huh. All right, I'm going to need a targeting visor like everypony else," Pinkie Pie admitted as she aimed the plasma cannon upward, "eyeballing the aim on this thing is NOT going to work."

She felt her Pinkie Sense going off in her tail, but she didn't bother to react as numerous magnetized bombs were slapped onto her walker from multiple sides.

"All right everypony, new round! In three, two, one-"

Up above the detonating dreadnought, Solon watched as Luna broke into a new fit of hysterical laughter. The alicorn was rolling across the manufactorum roof on her back, kicking her hooves in the air wildly as she fought to breathe past her guffawing.

"I'm glad you're enjoying this," Solon said as he tracked the ponies rematerializing across the dreamscape, "I thought watching your associates being brutally murdered over and over again might be unpleasant for you."

Luna took some time to calm down, and eventually her laughing fit petered out to mere snickering.

"We suppose it doth bode ill for the battles ahead," she chuckled, "but did thou SEE the expression on the Element of Laughter's face?!"

"Yes, I'm having a fine time as well," Solon agreed before he switched on the area vox casters, "next round, wave one. Watch those area-effect weapons, girls."

With a thought he sent in the Ork wave again, and then turned back to Luna.

"Aren't there two more equines who could benefit from these simulations, however? I know both Macintosh and Trixie have combat experience with their armor suits now, but surely-"

He suddenly snapped his head around and turned on the vox casters again. "It's a force harmonizer, Sparkle! You're not fooling anyone! Use it's proper name or I'll take it away!"

He turned back to Luna. "But surely they could still use practice."

Luna tilted her head to the side as she stood up. "We did inquire with Miss Lulamoon if she wished to join the exercises, but she seemed convinced that she would not benefit significantly. Also, she said she had other preparations to make if you were to once again send her into the fray."

She paused. "We hast not considered Mister Macintosh, however. We shalt inquire if he wishes to join us."

Luna spread her wings, and a pool of blackness erupted from the ground and consumed her.

Solon watched the pool of darkness dry up, letting his mind wander on the applications of dream-based psionics. It was certainly an obscure branch of psychic power, if nothing else; he had never heard of such abilities before meeting Luna.

"No matter how far we go, we always have so much to learn," the Warsmith mumbled to himself.

He was brought out of his musings by a number of surprised shouts from below.

"I CAN'T SEE!! WHAT'S HAPPENING?!"

"Sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"Fluttershy? That was you?! Oof!"

"The visor does nothin'! Hey! Stop that! Get offa me, ya green galoot!"

"At least you HAVE a visor! I can't even-TWITCHA TWITCH!"

Solon chuckled to himself as he watched a magnetic bomb clamp onto the leg of Pinkie's walker. A few seconds later an explosion bloomed from below, and the angry shouting died down as the mares resigned themselves to starting over again.

"... I do hope they at least manage to cut down on the friendly fire by the time dawn arrives," Solon mumbled, "it would be quite a waste for all that equipment to be lost in their first battle. And I'm sure Celestia would just throw a FIT." The vox system came on again. "Next round, wave one."

****

???

Big Macintosh grinned as his forelegs beat against the surface of the water, throwing up a torrent of water into the air and splashing the laughing pony facing him.

Sparkling droplets trickled down a coat of midnight blue as the mare recoiled and spread her dark wings above her, framing her sleek, beautiful face in a glittering mist.

"Thou thinks to challenge us?" Luna said haughtily as her mane clung to her neck around her head. Her voice was anything but angry, and a wide smile played across her muzzle as she reared up in the belly-deep water. "Have at thee!"

Big Mac was forced back as Luna blasted at the surface of the pond with her wings, completely covering him.

The two ponies were in the middle of the apple orchard in the dead of night, playing in a large pond that had been deep in the fields for as long as Mac could remember.

He was vaguely aware that this particular place was recently obliterated by the spacecraft that had landed on the Apple property, but somehow such things seemed quite irrelevant during a midnight rendezvous with an Equestrian Princess.

"Hast thee had enough already?" Luna taunted with a grin as she fell back into the water. "Surely the formidable 'Ironside' is not so easily defeated!"

"Nnnnope," Macintosh replied as he turned around. Speaking of his silly nickname, he noticed that he didn't seem to have any augmetic body parts right now. Weird.

"Art thou attempting to distract us with thy backside?" Luna laughed. "It shalt-"

She was cut off as an enormous wave of water engulfed her, throwing her back into the deeper end of the pond.

Big Mac turned around, smirking. His kick had cut a deep swath through the pond, and the water sloshed and surged around him as it leveled out again.

His smirk slowly vanished as he glanced about the pond, seeing no sign of Luna. Had she been submerged in the deeper section of the water? Could she swim?

The idea that a Princess could be endangered by a big jet of water seemed absurd, but he took a few hesitant steps forward as he searched the pond.

A crackling noise came from above him, and Big Macintosh yelped as Luna rematerialized and landed on his back.

"Outmaneuvered!" Luna shouted triumphantly as she straddled him. "Surrender at once and We shalt show mercy, crimson one!"

Big Mac grinned. "Eeyup. Ya got me."

Luna grinned and leaned forward to rub her cheek against the stallion's. "Then the conquering Princess shalt claim her prize! Prepare thee for-"

A snapping branch silenced her immediately, and Big Mac whirled around to face the noise. Luna lost her balance and slipped off his back, landing in the water with an undignified yelp.

Macintosh would have offered to help her up, but he honestly didn't notice. He was too stunned by the sight of the pony on the shore.

Luna stared back at the stallion silently, and she arched an eyebrow as she watched herself emerge from the water, sputtering in surprise.

She looked down at a pile of objects on the ground in front of her: Mac's harness, as well as her regalia, all lying in a careless heap. Then she looked back up at the couple staring at her in shock.

Big Macintosh glanced from one Luna to another, wondering if he was in trouble.

Then the Luna on the shore laid down, crossing her forelegs in front of her.

"Please, do not mind us," she said with a smile, "do continue."

****

Ferrous Dominus - psyker dorms

Twilight awoke with a loud grunt, and her eyelids fluttered open to reveal the dim, sparsely furnished interior of her bedroom.

"... Wow, I can clearly remember everything," she mumbled to herself, rubbing her head with a hoof, "I wonder if that counts as REM sleep. My mind seemed pretty active and alert at the time."

"That WOULD be the first thing you have to say the morning after going through some kind of intensive dream training."

Twilight sat up and twisted her head around as Spike yawned and pushed himself out of bed.

"So, how'd it go?" the young dragon asked as he scratched himself.

"Pretty well, I think," Twilight said as she kicked the sheets off of her, "we didn't start making any real progress until we learned how to keep from hitting each other with our weapons, but after that we did very well." She frowned. "We never got past wave eight, though. Squiggoths are SO broken." Then the purple pony paused. "Also, Princess Luna took off at some point and never came back. That was strange. I would have thought she'd want to join in eventually."

Spike shrugged off the explanation and went to go get some tea ready.

Twilight hopped off the bed and looked over the pieces of her power armor painstakingly stacked against the wall. Then she raised a foreleg, and her eyes were drawn to the small metal nub on the back, just below the knee joint.

The nerve socket was fairly unobtrusive, barely as wide as the head of a tack, but to her it was still a much more significant piece of machinery than the mechanized plating sitting in front of her. Her power armor, for all its complexity and function, was still just a suit that she could put on or take off at will. But the metal sockets on each of her legs, the back of her neck, and between her wings were a permanent part of her now; she wasn't sure the humans even had a procedure for safely removing them.

Her horn lit up as she magically lifted her helmet up and stared at the face. Like Trixie's and Rarity's suits, her helmet wasn't integrated into the armor; their helmets had to be designed around their horns, and with telekinesis they could handle them in ways that earth ponies and pegasi couldn't.

"We've come so far in such a short period of time," the alicorn mumbled, running a hoof across the cold metal cheek of the helmet, "this is my life now, isn't it?"

A dull-sounding klaxon answered her from above as a message was filtered into the vox system.

"Priority alert tertius," the static-laced voice boomed above her, "xeno void ships have entered high orbit and are moving to engagement range. Planetary assault is expected. Chances of orbital bombardment minimal. All combat personnel are to prepare for battle and report for briefing within the hour. That is all."

"They could really stand to end those messages with a 'have a nice day'," Spike mused as he poured a cup of tea for Twilight.

"I'll mention that to Solon next time I see him," the purple pony chuckled as she fit her hooves into her greaves and felt the plating close shut around her, "time to go to work!"

****

Ork kill krooza - Centaur III, high orbit

"Well, well, lookie heah," Hazarr mumbled as he guided a scope to present a magnified view of the planet.

"Now DAT looks like a propah scrap!" the Nob said eagerly.

The scope was currently showing a rather blurry top-down image of Ferrous Dominus, although much of the image was obscured by a pollution haze.

"Hmmmm..." Hazarr made some adjustments to the scanner control, and the obscuring haze was dimmed considerably. Then the larger objects in the base were outlined in red.

"Oi, dat's a lotta loot!"

"Whatta we lookin' at, Boss? Humies? Grays? Shinies?"

Hazarr grunted. "Humies. Only dey bild loike dat. But dere's a lot of 'em. Dey got almost as many boyz as we duz, and a lotta dakka to back 'em up."

A light flashed on one end of the image.

"Eh? Wuzzat, Boss?"

"Gunz. Big gunz," Hazarr grunted, "not aymed at us, tho."

"Wot? Den who dey shootin' at?" asked the Nob, scratching his head.

"I tink I c'n ansah dat," announced an Ork manning a different sensor station, "Boss, da udder boyz is havin' a bit o' trubble wif da humie ships. And dey's da ones gettin' shot from da planet. Dat ain't helpin'."

Hazarr looked up from his controls. "Wot kinda trubble? Dem humie ships is easy. Dey hardly got any dakka on 'em!"

"I tink dey'd disagree, Boss Coggz," the crewman said with a nervous chuckle, "da boyz is gettin' shot up bad. And, uh... da big 'un is kinda... eatin' one of da ships."

The other Ork crew stared as he stepped out of the way of the screen. Sure enough, the image on the monitor showed the massive megafreighter that dominated the fleet with its bow gaping open, clamped around the hull of a frigate-sized gunship. Enormous metal tendrils were snaking around the smaller vessel, drawing the Ork ship in and ripping off the most dangerous weapons.

"Told ya dat ship wuz cursed," Hazarr grunted.

"Yup. Ya called it, Boss." The crewman hesitated. "Wot about da boyz, tho? I dun tink dey can win wifout mo' dakka."

The Big Mek snorted. "I's not about ta get me big ship et up 'cuz dem lunkheads can't do der jobs. Let 'em stick it out or run. We'ze goin' to da planet."

He hesitated as he turned back toward his scope. "But where... I dunno if we got da dakka ta bust dat base. If we'z gonna crakk it, we'z needs some more shooty bitz."

His scope drew away from the fortress as its magnification dropped.

"Hmmmm... Ah, dere we go!" the image focused in on a section of land that was utterly torn apart and covered by chunks of wreckage the size of battle tanks. The scope moved further, and then focused in on the city-sized wreckage of a Tau battlecruiser.

"Now DAT will make fer a few good Stompas!" Hazarr laughed as the scope's view shifted and moved in and out of magnification. "We'z gonna set down dere, make some new, bigga dakka, and den hit da base!"

"All dat loot! Iz gonna be a good day!"

"Aye aye, Boss!"

"'Ey Boss, what's dat udder ting next to da scrap?"

Hazarr paused and then shifted the view on the scope over past the crashed space ship. At the current magnification, although the two areas appeared quite close to each other, the gap between them represented several kilometers.

"... Looks like clowds ta me," the Big Mek mumbled. "Lotta clowds... dat ain't movin' wif da rest'o da sky. Funny."

"Are dose huts on top'o da clowds?" an Ork asked, scratching his head. "Can dey do dat?"

"I nevah looted a clowd a'fore! How do ya do it?"

The aged Big Mek glanced up at his crew and saw that they were all looking at him expectantly.

"... Eh, I'll look inta it once we're dere," Hazarr mumbled, "now get ready fer drop, you grot-lovin' softies! And make shur my ship stays 'way from dose humie gunz! We'z came heah fer a Waaaugh, and we's gettin' a WAAAAUGH!!"

****

Canterlot City

"By Celestia's mane, would you LOOK at this place..."

Five pegasi in blue jumpsuits with yellow lightning patterns over the sides flew over the castle property in an arrow formation, their gazes fixed downward. Each one of them was capable of considerable speed, but right now they were moving almost as slowly as they could imagine without dropping into a hover so as to take in as much of the city below as possible.

Spitfire clicked her tongue as she headed the formation. "Damn grayskin mules. Look at what they did to this place! I only wish we had gotten mobilization orders before the humans drove them out of here!"

Behind her, Fleetfoot shared a dubious glance with Soarin. Neither of them could be considered cowards, but they couldn't say they regretted missing the chance to face an enemy that had neutralized the Princesses with ease and had so obviously outgunned the Royal Guard that they hadn't even fought.

"I dunno Spit, I've heard a thing or two about what went down here," Soarin grimaced as the formation banked, swooping around a crane that looked extremely out of place among the pre-industrial city, "a LOT of humans died during that battle."

The Wonderbolts' captain grit her teeth, although she suppressed the urge to snap at the stallion.

"... It just... bothers me, is all," she mumbled, "this was our fight, but it's like us ponies were just bystanders. I don't like the idea of having to rely on humans to bail us out whenever space freaks come knocking."

"No wonder you were so eager to accept this job," Fleetfoot said with a distinct lack of enthusiasm.

"Jeez, are those the gardens? There's hardly anything left!"

"What's that?" Fleetfoot asked, pointing to a gunship. "Some kind of vehicle?"

The transport's engines came to life as it started to take off, and the pegasi circled around the landing area, giving the flyer a wide berth as it lifted from the ground.

"That's a BIG flying machine," Soarin mumbled as he watched it pick up speed, "how can it even move?"

"All right, shut your pie-holes! We're going in!" Spitfire ordered.

The Wonderbolts curved around the departing gunship and landed lightly on the scorched platform it had left behind. There were several pony guards on duty, and they quickly left as soon as they saw who had arrived, presumably to inform a superior that the team was here.

There were also a few humans passing by, all of them wearing white robes with sun motifs. The Wonderbolts stared at the passing figures with undisguised curiosity; none of them had ever seen a homo sapien before.

One of the figures noticed them staring and bowed his head as he passed. "Praise the sun."

Spitfire raised an eyebrow. "Uh... sure. You too."

"So they DO speak the same language as us," Soarin mumbled, "that's WEIRD. I mean, what're the odds?"

Spitfire stiffened as she recognized a pony emerging from the castle to meet them. "Atten-SHUN!"

Every one of the Wonderbolts stood up straighter as Shining Armor approached the group.

Shining Armor halted in front of the Wonderbolts, and then he nodded approvingly. "At ease, soldiers."

Their poses relaxed appropriately, and the unicorn started to pace in front of them.

"Let's begin by saying that I'm sorry you were all called here on such short notice. I don't know how carefully you've been tracking 'current events' as per alien activity in Equestria, but things have been developing very quickly around here."

"Quick is how we like things, Captain," Spitfire said, "if our country needs us, we'll be there in a flash!"

"Good attitude," Shining mumbled as he continued to walk in front of the stunt ponies. "As I explained via the letter I sent, you've been requested to act as a reconnaissance team for the humans; it's one area of military expertise where they do not excel. You'll be facing a race of aliens called the Orks."

"Anything you can tell us about these 'Orks', Captain Armor?" Spitfire asked.

"I only know the basics. They're terrestrial, bipedal, green, and extremely violent. A race of warriors and vagrant scavengers. Before today, no mortal Equestrian had seen an Ork. That fortunate streak ends with you."

"We're ready, Sir!" Soarin affirmed.

Shining Armor paused. "Speaking of which... tell me, have any of you seen an Iron Warrior before?"

The Wonderbolts shook their heads.

"I read something about them," Fleetfoot volunteered, "no pictures, though."

"No pictures... well, allow me to paint you one," Shining said grimly, "the Chaos Space Marine is a modified human who stands over eight feet tall and weighs around four hundred pounds. Most of that is granite-hard muscle, while a good portion is bones like steel rods."

The Wonderbolts looked at each other uneasily.

"The Space Marine has redundant organs, superb senses, better reflexes than a cat, and they're trained to a level of military skill that make the Royal Guards look like fumbling buffoons."

Spitfire had to bite her tongue at that. She didn't want to disparage any branch of the Equestrian military, but Canterlot's guards didn't have the best reputation for military competence.

"All that mess of terrifying killing machine is then wrapped in a shell of metal that makes my armor-" he paused to tap a hoof against his breastplate, "-look like so much tinfoil, yet doesn't slow them down at all. Then they're armed with guns that can punch a hole through a minotaur and - I suspect this is just for laughs at this point - a sword that is ALSO a chainsaw!"

This got quite a few raised eyebrows.

"If you can picture all that, you have an idea as to the basic, rank-and-file Iron Warrior," Shining Armor said with a grimace.

"'Basic'? As in, there are other, more dangerous kinds?" Soarin asked.

Shining Armor shuddered as he thought back on the rusted hulks that he had seen on the day of the siege. "Yeah. Yeah, there are."

"Okay, but... aren't they on OUR side?" Fleetfoot asked hesitantly.

"Technically, yes," Shining said with a nod, "although if you spend an hour with one you'll start to wonder. They're not nice people." Then he cleared his throat. "The reason I bring it up, besides the fact that you'll probably meet some soon, is that these new aliens, the Orks, are dangerous enough for the Iron Warriors to take seriously. They were really considering abandoning the planet, and even a few of their space vessels, in order to avoid facing them. So watch your flanks out there."

"You got it, Captain Armor!" Spitfire barked. "You hear the stallion, Wonderbolts?!"

"Aye aye, Sir!" the rest of the pegasi shouted in unison.

"Good. Now I..." Shining trailed off as he heard rocket engines approaching rapidly, and he glanced behind him to check if they had to make way for an approaching gunship.

What he saw instead was a pony-shaped suit of powered armor blasting through the sky directly toward them. The sight was surprising enough that he didn't think to yell out a warning or try to get out of the way.

The armored pony tilted up sharply as it got close, and then a sudden burst of force came from its feet, stopping it almost dead in the air and nearly knocking Shining Armor over.

The unicorn recovered and started backing away from the intruder, his eyebrow arched. "Okay, so... I can't actually explain this..." he admitted.

"Wait a minute," Soarin said as the newcomer landed heavily in front of them, "check out that shoulder pad! That's-"

"Hello, Canterlot! Your savior has arrived!" crowed a vox-distorted voice.

A hiss came from the armor suit as the helmet seals depressurized and cracked open.

"R-Rainbow Dash?" Shining Armor blinked repeatedly. "When did you get... uh..."

The blue pegasus smirked at the ponies gaping at her. "What, this old thing? Well, if you're gonna sign up to be a space pirate, you may as well take advantage of all the perks, right?" Then she snickered. "Hey, wait, check this out. WACHOW!"

She suddenly turned her head toward a stone column, and her shuriken catapult followed the movement and spat a burst at the ruined construct. Most of the shuriken sliced deep into the stone and got stuck, although one happened to strike at an angle and bounce off, cutting into the ground next to Shining Armor's hooves. He cringed and stepped away nervously, disturbed at how deep the projectiles got into solid stone.

"Are those NINJA STARS? You have a gun that shoots NINJA STARS?!" Soarin asked in awe.

"Pretty sweet, huh? You wouldn't believe how much I had to pester Solon to get him to unlock the safety on this thing," Rainbow said, reaching up an armored hoof to tap the weapon, "he made me promise not to do anything dumb with it, like fire it to show off or without having my visor on."

"... Both of which you just did," Spitfire pointed out blandly.

"Now don't YOU start."

A second set of rocket engines could be heard approaching, and the ponies other than Rainbow Dash looked up eagerly to see what else was coming their way.

The Wonderbolts backed away quickly once they saw it wasn't another pony, giving this new figure ample room to land.

Tellis hit the ground hard, his boots pounding small craters into the pavement below. In his arms was a large, rectangular metal case.

The Chaos Lord stood up to his full height, his wings spreading dramatically as he glared into the wide eyes of the Wonderbolts. "'Sup?"

"This is my buddy Tellis," Rainbow Dash said with a smirk, "he's the commander of the 38th Company's airborne shock troopers, the Steel Reavers."

"Nice to meet you, Sir," Spitfire said as she straightened again, and making no small effort to keep her voice even. Shining Armor's description of the Chaos Space Marines hadn't made any mention of claws, jet packs, or skull necklaces. Clearly this one was far from the "basic" sort of Iron Warrior.

"You guys seem cool, so you can call me Tellis," the Chaos Space Marine said, dropping the metal case in front of him, "I'll be your instructor on the finer points of Ork murder today."

Shining Armor chewed his lip anxiously before he raised a hoof. "Um, I thought-"

"Buzz off nerd, we're done with you," Tellis said, pointing toward the castle.

"Oh-kay then! Good luck!" Shining said with false cheer as he cantered away. He had better things to do, anyway.

"So... Tellis. What's in this?" Spitfire asked gingerly, pointing a hoof toward the armored case.

"It's your new gear," the Raptor explained as he stuck one claw into the opening seam.

His gauntlet buzzed loudly as the power field activated, and Tellis drew the lightning claw across the container, slicing open the locks.

The Wonderbolts took a cautious step back.

"Uh... was that the only way to open it?" Soarin asked. "That seems like a pretty inconvenient design, if it is."

"Nah. But I don't have the key code to the locks," Tellis explained as he opened the case, "let's see what we've got here..."

"Wait, you didn't know what kind of equipment we're getting?" Spitfire asked.

"No, this whole briefing was supposed to be some other guy's job," Tellis admitted as Rainbow Dash stepped up to the metal case, "but then Rainbow heard about it and said that it would be really cool to fly a mission with you guys, so I took his stuff and we headed out early."

"Ooh! Can I be team leader?" Rainbow Dash asked brightly.

"I don't see any reason why not," Tellis replied as he pulled out several grenade belts.

"I have a few reasons," Fleetfoot noted, raising a wing into the air.

"Don't wanna hear it," the Chaos Lord replied as he picked up a headset with an optics visor and integrated vox system, "all right, each of you put one of these on."

The Wonderbolts hesitantly exchanged their flight goggles for the new headgear, each one fitting it securely over their faces before frowning deeply.

"Can't see anything with this on," Soarin mumbled, "am I even wearing it correctly?"

"There's a button on the side. Try pressing that."

The stallion did so, and he was surprised and pleased to see a complete field of vision appear before his eyes, along with several numerical readouts and incomprehensible acronyms.

"All right, now we're getting somewhere!" Spitfire said as she looked up at Tellis and then zoomed in to focus on his helmet mask.

"It will take some time to get accustomed to your optics controls," Tellis advised in a high-pitched, feminine voice, as if he was recording a safety video, "icons are activated by looking directly at them and blinking. Take a few minutes to try different icons to figure out what they do, as I have no idea myself."

"Found the zoom! Ooh, neat! I can see into the Princess's room from here!" Soarin grinned as he stared off in the direction of the castle.

"And I think that box up top is a camera function. Not bad..." Spitfire pushed the optics visor up and glanced at the metal case. "What else you got there?"

"Mostly grenades," Tellis plucked one of the cylinders from the belt and held it up.

"Wait... what is she DOING in there?" Soarin mumbled as he leaned further in the direction of the palace. Fleetfoot gave him a swift kick in the leg, and he yelped and quickly faced forward again.

"Grenades are simple explosive charges. Cheap, reliable, and effective," Tellis explained, tossing the grenade up and then catching it on its way down, "so long as the metal pin is in the grenade, it will not explode."

He pulled the pin out, and all the wonderbolts jumped back. Rainbow Dash didn't make any sudden moves, but she did re-engage her helmet.

"You can also keep it from exploding by holding down the lever. Although that might be challenging without awesome monkey fingers. I mean, I guess you hold stuff in your jaws most of the time, but you probably don't want a live grenade in your mouth. After the pin and the handle are loose, good times." Tellis flung the grenade over his shoulder, and it flew over a scorched stone wall that separated the former garden from the rest of the palace property.

"Hey, what is-HOLY SHITE!!" came a scream from behind the wall, followed by an explosion.

As the Wonderbolts stared in horror at the scene, Rainbow Dash hit her leg boosters and made a long hop up on top of the wall to look over it.

"Yo! You all right?" she called down.

"Who the hell threw that?!" the voice demanded.

"Tellis."

The other voice paused.

"Good throw, Lord! Almost got me!"

Rainbow Dash turned around and leapt down from the wall. "Just some merc. He's fine."

"Nifty," Tellis said, still facing the Wonderbolts, "so, that was your crash course on grenades. Any questions?"

All of the Wonderbolts raised a wing up, but Fleetfoot just spoke her question aloud. "Are you insane?"

"Good question! I fit many behavior patterns consistent with psychotic schizophrenia. I usually hear voices in my head telling me to do stupid things, but lately Rainbow here has been taking over that function."

The Wonderbolts seemed stunned for a moment, but then they all lowered their wings.

"Well, I had more questions, but that... pretty much answers them or renders them moot," Spitfire admitted.

"Cool. Then grab a belt and let's rock. I wanna hit stuff," Tellis commanded, jabbing a thumb behind him.

"You do at least realize this is a RECON mission, right?" Soarin asked nervously as he gingerly bit onto a grenade belt and tried to figure out the best way to secure it on him.

"YOUR mission is to recon. MY mission is to do whatever I want," the Iron Warrior explained.

"Aww! We NEVER get missions like that!" complained one of the other Wonderbolts.

"Stow it, Blaze!" Spitfire snapped as she finished securing the belt across her chest. Then she frowned at Tellis. "So you don't answer to anybody?"

"He does, but Sol is pretty cool about this sort of thing," Rainbow Dash assured her, "oh, but I guess there's Sliver too. He's less cool."

"There's also my god, but he isn't big on specific mission objectives," Tellis admitted.

Bloodbloodbloodbloodbloodskullsbloodbloodmurderbloodbloodblood.

"Yeah, okay, we'll get to that. CHILL," the Chaos Lord snapped, much to the equines' confusion, "you horse-birds ready?"

"I've had control of my squad hijacked by a fangirl, I'm being led into a war zone by a self-described psychotic who sidelined the ACTUAL commanding officer, and I have a string of explosives wrapped around my body, all in service to a bunch of alien marauders I barely know anything about," Spitfire deadpanned. Then she pushed the optical visor down over her eyes. "Sure. Let's do this."

Tellis chuckled as his flight pack spread out behind him. "Heh. Pegasi are the BEST."

****

10 kilometers out from Ork landing site

"Hey Captain, isn't this site pretty close to Cloudsdale?"

Spitfire glanced over at Soarin, and the stallion was immediately bracketed in a green square before her visor started listing his velocity, altitude, and more information of even less use to her. She wished there was time to get to experiment more with the gadget or - even better - talk to someone who actually knew how it worked. The data feeds it kept throwing up in her face were distracting.

"I guess it is. All the more reason to whomp these thugs as quick and clean as we can, right?" Spitfire yelled back as they zoomed through the air.

"Well, yeah, but... you think there's any chance that the Orks will invade the city?" the light blue stallion asked nervously.

Spitfire thought about that, glancing toward the far-off spires of the cloud-built metropolis.

Her visor bracketed the distant buildings, and a giant question mark flashed in front of her. How appropriate.

"Let me consult with our 'handler' up there," Spitfire shouted as she looked up at the two armored figures roaring through the skies above the Wonderbolts formation.

Spitfire broke off from her team and did a dizzying roll before sliding in front of Tellis.

"Hey, what's up Spitty?" the Chaos Lord asked.

That title surprised her, but not for the usual reasons. "How do you know my name? You never asked us to introduce ourselves!" she shouted back to be heard over the power armor flight packs.

"Dash told me!" Tellis screamed back. "Won't shut up about you guys, really! She LITERALLY flew into a wall in joy when I told her we could just hijack this mission and join you!" Rainbow Dash was hanging off to the side and just behind the Iron Warrior, and at the moment seemed to be very intently focusing on a spot far away on the ground.

Spitfire shrugged it off. "Whatever, never mind! I wanted to know if Orks are cloud-walkers!"

Tellis considered that for a few seconds. "You know, I've seen - and killed! - thousands of different alien species in my lifetime, as well as my fair share of magical Warp monstrosities, and I don't think I've EVER heard of one that can treat clouds as solids until I met a pegasus!"

Spitfire blinked. "That's reassuring, but also seems really unlikely!"

"I'm no science cultist, but I feel like the more unlikely thing is you guys being able to stand on water vapor!"

Spitfire rolled her eyes. "Okay, whatever. Can they fly, then?"

"In the same way humans can fly!" Tellis suddenly blasted forward into a wide spiral, whooping loudly.

Spitfire grunted and rolled away to avoid the scattered flames, and then dropped back down to her team's formation.

"Well, I think Cloudsdale will be fine!" the Wonderbolts Captain announced to the other pegasi. "None of these guys can walk on clouds, so they're going to have a lot of trouble getting troops up there! Also, the-"

"MOTHER OF LUNA!!" Fleetfoot suddenly screamed, her head tilted upward.

The rest of the Wonderbolts followed her gaze, and there were a few more exclamations regarding the Princesses and hypothetical parents thereof. Coming down through the sky, from an altitude that they could only assume stretched all the way to orbit, was a massive, blocky vessel making a controlled descent. It looked old and ramshackle, with many pieces of plating bolted or hammered into place without being precisely shaped for the task. There were also some pieces of metal attached to the craft that seemed to be attached for purely decorative reasons: in particular, the front of the vessel had red plating covering it that was shaped like a grinning face with big jaws and teeth.

"All right, Wonderbolts, full stop!" Spitfire shouted. The entire team shifted upright and slowed to a hover with barely an inch of deviation between them. "Dash, Tellis! You seeing this?!"

Rainbow Dash veered down around the Wonderbolts, mimicking their pose as her flight pack shifted speeds.

"Hard to miss!" Rainbow shouted as she stared at the craft. "That looks like a landing ship! The humans have them too!"

"That's a pretty dinky one, though. Can't be carrying anything TOO impressive!" Tellis added as he joined the ponies.

"'Dinky'? That thing's the size of Canterlot castle!" Soarin pointed out.

"Yeah. So? Can't be carrying more than a thousand greenies." He tilted his head to the side. "Although this is definitely NOT the first trip it's made down here today... hmmm..."

Spitfire set her jaw as the lander continued to descend, and then took a few pict-captures. "Well, it looks like we have contact. Time to buckle down and-"

"NOW what's it doing?" Fleetfoot interrupted.

The lander's "face" was shifting its "mouth" open, and several double-rotor aircraft were disgorged into the sky. Soarin's optics zoomed in on the smaller craft, and his teeth clenched as he saw that it was packed tight with burly green figures carrying guns and axes.

"Aw, ponyfeathers! They ARE heading for Cloudsdale!" the stallion complained.

Tellis watched the warkoptas accelerate through the air. "Wait. The cloud city? They're trying to INVADE the cloud city?"

"Looks like it!" Spitfire growled.

"I have GOT to see this!" Tellis shouted, his flight pack adjusting course. "You guys keep doing whatever! I'll handle this!"

The Wonderbolts watched with dubious expressions as the Iron Warrior blasted away in the direction of Cloudsdale, apparently aiming to beat the aliens there.

"Well, I'd rather have him standing between my home and the enemy than following us around," Spitfire mumbled, "back to the mission, then."

"All right, so here's the plan!" Rainbow Dash shouted excitedly. "The Ork landing site is just up ahead! We'll split up and do a parallel fly-over at mid-altitude, and take picts of anything that looks interesting down there! About three sweeps each should cover enough area!"

"Not a bad plan, 'Commander'," Spitfire admitted, "but you stay here."

Rainbow Dash blinked. "What? Me? Why?" she demanded, banging a metal-clad hoof against her breastplate. "I'm the only one here with actual armor! Why should I have to stay back where it's safe?"

"Because you're the only one here with actual armor," Spitfire replied with an annoyed expression, "you may not have noticed, being sealed up in that rocket-propelled shell, but you are LOUD, filly! And that gunmetal and gold look reflects too much light! Even with cloud cover, the enemy would pick you out right away! And once they're all looking skyward, they could easily notice us, too! You're staying here for now!"

"Aw, are you serious?" Rainbow Dash complained, unable to refute the rather straightforward logic. "But I'm in charge!"

"Your authority is directly proportional to my proximity to the scary psychotic with claws," Spitfire deadpanned, "we'll use your plan, but YOU stay HERE."

Some aggravated grumbles came from the helmet's vox grille, but Rainbow Dash lowered her head and turned away, looking petulant. Kind of. It was really hard to read expressions through that helmet.

"Good. Now let's get going, crew!" the orange pegasus shouted, curving off into the skies. The rest of the Wonderbolts followed wordlessly, leaving the heavily armored Rainbow Dash hanging in the air alone.

After a few minutes, the Wonderbolts split up and spread out, keeping just above some low-hanging clouds to give them cover.

"This is awfully close to that space ship wreck," Spitfire mumbled as she zoomed in on the clusters of tiny green specks below, "why would these creatures land here, of all places?"

She was startled by the sound of static briefly erupting in her ear, followed by an unfamiliar voice.

"Hello, there! Can you read me?"

"This is Spitfire here, squad Captain of the Wonderbolts," she answered immediately, zooming over onto a cloud so she wouldn't be distracted, "who am I speaking to?"

"I'm Lieutenant Garron, the officer who was SUPPOSED to be the handler for your recon mission before Lord Tellis told me he'd take over. I just wanted you to know that I'm here and I'll be ready to take command after Lord Tellis gets distracted and wanders off. Just let me know when that happens."

Spitfire grimaced. "Actually, you're a little late. He already did."

"Capital! Make sure you get images of anything important you find, as I'll be relaying and reviewing any pict-captures you take to our logis engines remotely."

"So that you can advise us in real-time?" Spitfire asked.

"So that we still get our scouting data if you die. Sending in someone to get your headset memory coils would be too much trouble."

"Naturally," Spitfire mumbled as she took off again from the cloud. Her visor zoomed in and out as she looked over the ground, capturing images of any large groupings of Orks or buildings being set up.

"Speaking of us dying, what kind of threat rating are we dealing with here? If these guys catch sight of us, what exactly are they going to do about it?"

There was a pause on the other end. "... Hard to say, honestly. If it were us, we wouldn't be especially bothered, considering you're small, non-threatening, and there aren't many of you. Despite general antipathy toward aliens at large, we don't go about trying to shoot down every flock of flying xenos we see on every planet we land on. It's not worth the ammunition. But Orks think differently."

"Differently how?" Spitfire pressed.

"They're stupid," the Lieutenant explained bluntly, "they'll shoot at you if they feel like shooting at you, and logic isn't going to stop them. They think it's fun."

"Lovely..."

****

Ork Base Camp

"Oi, get dose beems up, youz sods! Stop yer bickerin'!"

Big Mek Hazarr shook his claw in the direction of a pair of scuffling lootas, and the young Orks quickly broke out of their grappling and scurried away.

"Yoosless, lazy, gud-fer-nothin's," the Big Mek grumbled as he turned back to a stack of schematics drawn on thick, yellowed parchment.

All around him, Orks and small, squealing gretchin rushed about with tools and materials, hammering together the foundations of the base while Hazarr's Meks set to work with welders and fistfuls of wires.

Although the Big Mek was on hand to yell at feuding workers and instruct the lesser engineers when necessary, the old Ork's attention was fully on the void ship carcass that loomed up on one side of the camp like a mountain of cracked metal. The wreck was fresh, and almost untouched; a rich prize for a Mekboy of any stature, and a veritable treasure trove to an Ork as enterprising as him. He didn't much like dealing with grayskin technology as opposed to human gear; Tau wargear was sensitive and fiddly, and their materials were hard to rebuild into other machines. But if he could use the battlecruiser wreck to crack open the human fortress, he'd have enough loot and scrap to supply his fleet for years, maybe even decades.

Provided that the humies didn't get the chance to use all that shiny ordnance on his army first, that is. If he wanted the fortress, he had to hit it fast and hard. To most Ork bosses, that meant an immediate blitz right into the walls of the enemy, using the bodies of the boyz as a makeshift staircase, if necessary. But the pirate Mek Coggz had more vision than that. The more fighting that the softies got to do, the more supplies they would use up before he could get into their base to take it. Humans were just selfish like that. So the first order of business was to build an appropriately massive gun to break open that fort.

In the back of his mind, however, Hazarr couldn't let go of the fact that there was a WAAUGH beacon somewhere on this planet, and no Orks anywhere that could have set it up. Combined with the presence of a cursed fleet in orbit, it was almost enough to dampen his enthusiasm for the coming rampage.

ALMOST.

"'Ey, Boss? We got sumfin' up dere!"

Hazarr released a low growl from deep in his throat. "Wot kinda 'sumfin'?"

He turned around to address the Ork bothering him. The Ork in question was another loota, and he was staring straight up into the air with a set of monoculars.

"Er... I dunno, Boss Coggz. But it'z bloo."

Hazarr looked up at the clouds, and a bright red line scanned over his visor briefly.

Then he saw it, and his optics automatically locked onto the object and magnified it.

"... Yeah, dat'z bloo, all roight," the Big Mek agreed, focusing even further as the winged creature soared over them, "it'z sum kinda bird... wit bomms. And glowy specs."

"Glowy specs?" asked the loota, cracking his neck. "... I could use a noo pair'o glowy specs. And bomms, come ta tink of it!"

"And da boyz could use sum chow 'fore we take on da humies," Hazarr laughed as he tracked the animal across the sky. Something about its flight pattern seemed unusual for a random alien animal, to say nothing about its suspiciously advanced equipment, but the Big Mek simply couldn't bring himself to care. "It ain't a bad size. Shoot it down and cook it up."

"Aye-aye, Boss Coggz!"

****

Sky above Ork Base Camp

"Celestia's mane, how many of these freaks are there?" Spitfire grumbled into her headset. "You getting this, Command?"

"Roger that, Spitfire. It's par for the course with Orks. I'm sure there are more than the ones you see there, too."

The orange mare banked as she passed the edge of the camp, moving into a new flight path. This time she focused in on some of the structures, most of which were tall skeletons of metal and wood. There were several huts already completed, however, as well as a flattened strip of land that apparently was serving as an airfield.

"They're making real good progress on putting that base together, too. How long have they been down here? Three hours? Two?"

"Not sure. They made a fast break for the surface once their fleet engaged ours." The voice from her headset paused. "That IS rather unusual, though. Normally when Orks make planetfall they immediately start exploring and breaking things, and leave setting up camp to the slaves and underlings. Someone's keeping these mongrels on a tight leash."

"Is that good or bad for us?" Spitfire asked.

"Bad for us. If they were attacking our fortress, we could break them easily. Having them preparing for battle here means that we'll have to come get them where they're most prepared to fight rather than the other way around. Of course, what would be MOST ideal is if they rushed out to ransack the local settlements. That way we could smash the dropships and wipe out the base easily, and then hunt down and pick off the raiding teams one by one."

Spitfire frowned. "That doesn't sound good for us at all."

"You have to remember that your 'us' is slightly different from my 'us', Captain Spitfire."

"Yeah, okay, but-"

The Wonderbolts Captain was cut off by the rattle of gunfire below, and she quickly turned into an evasive roll while scanning the ground for the source.

Fortunately, the gunfire wasn't aimed at her, and her optics visor was especially suited to picking out muzzle flash. Spitfire quickly pinpointed a group of greenskins with large, shoulder-mounted machine guns who had climbed up onto a bluff and were spewing bullets into the air.

She followed the string of tracer rounds, and then spotted their target.

"Ponyfeathers! They spotted Soarin!" she growled.

"Yes, I know. I'm vox-linked with all of you. He's taking it very well, actually. Very little crying."

Spitfire grimaced as she watched the dark blue spot twisting and circling around as tracers zoomed upward in a wild spread. The gunners didn't seem to be trying very hard to hit him; they were really just aiming in his general direction and simply shooting as many bullets that way as possible. Still, she objected to her squad being shot at on principle.

She couldn't help but notice that there was a cloud floating over the bluff, and she smirked before flying toward it.

"Hey, Command. You seemed pretty ambivalent as to whether we live or die during this mission," she pointed out, "I don't suppose you'd mind if we stirred up the hornet's nest a little, would you?"

"Not in the least. Would make my job a lot more interesting, actually," the Lieutenant admitted.

Spitfire chuckled. "You know, you're starting to grow on me, Garron."

A few of the aliens spotted her on her approach, and Spitfire cringed as she heard bullets wildly zipping through the air around her for a few seconds. Then a moment later she was clear, landing on top of the cloud and hidden from the view of the gunners below.

"Okay, now he's crying a lot," came the voice from her headset, "did you want to talk to him? Lord Tellis probably didn't explain how to use the vox system."

"Gimme a second," Spitfire mumbled as she pulled a grenade from her belt and bit onto the pin. Then she tugged it free and let the explosive drop, smirking as it fell right through the white, fluffy surface that held her weight with ease.

"I've always wanted to try weather team work," the pegasus said as she heard the explosion below, "today's forecast: fragmentation hail!"

She pulled free another grenade, armed it, and then dropped it. Then another. By her fourth bomb the automatic gunfire below had slackened considerably, and she could hear some angry shouting from the same direction.

"Tch. I think the grenades are exploding before they reach the ground," Spitfire mumbled as she pulled her fifth grenade from her belt, "I wish I had time to move this cloud further down. Oh well." She bit out the pin and then flung the next explosive down rather than dropping it, hoping that the head start might make some kind of difference.

"Hey, Command, hook me up with my team, would you? I think I took the pressure off Soarin, and we've gotten a pretty good look at this place."

"Roger that. Linking vox nodes..."

"-OFCELESTIACRAPHAYLUNAHELPMEBUCKBUCKBUCKBU-" came a torrent of noise into Spitfire's ear until she interrupted.

"Shut your pie hole, Soarin! You're clear for the moment!" the orange mare barked. "Well, mostly clear, anyway." There were now small spurts of gunfire shooting up from all over the camp, some of it aimed at the Wonderbolts overhead, and some of it seeming to be random burst fire, perhaps just because the other Orks were doing it. None of it had the sort of coordination or heavy caliber that had sought out Soarin, however.

"My WING!" the stallion shouted into his headset. "They grazed my wing! I felt feathers tear free! I nearly lost control then and there! I could have died!"

"Now, see, that's just emphasizing the negative," offered the Lieutenant, "rather than saying you were almost hit, think of it instead as a brilliant evasion!"

"All right, everypony just calm the hay down," Spitfire said as she lifted off again, "we've scoped this place out pretty well, so we're pulling back. Build altitude and make for Dash's position!"

"Roger that!"

"Thank Celestia!"

"Glad to hear it!"

"We'd better double-time it, Captain! I think we've attracted way more attention than we wanted!"

Spitfire frowned. That last voice was Fleetfoot's. "Just stay nice and high and try to stick to cloud cover; they won't hit us at this range with the way they're shooting."

"Confirmed, Wonderbolts," said Garron, "Ork weapons are mostly smooth-bore, and they're not marksmen under any circumstances. At your altitude you should be safe from their small arms, at least."

"Reassuring, but not the main problem!" Fleetfoot replied. "I just got a pict of the airfield! They're moving some machines up onto it!"

"Oh? Let me see here..." mumbled Lieutenant Garron's voice. "Ah, I found it. You're all going to want to get a nice head-start out of Ork airspace, Wonderbolts. You have fightas incoming."

****

Cloudsdale - city limits

"All right, everypony remain calm and head to Cirrus Park! Please evacuate in an orderly fashion! No pushing! This is not a drill!"

Hundreds of pegasi flocked through the air at the instructions of a pair of guards yelling into megaphones, many of them wearing yellow hard hats. This side of the city was where the weather factory was located, and despite the strenuous objections of it's managers, the workers were being evacuated along with everypony else living or working at the Western side of the city.

The heavy stutter of helicopter rotors was still distant, but getting steadily louder. The defenders of Equestria's main pegasus city had prepared for evacuation as soon as they saw the massive landing ships descending in the distance, but they had only the vaguest idea what was coming for them.

It didn't help the ponies' rattled nerves when a new set of engines was heard approaching from a different angle.

It didn't even help when they actually identified the second intruder into their airspace.

"Aw, ponyfeathers. Not this guy again," moaned a pegasus guard as he lowered his megaphone.

Tellis was cresting over the flocks of pegasi, leaving a trail of flaming smoke arced over the fleeing civilians as he soared in the opposite direction.

"Isn't he a good guy, though?" mumbled the other guard.

"NO," replied the first, "he's on our side, technically, but he's not a good guy."

"Oh, right. I forgot that those aren't mutually exclusive anymore..."

Tellis flew up above the pegasus guards and then shifted into a hover, his visor picking up and tagging the incoming aircraft.

"So, uh... hello!" greeted one of the ponies from below.

"Yo," Tellis replied, his gaze still fixed on the enemy, "you guys here to watch this too?"

"Actually, we're here to defend our city from the enemy," the other guard corrected as he pointed his spear in the direction of the approaching vehicles, "I don't suppose you could help out with that?"

"Yeah, okay, in a minute," Tellis mumbled as he zoomed in on the incoming aircraft, "just shut up and keep your eyes on the warkoptas. This is going to be GREAT."

Large trails of black exhaust followed the Ork aircraft as they reached the edge of Cloudsdale, each vehicle slowing to hovering speed.

The warkoptas were twin-rotor transport craft, and each one was packed near to bursting with Orks hanging on to ceiling grips and eagerly searching outside for something - anything - to shoot at.

They got their chance as their vehicles passed over the edge of the city and over the cloud streets. A handful of increasingly nervous pegasus guards were waiting for them, each one wondering how they might go about attacking a large metal vehicle with a spear.

"Dere dey is! Get 'em!" barked a Nob as the Ork passengers started firing wildly out of the transport compartment. The armored pegasi yelped at the viciously loud noise and promptly bolted away from the burst fire, darting behind cloud buildings and the odd piece of cloud architecture decorating the streets.

"All roight boyz! It's stompin' time! Git goin'!" the Nob roared as the warkopta dropped lower to the white, fluffy streets below.

"'Ere we go!" shouted a boy as he leapt from the passenger platform.

"WAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaa..." The warcry quickly trailed off into the distance as the green brute plummeted through the clouds below and toward the ground, firing his shoota wildly the entire way down.

The excited grunts and cheers of the Orks stopped immediately, although the Nob swore he could hear laughter in the distance.

"I toldja we couldn't walk on clouds," grumbled one boy, backing up further into the compartment, "dis wuz a dumb idea."

"Shut up, ya git! I'm da boss, I'LL decide if it wuz a dumb idea!" snapped the Nob.

The Orks went silent, all of them peering out at Cloudsdale as the warkopta's rotors churned above them.

Eventually a pegasus guard poked his head out from around the corner of a building, confused as to why the invasion had been brought to a screeching halt.

"Somefin's not roight heah," the Nob growled, pointing toward the anxious pony some twenty meters away, "dem horse-bird tings is walkin' on clouds, why can't we? Dey's cheatin'!"

"Mebbe..." one boy trailed off as he scratched his head and stared at the fluffy white streets. "... Mebbe dis part is normal clouds, and da part over dere is walkin' clouds?"

The grunt's hypothesis was taken up enthusiastically by the Nob, who grabbed him by the back of his shirt and flung the smaller Ork into the middle of the cloud street.

"... Nope, dat ain't it," the squad leader mumbled as the unfortunate alien dropped straight through the street and fell to his doom. "I need ta tink about dis."

"Wot's dere ta tink about? We'z not gettin' outta heah!" said the rather rebellious Ork boy from before. "If'n we can't walk, den we can't loot da place!"

"Maybe the first two tries were flukes!" shouted the pegasus watching the greenskins. "Third time's the charm!"

The Ork boy pointed at the pony angrily. "'Ey! You stay outta thiiiiiAAAAAAAAH!!" his protest morphed into a howling scream as the Nob booted him out of the passenger bay and sent him plummeting, just as he had suspected, through the gaseous surface below.

"Nope. Dat looks legit," the Nob grumbled in annoyance. His mission was going to be a lot harder, if not impossible, if his boyz couldn't even disembark from the warkoptas. That frustrated him considerably.

Plus, he was SURE somebody was laughing at him now. It had gotten a lot louder with each Ork sent through the clouds.

"... Okay. I think I see what you mean," mumbled one of the pegasus guards hovering next to Tellis.

The Chaos Lord probably didn't hear him, as he was currently doubled over with laughter at the sight of the Orks leaping to their deaths.

"So, wait, if they can't walk here, why'd they even show up?" asked the other guard.

Tellis managed to calm himself enough to speak between chuckles. "They say greenskins - hee! - have a reality-altering affect - heh - around them. Like - snrk! - the only reason any of their stuff works is because they're too dumb - hah! - to realize it shouldn't." He exhaled deeply as he finally suppressed his laughter. "I guess walking on clouds is in that sweet spot where they know it shouldn't work, but they're just dumb enough to try anyway."

"So... does that mean we're safe from them?" asked one of the guards hopefully.

"Sure! Except for their air units. Like the warkoptas down there."

"Aw, sod it!" barked the Nob, reaching over for a rokkit launcha hanging from the wall of the passenger bay.

"So we can't loot da place. Fine," he grumbled as he aimed the explosive weapon at the wall of a nearby building, "den we'z just gonna blow it all ta bitz!"

The other Orks in the compartment whooped loudly as the Nob fired a cluster of three rokkits into the structure, and the mob began firing their shootas enthusiastically into the city as the explosives sailed through the air.

The enthusiasm weakened considerably when the rokkits flew through the cloud wall of the building without detonating, and then safely exited the other side, leaving only a small hole in the cloud construct.

The Nob leaned out the window as the rokkits continued soaring through clouds and empty airspace. Eventually the bright red projectiles sputtered a puff of dark smoke and started falling out of the air, their fuel supply spent.

"... Boss?" asked one of the smaller Orks hesitantly. "Whadda we do now?"

"Dis place sucks," the Nob growled, turning toward the pilot, "bring us down! We'z gonna find somefin' else to blow up!"

The warkopta tilted away from the city, and the two aircraft waiting behind it quickly swooped down into formation as the assault force departed the city limits.

As the exhaust smoke from the departing transports started to thin, the hiding pegasus guards crept out of their hiding places and started cheering, thrusting their spears into the air at their successful kind-of-defense of their fair city.

"You know, I used to complain that having a home completely inaccessible to most creatures without the aid of magic was awful for tourism," the pegasus next to Tellis admitted, "but it really has its advantages."

"The weather factory boss is gonna be really mad," mumbled the other guard, "I think we evacuated everypony for nothing." Then he looked up at Tellis, who was still hovering in the air and stifling chuckles. "Well, thanks for coming to help, even if we didn't need it."

Tellis finished laughing, and a deep, satisfied sigh came from his helmet. "... Anyway, I'm going to go kill them now."

"Now? After they left?" asked the pony incredulously. "Why?"

"It's a religious thing," he explained vaguely, tilting his body as his flight pack began to build up more thrust, "later!"

****

8 kilometers outside of Ork Base Camp

"Bored, bored, bored, bored..."

Rainbow Dash sang her tiresome litany to the empty sky around her as she laid on a cloud, still facing the direction in which the Wonderbolts had gone.

After the stunt flyers had left, Rainbow had thought of an interesting experiment concerning whether or not clouds could still hold her while she was in her powered armor.

It turned out they could, albeit her body sunk a few inches further into the cottony surface than usual. With that hypothesis confirmed, and nothing else interesting to do coming to mind, she returned to doing absolutely nothing and hating it.

"This sucks," Rainbow growled to no one, "I didn't know that taking over a Wonderbolts scouting mission meant I would get to fly with them for a few minutes and then wait on the sidelines while they did everything important."

Granted, even if she HAD known that she totally would have still agreed, but as things stood it was a tremendous letdown.

"I should've gone with Tellis. I'll bet HE'S having fun," she grumbled, "but if I left after Spitfire told me to stay, then I bet she'd get mad at me for no reason, just because I didn't listen. She'd be all-"

"Dash! There you are! We have incoming!" Spitfire shouted, her voice suddenly projected into Rainbow's helmet.

"Yeah, exactly! I don't need that!" Rainbow griped.

"... What?" Spitfire's voice asked.

"Nothing! I said nothing!" Rainbow yelped, realizing what was happening. The armored pegasus bounced to her feet, and her flight pack spread into a launch position. "What's happening?"

"They spotted us! They launched aircraft! We have two of them catching up to us!" the Wonderbolts Captain explained between sharp breaths.

Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "Oh, well, good thing you didn't have me around to give you away, huh? I might have messed up all that Wonderbolt STEALTH you're totally famous for," she said bitterly.

"Now is NOT the time for snarky back talk, soldier! Get that hunk of tin into the air and do something with it!"

"Captain, what is Dash supposed to do?" asked Soarin's voice after a brief burst of static. "Those things look pretty Ninja-star-proof!"

Rainbow couldn't decide which annoyed her more: Spitfire calling her awesome, hard-earned power armor a "hunk of tin", or Soarin's assumption that she wouldn't be able to help.

Whatever. She'd prove both of them wrong.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it..." Fleetfoot corkscrewed through the sky as the fiery roar of a battered jet engine closed the distance behind her, steadily moving into firing range.

She reflexively squeezed her eyes shut as automatic gunfire came from behind, followed by the sound of bullets whipping past her ear.

The moment the bursts stopped Fleetfoot tilted and banked hard, swooping away as the fighta screamed past her. The Ork jet wasn't quite maneuverable enough to match a pegasus of her skill, and instead adjusted its trajectory to follow the next-closest blue and yellow jumpsuit.

"Oh hay, not again!" Soarin groaned, rolling and dropping to a lower altitude as the Ork aircraft spewed bullets across his flight path.

Having evaded first salvo, the stallion tried banking as Fleetfoot had done. This time the fighta managed to follow, and Soarin started mumbling prayers to Celestia between breaths as a constant stream of ammunition snaked through the air behind him.

Then he heard another engine noise getting closer. "I've got TWO of them on me? Are you serious?!"

"That's a negative, Soarin," Spitfire's voice crackled in his ear, "looks like Miss Dash is going to show us what that fancy suit of hers can do."

Rainbow Dash swooped in close to the fighta, struggling to match its movements as it zigged and zagged to turn its target into equine chum.

Soarin swooped upward, and the fighta briefly leveled out to follow, offering her a perfect window of opportunity.

Rainbow fired her rear impulse blasters and lurched forward, meeting the aircraft's wing with her front greaves and immediately mag-locking onto them. She carefully brought her rear legs into place as well, and then took a moment to marvel at the fact that she was standing on the wing of a fighter jet.

The flyboy piloting the jet took some time to marvel at the sight too, and as she faced the cockpit she stared directly into the goggles of the Ork flying the war plane.

"Hi, I'm from ground control!" Rainbow shouted as she stepped up to the cockpit, her legs moving one at a time across the length of the wing to stay locked to the surface. "You have a landing slot open just ahead, but you're going to have to start your descent now!" She unlocked one front leg and then pressed it against the canopy. "Here, let me help!"

Rainbow Dash fired her impulse blaster, and the pilot flinched away as the canopy window shattered into pieces.

"Okay, now bring her down nice and fast! You can even go into a nosedive if you wa-"

Rainbow's head pitched back as a slugga round slammed into her forehead and bounced off the helmet plating. The Ork pilot had a large handgun in one hand that he was firing at her blindly while his other arm tried to keep control of the plane.

"Hey! What are you, crazy?! You can't fire a gun inside an aircraft! That is SO unsafe!" Rainbow shouted angrily. Then she sprayed a burst of shuriken into the pilot, reducing him to so much shredded green flesh and staining the cockpit crimson. "You could hurt somepony! Geez!"

Rainbow unlocked her boots, and she immediately fell back through the air as the fighta began an uncontrolled descent.

"All right, so I'm accepting apologies now," Rainbow Dash said smugly as she linked her vox to the Wonderbolts and slowed to a hover, "by my count, you've got 'leaving me behind,' 'calling my power armor a hunk of tin,' and 'assuming I couldn't help take down enemy planes.' No particular order, whenever you're ready."

"You can have all the apologies you want if you can pull off that trick with the other one!" Spitfire retorted through the vox. "I'll even throw in a 'thank you' and 'great job' because I'm crazy generous like that!"

"Oh, right!" Rainbow Dash spun around in the air as a hostile indicator on her visor flashed. "I forgot abou-"

The armored pegasus was cut off by a veritable wall of bullets slamming into her, briefly obscuring her form in a shower of sparks and bits of cracked ceramite.

A tense second later one of the jets of her flight pack exploded, and the armored mare plummeted downward while trailing smoke.

"Aw, DANG IT!" Rainbow complained as the second Ork fighta zoomed past her overhead. "That must have looked SO lame!"

Then she paused as an alarm blared in her ear and a diagram of her flight pack appeared on her visor display.

"Also, I think I'm going to die," she added, noting that an awful lot of the diagram was an angry red color.

"Hold on, Dash! I've got you!" came a shout from outside her helmet.

Rainbow twisted her head around and saw Soarin diving through the smoke trail toward her, his front hooves outstretched.

In another few seconds, Soarin reached the other pegasus and clamped his hooves tight around Rainbow's metal-clad leg. Then he spread his wings and started flapping furiously.

"...... Do something Dash! I don't got you!" Soarin shouted as his wings strained uselessly against Rainbow's weight and inertia. They were both still falling, albeit more slowly than before.

"Well, I'll give him an 'A' for effort," Rainbow mumbled as she stared hard at the diagram of her flight pack. "Come on, work! Sol built this thing himself, there's no way it's going down after a measly twenty or so hits!"

"This is Lieutenant Garron," came a new voice from her vox, "anything I can help with?"

"Yeah! Tell me how to fix a... what does this say... 'ruptured fuel distributor' before the altimeter reaches zero!" Rainbow shouted.

"Have you tried prayer?" Garron asked.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Rainbow roared.

"Yes. Are you desperate?"

"Point. Uh..." Rainbow Dash gulped nervously. "Oh great, awesome, magic space armor, please fix yourself so that my friends don't have dig me out of the ground just so they can bury me again!"

The red parts of the diagram flashed green, and the alarms stopped.

"... Twilight is NEVER going to believe me," Rainbow mumbled as she spread her wings again.

Soarin heard a loud hissing noise coming from Rainbow's flight pack before it stopped leaking smoke, and he let go as Rainbow Dash started to shift her pose.

"Thanks, Soarin! I'm good, now!"

Rainbow twisted parallel to the ground, and her flight pack roared to life as it carried her into an arc back up into the air.

"All right, time for round two!" She roared as she blasted toward the underside of the second fighta.

"Not a moment too soon!" Spitfire called through the vox. "It's on Silver Lining's tail!"

"This guy is way too close! I think he's just trying to run into me!"

"Well, two can play at that game!" Rainbow shouted.

"...... Wait, no. No, two CAN'T play at that game. What are you talking about?"

"Don't worry! I've got this!" Rainbow insisted. The central booster on her back ignited, and a massive jet of fire followed the armored pony's ascent toward the enemy plane as her acceleration tripled.

"Dash?" Spitfire asked. "Can you really land on it at that speed?"

"No way!" Rainbow laughed.

"Then what are you doing?!"

"I can't tell you!"

"WHY NOT?!"

"Because I can't remember what the dumb thing is called!" Rainbow admitted as she screamed through the air toward the fighta's belly.

"DASH, STOP!! DON'T DO THIS!!"

She did not stop. "THIS IS THE LAST AND MOST AWESOME THING YOU'LL EVER SEE, GREEN FREAK!!!"

Rainbow Dash ripped head-first through the bottom plating of the fighta as the kinesis refraction field flared, and then tore straight through the body of the craft to burst out the top.

The Wonderbolts (those not currently being pursued, anyway) stared slack-jawed as a rainbow-colored ring spread from the point of impact, carrying along the shattered pieces of the attack plane while the entire frame came apart in the air.

"YEEEEEE HAAAAAAA!! That is how you DO it!" Rainbow Dash cheered as she leveled out and then barrel rolled in celebration. "I think I'll call that one the 'Rainbow Buster'!"

The other pegasi watched the armored mare blast through the sky, and Soarin hovered up next to Fleetfoot.

"So... how do you think a pony gets to be... well, whatever she is, exactly?" the stallion asked in awe.

Fleetfoot quirked an eyebrow. "Say what?"

"Like, joining the humans and getting a rocket-powered armor suit. You think we could do that someday?" Soarin asked with a dreamy sigh.

Their vox systems crackled, and the ponies were instantly alert again.

"I have a confirmed kill on the second fighta. Good work," said Lieutenant Garron, "but there are two more aircraft heading toward your position, kids."

"I see them," Spitfire grunted as she focused her optics in the direction of the Ork camp, "geez, these ones are way bigger than the last two."

"Dakka jets. If you thought the fightas put out a lot of bullets, prepare to be impressed."

"Ah, the hay with this," Spitfire grunted, turning around, "I see a cloud bank over there. Let's hide and see if they leave."

The Wonderbolts converged into formation and took off in that direction, and Rainbow Dash followed a moment later.

"What kind of a name is 'dakka jet' anyway?" Rainbow asked.

"Named for the sound the guns make when fired, apparently. You know, dakka dakka!" Garron explained.

"These Orks have a certain childlike charm to them, don't they?" Spitfire asked with a smirk.

"Not so charming for those of us stuck on the ground when they're about. At least you can fly out of reach of most of them."

Rainbow Dash squinted as her visor picked up a dark shape in the clouds ahead. "Hey, is somepony waiting for us over there? I think I see something in the clouds already."

"It's not Tellis, is it?"

"Nah, he can't walk on clouds. We tried."

"I think that's... Princess Luna?" Soarin said, sounding surprised.

"Pardon? Who's Princess Luna?" asked Garron.

"C'mon man, you don't know Luna?" Rainbow asked.

"I do not. I know of a Princess Sparkle, and I'm vaguely aware of another one called Princess Celestial or something."

"Celestia. It's Celestia," Rainbow corrected, "c'mon dude, there are only four Princesses. This isn't hard."

"And only two of them actually matter," Fleetfoot added. She was suddenly aware that Rainbow Dash was staring at her as the armored pony followed their flight path. "What?" She couldn't see Rainbow's expression through the helmet, but she had a feeling the armored pony was annoyed.

"THREE of them matter," Rainbow Dash corrected harshly.

"Okay, fine, whatever..."

The pegasi could already hear the engine scream of the approaching aircraft as they reached the cloud bank, and they slowed into a hover as they moved within a comfortable speaking range of Luna. Comfortable for them, at least. None of them wanted to risk making Luna shout.

"Princess! Funny seeing you here! Come to join the recon mission?" Rainbow Dash asked. "You're a little late for the actual recon part, but phase two seems to be shooting down attack planes, and we've still got plenty of that action coming!"

"Indeed!! We hast arrived to smite the foe in support of thee!!" Luna declared loudly.

"Well your Highness, we'll just get out of the way and let you get smiting, then!" Spitfire said as she dropped onto the cloud and finally folded her aching wings.

Luna stood proudly atop the cloud bank as the jets rumbled toward her, and as they approached engagement range her horn glowed.

"ALIEN FOES!! KNOW THAT THY TRESPASS UPON PONY LAND SHALT NOT BE OVERLOOKED!! FACE US, AND KNOW DESPAIR!!!"

The Canterlot Voice had the sheltering pegasi clamping their hooves over their ears and literally shook the incoming planes with its intensity and volume. Needless to say, the flyboy pilots heard her loud and clear.

They decided to respond with a traditional Ork greeting.

Luna's barrier flashed and quivered as bullets practically washed over it, and her horn crackled with power as the alicorn fought to keep the tide of metal at bay. After a few seconds of constant, roaring automatic fire, the jets peeled off in opposite directions to avoid the cloud bank and prepare for another pass.

Luna calmly watched them go, and then her shield collapsed as her eyes turned a solid, glowing white. Her horn was engulfed by swirling darkness, and then flashed blue.

A curiously black lightning bolt lanced down from nowhere, and one of the dakka jets shuddered as a wing was blasted off in a burst of sparks and flaming debris. That plane promptly began a chaotic descent toward the ground from which there was no hope of recovery.

Luna took to the air, spreading her wings and gliding toward the second jet that was turning around for another attack run.

"SO THOU HAST NOT YET LEARNT?! VERY WELL!! WE SHALT HUMBLE THEE AGAIN, ALIEN!!!" Luna boomed.

The dakka jet let loose with its supa shootas as it faced the Princess again, raining bullets across the sky in a truly ridiculous torrent of firepower.

Luna teleported out of the way, winking out of existence and reappearing behind the ramshackle fighter plane.

"WE SMITE THEE!!"

A beam of searing blue shot out from her horn and cut across the top of the dakka jet, gouging out part of its frame and causing the plane to shake violently in the air.

Smoke poured from breach, but the jet managed to maintain altitude as it soared away from the Princess, building enough distance between them so that it could again turn around.

"THOU HAST NOT SUFFERED ENOUGH?! THEN COME TO US, ORK!! COME TO US AND-"

"Rainbow BUSTER!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she slammed into the wing of the dakka jet. Once again her kinesis refraction field flashed, releasing a burst of suspiciously prismatic colors as the armored pony tore the wing off of the damaged war plane.

The dakka jet promptly twisted downward, trailing smoke and rainbow-colored sparks as it built up speed toward its final landing.

"Ha HAH!! That's what you GET!" Rainbow Dash laughed as she twisted into an upright position and then shifted into hover mode.

"Command, this is RD. The Orks are back on the ground where they belong and the skies are clear," she said brightly, "mission complete."

"Roger that, Dash. Escort the Wonderbolts back to the rendezvous point uploaded to your visor for re-arming and reassignment. Your armor could probably use a patch job right about now."

Rainbow Dash chuckled as the vox line cut out. She then noticed that Princess Luna was hovering over her, and the pegasus looked up at the dark blue alicorn.

She looked somewhat cross, for some reason. "What's up, Princess?"

"... That foe was ours to defeat," Luna explained, her eyes narrowing.

Rainbow scoffed. "Oh, don't be like that. We're in a war, here. That means fighting the bad guys is a TEAM effort."

She pushed forward at a slow burn, making sure her voice could be heard over her flight pack. "So on that note, good job on the kill assist, Princess! Team Rainbow Dash really scored big with this mission! I'm totally gonna bug Sol for new medals once this is over! You'll probably get one too!"

Luna's eyebrow twitched as she moved to match Rainbow's speed. "This will not occur again once We acquire our OWN armor..." she grumbled to herself.

Author's Note

The last chapter of this story caused a small bump in downvotes, for some reason. Not enough to really matter, but this book has more thumbs down than any of the others. Which is weird, because the main event of the last chapter was the Mane Six getting power armor, and nobody can dislike that turn of events. I simply refuse to believe it. I will not live in a world where that's possible.

My idea of the batponies of Luna's guard is based on Llyander's "Dreams of Flying" story, where they're characterized as a misunderstood race unfairly marginalized for their association with an ancient villain. Only in this story they're not misunderstood at all, because I think that's more fun.

Oddly enough, while I hate writing Sliver and Solon's lines, I really enjoy writing the Orks' butchered speech. I think it's because they're SUPPOSED to be morons, so I don't have to worry about characterizing them as geniuses while simultaneously making them sound like idiots. It's been a problem.

And now I can finally say that I have written about ponies being horribly murdered and beaten to death in this story.
In a dream.
... Pretty sure that's cheating.

WAAAAGH 101

Iron Hearts: Book 4

Chapter 6

WAAAAGH 101

****

Ferrous Dominus - sector 15

"We will establish a defended staging area here, with a supply cache and the artillery brigade. We expect to face an immediate assault from the Orks. After the attack is repulsed, we will regroup and advance, breaking into the camp and destroying the Ork structures. After the camp is destroyed, Iron Warrior kill teams will commence a sector sweep, eliminating any stragglers."

Twilight looked over the hololithic display with an intense expression as Gaela explained the mission to her and the other Elements. Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy were with her and suited up, while a chimera APC idled behind them.

"I really don't understand. Why are we going to THEM? Wouldn't it be better to make the Orks come here?" Rarity asked.

Gaela nodded. "It would be, certainly, but the reconnaissance data of their landing site suggests that the Orks are trying to cannibalize the void ship wreck for parts. They're establishing super-heavy hull foundries and cannon works in their base camps. If we do not make an aggressive push immediately, they will start assembling assault vehicles that just might be powerful enough to break into the fortress."

"This will also keep our settlements safer; we can't just leave the Orks alone to pillage the countryside at will," Twilight pointed out.

"Hey, ya seen the grays up to anythin'?" Applejack asked.

Gaela tilted her head slightly. "We have not been carefully monitoring the Tau encampment recently. To our knowledge they have not dispatched any units in response."

"Figgers. Bring all the freaks here, then they leave 'em to us to clean up," Applejack growled, "Ah wish we could get the Orks to attack that dang beacon. Maybe some of our problems could take care of each other fer once."

"It is indeed unfortunate that is not the case," Gaela agreed, deactivating the hololith, "however, the Lamman Sept's apparent talent for stealth - to say nothing of our own strength of presence - means that the Orks will only find them if they decide the beacon is of utmost importance. I imagine it is not. The entire point of such devices is to lead the xenos to conflict, and it has already done that."

Gaela twisted her head around at the sound of heavy footsteps, and saw that Pinkie Pie's dreadnought was approaching.

"Hiya, girls! You ready to earn some more bits of ammunition made into improvised rewards for acts of great cruelty and violence? 'Cause you KNOW I am!" the power fist of her walker balled up into a fist and threw an experimental jab.

"Ah, Pie. Good. I have something for you," Gaela said as she turned toward a crate next to her. A servo arm snaked into the box and clamped onto something, and then pulled the object out.

The object appeared to be a huge helmet, obviously modeled on a horned Iron Warrior helm but scaled up so that it better fit a dreadnought's proportions.

"Awww, you shouldn't have!" Pinkie said, grinning widely.

"On the contrary, I should have prepared it immediately after my colleagues informed me that an insane and unmodified equine had somehow managed to pilot a dreadnought shell," Gaela countered, "Sparkle told me about the incident during your psionic simulations."

Pinkie's ears drooped, and her smile became somewhat nervous.

"While a heavy flamer will not immediately and easily breach a power armor shell," the Dark Techpriest began, briefly glancing at Applejack, "a plasma cannon is capable of vaporizing even a well-armored warrior in an instant. It is not a weapon to be handled carelessly."

Gaela stepped over to Pinkie Pie and then grabbed hold of the torso before climbing up one of the legs. "It was not easy to construct this helmet, since your method of operating the dreadnought is completely impossible. I had to design it as an independent device rather than allowing it to link with the systems that you're circumventing. Nonetheless, it will protect your head from small-arms fire, allow you to properly aim your weapons, grant you a vox system, and will protect you from hazardous environments. To whatever extent that last matter is possible, anyway. The pilot is SUPPOSED to be permanently sealed in a pressurized sarcophagus, after all."

"I considered it, but it seems REALLY inconvenient," Pinkie mumbled, "I mean, what if I have to use the bathroom?"

Gaela response was to bring the helmet down over Pinkie's head, slamming it into place.

"Ooh, pretty lights!" the pink mare said as the visor display blinked on in front of her.

"Ugh, couldn't you have given it a quick paint job?" Rarity asked, averting her eyes. "That gunmetal and gold clashes TERRIBLY with the pink. I fear the Orks may try to kill her just for looking so tacky."

"I won't dignify that with a response," Gaela said as she dropped down off of the assault walker. "Fortunately, I don't have time to instruct you in the helmet systems, Pie. You'll be departing soon in the assault carrier on the far side of the lots," she pointed across the rows of APCs to a large aircraft that was sitting on a set of landing struts.

"Uhm, sorry, but don't you mean, 'UNfortunately'?" Fluttershy asked.

"I know what I said."

Pinkie looked over at the distant flyer, and then turned her brand-new helmet toward the Dark Techpriest. "Wait, why aren't I going with you guys?"

"For starters, you can't fit in a ground transport, nor can you keep pace with the rest of the convoy without one," Gaela said blandly, "but the other reason is that General Gnoss has called for our dreadnoughts to form an armored assault unit to act as our spearhead for the counter-attack. Since you decided to become armor rather than infantry, you may find yourself given a very different battlefield role than the other equines."

"What? I don't get to fight along with my friends? Nobody told me about this!" Pinkie complained, shaking the power fist in the air.

"And who did you consult with before deciding to hijack an assault walker?" Gaela asked, tilting her head to the side. "Surely they were neglectful for having failed to mention such an obvious matter."

Pinkie didn't bother to reply and started walking toward the dropship as she let her power fist fall to her side.

Twilight watched the pink dreadnought go, and then turned toward Gaela again. "You've gotten REALLY good at handling her. Seriously, I'm impressed."

"She isn't the first lunatic I've had to arm and armor, and she won't be the last," Gaela reasoned as her servo arm clanked shut, "if there's nothing else, we can depart. The greenskins await their reckoning."

The ponies started walking toward the embarkation ramp, although Applejack stopped in front of Gaela and looked up.

"So, wait a tick. Ya call the Tau 'grayskins' and the Orks 'greenskins'?"

"Those are the most common slurs, yes. Why?"

"Jus' seems a tad uncreative, s'all," the apple farmer mumbled, "Ah mean, what if ya were facing a race that aren't all the same color?" Then she lifted her head up. "Like ours! If y'all were fightin' us, what kinda insultin' nickname would ya use?"

"Barnyard animals," Gaela said without hesitation.

Applejack snorted as she started heading into the chimera again. "Well, shucks, that one don't even make sense! Ah guess y'all should stick to skin colors."

****

Across the armor lots

Pinkie spotted three other walkers as she headed past the rumbling rhinos and chimeras loading up, and she smiled underneath her new helmet as the visor display scanned each war machine and listed the name of the pilot.

She may not be able to head into combat with her friends, but that didn't mean she couldn't make NEW friends out of the people she was fighting alongside. Sure, they were probably grumpy and mean, since that was the default Iron Warrior attitude. More so, in fact, because these ones had been mortally wounded and forced to live in a permanent state of half-death while still fighting for the Chaos cause. But Pinkie was not one to be easily deterred by such attitudes.

"Hiya, guys! Wassup?!" Pinkie shouted as she stomped past the numerous Dark Acolytes that were attending to the walkers.

Of the three walkers, one bore an autocannon and a thunder hammer on its arms and had a Mark of Khorne bolted onto it, another had a multimelta as its main weapon, and the final one was larger than the others, having thicker, rounded plating over its body and a large, double-barreled weapon even bigger than the autocannon. Its close combat weapon was a siege drill; an arrangement of three large, motorized drill bits mounted around a heavy flamer that replaced the standard dreadnought power fist.

All the walkers turned to stare as Pinkie Pie approached.

"I know that our computer thingies tell us each others' names, but it's more fun to introduce ourselves! I'm Pinkie Pie, and it's super-triple neato to meet you guys!"

The melta-armed dreadnought tilted forward stiffly in imitation of a bow. "Well met, Pinkie of Pie. I am Kairon. You may wish to see the Dark Techpriests to see to the maintenance of your vox system; your synthesizer sounds curiously squeaky and high-pitched."

The dreadnought with the autocannon twitched back and forth as it focused on Pinkie. "Why are you pink? Why are you PINK?!"

"Well, not ALL of him is pink. The head isn't," Kairon pointed out, "oh, this is Hett, by the way." The other dreadnought seemed satisfied by Kairon's observation, and he stopped twitching angrily.

That only left the larger dreadnought, which was still staring at Pinkie.

"What is this? Who are you?" he demanded.

"He told us," Kairon said, "he is Pinkie of Pie."

"Yuppers! Although I'm not a guy! One-hundred-percent girly-girl, over here!" Pinkie said brightly, holding out her power fist. Kairon promptly bumped it with his own fist.

"Ah. Then you are a female brother..." the dreadnought mused. "... Not many of those. Odd."

Then Kairon gestured toward the largest of them. "Since he seems reluctant to introduce himself, this is Honorable Sirius, our unit leader."

"HA! Sirius! Your name is a pun! That's awesome!" Pinkie laughed, holding up her power fist in the air for the other walker to give her a high-five. Or four, rather, since that was the number of fingers her power fist had.

Sirius did not move to complete the gesture. "I realize that lesser dreadnoughts are known for their instability, but you do not seem mentally fit for combat."

"Of course I'm fit, Sirius! Serious!" Pinkie laughed. "Oh, man! I am going to have SO much fun with that one!"

Hett started chuckling, and Kairon turned around to face Sirius.

"I have known you for over four hundred years, and I never realized that your name sounds just like a word until this very moment."

"All right, everymecha! Time to get loaded up!" shouted a voice from below. Pinkie looked down as the other dreadnoughts began moving under the dropship.

"Oh, hey! I didn't know there were pony ground crew! Rock on!" Pinkie cheered as a yellow earth pony mare walked by her.

"Hi! I'll be hooking you into your magnetic harness today in preparation for lift-off! Please proceed to an empty square underneath the aircraft!" the pony said pleasantly, although her cheerful tone was somewhat muffled by her respirator mask.

Pinkie stepped into position behind Sirius, giggling as she overheard their conversation.

"It's rather remarkable, actually. Your name even describes your temperament, which wouldn't ordinarily be of note, but is actually of great importance since your job is commanding other dreadnoughts. And because you're not crazy."

"Yes, fine. Let it go, Kairon," Sirius growled as the pony pushed the magnetic harness into place behind him.

The mare had a small leg brace on one foreleg, although rather than serving any medical purpose it had a mechanical manipulator claw attached to it to help make up for the equine's characteristic lack of fingers.

As she used this device to engage the safety clamps, the pony started humming to herself, and then, as she moved onto Pinkie's harness, she started to sing.

"One of these things is not like the others! One of these things doesn't belong! Can you tell me which thing is not like the others~!"

"Psst!" Pinkie hissed. "Sirius! She's talking about you!" The other mare finished securing the clamps and then moved on.

"... Really," the larger walker rumbled.

"It would make sense," Kairon pointed out, "as the rest of us are conventional dreadnought models while you pilot a contemptor shell."

"Kairon, cease your prattling," Sirius demanded.

"A freak! You're a FREAK!" Hett howled as the mare locked him into place.

Pinkie turned her helmet to give the contemptor dreadnought a reassuring smile, forgetting that he couldn't see her face. "Don't worry, Sirius! I still think you're cool! Serious!"

"This has 'long day' written ALL over it," the contemptor grumbled.

****

Sweet Apple Acres - farmstead

Big Macintosh looked up from his lunch as he heard the rumble of an approaching rhino outside.

The stallion was wearing his power armor, had his helmet disengaged, and had been trying to eat his meal with his servo arm for practice. This last fact was evident by the way most of his lunch was smeared across the table and the side of his face; Big Mac didn't know if he was EVER going to get the hang of having a fifth limb.

"That the transport?" Apple Bloom asked as she looked up from her own lunch. "Ya goin' to war now?"

"Eeyup," Big Mac said with a stony grimace.

"Not like that, ya ain't!" Granny Smith snapped as she reached over with a cloth and started wiping Mac's face. "We're a civilized kingdom, an' we don't send our boys out into the field wit' apple jam all over their faces!"

Macintosh endured the cleaning silently until his grandmother nodded. "All right, that's better. Now ya git out there and keep an eye on yer sister, y'hear?"

"Eeyup!" Big Mac said firmly.

"Good! Go teach them gray critters that we ponies don't take none of their guff!" the elderly mare said, shaking her hoof as Big Mac stood up.

"Granny, we're done with the Tau," Macintosh said as he rolled his eyes, "we're fightin' the Orks, now. They're green, Ah hear."

"We got green ones, now? Shucks, times're worse than Ah thought," Granny Smith shook her head sadly. "Well, ya make sure to come back to us, y'hear?"

"Eeyup!" Big Mac said as he trotted outside, his boots pounding heavily against the floor.

"See ya after the battle, Big Mac!" Apple Bloom called. "Bring me back somethin'!"

Big Macintosh headed out the door, and he turned toward the rhino idling in the road.

Dest was leaning against the vehicle, his boltgun in his hands.

"Macintosh. The rear ramp is deployed. Embark and we will depart for the front lines," the Iron Warrior commanded.

Big Mac nodded and walked around the back of the rhino.

He halted, however, when he got a look inside the passenger compartment. Stacked within the APC in a wide set of metal racks were hundreds upon hundreds of cupcakes.

He twisted his head around to look at Dest, eyebrow raised.

"Courtesy of the cakes," the Chaos Marine explained quickly as he opened the door to the driver's cab, "they thought it might serve as a morale-booster to the troops."

Big Mac nodded hesitantly. "Eeyup."

"Of course, there are not enough for all the soldiers mustering for the attack," Dest continued, "so I'll probably wait until after the battle and hand them out to the survivors."

The stallion shook his head as he walked up the ramp. Typical Chaos logic.

****

Four kilometers outside Company muster point

Twilight had plenty of time to reflect upon the upcoming conflict as she and her friends were carried to the battlefield in the Dark Mechanicus chimera. Unlike the others, who had gratefully shed their helmets as soon as they no longer needed masks to filter pollution (and didn't yet need headgear to deflect gunfire), Twilight had kept hers on to review the mission notes and keep track of vox transmissions.

The latter exercise had quickly proven futile; the vox and noosphere networks were utterly swimming with traffic, and there was too much activity for her to keep track of with her visor system alone. So she went over the checklists of primary, secondary, and tertiary objectives, as well as the images from Rainbow's scouting mission. She was pretty sure that was the sort of preparations a squad leader should be making.

Squad leader... the idea was hardly foreign to her, yet it left a strange taste in her mouth. She had always acted as the de facto leader of the Elements of Harmony, but that was because she was the pony with a direct line to Celestia. The others had followed not because they were under her command, but because they liked and trusted her. Having that arrangement formalized was no big deal, but now it was part of a larger organization with very different people at the top.

That line of thought was drifting into uncomfortable territory, so she was actually quite glad when she heard the rattle of gunfire momentarily rise above the rumble of the convoy's engines.

Twilight quickly searched the vox network and opened up a marked channel.

"Enemy contacts confirmed. Bikes."

"Looks like a scouting force. Confirmed kill on three xenos."

"More coming from behind that piece of wreckage..."

"Do not pursue. Let them bring word back to their camp."

"Gretchin in the rock face up ahead... looks like they're starting to establish watch towers."

"Barely worth the ammunition to bring them down..."

"Aim high. Ordnance barrage. Collapse the plateau on top of them."

Twilight cut the vox feed and looked up at the others.

She was about to inform them that they were starting to see Ork targets, but what came out instead was, "Rarity, why are you fussing with your mane when you're going to be putting your helmet on soon anyway?"

"That's what Ah been sayin'," Applejack grunted, "unless ya think all that hairspray'll help stop the bullets."

Rarity continued to slowly comb her mane as she levitated a mirror in front of her, not turning to look at the ponies criticizing her. "I don't expect you to understand. This is a calming ritual, a part of my life that remains unchanged while everything ELSE has been turned upside-down," the snow-colored unicorn said in a cool tone, "working to look my best is not just an exercise in trite vanity. It's a way of staying sane and collected when I'm being delivered into a literal war zone."

Twilight and Applejack seemed taken aback at first, and then guilty about judging her so readily.

"Besides, you did hear that the Wonderbolts are going to be at the rendezvous point, right?" Rarity asked, smiling brightly. "I can't look anything less than perfect in front of celebrities! I'll just keep the helmet off until the real shooting starts."

"Ah shoulda known," Applejack sighed, rolling her eyes.

Gaela wasn't paying attention to the conversation, as she was busy reviewing the list of inbound constructs for the defensive lines and working out power distribution plans.

She was interrupted from her task, however, when she heard a gentle tap of something metal against her greaves.

"Uhm, excuse me... I don't mean to interrupt..." Fluttershy said meekly.

"Obviously you did, or you would not have used a physical means to get my attention," Gaela grunted, "what do you want?"

Fluttershy wanted to turn invisible right then and there, but resisted the impulse; it's not like she could really hide from the woman when they were locked in the passenger compartment together.

"I was, uhm, looking over the training dataslate for field medicine, uh, and, well, had a few q-questions," the pegasus said anxiously. Clutched against her chest with her small servo arms was the dataslate in question.

Gaela nodded. "Proceed."

"Uhm... it's just... why are there so many sections on euthanasia?" Fluttershy squeaked.

That brought the other conversations in the transport to a screeching halt, and Gaela found that she now had the attention of all the equines in the transport.

"What's that? Some kinda fancy space drug?" Applejack asked obliviously.

"Not at all," Gaela answered, "it's actually quite simple and ancient in its application. Yet it remains the most effective and guaranteed remedy for the suffering of others."

It really amazed Twilight how Gaela could say something like that with absolutely no shift in tone to indicate that she might be joking, exaggerating, or have any particular feelings at all about such a statement. It also made her want to throw up a little bit.

"For example," the Dark Techpriest continued, "assuming basic battlefield competence on your part, you'll be applying euthanasia to many Ork soldiers today."

Applejack blinked in surprise. "What? Ah thought Ah was s'posed to be killin' 'em."

"Affirmative."

It took Applejack a few more seconds until her eyes widened. "Oh. OHHH. Shoot, that's downright gloomy."

Fluttershy scurried over behind Rarity, crouched low to the ground. "Miss Gaela scares me," she whispered to the unicorn.

"Miss Gaela scares ALL of us," Rarity replied. She didn't bother to whisper, and true to form, the woman in question was not offended.

The chimera shuddered to a halt.

"We are here," Gaela announced, her dome helmet sliding forward over her head and pressurizing, "estimated time until enemy contact is ten minutes. Find a suitable location and prepare for enemy assault."

The embarkation ramp fell, and Applejack and Fluttershy both engaged their helmets. Gears whirled and air hissed as the plates folded up around their muzzles and locked into place, and their optic visors blinked on a moment later, glowing an angry, bloody red.

They exited the APC to hear the distant whistle of heavy objects descending from orbit, and Twilight looked up at the incoming drop rigs.

"Four bunkers and four lascannon turrets," she mumbled as her visor tagged each object.

"I'll be busy setting up the bunkers and sanctifying the generators," Gaela said, "I should be able-"

"Hey! You guys made it!" came a shout from above, and Twilight looked up as Rainbow Dash swooped in for a - mercifully soft - landing.

"Why hello, Rainbow. I heard you got a head start on defending our planet from this new variety of alien scum," Rarity greeted warmly, being the only one not talking through a vox grill at this point.

"Hay yeah, I did!" Rainbow Dash laughed. "Took out three enemy planes! I ROCKED this battle, and it hasn't even officially started!" The drop rigs landed some distance away, and the ground shook from the muted impacts of several tons of prefabricated durasteel.

Then Rainbow Dash trotted up to Gaela, who had been silently analyzing the very obvious damage to her power armor. "I rocked it so hard that I need a bit of a tune-up, actually. Kinda got half-way gunned down out there."

Gaela frowned under her helmet. "You've been here since the reconnaissance mission. Why haven't you had your armor repaired yet?"

Rainbow chuckled in that unique way she did when she had a problem that was completely her fault, and she knew it.

"Yeah, see, there was this Dark Acolyte that met with me and the Wonderbolts, right? He gave them all this modified armor and other stuff. He was going to fix my armor, but then I told him to be really careful because Warsmith Solon built it himself." Rainbow lowered her head slightly. "Well, I guess name-dropping like that really intimidated the guy, because after that he was so scared of ruining it that he wouldn't even touch it, going on about not being worthy and stuff. So I need you to do it."

"I have to set up our defenses," the cyborg snapped as she turned around to leave, "if you cannot take care of your wargear, you cannot expect the servants of the Dark Mechanicus to keep compensating for your mistakes!"

Rainbow Dash stepped on Gaela's robe, stopping her (if only so that the robe didn't tear). "C'mon, Gaela! Solon totally did it when I asked him!"

"And yet you CONTINUE to neglect his gifts," Gaela growled, "I will not offer you such undeserved indulgence!"

"Gaelaaaaaa," Rainbow whined, "be cool!"

"Never!"

Twilight sighed and turned away, looking over the rest of the convoy. Mercenaries were piling out of their transports and setting up defense lines, while the tanks were lumbering up into position at the front.

"Oh, Dash! You mentioned the Wonderbolts were still around?" Rarity asked, grinning. "Where might they be?"

Rainbow turned away from Gaela and pointed a foreleg toward a high bluff some distance away from the mustering point. "They're back there! I guess they're going to be fighting too, though I don't really know how. It's not like they can handle a lasrifle, you know?"

She turned back to Gaela, only to see the Dark Techpriest had left and was opening up one of the drop rigs nearby. A small sliver of her rubber cloak was still trapped under the pony's boot.

"Come on, Gaela! Help a pony out!"

"Bother someone else!"

****

Ork Base Camp

"Waaaaagh! We got WAAAAAGH!! Git off yer bumz and git yer gunz, boyz!"

The call to battle in the Ork camp was less like an alarm and more like a dinner bell. Excited Nobs rushed through the camp and bellowed to the other Orks still setting up structures, stringing together mobs on the spot. Those that had gathered enough bodies rushed for the back of the camp, where numerous vehicles were parked in long lines.

"Wot's all da ruckus?" Hazarr grumbled to himself as he finished welding together a key relay on an enormous, building-sized electric transformer.

Turning away from his project, he watched the Nobs running and shouting through the camp.

"Oi!" he barked at an Ork at random, "wot's goin' on?! We'z not done buildin' yet!"

"Da humies, Boss Coggz!" the Ork said happily, slamming a fist into his palm. "Da humies came! Dey's all bunchin' up just past da cliffs! We'z gonna go smash 'em!"

Hazarr tilted his head to one side. "Fer realz? Dey came heah? Huh." The Big Mek hadn't been expecting that. Why build a huge wall and all that fancy dakka if you were just going to leave it? Humans were dumb.

"Whateva. Go krump 'em good," the Big Mek grumbled as he went back to his work.

"Er... you'z not comin', Boss?" another young Ork asked.

"Nah. I'z still gots ta bild da big dakka. Jus' cuz dey came out heah ta fight us don't meen we won't need stompas ta crakk da base."

"All roight, Boss. Yer da... well, da Boss."

Hazarr started walking back toward the transformer tower, but halted as a gretchin walked in front of him.

The small, simpering creature was carrying a communications rig that was bigger than it was, and its tongue hung out of its mouth as it struggled with the equipment.

"Call fer ya, Boss!" the gretchin squeaked. "Sounded right 'portant, it did!"

Hazarr squinted at the screen of the device. "Aw, zog it! It'z from dem dumb gits in da ships! Whadda dey want now?"

Grunting in frustration, Hazarr slammed his power claw onto the box, turning it on. This also happened to crush the gretchin carrying it, but the Big Mek didn't notice.

"Dis is Coggz. You betta not be callin' me ta cry dat da humies shot ya up," he growled.

"Boss! It's bad, Boss!" exclaimed the Ork on the other end of the line before a burst of static interrupted. "We booked it, we did! But most'a da boyz is gone! Dere's only two ships left!"

"Dat's wot ya gits git fer ignorin' me! I told ya dat big 'un was cursed!" Hazarr snapped.

Another burst of static. "Wot? No ya didn't!"

"Well, I told da boyz on my krooza, an' dey shoulda spread da word," Hazarr grumbled, "whateva. Dat it?"

"N-No, Boss," another burst of static, "see, after we'z was gettin' shot up by da humie ships, we was gonna board 'em, see? Git in close and choppy-like!"

"An' lemme gess: ya grot-lovin' softies mucked dat up, too," Hazarr snorted, picking up a cable running from the transformer.

"Dat's jus' it, Boss!" Static burst. "Hardly no boyz came back! Da ones dat did said dey was jumped by spiky boyz!"

Hazarr dropped the cable as his claw went slack. "Spiky boyz. We'z fightin' spiky boyz?"

"Dat's roight!" More static. "We wasn't ready fer dem! We got stomped, Boss Coggz!"

Hazarr brought his claw down onto the communicator, which turned the device off. By breaking it in half.

"Spiky boyz?" mumbled a Nob that had been close enough to overhear. "Never fought dem. Dey's s'posed ta be roight hard, ain't dey?" He looked quite excited at the prospect.

"Yeah, dey is," Hazarr grumbled, "ting is, if we'z fightin' Space Marines, dat changes da maths."

"Da wot?"

"Da number o'boyz it's gonna take ta beat down da humies. 'Justed fer da vohlyum o'dakka, 'course."

The Nob's eyes started getting glassy, and Hazarr grunted as he turned away. "Nevah mind. I'm jus' sayin' dat we'z need more dakka, and we'z needin' it roight quick."

"'Kay. But... da humies is already heah," the Nob pointed out.

"Yeah. Dat's da problem," Hazarr grunted. Fair fights were all well and good, but Chaos Space Marines never fought fair if they could avoid it. Besides that, the human army looked to be the equal of his own in numbers even before he had learned that a portion of it was made out of super soldiers. The boyz were poised to take an adamantium boot to the teeth if he didn't cook up a surprise of his own.

The Big Mek looked around at his camp, and the terrain that surrounded it. Much of the ground was rough, crushed rock; thanks to the descent of the battlecruiser, the surrounding land had been scoured of vegetation, and enormous cliffs of stone had been pushed up into the air as a tremendous impact crater formed. These cliffs formed the perimeter of three sides of his camp, while the other was blocked off by the wreck.

Hazarr's eyes lingered on the wreckage of the Tau battleship. Or, more specifically, the massive turrets that sat on top of the wreck; battered and shredded by the impact, but largely intact.

"I gots an ideah," Hazarr chuckled deeply, "wait 'til dem Kayoss crazies get a load'a DIS!"

****

Muster point designation Zeta

Twilight watched as hundreds of men rushed back and forth across the defensive lines, carrying supply crates and heavy weapons to the front. Ferrocrete defense lines had been set up in staggered rows between the bunkers and main battle tanks, and all the drop-turrets were manned. Some mercenaries had even started digging trenches, but that operation had been brought to a quick halt as great plumes of exhaust smoke rose over the crags that protected the Ork encampment.

If one were to look at the front line, one might assume that there were no Iron Warriors at all. Looking further behind the defenses, however, they were difficult to miss. Standing on raised plateaus or clustered behind tanks were the gleaming warriors, each of them seeing to their pre-combat rituals. Each unit brandished heavy weapons as they set up, carrying cannons and launchers that were the size of ponies themselves. It was a humbling sight, and it was hard to imagine any enemy possibly overcoming so much firepower and armor.

And yet...

Turning toward the dark, cloudy plumes, Twilight's visor started tagging incoming vehicles. A counter on the side of her display listed an estimate of active hostiles approaching.

It was rising steadily, and would soon break four digits.

"Hey, AJ! Right nice day for a war, innit?"

The voice wasn't addressing her, but Twilight turned around anyway. Watching the number of incoming enemies was just depressing, anyhow.

Daniels and Big Macintosh were approaching, the latter towing a metal wagon loaded down with ammunition crates. And Trixie on top, prattling on about something or other.

"Mac! Wy!" Applejack turned around, her head tilting to the side. "Ah'd say Ah was glad y'all could make it, but speakin' honestly n'all, Ah wouldn't mind ya skippin' this mess. We gotta whole heap o'trouble bearin' down on us."

Daniels started speaking, but his voice was drowned out by the thunder of artillery guns firing behind them, all firing in rapid sequence.

Once the noise died down, the mercenary reached forward and plucked the hat off of Applejack's helmet. "Well, look at you. I suppose I should have seen this coming, but I still find it just slightly distressing that they're arming you better than us humans."

Applejack calmly fired her gravity lash, ripping the stetson out of Daniels' hand and yanking it back onto her helmet. "Well, don't take it personal. If'n Ah had mah say, ya would get the best, fer sure." She turned toward Big Mac, who was heading toward the men setting up heavy weapons on the walls. "Whattya think, Big Mac? Pretty nifty digs, ain't they?"

"Eeyup," he said with a brief nod.

"If Trixie may expand upon that," the armored unicorn quickly added, "Trixie finds that your armor being the largest and obviously heaviest fits well with your status as the mare with the-"

Trixie's commentary was mercifully ended early when Big Mac disengaged the magnetic harpoon linking him to the single-axle wagon. It immediately flipped backward, spilling the ammunition and the mare on top of it into a heap easily accessible to the surrounding soldiers.

There would have been much laughter and snarky commentary, but another artillery barrage rumbling from behind them made it difficult to be too distracted.

"Looks like they'll be moving into engagement range soon," Daniels murmured as he put on his own helmet.

"You've fought these kinds of battles before, right?" Twilight asked, looking up at the human. "We saw a lot of what we can expect from the Orks, but on a rather small scale. How do these battles run strategically?"

Daniels took a deep breath as he pulled up his rail rifle. "The way to stop an Ork offensive is to break its momentum. Orks are tough, but their main advantage is numbers. If they're allowed to hit our defenses all at once, there'll be no stopping them. They'll just trample all of us. Take out enough of their transports, though, and throw enough obstacles in their path, and they'll have to make a slower, more cautious approach to our lines. Orks don't do slow and cautious well."

Another thunderous barrage was loosed from behind them, and this time a few battle tanks joined in, lobbing shells into the trukks racing toward the front lines.

"We can count on the heavy weapons fire from the Iron Warriors to do most of the hard work for us in stopping the transports and armor, but mixing it up with Ork infantry isn't fun, either. We have to turn this into a shooting battle, and then we have to WIN the shooting battle."

Twilight stared at the approaching alien vehicles before she lifted off into the air and away from her friends.

The armored alicorn flew low over the rows of soldiers lining up at the defense walls, and then landed on a hellhound attack vehicle positioned ahead of most of the other tanks.

Twilight's horn casing glowed brightly as she stood atop the hellhound, and she took a deep breath.

"ATTENTION, ORK INVADERS!" Twilight's voice was magically spread for over a kilometer in every direction from her spell, rather than simply being amplified to an absurd degree like the Canterlot Voice. Every soldier and alien in range heard her as if she was standing right next to them.

"YOUR LANDING HERE HAS VIOLATED THE SOVEREIGN TERRITORY OF EQUESTRIA, AND THREATENED OUR HOMES AND PEOPLE! YOUR AGGRESSION IS BOTH UNPROVOKED AND MEANINGLESS! THERE IS NO NEED FOR THIS CONFLICT!"

"What does she think she's doing?" Daniels asked.

"It's a Harmony thing," Applejack assured him, "ya gotta at least TRY to talk things out, even if ya know it's pointless. Just let 'er be."

"THIS IS YOUR FIRST, LAST, AND ONLY WARNING! GO BACK TO YOUR VESSELS AND RETREAT FROM THIS WORLD, OR PREPARE FOR YOUR ADJUDICATION!"

Among the approaching vehicles, a looted and modified Leman Russ tank twisted its turret toward the hellhound and its passenger. The tank rocked back as it fired its main battle cannon, lobbing a large and uncharacteristically accurate shell across the battlefield and directly toward the noisy pony.

Twilight snapped the force harmonizer off her back and floated it forward, activating shield mode. A hex-grid of purple lines spread out from the poles, and shimmering plates of psionic energy appeared between them.

The shell slammed into the shield, causing the harmonizer to shudder backward as the defensive grid struggled to hold back the enormous kinetic and thermal energies. Ultimately it managed to do so, and the harmonizer stopped quivering as it stabilized. Twilight was pleasantly surprised to realize that there was no feedback surge, either.

Then the flames dissipated and her vision forward was clear again.

"Well, that was a pretty clear response. Had to try," Twilight mumbled.

A creaking noise came from behind her, and Twilight twisted her head around to see the inferno cannon gunner emerge from the top hatch.

"We object to you drawing additional fire toward our vehicle," the man confessed, "but we APPROVE of your deflecting incoming ordnance from it. Please proceed with the latter while toning down the former."

"Noted. Sorry about that," Twilight said as the man ducked back inside.

The sounds of lascannons and autocannons started running down the defensive lines as the weapons with the longest range started to lash out at the enemy. Trukks exploded in the distance or stuttered to a halt, spilling their cargo of alien fighters onto the rocky ground while the heavier vehicles continued rumbling forward into the crossfire.

Twilight banished the barrier and then started charging up the harmonizer's beam weapon, her visor bracketing the nearest incoming transport.

"For Equestria, and the Princess! ATTACK!!"

****

"Yeesh, things are really heating up down there," Soarin mumbled as he looked over the edge of the bluff, his optics zooming in on the bursts of artillery fire. Green bodies and smoldering plates of metal flew into the air with every string of detonations, and yet the waves of smoke-belching transports rumbled forward into the carnage regardless.

"And they're only going to get worse," said a man in a stilted, electronic voice, "for the xenos first, but eventually our own forces will start to feel the weight of the Ork assault."

The Wonderbolts were gathered around a new set of supply crates, and each of them now wore fitted armor plating over their jumpsuits. Most of the team watched the battle outside anxiously, but Spitfire was inspecting a small, onion-shaped device in her hoof.

"So wherever we drop these things, the artillery will hit that area exactly?" she asked the Dark Acolyte.

"Affirmative," he said as he picked up an artillery beacon with a ten-fingered augmetic hand, "at the moment, the xeno fighters are far from our lines, and there are so many targets that it is difficult to miss. As the battle progresses, the Orks will need to be attacked much closer to our own units, and much of the battlefield will be obscured by smoke and detritus. The deployment of spotters and artillery beacons will ensure that our most powerful weapons can contribute to the battle under more dangerous conditions."

A string of bullets zipped over Soarin's head, and the ponies nearest to the ledge leapt back as gunfire peppered the rock wall behind them.

"I really thought we were done with this after we finished with the scouting mission," Fleetfoot grumbled as she laid flat against the ground, "why are we even still here?"

"We're still here because there are still a lot of ugly green thugs that want to murder us all for fun," Spitfire snapped, "this battle isn't done, so neither are we!"

The Wonderbolt Captain noticed a distinct lack of patriotic enthusiasm from her subordinates, so she decided on a different form of persuasion.

"Do you remember what Rainbow Dash did when we landed here?" Spitfire growled. "She had been shot halfway to pieces, nearly crashed, and then rammed through two enemy planes! And what did she say when she got back? 'Fix up my suit, dude, I'm going back out there as soon as my friends arrive!' Now are you going to show that level of guts, or is that the sort of attitude that only exists in hotshot WEATHER MANAGERS?"

Soarin set his jaw and puffed out his chest. "You're right, Captain!" he barked. "Well, mostly right! As I understand it, technically Rainbow Dash is officially employed as a space pirate now, not on the weather team! But your point remains valid!"

"I would like to mention that Miss Dash also has some kind of super-advanced space armor," Silver Lining grumbled as he ran a hoof over the armor plate covering his chest, "how exactly does this stuff stack up to that? It feels way too light."

"That armor compares most unfavorably to the constructs of the Warsmith," the Dark Acolyte scoffed, "such creations are beyond replication. However, your current protections were assembled from Tau combat suits, which are considerably stronger than simple flak armor while being only slightly heavier. It will provide substantial resistance to Ork weapons."

Another bullet zipped over Soarin's head, causing him to flinch, and then Silver Lining shouted in pain as another blind shot slammed into his side. The stallion was completely bowled over onto the ground, and his teammates quickly rushed up to him.

"Silver! Silver, are you all right?!" Soarin shouted in a panic.

"Aaaugh..."

"Was that a 'yes'? I mean, obviously you're still alive, which is great, but if you were really all right I think you would be able to tell me!"

"Uuhuuhn..."

"See that?" the Dark Acolyte pointed to the felled pegasus. "Look at the projectile impact on the left pectoral plating. No penetration at all. This armor is perfectly sufficient."

"My ribs..." hissed the pegasus as he curled his legs up under his body. "Think... ribs... broken..."

"Well, yes, that can easily happen thanks to the oversized caliber of guns that Orks favor," the cyborg admitted, "but that's barely even an incapacitating injury."

Spitfire frowned and slowly approached the edge of the cliff, keeping her head down. "That seemed like it came from pretty close, didn't it? I thought the Orks were still far away. Plus we're pretty high up."

The sounds of warfare were rising in volume and intensity now, with the salvos of lasblasts and artillery explosions being joined by the constant cacophony of Ork shootas to create a constant, incomprehensible sea of noise. Still, Spitfire swore she could pick out some sort of engine roar closer than the rest of the sounds. She wasn't exactly an expert on high technology after being made to use it for half a day, but they kind of reminded her of the flight packs that Tellis and Rainbow Dash used...

"WAAAAUGH!!"

Spitfire leapt back as an Ork soldier blasted upward past the edge of the cliff, a trail of flame and smoke following along behind it.

"SWEET BABY LUNA!!" the orange mare screeched as she watched the alien ascend. "A rocket! They strapped an Ork to a Celestia-damned ROCKET!"

"Stormboyz!" shouted the Dark Acolyte, his augmetic arm shifting open to reveal a las-blaster. He waited until the roaring Ork reached the peak of his ascent, and then released a carefully-timed pulse of lasers into the foe.

The Ork's battlecry turned into a gurgling howl as it descended, and Soarin barely leapt out of the way before the alien hit the ground in a heap.

"Are you serious?" Fleetfoot shouted as the sputtering rocket booster bounced away in front of her. "This is how Orks fight?! This is insane!"

"And I think it's getting worse!" Blaze warned as his ears twitched. They could hear another approaching rocket engine, along with a fresh salvo of random bullets flying up over the edge.

Two more Orks appeared, the first hitting the edge of the cliff and pulling himself up. The second went higher, his rokkit pack carrying him over the Wonderbolts' heads.

The Dark Acolyte fired a laser burst into the first alien, dropping him off the edge. The second, however, crashed feet-first into the cultist, smashing him to the ground before raising his axe.

"NO!!" Spitfire screamed as the cyborg was reduced to a blood stain across the stone, and she leapt into the air before the Stormboy kicked the corpse aside.

"Back on the ground where you BELONG!" she shouted, punctuating the last word with a two-legged buck to the Ork's face.

The alien staggered back under the assault, blood and spittle spraying from its jaws.

Then it surged forward again, and Spitfire zipped away from the Stormboy's axe.

"Cripes, it's like kicking a brick wall!" the mare complained as a slugga round sailed over her head.

The other Wonderbolts that weren't rolling around in agony jumped into the air, intending to surround and batter the alien, but paused as they heard more rokkit engines and battle cries coming from below.

"Captain, we gotta get outta here!" Soarin shouted as he flew up behind the Stormboy and booted him in the back of the head. Again the Ork stumbled, but quickly shook off the blow.

"Wait! We can't leave Silver!" Spitfire said, beckoning to the injured Wonderbolt. Silver Lining was on his hooves and limping away from the fighting, but didn't look like he was going to be flying anywhere yet.

The Ork already among them tried to fire his slugga, only for it to click empty. "Imma beat ya all ta mush!" the Stormboy growled, tossing his sidearm aside and taking a two-handed grip on his choppa. "WAAA-ARGH!"

Spitfire's eyes blinked as something struck the alien from the side with a significant heat flash, and then they widened as the Ork fell to the ground with half his torso burnt away.

"Hello, dears. You look like you could use an extra hoof up here."

Standing at the far side of the cliff, Rarity posed without her helmet, with one foreleg raised off the ground and her head turned slightly in profile. As much effort as she put into her heroic appearance, though, the Wonderbolts' attention was mostly on the humming plasma gun floating in the air next to her, wrapped in her magical aura.

Then then next group of four Stormboyz rocketed over the edge of the cliff.

Rarity snapped a shot off at one of them, striking him in mid-air and frying the alien instantly. The others hit the ground running, charging the mare in gleaming armor with a gleeful roar on their lips.

"This is a VIP area!" Rarity shouted, her face twisting into a disapproving glare as the sheathed blade on her back started to glow. The plasma gun dropped out of the air at the same time, automatically mag-locking onto her side as it touched the gleaming armor plating. "Begone, ruffians!" The power sword pulled free of its sheath, and lightning arced down over the weapon's edge as it twisted in the air toward the nearest alien.

Then Rarity's horn pulsed.

The first Ork fired his slugga, only for his target to dart out of the way of the bullet at a speed that absolutely precluded any reaction. The power sword lanced forward into his throat and then cut sharply to the side. The Stormboy fell, dead before he had even realized what had happened.

Rarity's body was a blur as she dashed around the Orks trying to pummel her, and her power sword cut a gouge into the next alien's chest before drawing away and then stabbing into the breached skin.

The last Stormboy was briefly torn between chasing after the shockingly quick pony and fighting off the power sword that had no one apparently wielding it. When he saw the crackling blade pull free from his mob-mate, he made his decision and hacked at the sword.

The power weapon was hammered to the ground, lacking any real leverage to resist, and the Ork soldier stomped on the weapon's hilt to hold it down. Was that it? Did he win? He'd never fought an inanimate object before, so he wasn't sure.

The point was made rather moot when a plasma bolt took his head off from behind.

Spitfire gaped as Rarity's form slipped back into the normal flow of time, and she shook her head to clear it of the persisting after-images that had followed the glamorous unicorn.

"What in Celestia's name just happened?" the Wonderbolt Captain demanded.

"Whatever happened, can it happen again? I see a real big one coming up here!" Soarin warned as he hovered near the edge of the cliff. He lurched back ahead of a spray of wild gunshots, ducking away next to Fleetfoot.

Rarity took a quick glance around, and her eyes settled on the Wonderbolt crouched in a corner, wheezing painfully. He had a belt of grenades wrapped around his chest, as did the rest of the stunt flyers.

"Pardon me, darling, but it doesn't look like you'll be using those," Rarity said as a blue glow swallowed the belt. The latch came undone, and Silver Lining blinked as the belt of explosives slipped off and hung in the air in front of him.

Then he squeaked in fright as every one of the pins popped out at once, falling to the ground in a little pile.

"It's smashin' time!" cheered a massive Ork Nob as he ascended over the edge of the cliff and landed, kicking up a wave of rock dust under his boots. He was wielding a large iron hammer with a head about the size of a pony itself, and the Wonderbolts quickly darted away from the behemoth.

"We'z gonna-" his usual massacre preamble was interrupted as a belt flew toward him and wrapped around his neck.

He reached up and tugged at it hesitantly. It wasn't tight enough to constrict his breathing at all, and yet the small, squishable equines in front of him were staring at him with expressions ranging from horror to wild anticipation. "... Wot?"

"Anyway, Miss Spitfire," Rarity said, turning toward the orange pegasus. She paused to take a few steps to the side as the grenades detonated. The considerable blood splatter fell just inches short of her armor, and she grimaced briefly before she continued.

"I know this is hardly the ideal time, but my father's birthday is coming up, and he's something of a fan of yours. Is there any chance I could get some autographs from your team?"

Spitfire landed in front of the unicorn, an incredulous expression on her face. "Are you SERIOUS? We should be asking for YOUR autograph! That was brutal, filly!"

Rarity winced as she levitated her power sword out from under the Ork corpses. She wasn't ashamed of her combat prowess, but "brutal" was probably the least elegant way to describe it.

"In all seriousness, though," Soarin said as he landed on her other side, "you just saved our lives. You could ask for more than autographs."

"Maybe later, darling," Rarity said as she floated her blade in front of her. The power field crackled to life again, burning away the last of the Orkish blood, "for now, I just wanted to make a quick request before things get too hectic." She sighed as she sheathed her blade across her back. "I can't stay for too long; the others are down there on the front lines, and those ponies can get into all SORTS of trouble wandering around a battlefield."

****

A screeching howl boomed in Twilight's ears as she fired the force harmonizer's heavy beam, the noise only partly reduced by her autosense filters. A thick lance of purple hammered the front of a Gunwagon and ripped through the vehicle, tearing it in half.

The turret in front of her swiveled, and a jet of burning liquid sprayed across a smoldering transport wreck, bathing it in fire and incinerating the aliens sheltering behind it.

Warning icons on her helmet appeared, and Twilight shifted the harmonizer into shield mode before a cluster of rockets sailed wildly at her armored perch. Most of them spun away or hit the ground en route, but two of them sailed more-or-less randomly on target, only to hammer uselessly into Twilight's shield.

She tried to keep her mind on the battle, but Twilight couldn't help marveling how EASY it was to create a shield with the harmonizer. Hard shields were a very advanced unicorn spell, and barriers that could shrug off the sorts of kinetic and thermal energy contained in anti-armor weapons were limited to the most powerful ponies or those who claimed shields as their special talent, like Shining Armor. If the harmonizer's barrier effect could be scaled up, could it be possible to generate impenetrable barriers powered by a few random unicorns? Such a device would have obvious military benefits, but there were plenty of scientific applications for-

Her thoughts stumbled as the hellhound lurched underneath her. Twilight was mag-locked to the hull, but that had been an impact, not directed movement.

Glancing to the side and down revealed an Ork bike - as well as its dazed rider - that had apparently rammed into the side of the vehicle, and she could see the rest of the biker group riding off toward the defense lines.

A quick pulse of energy into the force harmonizer, and she cut a beam across the unit, slicing through riders and rending rear wheels apart. Most of the Orks lost control of their bikes and were flung onto the smoke-strewn battlefield. She was confident the humans could handle the remaining few.

Another missile warning light. Twilight's eyes widened as she quickly fed more power into the force harmonizer and swung it around, but it wasn't as quick to change output modes as she would've liked.

The crew of the exploding hellhound surely would have agreed.

Twilight yelped as she felt a surge of heat from below that briefly overwhelmed the controlled temperature of her armor interior. This was followed by a rapid series of warnings and angry red diagrams flashing on her visor, none of which were especially helpful as she was flung through the air on a wave of flame and shrapnel.

She hit the ground hard, but felt little pain from the jarring motions or searing heat. In fact, as she staggered to her hooves she seemed ultimately unharmed, if not fairly guilty about failing to protect her former perch and its operators.

A trio of bullet ricochets off her right flank cut short her mourning, however. She drew deeper into her magic and cast her regular shield dome, covering her from all directions as she tried to get her bearings.

Twilight was now surrounded by the full tumult and chaos of warfare. There were columns of smoke and waves of dust everywhere. Ork corpses and the blood slicks that used to be recognizable corpses were scattered all over the ground. Streams of lasers and bursts of tracer fire stabbed through the obscuring elements in an aimless frenzy. And underpinning the visual carnage was a constant crash of artillery and cannon fire in the background. Were it only her shield standing between her and the endless havoc, she would have been completely overwhelmed by the sensory stimulus alone. Behind her visor, however, the noise was filtered to sane levels, the heat wash from a hundred furious weapons was blocked out, and the nearest enemies were detected from behind the smoke and ash and bracketed for her convenience.

How did soldiers like Daniels handle open warfare without the aid of a sealed and fully computerized combat interface? Humans were insane.

Not quite as much so as the Orks, however. Not only did the green aliens seem to be conducting battle well enough without especially sophisticated equipment, but they were doing so on the wrong side of an artillery brigade while soaking up horrendous casualties. Yet the assault had barely faltered, and she could hear the infrequent bellows of laughter and guttural cheering in-between ordnance salvos. They were ENJOYING this.

"Well, if they like dying so much, who am I to judge?" the alicorn growled as she turned and focused on the largest incoming enemy signature.

That signature happened to be a Battlewagon, and Twilight raised an eyebrow as the huge, lumbering transport rolled out of the smoke. Mounted guns on the vehicle's top blazed constantly, spraying her barrier with bullets, but the numerous lesser impacts were tolerable.

Of greater concern was the massive, spike-covered metal roller attached to the front of the vehicle and flattening everything ahead of it. It was an almost comical sight to see such a crude weapon on a battlefield filled with lasers and artillery, but Twilight certainly didn't imagine she'd survive if she let it crush her.

So she didn't.

Twilight made a short teleport before the shield dissolved, rematerializing right next to the side of the battlewagon.

Switching the force harmonizer to blade mode, she stabbed the crystalline purple weapon into the transport as it rumbled past, punching through the wheels and holding it in place telekinetically while the battlewagon kept moving. Sparks and chunks of shredded metal spewed from the point of contact, and the entire vehicle started to shake from the damage.

Twilight wrenched the harmonizer free, and the Battlewagon ground to a shuddering halt with fully half of its wheels and tracks ripped apart. Some of the Orks packed into the wagon started firing out from the passenger compartment, but the few bullets that reached her spattered off her armor.

Then she spotted something being flung out of the compartment at her: some sort of baton-shaped object with a metal head.

"Oh! A stikkbomm! I remember hearing about those from Delgan!" Twilight said, magically immobilizing the object in the air. "I don't want this." She telekinetically flung the explosive back into the passenger compartment.

The howls of pain and angry shouting after the stikkbomm exploded indicated that some of the passengers had survived, so Twilight summoned a fireball at the tip of her horn and then lobbed that into the passenger bay as well.

Then a battle cannon shell screamed over her head, passing close enough to scrape one of her wings.

"Yipe!" Twilight was pushed off her hooves by the concussive force of the explosion, knocking her onto her side but again sparing her any real injury. Scrambling upright, she saw what appeared to be a ramshackle Leman Russ battle tank with a grinning Ork face bolted onto the front. All of its giant and long-ranged guns also seemed to be aimed toward her, which she actually found a little flattering, if not way too dangerous.

"Hey! That tank doesn't belong to you!" the alicorn shouted as she made another teleport directly in front of the battle tank.

Twilight jumped up, her wing boosters carrying her over the hull of the vehicle as it shook from the power of its three heavy bolters. The tank's weapons kept firing obliviously at the spot where Twilight had been, perhaps thinking that she had merely been obscured nearby.

"What have we got here..." Twilight landed on the top of the looted tank's main turret, and she spotted a fuel drum hanging on the back that wasn't secured properly. It was probably enough to cause an explosion, but not an explosion large enough to destroy the rest of the tank.

Well, then. Time to improvise.

Again the harmonizer formed its glowing, violet edge, and Twilight used the blade to slice through the lock and hinges keeping the main crew hatch closed. Then she kicked the hatch cover off.

Twilight levitated the fuel drum up and cut off the cap, dumping the volatile contents into the tank interior. Some angry shouting came from the crew compartment, and she responded in kind.

"Ponies are a loving and peaceful race!" the alicorn shouted as she flung the empty drum away and lit a spark on the tip of her horn. "This is YOUR fault! YOU did this to us!"

She dropped the flame into the tank, turning away as the grunts and shouting turned to panicked howls.

"Okay. Next is-"

Twilight was cut off by a cascade of heavy bullets hammering her in the side, knocking her clean off the tank and sending her sprawling onto the ground.

"Ow! That actually hurt!" she complained as she stood up again. A diagram of her armor structure appeared briefly, a red section marking a breach in the plating. None of the bullets had managed to pierce it completely and reach her body, but the pieces of the internal carapace now jutting into her skin were a painful reminder that even power armor wasn't indestructible.

"Okay, next is NOT standing on an elevated position surrounded by enemy guns," the alicorn said as she ducked low next to the disabled tank. Bullets ricocheted wildly off the vehicle plating from all directions as the enemy weapons sought her out; clearly her actions so far hadn't gone unnoticed.

That conclusion was reinforced as her visor tagged numerous infantry charging toward her through the smoke and blast craters. Twilight grimaced. As bad as it was being surrounded by Ork gunfire, being surrounded by Ork choppas was considerably worse. Their dream training had quite literally hammered that point into her.

She established a vox connection with the artillery captain.

"Artillery control, this is Sparkle. I've got numerous incoming targets from multiple directions. Do you have time for a volley in my direction?"

Static crackled in her ear briefly. "I'm reading you, Sparkle. Upload a targeting solution for us and we'll bring down the hammer."

"No need for that. Just center it on my location," she replied as she turned around and peeked behind the Leman Russ. More Orks charging from the other side. Perfect.

"You... want us to fire directly ON you? You won't have long to clear the blast area."

"Please," Twilight said as she locked onto Applejack's locator rune. Numbers rapidly scrolled across her visor, detailing the farmer's distance and elevation in relation to Twilight herself.

"Your funeral. Firing now." The vox link cut out.

"WAAAAAAAAGH!!" the chosen battlecry of the Orks rumbled in her ears and steadily built all around her as the aliens approached, and her armor shook as a few of the charging Orks managed to hit their highly visible and unmoving target with their pistols.

"Yeah, I'm out," Twilight said before she teleported away.

****

Twilight reappeared right behind Applejack, who was peeking over the top of a defensive barricade next to Daniels and Big Macintosh. She listened carefully for the sound of "her" artillery strike hitting, but unfortunately the sound was impossible to pick out among the churning noise of battle that now surrounded her. Oh well.

"Hi guys! What'd I miss?" she called out.

Applejack turned around, obviously surprised to see the alicorn. "Twi? What happened? Ah thought that flamer tank rode off with ya!"

"Yeah, it did," Twilight confirmed, "I got a little too far out, so I came back." She shrugged, shifting the battered shoulder pads on either side of her. "So how are things holding up here?"

"Better'n expected, really," Applejack admitted, "which is still pretty bad, but, y'know, toler'ble."

A scream came from behind the apple farmer, and a mercenary collapsed to the ground with an arm missing.

Applejack glanced down. "Still alive! Someone bring 'im over to Flutters!"

The two soldiers nearest were only too happy to comply, ducking down and dragging the gasping man away from the front lines.

Applejack turned back to Twilight. "We've been gettin' worn down pretty steady-like, but Wyatt says that's how we know we're actually winnin'."

"If we were losing, we'd know, because we'd all be dead or running by now!" the mercenary shouted as he fired his rail rifle into the distance. Big Macintosh was shooting at the same targets through the smoke, standing with his forelegs on the defense wall and his heavy bolter spewing long bursts into the distance.

"The Orks haven't breached the lines yet?" Twilight asked.

"Nah," Applejack grunted, "a few groups of 'em made it close after their wheels broke down, but Trixie tricked 'em with her illusion thingamajig while we shot 'em apart." The unicorn was standing well back of the first line of defense walls, and Twilight watched as a few zig-zagging fireballs were launched, perhaps blindly, into the battlefield beyond.

"Well, sounds like you're doing better than I was, at least," the alicorn decided.

Her declaration was followed by a cannon shell slamming into the nearest bunker. A spray of ferrocrete burst from the back of the fortification as it started to split apart from the accumulated abuse, and a squad of mercenaries flooded out of the back of it.

"And now we're not! That's what you call a 'jinx'!" Daniels shouted back to the equines as he stopped to reload. "Don't do that!"

Applejack quickly turned back toward the battlefield. "We got another of 'em big trucks comin'!"

"That bunker was keeping the armor back!" Daniels complained. "The Havocs already have their hands full with the damned looted tanks! We don't have anything to stop it!"

Twilight levitated the force harmonizer above her head as she saw the huge vehicle emerge from the distant smoke. It was similar enough to the Battlewagon that had tried to run her over before that she easily identified it as the same type of vehicle, although this one looked somewhat different. The most obvious difference being the lack of an enormous metal roller mounted on the front.

"Got it," the alicorn mumbled as she charged up the harmonizer, "Big Mac, could you step down, please? You really don't want to be in the way of this."

The stallion quickly did so, ducking out of Twilight's line of fire right before a bright purple lance of pure power screamed over the defensive walls.

The Battlewagon shook violently as the heavy beam hammered into it, yet kept plowing forward into the energy stream. Armor plates crumpled and the reinforced glass of the windshield cracked and broke. Twilight was fairly sure the beam managed to cave in the driver's cab and crush the pilot by the time her weapon petered out.

Oddly enough, this didn't seem to slow the vehicle down much.

"Aw, horseapples!" Applejack shouted as she galloped out of the way of the smoldering transport. Several mercenaries followed behind her, while Daniels and Big Macintosh split away in the other direction.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Twilight chanted as her wing boosters carried her out of the battlewagon's path. If it kept going, it would carry its payload right into the artillery brigade. "We need to stop it! We have to-"

The Battlewagon's front wheels suddenly popped off, rolling to either side as the front portion of the vehicle dropped to the ground and started digging a furrow into the dirt.

"... What? Did I jar something loose?" Twilight asked as she landed and backed away from the transport.

Then one of the hull-mounted big shootas lit aflame, and small parts began to come loose from the rear tracked section of the vehicle.

"Trixie KNEW this spell would come in handy!" Trixie crowed while her horn casing pulsed with magic. The exhaust pipes on the Battlewagon started shaking and sputtering violently, and one of the axles snapped in half. "Hurry up and get the ones inside!"

There was still a lot of wild gunfire coming from the passenger compartment, and most of the surrounding mercenaries were rushing for new cover. Applejack and Big Mac were closest, and the sister nodded silently to her sibling before they both charged for the rear of the vehicle.

Macintosh swung around once he reached the Battlewagon, and his augmetic leg wound up as Applejack aimed her heavy flamer.

A tremendous crack boomed over the battlefield as Big Mac ripped open the rear of the passenger compartment, and Applejack wasted no time before pouring flame into the breach. Within seconds the entire Battlewagon was vomiting smoke as its passengers and cargo were cooked alive, while at the same time the vehicle's engines came apart due to Trixie's efforts. Some Orks leapt from the sides of the Battlewagon while still on fire, but these panicking fighters were quickly cut down by lasgun fire.

"All right, that takes care'o these varmints!" Applejack announced. "We gotta-"

She was cut short as something burst out through the fire and the remaining armor plating on the rear of the battlewagon, knocking both Applejack and Big Mac aside with its sheer mass.

"NOB!" Daniels shouted, bringing his rail rifle up. The enormous Ork was on fire, like the rest of his unit, but the mob leader was covered in a massive, super-heavy armor suit that protected him from the worst of the flames. The fire did a good job of obscuring his vision, at least, because rather than stopping to shred the Apple siblings with its power klaw the Ork was racing forward in a rage, his shoota blasting wildly ahead of him without any particular target.

Daniels lowered his aim on the alien and fired a burst into its leg. The super-accelerated projectiles drilled through the mega armor's plating like so much butter, exiting out the other side with a hefty wash of blood.

The Ork staggered, roaring furiously and firing its twin-linked shoota in a blind arc in front of it. Daniels fell over as bullets slammed against his chest plate, knocking the man down from the sheer force.

"WAAAAAAA-hurk!" the Nob's war cry was cut short as two floating blades plunged into his back: one a glowing, crystalline purple, and the other a metal sword crackling with an intense power field.

The alien slumped forward, kicking up a wave of dust as his heavily armored corpse hit the ground.

"Really, I leave for TEN MINUTES, and this place goes straight to Tartarus while I'm gone," Rarity sighed as she slowly levitated her power sword out of the Ork's back. She finally had her helmet on, and some kind of wrapped bundle was on her back, directly behind the suit's power plant.

"Well, thanks for coming back," Twilight said dryly as she deactivated the harmonizer's blade and had the weapon float back to her.

"Wyatt! Wy, you all right?" Applejack gasped as she raced toward the mercenaries that had been in the general direction of the Ork's fusillade.

"Oh, I'll be fine," the man grunted as he pushed himself to his feet, "bones knit themselves, you know?" He looked to his side and saw two men laid out on the ground, having taken the barrage with considerably less grace than he. "Looks like we've got more work for Miss Fluttershy, though."

"HEY!!" barked Trixie. "Trixie hates to interrupt, but those weren't the last Orks out here, you know!" the unicorn was again behind a defense line with a squad of riflemen, lobbing sparkling jets of flame into the steadily advancing aliens.

"Coming!" Twilight replied, rushing past Daniels as the mercenary dragged one of his fallen peers in the opposite direction.

"Hey Miss Shy, got another for you!" Daniels called out as he pulled the wounded mercenary past a supply transport. The vehicles had been parked in a loose square, effectively blocking off an area that had then served as a makeshift medical bay.

"Oh, dear. Is it bad?" Fluttershy asked, not turning toward the mercenary. She had her narthecium gauntlet poised over the stump of a man's shoulder, spraying a solution onto it to disinfect the wound and accelerate clotting.

"Oh, not too bad. He won't bleed out soon. Right, mate?" Daniels shook the wounded man's shoulder. The man made a noise in response that suggested he might be retching into his respirator.

"Put him in the back, if that's all right," Fluttershy said, moving on to the next patient. The small servo arms extended from her chest plate, slowly approaching the bloodied hole in the mercenary's abdomen.

Daniels looked around the area. Besides Fluttershy, there were exactly two people helping treat the wounded: a rifleman who was probably only back here as a helper to avoid coming here as a patient, and a Dark Acolyte whose augments were suspiciously heavy on blades and light on needles.

"Well, you've been keeping busy, I see," Daniels murmured as he found an empty spot and laid down his injured associate.

"Oh, yes, it's been very hectic," the pegasus agreed breathlessly as the man beneath her squirmed in pain, "I'm used to taking care of injured animals all the time, but not this many! And I'm, uhm, not really all that familiar with human biology, so I'm not totally sure I'm doing it right, but I really hope I am because I'd feel just terrible if I accidentally killed-"

"Flutters," Daniels said sharply, noticing that Fluttershy's voice had been speeding up and steadily rising in pitch.

The pony froze stiff, her servo arms halting with a warped, blood-soaked bullet held between their metal pincers.

"Calm down," Daniels continued, "you've got drugs, you've got tools, and you care. That's already more than we're used to." He hefted his rail rifle. "Probably more than we deserve."

"Oh. Uhm... th-thank you..." Fluttershy ducked her head as she placed a bandage press on the wound of her current patient. "Mister Heranus, if you don't mind, could you come and get..."

Fluttershy trailed off as she glanced at the Dark Acolyte, who was looming over a mercenary with a mono-molecular-edged servo blade poised for cutting.

"Wait! What are you doing?" Fluttershy yelped, her vox grille automatically amplifying her timid interruption into the audible spectrum.

The robed cyborg halted. "I am amputating the damaged limb in accordance with my preliminary diagnosis."

"But he just has an arm fracture, doesn't he?"

"Affirmative. An augmetic replacement for the afflicted extremity will be far more functional and resistant to damage in combat."

"That's not the point! Don't cut off people's limbs if their injuries aren't even that bad!" the pegasus retorted, her voice becoming a bit more heated.

"That directive would have been very relevant four subjects ago."

Daniels quietly crept away as Fluttershy continued arguing with the Acolyte. He had considered asking for a painkiller for his own injuries, but figured the meek pony had her hooves full as it was. Best to save the time and supplies for those who needed them most.

He moved into a crouch as he approached the defense line, noting that the barricades were practically shaking from the volume of bullets hammering them while most of the soldiers were keeping their heads down.

"I'm back! What'd I miss?" Daniels shouted as machine gun fire whistled through the air over his head.

Twilight had her head down too, but her force harmonizer hovered above the barricades while sweeping a purple beam across the battlefield every few seconds, cutting into the Orks slowly advancing on their position.

"I talked to an officer!" the alicorn shouted. "The armored vehicles and Iron Warriors are massing for the counter-attack! The Ork assault is breaking up!"

"Spiffy! Could you do that voice trick and tell the Orks shooting at us? I don't think they realize they've lost yet!" the mercenary yelled back.

Twilight rolled her eyes under her helmet. "Hold on!" She switched the harmonizer to shield mode, and soon the hex-grid barrier of energy came alive with power flares as bullets sprayed over it. "Okay, that'll cover us! Fire back!"

The mercenaries wasted no time wondering when they started taking orders from ponies; the fact that Twilight wore power armor and had given them a tactical advantage were enough qualifications for them. Ranks of soldiers turned their lasguns back toward the battlefield, emptying their clips in the direction of the Orks' muzzle flash.

"There we... go!" Applejack grunted as she pushed the box of heavy bolter ammunition into place on Big Mac's side. Then her helmet opened up before she pulled the first rounds of the belt out of the box with her teeth, feeding the heavy bolts into her brother's main weapon.

Big Macintosh waited patiently, trying not to feel TOO embarrassed that his sister had to help him reload his weapon in a reasonable time frame. Trixie was beside him, still launching firebursts into the smoke beyond.

"WaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAGH!!" The distant warcry built into a thunderous wave as the shooting started to die down, and those ponies that had spent the previous night fighting endless waves of Ork fighters perked up. They knew what that sound meant.

"They're making a push!" shouted a mercenary as he readied a grenade. "They're rushing us!"

"At least they're doing it on foot this time! Right sporting of them!" Daniels chuckled ruefully as he found the last magazine of rail rifle ammunition and slid it into place. "Strictly speaking, it isn't vital to the mission that we hold them back any more, but I'm sure you'll all agree that it's still preferable to being trampled to death!"

"Eeyup," Big Macintosh agreed as his visor started marking targets by the dozen.

As the torrent of incoming bullets became a trickle, Trixie poked her head up over the barricades to see the wave of dirty green figures sprinting through the veritable rain of lasers, heavy bolter rounds, and the odd purple beam sawing across the battlefield.

"Show time," the unicorn said to herself while she rushed toward Applejack.

"Pardon Trixie, apple pony," she said kind-of-politely.

Applejack barely had time to mumble in confusion before Trixie hopped on top of her back.

"What the-? Hey! Whaddya think yer doin'?!" Applejack demanded. It wasn't as if Trixie's weight caused her any actual strain, but it was rather distracting to have another pony riding her in the middle of a crucial phase of a battle.

Trixie's horn casing glowed before her hat floated up off her helmet, and as she spoke her vox-distorted voice boomed over the battlefield exactly as Twilight had done earlier.

"QUIVER IN FEAR, BRUTES! FOR NOW YOU FACE THE ONE, THE ONLY, THE GREAT AND POWERFUL... TRIXIE!!"

Ignoring the exasperated sighs from some of the other armored equines (including her current perch), Trixie stood up on her hind legs and beckoned to her floating hat with a foreleg.

"BEHOLD! FOR TRIXIE SUMMONS YOUR DEMISE WITH BUT A FLICKER OF HER MIGHTY MAGIC!!"

As her horn glowed brighter, Trixie's wizard hat started to shake and distend, as if the opening were a mouth trying to spit something out.

And then it DID spit something out.

Boltguns spilled from the hat two or three at a time, dropping toward the ground and then swinging back up into the air while wrapped in a soft, pink glow. This continued for several seconds, and by the time the hat vomited a puff of smoke and dropped back on Trixie's head, there were a full thirty of the hefty firearms floating in the air, spaced out around the unicorn and aimed toward the oncoming horde.

The Orks actually did seem quite impressed by the feat of magic and subsequent display of firepower. A few stopped to clap.

The thunderous sound of all the bolters discharging on full burst swallowed the other noise of the immediate area, including the approaching aliens. Twilight couldn't help but stare at the fusillade, letting her own weapon fire slacken.

"Trixie?! How can you possibly aim thirty weapons at once?!" Twilight shouted to be heard over the bolter fire.

"AIMING IS FOR THOSE WITH ONLY ONE GUN!!" Trixie cackled.

The application of Ork shooting tactics against Ork assault tactics proved surprisingly effective, and more and more howling soldiers dropped to the ground mid-stride with gaping wounds in their chests or legs.

Then the barrage stopped, and thirty boltguns made ominous clicking noises in the air.

"Welp. Trixie's done," the unicorn declared, hopping down off of Applejack as all the bolters dropped to the ground at once, "good luck fending off the survivors! You can thank Trixie later if you don't die!"

Applejack rolled her eyes as the caped pony galloped away. She really couldn't bring herself to complain.

"Incoming melee!" Daniels shouted, dropping his rifle and drawing his sword and pistol as the Orks made the final push for their front lines. Out of some sixty who began the initial charge, a mere ten remained after weathering the guns of the defenders.

Then, in a turn of events that surprised nearly everyone, the ground underneath the incoming Orks flashed and turned to ice.

"Hit them now!" Twilight shouted, her horn glowing and surrounded by a frosty chill as the harmonizer switched to blade mode.

Some of the aliens lost their footing on the unexpectedly slick ground, either sprawling flat on their faces or sliding forward and slamming awkwardly into the barricades.

The humans wasted no time standing up and spearing the aliens with bayonets, and Daniels started by shooting an Ork boy that was climbing to his feet and slashing another that was raising his choppa.

After that, events became a wild and desperate blur fueled by adrenaline and panic. Slash, shoot, dodge, twist. Daniels had performed this bloody dance a dozen times before, thrice against Orks, but it never seemed to get any easier. Some people seemed to be born for this sort of carnage. Or, in the case of the Space Marines, reborn for it. For Daniels it was the ugliest, most desperate part of war, and usually the kind that only happened when things went wrong.

His sword bit into green flesh, but not deep enough. A backhand slammed into him in response, and his previous, minor injuries came alive with pain. This stunned him long enough for the laughing alien to ram into him with its shoulder, sending the mercenary crashing to the ground.

Daniels wasn't entirely sure what happened after that; the world seemed to spin around him as he laid on the ground, and all the strength had left his body. All he could be sure of was that he was still alive; he was in way too much pain to have finally passed away.

"Daniels, darling, are you still with us?"

There was hardly any mistaking that voice for anyone else, even if Daniels couldn't recognize the different ponies' armor suits on sight. The unicorn was standing on the chest of a dead Ork, her power sword plunged into its throat. There was a considerable amount of blood splashed over her power armor, but given the lack of obvious tears in the plating, none of it was hers.

"Hi Miss Rarity," Daniels groaned out, his throat feeling painfully dry, "did we win yet?"

"We did, actually," Rarity said, looking up at the melee's aftermath.

The entire area was a mess of savaged Ork bodies and slicks of blood, with a mere handful of human corpses scattered among them. The only Ork still alive was currently impaled on one of Big Mac's horns, and was weakly beating at the stallion's helmet with his bare fists as he bled out.

Daniels slowly forced himself into a sitting position, and he unlatched his headgear.

"Well, congratulations," he gasped as he pulled his face mask and helmet off, "you've all survived the first part of your first battle against the greenskins. That's a pretty big deal!"

Applejack blinked behind her helmet. "The first part? ... Aw, horseapples! We still gotta go take apart their camp, don't we?"

Big Mac swung his head to the side, and the dying Ork boy was flung away into a crater. "Eeyup."

"Well, after the numbers they committed here, there can't be too many of them left defending their base," Twilight reasoned.

None of the ponies like the way that Daniels chuckled ruefully at that statement.

"You'd think so, huh?"

A low rumble diverted the ponies' attention as a rhino APC approached from behind the defensive lines, maneuvering through the shattered defenses.

It slowed to a halt next to the armored equines, and Twilight perked up considerably when the side access door opened.

"Gaela! There you are!" the alicorn chirped as the Dark Techpriest stepped out of the transport. "I was kind of worried when I teleported back here and didn't see you!"

"I SHOULD have been on hand to mend the defenses as necessary," Gaela said, her voice carrying slightly more irritation than usual, "but I was otherwise occupied."

A servo arm pointed to the sky, and ponies looked upward to see a gleaming figure blasting through the air on a trail of flame.

"How bad was it?" Twilight asked.

"Dash's supposed skill at flight is in serious question. And her obvious shortcomings as far as restorative litanies were also on ample display." Gaela grunted. "My repairs were comprehensive, however. She should be able to survive her next blunder."

"Not to rush your conversation," shouted a voice from the rhino's driver compartment, "but did you actually want to give the equines their deployment orders?"

"Apologies, Lord Dest," Gaela said quickly, stepping aside so that the ponies might enter the transport, "the Iron Warriors and the remainder of the armored contingent are beginning the counter-attack. There are still many Orks between us and their base camp, however. We will require armored transportation."

"Right! Let's go!" Twilight said as she walked into the rhino. Rarity and Big Macintosh followed her without delay.

Applejack did hesitate, glancing back at Daniels. "Ya think ya can get over to Flutters all right, cowboy? Ya ain't lookin' too good."

"Hey, I'm not the one being sent out to look for more trouble," Daniels said with a cough, "you take care of yourself, AJ. And look after your bro! Don't think he wants any more metal bits!"

Applejack snorted and entered the rhino. Gaela stepped in behind her, and then closed the side access door and locked it.

"Who was that, and what is the basis of his bias against augmetic components?" Gaela demanded.

Applejack groaned as the transport started to move. "Just let it go, would ya please? Let's concentrate on kickin' the last o'these critters off our planet!"

Gaela nodded hesitantly. "Very well. The final push into the Ork encampment will be spearheaded with our armored assault formations. The Iron Warriors will be deployed behind their initial breakthrough to take ground and eliminate entrenched resistance. We'll be escorting the Scavurel demolition teams that will be demolishing the Ork structures while the Iron Warriors clear out the base."

"So not a front-line role this time," Twilight released a deep breath, "that's kind of a relief. I think I've had enough of that for today."

"And you've all acquitted yourselves quite well," Gaela said, her tone easing ever-so slightly, "judging by your suit data recorders, your performance was beyond adequate."

"To be fair, expectations were low," Dest added from the driver's cab.

"This is true," Gaela agreed, "but you have nonetheless exceeded them. The Warsmith seemed certain that at least Rarity would be dead by now."

The unicorn snorted indignantly, but Twilight actually felt herself blushing under the extremely measured praise. After all, it was very rare to hear any sort of positive sentiment come from Gaela that wasn't related to high technology or Solon.

"Should you complete the rest of the mission without further complication, it will reflect quite well upon Team Rainbow Dash."

Twilight's head snapped up. "Team WHAT?!"

****

Pinkie's plasma cannon released a high-pitched whine as its magnetic stabilizer built up charge, and the muzzle flashed as she locked on to her target.

Three Orks died in an instant, their bodies dissolving under a wave of super-heated gases as the plasma orb detonated. The blast also caused a nearby crag to explode from the kinetic and thermal energy, and two more aliens staggered as rock shrapnel carved into their backs.

"Come out and play! You wanted to fight, didn't you?" Pinkie snickered behind the cascading targeting arrays of her visor as the green-skinned soldiers crawled deeper into the rocky crags that separated them from the (mostly) Astartes walkers.

"Slay the alien," intoned Sirius before he opened fire on the same Orks with his butcher cannon. The guns hammered away at the rocky alcove, tearing through stone and Ork flesh in equal measure as it sawed across the rocky outcroppings.

Pinkie heard bullets spraying uselessly across her side armor , and she turned her head to catch sight of something big coming out from beneath the cliffs.

"Oh, hey! Orks have Dreadnoughts too, huh? Neat!" Pinkie exclaimed as she bracketed the first one with her targeting array. The Ork Deff Dread was a clanking monstrosity of scrap metal bolted and welded together into a three-armed walker, all of them bearing giant buzz saw blades. Big shootas were strapped to the can-shaped body of the walker, and these sprayed ammunition in the direction of the enemy vehicles as the Ork Dreadnought plodded forward.

Pinkie fired her plasma cannon again, but the shot went high and splashed against the rock walls.

"Pinkie of Pie, relent," Kairon requested, the less colorful Dreadnought stomping up next to her, "my weapon is more accurate and suitable to the task."

The Ork Deff Dread halted as it was speared by Kairon's multi-melta, its front armor dissolving and dribbling down its legs. Along with much of its pilot.

"Thankee, Kai! You're the best!" Pinkie cheered.

"Not at all. My skill at arms is entirely unremarkable for a warrior of my veterancy and wargear loadout," the Dreadnought insisted, "also, I have identified incoming Tankbustas."

Pinkie hissed, cat-like, as she saw the Orks flood in behind the dreadnought wreck. All of them were carrying rokkit launchas, and the pony pilot remembered full well what those magnetic bombs did.

"Suppressive fire! Suppressive fire!" Sirius shouted as his butcher cannon turned toward the Orks and sawed across the rocks they were sheltering behind.

"My weapon is unsuitable for such a thing," Kairon noted, a touch of deep regret to his voice as a rokkit sailed over his head.

"Then use normal fire!" the contemptor growled. "Hett! Finish off those wartrakks and join the rest of us!"

The Khornate walker giggled insanely in response. His twin-linked autocannon was pointed well away from the current combat, taking long-range shots at distant vehicles.

Pinkie's tail twitched nervously as more rokkits flew at them from behind the rocky crags. She managed to step back just in time, and one such projectile hit squarely in her chest plating rather than detonating on her helmet.

"All right, time to bring The Party!" Pinkie said with an uncharacteristic edge to her voice. Her shoulder-mounted party cannons levered downward, and spots of red decorated her visor to show the estimated impact zone.

"Let's ROCK!" The cannons fired.

Sirius was expecting the wide-barreled (and inappropriately colorful) guns to be some sort of mortars, given their mountings and the lack of any obvious ammunition feed.

So he was probably even more surprised than the Orks when the Tankbustas found themselves surrounded by a rain of confetti, party favors, and cupcakes.

"What?" mumbled the Contemptor, his butcher cannon faltering.

Two frontal plates on Pinkie's Dreadnought popped open, as if they were concealing a hidden weapons bank. Except instead they were concealing speakers.

"Burrrn, baby, BURN! DISCO INFERNOOOO!! Burrrn, baby, BURN! Burn that mother down!"

"... What?" Sirius asked again as music boomed through the area.

As bizarre as it was, or perhaps BECAUSE of how bizarre it was, the rokkits had completely stopped coming. The Tankbustas were either staring up at a disco ball inexplicably floating above them, laughing and cheering, or fighting over the cupcakes that had been included in the barrage.

"The heat was on, rising to the top!" Pinkie's speakers continued blaring as Kairon stomped up to the Orks.

"Everybody going strong, and that is when my spark got hot!"

Kairon lifted his power fist, revealing the heavy flamer mounted at the wrist.

"I enjoy this battle hymn," the Dreadnought said, "it is thematically appropriate."

A great tongue of flame blasted over the distracted Orks, incinerating half the unit in a single sweep.

"I heard somebody say: Burrrrn, baby, BURN!" Pinkie sang along with as she fired the plasma cannon again, blasting another pair of Tankbustas to vapor.

A larger Ork came at Kairon with a magnetic bomb, but the assault walker was quicker, turning on the Nob and grabbing the alien's entire upper torso in its power fist.

The Tankbusta Nob was crushed in an instant, and the survivors of his unit started scrambling away as Kairon tossed away the pulped Ork.

"Boss is down! Dey got da boss!"

"Leg it! Dere's too many of 'em!"

Pinkie cut her speakers as she stepped up next to Kairon, her targeting arrays locked on the fleeing aliens. "Party's over! Go home, already!" the mare shouted as she began charging her plasma cannon again.

Pinkie pouted as she saw warnings flash across her visor in red, complaining that her main weapon was on the verge of overheating. She stopped charging up the cannon, and heard an intense hissing noise as the magnetizing chamber spewed steam from its cooling vents.

"Aw, fudgsicles! They got away!" Pinkie moaned.

"I am unfamiliar with the unit designation 'fudgsicles'," Kairon noted, "but the enemy has indeed withdrawn." He focused his optical arrays down the path the aliens fled. "Curious. This route does not lead to the enemy camp, but in fact enters a breach in the void ship wreck."

Sirius, who had been entirely silent and immobile since seeing the party cannons in action, started when a thunder hammer thumped against his back plating.

"Command? Command? Command?" Hett repeated like a broken record, tapping his melee weapon against the larger Dreadnought with each word.

"I wonder if this is what it's like to be in the Emperor's Children," the Contemptor mumbled to himself as he slapped away Hett's thunder hammer, "it's like guiding a herd of drug-addled younglings."

He amplified his vox unit as he approached Pinkie and Kairon from behind. "Return to formation! Our orders are to advance on the Ork encampment!"

"Affirmative," Kairon said immediately, turning back toward the lead walker.

Pinkie hesitated. "But the bad guys went that way," she said, pointing toward the mountain of metal that made up the wrecked ship.

Hett's torso seemed to quiver in fury. "Cowards! Kill them! Kill them! KILL THEM!!"

"Forget it," Sirius snapped, "our target is the encampment."

Pinkie frowned. "But what if there's something really important in there?" she protested.

"Like what?!" Sirius demanded, his patience thinning rapidly. "What could there possibly be inside the rubble of a Tau void ship besides crushed metal and dead bodies?"

Pinkie considered that question carefully, and then she gasped. "Maybe there's CANDY!"

"NO! No, there is no candy!" Sirius retorted angrily.

"Now, hold on," Kairon said, holding up his giant, mechanical palm, "how could you POSSIBLY know there's no candy?"

Sirius didn't really know how to answer that.

"I'm gonna go check!" Pinkie Pie declared, accelerating her walker to a heavy jog toward the gaping hole in the battlecruiser hull.

"More targets! I WANT MORE TARGETS!" Hett snarled as he raced after the pink dreadnought.

"Well, I'm sure we'll find ONE of those, at least," Kairon reasoned as he followed after the other two walkers.

"No! Stop! Halt! Cease at once!" Sirius shouted to absolutely no effect. Pinkie hammered the opening in the void ship hull with her power fist, tearing it wide enough for her to fit through without difficulty.

"You idiots! You're going the wrong way!"

The Contemptor's words went unheeded as Hett and Kairon walked into the breach, eager to pursue the fleeing enemies and/or capture the highly hypothetical cargo of sweets.

Sirius made an incoherent growling noise as he considered his limited and very unpleasant options.

He could go about his actual mission himself, and leave the three impudent walkers to their fate. Surely, however, he would be berated after the fact for failing to keep control of his unit, even if he completed their orders on his own. Even worse, splitting up meant that he would be spearheading the assault on the encampment alone when he had fully intended to make the pink, feminine-sounding Dreadnought take the lead and draw most of the enemies' fire. Of lesser concern was the fate of his insane brethren, who had chased several Tankbustas into an enclosed space with lots of cover where they could easily get ambushed. Or stuck. Or just lost. They WERE that stupid.

If he chose to follow them, he would surely suffer censure for abandoning his mission. But there was at least some chance of convincing them to stop acting like morons and follow orders, and his siege drill was by far the weapon best suited to ripping through bits of void ship hull. Survival, at least, was far more likely.

"I hate my afterlife," Sirius growled as he stomped off toward the breach.

****

Rainbow Dash soared through the air above the battlefield, surveying the progress of the counter-assault.

The Ork army was a fragmented mess, reduced to small groups of survivors spread out over the blasted battlefield and several vehicles that had been crippled but not destroyed. Ork strategy being what it was, the infantry either stuck it out against the oncoming assault and were ripped apart by precision bolter fire, or simply fled to a safer area. Before regrouping, turning around, and THEN getting ripped apart by precision bolter fire. Not many of the aliens seemed intent on getting back to their camp in one piece, or mounting a defense that had any hope of working.

The remaining Ork armor was being taken care of quite handily by the Wonderbolts, surprisingly, who were making long and blazing fast runs across the battlefield and dropping artillery beacons in the midst of stomach-turning stunt dives. Wherever they flew, earthshaker artillery shells followed, hammering the piles of smoking scrap into piles of smoking scrap that weren't shooting anymore.

"Yeah, I think we've got this thing pretty much wrapped up," Rainbow Dash said to herself smugly. She was mildly disappointed that she'd been in the back getting her armor repaired while her friends were in the thick of things, but she couldn't be too hard on herself; she had led the first phase of the battle without their help, and almost single-hoofedly demolished the Orks' air power. And now that her fuel whatever system was hammered back into proper shape and the slivers of hot metal had been pulled out of her wing, Rainbow Dash was back and ready for more!

Her vox system crackled to life.

"TEAM RAINBOW DASH?!"

Rainbow frowned before she turned upward and built altitude. It sounded like Twilight was in one of her moods again, and Rainbow didn't want to get sniped or anything while she was talking.

"Yeah, I'm here. What's up?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"TEAM RAINBOW DASH?!" Twilight's voice yelled again.

"You already said that. And it's not even a complete sentence," Rainbow pointed out, "throw me a bone here, Twi. I'm not a psyker."

"WHY is our unit called 'Team Rainbow Dash'?!" Twilight demanded.

Rainbow's brows furrowed as she considered it. "Okay, well, that was a complete sentence, I'll give you that, but I still don't understand the question. Why WOULDN'T we be named Team Rainbow Dash? That's a great name!"

"Why would our unit be named after you? You're not even the team leader!"

Rainbow quirked an eyebrow. "Oh, is THAT what this is about? You're upset that you didn't get top billing?" She snorted. "Twi, you know I love you like a sister, right? But you've gotta learn to reign in that ego, filly."

There was some kind of indignant sputtering noise from the other end that was only barely distinguishable from vox static.

"I mean, I get it, I really do," the pegasus continued while she flew higher and rose above the cloud cover, "you're a Princess, the Element of Magic, and now a hotshot space pirate mare in charge of a super awesome armored pegasus. And some other ponies too. It's pretty cool. But you have to try not to lose your head over it, you know?"

More of that sputtering noise, and then the sound of the pony on the other end taking a deep breath.

"I think our unit shouldn't be named after any of us in particular," Twilight said with a tone of steely calm, "like 'Harmony Squad'. Why don't we just call ourselves that?"

Rainbow Dash snorted. "Twi, filly, we're SPACE PIRATES now. Let's be real, okay? We can't go for something so sweet and cheery."

She noticed something in a cloud some distance away, and Rainbow Dash blinked in surprise and zoomed in on it with her visor.

"But just naming the squad after a thing rather than a pony is fine. How about 'Rainbow Squad'? Rainbows are pretty awesome."

"You just said we shouldn't make it sweet and cheery! And it's STILL named after-"

"Yeah, okay, great. Rainbow Squad it is. Gotta go, Twi." Rainbow cut the vox link and blocked further incoming transmissions.

Then she flew over to a rather large cloud before cutting her speed and dropping onto it.

"Well... I was wondering what happened to her," Rainbow Dash mumbled as she disengaged her helmet. She took a moment to shake out her mane, and then took a deep breath of the high-altitude air. It carried the smell of ash and gunsmoke, no doubt carried up from the battle below, but she still found it far more refreshing than the stale, filtered air provided by her armor.

Then she looked down at the dark-furred form laying at her hooves, snoring softly.

"Hey!" Rainbow said, leaning her head down. "Hey, Luna! Hello? Wake up!"

The alicorn didn't so much as twitch at the noise.

"Luna! C'mon! Have you been asleep all this time?" Rainbow demanded, raising her voice. "Get up!"

Luna shifted away from the pegasus, rolling onto her back with her wings spread out beneath her. Her head lolled to one side, a trickle of drool leaking from her mouth.

"Mmmmm... oh, yes... We DO enjoy thine apples..." she purred softly, one leg twitching in the air.

Rainbow Dash frowned, and then started lightly smacking her boot against Luna's side. "HEY! Get up! Come on!"

The physical contact seemed to do it, and Luna snorted while her eyes fluttered open.

"Huhn? Wha?" she blinked repeatedly, and then winced away from the light of the sun, still high in the sky and bright as ever. "What hast transpired? Where art We?" She craned her neck up, and the dark blue alicorn squinted. "Element of... Loyalty? Why hast thou disturbed our slumber?"

"I think a better question is why you're napping above a war zone," Rainbow Dash deadpanned, "I mean, I'm not gonna judge anypony for catching a snooze here and there, but there's a time and place, you know?"

Luna continued squinting, and then her eyes widened in realization.

"The battle! BLAST! We fell asleep!" Luna gasped as she scrambled to her hooves.

She rushed to the edge of the cloud, cringing as she saw the general state of the ground below.

"Ponyfeathers!" Luna cursed. "When We were informed that combat would not commence for several hours after the completion of your reconnaissance, We merely sought to rest our eyes briefly!" Luna cast a desperate look toward Rainbow Dash. "We hath not faltered?!"

"If that's a 'we' we, then no. We did fine," Rainbow assured the larger pony, "the Company knows what they're doing, you know? I don't think they were going to let the entire battle depend on you being there."

Luna was somewhat offended by the implication that she was unnecessary (one of many generally sore subjects for the Dark Princess), but it was muted by the embarrassment of having slept through the mission.

"Really, I don't even know how you managed to catch a nap up here," Rainbow Dash admitted, her ear twitching at the crash of artillery below. "Even up here, it's way too loud for me to fall asleep. And it was WAY louder twenty minutes ago."

Luna sighed miserably. "Our... nocturnal nature renders us quite the heavy sleeper," she said, looking away from the pegasus, "it is necessary to rest during the day, when most others are active and at their most raucous."

Then Luna shook her head. "But this is no excuse! We shalt take to battle at once!" Her horn started to glow.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow as waves of dark blue moved over Luna's body, leaving behind gleaming ebony metal. In seconds, Luna's normal regalia had been replaced by a suit of jewel-encrusted, ebony armor composed of linked front and rear body segments, heavy boots that came up to the knees, and a breast plate that bore her cutie mark drawn over a light blue shield.

A month ago, Rainbow Dash would have declared the armor one of the most awesome non-Wonderbolt-related things she had ever seen.

"So, are you just going to ASK the greenies not to shoot you in the face, or what?" Oh, how times had changed.

Luna offered an annoyed glance at the pegasus. "We will not claim that this plate is the equal of Solon's technological wonders, but it is enchanted to protect our entire body, rather than merely the enclosed portions," she sniffed, "moreso, We most favor the maxim 'the best defense is a good offense'. The Orks cannot slay us if We break them first."

"You're the Princess," Rainbow shrugged, letting her helmet sweep back into place and once again enclose her head.

Luna squinted down at the ongoing battle, and she pointed a hoof at an Ork tank as a Wonderbolt swooped over it. "There. We shalt descend and defeat the foe's most dangerous weap-"

The words died on her tongue as the tank was swallowed by artillery blasts, and she let her hoof fall back to the cloud as she frowned.

"Yeah, see, the Company actually has this part of the battle pretty much wrapped up," Rainbow explained to the pouting alicorn, "you see those high rocks?" She pointed to the craggy bluffs in the distance. "That's the edge of the Ork encampment. All the real action is going to be on the other side. So if you want to help out-"

"Then We shalt take to battle in advance of the convoy," Luna declared, lifting off with a determined expression.

"I was... going to say you should help them break through, but if you insist," the pegasus mumbled.

"Come, Element of Loyalty! Today the Orks learn the full measure of the powers that stand against them!" Luna declared as she accelerated through the air.

"Yeah, okay," Rainbow mumbled, blinking repeatedly around the icons on her visor display, "ah! Found it!"

Luna looked back at her. "Found what, pray tell?"

"Nothing, nothing. You go ahead and beat up those aliens. I'll cover you," Rainbow said before activating the recording function on her visor.

Almost the moment that Luna crossed over the rocky cliffs, the Dark Princess was bracketed by multiple fields of fire from below, and long strings of tracer rounds started stitching across the sky after the highly visible dark spot.

Then it disappeared.

"Wuzzat? Did we git 'em?" a Flashgit positioned on a high cliff lowered his long-barreled shoota and peered up into the sky, pushing up his dirty magnifier optics. His mob wasn't so convinced, and continued shooting blindly into the air as bullets casings poured onto the ground.

A second flash of light had the Ork blinking, and suddenly an alicorn was standing in front of him with a scowl on her muzzle.

"BEGONE, ALIEN FILTH!!" Luna roared, her horn pulsing. A telekinetic blast slammed into the Orks, and most were knocked off their feet and sent sprawling onto the ground.

The mob's boss slid backward slightly, but retained his footing as the alicorn reared up. "Wot we got 'ere? A talkin' hoss?" He laughed as he dropped his kustom shoota and drew a "knife" from his belt that was the length of a human arm. "Ya wanna fight, horsey?!"

"Challenge accepted!" Luna barked, before teleporting behind the Nob.

Her rear hooves struck the alien like a thunderbolt, and the towering Ork was sent flying off the edge of the cliff.

"Challenge concluded!" Luna barked, her eyes glowing as she glared at the rest of the Ork mob. Flame sparks spewed from the tip of her horn and burst over the aliens, engulfing some of them and sending those Orks back to the ground.

One of the Flashgits clubbed her on the back, and Luna staggered before lashing out with a hoof, striking the alien in the face and knocking him back. A heavy flap of her wings brought her above the other aliens trying to surround her, and as she continued to rise higher her magic amplified every rush of air to a hurricane-force blast to buffet her foes.

"Thou art nothing before our power!" Luna howled as the Orks struggled to push forward toward the pony. Some fired their weapons instead, although the headwinds didn't help their aim any.

Luna pulled up into the air, her wings surrounded by liquid shadow as her magical energies built up within them.

A singularly powerful flap blasted the ground below with concussive force, knocking the Orks off their feet again and splitting apart the uneven crags of rock. Most of the Flashgits were blasted off the edge, although a "lucky" few were simply slammed into the face of the bluff behind them.

Luna landed again, her magical charge waning as she regarded the three survivors of the unit. They were battered, but as determined as ever as they pushed themselves to their feet.

A spray of shuriken cut across them, and two of the Orks fell for good, gurgling in agony as the bladed projectiles sliced through their body armor and flesh with equal ease. The last simply limped over to his fallen weapon, ignoring the shuriken lodged in his arm as best he could.

Luna frowned, and then looked up. "Miss Rainbow Dash, if it pleases thee, We wish thou would cease assisting us when the foe is all but crushed already."

A small orb of shadow coalesced next to Luna's horn, and then it blasted into the last Flashgit, puncturing its chest and finishing it off.

"Hey, just trying to help, Princess," Rainbow Dash said as she swooped in over the cliff. Under her helmet, she rolled her eyes. Luna sure could be a glory hog. "Help in a way that doesn't involve drawing fire from the other hundred greenies around here, I mean. I did enough of that already." When Luna had teleported onto the ground it had left Rainbow as the only remaining airborne target, and she didn't much care for the attention.

A stitch of gunfire cutting across the rock face behind her illustrated her concern, and Rainbow landed on the cliff next to the larger pony to cover from the firepower below.

Then she noticed that one of Luna's wings looked badly ruffled and she had a pair of small cuts across her neck.

"Hey, you all right? You're not bleeding, are you?" Rainbow asked.

"Nay, We art well," Luna insisted as she shook her wing, "as We mentioned, our armor protects us with a magic field, robbing the enemy's blows of a great portion of their strength before they meet our body. These bullets can still cut flesh even then, but the damage is a trifle."

Rainbow Dash nodded hesitantly. It wasn't the same as a real barrier (or a pressurized armor suit), but reducing a bullet wound to a paper cut was a pretty big deal.

An explosion on the cliff face below them caused the ground to tremble, and the winged ponies glanced at the edge as cracks started to seep through the stone beneath their hooves. Neither of them had any real fear of falling, obviously, but nearby detonations still represented a threat for obvious reasons.

"So, how do you think the magic armor would stand up to that?" Rainbow asked, poking a metal-clad hoof toward a rokkit spiraling through the air. It hammered into the rock some distance away, blasting apart a big chunk of the bluff and sending several tons of stone falling down.

Luna grimaced. "We hast not the occasion to test our protections against such weapons. But the armor fares poorly against great heat. For that reason alone..."

She spotted an alcove further down on the cliff, and her eyes narrowed at a dozen or so Orks firing rockets up in her general direction. So far the barrage seemed to be more dangerous for them than for Luna, given that any falling debris from the explosions would tumble down the bluff and onto the cliffs lower down, but the aliens either hadn't considered this or didn't care.

The green warriors fired another explosive salvo upward. Most of the rokkits veered wildly off target, tearing out sections of the mountainous rocks and raining burnt shrapnel on the warriors below. One rokkit, though, seemed to careen toward the ponies almost at random, swerving on its flight path and trailing thick, black smoke behind it. Luna's horn started to glow.

The rokkit halted in mid-air, trembling violently as a blue aura seized it. The engine sputtered and flared brighter, coughing up even more smoke as if the projectile itself was protesting its treatment.

"Ah, this device is familiar. A crude imitation of the human weapon." Luna telekinetically twisted the missile in half, and the roaring engine was dropped away while the warhead remained suspended just beyond the cliff.

Sticking her tongue out of the side of her mouth, Luna turned the rokkit head around and then magically flung it back toward its origin point, like a dart.

She found the subsequent explosion and the agonized screams of dying Orks most satisfactory. The detonation also seemed to weaken the cliff that the Orks were using as a firing platform, sending big chunks of it - and one particularly unlucky alien - plummeting to the ground. That gave her an idea.

Luna cast a tremor spell, sending a shudder through the stone with a flash of her horn and a quaint stamp of her hoof. The negligible vibration traveled rapidly through the crags, building in strength to a furious peak as it flowed downward to the cliffs below.

Great seams split apart the stone as it shook and cracked, and the Orks scrambled for safe footing as the cliff began to crumble underneath them. None of them found any.

"Nice! This is awesome!" Rainbow Dash chuckled as she recorded the whole thing, crouched next to the Princess.

"Indeed! We shalt continue to eliminate the foe's elevated combatants so that they shant ambush our allies below!" Luna declared. She pointed at a group of shoota boyz that were ascending a tall ladder up onto another cliff to use as a vantage point. "They will be the next to perish! Might thou survey the field from the air, and inform us of any hidden enemies?"

"You got it, Princess!" Rainbow Dash saluted and fired her impulse blasters, catapulting up into the air before her flight pack engaged to carry her away.

Rainbow was glad to get back into the sky and away from the action. Even though it was partially her idea, plunging into battle alone and way ahead of the front lines against possibly hundreds of enemies wasn't QUITE a level of boneheaded bravado that she felt comfortable with. That might be a fine challenge for a Princess - Rainbow wasn't even sure if alicorns could BE killed - but she was quite unsettled by the sheer number of green bodies still milling about the Ork camp and brandishing weapons.

Her vox crackled in her ear.

"Miss Dash, it's Lieutenant Garron. I've got something I need you to check out; the Wonderbolts aren't close enough, and their gear isn't calibrated for it."

Rainbow Dash blinked, and then frowned. "I thought I turned the vox off."

"This is a code Primus communication, Dash. It overrides your comms node prioritus."

"Well, how do I turn those off, too?" the pegasus grunted, clearly annoyed. She was in the middle of watching Luna rip apart an Ork camp all on her own; did this guy really think she had time for this?

"If you want to ignore Primus-level Company orders, simply inform any Iron Warrior after the battle. He'll execute you on the spot, thus resolving the problem for everyone."

"Ugh, FINE. What's this big important mission you have for me? I hope it doesn't take too long. I'm supposed to be scouting for Luna," Rainbow grumbled.

"From your location, you should have an excellent view of the void ship wreck," Garron noted.

"Yeah?" Rainbow Dash turned in the air, zooming in on the shattered hulk that had practically created a new mountain range just outside of Cloudsdale. "What about it?"

"We're getting some very... unlikely readings from the vessel. We need you to close and determine-"

"Hey, is that turret moving?" Rainbow interrupted.

"What?"

Rainbow felt a creeping sense of dread as one of the battlecruiser's building-sized energy cannons - missing most of its outer plating and with most of the wide, squat barrel shredded - turned on its mounting. Huge gouts of sparks and bits of shattered metal rained from the enormous weapon as it moved, giving the impression that it was definitely turning against considerable resistance.

"You said there's a ship turret MOVING?" the human's voice demanded. "Give me a scanner reading! Now!"

"Yeah. Uh..." Rainbow gulped. "It's coming in at 3.6."

The confusion on the other end was palpable. "3.6?"

"So cool it's HOT," Rainbow Dash clarified, "not the highest reading I've ever gotten, but WAY cooler than a broken gun should be!"

"... I have no idea what you're talking about."

Rainbow Dash felt her heart sink into her stomach as new readings started to swim over her visor. The barrel of the cannon was starting to glow, and new trails of smoke were pouring from the cracks in its plating. "Never mind! That cannon is working! And it's aiming at the assault convoy! You have to stop them! Tell them to-"

And then the world underneath Rainbow Dash turned white.

Author's Note

Once again, the Ork's core inability to fly proves a decisive weakness. Evolution makes fools of us all.

I have nothing important to say except that after reader input, I have decided to create a Book 5 after all. In theory this means that Emerald Dawn COULD wrap up by Chapter 8, but given that I couldn't get through one battle in an entire chapter, who knows.

Aftermath

Iron Hearts: Book 4

Chapter 7

Aftermath

****

Primary muster point Zeta

"Bleeding hell!"

This sentiment passed numerous lips as the entire battlefield was suddenly bathed in light, forcing the weary and perplexed soldiers to look away.

Daniels, for one, was shielded from the initial light flare because he was laying in the makeshift medical bay that had been blocked off from the battlefield. He didn't mumble an explanation of surprise until the distant roar and crackle of a truly enormous energy discharge reached his ears.

"Wh-What? What's going on?" Fluttershy yelped, activating her cloak on reflex. This did little to hide her, given that her armor was smeared with blood, and anyway wasn't very helpful at the moment.

"You got me," Daniels said as he looked up over the tops of the supply transports, "but whatever it was, it was bright."

The Dark Acolyte froze from where he was performing a bullet-removal surgery, and he tilted his head upward. "We have lost contact with the assault force."

That bit of news turned Fluttershy's blood to ice, and she hastily de-cloaked. "What do you mean?! Are they okay?"

The cyborg turned to look down at her. "Unlikely. An unexpected weapon discharge of infeasible magnitude was unleashed upon the assault force. There is very little accurate information at present, but it is possible, perhaps likely, that the entire assault force was destroyed." He lowered his head and went back to his surgical procedure.

"No. No, no, no, no..." Daniels grunted as he pulled himself to his feet, using his rail rifle as a crutch. Fluttershy remained still, emotionally torn between horror, panic, and sorrow.

Once Daniels staggered back to the barricades, he got a first-hand look at the distant battlefield.

An enormous stretch of ground in the distance was completely obscured by a curtain of smoke and ash, although it wasn't hard to guess that the assault force had occupied that general area. And further away, smoke bled from the mouth of the culprit: a capital ship turret only slightly smaller than the cannon batteries in Ferrous Dominus.

"That's... There's no way... there's just no way," the mercenary mumbled. Dozens of other soldiers stared out at the blasted terrain, many of them equally stunned. Others were busy thanking their lucky stars that they had been subjected to the far more conventional dangers of a mass Ork assault rather than being instantly vaporized en masse. A small portion of them decided that there may not be any great impediments to the Orks using the starship gun on them next, and began a hasty jog for the rear of the formation.

"Do... Do you think they're..." Fluttershy walked up to him stiffly, her crumbling emotions mercifully sealed within the mask of adamantium.

"I..." Daniels trailed off, not knowing what to say. He'd seen capital ships turn the tides of battles with a sudden bombardment before. Surviving such power seemed impossible. This situation was different, to be sure, but he couldn't find any reason to hold out hope.

"Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash's voice suddenly boomed in Fluttershy's ear, causing her to jump in surprise.

"Rainbow! You're okay!" Fluttershy gasped. "The others! Are the others with you?!"

"What? I can't-KSSSSSHT!" a burst of static filled Fluttershy's ears, and she winced.

"Rainbow? Rainbow, can you hear me?"

The static continued crackling for several seconds, and then small snippets of Rainbow Dash's voice started breaking through the interference.

"KSSSSH-help with the-SSSSSSH-fires in-SSSSSSH-smoke and dust from-SSSSSSSSH-gunfire, so they must-SSSSSSSSSHT!"

"Rainbow! Rainbow Dash! I can't hear you! Please, come in!" Fluttershy begged, tears welling up in her eyes. The static continued for several more seconds, and then the vox link went dead.

"Rainbow..." Fluttershy whimpered, feeling utterly lost as her visor failed to pick up any sign of the other pegasus.

She felt a slight pressure on her helmet, and she glanced up at Daniels, who had place his hand over her head.

"You heard from Miss Dash?" he asked grimly.

"Y-Yes," she said, trying to keep from sniffling, "but I couldn't h-hear her! S-Something's wrong!"

"Good," the mercenary said simply.

Fluttershy jerked her head back, surprised.

"If we know she's alive, but can't contact us for some reason, that might be the case for the rest of them," Daniels explained, sitting down next to the armored pony, "it's not much, but it's something. And there's not a whole lot we can do to help them from here."

Fluttershy gulped and nodded meekly. "Twilight... everyone... please be okay..."

****

Ground Zero

Dest hammered his foot into the access hatch again and again, feeling the metal give millimeter by millimeter with every blow.

On the twenty-ninth blow the hatch finally ripped free of its hinges and was sent bouncing across the blasted rock outside.

Dest grunted as he squirmed feet-first out of the driver's cab, his bolter already in his hand.

Once he was free of his vehicle, the Iron Warrior leapt to his feet, bolter up and searching for targets.

The search proved futile. There was nothing but dust and ashes in every direction, a particulate rain that reduced visibility to mere meters. His helmet systems likewise informed him that all vox connections had been lost.

Dest heard a shout from behind him, and he turned toward his Rhino.

The APC had been knocked onto its side, and the outer layers of armor had been warped and burned. Every exposed section of metal had been melted and then cooled, fusing together seams between metal plates and utterly ruining the tracks.

As serious as the damage was, however, none of it seemed to breach or obviously damage the interior of the passenger compartment. He walked up to his vehicle and gave it a swift kick.

"Hey! Is somebody out there?!" came a shout immediately. It sounded like Twilight, although there was a lot of grunting and scraping metal sounds coming from the same space.

"It is Dest," answered the Iron Warrior, "are you undamaged?"

"I think 'undamaged' is a lot to ask for, but we're all still alive!" the Princess informed him. "But we can't get out! Hold on, maybe I can cut an opening-"

"Do not activate your weapons inside the compartment," Dest warned, "the access ramp and doors have been fused to the hull. Have the Dark Techpriest cut them loose."

"Affirmative, my lord," came a different voice. This was followed by more metal screeching, and a few clanging noises.

"OOF! Applejack, why do you have your gravity-increasing devices on?!" Rarity's voice demanded.

"They ain't on!"

"This is how much you weigh NORMALLY? By Celestia, I can feel my armor folding in under you!"

"... Okay, NOW they're on. Y'see the difference?"

"OW! OW! OW! OW! Turn them off! OFF!!"

Dest stepped away from his transport, once again searching the shroud of dust and ashes that surrounded him.

"Well, I lost another vehicle, but at least my passengers survived this time," he reasoned aloud to himself, "maybe I'm getting better at this."

He heard gunfire from the side, and then whirled toward that direction, boltgun raised. The shots came from some distance away, far outside effective visibility, but he could make out the sounds of both bolter discharges and the distinct rattling bursts of Ork guns.

"It seems we are not the only survivors," Dest said as a sizzling noise came from the Rhino hull, "our brothers have engaged the enemy."

"Or vice versa," Gaela grumbled while her melta torch seared through the fused armor plating.

"What in tarnation HAPPENED?!" Applejack demanded. "One second everythin' was goin' great, and the next the world's turnin' upside-turvy! And why can't Ah talk to nobody? This helmet busted already?"

"Negative. We are surrounded by a blanket of intense ionic radiation that is disrupting our vox signals," Gaela explained after she finished carving out one seam of the access ramp, "this is taking too long. Macintosh!"

"Eeyup."

Dest backed away as the Rhino shook and shifted for a few seconds.

Then the access ramp was ripped right off its hinges and sent spiraling away into the dusty fields beyond.

The stallion emerged first, glancing about at the curtain of dust before uncertainly moving aside for the others to exit.

"Oh, thank GOODNESS," Rarity gasped out as she exited the Rhino, "I thought I was going to... suffocate... in there..." she trailed off as she stared at the surrounding clouds of dust and ash, and then she sighed.

"Okay, great, we're out," Applejack snorted, taking a moment to adjust her hat, "so what happened, and whatta we do about it?"

Gaela and Twilight followed the apple farmer out of the wrecked transport, and the former immediately turned in the direction of the distant wreck. "The Tau battlecruiser."

"What about it?" Twilight asked as she and the other equines looked up at her.

"There was some concerns over the noosphere channels about power anomalies originating from the wreck," she explained, "and the extent of the damage caused by the weapon could have no other possible source without us seeing such a weapon deployed. I hypothesize that the Orks re-activated a broken heavy ion cannon turret and then unleashed it on the assault convoy."

Twilight gaped. "Is that even possible?"

"It is just possible enough for an Ork engineer to try. Their success was partial, but quite evident."

"Partial?" Applejack asked. "Looks pretty complete from where Ah'm standin', sugarcube."

"Had the Orks successfully repaired the turret, our survival would have been... unlikely," the Dark Techpriest said, "but the weapon clearly suffered a containment failure, and anyway was never designed to fire in an atmosphere. Rather than a coherent energy bolt, it instead bathed the entire combat area in a stream of ionic radiation. Much of the energy was deflected and absorbed by the air, and the remaining charge is what continues to foil our systems. The attack was... harmful, certainly, but mostly survivable for those within an armored vehicle. The vehicles themselves are likely useless to us now, of course."

"Mixed fortune, to be sure," Dest rumbled, "but more importantly, will our personal armor be able to protect us should they use the weapon again?"

Gaela hesitated. "The discharge would have certainly overloaded the magnetic containment arrays of the cannon, which were obviously in poor working order to begin with. It is very unlikely that the Orks will be able to fire the turret again."

"More or less unlikely than them firing it the first time?" the Iron Warrior pressed.

"We... should advance," Gaela mumbled, "whatever weapons the Orks have available, they will hesitate to unleash it with their soldiers in the blast area."

"So now our survival may hinge on Ork RESTRAINT," Dest snorted as he walked ahead of the others, "I'm actually quite impressed by how quickly this offensive has fallen apart. The greenskins always find ways to keep things interesting."

The Chaos Space Marine led the group through the obscuring shroud, moving at a cautious pace toward the sounds of gunfire.

It wasn't long before they encountered another vehicle, and Twilight grimaced as she stared at the warped and partially melted form of a Leman Russ battle tank.

"Hey! Anybody in there?!" Applejack yelled, rushing up past the Iron Warrior.

"Yes! The blasted hatch is fused shut and not a bloody thing in this heap is working anymore!" yelled one of the men inside. "Get us out!"

"These are merely tank crew," Dest noted, "they will be of little help to us without their vehicle."

Applejack looked up at him. "So?"

"So, it would be a better use of our time to leave them and help open any transports that still contain combat-capable infantry," Gaela clarified as she moved to walk right around the wasted vehicle.

"But we can't just leave them! They could suffocate in there!" Twilight pointed out.

Gaela stopped and looked back at her. "So?" she asked, echoing Applejack earlier.

The equines stared silently at the two humanoids, and Dest and Gaela stared back. It was difficult to interpret body language since all of them were fully armored, but they were all familiar enough with each other to feel out the disagreement at hand.

"This is one of those 'moral' things you ponies do, isn't it?" Gaela asked in irritation.

A series of bullet ricochets brought an end to the stand-off, and everyone rushed next to the tank as gunfire started peppering its side.

"What's happening? Are we leaving?" asked the tank pilot with a note of desperation in his voice.

"Fine! Dark Techpriest, cut it open! The rest of you, to battle!" Dest barked.

Gaela wasted no more time, jumping up onto the melted tracks to access the troop hatch.

The others peeked around the Leman Russ, noting that the dust cloud had settled enough to add a few more meters to their immediate visibility.

"Ah can't see 'em!" Applejack complained, her visor flickering from the electrostatic disruption that prevented it from finding a target. "How can they see us?!"

"Sighting an enemy is not a prerequisite for Ork shooting!" Dest shouted back as he crouched against the tank. "More likely they simply heard us arguing!"

He cycled vision modes to set his visor to target muzzle flash rather than enemy bodies, and a few targeting brackets appeared. "Got them! Follow my aim!"

Dest's boltgun kicked in his hand as he snapped off one shot at a time toward the enemy, and it was soon followed by a stream of heavy bolt shells and a purple beam that swept blindly through the haze.

Dest was sure that their barrage had cut down a few of the attackers, but as he drew back behind cover he couldn't help but notice the amount of incoming fire was increasing rather than the reverse. A hail of bullets ran across the breadth of the battle tank and beyond, and Big Mac flinched back when a few shots bounced off his shoulder and helmet plating.

"I think we're just attracting more of them!" Dest complained.

"Well, what are we supposed to do? Stop shooting back?" Twilight asked.

Gaela finished cutting through the top hatch to the Leman Russ, and her servo arms finally wrenched the seals free. "Go! Get out quickly, and flee to the defense lines!" she commanded as the men pulled themselves out of their vehicle.

"WAAAAAGH!!" Every pony sighed in exasperation at the familiar battlecry, and prepared themselves for the inevitable charge.

"If I NEVER hear that sound again, it will be too soon," Rarity growled as her levitation wrapped around her power sword.

"Ah dunno, Ah think it's right nice of 'em to warn us every time they come sprintin' forward into the fire." Applejack lifted the mouth of her flamer.

The first Ork that came barreling through the dust shroud caught a bolt shell in the abdomen and dropped. The second had much its upper torso cooked by a plasma bolt. The third and fourth were swallowed by flames.

But there were still more.

Rarity's body and sword became a blur and Twilight's harmonizer shifted to blade mode as the greenskins came at them with choppa and slugga raised. Big Macintosh let the stim injector in his chest release, and he snorted roughly as chemicals rushed through his bloodstream. Applejack calmly placed her hat to the side so that she wouldn't get blood on it.

The mob crashed into them, and another rank of Orks were cut down before humming blades or hurled into the air by the Apple siblings. The aliens outnumbered the ponies and their driver, but not by enough to overwhelm them; by the time Dest and the armored equines had unleashed their initial blows much of the momentum of the charge had been lost, and too many of the Orks had fallen.

Applejack splintered an Ork's shin with a back kick before swinging her tusks under another, sweeping it off its feet. Then she reared up and landed her front boots onto the prone alien, her gravity plating multiplying the force of the stomp fourfold.

Choppas and slugga rounds pounded at the farmer's armor as the Orks surrounded her, carving gouges into the ceramite and cracking the outermost plates. Still Applejack thrashed and kicked, tearing down the Orks one by one.

She smashed her back legs into another, caving in its rib cage, and then flinched as a choppa blade slammed into the face of her helmet. A deep crack ran through the optics lens, and Applejack faltered as her visor display started to flicker.

It stabilized after a moment, just in time for her to see a headless Ork slumping to the ground in front of her.

"The Warsmith's creations are a true marvel, are they not?" Gaela asked as she cleaved an alien's arm from his shoulder and then grabbed another Ork with her free hand. Her servo arms descended on the warrior with gusto, crushing limbs and burning through flesh.

"Yer tellin' me!" Applejack reared up again and pounded a foreleg into an Ork, her already-formidable strength buttressed by the heavy servomotors. The alien was sent sprawling onto his back. "Just hope it holds out longer'n the greens do!"

On the other side of the combat, Dest was pushing through the alien soldiers with his combat knife and bolt pistol, trying to keep enough room between him and the enemy to prevent them from grappling with him.

He certainly drew enough attention, as he was far and away the largest armored fighter; although the Orks held back nothing when assaulting the equines, he got the impression that the aliens didn't really know what to make of them. Hacking at heavily armored post-humans was old, comfortable territory.

Dest shot an Ork in the chest and then rammed a knee into it, and then he twisted about to plunge his knife into another's face.

"Perish, xeno filth!" the driver roared as he pulled the knife free and whirled around toward the next target.

The next target, unfortunately, happened to be an Ork Nob running at him with a massive iron maul.

Dest managed to fire off a bolt round before the alien reached him, but the shell barely seemed to bother the massive alien in mid-charge. The head of the maul slammed into his abdominal plate with crushing force, and the Iron Warrior was lifted completely off the ground and flung away into the rocks.

He hit the ground hard and rolled, his weapons tumbling from his grip as stone shattered under his armored body.

"Dat all ya got, spiky?" the Nob laughed as he ran up to the fallen Marine. "Git up so I can knock ya down agin!"

A humming noise from behind alerted the hulking warrior to a new threat, and he side-stepped just in time for a crystalline purple blade to slash by him.

"HEROIC INTERVENTION!!" Twilight soared at the Ork with horn aglow, her force harmonizer swerving back around and cutting into the alien's side.

The Nob ignored the energy blade, swinging his maul at her and connecting an underhand swing with a tremendous CRACK.

"Duh-NIED!" he growled, knocking the pony through the air like a croquet ball.

Rarity, in her state of partial removal from normal space-time, barely managed to duck out of the way as the alicorn careened over her. Twilight slammed into the front of the immobile Leman Russ tank with a teeth-rattling crash, and then bounced off into a heap of sparking and battered metal.

The force harmonizer flickered for a moment and then deactivated, leaving blood to seep freely from the deep cut in the alien's side. The Nob, undaunted, chortled heartily, lifting his hammer into the air.

"Who's next?! Imma smash e'ry one o'ya!"

The pounding of hooves to his side answered the question, and the Ork mob leader turned to face one of the larger ponies charging at him in a flat-out bull run, complete with bull horns lowered to goring level.

The sight probably would have been intimidating to a normal Ork, but compared to a Nob, Big Macintosh hardly impressed with his size. The Ork warrior pulled his hammer back for a sidelong blow, aiming to take the equine's head off mid-charge.

Big Mac was fully in the throes of a chemical-enhanced killing spree, however, and seeing the alien pull its weapon back in preparation to strike became just another opening. His augmetics squealed and his muscles burned as he summoned an extra burst of speed toward the Nob, and the workhorse slammed into the Ork's abdomen before it could make the swing. The maul went flying from the Nob's grip, and he doubled over as Big Mac plunged his armor's horns into the enemy warrior and lifted him off his feet.

"Mac?" Applejack asked, slamming a boot down on a squirming Ork boy as she watched her brother gore the mob leader.

And then the stallion kept going, carrying the Nob along on his head as the alien roared in pain and battered his fists against Big Mac's armor.

"Mac! Where ya goin'?" Applejack demanded as her brother sprinted off into the curtain of ashes. "Big Macintosh Ironside Apple, ya come back here this instant, y'hear?!"

She had to suppose her brother didn't hear, because he soon vanished into the dust, leaving behind only the sound of galloping, metal-shod hooves and a substantial trail of Ork blood.

Then her head pitched to the side as the Ork beneath her clubbed her helmet with a loose rock.

"QUIT IT!" she snapped, rearing up again and powering the gravity plates as she dropped down. Bones snapped and flesh tore under her increased weight, and the apple farmer winced as her leg and underbelly plating were splattered with gore.

"Gotta say: trainin' to fight Orks was kinda fun. Actually fightin' em, not so much," Applejack grumbled as she looked around for any more targets.

Gaela brought her axe down into a stumbling Ork boy, cutting deep into its torso. "A common sentiment among us sapiens, I assure you." She kicked the Ork away as she ripped her weapon free, splattering blood over the front of her robes.

Her servo limbs whirled about, the integrated sensors feeding data back to her combat visor as they searched for - and failed to find - any more active hostiles.

"Area secure. We have exhausted the xenos' combatants within engagement range," the Dark Techpriest declared.

The other two ponies still present and standing weren't really listening, instead rushing over to Twilight.

"Twi! Ya all right? Speak to me, filly!" Applejack said as Rarity cautiously poked at the armored body.

"Could you stop the war, please? I'd like to get off." Twilight's visor flickered and buzzed abnormally as an unusually high-pitched voice came from her vox grille.

Rarity's visor finished scanning her friend, and she sighed. "Nothing broken, and only some minor bleeding. Mostly around the head, incidentally. That impact might have knocked a few things loose."

"Like her senses, Ah reckon," Applejack mumbled.

"Don't you judge me, fruit pony!" Twilight protested as she shakily pushed herself up. "I'm the Element of Princess! Just because I'm not a Rainbow doesn't-" she tried to take a step forward, but one leg servo made a horrendous grinding noise before it locked up and sent her tumbling onto her side. "Urk! Pears!"

"Hey, no call fer that kinda language," Applejack said as she gently placed a boot on her friend's side, "just stay still fer now 'til all the stars fade, y'hear?"

She looked up and found Gaela helping Dest to his feet. The Iron Warrior had taken an equally punishing blow by the Ork, but unsurprisingly was weathering the damage better than Twilight.

"We have to hurry and locate more of the assault force," the Chaos Marine panted. His abdominal plating was absolutely shredded, and blood was leaking from the damaged armor. Still, he was able to stand without great difficulty. "Not all of our soldiers will be able to escape their transports, even if they survived the blast. Can Sparkle move?"

"Not really, no. I don't think the damage is permanent, though," Rarity explained.

"Dear Princess Celestia," squeaked Twilight from the ground, "today I learned why humans like to shoot Orks rather than stab them. PS: Owwwwww..."

"We need to keep moving," Gaela declared as she and Dest walked up to the ponies, "I can fix her armor's legs to restore basic mobility, but more extensive repairs will have to wait."

"You are the BEST, Gaela. You're my favorite monkey," Twilight said as she rolled onto her back, still obviously dazed.

"And you're my second favorite equine," Gaela said as she leaned down next to the alicorn, "I would be significantly disappointed to see you perish." One servo arm took firm hold of the damaged boot, holding it in place as the others moved into position.

Applejack looked up at Dest. "What about Mac? He just took off and Ah still can't get the consarn vox to work!"

"We cannot go after Macintosh," Dest said firmly, "he's moving in the wrong direction, and at considerable speed. We assist the transports."

Applejack growled, torn between leaving her brother or leaving her friends and self-imposed duty. "Ah can't believe this! What the hay has gotten into him?!"

"Polyamarol selphetamine, primarily," Gaela responded as she carefully wedged a point on her axe into an armor seam.

"Pola-what?" Applejack asked, utterly lost by the stream of technical gibberish.

"The main combat stimulant used in Macintosh's injector," Gaela explained, not bothering to repeat the name of the chemical again, "potent, but its effects are short-lived. After his immediate psychosis clears he will regain his faculties. Until then, he should fare quite well against any Ork he encounters, so long as he doesn't happen upon too many."

"It hasn't escaped our notice that Orks like to travel in groups of 'too many'," Rarity pointed out.

"Yes, well, this day hasn't really been going as planned for any of us," the Dark Techpriest quipped as she pulled her torch from the armor joint. "There. Sparkle, are you lucid?"

Twilight remained silent and unmoving for several seconds. "... I'm your SECOND favorite pony?" Her voice quivered noticeably, as if she were on the verge of crying.

"Get up," Gaela commanded as she stood, "we have much yet to do, and the cannon of the void ship may yet become active again. Move out!"

****

Fleetfoot was not a happy pony.

This wasn't JUST because she was being made to help a force of marauders take on an army of brutal and gun-crazy aliens, although that fact was certainly displeasing on its own.

No, it was mostly the increasingly miserable and dangerous circumstances that decision had led her to that she really resented. First it was being shot at from the Ork camp while scouting it. Then it was being chased by Ork aircraft. THEN it was being ambushed by Orks on rockets.

And now there was her current dilemma, which she could barely figure out.

She had been helping mark the immobilized Ork vehicles for the artillery when the ground underneath her had simply been bathed in light and heat. She had been high enough up to avoid the brunt of whatever-it-was, but apparently still too close. A shock wave had slammed into her, and then her muscles had started going numb for some reason. She had barely managed to keep herself gliding as she descended, eventually coming to an unpleasant stop within the rising cloud of dust and ashes that blanketed the blast zone.

Her wing muscles had completely locked up by then, and her legs weren't much better. Even her breathing was coming out in strained, short gasps, and what air she got was thick with dust.

At least the dust wasn't getting in her eyes, thanks to the optics visor, but everything else the device did had suddenly stopped working. She couldn't track or contact anyone else.

So it was that she found herself in her current predicament. Grounded, weak, alone, and confused. Curled up on a rock and completely helpless.

But as bad as it was, she could easily think of ways that it could get worse.

"All roight! Fight's dis way! 'Ere we go!"

"Boss Coggz said da humies ain't goin' nowhere!"

"I'm gonna krump me a spiky boy and wear 'is hat! I like dem hats dey has!"

Yeah. Things were getting worse.

The sound of heavy boots approaching spurred Fleetfoot to move, but her need simply couldn't bring strength to her legs. If she really exerted herself she could probably stand, but without being able to run that just made her a larger target.

Since running wasn't an option, and the minimal visibility made hiding redundant, she opted to simply play dead. If the aliens were looking for a fight, they sure weren't going to get one from her.

The footfalls came closer.

"Oi, wuzzat?" asked an Ork boy, stopping and pointing his slugga at the small body on the ground.

The other Orks raised their choppas in eager preparation for violence, but then hesitated when they saw what their companion had found.

Whatever it was, it was small and it wasn't moving. One of the Orks stepped up to it and grabbed a fistful of dust-caked hair before pulling it up.

Fleetfoot clenched her teeth as she was hauled into the air by her mane, but let her body hang limp and tried to minimize her breathing even further.

"... Looks like a hoss," mumbled one warrior.

"Wuz a hoss doin' out heah?"

"It ain't a hoss, ya dumb git! It got wings!"

"It also got bomms," mumbled the Ork holding her up, knocking his pistol against the grenades and beacons on Fleetfoot's belt, "dere's sumfin funny 'bout dis hoss."

"Dere was some kinda winged gits buzzin' da camp before, roight? Dis one of 'em?"

"Whatevah," another Ork snorted, "we'z got humies ta stomp! Fergit da hoss!"

"I dunno," mumbled the Ork holding the pegasus, "I'm kinda hungry."

Fleetfoot's eyes snapped open, and she started squirming about desperately in the Ork's hand.

"'Ey! It's still movin'!"

"Ya gotta kill yer food 'fore ya eat it," another Ork chided, "Boss Coggz sez it'z da 'siv-ah-lyzed' ting ta do."

The other Ork didn't seem completely convinced, but before the discussion could progress further they heard a noise ahead of them.

It sounded like Orkish shouting. Accompanied by the constant beat of heavy hooves galloping.

"Put me down, ya zoggin', squig-eatin' grot stain!"

The Ork holding Fleetfoot dropped her onto the ground, his appetite forgotten for the moment as a new figure broke through the obscuring dust cloud.

Big Mac slowed to a trot as the Nob draped over his helmet continued to snarl and beat at him. Then he snapped his head down, throwing the massive Ork onto the ground.

"Izzat... anudder hoss?" an Ork boy asked.

As the Nob groaned, Big Mac reared up with an angry whinny, and then leapt forward to land his front hooves on the Ork's face. The alien's thick skull was crushed to shards, and gore splattered over the nearby rocks.

"... Now DIS wun looks like mo' fun!" laughed one of the newly arrived warriors, raising his choppa. "WAAAAAGH!!"

As the aliens surged forward, Fleetfoot could only stare in awe. Not at the marvel of technology that her apparent savior wore to battle, or the savage ease with which he had finished off a soldier more than twice his size. Her eyes were fixed on the blood-spattered decal of a bright green apple slice fixed on the pony's shoulder pad.

"... Big Macintosh?"

Big Mac's eyes swept over the four Orks charging at him, focusing with animal intensity on the best points to land killing blows.

The highest functions of his brain - which may have wondered why he was out on a battlefield alone, or would have noticed the dusty blue pegasus on the ground - were denied to him as chemical heat rushed through his veins and made every nerve in his body tingle. There was only him, the enemy, and his tools of murder.

His heavy bolter fired, but it shot low across the ground in front of him, blasting off the lead Ork's foot and throwing a wave of dust and shrapnel into the other charging aliens.

As the first enemy fell forward, Macintosh leapt, landing his full weight on the warrior's back and shattering its spine.

He swung his head under the next foe, hooking the Ork's leg and sending the alien flailing into the air. A back kick caught it on the way down, splintering the hefty Ork bones like drywood.

The third Ork fired a slugga round that bounced off of Mac's chest plating, and landed a hit with his choppa that did little more. Big Macintosh reared up and slammed his bionic hoof into the Ork's forehead, splitting its skull right open.

The last Ork slammed his choppa into the stallion's neck plating, digging a deep gouge into the ceramite before giving the pony a powerful kick in the side. If it weren't the side made of living Necron alloys, it might have even hurt him.

Big Mac cut his head to the side, slashing across the Ork's belly with his horns. Then he pivoted sharply, bringing his rear augmetic to bear on the staggered warrior.

The bionic hoof ripped through the alien's scrap-plate armor, thick hide, and dense bones with ease, tearing the Ork's torso right off and sending it spiraling away on a jet of blood.

Big Mac's breath came in short, angry puffs while he swung his head from side to side, searching for more enemies.

Once, twice, and then a third time his visor moved past the pegasus mare who was lying on the ground staring at him. She wasn't an enemy, so she didn't even register to his agitated senses as Macintosh scuffed at the ground irritably.

"......... Wait, where am Ah?" the stallion mumbled as his mental fog started to clear. As he failed to find any more Orks on which to vent his artificial fury, the angry fire in his limbs faded away and higher brain functions were restored.

"Big... Macintosh?"

As the armored pony snapped his head toward her, Fleetfoot couldn't help but flinch back. She didn't imagine that the stallion would hurt her, but his blood-stained armor and the brutality of his recent combat left quite an impression.

Big Macintosh stared down at the pegasus on the ground, taking note of the jumpsuit under her armor. A Wonderbolt. He wasn't exactly a fan, but they were famous enough that he knew the names of the ones that had visited Ponyville, at least. If he recalled the manestyle correctly, he had even run into this one personally - and quite literally - during the Summer festival in Ponyville last year.

"Miss Fleetfoot? Ya okay?" He asked, approaching cautiously. He wasn't usually one to take control of the situation, but it was currently rather unstable. Standing around and calmly waiting for her to say something probably wasn't appropriate.

"You... know my NAME..." the pegasus mare gasped out. Were she not wearing an optics mask, Big Mac might have seen little heart shapes dancing in her eyes and the beginning of joyful tears.

Big Mac thought it was stranger that she knew HIS name, but that wasn't important. "Eeyup. Can ya stand?" Macintosh pushed ahead again, hoping that she hadn't suffered another concussion. He wasn't sure if she'd ever recovered from the one she'd suffered at the summer wrap-up festival.

"I..." Fleetfoot sucked in a deep breath, and then suddenly started coughing as her mouth filled with ashes.

Macintosh frowned. He didn't know if the dust was toxic or otherwise dangerous, but it seemed to make breathing difficult, at the least. He was protected by his power armor, but apparently the Wonderbolts hadn't been issued respirators along with the rest of their equipment. He couldn't exactly share his, so the only option he could think of was to get Fleetfoot out of the ash cloud as quickly as possible.

Big Mac walked perpendicular to the mare and then laid down in front of her. "Climb on," he said calmly.

Fleetfoot stared for a moment, her cheeks turning a rosy pink. Then she gently reached up and pulled herself onto the stallion's armored back.

Macintosh waited until the pegasus had settled herself on him before carefully standing up. He would have helped secure her with his servo arm, but honestly he didn't trust the dang thing not to crush her by accident.

Confident that Fleetfoot wasn't about to tumble off, he glanced around at the dusty and gore-spattered rocks, wondering where to go.

"You know a way outta here?" he asked, his visor still getting scrambled or invalid readings.

"No..." Fleetfoot sighed. She sounded strangely content, Mac thought. She must have been very relieved to find a friendly soldier out here.

Big Mac found the trail of blood that led from the Nob that he hazily remembered fighting, and he decided that path would lead back to his sister and her friends. Which would have been great, except that they were deep in the dust cloud and working to help the rest of the assault force, which had been in the center of the blast. That wouldn't help his passenger one bit.

Big Mac turned in the opposite direction and accelerated to a trot. There wasn't much he could do except keep moving and hope that the mare on top of him held out until then. He had to get her out of the dust cloud.

As Big Mac's mind filled with grim possibilities and searched for solutions, he completely missed the goofy grin that spread over the muzzle of his passenger.

Fleetfoot was a very happy pony.

****

Ork Camp

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Why youz gits muckin' about when dere's fightin' ta do? MOOV!!"

Dozens of Orks jogged through the dusty roads from the camp, being beckoned onward into the giant curtain of dust that had erupted over the battlefield.

"Oi, wha happened out dere?" one unusually inquisitive green soul stopped to ask. "Wha's wit all da dust?"

The Nob gathering a new mob of soldiers chuckled as he pointed to the wrecked ship. "Boss Coggz got da humies good, he did! Fixed up da busted dakka and zapped 'em!"

"Den why's we goin' out dere? Won' he jus' zap 'em again?"

The Nob's laughter turned to a growl. "An' dat's why we gotta get out dere and stomp da humies now! Dere won' be no fightin' left if'n we wait!"

"Some o'da udder boyz tink dey's comin' heah," another Ork mumbled, "dey's settin' up ta bash da humies when dey comes ta us!"

The much larger Ork snarled, an electric arc sizzling over his power klaw. "Well, I'z da biggest Ork heah, an' I sez we'z goin' ta DEM! We moight be heah all day if'n we wait fer a fight ta come ta us!"

A bolt of lightning snaked through the air and slammed into the back of one of the smaller Orks, causing him to flail and writhe wildly before collapsing on the ground in a charred heap.

The other Orks frankly found the unexpected death hilarious, but they were interested enough in what had caused it to take up combat positions as they chuckled.

A dark shape swooped toward them from above, and the Nob squinted as he tried to make it out.

It looked kind of like a horse. A small, dark blue horse. With wings, and hatefully glowing eyes, and some kind of glowing horn coming from its forehead. The Nob silently wondered to himself how many un-horse things a horse had to possess before he could no longer describe it as a horse in the first place.

"KILL IT!!" the Ork mob leader snapped, firing his slugga.

The rest of the Orks shouted in gleefully symphony as they unloaded their handguns into the sky, unleashing a wildly inaccurate wave of bullets at the descending pony.

Luna felt one shot cut across her wing and another impact her breast plate, but she didn't falter. Summoning her power to her horn, she lashed out at the mob with her magic, cutting a beam of darkness across the first rank that sent three of the warriors to the ground. After that came a fireball into the center, incinerating a few more while scattering the unit.

Luna landed, and then flinched back as a slugga round cut across her cheek. "DEFY US AND PERISH, ALIEN!!" she roared, her wings spreading dangerously as the ground trembled beneath her.

The Orks were perfectly oblivious to the danger, and happily charged ahead once she was on the ground, choppas primed to hack the equine apart.

"THOU DESIRES WAR?! LET US OBLIGE THEE!!"

Luna reared up as her horn glowed ever brighter, a deep blue mist seeping around her. At once the Orks charging toward her lost contact with the ground, floating up into the air as they were engulfed by the soft blue aura.

The aliens flailed and shouted and continued to fire their sluggas wildly (not necessarily in the right direction anymore) as they rose higher, and Luna's eyes flashed angrily.

"BEGONE!!!"

She finally fell forward onto her hooves, and they struck the ground with a tremendous crash. The floating Orks were sent flying away with bone-shattering force, most of them being crushed or impaled against the nearby rocks.

The Nob hit the ground hard enough to leave a furrow in the dirt, but immediately grunted and started pushing himself up.

Then he found himself in the air again, pulled by a spot of blue attached to his shoulder plate.

"Thou art going nowhere, alien!" shouted Luna, ratcheting down her voice to the non-painful spectrum as she trotted up to the Ork suspended in the air. "We demand thee tell us what hath transpired beyond these cliffs!" The Nob looked strangely perplexed, and Luna pointed a hoof toward the massive cloud of dust behind her. "There! Wherefore hath our allies been swallowed by light and ash? SPEAK, barbarian!"

The Nob squinted his eyes as he looked around the alicorn, searching for anyone else that might be with her. "But you'z da only wun heah... Why youz talkin' all funny?"

"THOU ART THE ONE SPEAKING HUMOROUSLY!!" Luna screamed at the Ork, shaking him with her telekinetic grip.

The Nob's reply was to swipe at her with his power klaw, but he was suspended several inches out of range. Luna snorted as the crackling talons of the weapon passed close enough for the heat to tickle her nose, but she didn't flinch.

"If thou refuses to aid us, then thou art useless. Perish, then," Luna said mildly. With a flash of her horn the Ork's flesh was consumed by flame, and Luna tossed the burning alien away without another glance.

There were many more Orks about, moving in small and disorganized mobs toward the camp perimeter and into the ash cloud. Although she was barely winded from the fight so far, she didn't think she could take on many of them at once.

As her magic encircled her in shadows and she took to the air, Luna couldn't help but worry what had happened to the assault force behind her, and how long their arrival would be delayed. She rather prided herself on being a one-mare army, but it had been literally ages since she'd seen combat as heavy and merciless as this.

With her body's visible profile reduced to a shimmering, dark shroud, Luna spotted her next targets and floated forward. There were many Orks yet to be slain before her kingdom would be safe again.

****

Wreckage of the Battlecruiser Aurora

Pinkie's power fist dug its fingers into the corner of the metal barrier, the power field sizzling as it dissolved the compressed and specially formulated alloys as easily as water dissolved table salt.

With a grunt completely out of proportion to the amount of effort she was actually contributing to this exercise, Pinkie ripped the plating free and tossed it aside.

"... Nope. No candy here. Next!" the pink Dreadnought turned away from the heavy supply crate and then stomped across the twisted and shattered flooring toward the next one.

Pinkie and her new Dreadnought buddies were exploring the interior of the battlecruiser's cargo bays, reasoning - with SOME small degree of logic - that it would be the place most likely to store hidden candy.

Kairon was observing an Iron Warrior who had been impaled against a shredded bulkhead during the crash. "Brother Daedalius. Such a fate. To survive the mighty guns of the Tau Empire and then falter before the grasp of mere gravity, so long ago conquered by our race," Kairon intoned.

Pinkie snorted, suppressing a belly laugh. "His name was 'Dead-alias'?" she snickered.

"... Huh. I do not know how I keep missing things like that," the ponderous Dreadnought mumbled.

"Where's the blood? Where's the KILLING?!" Hett demanded, smashing his thunder hammer into another crate and then checking the shattered container for victims and/or candy.

"We are still searching, Brother Hett," Kairon advised patiently, "we will not fail to inform you of any sign of the enemy."

"Or taffy," Hett mumbled, momentarily dropping out of his manic growling.

"What was that?" Kairon asked, pausing to look toward the other walker.

"Blood! Blood! Bloooooood! Talking about BLOOD, here!" Hett howled.

As the Dreadnoughts continued their utterly ridiculous search, a trio of green figures shuffled into the back of the cargo bay. They did a fair job of sneaking in unnoticed, considering they were each hefting a rokkit launcha, although all their targets were mercifully distracted.

"Dere dey is," whispered one Tankbusta to his squadmates, "an' dey's lookin' da udder way. We got dis."

"What're dey doin'?" asked another of the alien soldiers, watching Pinkie rip open another storage crate.

"Looks like dey lootin' da joint."

"But dat ain't fair! We was lootin' da joint foist!"

"Dey ain't even lootin' roight. Look at 'em, tossin away good scrap n'bitz. Sad, wot it is."

A loud crashing and grinding noise suddenly echoed through the room, and the Orks ducked behind their cover as the Dreadnoughts halted.

"Hey, what was that?" Pinkie asked, searching around the dimly-lit and badly damaged cargo bay.

"It sounded like a bulkhead breach," Kairon confided, "something tore through the walls of this vessel. And it did so nearby."

"Footsteps!" Hett shouted gleefully when he heard the pounding of heavy mechanical legs follow the previous noise. "Let's kill it! KILL IT!!"

The Orks kept their heads down, hoping that the combat walkers would return to inattention if they waited. They themselves heard the heavy footfalls approaching them from behind, but with a bulkhead wall at their back and separating them from whatever-it-was they decided they could ignore it and concentrate on their targets.

That decision started to waver as they heard a very loud whirring noise, followed by the squeal of tearing metal.

"Iron within!" barked Sirius as his siege drill pierced the bulkhead, shredding the reinforced metals to splinters. "Iron without!" The heavy flamer in the drill activated, and the Tankbustas howled in pain and surprise as they were suddenly swallowed by a jet of fire.

Two of the Orks were incinerated almost instantly, but the last was far enough away that he was merely caught aflame before he leapt out of his hiding place to escape.

Hett rounded on the immolated Ork immediately, and his twin-linked autocannon fired once, turning the alien into a red smear on the floor.

Then the Khornate walker sighed in satisfaction and relief, his bloodlust alleviated for a few precious seconds.

"Honorable Sirius! You have joined us!" Kairon called out while the Contemptor Dreadnought went about carving a hole in the bulkhead large enough to walk through.

"Sirius? Serious?" Pinkie asked, giggling afterward.

The highly disgruntled squadron leader stepped into the cavernous cargo bay, and then took a moment to look over his subordinate walkers.

"So what were you idiots doing BESIDES being stalked by Tankbustas?"

"Searching for candy!" Pinkie chirped.

"And searching for Tankbustas!" Hett added. "Why? How? You found them first!"

"I considered where I would be if I were trying to destroy all of you," Sirius explained curtly, "got it on the first guess."

"Curses! If only I'D thought of that!" Hett snarled, his head shaking furiously.

"By the way," Sirius continued with uncharacteristic calm, "I don't suppose any of you detected the enormous energy discharge from this supposedly wrecked and inactive ship, did you?"

The smaller Dreadnoughts turned toward each other, spent a moment staring in silence, and then turned back toward the Contemptor.

"That's what I thought. And I doubt you've given any serious thought as to why there's active lighting in this ship, which would require the re-activation of its power source."

The Dreadnoughts tilted backward to stare at the ceiling, which had numerous built-in lumens. Many were shattered, but those that weren't clearly broken were indeed emitting light to one degree or another.

"And I KNOW that none of you have noticed the thick, sparking, and obviously Ork-made power cable running through this room right behind you," Sirius said.

Indeed, there was a frayed length of cable running through the cargo bay from one entrance to another, its entire length haphazardly wrapped in electric tape and leaking sparks onto the floor while it thrummed with current.

"Actually, I DID notice that," Pinkie countered, "that thing is a MAJOR safety hazard. Could you imagine if I tripped? Would I even be able to get back up? We're so top-heavy!"

"They could at least paint some hazard striping onto it," Kairon agreed solemnly, "I like hazard striping."

"Shut up," Sirius snapped, "the Orks are feeding a considerable supply of energy through the vessel's wreckage, and there are only two things Orks use energy for: shooting things or building weapons with which to shoot things. The energy discharge suggests they are engaged in the former."

"That's why he's the leader," Kairon said, "such feats of intellect and insight are quite rare."

"You could say he's Siriusly smart!" Pinkie interjected, grinning beneath her helmet. "I'm going to make that a catch-phrase now! Siriusly smart!"

"Stop talking at me and find me more TARGETS!" Hett snarled, swiveling from side to side angrily.

Sirius couldn't even bring himself to sigh. "I hate ALL of you," the Contemptor said simply before he fired a single round from his butcher cannon into the power cable.

The projectile severed the cable with ease, while also gouging out a fair bit of the floor around it. One half of the cabling stopped sparking, while the other half began to hum and crackle more as the current found nowhere to go and started to discharge into the floor.

"There. Whatever the Orks have been doing here has been foiled for the moment," Sirius proclaimed, "we will break out into the camp and aid the assault."

"But what about the candy?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"THERE IS NO CANDY!!" Sirius roared, stomping a foot hard enough to make the other walkers shake.

"We have not yet explored a large enough portion of the vessel to reasonably rule out the possibility of candy," Kairon insisted.

Hett turned away and mumbled something that sounded like "I want toffee."

"Even if you DID find candy, none of you can eat it!" Sirius shouted, flailing his siege drill in the air. "We're all corpses entombed in sealed vessels that consume drip-fed nutrients! This entire exercise is as pointless as it is stupid!"

Pinkie snickered, as if she was party to a joke only she could figure out. Kairon and Hett glanced at each other.

"That's a really good point," Kairon noted. "You should have mentioned that earlier. Like when you were trying to get us to follow our mission parameters."

"This was a stupid idea!" Hett shouted angrily. "Why didn't you say anything?!"

"If I have one flaw as a leader, it is doubtless my constant overestimation of your intelligence," Sirius said bluntly before he turned away from the others. "Now, we shall..."

He trailed off as Pinkie started stomping away, following along the inert half of the severed power cable.

"NOW where are you going?!" the Contemptor demanded.

"Still looking for candy!" Pinkie said brightly. "But even if there isn't any, I'll bet there's something neat on the other end of this cable!"

"Something neat? I wonder what-" Kairon was cut off as Sirius held up his siege drill to bar the way forward.

"Leave him," the Contemptor snapped.

"Her," Hett corrected.

"I don't care what it is. Let it leave. With any luck there are more Tankbustas in waiting to ambush it," Sirius growled, "as for the rest of you, you will follow me as I breach a path outside, and then we will assault the Ork base! That is an order!"

"Yes! YES!! Carnage!" Hett howled in delight.

"You are in command," Kairon reasoned, despite having blatantly ignored the ranking walker earlier.

"Good. Stay in formation! Today the Orks feel the hammer of the Iron Warriors!"

****

Rainbow Dash soared low to the ground through the billowing ash cloud, her visor searching for any dark shapes that might have been people, ponies, or vehicles. She had been performing these sweeps for some time, searching for any trace of her friends - or any survivors, really - among the assault convoy.

It was slow going, considering the pitiful visibility and the weird interference with her suit systems, but both of those factors had been getting better over time. The dust cloud had thinned, and the ash now resembled a gentle snowfall as it was lifted into the air in the hottest regions before drifting into the cooler areas and falling back down. It still blocked out visibility from the air, though, which meant she had been doing her blind scouting in easy shooting range of everything she came across.

So far the damage wasn't nearly as bad as she'd guessed after having seen the cannon discharge. She'd happened upon many intact Company transports and tanks, and stopped to check some of the APCs to see if her friends were inside. She hadn't found them, though, and she had no way to easily break open the transports for those stuck inside, so she'd moved on with her search.

Eventually she'd happened upon Iron Warriors that had managed to get free of their rhinos, and later, naturally, Ork mobs hunting down said Iron Warriors.

Rainbow had to give that idea a wry snort. The greenskins were proving every bit as brutal and dangerous as she'd expected, but they were still a far cry from the Chaos Space Marines. Each time she'd found a mob of Orks she'd merely shot a spread of shuriken at them and then yelled "Hey! Orks over here!" before taking off. The pounding gunfire that usually followed such warnings reassured her that the Iron Warriors were far from beaten, and eager to repay the blow that had halted their advance.

That still left her friends other than Fluttershy MIA, though...

Rainbow Dash saw the ash fall thinning out considerably, and realized she was reaching the edge of the cloud. She boosted herself higher, and then made a short turn to swing back into the ashes.

Then her wings swept up, the rockets blazing at a forward angle to stop her momentum. After a moment spent stabilizing herself, Rainbow whirled around again.

"Mac? Big Mac!" the pegasus blasted away as she spotted the dusty but unmistakable armor suit sitting on a rock outcropping, quite deliberately removed from the ash clouds.

The stallion turned his head around, and then the servo arm on his back made a wide, sweeping motion in imitation of a wave.

As Rainbow Dash swooped in for a landing, she noticed somepony else with the hefty farmer: Fleetfoot. The Wonderbolt had her forelegs wrapped around Big Mac's back leg - the still organic one, at least - and seemed to be nuzzling it. Which was weird for a few reasons, but mostly because nuzzling dirty ceramite plating couldn't have been comfortable.

"Mac! You're okay!" Rainbow shouted as she skidded across the surface of the stone and barely halted before colliding with him.

"Eeyup."

"Are the others all right?"

"Eeyup."

"Thank Celestia! But they're not with you?"

"Nnope."

"What happened to you guys?"

Rainbow saw Big Mac look slightly to the side, hesitating.

"Never mind, my fault. As long as they're fine, we're cool." Rainbow Dash knew that she could get more than yes-or-no answers out of Big Macintosh if she tried, but she didn't have that kind of time while the mission clock was still running.

She also noticed that Fleetfoot seemed to be scowling, for some reason. It was kind of hard to tell, since she was still wearing an optics mask, but the Wonderbolt's expression had gone from a dreamy smile to an angry grimace after she'd arrived.

"I'm guessing you picked up Fleetfoot in the blast zone? She looks pretty dirty," Rainbow said, thinking that the other pegasus might have been feeling ignored.

"Eeyup," came Mac's characteristic reply.

Fleetfoot, on the other hand, went into a panic as she started flapping her wings and rubbing her mane to get the dirt off of her.

"... Is she okay?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Nnope," Big Mac answered as he shook his head.

"Well, maybe I should help her get behind the lines to see Fluttershy," Rainbow offered.

"Nope!"

Both Mac and Rainbow started as the refusal came from the mare whose immediate fate was being discussed. A mare who was now standing on Big Mac's back, with her tail bushed out like an aggravated cat.

"Oh... kaaay... Big Mac, why don't YOU handle Fleetfoot," the armored pegasus said cautiously, "you've done a good job so far. No reason not to keep going."

"Eeyup," Mac replied solemnly, accepting this sacred responsibility of continuing to care for one of Rainbow Dash's heroes. Fleetfoot relaxed immediately, sitting down on the stallion's back and smiling happily.

Dash herself was getting a little frustrated by the lack of verbal communication, and she decided to go back to her previous task. "Well, you be careful. That big gun that blasted everyone before hasn't been up to much since then, but we haven't blown it up yet, either." She pointed an armor-clad hoof at the turret in question.

"Is it supposed to be moving?" Fleetfoot asked.

Rainbow Dash gasped, having been under the impression that Fleetfoot's throat had been damaged somehow and rendered her unable to form complete sentences. Then she gasped louder as she whirled back toward the turret.

"Aw, hay, not again!" she cursed. The turret was indeed turning, swinging its oversized and badly scorched cannon past the battlefield that had been its previous target.

In fact, it looked like it was targeting...

"No! NO!!" Rainbow shouted, the fur on her back standing up. The turret was sweeping far past the battlefield now, and the only other viable target besides the assault force was the defense line and its attached artillery battery. Fluttershy and hundreds of human soldiers were still recovering there from the Orks' assault, without armored vehicles protecting them. If the blast was even half as strong as the last one they'd all be cooked alive.

"FLUTTERSHY!!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she connected her vox.

"Yeep!" came a squeak of fright from the other end.

"No time for that! I need to warn you while we can still talk! The big cannon is turning to aim at you guys!" the pegasus shouted.

There was some soft static, and then Fluttershy's voice came from the helmet receiver. "... relieved! Is Twilight okay? I saw..." the voice got weaker for a moment, and then returned. "... catch everything you said, though. Something about... oh, hold on... wait, where are we going?"

As the vox link was cut, Rainbow Dash had to hope that the humans had already noticed and were trying to flee. After all, they had seen the gun fire once already, right? They wouldn't just write it off after that, would they?

As she saw a bright blue glow collect within the barrel of the cannon, Rainbow had to wonder if the forewarning would make any difference.

"Oh, no..." Fleetfoot said breathlessly, squeezing her eyes shut and pressing her face against Big Mac's side. She could only hope that the rest of the Wonderbolts were far from the new target zone.

Big Macintosh sat down heavily, his body suddenly feeling like lead (as opposed to other, more capable metals) as he watched the enormous gun power up.

Then the foreboding glow faded away, and nothing untoward happened at all.

"...... Well... that was anti-climactic," muttered Rainbow Dash after waiting several seconds.

"... Eeyup."

****

Wreckage of the battlecruiser Aurora - improvised turret control

"Aw, zog it! Wha's wrong wit da damm ting now?!"

Hazarr dropped down from the ionization chamber, his metal-encased feet leaving dents in the shredded flooring.

Two Ork Meks were standing in front of the haphazardly reconstructed turret controls, staring at the flickering monitors above. Those monitors were connected to a stack of loose circuit boards and clusters of wires heaped beneath a joystick and a handful of large buttons painted in very distinctive colors.

"Dis is why I HATE grayskin loot," the Big Mek growled, kicking a wall and watching the bulkhead fold in front of his foot, "damm, fiddly, no-good heap o'squig dung!"

"It's da powah, Boss Coggz," one of the Meks said helpfully, pointing to a meter that was at zero when it obviously shouldn't be.

"Sumfin's rong wit' da reeyactah," mumbled the other one, rubbing his chin.

"Dis heep's startin' ta try me nerves," Hazarr said dangerously, his power claw snipping anxiously, "dis ting only fiyahed ONCE 'fore it crapped out, n'just turnin' it is a pain in da rump. I'm runnin' outta dukk tape, too." He withdrew a short cardboard tube from his belt and tossed it away. It landed on small a pile of similar tubes, some of them still bearing a few inches of precious, silvery adhesive strips.

"Wot's da plan, Boss Coggz?" one Mek asked as he turned away from the console.

Hazarr grunted. "Well, we'z put too much wohk inna dis heap ta kwit now. An da boyz is prob'ly havin' a hard time wif da spikies still. Go see ta da reeyactah."

The Meks practically jumped from their consoles to obey, and rushed to the door.

One Mek pulled it open with a hefty grunt, sliding the heavy barrier aside for the pair to leave. His partner stepped forward as soon as there was enough room for him to squeeze through, only to halt and then squint into the dimly-lit hallway beyond.

"Wait... wot is-"

Hazarr whirled around at the sound of a shout and an explosion. Not that those were uncommon things to hear from his Mekboyz, but they usually only did that when they were actually working on something.

His power klaw clanked open and shut angrily as he saw the dark spot on the floor in front of the entrance. "'EY! Dey was me best boyz! Who did dat?!"

Very heavy footsteps came from the hall outside, and the Big Mek took a step back when an enormous power fist grabbed the edge of the door and finished pushing it open.

"Yarrr! I be the Space Pirate Pie, come to shiver yer timbers and plunder yer chocolate!" Pinkie declared as she stomped into the turret control room. "Surrender yer sweets ta me, or I'll send ya all ta Davey Pone's locker! Yarrr!"

Hazarr kicked a metal crate half his size at the pink Dreadnought, and Pinkie deftly caught the container out of the air.

"... Wait, is there really candy in here?" Pinkie asked, dropping her "pirate voice" as she held up the crate. "Because I didn't seriously think I'd find any, but if there really IS candy that's awesome, and I won't have to share with the other dreads because they can't actually eat candy, but I should probably at least offer just to be-"

Pinkie suddenly noticed that the really big, heavily armored Ork had been using his oversized welding torch to cut off the arm with the power fist while she was talking. She noticed this because he had finished the endeavor, and her walker's arm dropped down onto the floor with a heavy thud.

"Hey! I was talking to you! That is SO rude, attacking me when I'm talking to you!" Pinkie complained.

Hazarr's response was to sink his power klaw into the dreadnought's leg. Steam blasted from the compression servos and electric arcs curled over the klaw blades as he tore through the reinforced metals, severing the leg with an ear-rending screech.

Pinkie Pie yelped as her walker collapsed to the side. "Ow! Hey! Quit it, you greenie meanie!"

Hazarr walked up in front of the squirming assault walker, his eyes narrowing behind his welding mask while he stared at the gunmetal helmet lined with gold.

"Yer peeses don' match," the Big Mek growled.

"What? Oh! That! Yeah, the helmet is new! Didn't have time to paint it up. You know how it is, right? You get something new and you're super-excited to use it, so you bring it to a battle even though it's not painted?"

"Dat's jus' LAZY," Hazarr snapped, walking around the other side of the Dreadnought to its plasma cannon.

His welding torch hissed as he pushed it far past the temperatures used for fusing metal and into the range most useful for destroying it.

Plunging the torch into the plasma cannon's flex sheathing, he gouged out the weapon's main reaction chamber. Then he grabbed the coolant distributor with his klaw and pulled it off, flinging it aside.

"You're doing more mean things, aren't you?" Pinkie Pie demanded, unable to see the Ork from her current position. "That's not very nice!"

"Shut up, ya idjit," Hazarr spat as he walked toward the exit, "yer too ugly ta even loot. 'Ave fun 'splodin'."

"I won't!" Pinkie Pie yelled back at the Big Mek left the room. Numerous warning icons were appearing and informing her about the status of her plasma cannon now, and they gave the distinct impression that it was "bad".

"SO rude," she grumbled as the plasma chamber started to go critical.

****

Assault Convoy - ground zero

"Shootas coming in from the right flank!"

"We have them. Maintain suppressive fire on the primary unit. Do not let them advance!"

"We have positive sighting on Killa Kans behind the infantry screen."

"Stay on your targets!"

"Stikkbomms! Incoming!"

"I've got them, darling."

An overtly feminine voice briefly rose above the harsh barking of the Iron Warriors, and the explosives hurtling through the air were suddenly immobilized by an aura of blue magic.

Then they flew back through the air toward the Orks that had thrown them.

Rarity ignored the subsequent explosions, returning to the business of spewing plasma bolts into the Ork mob covering behind two partly-melted Rhinos.

The ash fall was thin now, such that it barely obscured vision up to the effective range of a boltgun. Still, the vox systems were having enough trouble that the Chaos Marines preferred to shout to each other rather than struggle with the interference.

Rarity saw a bright red missile corkscrew through the air over her head, and then tracked the trail of smoke back to its source. A large figure was ducking behind a rock spire, fixing more explosives onto the head of his weapon.

"Applejack! Nob!" the unicorn called out, turning her head away briefly as the rokkit smashed into an empty Rhino's side and blasted it open.

"Ah see 'im!" Applejack whipped her tail forward, and a crackling whip of energy latched onto the distracted Ork leader.

A sharp tug pulled the alien out from behind the crags and sent him sprawling out into the open. Rarity fired a string of plasma bolts once he came to a stop, turning the mighty Ork into a dark spot on the ground.

"Yee-haw!" Applejack reared up as several Ork boyz charged at her, her front boots glowing while slugga rounds bounced off her armor harmlessly.

She dropped onto all fours with a thunderous crash, staggering the Orks barreling toward her. Then her heavy flamer roared to life in front of her, sweeping over the closest aliens as the others regained their footing and surged around the tongue of fire.

Choppas started hammering away at her sides, but before the Orks could make any serious progress in dismembering the apple farmer the sound of revving chainswords surrounded them.

Applejack splintered an Ork's leg with a swift kick, and then knocked another alien off his feet with a sweep of her helmet tusks.

After that, though, it was all she could do to stay out of the way as Chaos Marines painted the ground with Ork blood. The Iron Warriors sawed through the aliens with grim, calculated efficiency, tearing off limbs or causing other sorts of grievous wounds before shouldering the target aside and moving to the next foe. Very few of the super-soldiers stopped to perform killing blows or finish off the wounded; it was enough for them that the enemy was taken out of the fight. That the enemy soldiers were left gasping and bleeding out on the ground in great pain clearly didn't bother them, presuming they even thought about the matter.

After perhaps a dozen seconds, the melee was concluded and the last Ork warrior was falling backward with a bolter wound in his gut. The Iron Warriors had already mag-locked their chainswords to their belts and were taking up their boltguns again, ready to dismember the next squad at range.

"Y'all havin' fun yet?" Applejack shouted over the din of bolter fire before she lashed another alien and yanked him out of cover.

"Indeed!" barked a Chaos Marine after he gunned down the prone Ork. "Slaying greenskins is FAR more satisfying than slaughtering the weakling Tau!"

"We'll hafta agree to disagree on that, cowboy!" Applejack shouted as her flamer swept through another rock outcropping, immolating another wave of aliens.

Some ways behind the roar of gunfire and howl of Orks, Twilight was on top of a Hellhound assault vehicle with her harmonizer in blade mode, carefully cutting the crew hatch loose.

"Just a little bit... more..." she mumbled as the crystalline edge sliced through the reinforced alloys in a wide circle.

"Got it!" she drew the blade up, and then planted a boot onto the hatch to mag-lock onto it before pulling it away.

The tank gunner rose out of the vehicle immediately, only to pause as he saw the large, purple blade hovering nearby.

"Land's sakes, you cut open tanks with that thing?" he asked, glancing in askance at the somewhat battered pony standing behind the main turret.

"Oh, you know, when I have to," Twilight said modestly. Then she paused to look back and forth, making sure no one familiar was in earshot. "The Twiblade can cut through-"

"No way is it actually called that," the crewman interrupted.

Twilight glared at him through her visor. "... SOME refer to it as a 'force harmonizer'," she said bitterly.

"Okay, yeah, that's much better," the gunner said as he finally climbed out of the tank entirely.

The pilot and secondary gunner followed moments later, the latter snickering as he pulled himself up.

"Heh. Twiblade."

"Hurry up and get out of here!" the young Princess snapped before she deactivated the weapon and leapt off of the attack vehicle.

Every tank and transport she could see were empty or wrecked by now. Most had been cut open and evacuated already, either by her or the Dark Mechanicus squads roaming around the blast zone. The rest had apparently not survived the initial blast from the ion cannon, having broken apart and exposed the crew and passengers to the dispersed - but still quite deadly - wave of heat and radiation. Those unfortunates had been cooked alive, their vehicles transformed into heavily armed ovens.

On balance, though, it seemed that much of the infantry fighting power had survived the unexpected attack, and the Orks weren't putting a very heavy dent in it as the Iron Warriors regrouped and pushed forward. Close-quarters combat without extensive support was the sort of fighting that the savage aliens liked best, but it was also a sort of fighting that Chaos Space Marines had long mastered.

"Gaela!" Twilight spotted a cluster of dark-robed figures trudging toward the front lines, surrounded by a ring of Scavurel Dregs. A pair of Black Praetors flanked the group, their weapons systems seeming to writhe and twitch from being so close to combat. And following above the group...

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight yelled as she swooped over to the advancing group.

The pegasus shifted into a hover. "Hey, Twi! I found some dudes making a break for the defense lines, and they pointed me to the Dark Techies," she said before snapping a foreleg up in a salute, "reporting for duty, Rainbow Leader!"

Twilight's joy and relief instantly soured. "I'm going to have a long talk with you about our unit name. Later. Right now we have to pull together and finish this fight." She looked up at the Dark Techpriest leading the squad. "Gaela, the Iron Warriors are pushing through the Orks that were sent to attack the damaged transports. They should be able to get to the Ork camp soon, but there's a concern about the Orks' defenses now that we don't have APCs. I think-"

"Sparkle, have you recovered fully from your earlier cranial trauma?" the Dark Techpriest asked.

Twilight groaned and rolled her eyes. "Yes. I'm fine, now. Thanks for asking. But we-"

"It seemed pertinent, as I am Dark Techpriest Callucan," the armored figure interrupted again.

Twilight took a moment to note the extent of Callucan's optical array, his exact number of servo limbs, and a dozen other details that were different from the cyborg she was familiar with.

"... Sorry," Twilight said awkwardly, bowing her head slightly.

"Apology accepted," Callucan said before he walked past the armored pony. Most of the Scavurel followed him, all of them chittering in Binary and some of them making noises that sounded suspiciously like laughter.

There was nothing ambiguous about the sniggering coming from Rainbow Dash, who was holding her boots up to her vox grille as she chortled.

One of the Dark Techpriests remained behind, and Twilight walked up to her sullenly as the other augmented humans left.

"You could have said something," the alicorn mumbled as she stopped in front of the remaining Techpriest.

"You could have checked our noosphere identifier tags," Gaela countered, "or at least blamed the cranial trauma. But this is not important; you had a tactical projection you wished to share?"

"I thought Rainbow Dash could do some forward reconnaissance to let everyone know where the enemies are entrenched before attacking," Twilight explained.

"Yeah, sure," the pegasus replied, "that's kind of like what I was doing for Luna before the big gun went off."

Then she paused. "I wonder how she's doing, anyway. I kinda left her in the lurch there to look for you guys."

"Luna?" Twilight's eyes widened. "Luna's here? Where?!" It seemed obvious, now that she thought about it, that the Princess of the Moon would have been on the battlefield. But she couldn't remember seeing Luna at all today, and she had been so distracted by the battle itself that she had completely forgotten about the other alicorn.

Rainbow Dash waved a leg in the direction of the stone bluffs. "Oh, she's over there somewhere. She was pretty far away from the blast, so that wasn't a problem."

"Over THERE? That's where the Ork camp is!" Twilight protested.

"Well, yeah. Too much green for my blood, but she was all gung-ho about it." Rainbow Dash shrugged.

"Rainbow, she could be killed!" Twilight shouted.

"What are you yelling at ME for? What am I, her foal-sitter?" the pegasus demanded.

"Why does the possible death of Princess Luna matter?" Gaela asked calmly.

Twilight was perhaps more shocked by the question than she should have been, but Rainbow Dash answered just as calmly.

"She controls the moon, you know? It would be kind of a big deal."

"Right. That," Gaela mumbled, pausing for a few seconds, "your star system is ridiculous."

"Now let's not start THAT argument again," Rainbow warned, casting a glance at Twilight.

"Dash is absolutely right!" the purple pony shouted, her voice panicked. "We have to go make sure she's all right!" Twilight swerved around into the air, and then zoomed away.

Rainbow Dash followed, easily matching the alicorn's pace. "Twi, chill. Luna's crazy powerful, you know? And, like, immortal and stuff. Can alicorns even die to stuff like bullets?"

"YES, we can, Dash!" Twilight shouted back.

"Well, okay, sure, YOU probably can. Maybe." Rainbow mumbled. "But Luna's thousands of years old and an ex-super villain. Do you really think a bunch of clueless green thugs could kill her?"

Twilight turned her head around, fixing the pegasus with the bloody red glare of her (slightly cracked) combat visor. "Do you want to be held responsible when we find out for sure?"

Rainbow Dash digested that tidbit for a few seconds before she sighed and blasted up higher into the air. "This day just gets better and better..."

****

Wreckage of the battlecruiser Aurora

Hazarr grunted as he pushed his way through the cluttered and partially collapsed hallways of the wreck, slowly plodding toward one of the entryways his boyz had cut into the sundered hull. As the clearance between the floor and ceiling started to narrow, and the number of active lights thinned, he knew that he was almost back at camp.

"I wondah how da boyz is doin' out dere," the Big Mek mumbled. "Prob'ly gettin' deir bumz stomped, if I knows dose gits."

Hazarr sighed. It was hard, being a Boss as well as your pirate fleet's chief engineer. It meant that he spent too many battles as he'd spent this one: in the back trying to work out an off-the-cuff advantage, rather than leading the mobs and making sure they aimed their dakka in the right direction.

It also didn't help that most of his army was composed of thick-headed weaklings, but he imagined that at least that problem was familiar to ALL Ork bosses.

He spotted a square of light cast into the hallway as he was forced to lower his servo arms down to advance. Crushed and shredded bulkheads surrounded him, and he could see a single gretchin hiding in a darkened corner in front of the exit.

"'Ey, grot! Why's ya in heah hidin'? Dere's workin' an' fightin' ta do!" Hazarr barked, causing the tiny green creature to leap in fright. Perhaps it had been hoping to avoid notice; it wasn't possible that the cowardly runt hadn't noticed the Big Mek coming.

"Boss Coggz! It's bad, Boss! Real bad!"

A groan rumbled in the back of Hazarr's throat as he passed by the smaller Orkoid. "Wot's da matta NOW? Is da humies arredy at da camp? Or is it da spiky boyz?"

"Iz a hoss, Boss Coggz! Dere's a hoss out dere!" The gretchin quivered in terror.

Hazarr halted. "A hoss?" He tilted his head to the side. "Did it 'ave wings?"

"Yeah, Boss! Yeah! An' it's all dark, an' it spits fiah and loitnin', an' leaps from da shaddahs! It's da spirit o'deff, in hoss form!"

Well, that was quite a ways off from the other horse he had seen on this planet, but Hazarr dismissed the grot's wailing as he squeezed forward toward the exit. His boyz may be a bunch of dense, useless layabouts, but even THEY could handle murdering local wildlife.

He reached the exit breach and pulled himself through.

"AAAAAAAAAAAGH!!" A Nob sprinted past him while on fire.

"Aw, zog it," Hazarr sighed.

"HAVE AT THEE, WRETCHES!!" Luna boomed as rays of destruction flashed from her horn and into the backs of a retreating mob.

Dead bodies and the smoldering remains of killa kans littered the ground around her, and shadows swam about her body like a living thing.

"Boss! Boss Coggz!" gasped one Ork boy as he noticed the Big Mek and skidded to a halt. "Whadda we do, Boss? We'z gettin' zapped real good, we'z is!"

Another Ork stumbled to a stop next to the first. "E'rytime we get close to da hoss it jus' tellyports away, Boss! Or flies! Or uses sum kinda othah wonky powah! An our dakka don' work none!"

"O'course yer dakka works, ya gits!" Hazarr snapped as he stomped past the lesser Orks. "Da problem is dat none o'ya can hit da brahd side o'a squiggoth!"

They were near the massive electric transformers that Hazarr had been building when the human army had arrived, and he spotted an unmanned zzap gun sitting on a construction platform near the control station. He walked off toward the cannon, a low growl building in his throat.

Luna saw two clanking walkers heading toward her, one of them boasting an attached rokkit launcha that spat a cluster of explosive missiles in her direction.

She wrapped the rokkits in her magic, and then steered the projectiles completely around in the air, sending them back to the Killa Kan that had shot them. The Ork walker was torn apart by its own rokkits in short order, and its partner hesitated before the alicorn advanced on it.

"Such absurd contraptions! Back to the garbage heaps with thee!" Luna's horn glowed brighter as her magic engulfed the Killa Kan, straining to lift the walker up off the ground.

Luna's horn pulsed once, then twice, and then the kan was flung through the air like a cannonball, smashing into a half-constructed hut.

"WHO NEXT WISHES TO DEPART THIS-hmm?" she dropped out of the Canterlot Voice mid-sentence when she saw an Ork much bigger than all the other ones she'd seen today aiming some kind of sparking cannon at her.

Luna raised her barrier, and apparently just in time. A bolt of lightning leapt from the mouth of the strange weapon and struck her shield, causing the Princess to wince at the feedback. Long, hot tendrils of electricity lashed about the surface of the dome, but it did not weaken.

"Ha! Thy greatest weapons art but an inconvenience to..." Luna trailed off after she saw that the Ork was ignoring her, instead fiddling with some kind of control panel. "DO NOT TURN THY BACK TO US, ALIEN!! WE SHALT STRIKE THEE DOWN!!"

Hazarr pulled down a switch, and the enormous transformers started to hum and quiver as they crackled to life.

"WHAT ART THOU DOING?! FACE THY DOOM, INVADER!!" Luna demanded. She would have blasted the big Ork by now, but she still had her barrier up. Something told her that she might need it.

As the two giant transformers suddenly discharged enormous electrical surges into her shield, she was quite gratified to be proven correct.

"Hrrrrgh!" the moon Princess grunted as the strain of maintaining the barrier increased fivefold, challenging even her mental discipline. "Thou... shalt NOT... overcome us!" she growled, her voice weakening.

Hazarr looked over at the Princess, who was clearly struggling under the constant discharge of the transformers, and then he made a few adjustments to the nozzles of his welding torch.

Luna's eyes widened when the massive Ork hopped off of the construction platform toward her, brandishing some sort of tool with a pilot flame burning on the end. "Nay! Stay back!" Her horn sparked and vibrated under the strain of holding up her barrier, and Luna spread her wings to prepare to flee. "Stop this at once!"

Hazarr fired the torch, and Luna screeched in pain as the magical bubble folded before a spear of intense heat, instantly exposing her to the merciless lashes of power curling down from above.

"AAAAYAHAHAHAHAAAUGH!!"

The Orks watching from hiding whooped and cheered as the alicorn was electrocuted, jerking and spasming painfully under the veritable river of pure power.

After about ten seconds of this the transformers finally sputtered out, and Hazarr turned around toward his Orks while the scorched Princess teetered from one side to the other.

"An' DAT is how ya do it," the Big Mek said decisively.

"We... art the... n-night..." Luna mumbled before tilting a bit too far to her left. She collapsed onto the ground in a smoldering heap.

As Hazarr walked back toward the Orks emerging from cover, one of the boyz sniffed the air.

"Heh heh. Smellz like chikkun," the warrior chuckled, drooling slightly.

"Pakk it in, ya lugz," Hazarr snapped as stomped past, "we'z leavin'."

This seemed to startle his soldiers.

"Wot? We'z runnin'? But we'z fin'ly winnin'!" protested a Loota.

"Winnin'? Ya tink we'z winnin' 'cuz I stomped da hossy dat wuz pickin' on ya dumm gitz?" Hazarr snorted. "Dere's a lotta akshun on dis rock. Too much fer youz lunkheads. We'z gotta go find mo' boyz, an' den we can giff dis planet anudder go."

A rather badly burned Nob frowned as he stared off toward the sounds of distant gunfire. "Ya sho we'z losin', Boss Coggz? Wot if da boyz is beatin' da spikies?"

A loud screeching noise came from nearby, like the sound of tearing metal. The Orks that looked over toward the disturbance saw that part of the battlecruiser wreck was bowing outward, as if something was digging straight through the bulkhead to get out.

Those Orks that didn't stop to watch the disturbance saw Hazarr speed up on his lurching dash through the camp.

"I sed LEG IT, boyz! Ya wanna be pickin' up ya teef outta da dirt wit' tweezahs, ya go 'head and stick it out heah!" Hazarr keyed a code into his klaw gauntlet, sending a signal to his ship in orbit. "Landa's comin'! Move!"

The grinding noise against the wreck bulkhead intensified, and soon the last few inches of plating were ripped away as Sirius carved out an exit with his siege drill.

"Iron within, iron without! Feel the hammer of Chaos, weakling xenos! HA HA HA HAAAH!!"

Sirius was moderately surprised to see the aliens in full retreat already when he stepped free of the wreckage, but he didn't give it another thought. His butcher cannon took aim at the nearest mob and roared to life, shredding apart the fleeing soldiers like they were stalks of wheat.

Hett and Kairon exited behind him, and the former quickly joined the larger Dreadnought in scything down the retreating Orks. Kairon hesitated, looking up at Sirius.

"You have been in unusually good humor very recently, Honorable Sirius," the Dreadnought noted, "a rather jarring change from your countenance earlier this mission."

"You've noticed!" Sirius said cheerfully, shouting over the roar of his gun.

"Your change in mood seems to coincide almost precisely with the moment that our squad system link indicated brother-slash-sister Pie's Dreadnought ceased life support functions," Kairon continued.

"Ever observant, Brother Kairon!" Sirius laughed.

A few gretchin scrambled past the Dreadnoughts, trying to move behind them and flee to safety unnoticed. Sirius swiftly pivoted around to face them. "It's dead! The pink idiot is DEAD!! Ha haaaa!" the gretchin stopped in fear and confusion, unsure as to why the giant metal opponent was yelling enthusiastically at them rather than killing them.

Then Sirius unleashed his heavy flamer over the mob of nearly helpless creatures, incinerating them all and neatly resolving the conundrum.

As he turned back around, however, he had very little left to shoot at. The Ork camp was abandoned, its former occupants having either fled the area or happily marched to battle already.

This didn't discourage Hett, who was sprinting as best a Dreadnought could after the enemy, the ground shaking with his steps.

Sirius decided to let him go. With the Orks in retreat, their mission was apparently a success despite his unit's moronic detour. He was too happy right now to try to reel in the psychotic assault walker.

"Command, this is Contemptor Sirius of Black Shield Squadron. We have reached the primary engagement zone and the xenos are in retreat," he reported into his vox.

There was a pause before he was answered, and the man on the other end seemed curiously surprised.

"Lord Sirius? You're in the xeno encampment?"

"Affirmative. My squadron took an... ill-advised detour, but we seem to have arrived ahead of the main assault force," Sirius explained, "but as I stated, what few Orks are left are fleeing before us. Resistance is negligible. Awaiting orders."

"I see... secure the area, Black Shield. The assault force had some difficulties of its own, but it's making progress toward your position. Make sure to intercept any greenskins retreating in your direction."

"Affirmative," Sirius intoned. Securing an area already free of apparent foes meant different things depending on the area in question. In this case, it meant smashing open the structures that may yet hide cowering gretchin or Orks in ambush. Sirius started walking toward a smoldering electric transformer, his siege drill already spinning up.

"Watch your step," Kairon suddenly warned.

Sirius froze, and then he tilted his head down.

Lying in front of him, exactly where he was about to put a giant metal foot, was an unconscious pony. A pony with dark fur and a shadowy mane that twinkled with hundreds of tiny points of light.

"What is THAT?" Sirius asked, pulling back a step. "One of our xeno servants?"

"They prefer the term 'allies'," Kairon pointed out.

"And I prefer to burn xenos rather than use them as pawns, but we don't always get what we want," Sirius retorted, "in any case, this one is damaged, but still alive. I suppose it would be impolitic to finish it off."

"No doubt. Shall I carry it?" Kairon asked.

The Contemptor made a harsh vox noise that was meant to approximate a snort. "Leave it. The assault force can deal with it if they wish."

Once again Sirius turned toward the fizzled transformer, and again he was interrupted.

"Ah, the vanguard," Kairon said, looking up as a single gleaming figure blasted through the air above them, "which now consists of a flying equine, apparently. Was there a major tactical update since I was last deployed?"

Said equine quickly swooped down toward the pair of walkers once she was reasonably sure that they were the only (sort of) living things around.

"Luna! Aw, geez, is she okay?" Rainbow Dash landed unsteadily in front of the Dreadnoughts and then disengaged her helmet, leaning down over the fallen Princess. "Please tell me she's alive! Is she breathing? Does she even breathe at all? There's no air on the moon, right? Okay, wait, she is breathing. PHEW!"

The Dreadnoughts waited patiently while the mare finished fussing over the comatose pony, and then she looked up at them.

"Did you guys clear out the greens already? The others are right behind me!"

"The xenos have retreated," Kairon stated dutifully, "it is uncertain whether they were already fleeing before they detected us."

"Regardless, the greenskins have been routed entirely, and the survivors are probably headed back to their ships in orbit to search for more vulnerable worlds," Sirius said, "the camp is ours. You are clear to see to this other one if you so wish." He tilted his siege drill slightly to indicate Luna.

Rainbow Dash chewed her lip briefly as she considered how she might carry the larger pony, but then she looked up at the Dreadnoughts again.

"Hey, wait a minute. Aren't you the guys that Pinkie Pie was with?"

"Fate did inflict that particular cruelty upon us, yes," Sirius said, a cheerful note entering his booming, static-laced voice, "however, it also relieved us of the burden in pleasantly short order. The pink idiot has perished."

Rainbow Dash recoiled, her eyes wide. "Wh-What? What are you talking about?"

"Pinkie of Pie was destroyed," Kairon clarified, his tone solemn, "our female brother separated from us, and the Orks fell upon her. Our unit link informed us of her destruction when her life support suffered critical failure."

Taking dark pleasure in the stunned look on the pony's face, Sirius elaborated. "We cannot know for certain Pie was dispatched by Orks. It may have been crushed by a flimsy bulkhead, or stepped into an active reaction chamber because it saw something shiny. But we may offer it the benefit of the doubt, I suppose."

Rainbow Dash looked from one Dreadnought to the other, and then shook her head. "No. You're wrong."

"Ah, denial." Sirius turned toward Kairon. "That is a stage of grief, is it not? It has been some time since I've witnessed that particular sentiment in any sort of genuine display."

"Pinkie of Pie has indeed fallen, Rainbow of Dash," Kairon said, making a note of the pony's identifier.

"No, she HASN'T," Rainbow Dash insisted, shaking her head.

"Believe what you wish," Sirius said, "but I will not-"

"Dude, she's right over there," Rainbow Dash interrupted, pointing a foreleg between the two walkers, "she sure doesn't look dead to me."

Sirius very hesitantly swiveled his torso around, fearing the worst.

Even fearing the worst couldn't have prepared him to see a familiar Dreadnought plodding up behind them with a tiny pink head poking out of it. Because he had foolishly thought "the worst" would have involved the survival of Pinkie Pie's walker. But the Dreadnought shell approaching them was not the offensively pink machine that had vanished into the shattered passageways of the Tau battlecruiser.

"Hi, guys!" Pinkie said brightly, waving her thunder hammer in the air with her twin-linked autocannon pointed straight upward. "Looks like you guys did an awesome job, here! Serious, Sirius!"

As a few bursts of sparks blasted from the Contemptor's head piece, Kairon turned to face Rainbow Dash again.

"That is not Pie. That one is called Hett," Kairon explained calmly, "except for the head portion, which inexplicably seems to be that of an equine alien. That aspect defies all logical explanation."

"Hey, Dashie! How goes the valiant struggle against the xeno threat?" Pinkie asked with inappropriate cheerfulness as she walked up next to Kairon.

Rainbow spared a glance at Luna's unconscious body. "Eh. Could be better, could be worse." Then she looked up again. "That isn't the same walker you had this morning. What happened to it?"

"Ork blew it up," Pinkie replied.

Rainbow clicked her tongue. "Why they gotta be like that?"

"I know, right? Such a buzzkill!"

Sirius finally managed to restrain the torrent of emotions and psychotic impulses surging through him well enough to offer a coherent thought.

"What happened to Brother Hett?!" the Contemptor demanded, stepping forward threateningly.

Pinkie had no obvious fear of the butcher cannon aimed in her direction as she turned to address the head Dreadnought. "I'm not sure, but I think the Orks got him."

"The Orks... what?!"

****

"C'mon, ya lazy gits! Fasta!" Hazarr snarled as a stream of boyz and gretchin scampered past him. All of them were loaded down with loose supplies, weapons, and scrap that they had been able to nab on their flight from the camp, and the Big Mek kept a carefully eye on his troops to make sure none of them boarded empty-handed.

Of course, nearly all the supplies they were carrying had belonged to Hazarr's gang in the first place, with the exception of a few interesting odds and ends from the battlecruiser. This entire trip had been a massive loss for his fleet.

But that was okay. He and his boyz got a hell of a fight, and some of them were even going to live to fight again. And he had personally gotten the opportunity to destroy a weird pink Dreadnought and a mutant horse/bird/narwhal thing. Good times.

An angry, un-Orky voice brought his attention back to his current operation, and he snapped his head up.

A half-dozen boyz were carrying a big metal container of some sort toward the landa, and chuckling heartily as they did so. The source of their amusement was clearly the object that they were carrying, and the fact that it was yelling at them furiously.

"I will tear out your guts and grease my servos with your fluids! Your blood will feed the thirsting damned for an eternity! Hraaaaugh!!" the sarcophagus shook with the intense hatred of its occupant, but the Orks carrying it merely laughed.

"Hol' on a sec," Hazarr grunted as he stepped up to the boyz and gazed suspiciously at the their cargo, "dis is spiky stuff. Where'd ya numskullz pick dis up?"

"Pink daemon! I will grind you underneath my iron foot!" snarled the sarcophagus unhelpfully.

"Jus' a li'l ways back, Boss Coggz," one boy assured him, pointing toward the wall of half-complete huts and building foundations, "dere wuzzat big stompy ting chasin' us, roight? An' yellin' a lot? Well, we got away, but den it startin' yellin' even loudah. An' it stopped chasin' us. So we'z went back fer a look, and den saw dis ting on da ground."

"Death! DEATH!! Death for ALL of you!"

Another Ork chuckled. "Can we keep 'im, Boss Coggz?"

Hazarr pursed his lips. "Awroight, but keepin' talkin' spiky loot is a big 'sponsahbilitee. You'z gotta feed 'im an' clean 'im yerself. An' keep 'im from killin' da boyz."

"We will, Boss! We will!" the Ork boyz said eagerly as they hauled the sarcophagus along toward the dropship.

"Damn you, pink devil! I will destroy you! I will destroy you ALL!!"

****

Pinkie Pie sighed melodramatically as she tilted her head up toward the sky. "Another dear friend taken by the xeno menace, just like Unnamed Mercenary #29 and Big Mac's left kidney! Oh, the equinity!"

"But... how did... the Orks... the sarcophagus... connections..."

As Sirius started sputtering confused half-thoughts, Pinkie Pie turned away from the Ork camp and began plodding in the direction of the muster point. "Whelp, things here are pretty much a wrap. I'm going back to the defense line. I heard they have cupcakes!"

"Could you save me one?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I have to stay here and make sure Luna doesn't get stepped on or anything."

"Okie dokie lokie!"

"But that... removal of... the Orks would... core extraction... no explosion would... a pony is... but..."

Sirius continued stuttering as Pinkie left, his visor flickering ominously.

Kairon glanced after the pink pony wearing the assault shell of his old squad-mate, and then turned to face Sirius. "I, too, would like to be relieved so that I might consume cupcakes."

Suddenly, the Contemptor's thoughts snapped into focus. "YOU CANNOT EAT CUPCAKES!! IT IS PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE!!"

The smaller Dreadnought hesitated, and then tilted his helmet forward. "Ah. Right. That makes me sad."

Sirius made a noise that sounded like a metal sheet being slowly torn in half, and then he whirled toward the nearest Ork structure.

"Kairon! The Scavurel squads are en route to demolish the xeno structures, are they not?!"

Kairon looked up, wondering why Sirius sounded so angry about other squads' mission objectives. "Affirmative. They should be here within minutes."

Sirius gunned the engines in his siege drill, and the grinding adamantite heads whirled to life.

"They'll have to find something else to do, then," Sirius growled as he punched the drill into the transformer, "I require the catharsis that only destruction can provide!"

****

0.3 Kilometers outside muster point designation Zeta, 1 hour later

"Twi, seriously, calm down. She's FINE," Rainbow Dash said irritably as she followed behind a pair of Scavurel dregs carrying a stretcher.

On top of the stretcher was Princess Luna, and literally hovering over the unconscious alicorn was Twilight.

"She is NOT fine, Rainbow!" Twilight snapped. "When somepony is knocked out by force, they are BY DEFINITION 'not fine'!"

Rainbow Dash groaned and rolled her eyes. "I meant she's not seriously hurt! Calm DOWN!"

"How would YOU know? You swapped out your optical scanner for a 'cool sensor'!"

"You said you didn't even believe me!"

"I DON'T!!"

+Our escorts are becoming increasingly hysterical,+ noted one of the Dregs in Binaric Cant, +I recommend assigning them to other tasks. Tasks far away from us.+

+They don't take orders from me,+ Gaela said simply as she walked ahead of the stretcher.

"What do you want me to do? I thought you guys were in trouble! It was a loyalty thing!"

"It's not a matter of loyalty, Rainbow! You knew Luna was going to be in over her head! You didn't even know what had happened to us!"

"That's why I was worried!"

"You should have been worried for Luna, too!"

"Who says I wasn't?!"

+This IS getting rather tiresome, however,+ Gaela admitted, turning around, +cease movement.+

Twilight gasped as Gaela suddenly grabbed Luna by her mane, pulling up the Princess by her head.

"Gaela, what are you-"

A loud crack cut off the purple mare as Gaela slapped the unconscious pony across the face. With her heavy, metal augmetic hand. Rainbow Dash swore she'd heard a bone crack as Luna's head pitched to the side.

"Guh! We rise! We art awake!" Luna stammered, her eyes blinking rapidly. "The moon shalt be up in moments! We apologize for our tardiness!"

Gaela let go of the pony's mane, and Luna grunted when her face fell back onto the stretcher.

"There. Now the subject has no more need of medicae service," the Dark Techpriest declared.

The Scavurel promptly tilted the stretcher over, and Luna yelped as she rolled off onto the ground.

"Why is it that human medical treatment is either brutally negligent or brilliantly effective with nothing in-between?" Twilight asked bitterly as she landed next to the larger alicorn.

"Efficiency is the usual excuse," Gaela replied while the Scavurel left, "although in this case you must also consider just how annoying you all are."

Luna lifted her head up in a daze, her eyes squinting against the sun. "... Ah, now We remember what hath transpired," she mumbled bitterly, "it seems We hast made a misstep in our pursuit of the enemy."

"Are you okay? Please be okay!" Twilight almost begged as she cracked her helmet open and levitated it off.

Luna groaned as she pushed herself to her feet, feeling every muscle protest at the movement. Although even that seemed mild compared to the throbbing of her jaw. "We hast suffered no great injury but to our pride." She scowled. "There was an Ork among the idiot horde who seemed a great deal more clever than the lesser warriors. We thought ourselves safe from his weapons, and he proved otherwise."

"Well, that's a bummer," Rainbow Dash admitted, "but the important thing is that you're still in one piece and Twi can STOP FREAKING OUT."

"This is serious, Rainbow! Do you know what Princess Celestia would do to me if something happened to Luna?!"

"I think we ALL know what she would do, but I'll hear out your crazy ideas for laughs," the pegasus answered.

"MOON, Rainbow! MOON!" the purple pony shouted.

"To our knowledge, Sister hath never used the moon as a prison for any pony other than We," Luna grunted before she stretched out her wings, "besides, thou hast no special responsibility to us, and serves Celestia no more. Whatever irrational punishment thou imagines she might dispense cannot reach thee under the Company."

Twilight took several seconds to absorb the reassurances of her friends, and then she let her rear fall into a sitting position. "Okay. Okay, you're right. Of course you're right." She chewed on her lip. "Things have just been really crazy today, what with all the death and killing and seeing Pinkie show up in a completely different dreadnought than she started out in. I'm just REALLY wound up, is all."

"The brain damage probably hasn't helped your mood either," Gaela said solemnly.

"... No. It probably hasn't," Twilight admitted as her eyebrow twitched, "but at the end of the day, we won, the Orks lost, my friends are still alive, and we're one step closer to saving the planet from being totally overrun. This is good! We're doing good!" She didn't exactly sound cheerful as she finished speaking, but the expression of exhaustion was still preferable to her nervous ranting.

"Bangin'," Rainbow Dash replied as her boosters gently lifted her off the ground, "now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to Zeta before all the cupcakes are gone. Later!"

"Rainbow, wait!" Twilight shouted, lifting off herself before her flight pack carried her after the pegasus. "I need to talk to you about our unit name! We are NOT calling ourselves 'Rainbow Squad'!"

The two armored equines quickly flew out of earshot, leaving Gaela and Luna behind. The latter was tenderly pushing at her jaw and wincing, while the former seemed to be lost in thought.

Gaela looked down at Luna. "You were imprisoned on the moon? As far as we could tell, its environment isn't tenable."

"Aye, thou art correct," Luna mumbled as she concentrated on a spell. Waves of soft blue magic cascaded over her fur, and her burns and bruises started to fade away, "despite our own connection to the noble satellite, 'tis quite a miserable place to live."

"Which makes it an ideal penal colony," Gaela mused, "still, I'm surprised Celestia had the foresight, much less the ability, to construct such a facility."

Luna snorted as she shook her wings out, watching a few loose feathers shake free. "There is no 'facility'. We had to make our own way whilst imprisoned."

Gaela frowned under her helmet. "... Then how did-"

"Thou must excuse us," Luna interrupted, "but We do not care to dwell on this topic. 'Tis a subject of great pain to us." The dark-furred pony started trotting off in the direction that the other equines had gone. "Besides, a feast awaits to celebrate a victory won! Let us balm the scars of battle with baked sweets and merriment!"

"I have to see to the salvage of the Ork base and oversee the incineration of the xeno corpses," the Dark Techpriest said, turning away.

Luna paused. "Most unfortunate. Shalt We save thee some confections for after thy duties are complete?"

"I wasn't complaining, I was making an excuse," Gaela explained as she continued walking the other way. "I'll never understand these ponies," she grumbled under her breath.

"We shalt never understand these sapiens," Luna mumbled herself as she walked in the opposite direction.

****

Ork camp perimeter

On a plateau overlooking the smoldering, broken ruins of the alien war camp, a trio of observers watched as Scavurel and their Dark Techpriest masters swarmed over the base like ants. Ork technology and materials were usually so sub-standard and abused that they barely even made good scrap material - a cruel irony for those races that had to contend with the greenskins constantly scavenging their war machines - but the Dark Mechanicus had long perfected its inglorious craft. They would find materials and parts of use to them. Of course, after the Ork base had been dealt with, the engineer-cult had a great deal of work to do on its own vehicles; most of the armor lost in the engagement still had perfectly usable vehicle hulls.

Behind the devotees of the Machine God came the Iron Warriors, many with flamers on hand. In great, sweeping waves they scorched the earth behind the Scavurel, turning the battered earth to burnt wasteland.

The three figures watching from above found the strategy quite familiar. And yet, still quite curious.

*They're burning the Ork spores before they settle,* mumbled Shas'el Wraithstar, his voice feeding into the helmet systems of the two battlesuits behind him, *culling their numbers ahead of time. Any future infestation here should be entirely manageable.*

*They've done this before,* decided the Stealth Suit on his left, zooming his vision down to capture an image of marching Chaos Marines.

*But WHY?* Wraithstar asked, sounding perplexed almost to the point of distress.

*To stay the Ork's growth? Didn't you just say that?* replied the suit on his right.

*No, that's WHAT they're doing,* Wraithstar snapped, *but why? Why are they protecting this land? Why are they still here? Do they honestly not realize there are numberless more of them coming?*

*Even if they didn't, it would still be curious behavior,* remarked one of his subordinates, *why fight the Orks on the ground? Their fleet could have intercepted the Orks before they reached orbit. Nothing about this makes sense.*

*I don't see a problem,* mumbled the other one, *if our enemies kill each other, it's less trouble for us.*

Wraithstar made a sharp growling noise that had the other suit stepping back in surprise. *Short-sighted. You won't live long thinking like that.*

*We won't live long ANYWAY, unless you forgot,* the Stealth Suit snapped back.

*And that's the POINT, Shas'ui,* Wraithstar said calmly, *the gue'la fight an unwinnable battle when they - unlike ourselves - yet possess other options. They defeated this army with ease, but it is only the tip of a horde that can overrun entire sectors. Strong as they are, they have no access to reinforcements and no colonies nearby to supply them. Yet still they stay and resist. WHY?*

The other Stealth Suits fell into quiet contemplation.

Finally, one looked up. *If we're sure that the gue'la know about the incoming Ork fleet, there is but one possibility: they believe that victory is among their options.*

*They're delusional, then,* the other Stealth Suit spat.

Wraithstar's optics zoomed in on a Contemptor Dreadnought that was smashing apart a building foundation.

*Perhaps they are. But so far these 'Iron Warriors' have proven extremely resourceful, and they have tools that we do not. I wouldn't be so quick to charge them with stupidity.*

The Commander activated his jet pack, and then hovered away from the cliff edge. *This mission is complete. We are returning to Black Point.*

*Shas'el,* one of his subordinates began as the other Stealth Suits took flight, *can they defeat the Orks? Is it really possible?*

*... I don't know,* Wraithstar said after a pause, *but I think it's time we found out what their game is.*

*Why does it matter?* mumbled the other battlesuit.

*Because we might wish to play as well, Shas'ui.*

Author's Note

So, recently a co-worker discovered, through the ingenious method of asking what my username is and then conducting a five-second Google search, that I write MLP fanfiction.
I don't expect this to come to anything, but just in case I've been making preparations to flee the country. To English-speaking nations, naturally. Australia is out, though, because I'd be eaten by spiders. Maybe Britain? What are their summers like? Anybody know?

On a slightly more serious note, the Tellis backstory chapter of Visions of Darkness - The Berserker - takes place after this chapter.

Strange Bedfellows

Iron Hearts: Book 4

Chapter 9

Strange Bedfellows

****

Ferrous Dominus - sector 10

"Come on! This way!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she rocketed between the buildings, a trail of smoke marking her path behind her.

On the ground below her, four power-armored mares and Pinkie Pie dashed along the avenue, their metal boots hammering against the ferrocrete.

"I can't BELIEVE not a single one of you actually reads the Company strategic alerts!" Twilight groused as she glanced up at Rainbow's exhaust trail.

"Ah can't believe ya waited 'til mornin' to tell us what happened!" Applejack groused right back. "Some of us were a little busy last night, Twi!"

"Busy doing WHAT? Shooting each other for fun in Solon's dream hellscapes?"

"It ain't fer fun, it's trainin'!" Applejack insisted. "Don't go tryin' to turn this around on us! Why didn't ya tell us right away?"

Twilight groaned to herself as she rounded the corner of the next avenue, and then she screeched to a halt.

Hundreds of Tau wearing dirty jumpsuits and shackles were lining up in an open lot, most of them looking confused. There were several guards of both the human and post-human variety, but only one slave overseer to watch the procession.

Fennin looked around in confusion at seeing that they weren't being led to the mines or some other sort of obvious work area. He had briefly considered that they might be on their way to a mass execution, but quickly ruled that out for the sake of his rising panic. Why would the Iron Warriors take care of them for as long as they did only to suddenly kill them all off? They did say that slaves had value, after all.

Jerriha was following behind the engineer, her focus more intense as she kept looking over the guards and mapping out potential escape routes. Forced labor had been unkind to her, at least more so than the others; a combination of being one of the stronger captives, as well as having a generally defiant attitude, had seen her take more work and punishment than the rest of the slaves.

Now the Fireblade was fully on edge, searching quietly and diligently for any sign of their impending fate or an opportunity to avoid it.

*This sure doesn't LOOK like a firing range. Or a cleaning dock. Maybe this is some kind of exercise program?*

Jerriha glared over at Fennin. *Stop your prattling and get ready to flee if I give you the signal.*

*Ugh, this again? We're in the middle of the fortress, Shas'vre. We wouldn't even last long enough to SEE the palisade wall if we made a run for it.*

She was about to snap at him again, but then someone beat her to it.

"HEY, FENNIN! YOU SUCK!!" Rainbow Dash shouted from above.

"GO CHEW ON A POWER CABLE, YOU WINGED VERMIN!!" Fennin shot right back.

Then he cringed away and raised his arms to protect his face.

When several seconds had passed without a beating, he cautiously lowered his arms. None of the guards had attacked him. None of the guards were even approaching him. There was no way they had missed the exchange, which meant that for some reason they just didn't care anymore that their prisoners were causing trouble. Strange.

Then Fennin saw another line of Tau prisoners approaching from a different direction, and he furrowed his brow. These prisoners wore the same jumpsuits and shackles as they did, but they lacked the wear and damage that suggested heavy labor. The prisoners themselves also looked rather emaciated, as if they had suffered inactivity and under-nourishment as their primary ills rather than exhaustion and occasional beatings.

*Are those the prisoners from the fleet? They're mostly Air Caste. Are they gathering up all the Tau?* he asked anxiously. Jerriha grunted and shrugged.

"Line up! Shoulder to shoulder!" one of the human mercenaries shouted, walking along the edge of the lot.

The Tau rearranged themselves as demanded, many of them openly gawking at the armored pegasus hovering over them.

"Ah can't believe this," Applejack growled, a puff of steam blasting from her vox grille, "they're really lettin' 'em go? After what them varmints did?"

Twilight sighed, shaking her head. "These Tau weren't imprisoned as a punishment, Applejack. They're slaves. Their emancipation was part of the deal."

"They should be emancipated straight into the dungeons," Rarity quipped, "I am quite surprised and distressed that Solon agreed to this."

"I saw it coming, but it's still a super bummer!" Pinkie pouted.

"Wait, there he is! The officer!" Twilight said, spotting another Tau walking down the avenue. This one lacked any of the clothing or obvious marks of imprisonment, and was being escorted by General Gnoss and an Iron Warrior.

Twilight heard a high-pitched whining noise behind her, and quickly turned her head around. "Rarity, put away the plasma gun!"

"I'm just keeping it ready!" she protested. "You know, just in case they try to pull any funny business!"

"Like gettin' outta this fortress in one piece," Applejack growled, small puffs of fire spurting from the flamer mounted on her foreleg.

The Tau, for their part, looked absolutely stunned to see the Shas'el walking alongside the mercenary General. Most assumed he had been captured as well, and duly bemoaned the fate of their army, but others saw little sign of submission or hostility in the highest-ranking Tau soldier on Centaur III.

*Well, now I'm completely confused,* Fennin mumbled as Shas'el Wraithstar passed in front of him. The Battlesuit Commander paused briefly in his walk to look at Jerriha, but even there his gaze didn't linger long before moving on to stand in front of the prisoners.

Wraithstar finished a brief inspection of the hostages, and then nodded grimly toward General Gnoss. The General, in turn, gestured to the Dark Techpriest that was currently acting as overseer to the prisoner convoy.

With a brief flicker of the Techpriest's optics, the shackles of the prisoners unlocked and tumbled to the ground.

Before the prisoners could fully wrap their head around this turn of events, Wraithstar spoke.

*I'm not sure how much you all know about what we've been doing, and what we've done, in the Centaur system,* Wraithstar began, *some of you were told nothing but your immediate missions because you lacked rank. Others of you have been in a gue'la cell for long enough that most of the events of the past few weeks may not have reached you. And you may have gleaned secrets and surprises from rumor or overheard reports. But the time for secrets has passed, and you will now know the truth.*

He took a deep breath. *We are here in what the humans call the Centaur system as part of a strategic ruse called the Emerald Dawn project. The objective of this operation is to lead a massive Ork fleet into a massive Tyranid fleet, in the hopes that at least one of them will be destroyed in the encounter. In the process of this project, this world will be assaulted by the Orks before they move on to the next system in a long chain leading them across the sector... and into the jaws of the Tyranids.*

*A lot of strange things suddenly just made a lot of sense,* Jerriha mumbled.

*Now to hear how badly we screwed it up,* Fennin added.

*The operation here, despite heavy and unexpected resistance from gue'la pirates, was a success.*

Wraithstar paused to take in the mixed emotions that statement caused in his soldiers. Surprise was most evident, although there was a good deal of relief and pride as well. Only a few Tau seemed especially concerned by the news.

*As such, an Ork WAAAGH with a troop strength in the billions is approaching this planet. And we, the members of the Lamman Sept chosen to infiltrate this planet and construct the luring beacon, have been abandoned here with no way off-world. Despite this, we have orders: we are to keep the beacon active until the bulk of the fleet arrives.*

Appropriately, there was a lot more concern coming from his audience now, and a few flickers of anger. The Tau military wasn't known for abandoning its armies, and those who knew the details of Emerald Dawn knew that it was not supposed to be a suicide mission.

*This was formally declared to be our final duty to the Greater Good,* Wraithstar said, his voice rising at that particular point, *it too, is finished with us. Under the presumption that we are not going to survive.*

*Is this presumption correct?* asked a Fire Warrior near the side, his eyes narrowing.

*There is no possible way for a mere thousand of the Fire Caste to fend off a WAAAGH,* Wraithstar said, *the pirates too, despite their super-soldiers and extensive experience, are just as hopelessly outnumbered.* Then he cast a brief glance at General Gnoss before turning back to his Sept-mates. *And yet, they do not run. They claim there is a way to block the system off from Ork incursion, forcing the WAAAGH onward to the next beacon in the route. Their plan is difficult for me to understand, as it relies on dark mysticism that sounds like superstitious nonsense to affect gue'la technologies that seem little better. But they're still here, fully aware of the threat and standing against the Orks, when they could have been parsecs away by now.*

He took a deep breath. This next admission was the hard part.

*As some of you may have concluded already, our goal and that of the pirates no longer necessarily conflict; so long as the Orks follow the system route, we don't care if this world survives. And as long as they can stop the earliest Ork attacks before the main fleet arrives, they don't seem to mind working with the ones who guided the fleet here to begin with. As such... we will be pursuing these goals together.*

There was another round of outright shock. Some were scowling, but fewer than he had feared.

Other reactions were more unusual.

"Hey, fur ball!" Fennin shouted up at Rainbow Dash. "We're allies now! HAH!"

"You still suck!" the pegasus countered, shaking a ceramite-clad hoof at the engineer.

Wraithstar cleared his throat loudly, but Jerriha spoke up before he could continue. *You mean to tell me that we're being "freed" just so that we can work with these... these FREAKS? And their pet horses?* she asked angrily. *Do you know what they've done to us?*

*No,* Wraithstar said, his gaze lowering toward the ground, *all I know is that they have fulfilled the terms of our agreement by placing you back under my command. That was... one part of the bargain.* He looked up again, his expression tired. *And it would be inaccurate to say we'll be 'working with' the gue'la. From this point onward... we serve the 38th Company.*

More shocked and angry looks.

*Today, that means forming a unified defense against the Ork invasion!* Wraithstar's voice rose to shout over some of the former prisoners who were starting to object. *Today, the bargain is merely to add our strength to that of the Iron Warriors rather than fearing it will be turned on us! To destroy a common enemy, and ensure our own survival!*

Then his voice fell again. *But our service does not end after today. Surviving the onslaught of the green horde will mean more battles to come, in service to a force we barely understand, following a positively repulsive ideology. It is not... unthinkable, either, that our new allegiance will demand we one day fight and kill those of the Tau Empire who have not yet been "discharged" by the Greater Good. I cannot protect us from this possibility.*

He paused, waiting for any angry interruptions. He didn't get any, although he could feel the heat of his niece glaring at him. He was sure she wasn't the only one.

*So, on the advice of the Company's master, Warsmith Solon, I offer you a choice: you can take up this new allegiance that I have negotiated, and you will be protected from Chaos and bolster our odds against the Orks. Or you can refuse it. I cannot say what will happen to you, but it will be on the Company's terms, not mine.* He bowed his head, grimacing. *That is all I have to say, my comrades. Those that wish to join me may stay until our transports get here. Those that do not may pick up their shackles.*

There was a lot of murmuring and anxious looks as the ex-prisoners milled about uncomfortably. None of them picked up the shackles, though.

Then Fennin raised his hand. *Does this mean we have to follow orders from the equines?* he asked, making a face.

*THAT'S your first question when being asked to join a band of mutant, piratical cultists?* Jerriha growled at him.

Then she kicked her shackles away, sending them bouncing past Wraithstar.

*I still follow your orders, Shas'el, even as you forsake everything we stand for,* she snarled, glaring at her uncle, *but this is no "choice" you offer us.*

Wraithstar sighed. *Matters of survival rarely are, Shas'vre.*

The Tau Fireblade seethed quietly for a moment, and then whirled around with her arms crossed over her chest.

Then her eyes bulged, and she screamed before falling backwards onto her rear.

The other Tau prisoners, for their part, found this confusing when they looked at what had startled her. Certainly there was something strange and unnerving about the power-armored pony standing behind them, but they didn't find it nearly as intimidating as the Iron Warriors surrounding the area.

Jerriha, for her part, glared up at the equine figure, though her eyes were mostly fixed on the dirty brown stetson on its head. "... YOU."

The tusked helmet tilted to the side. "Well, shucks. All you grays kinda look the same t'me, but the way yer goin' on Ah get the feelin' we've met before."

The voice was undoubtedly feminine, and held barely a fraction of the anger and frustration being restrained at the moment by its source. All the same, Applejack's vox grille turned the simple statement into a crackling, booming curse.

"How's yer face doin? I didn't break nothin', did Ah?" Applejack asked with mock concern.

"Oh, look. It's the one with the hat," Fennin mumbled as he glanced at the pony harassing Jerriha. Then he looked over at General Gnoss. "Taking a page out of our book and arming the primitives, are you?"

"A whim of the Warsmith, your new Master," Gnoss said happily, "perhaps you'll get the chance to arm a few 'primitives' for us yourself, xeno. I'm aware of your caste delineations. You're an engineer, aren't you?"

Fennin winced at the thought. He was taking the sudden switching of allegiance better than most of them, but the prospect of working for Chaos raiders and divulging Tau technologies to them was still quite uncomfortable.

Down the street, several Predator tanks started approaching, moving in escort to a full dozen Devilfish troop transports.

Standing up again, Jerriha glanced over at the approaching vehicles before glaring acidly at Applejack again. "... I suppose this debacle wasn't entirely unpredictable, if not still entirely unwelcome. I look forward to seeing how many bullets that armor of yours can take."

"Just don' make me regret not finishin' ya off when Ah had the chance, Tau," Applejack snarled before raising a thickly armored hoof toward the alien. "Ah've got mah eye on you."

With a heavy snort, the terminator-armored pony whirled around and stomped off back toward her friends.

"Thanks for not flaming them all, Applejack," Twilight said seriously as the farmer returned to the her friends.

Applejack glared at her before she passed by. "Ah may like the Tau even less than y'all do, but Ah ain't gonna kill a bunch of helpless grays on our side over a grudge."

"We weren't sure if you were feeling that reasonable, what with having this drop on us out of nowhere," Rarity opined, turning her head to follow the earth pony's path down the avenue, "er... where are you going?"

"To see Solon and get the full story on this," Applejack replied, pausing to stare back at the others, "ya comin'?"

****

Ferrous Dominus - Solon's forge

Gaela traced a thick, augmetic finger over the pale cubes of light being displayed by the hololith in front of her, watching as a line appeared over the space.

"The harness uses the positioning of the forelimb to arm, aim, and fire the weapon. Once in the 'chambered' position, the unit need only pull back the foreleg along the track to sustain fire. Although undoubtedly still more complicated and cumbersome than using the weapons with hands, the ballistics harness will allow for quadrupedal fighters to use combat rifles without sophisticated armor systems, extensive retrofitting, or psychic powers."

Solon nodded as he stared at the hololith diagram. It showed an outline of an earth pony with a metal collar that attached to the right foreleg with a series of hinged struts, making a sort of brace over the limb. Attached to the brace was a lasgun.

The lasgun was carried barrel-down and held against the shoulder so long as the equine was standing or walking with all four legs, but every few seconds the hololithic pony would raise its right foreleg as if to point at something. When it did, the rifle slid down and forward into a firing position.

"Cheap, shimple, and effective. I like it," Solon said warmly as his optics tracked to the prototype harness on the table next to him, "we can make thoushandsh of theshe devicesh with eashe."

"We also have a great surplus of flak armor, which can be easily modified for equine use," Gaela concluded, "combined with refurbishing their primitive melee weapons with mono-molecular edging and superior alloys, we may yet turn the Equestrian military into a tactical asset rather than a running gag." Then she paused. "If they buy them, that is. Delgan feels it would be most advantageous and economical to price them appropriately for our 'allies' rather than making a gift of them."

"And I agree. We've provided plenty of giftsh sho far." Then he glanced back at the Dark Techpriest. "But you dishagree?" He couldn't help but notice the note of irritation in Gaela's voice as she spoke of the Trademaster.

"Not at all, Warsmith. It is simply a habit of mine to view everything Master Delgan does with suspicion and disdain," Gaela explained.

Solon laughed, his chassis crackling and shaking under him. After he finished chuckling, he sighed quietly and then pointed to the prototype harness.

"Put it into field teshting immediately. Ushe any of the Equinesh we haven't yet ashigned to permanent poshitionsh and obsherve them in training drillsh and combat patrolsh. I want-"

And then a purple flash of light appeared in front of them, depositing six ponies in his forge.

"Warsmith Solon, we need to talk to you!" Twilight said, obviously distressed.

"... I think I'll build a teleport inhibitor next," Solon said, as if having a sudden epiphany, "that'sh it. It'sh technicaally feashible, I think. The particle interactionsh are the key..."

"Er... Warsmith?" Twilight asked as the Chaos Lord started mumbling to himself. "Did we come at a bad time?"

"As much as there's ever a good time to jump into the Warsmith's personal facilities without permission or warning, no. This is not a bad time at all," Gaela confessed, "what do you want?"

"We wanna know why we woke up this mornin' in a three-way alliance with the grayskins," Applejack said coolly, "was there a meetin' or somethin' that we missed?"

"The agreement between Equestria and the 38th Company says nothing about the fate of the Tau," Gaela pointed out, "why would we not take any agreement with them that we find favorable?"

"Because they're the ones RESPONSIBLE for the Ork assault threatening to wipe us all out!" Rarity reminded the Chaos cyborgs.

Solon made a snorting noise. "Oh, that. That'sh all in the pasht."

"Yeah! The past WEEK!" Rainbow Dash complained. "You can't expect us to forgive them!"

"More importantly, we can't possibly trust them after what they did," Twilight added, although she tried to keep her tone less provocative.

Solon paused, and then shrugged his massive shoulders. "Thish issue ish not open for dishcushion," he began, ignoring Pinkie Pie when she burst into giggles, "the negotiationsh have already been completed, and the prishoner exchange ish in progresh. The additional manpower and ordnance offered by the remnantsh of the Shept represhent a conshiderable boon for my forcesh, and relieve the threat of the army shtill closhe at hand." He paused again. "I will not jeopardize that for the shake of 'jushtice'. What the Tau have done ish done, and they have shuffered tremendoushly to achieve it. All they have now are their livesh and weaponsh. If they will shell thoshe to me, all the better."

"Heh. Shake of jushtice," Pinkie snickered.

"Agreed. There is no benefit to holding them accountable for their mission here," Gaela said firmly, "their survival anyway depended on our success in constructing the Nethalican. Now they may aid that effort directly, rather than merely observing our struggle. It is advantageous for all of us. Even you."

"That's some awful bitter medicine yer askin' us to swallow, sugarcube." Applejack said grimly.

"Then don't. Our shtrategic agreement doesh not require you forgive or trusht the Tau. Merely that you not shlay them on shight anymore." Seeing several of the ponies scuffing their boots miserably against the floor, he felt an inexplicable urge to cheer them up. "Oh, don't be like that. Think of it ash a shurrender, rather than an alliance!"

"Surrender?" Twilight asked, frowning behind her helmet.

"Yesh. Faced with deteriorating morale, withering shuppliesh and no hope of reshcue, the Tau now sherve the Company. They call it an alliance to eashe their shpiritsh and jushtify the decishion," Solon explained.

"It's a lot like our 'alliance' with your nation," Gaela quipped.

"Hardly," Rarity disagreed with a sniff, "our agreement is a PARTNERSHIP."

Then she paused. "Albeit a partnership where you hold total military supremacy," the unicorn allowed, hesitating again, "as well as de facto control of the planet." She lowered her head as her brow furrowed. "Huh."

"I suppose it's not that bad," Twilight allowed, "and I certainly prefer that the Tau contribute to the defense of the planet rather than waiting for us to win the battle for them..."

"But how do ya know this ain't another trick o'theirs?" Applejack finished, snorting hotly.

"They have little reashon do to sho, now that their mission ish complete. But if thish ish shome mere deception, then we shall overcome. We have weathered thish Shept at the peak of itsh shtrength, and we will not falter now."

The ponies shared a silent glance for a few lingering seconds.

"Uh, back-tracking a bit, here... you mentioned a prisoner exchange?" Twilight asked. "I wasn't aware that the Tau had many human prisoners of war."

"They don't, really. All they have ish the shlavesh they freed during their attack," Solon explained.

"So who are they trading for the Tau prisoners?"

"The shlavesh they freed during their attack."

Rainbow Dash groaned. "This is SO messed up."

"Ah, that'sh right. I have shomething for you," Solon said suddenly, turning around and walking off, "follow me."

Most of the ponies perked up at this, and they followed after the Iron Warrior with varying levels of eagerness. Gaela took up the rear, jabbing Fluttershy with her axe to goad her forward.

Making their way through the halls of giant machines and flickering hololiths, the ponies followed the mechanized Astartes to a raised dais that was surrounded by hefty servo arms and a few turret guns, as well as numerous glowing orange screens that were plastered over with schematics and spreadsheets. In the middle of the dais was a collection of power armor parts - mostly the interior carapace frame - made of a strange, smooth ivory substance.

As intriguing as the parts were, however, what was undoubtedly more interesting was a thin, weak-looking woman leaning over the armor pieces. She had dry, wispy hair and pointed ears, and was shackled and chained to the dais. That was weird.

For his part, Solon walked right up onto the dais and scooped up something sitting on a table on its edge.

"Uh, hi. I don't believe we've been introduced?" Twilight asked the strange woman. The captive had an intricate series of tattoos across her face and arms, and she was breathing heavily, clearly on the verge of exhaustion.

"This is prisoner 32," Gaela explained, "she belongs to a particularly disliked species of alien called the Eldar. Her role is bonesinger."

"She looks like a human," Applejack mumbled, stepping up onto the dais while zooming in on the alien's exhausted face.

"Indeed. But I assure you, the shimilaritiesh are merely shkin deep," Solon chuckled, "certainly, merely looking like humansh hashn't paved the way for peace and undershtanding between our two shpeciesh."

"Does she, uhm, have a real name?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh, probably. But I don't like the Eldar language. Too shing-shong and full of artishtic interpretation. Sho we jusht call her 32. Shay hi, 32."

The Eldar prisoner coughed a few times before staring down at the equines.

"... Help... me..." she wheezed.

"Let'sh pretend that wash Eldar for 'hello'," Solon said as his mechatendrils hissed at the alien. She cringed away and quickly faced toward the armor pieces again. "She'sh conshtructing the power armor frame for Princesh Luna. Wraithbone ish pshycho-conductive, and will minimize the wear and weight of the undercarriage."

"Aw, she doesn't look too happy about it!" Pinkie said before gasping. "I know what would cheer her up! We should throw a party! A forge party! I've never even thought of that theme! I can use-"

Pinkie was cut off by a rattling noise above her, and she craned her head up to see that Solon was dangling a chain over her that had two heavy bolter rounds attached to it.

"You want thish? You want the medal?" the Warsmith asked as he shook the chain over her head.

Pinkie sat upright on her haunches with her forelegs in the air, and she nodded rapidly as her eyes followed the gleaming bullets.

"Go get the medal!" Solon flung the chain down the hall, and Pinkie sprinted off after it, her tongue lolling out of the side of her mouth.

"I have to start taking notes for how you guys deal with Pinkie Pie," mumbled Twilight, "it really is ingenious."

"Now shtay shtill," the Warsmith ordered as he approached Applejack, taking hold of the shoulder pad that bore the Iron Skull.

His mechatendrils reached forward as he wrapped another chain behind and over the armor plate, and then welded it into place. When he backed up, the chain was secured tight against the shoulder pad in a V shape around the Legion emblem. The bolts hung at the bottom edge of the shoulder plating, and Applejack lifted her head proudly at the improvised award.

"Awesome! Me next!" Rainbow Dash quickly leap-frogged Twilight and Rarity to land in front of the Chaos Lord, turning to expose the armor pauldron.

"In recognition of your contribution to your lasht shortie, and becaushe you ashked for them, I award you all another shilver bolt," Solon said with an over-dignified tone while he welded Rainbow's award into place, "I guesh thish ish going to be a regular thing, now."

Twilight tilted her head to the side. "We got our first bolt before we actually joined you, though... now that we're actually your soldiers, wouldn't we be subject to whatever standards you use to reward the rest of your army?"

Solon halted as he thought that over. "Yesh, I shupposhe sho," he admitted, "but I wouldn't know much about thoshe."

"Why's that?"

"Shliver managesh them."

"Silver bolt it is!" Twilight said cheerfully, turning the appropriate shoulder pad toward the Warsmith. "Oh, and thanks for taking time out of your intensely busy schedule of managing an army and building impossibly useful things to make little award trinkets for us," the alicorn added, smiling anxiously, "we really appreciate it!"

Solon looked up after he finished securing Twilight's chain in place, ready to disburse the final two amulets. Then he saw that Rarity and Fluttershy were already walking toward the exit, already immersed in their own conversation and completely ignoring the impromptu award ceremony behind them.

"... Most of us really appreciate it, I mean," Twilight said awkwardly.

"Shure," Solon drawled, "the combat with the Orksh wash the firsht of many, Princesh. And I-"

He stopped suddenly as Pinkie skidded to a halt in front of him. She had the chain with its heavy bolt rounds hanging from her mouth, and her tail whipped back and forth happily as she grinned up at the Chaos Lord.

"That'sh actually yoursh now. You can keep it," Solon said.

Pinkie Pie spat out the chain in front of him and then sat upright, smiling widely.

Solon eventually picked the chain up and then flung it away again, causing Pinkie to squeal happily and sprint after it.

"You know, I could automate something to do that ad infinitum," Gaela offered, "we'd probably never see her again."

"Please don't tempt me," Twilight sighed.

****

Ferrous Dominus - sector 22 Supply Corps

Rarity's sword swung through the air in long, twisting arcs, enveloped by a swirling aura of blue. The unicorn's expression was one of tightly controlled frustration; a scowl moderated to a frown through sheer willpower.

Her dull-edged training sword slashed and stabbed, but time and time again it was smoothly evaded or battered aside.

Then she saw her opponent twist, all weight balanced on one heel, and she leapt to the side.

As she tumbled, Rarity saw Delgan's blade move out of the corner of her eye, and she felt the slightest disturbance of air across her coat as the man's arm lashed out with unnerving speed.

Her hooves slipped across the clean iron floor as she stabilized herself, and her own blade came around to aim at her opponent like a crossbow bolt readying itself to fire.

"First blood, end of round," Delgan said, lowering his arms. With nothing more than a glance from their employer, a pair of waiting guards stepped up to take the practice weapons and hand him a cup of jasmine tea.

Rarity kept her pose for a moment, the practice sword slowly twisting in place as blue magic continued winding over it. Then she glanced at her side.

She clicked her tongue in irritation. Where she had thought her training partner had missed his strike, there was a stripe of black ink on her coat that proved otherwise.

"How the blazes do you do that?" Rarity asked, practically tossing her weapon at one of the guards. "I could barely feel a thing. I was sure you missed."

"Brute strength is worth nothing in training duels," Delgan explained between sips of tea, "speed and finesse are everything. That's why we use the practice swords edged with ink. It simply wouldn't do to inflict bruises upon your body, would it?"

Rarity pursed her lips, but restrained any further comment as Spike approached with a damp cloth. She quickly floated the cloth over her side, wiping away the black mark that stained her snow-white coat.

The cloth already had several dark smudges on it, ugly evidence of her record so far in her fencing practice. Delgan's manservant had a cloth for him as well, and it was thus far unblemished.

"Thank you, Spike," the unicorn said, dropping the cloth into his waiting claws. The young dragon then offered a hand mirror and brush, and both objects took to the air as Rarity did some quick work on her mane.

Delgan drained his tea cup and handed it back to his guard. "Fighting a human is a bit different than facing Orks, is it not?"

"Well, you didn't need to muss up my fur to tell me THAT," Rarity said before floating her things back to Spike, "the brutes certainly know which side of an axe to put into somepony's face, but they do take their time about it."

Spike took the mirror and brush, and then scurried back to the line of spectating servants. They kept giving him odd looks, as if wondering how their lives had come to the point that they were sharing professional space with a young reptile, but he ignored the humans entirely.

"All right, next round," Rarity said coolly, her posture as dignified and elegant as ever.

"Match thirteen," Delgan said as one of his men stepped forward to hand him his training swords.

Rarity's eyebrow twitched as another man held out her sword in front of her. Her horn started to glow, and the sword floated into the air. "Ready when you are, darling."

Delgan held his swords loosely at his sides, his stance perfectly neutral. "Begin."

Rarity darted backward across the floor, a surge of magic pushing her practice sword in the opposite direction. The blade spun in a circle as it sailed toward Delgan, who once again shifted his weight onto one heel.

Both of Delgan's swords came together and smashed Rarity's weapon out of the air, breaking her telekinetic grip and sending it bouncing across the floor. Then he calmly walked up to the cringing pony and tapped his sword against the tip of her nose.

"First blood, end of round," Delgan said calmly. He held out his swords again, which were again replaced with a cup of tea.

Rarity let out a frustrated sigh as she sat down. "I thought you said strength didn't matter in a training match," she muttered.

"And you adapted your strategy to fit. I just adapted faster," Delgan said, "in any case, treating a melee weapon as an improvised projectile isn't the worst tactic, but it's a distinctly desperate one. And even had it worked, it's not very conducive toward improving your technique, which is the entire point of this exercise."

"Well, do you have any advice?" Rarity asked as Spike dabbed at her snout with her cloth.

"There's only so much our styles have in common, given that I control my weapons with my hands and you with your witchcraft," Delgan admitted, "but tactically, I've noticed that you seem to expect me to be flummoxed by having to fight a floating sword. I'm not."

Rarity pouted. "Well, I hope I don't meet too many opponents as jaded as you."

Delgan watched as one of his men brought the pony's sword forward, and his brow furrowed as he sipped his tea. "Tell me, Miss Rarity, what is it like?"

"Hmm? What is what like?" she asked, blinking.

"Telekinesis. Magic. Sorcery," Delgan explained, scratching at his mustache, "our psykers describe it in many ways, all of them quite awful and difficult to grasp. How is it to call upon such power with such casual ease?"

Rarity placed a hoof to her chin, staring at the ceiling.

"Well, it's not something that I think about a great deal. For me, magic is almost as natural as walking." She fell silent again as she searched for the right words. "I think of it as drawing a thread through the air. Reaching out with my horn connects me to the object I want to move, and then I wrap that thread around it, pulling and pushing on certain parts of the thread as necessary to move the object."

Delgan listened intently, intrigued. "I see. And the strength of this force?"

"It depends. On a lot of things." Rarity beckoned over the minion serving tea, and got a cup for herself. "The material composition of whatever I'm levitating, its weight, the distance away it is, whether it's moving, my concentration... it probably even varies with my mood. Twilight could give you a more exhaustive explanation, I'm sure."

She drained her own teacup, and then floated it back to the rather nervous-looking guard. "Another match?"

"Let's make it our last for today. I have a lot of work to do in preparing for our new tenants," Delgan explained.

Unsurprisingly, this reminder brought a sour expression to Rarity's face. "Ah, yes. You'll be accommodating the Tau as well as us equines now?"

"And the Kroot. They're a mercenary force attached to Tau armies," the Trademaster added, "always a pleasure to deal with species that understand the value of money. I don't even know if Fire Warriors are paid for their service or not."

"And the fact that they brought the Ork menace here that threatens us all doesn't bother you?" the unicorn sighed.

Delgan hesitated, and then the side of his mouth curled up into a smile. "Well, now, that's an interesting thought, isn't it? They ARE responsible for the Ork incursion. But what do the Orks mean for the Company? We can leave any time we want. It was YOU who convinced us to stay."

Rarity scrunched up her nose, but didn't offer a rebuttal.

"Besides: I have little right to judge others for their crimes of desperation and deception. We will deal with the Tau as befits our role, and you will be expected to assist me properly. Feigned respect is mandatory."

The snow-white unicorn tilted her head in consideration. "... Oh, fine. Only for you, Norris."

"Good. Match fourteen, then. Swords!"

****

Ferrous Dominus - sector 7 mercenary barracks

Luna's jaw stretched out into a yawn as she exited the showers, her mane wrapped up in a damp towel that sat on her head in a ball.

As expected, the domestic facilities in Ferrous Dominus were horrid compared to the royal standard she was used to, but perfectly adequate for their function. Having an antiseptic cleaning fluid rather than soap and shampoo and washing in a tiny metal stall were small and petty indignities, and the Princess of the Night would make no complaint of such things.

It was kind of weird that she apparently had to share the showers with all the human males on the floor, and in fact they seemed just as confused by her presence, but whatever. As long as none of them tried to make awkward small talk while she cleaned herself, she could ignore them.

As she approached her room, she saw Midnight Blaze and Dusk Blade, two of the higher-ranking Lunar Guards taken into service, standing at attention outside her room. Dusk Blade had something fuzzy and familiar on his face, and Luna brightened considerably.

"Tiberius!" the alicorn chirped, her steps instantly becoming lighter and happier. The gray possum was clinging tightly to Dusk's muzzle, and the batpony held a quietly annoyed expression as his eyebrow twitched.

"My Princess," Midnight Blaze bowed as the alicorn approached, "Tiberius has arrived with the rest of your personal affects. At least, those that could be reasonably transported from the palace. We've already moved the crates inside." Then she frowned. "They may be in some disarray, however. The humans seemed to have searched the containers before telling us about them."

"Aye, We hast come to expect as much," Luna sighed as she extended a wing toward Tiberius, and the possum happily detached from Dusk's face and scampered onto his owner. "It shalt be some time yet before We acquire the rank or trust necessary to forgo such trifles. The Company has no cause to treat us with suspicion."

Dusk frowned. "Didn't Sparkle sneak in here with the Elements of Harmony with the intention of destroying the Warsmith and forcing the rest of the army off the planet?"

"That doth not count," Luna insisted as Tiberius crawled up her neck and started unwrapping the towel from her head, "no hostilities took place, and the conflict was resolved amiably."

The batponies glanced at each other.

"Soooo... speaking of conflicts being resolved amiably," Midnight Blaze said, pausing to wet her lips, "our, uhm, little alliance we've got going here kind of... grew bigger."

Luna shook out her mane as Tiberius finished taking off the towel, letting the dark, empty mass float about her head.

With a moment of concentration, points of light started to wink into place within the void, decorating her mane with its usual star-lit motif.

"This is grand news," Luna declared once she decided her appearance was in order, "all aid is welcome in the struggle against the alien menace!" She strolled toward her bedroom door, which slid open to let her in.

"We are REALLY glad you think that," Dusk Blade chuckled nervously, waiting alongside Midnight in front of the doorway.

"So tell us!" Luna shouted as she slipped her collar into place. "Which nation hath courageously stepped forward to add their might to our own?"

Midnight sucked in a deep breath. "... That would be... the Tau, Princess. The Tau have joined us."

Luna paused in the middle of putting on her silver slippers, her eyes narrowing.

"Hmm..." she finished dressing, and then turned toward her soldiers. "We must admit, We art still terribly unfamiliar with the other nations with which Equestria currently shares this land. They hath changed a great deal in the time since our banishment. We were not aware that there existed a nation with the same name as the deceitful aliens that sought to sacrifice our world."

Midnight Blaze and Dusk Blade studiously avoided eye contact, fidgeting in the hallway.

"... Thou canst be serious," the Dark Princess said flatly.

"The humans do not seem to be taking the grays' plot as... personally as we are," Midnight Blaze said timidly, "numerous Tau transports have been moving through the fortress all day, apparently. Some are for taking the former prisoners away, but... more of them are unloading soldiers and supplies."

"How did this happen?! WHEN did this happen?!" Luna demanded, her wings spreading angrily. Tiberius stood atop her head, leaning over the edge of Luna's crown and glaring at the soldiers.

"Well, as I understand it, now that the Tau are bringing the Orks toward this system, their plan is pretty much golden and they don't actually NEED them to overrun the planet. Especially now that they're stuck here with us. Without a reason to fight the 38th Company, they'd rather help us keep the Orks at bay."

"And we LET them?!" Luna demanded incredulously. "And this was all decided today, while I slept?!"

Dusk and Midnight shared another uneasy glance.

"Well... it was actually decided yesterday. You know. Technically," murmured Midnight.

Luna's jaw fell slack. Tiberius slapped a paw against his forehead.

"We haven't really been properly organized into the Company forces yet," Dusk Blade chuckled anxiously, "so... nobody tells us anything important, and we don't really know where to get information or orders. Princess Sparkle actually informed us this evening, and told us to keep an eye out for any clandestine activities."

Luna seemed like she was on the verge of exploding, her ears laid back and her horn crackling with power. Tiberius leaned back from the magical spire, shielding his face.

"The moon," she growled suddenly, turning her head away and stalking toward the stairs, "We must raise the moon."

Luna emerged on the roof of the barracks, immediately summoning a barrier of wind against the toxic air as she stepped outside.

Her horn glowed brighter as she begin her spell, though her head was held low and her posture held none of her usual dignity and grace when performing her most sacred royal duty.

Luna walked up to the edge of the roof, glowering down at the streets. There were no Tau in the immediate area, though, and frankly she didn't know what she would have done if there were. She couldn't simply attack them; even if the Iron Warriors let her get away with that, the Tau could retaliate against the Company's ponies, and she could hardly expect the humans to protect them. She certainly couldn't refuse to serve alongside them, either; Equestria had far more at stake than the Tau did.

Her horn dimmed as her spell reached completion, ensuring that the moon would retain its momentum and orbit for another night.

"Princess?" asked Midnight Blaze as she cautiously stepped onto the roof behind her. The batpony mare had already affixed a respirator and pair of goggles to her head, despite the wind shield.

"Gather the Lunar Guard. They are to patrol the darkened fortress this night, and see to it that no grayskin wanders the base unattended," Luna demanded.

Midnight Blaze bowed and ducked back into the stairwell.

Luna briefly checked to make sure Tiberius had a good grip, and then launched herself from the roof and into the air.

Luna searched the avenues below for about five minutes before she saw them.

The sleek, floating forms of devilfish troop transports were moving through the base in convoy, with a hammerhead hover tank at each end. They were moving slowly, being escorted by groups of Iron Warriors on foot. She didn't know where they were going, but it surely wasn't the prisons.

After moving on from the convoy, Luna found herself hovering high above an open lot where numerous Kroot warriors were being herded together by another ring of Chaos Space Marines. And off on the side...

She squinted at the cages that were being hauled into place at the edge of the lot, and she swooped down to a street lumen to view it at a better angle.

Inside the cages were Orks and gretchin; the prisoners and wounded seized from the recent sortie. Those Ork warriors still healthy enough to act belligerent gladly did so, shouting at the mercenaries marching alongside them and beating against the bars. The small and cowardly gretchin whimpered and clutched each other in terror by contrast, far more concerned than the Orks as to why they were being brought out.

An order was shouted, and the convoy of cages halted. Another shout, and the mercenaries escorting the Orks brought up their rifles and fired into the cages at the Ork warriors that were still on their feet. The brutes howled in pain and fury at the sudden barrage, most of them falling to their knees from the fresh wounds.

Another order came. The cages were unlocked by remote, and their doors popped open.

Luna recoiled as the Kroot surged toward the prisoners, dragging them free of the cages before descending on the helpless aliens with a carnal, animal frenzy.

Luna wasn't squeamish in general, and had no particular qualms with Orks being killed and eaten; by all accounts, they would have done the same to her. But she nonetheless turned away with a shudder as the Kroot Carnivores hacked up the greenskins to be eaten on the spot.

"We surmise that there shalt be considerable tensions within the fortress in the coming days," Luna said as Tiberius stared at the feeding frenzy and gagged, "Sister will also need to be informed." She really wasn't sure how Celestia would take the news. She was as upset as anypony at the Tau's treachery, but didn't have the same fear and revulsion for them that she did for Chaos.

Then again, the Tau SERVING Chaos may be the worst of both worlds.

"We must speak to the Warsmith," Luna decided, "Tiberius, remain still."

The possum froze in a comically exaggerated pose as Luna's horn flared.

****

Ferrous Dominus - Solon's forge

"The circle'sh tertiary and shecondary layersh are for containment, ash are the ley tracesh. Control ish ever the matter of primary concern when dealing with daemonsh, even more sho than the shummoning itshelf."

Solon was standing over a series of large runic circles drawn on the floor in chalk, all of which surrounded a human man who was bound, gagged, and blindfolded in the middle. Standing on the side of the circle was Serith, and watching the ritual opposite the Warsmith was Gaela and Fennin.

The Tau engineer looked distinctly uncomfortable as he watched the man struggle, but paid rapt attention as he clasped his hands behind his back.

"I just want to make sure that I'm still following the premise of this operation and didn't invite myself to some kind of weird ritual feast due to a miscommunication," Fennin said as he pointed gingerly to the arrangement of chalk and helpless victim, "this is a process to create a monster, which, in turn, will be built into an ARMOR SUIT as a component. Is that right?"

"You are correct," Solon said, tilting his head to the side, "ish thish difficult to undershtand?"

"Not so much 'understand', as 'believe'. But then again, I'm already listening to an engineering lecture from a metal monster spider, so I'm not sure I have the right to question it."

He suddenly yelped as he felt a cold metal claw seize the back of his neck, and he shouted in pain as he was pushed down to his knees.

"Show RESPECT to the Warsmith, xeno worm," Gaela said coldly, her servo arm squealing as it held down the Tau next to her, "you live or die according to his will, no matter what deal your leaders have made."

"Hey! Stop! We're allies now! You're not allowed to hurt me!" Fennin complained.

"Oh, she'sh allowed to hurt you," Solon corrected, "although if she doesh, I'd prefer it be for shome offenshe more dire than an unflattering metaphor."

Gaela's servo arm promptly let go, and Fennin staggered away from the Dark Techpriest, scowling.

"You're being allowed to see secrets of manufacture that are beyond anything your pitiful species has even DREAMED of," Serith drawled as he stood at attention, "you should be glad that the Warsmith considers curiosity a virtue in its own right. None of the Dark Mechanicus would show you something like this."

Fennin stood up silently, trying to look nonchalant. "I am... honored," he mumbled, not sounding at all like he meant it.

"Yesh, well, let'sh continue, then!" Solon said. "Now, the next phashe ish going to-"

Solon was interrupted by a crackling noise as Luna and Tiberius teleported into the room, emerging from a pool of darkness that vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

"And thish ish Luna, one of the poniesh conshtantly teleporting into my shanctum whenever they feel like it," the Chaos Lord explained, gesturing to the alicorn as if she were an expected part of the process he was supervising.

"Warsmith, greetings," Luna said, trotting up to the ceremony. She cast a sharp glance at the Tau in attendance, but then passed by him without further attention. "We awoke this evening to some rather disconcerting news."

"If thish ish about the Tau, I already had the argument about it with Princesh Shparkle, and the matter ish not up for dishcushion," Solon said as the mare approached him.

"We supposed as much," Luna admitted with an annoyed expression as Tiberius stood atop her head with his arms crossed over his chest, "so We art not here to debate on it. Although We must protest that We were not informed."

"It was part of the Company-wide alert feed," Serith pointed out, "did you not get a message about it on your room cogitator?"

Luna blinked. "Our what?"

"The console in your sleeping quarters," he explained, "that screen next to the door."

Luna frowned. She supposed she'd have to learn how those things worked if she couldn't count on her subordinates to inform her of important events. For now, though, a change of subject was in order.

"And what is this, then?" Luna asked, opening a wing and gesturing toward the human restrained in the circle while she walked around it. "Who is this man? And what hath he done to warrant such treatment?"

"That man is a Slaaneshi cultist, dear Princess," Serith answered with a grim chuckle, "from time to time we find a mercenary or menial has surrendered to temptation and dallied with powers expressly forbidden to the 38th Company. Such lapses in discipline are quickly culled before these indiscretions have a chance to spread among the weak-willed."

"Theshe foolsh do make good shacrificial fodder, however. Shtrong attachment to the Empyrean, and a shoul rich with hate," Solon said, "he will be the veshel that allowsh the daemon to take to thish plane. You're going to want to shtand back. Thish ish not a shanitary procedure."

Serith raised a hand toward the man as Luna, Fennin, and Gaela all backed away. The Sorcerer's voice suddenly came out in a stream of constant, unintelligible whispers as he began the ritual, and the man in the middle of the circle started thrashing and squirming violently.

"I knew that human science and engineering involved a lot of mysticism, but I'd really assumed you humans hadn't gone so far as to integrate blood sacrifice with physics and metallurgy," Fennin remarked as the chalk circle started to glow.

"Most humans DON'T go that far," Gaela noted, "and they're all the weaker for it. This is the strength of Chaos, Fio'el. We will not flinch away from power, no matter how terrible."

"There is certainly a macabre sort of nobility to thy machinations," Luna said, her eyes on Fennin, "so We must ponder what the Tau hopes to gain from this demonstration. Or - more importantly - what it shalt contribute."

The Tau engineer furrowed his brow as Luna stare at him coldly. "... Is there a reason you're using some kind of bizarre Gothic dialect when every other primitive speaks the normal form perfectly? Who else do you mean when you say 'we'?"

"Do not mock us, alien!" Luna hissed, her eyes briefly flashing a pure, angry white. "We ask what thou thinks to add to a military force that hath so thoroughly trounced thine own?" Tiberius blew a raspberry at the engineer.

The sounds of the prisoner's gasps and struggling became louder and more pronounced, but Fennin simply raised his voice to speak over it as he scoffed.

"Oh, that's rich, coming from a horse. What technological MARVELS have you fingerless bohemians offered up? A particularly vicious model of spear?"

Tiberius bristled and Luna clenched her jaw. "Perhaps thou art not aware that my people art of PREDOMINANT importance to the repulsion of the Ork fleet!"

"I don't know what art has to do with anything, but as I understand it your 'importance' to the Iron Warriors' plan is as a bunch of glorified psionic generators," Fennin snorted, "but sure. I guess you have to take all the credit you can get."

Luna had to struggle not to shout as she retorted. "And what hast thou accomplished, besides CREATING the very conflict that now threatens to engulf us?"

"Who's 'thou'?"

"THOU art 'thou'!" Luna barked. "Thou cannot even-"

Luna stopped mid-sentence as Pinkie Pie galloped between her and Fennin, a chain hanging from her mouth.

Pinkie jumped over the man writhing in pain on the floor and landed on the edge of the runic circle in front of Solon.

Then she dropped the crude amulet in front of him, and the Warsmith wordlessly picked the chain up and flung it away toward the ceiling. A servo arm mounted high up grabbed the chain and then tossed it further down the hall, where another servo arm caught it to continue moving it across the length of the forge. Pinkie happily bolted after it, a huge grin plastered on her face.

Luna watched the pink mare sprint away for a few seconds, and then she turned her narrowed eyes back onto Fennin.

"... What were We conversing about?" the alicorn asked.

"It was... uh..." Fennin trailed off, also having difficulty in finding his previous train of thought. "... Probably not important."

Then the screaming started.

Luna and Fennin both recoiled as the sacrifice's gag suddenly ripped apart, finally allowing him to release an agonized howl. This came about because his jaw was distending horribly, and thick spikes were pushing out of his cheeks to puncture and tear the band of rubber.

"Oh, gross," Fennin cringed as he watched the human deform, but couldn't deny being utterly fascinated by the rapid and impossible change.

The man's body was starting to bend and contort in ways that defied its bone structure, and spikes of bone poked through the sacrifice's rubbery skin as blood streamed from his eyes. The man's abdomen seemed to shrink into his body as bone shards poked down over it from his ribs and upward from his pelvis, giving the impression of a gasping, monstrous mouth.

Further observations were suddenly lost to Fennin as the daemon-thing screeched at a much higher volume and frequency than before, almost dropping him to his knees as he clapped his hands over his ear holes. Tiberius mimicked him, shuddering as he hid behind Luna's mane.

"This procedure seems to be most distressing for thy subject," Luna observed needlessly. The horrible noise merely caused her to cringe, which was still more response than the power-armored spectators gave.

"Good. I was afraid he might find the intense pain of this ritual pleasurable. You can never tell with Slaaneshi scum," Gaela replied.

"Jusht a little more..." Solon said eagerly, his displays running wild as the outer skin of the sacrifice started to burn away into flakes of ash.

"Oh, blast!" Serith said suddenly, his chanting cutting off and his arms falling to his sides. "The circle! The pink one scuffed the circle!"

Fennin looked up, his eyes wide. The human was all but gone now, replaced by an impossibly posed, six-limbed beast covered in rubbery muscle sinew and blade-edged bone spikes.

And then it leapt for him, completely ignoring the remaining runes on the floor as it stretched out its foot-long talons to shred apart the engineer's body.

Fennin glimpsed an azure flash before he was knocked onto his back by a wave of force. He squeezed his eyes shut, fully expecting to be shredded into bloody strips, but after a few seconds his terror-induced paralysis passed and he cracked open his eyes.

The daemon was plastered against the wall, twitching as motes of blue light floated up off of it. Luna was walking up to it, her horn glowing brightly.

The small shadow cast by the daemon suddenly stretched out underneath it, and then tendrils of darkness coiled up and wrapped around the creature's limbs while it snarled and thrashed. Within the next few seconds, the Warpspawn was restrained against the floor and wall.

"Good shot, Princesh," Solon said as he walked over to the snarling monster.

Fennin looked over at the humans and post-humans in the room with him. Gaela and Serith were still standing in the same places as before, as if they were waiting, and Solon had only just started moving.

"Were the rest of you seriously going to just stand there and watch while that thing killed me?" Fennin demanded as he stood up.

"No, not at all," Serith answered breezily, "we were going to wait until it was fully occupied killing you, and then attack it while it was diverted."

"A most dangerous custom, is it not?" Luna asked as Solon seized the daemon with his primary servo claw. "The merest misplaced hoof may render the entire affair a fatal calamity."

"No shpeciesh hash ever mashtered fire without playing with it firsht," Solon said, lifting the thrashing daemon up higher, "beshidesh, thish little guy ishn't all that dangeroush."

"Rushul vehnlaal! Krui ffrehlmeh shul!" the daemon howled, its talons screeching against Solon's armor plating as he carried it toward a large vat on the other side of the hall.

Luna followed after him, and she could see that the vat, which stood as tall as a normal human, seemed to be filled with some sort of liquid metal.

Solon plunged the daemon into the vessel, and its senseless screeching was soon drowned in the fluid.

"Gaela, prepare the veshel," Solon commanded while he held the daemon down. An emitter built above the vat suddenly discharged a stream of electricity into the pool of quicksilver, and the fluid started to bubble and churn even more.

Serith once again chanted something incoherent while he walked a circuit around the processing vat, his hands and visor lenses blazing with Warpflame. Behind Solon, Gaela was handling a frisbee-shaped disc run over with circuits and acid-etched runes.

"Thanks for keeping that thing off me, by the way," Fennin mumbled as he walked up beside Luna to watch the utterly bizarre forging process.

"Think nothing of it," the alicorn answered airily, "thy people hath inflicted great harm upon mine, but We would yet see thee live to correct thy mistakes." She paused, casting a sidelong glance at the alien. "Or, at least, perish by the Orks that thou hast summoned here." Tiberius seemed to snicker to himself as he rested in Luna's mane.

Fennin didn't reply to her. He appreciated the sentiment, but he didn't really consider the successful completion of his mission a 'mistake'.

"Perfect," Solon breathed softly as he pulled the daemon out of the vat.

At least, Luna and Fennin assumed it was the daemon, if only because it was still held in the same servo claw as before. It looked like a basketball-sized orb of metallic sludge, and it oozed long ropes of squirming mercury as Solon carried it onto a small iron dais.

Next to the dais was a sledgehammer easily the size of a man, and Solon took up the hammer in his flesh-arm as he deposited the squirming daemon-mass onto the raised surface.

"From flesh, to terror, to iron. Blood, metal, and shpirit become one, and are reborn." Solon raised the hammer over his head. "Be calm, daemon. You will get to kill again."

The hammer descended.

****

Ferrous Dominus - sector 6 mess hall, the next morning

Twilight swallowed a spoonful of nutrient gel as her eyes scanned over the dataslate in front of her, gulping down the tasteless sludge before she pushed the empty can aside.

"Okay... I think this is the full break-down," she began, glancing over at the other two dataslates laying in the middle of the table. "There are now roughly three hundred Fire Caste Tau taking up garrison in Ferrous Dominus, almost all of them light infantry and transport drivers. They're keeping the heavy Tau units at Black Point, which holds a garrison of about six hundred, including almost all of their battlesuit squadrons and attack vehicles. This is probably because the more advanced weapons require specialized supplies and maintenance, which Black Point is already set up for. And also because the Iron Warriors don't want to invite too much firepower into the fortress too soon."

Twilight looked up from her dataslate.

Fluttershy paid polite attention as the servo arm mounted on her chest armor stirred some sugar into her tea.

Pinkie Pie was nodding rapidly, although her eyes seemed somewhat vacant and unfocused.

Spike ignored her completely, rapidly devouring a bowl of crystals.

Daniels nodded thoughtfully. "It makes sense. That doesn't include the Kroot, though, does it?"

Twilight was happy that at least SOMEONE seemed to care about this, although she would have been happier if it had been someone from her squadron. Granted, only two other ponies from that group were present, but still.

"No, it doesn't. Nor does it include the Earth Caste Tau," Twilight continued, "they've moved in a lot of the Tau scientists and engineers here after sending most of the freed Air Caste slaves back to Black Point. Ostensibly this is to help ramp up production and integrate new weapons into the 38th Company, but..."

"But it's pretty convenient that we have a bunch of helpless grays close at hand in case the Fire Warriors get uppity," Daniels finished.

"Uh... well, I was going to phrase it in such a way that it didn't sound like we were using them as hostages," the purple pony mumbled, "but yes, it's a good safeguard." Then she scowled. "Still, another part of the deal was letting the Tau keep the Warp beacon active until the Nethalican is finished and they can be sure the Orks have had time to get close."

"What difference does that make at this point?" Daniels asked between bites of his breakfast. "Even if they turned the beacon off now, there are more than enough greenskins headed our way to wreck this world."

Twilight frowned as she levitated her empty ration tin away and dropped it into a scrap receptacle. "I don't really like the prospect of the Tau's project succeeding."

She turned her head toward a table off in the corner of the room. More than twenty Fire Warriors were crammed together on the benches, isolating themselves from the rest of the diners. They were speaking in hushed tones as they ate, although nobody else in the building spoke their language.

"And why's that? You want the Orks to destroy the Tau?" Daniels asked. He wasn't terribly surprised to hear that sentiment from a pony, although he didn't quite expect it from Twilight.

"No, not really," Twilight said after a pause, "but I can't help but wonder how many other planets are being used as stepping-stones to lure this fleet. Planets like ours. Sacrificed to save their empire."

The mercenary snorted. "I'm sure you can get all the morbid details if you ask around."

The front doors to the mess hall slid open, and Twilight looked up as she heard a familiar voice shouting angrily.

"You better back off, chump!" Rainbow Dash snapped, her shuriken catapult aimed up at a Kroot warrior as they entered more or less at the same time. "Do you know who I am? I'm RAINBOW DASH! I take down PLANES for fun, jerk!"

A few more Kroot walked in behind their companion, and the half-dozen mercenaries chuckled and mumbled to each other in their native language. The one staring at Rainbow Dash snapped his beak eagerly, like he was chewing on something. Then he turned around and headed toward the line for food, laughing the whole way.

Rainbow was wearing her powered armor, but her helmet was disengaged, allowing them all to see the irritated scowl on her face as she approached.

"Bucking Carnivores," Rainbow growled as she hopped up onto the bench next to Fluttershy with a heavy clanging noise, "I swear I can feel them undressing me with their eyes."

Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"... You know, so that they can eat me," Rainbow clarified, "with their eyes. Er, minds? Whatever, not important!"

The pegasus suddenly slammed a hoof against the table, scowling even deeper. "You guys will never guess who I ran into this morning!"

"Mister Fennin?" Fluttershy guessed.

"Ooh! Ooh! That Fireblade girl AJ keeps beating up!" Pinkie Pie cheered, bouncing up and down. Her chain and silver bolt "medals" bounced along with her, rattling noisily.

"It's not Shas'o Voidsong, is it?" Twilight asked, looking fearful. "Nothing in the agreement suggests that we have to restore her, but it's possible the Iron Warriors wanted her to work for them, too!"

Rainbow Dash was silent for several seconds as her friends waited for her to reveal the source of her ire.

"Wow, uh... all of those guesses kind of make the ACTUAL answer look pretty lame," she admitted, "I was just checking on the patrol teams that they're hooking that lasgun harness onto, and it turns out that Lightning Dust joined the Company a few days ago. She was gearing up with a bunch of other pegasi down there!"

There was no immediate response as each of her friends stared at the ceiling, frowning.

"... None of you remember who Lightning Dust is, do you?" Rainbow deadpanned.

"Sorry," Fluttershy squeaked, ducking her head down into her gorget.

"She sounds pretty C-list to me," Pinkie Pie mumbled, squinting, "was she an antagonist or a background character?"

Rainbow Dash didn't really understand Pinkie's question, so she ignored it. "Whatever. Anyway, I asked her what she was doing here and she gave me this." Rainbow bit onto a scrap of paper that was wedged between her gorget and her shoulder pad, and then spat it onto the table.

Twilight seized the paper with her magic, instantly intrigued now that the matter at hand involved reading.

"Is this... a recruitment brochure?" The front of the glossy document had a few Company soldiers staring and pointing at the reader, while below it there was a parade of pony-shaped silhouettes. She opened it up, and then started reading the interior aloud.

"Looking for adventure? Want to meet exotic new people and then murder them with laser beams? Have a dark past or antagonistic nature that your idyllic and relentlessly benevolent society refuses to accommodate? Join the 38th Company today, and defend your world!"

Twilight's eyes tracked over to the other half of the folded paper. "Free room and board available. Unpaid, ongoing testing and training course mandatory for all recruits. Redemption NOT required."

Then she looked up. "Huh."

"Well, that's very understanding of them," Fluttershy ventured, "I mean, most ponies that commit crimes and refuse to reform don't have a lot of options for jobs. Especially when our career is usually based on our cutie mark anyway."

"So this doesn't bother anypony else?" Rainbow Dash grunted, sneaking herself a bite of Fluttershy's breakfast (which appeared to be stale biscuits and little else). "I mean, don't you think our standards should be a little higher than this?"

"Standards for what, exactly?" Daniels asked with a shrug. "Long as they can follow orders, there's always room for another warm body between us and the enemy."

"And it really shouldn't come as a surprise by now," Twilight said as she tucked the brochure away in her armor, "the 38th Company hired Trixie and conscripted Prince Blueblood. Obviously they don't have a problem working with less-than-reputable ponies. And that's fine, I guess."

"Well, I don't like it," Rainbow Dash groused, "who knows what kind of clowns we might end up with?"

****

Ferrous Dominus - Security perimeter

Two pale yellow unicorns with red and white manes stood outside the fortress gates, staring up at the gun towers. They were wearing striped shirts with bow ties and straw hats, and were standing in front of a large mechanical contraption of some sort that was being eyed suspiciously by the Iron Warriors at the barricades.

"... Next town, Flim?"

"Next town, Flam."

****

"I mean, we're the best, right?" Rainbow Dash asked, slamming an armored hoof on the table and causing everything on it to jump and rattle. "We should only get the cream of the crop! Like the Wonderbolts, rather than the Wonderbolt wash-outs!"

"I thought we did have them," Pinkie mumbled, turning her head to one side.

"Nah. Just for one mission," Rainbow replied, "they went back to Cloudsdale after the party. Apparently had to drag Fleetfoot off kicking and screaming too, from what I heard."

"I don't know if you can call us 'the best'," Daniels remarked, "we're space pirates, Dash. Not exactly the highest order of humanity, and we told you about the quality of Space Marines we end up with. I think we should be happy we're getting more help at all."

Rainbow Dash made a frustrated noise, turning away from the human. "Whatever. I need to eat something," then she frowned, "where's AJ? Is she done with breakfast already?"

"She and Mac headed home for a few days," Daniels answered.

Twilight continued. "The Canterlot Institute of Equestrian History started moving things off of her farm, so Applejack wanted to help and supervise things."

"And pick up the check," Daniels finished.

****

Canterlot City

"... Eleven pulse rifles, six pulse carbines, thirty-two battery magazines, nine photon grenades..."

Applejack continued reading down the list of alien artifacts in front of a pair of bespectacled unicorns, rattling off the devices that had been piled up in the yard.

The unicorns - two senior members of the Canterlot Institute of Equestrian History's board, evidently - were supposed to be rooting through the artifacts as she listed them to make sure that the items were present, but couldn't quite bring themselves to take their eyes off the apple farmer. Or, rather, the suit of modified terminator armor that the farmer wore. It was easily as interesting as anything in the mound of recovered artifacts behind them; all the more so because it was clearly functional and designed specifically for equine use, and comfortable enough that Applejack had worn it around Canterlot without hesitation.

"... one rhino hull. Or what's left of it, anyhow. Same with the gunships and transports. We brought what would fit on the train, but some of the Tau vehicles are still intact and too big. Miss Duster had us bring 'em to the Ponyville train station and leave 'em there, but from here on out they're yers."

Applejack waited a few seconds for a response, and one of the unicorns belatedly stopped staring at her gravity lash to reply.

"Yes, quite. It won't be a problem," he stammered, "we're storing the larger artifacts in our Manehattan facility, and in fact we're in negotiations to commission another museum there based on our current conflict with the Orks." He paused. "Contingent on our actually SURVIVING that conflict, of course."

Applejack chuckled as she leaned back, her armor suit whirring and creaking from the movement. "Yeah, well, we're doin' the best we can, sugarcube."

A heavy grinding noise came from behind her as Big Macintosh hauled more wreckage from the train up to the yard. He was also wearing his power armor, and the suit visibly strained along with the stallion as he towed the rhino and gunship wrecks behind him on wheeled platforms. Next to him were numerous unicorns magically carrying labeled body bags, and none could resist the occasional impressed glance over at the pony hauling hundreds of times as much weight as they were.

"And there're the bodies," Applejack said with a mild grimace, "not sure what ya wanna do with 'em, but yer welcome to 'em."

"Fantastic, Miss Apple," said the other director, an elderly unicorn mare, "and may I say that you have been an extraordinary help in our mission to preserve and record the tumultuous events of the present day for future generations."

Applejack snorted. "Hay with that; thank y'all fer takin' this stuff off mah land an' actually payin' fer it. There's too much history what been showin' up on Apple property these days, and most of it is armed."

"From what we've heard of your circumstances, things have certainly been hard for you," the other director agreed.

"Yeah, a little," Applejack mumbled, looking behind her as another unicorn approached them.

Relic Duster practically pranced through the yard while levitating a large, wire-mesh cage in front of her. Inside the cage was a daemon wasp, and the mutated insect thrashed and buzzed angrily as its prison was magically carried along toward the Institute building.

"You are going STRAIGHT into my collection!" Relic said gleefully as she passed by the other ponies. "But I don't think any of my pins are big enough... maybe a railroad spike? Ooh! A knitting needle! That would be PERFECT! I'll get you your own personal case and everything! Wait, what will I label you? Do I get to come up with the name? I hope I do! That would be so great YOU HAVE NO IDEA!"

The two directors watched uneasily as their associate entered the building with the insectoid monster, and the stallion raised an eyebrow at Applejack as he turned his head back around.

"So, what exactly was-"

"No questions, please," Applejack said seriously, "Ah'm just here to drop off yer stuff and collect. Don't want things gettin' complicated."

"Ah, of course," the mare said as she levitated a checkbook and pen in front of her and started writing.

"I don't suppose there's a number we could come up with to convince you to part with your... personal affects?" the stallion murmured, gesturing to Applejack.

The farmer blinked, and then she smirked and pounded an armored hoof against her chest plate.

"'Fraid not, sugarcube. This thing's mighty important to me. Also, ya know, Ah need it fer fightin'. Still a lot of Orks to put down 'fore we can wrap up this next war."

"A pity. Well, nonetheless, we'll be in touch, Miss Apple," the stallion said as Applejack's check was levitated over to her, "since you seem to be in a... unique position in dealing with and collecting intergalactic refuse, keep in mind that the Canterlot Institute of Equestrian History is always happy to acquire new exhibits."

"Normally we'd be limiting our acquisitions to those artifacts that specifically have to do with EQUESTRIAN history," the mare interjected, pausing for effect, "but I'm sure you understand that there is always 'additional interest' in alien equipment and high technology."

Applejack chuckled before biting the check out of the air. "Ah'll keep that in mind. See y'all later, folks."

Applejack joined her brother, grinning widely around the slip of paper in her mouth.

"All set, Mac! Ya got a safe place to stash this?"

Big Mac's armor hissed as the frontal seals cracked open, and his armor plating dropped down like the door of an oven, revealing his heavily augmented chest.

His chest plate popped open with a click, and Applejack stuck the check inside the cluster of artificial organs. "Well, ain't that nifty!" she laughed, oblivious to the bug-eyed stares that were coming from almost every other pony around.

Macintosh was more aware of the attention, and he quickly closed his torso access panel and his armor before heading down the street with his sister.

"Well, the farm's still in a mighty bad way, but at least Bloom and Granny'll be okay," Applejack mused as they headed to the bank, "barring any more aliens and daemonic monsters, anyway."

"Eeyup."

"Still, there's a lot to do, and Ah've got mah obligations to the fleet," Applejack said, nudging over and bumping into Big Mac. The impact made a heavy scraping noise, alerting those few ponies that had somehow missed the two massive, armored forms lumbering down the street. They joined everypony else in staring at the Apple siblings, while those directly ahead clambered to get out of the way first.

"Yer gonna have a lot on yer plate puttin' the farm back together, Mac. Ah'll see about comin' down when Ah can, but ya know that fightin' Orks comes first."

"Eeyup," Macintosh confirmed, before adding, "an' Ah'll be joinin' ya on the field when more of 'em show up."

Applejack frowned. "Mac, ya can't! Somepony needs to rebuild the farm."

"Fightin' Orks comes first," Mac repeated his sister's words to him, "ya let me worry 'bout the farm, AJ. But Ah ain't sittin' out the war."

"Nopony could accuse ya of that with them legs," Applejack drawled.

She would have continued speaking, but a crimson light on her gorget started blinking. The two Apples came to a stop.

"Hold on, lemme check this out," the orange mare mumbled, engaging her helmet. The upper plating moved forward over her head and slid her visor into place, and the lower component locked in over it. "Ah turned this thing back on after Twilight kicked up a fuss about it. Don' wanna get left in the dark again."

Applejack found the Company alert among the icons that started swimming over her Heads-Up Display and opened it up. Big Mac waited patiently for her, though he was acutely aware that other ponies and even a few humans were now walking over to form a circle around them and stare. Equines in power armor were no longer so rare that most ponies were shocked by the sight, but seeing two of them stomping through downtown Canterlot was still quite a novelty.

"Consarn it," Applejack grunted. Then she started walking again. "Come on, Mac. Let's get a move on. Looks like we're gonna hafta cut this trip short." She was mildly perturbed to see ponies forming a veritable wall in front of her, but since they quickly parted to let her through she decided to ignore them.

Big Mac followed silently, his gaze shifting upward toward the sky. Applejack saw the gesture and answered his unspoken question.

"Four Ork ships. Showed up pretty close. Headed straight fer us, naturally. They give 'em twenty hours 'fore they make orbit." She sighed. "There goes mah weekend."

Big Mac chuckled deeply. "Eeyup."

****

Ferrous Dominus - Solon's Forge

"The bond between daemon plate and itsh wearer ish... different from that pertaining to other wargear."

The constant grind of twisting servos and crackling welders filled the air as a dozen different machines worked at the same time. Solon stood off to the side, his attention focused on etching something into a long plate of blue crystal.

"Armor ish not jusht a barrier between you and the foe. It ish much more than mere protection."

On the other side of the room, Serith murmured quietly in some unintelligible language as he held a hand over a work desk. On the desk was a small object about the size of a soup bowl. Most of the exterior was covered in tiny etched runes and circuits, but the face of the device bore the Legion's Iron Skull colored in beaten gold.

"Armor ish the face you show to the enemy. It ish the lasht thing your victimsh shee before they depart thish life. It ish the image carried back to their homesh, to be dishcushed among the shurvivorsh, and deshcribed to their comradesh in hushed, fearful warningsh."

Beneath the clusters of machinery stood a four-legged mass of gunmetal and ebony. Luna stood with her head down and her legs locked stiff, letting the servo arms work around her even while constant pinpricks of pain needled her body.

"Daemon armor ish... yet more than that. It ish a living thing, an extenshion of your will ash well ash a shield for your flesh. It ish a shell that growsh and changesh ash you do, and consumesh the mindsh and shpiritsh of your enemiesh."

Solon chuckled as Serith approached with the completed daemon core.

"There are many waysh to turn men into monshtersh. Cult worship, witchcraft, mutation, apotheoshish... but thish hash alwaysh been my favorite. Lift your head, Princesh."

Luna did as instructed, feeling the grinding resistance of the layered plating over her neck. Her field of vision was a dim patch of red, and sound seemed to ring in her ears through the metal carapace covering her head.

There was a very conspicuous socket in the middle of Luna's chest plate, and Serith carefully moved the vessel into an upright position before moving it toward the hole.

The moment the daemon core touched the armor, a whip of bright red energy lashed out from the point of contact.

Luna flinched back clumsily, but Serith calmly held his own position.

"It resists," the Sorcerer chuckled, "it fears its new mistress. Fascinating..."

Luna didn't really know what to make of that. She supposed it was better for monsters to be scared of her than the other way around.

"The sheer pshionic power you poshesh ish rather... overwhelming, Princesh. The daemonic mind fearsh being shmothered," Solon explained, "unfortunately for our little friend here, we don't care. Sherith."

At the unspoken command, Serith pushed the core into the socket.

There were many more crimson sparks as it was slotted into place, but Luna remained still while the locks around the daemonic vessel were sealed.

Almost immediately, a rush of energy seemed to fill her. The armor's systems came on-line, and Luna felt an excited tremor run up her spine even as her new nerve sockets burned painfully.

She had been expecting some kind of communication from the daemon once the armor was active; a voice in her head, perhaps, a rush of foreign emotions, or maybe even some text on her visor. The reality was far more subtle. She could feel the creature around her, both in the physical and psychic sense, and could even feel the point at which its consciousness touched and interacted with her own. But that consciousness did not speak to her, much less try to worm its poisonous energies into her soul.

It was a little anticlimactic, honestly.

"All shyshtemsh are on-line. Vox and nooshpere nodesh eshtablished," Solon said as his hololiths tracked the armor's boot sequence.

Luna took a step forward, and her leg moved without delay or resistance. She took several more steps, and several hoses were tugged free of their ports, dropping down behind her and spraying cloudy vapor over the floor.

Luna's wings were already spread to fit into the flight pack housing, and she twisted her head to look at them. Great black sheaths of metal covered the bulk of the wings, giving way to plates of etched crystal vaguely shaped and positioned in such a way to resemble feathers. She tensed her wings, and the crystals flared blue as they carried her straight up a few feet. A moment later she dropped back down, falling onto the iron flooring with a mighty clang.

Luna concentrated, and her horn casing flashed before a reflective square appeared in front of her like a full-length mirror.

The daemon armor was colored in black and trimmed with gold, with the Iron Skull shining on her chest with its eyes blazing red. In stark contrast to the other suits of Centaur-pattern power armor, Luna's mane and tail flew freely behind her; her hair was for most intents and purposes ethereal, so she could let it out without compromising the armor seals.

"... Most satisfactory," Luna said as she turned her head to one side and then the other. The horn casing formed a black spire over her head run through with webs of bleeding red, and she could feel the magical energy around her with a level of sensitivity that she had never experienced before.

Then the alicorn turned her head toward Solon. "And our weapons?"

"Here," the Warsmith pointed to a set of heavy, shielded cabinets. "It wash not eashy to think of waysh to complement your conshiderable power," he admitted as he deactivated the locks, "there were only two obvioush improvementsh I could make to a category alpha pshyker. One wash to give you a connection to a daemonic will in mechanical form."

Luna stepped up to the cabinets, an eyebrow arched behind her helmet. "And the other improvement?" Luna asked.

"Handsh." Solon opened the containers, revealing a pair of large, black, mechanical gauntlets. They were slightly larger than Astartes power fists, and each one had a ruby lens set in the palm.

Luna reached out to the objects, pulling them out of the cabinets and toward herself.

"... Intriguing," she mumbled, noting how easily the heavy objects moved. Her telekinetic magic seeped into the objects rather than gripping them, and they levitated as she wished without any sign of the usual magical aura. "Thou hast a remarkable talent for constructing arcana for one who professes to possess no magic," The fingers wiggled in the air with a thought, and she smiled.

"I've had long practice," Solon admitted, "now, ash for theshe gauntletsh-"

"We shalt refer to them as the Iron Gage," Luna declared, clenching both gauntlets into fists as she turned toward Serith, "with these weapons, We shalt deliver unto thee the necessary toll in blood to establish thy Dark Portal. The Ork menace WILL be stopped."

The two Iron Warriors shared a glance.

"Well, 'Iron Gage' ishn't bad," Solon admitted, "I wash afraid you'd call them 'Luglovesh' or shomething."

Serith bowed to the alicorn, his visor glittering. "I eagerly await your... contributions, dear Princess."

"Aye! There will be many foes to vanquish!" Luna barked. Then she looked down at her leg armor. "So, how doth one remove the plate once battle is complete?"

Solon and Serith didn't answer right away.

Then Serith looked over at the Warsmith. "You didn't tell her?"

Solon hesitated. "I, uh... I thought she knew. I thought EVERYONE knew."

Luna blinked. "Knew what? What hath We not been told?"

"The armor..." Solon began, feeling rather embarrassed that he had forgotten to mention this before, "... doeshn't really come off. Ever. The helmet can be withdrawn, but the resht of the plating ish a permanent fixture upon the body."

"Over time the carapace will actually bond with your flesh, strengthening it further," Serith explained, "such as it is with all those who bear daemon armor."

Luna didn't like the sound of that, and found herself rather incredulous at the idea.

"Art thou serious? Such an article would be a gross impediment to thy everyday life!" she complained.

"Chaosh Shpace Marinesh don't have much of an 'everyday life'," Solon confessed, "anyway, what'sh done ish done. You won't be taking that armor off."

Luna's horn started to glow, and Solon took a cautious step back as the pale blue light washed over her.

Then Luna's daemon armor vanished, along with the Iron Gage, leaving her in her usual black collar and silver shoes.

"Ah much better," the alicorn said approvingly, flexing her wings and giving them an experimental flap, "the dimensional wardrobe spell is quite a convoluted and grossly unnecessary enchantment, but these circumstances suit it perfectly."

"... Well, that changesh everything," Solon mumbled, "I shupposhe if you actually CAN remove the armor and do sho frequently, then it probably won't form a dermal bond."

"What an... unconventional psychic power," Serith noted. He could see that Luna's collar, which was normally branded with a crescent moon, bore the Iron Skull instead. Perhaps the daemon armor was actually contained in the item now?

Luna smirked up at Solon. "While thy creations art most appreciated, We hast no wish to eternally seal ourselves inside one of them."

The Princess's horn flared again, and the armor reappeared in a wave of blue light.

"We shalt require practice, of course," Luna said as the Iron Gage plucked a piece of scrap metal off the floor and held it up, "We hope thy schedule for this evening permits thee rest, Warsmith. Thou hast earned it."

"We'll be quite bushy tonight, I'm afraid," Solon said as he remotely activated Luna's visor. She blinked in surprise as her display was replaced by a diagram of the solar system, complete with a new set of ugly red indicators.

"More Orks," Serith noted, "more war. More blood. More... power."

"Aye. Let them come," Luna growled. One of the gauntlets closed into a fist, crushing the scrap metal it held as easily as paper. A second later its power field activated, and a shock of blue energy flashed around the Iron Gage, atomizing the metal. "No matter how many arrive seeking death and plunder, the alien fiends shalt NOT overcome us! Equestria WILL prevail!"

****

Epilogue

"Look, Boss, look! Mo' ships! Da boyz is heah!"

"All roight! Now we'z gonna get stuck in again, yeah? Time fer anudder scrap!"

"Mo' ships, mo' fightin', mo' lootin'!"

"Shut it, ya grot-lovin' idjits! Lemme take a look...... Feh. Dey ain't gonna last long."

"Wuzzat, Boss Coggz?"

"We ain't goin' nowheres. Dere ain't enuff boyz yet ta break da spikies, and we ain't done wif da supa-hevvies. Dem udda Orks is gonna get stomped, an' I don' wanna be dere wit' 'em."

"Okay, den... uh... ya wanna talk to 'em, den? Tell 'em wot's goin' on heah?"

"Shut yer gob, ya git. We stay heah, an' we lay low. Dere's a lot mo' boyz comin' 'round soonah or laytah. Now GET BACK TA WORK!!"

Author's Note

After gradually bumping up the bloodiness and violence over the course of the book, I finally decided that the daemon summoning has officially crossed the line into gore territory and earned this story its warning tag.
For reasons I cannot imagine, this chapter was super hard to write. I really don't know why. Maybe because I was just trying to wrap up the most immediate loose ends so I could conclude the book. But for some reason that made my progress worse rather than better. I totally meant to have this chapter out by Christmas.
Oh well. Book 5 debuting in January!

Norris Delgan's backstory chapter takes place after this one, during the timeskip between Books 4 and 5.

Building Bridges

Iron Hearts

Book 4

Emerald Dawn

Disclaimer: my lawyers have advised me to keep a tank of gasoline in my room and light my apartment on fire if I'm every contacted by anyone from Hasbro or Games Workshop. Or anyone from Canada or Britain. I have the matches ready, guys! Don't test me!

Punctuation key: "Gothic speech" *Speech in Tau language* +Speech in Binary+ Non-aural communication, such as telepathy

Dramatis Personae

38th Company:

Solon - Warsmith (high commander) dedicated to Nurgle

Sliver - Vice-commander dedicated to Nurgle

Tellis - Raptor Lord dedicated to Khorne

Serith - High Sorcerer

Dest - rhino driver

Cyrus Gnoss - human mercenary General

Wyatt Daniels - human mercenary

Norris Delgan - human Trademaster

The Great and Powerful Trixie - entertainer/mercenary

Dark Mechanicus:

Gaela - Dark Acolyte

Abandoned Tau:

Jerriha - Shas'vre Fireblade

Fennin - Fio'el Master Engineer

Wraithstar - Shas'el Commander

Orks:

Hazarr "Coggz" Wrencha - Ork Big Mek

Journal Log: I knew this plan was a bad idea. I knew it. I've never been comfortable using aliens as weapons. Soldiers, fine. Pets, whatever. As long as it would follow orders and kill what we want it to kill. But kiting an Ork Waaaugh through the sector to barrel them into a bunch of Tyranids? That's not just playing with fire, that's playing IN fire. There were so many things that could have gone wrong.

Like having another faction interfere and knock out our passage off-world.

The Iron Warriors... they don't fight like Imperial troops. It's difficult to describe. They have the same weapons, use the same formations and squad tactics, and yet... they're different. More efficient. More cautious. More experienced. They seem to look at warfare as a balance of risk and reward, rather than following the dogmatic "xenos-must-die-at-any-cost" foolishness of the humans I've fought before. They fight like they have something to lose.

And now they're the only thing standing between us and a category 13 Ork armada.

I can't imagine they'll be standing there for very long. Again, risk versus reward. Once they figure out what's coming they'll abandon this planet almost as fast as we did.

Ironic. If Jerriha is still alive, then she'll be carried off-world and survive as a slave of the 38th Company. Those of us that remain "free" - including the human slaves we rescued - will get to be butchered by aliens.

And then there's the rest of the sorry creatures on this rock. Before, I dismissed their coming extinction with some half-hearted pity and a reminder that this is all strictly necessary. Now that I'm in the same position as them, I find myself much more sympathetic.

And yet here I am, still guarding the damned beacon that's condemned us all.

I haven't told the men yet, although I'm sure the officers are already suspicious about the lack of an evacuation. There's going to be riots and desertions from the humans, I'm sure. Not sure what to expect from the kroot; their mood tends to shift depending on their recent fortunes, and they've been cooped up in Black Point for too long.

I know this is for the Greater Good. But from the sounds of things, the Greater Good has no more use for us.

There must be another way. There's always another way.

But what if the "another way" involves a deal with the same post-human maniacs that landed us in this position?

Wraithstar, signing off.

Iron Hearts

Chapter 1

Building Bridges

****

"This. Is. The. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!" Rarity howled, throwing her head back as she pressed a foreleg against her temples.

The other Elements of Harmony, plus Luna, Trixie, and Big Macintosh, all looked up at her.

Twilight chewed her lip. "I know what you mean. The situation is, well-"

"Scrambled eggs and fried hay with country gravy?!" Rarity cried, thrusting her hooves at the plate in front of her. "Are you serious? This is a PALACE, not the Apple family reunion!"

"Mmph!" Applejack mumbled angrily around a mouthful of food.

As many of the ponies rolled their eyes, Luna sighed. "We must apologize. The royal chef's villa was wrecked by a war machine during yesterday's conflict, and she's off seeing to her affairs. The guards' line cook was called up on short order."

Rarity pouted as Applejack glared at her. "Well, if'n y'all had some apples, Ah coulda whipped somethin' up," she said. She didn't want to admit it, but without her favorite ingredient she probably would have come up with the same menu they were enjoying now.

"Again, We must apologize," Luna mumbled, "the castle had ordered a shipment of apples recently, but... well... received the Warp core instead."

"Which brings us back to our current topic: the irrationally-sized alien armada on a set course for our planet," Twilight said before taking a sip of tea.

There was a long, uncomfortable silence as the ponies went back to eating silently.

Finally, Rainbow Dash swallowed a mouthful of eggs and then furrowed her brow. "Okay, so, are you SURE that they actually meant 'billion'?"

Twilight gave her a flat look. "What else would they mean besides a number followed by nine zeros?"

"Well, maybe it's like 'corn'. For us, it's a vegetable. For them, it's a dark god of bloodshed and hatred," Rainbow reasoned.

Pinkie Pie gasped. "Are you saying we're being invaded by FOOD?! Omygosh! That would be the best war EVER!!"

Twilight clenched her teeth as she rubbed her hoof against her forehead. "Rainbow Dash, I am QUITE certain that we share the same concept of what 'nine-point-seven billion' means."

"Do ya have to include the 'point-seven' part? Ah mean, really, it ain't helpful. Ya might as well round down," Applejack pointed out.

"Or round up," Trixie snorted, "Trixie hardly thinks the difference between ten and nine BILLION enemies matters in this case."

"Eeyup," Big Mac agreed between mouthfuls of fried hay.

Trixie was wearing her armor - sans helmet, obviously - to the table, simply because she enjoyed the envious and bewildered looks it got her from other ponies (and even some humans). Big Macintosh had left the pieces of his own suit back in the room he had stayed in that night, seeing how it had been badly damaged in combat. He felt rather self-conscious about his reconstructed body, but to his relief the ponies around the castle had seen so many strange and awful things recently that nopony bothered him about his augments.

Twilight grimaced as she levitated a fork to tap repeatedly against the table. "... Well? Does anypony have any ideas on what to do?" she asked irritably.

Rainbow Dash immediately raised a foreleg. "We should all get Solon to make us power armor and then kick their butts."

Twilight's eyebrow twitched. "Rainbow. Nine. Point. Seven. BILLION."

"And rising, or so said the Magos," Luna reminded her before taking another bite of gravy-soaked hay. Despite Rarity's complaints, she found she quite liked this kind of food.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Okay, yeah, but they're not gonna come at us all at once, right?" Then she frowned. "Besides, what ARE Orks, anyway? What if they're little, shrimpy guys? That Dark Magos dude could have been blowing this whole thing out of proportion."

Luna swallowed the last of her breakfast, and then spoke again. "This is not the first We hast heard of these creatures," she began, instantly having the attention of everypony in the room, "the first conflict with the green beasts was long ago, before We had even reached adulthood."

She paused to gulp down her milk, then levitated the empty glass down. "We recall that after the conflict was over, but one alien vessel was found to hath landed, yet its descent had led to three years of constant war. The turning point evidently came with a last-minute alliance with the dragons, whom had suffered a rash of egg thefts thank to the brutes. Eventually the dragons laid fiery waste to the enemy camps with such fury that even to this day, hardly a blade of grass can grow in the badlands."

She looked around at the table at the others, noting their rapt attention, and that Twilight's eyes in particular were bulging. "Thou may be interested to know that the ancient alliance is actually the reason that Celestia took to using dragon eggs for her school's magic exam. Although the training of dragons as warbeasts is a practice that has apparently fallen into disuse over the centuries. Too expensive to feed, We hear."

Twilight suddenly jumped up, her wings flared and her eyes wide. "I've never heard of anything like that! Which history book is it in?!"

Luna shrugged. "As far as We art aware, all records of that conflict were purged some time during our exile. A pity; it was by far one of the more interesting wars." Then she frowned, rewinding the conversation back in her head. "But We digress; the Orks art not weaklings."

"Well, Trixie has a plan," the blue unicorn announced as she pushed her empty plate forward. Taking a moment to savor having everypony's attention, she then provided her admittedly underwhelming explanation. "Trixie is extending Trixie's contract with the 38th Company so that if they flee the system, Trixie goes with them."

Most of the other ponies sighed or rolled their eyes, but Rainbow Dash scowled. "Seriously? You're cutting and running?"

Trixie snorted. "Trixie has found her place among the human fleet, and works for them now. And the Iron Warriors are the ones who do this intergalactic warfare thing for a living. They'll know what to do. Or, if absolutely nothing can be done, then they also conveniently offer a path of escape from this planet before everypony is up to their necks in aliens."

The armored unicorn stepped away from the table, levitating her helmet over to follow her as she headed for the exit to the dining hall (her boots squishing on a recently mopped-up blood stain in the process). "Trixie is going to find a gunship home now. If anypony wants to get in on Trixie's ticket off-world, you know where to find Trixie."

Twilight grumbled something under her breath as her head slumped against the table. Her breakfast was getting cold, but she found she didn't have much of an appetite.

"While I don't much care for her attitude toward planetary genocide," Rarity began as she tapped a hoof against her chin, "she does bring up a good point. What is the 38th Company going to do?"

Twilight grimaced as she lifted her head up. She had known this topic was coming, and had spent long, sleepless hours last night thinking on it.

"The thing is, girls... I don't think we can count on the 38th Company to help this time," Twilight mumbled, staring down at her plate.

Rainbow Dash blinked. "What? Why not?"

"Well... Rainbow, you were there at that meeting, when they were planning the attack on Canterlot. They were going to destroy the entire city because it was easier than getting soldiers in and fighting it out," Twilight began.

"Yeah, I know. So that Sliver guy is a tool. So what?" Rainbow Dash said flippantly. "We talked them out of that."

"Sure, but..." Twilight chewed her lip briefly, "for me, that was kind of a wake-up call. We only convinced them to attack and save us by convincing them that it was in their best interest." She looked around the table at her friends. "This time, it ISN'T in their best interest. At all. They have no stake in this fight. It isn't even their fight to begin with! This... 'Emerald Dawn' project of the Tau's was going on right under our noses, and it's only thanks to the Iron Warriors' pirate tendencies that we knew about any of this before it was too late."

"Well, okay, fine, but why wouldn't they help out anyway?" Rainbow asked again. "We're friends, aren't we?"

"That's the other part of my 'wake-up call'," Twilight mumbled, rubbing her cheek. "The 38th Company are not our friends. Gaela is our friend. Daniels is our friend. Dest is our friend, probably. Tellis is... well, your friend, Rainbow. And he's Fluttershy's... roommate, was it?"

"I can't be sure until I get home again, actually," Fluttershy admitted quietly, "but I hope not."

"Anyway, my point is that we can't count on an entire army to risk life and limb to help defend us out of friendship," Twilight concluded grimly.

Luna nodded. "Aye. It doth not help matters that they hath not found the warmest welcome here, in our seat of power."

"Then let's welcome them!"

The other ponies looked surprised at Pinkie's outburst, and found that the party pony was now standing on the table and grinning.

"You say we're not friends with the 38th Company? Then let's make friends with them!" Pinkie Pie bounced up and down in place, unsettling several of the table settings. "We'll throw parties! Play drinking games! Gamble! Have sexy pillow fights! Eat tons of tasty food! Hold wet mane contests!"

The other ponies looked at each other uncertainly.

"Uhm... do you... really think that would work?" Fluttershy asked nervously. Tellis being her main point of exposure to humanity, she wasn't so sure that the Company would be able to get along with most ponies.

"Of course it will work! It HAS been working!" Pinkie chided, smirking as she stood over the other ponies. "I'm already two parties in with the humans, remember? They're not so different from us ponies once you get past the back-breaking militarism and hateful cult worship! And even those things can be made into pretty cool party games if you're creative!"

Twilight brought her head up, considering. "You... You really think we can do that? Make friends with an explicitly evil army of pirates?"

"Silly filly!" Pinkie said as she leaned down to pat Twilight's head. "We already have! You just listed a bunch of our alien friends, remember? We just need to do it MORE! And FASTER!"

The pink pony jumped up onto her rear legs, grinning at the expressions of rising hope among her friends. "So let's go, everypony! It's time to turn Khorne's frown upside-down and hobnob with the Nurglites! For FRIENDSHIP!"

Luna pressed a hoof to her chin as she considered the prospect. "So, just to be clear, we art embarking upon this friendship venture for the specific purpose of convincing the humans to fight - and in all probability die - in a hopeless defense of our planet for us? A defense that - if successful - would take place just before they leave our world forever?"

Nopony said a word for several seconds.

Then Pinkie's ears fell against her head and she dropped back down to all fours.

"Wow. When you put it that way, it kind of makes us look like jerks," Pinkie admitted while wincing.

Luna blinked. "We did not mean to imply that thy plan is flawed. We were simply not aware that friendship could be used as a form of manipulation as such."

"Ya know what? Why don' we all take a day off of plannin' space wars and sleep on it?" Applejack asked with a disgruntled sigh. "We haven't even finished gatherin' up the bodies from the LAST alien invasion. Ah need to take a break from worryin' about bein' killed by space men to worry about how mah farm is gonna support mah family long enough to get killed by space men."

"Leave it to Applejack to fret about her next mortgage payment while facing interplanetary genocide," Rarity said before sipping some tea, "in any case, whether or not we're relying on them, I think we should at least ask the Company about their immediate plans, and for information about these Ork creatures."

Luna nodded. "Aye, that is wise. Which elements of their leadership yet remain in Canterlot?"

Twilight frowned. "Solon and Gaela went back to Ferrous Dominus. They had to... you know... get new limbs." Twilight squirmed in her chair, trying to resist glancing at Big Mac. The prospect of replacing body parts as if they were articles of clothing or equipment still bothered her and fascinated the hell out of her at the same time.

"Tellis took off after I talked him out of fighting with a bunch of pegasus guards that were cleaning the statues in the city," Rainbow Dash explained, "I don't know where he went, but he was mumbling about home decorating or something."

Fluttershy shuddered.

"And Dan and Dest sat out the siege," Applejack noted, "are there any other humans we know around here?"

Rarity frowned. "Delgan's probably still here."

"Then thou would best meet with him," Luna declared, standing up, "as for us, We shall retire soon. We were up early yesterday, and last night was most taxing."

"Okay. Good night, Luna. Er, good... day, I mean," Twilight said awkwardly as the dark Princess walked behind her, "Rarity, I'll go with you to talk to Delgan."

Unnoticed by the rest of the ponies at the table, as Luna approached the exit a blue glow surrounded Big Macintosh and lifted him up off the floor.

The stallion's eyes widened and he flailed his legs, but he said nothing as he was helplessly pulled through the air into the next room.

"Everypony else should head home and see to their own affairs for now," Twilight decided, pushing herself up with her front hooves on the table. "I know we can find a solution to this. And that whatever happens, we'll face it together."

"Right!" agreed the others, nodding brightly. Then everypony other than than Rarity and Twilight moved to exit the room and head to the train station.

"... Hey, did any y'all see where Big Mac went?"

****

Canterlot Castle - several rooms over

"And thy legs move at will? As if they were flesh and blood?"

"Eeyup."

"Marvelous! What wonders hath been bestowed upon thee!"

Big Macintosh tried to keep from sweating as he was poked and prodded all over. This was exactly what he had dreaded would happen once he left the jaded space-city of Ferrous Dominus to return to pony civilization: having his bionics scrutinized and toyed with roughly while being interrogated about them.

The fact that it was Princess Luna herself doing the poking and prodding amplified the discomfort severely. Most ponies he could politely ignore or turn down, and then simply leave. That wasn't really an option with the second most powerful pony in Equestria.

Actually, it wasn't an option at all. She had immobilized him with magic to keep him still.

Luna pressed her ear to the stallion's back, and then banged on his metal side and listened carefully. She didn't seem to notice that her mane swept up and covered over the stallion's face in the process.

Her hair had a strange smell, he decided. Not unpleasant, but completely unique and somewhat tangy. He decided then and there that he would never share this tidbit with anypony, as there was simply no safe way to explain how he had ended up sniffing Princess Luna's mane.

"No echo," Luna remarked as she pulled back. Then she tapped his hip joint. "Ah ha! This device turns!"

"Eeyu-yuh-yuh-yuh-yu-u-u-up!" Big Mac started vibrating violently as Luna magically forced the actuator wheel to spin while watching the part closely.

Mac felt a sudden and involuntary muscle twitch before his rear augmetic suddenly lashed out on its own. It struck nothing but air, but merely leaving the ground at such velocity had ripped a small tear in the tiling below.

Luna jerked back at the reaction, surprised that it had been able to break through her telekinesis. Then she looked unreasonably pleased as she saw a vase on the other side of the room shaking due to the shift in air pressure alone. "Such force! What fun!"

Big Mac suppressed a "Nnope." Then he felt Luna dragging her hooves over his back again, pressing at the seam between metal and flesh.

Really, all the body contact was the worst part of it: Luna was, obviously, a devastatingly attractive mare, and all the touching was getting him antsy. Yet he was being handled as if he were some science fair project up for judging. Put bluntly, he felt like a freak who had been placed on display in front of its colthood crush.

Big Mac heard a clanking noise from below, and his eyes bulged as his chest panel swung open.

"Oooooh..." Luna made an impressed noise as she stared into Mac's chest interior. There wasn't a biological organ to be seen; the entire space was a web of dark cables, humming cylinders, and glittering circuitry.

Big Mac bit his lip as he watched Luna stick her muzzle deeper into his chest cavity. Then he silently prayed to the alicorn's sister above (two rooms up and one hall over, actually) that she wouldn't touch anything important.

"Mac, there ya are!"

Luna's head snapped up in surprise, very nearly impaling Big Mac's jaw with her horn. Had her telekinesis not broken at the same time, he wouldn't have been able to dodge his head out of the way in time.

Applejack trotted into the room, raising an eyebrow as she saw her older brother standing in the center of the empty room with Luna. "What's goin' on, Big Mac? We're all clear to head home now." She saw that his chest panel was open, but didn't really know what to make of the scene.

"Ah, Miss Applejack!" Luna proclaimed, turning to face the other mare. "We apologize! We hast requisitioned thy kin without thy sanction!"

Applejack blinked at that, and she completely missed the relieved expression on Big Mac's face. "What? Nah, ya don't gotta get mah permission fer nothin'!" She laughed. "Ya need mah big bro fer some work?"

"Indeed!" Luna said loudly. Not Canterlot Voice loud, but she was still apparently excited enough that she'd momentarily forgotten the concept of "inside voice". "If it pleases thee, We would borrow thy sibling for the remainder of my sister's light, and teleport him home upon the dusk!"

Big Macintosh twitched. There was no way Applejack was going to refuse.

Then, to his distress, she did something worse.

"Golly, Princess, like Ah said, ya don' need mah permission!" Applejack laughed, gesturing to Big Macintosh. "Mac, whaddya say?"

The crimson stallion hung his head, staring at the floor. AJ was giving him the honor of PERSONALLY turning down Princess bucking Luna or submitting himself willingly to her thoughtless curiosity, roaming hooves, and reckless magic.

Big Mac's eyes narrowed as he slowly pushed his chest panel closed, hearing it snap shut with a firm click. You know what? The heck with it. Luna was a big girl. Or big immortal night goddess, as it were. His farm had been wrecked, his youngest sister had been inducted into a dark cult, and he had taken a significant beating helping liberate Canterlot. Luna could handle the idea that he had better things to do than entertain her for a day, especially as she was supposed to be sleeping anyhow.

He looked up into her eyes and opened his mouth.

His thoughts stumbled, and an "Eeyup" slipped out.

"Huzzah! Many thanks, Sir Apple!" Luna shouted, rearing up and tapping her hooves together like a young filly given a new toy.

"Well, that settles it, then. Mac, Ah'll see ya when Ah see ya," Applejack said, trotting over and giving the stallion a playful kick in his bionic leg, "now Ah know yer worried about the farm, but ya leave it all to me! 'Sides, it ain't like we don't got bigger problems on the horizon." With a surprisingly upbeat snort, Applejack turned away and cantered off.

Big Macintosh twitched. In that moment, when he had looked Luna in the eyes...

It wasn't fair.

She was even taller than he was, at least fifty times his age, and an ex-megalomaniac to boot.

How did LUNA manage the sad puppy dog eyes?

After the door shut behind his sister, Macintosh braced himself for the reckless prodding to continue. He half expected Luna to next try to magically disassemble his metal parts, like the Princesses had reputedly done to Shas'o Voidsong's battle armor. A horrific image flashed through Mac's head of his body on the floor of the palace, dismembered and immobile, sitting in a pile of stripped components and metal plates.

"Truly, Macintosh, thy body is a wonder to rival that of Equestria's mightiest magical treasures," Luna said, surprising Big Mac by speaking at a sane volume and without touching him. Looking at her, there actually seemed to be a hint of anxiousness to her, now.

There was a long pause, and then Luna spoke again. This time her voice was soft.

"We art vexed," she admitted, her ears falling back against her head and her expression souring, "and We... We hoped thee could could provide some guidance in this matter."

Big Macintosh raised an eyebrow. A Princess was asking HIM for advice?

"Putting aside the coming invasion, We find ourselves torn between the human invaders and our government. Well, mayhaps less the government and more Celestia herself."

Luna took a moment to glance around the room, as if searching for eavesdroppers. "Come with me. This would be best spoken of in private."

Macintosh started to nod, but before he could even complete the motion a flash of magic engulfed him.

Big Mac blinked the spots from his eyes before he looked around at where he had been teleported. It seemed to be Luna's bedroom, judging by the big, dark bed and the proliferation of moon and star motifs within the room. Magic glow lamps provided dim illumination, as there was only one window and it was covered with shutters and curtains.

Luna used her magic to open the window shutters and push aside the curtains, allowing some natural light into the room. Then she began speaking again.

"In truth, We had expected the aid of the 38th Company to redeem them in the eyes of our sister. It hath not done so," Luna paused briefly, pursing her lips, "if anything, she seems more troubled than before by the humans after witnessing the Warsmith in combat, and is concerned of the sudden - and some might say deserved - popularity of their soldiers among the citizens."

Big Mac furrowed his brow. All he'd heard about Solon's fight was that it had ended very badly for the Warsmith. Twilight seemed reluctant to reveal the details, and when Rainbow Dash had asked Rarity, she had simply shuddered and began a melodramatic monologue about the savagery of war. Rainbow had retracted her question before the couch had been brought out.

"Sister fears the influence of Chaos," Luna continued, pacing in front of her bed while frowning, "and she lets her fear dominate her reason. But obviously, Our sister's opinion is not easy to dismiss. We feel t'would be best to sway her on this matter, and in this thee shall be of great import."

Big Mac's expression shifted to one more skeptical.

"Thy revival and augmentation is an act of supreme skill and benevolence," Luna declared, stopping her pacing to look at him, "if thy situation is presented to Celestia, then mayhaps she will look more favorably upon humanity."

Big Macintosh grimaced. "Nnope."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "And why not?"

Big Macintosh wet his lips as he worked out an answer.

"Thing is, Highness, mah gettin' metal parts weren't no act of benevolence. It was part of a trade," Big Mac explained, "Warsmith Solon used me to get mah sister and her friends to take on some dangerous mission against the grays, Ah hear. That ain't exactly charity. 'Sides that, soon as he had the chance, Solon built me into that armor suit and turned me into a livin' weapon, just 'cause he felt like it. So Ah really don't think Ah make a good case."

Luna clicked her tongue in annoyance, idly kicking at a lounge pillow.

"Also, Ah..." Big Mac trailed off and then snapped his jaw shut, as if suddenly aware of how much he had been talking.

Luna turned toward him sharply. "Macintosh, speak." The stallion looked uncertain, and Luna's expression hardened. "We hast requested thy counsel, Macintosh, and We expect to hear it. Even if thou suspects it may displease us."

Big Mac winced, but decided there was nothing for it now. He took another long pause to organize his thoughts.

"The way you talk about it, ya don't really seem torn 'tween the humans and yer sister. Ya wanna accept the humans, and want help gettin' yer sister to agree."

"And is this wrong?" Luna huffed.

"Nnope." Another pause. "But... ya seem to wanna show her that the Company's full'o good folk. That won't work, 'cause it ain't. They're pirates and slavers, and, with respect to Miss Pie, we ain't gonna change that with a few parties."

"Oh?" Luna frowned, considering the point. "'Tis true that We hast not been amongst the humans as much as thee. Describe them to us."

Big Macintosh sat down on the floor, falling into another of his long pauses.

"Ah try not to judge, and there're a lot of different kinds in the fleet," he finally said, "the mercs're worlds different from the Tech clergy, and the Iron Warriors are an entirely different beast. But if Ah was to come up with a common trait fer all of 'em, Ah'd say it's economy."

"Economy?" Luna's brow furrowed.

"They're always thinkin' about what's in it fer them," the stallion explained, "if they can help ya, then they might do it without bein' asked, but only if they think they'll get somethin' out of it. Makes it hard to trust 'em, 'cause ya know they're always lookin' out fer number one. Gaela's a bit of an odd one out, helpin' folk because she enjoys workin', but as soon as we asked her to do somethin' she didn't like she dug her heels in."

The stallion paused, and then continued. "Thing is, economy cuts both ways. Give 'em a hand and they'll chalk up a debt, even if ya don't want nothin'. Prolly figure that if they repay it, ya might do it again. Speakin' as a businesspony, that kinda attitude can be helpful. Makes it hard to make friends, though."

Luna grimaced. Good intentions, selflessness, love, and friendship were Celestia's most treasured values. As far as she had seen and heard, the 38th Company seemed to possess none of them. "Economy" was not going to impress Celestia.

"So then thee supposes that Sister may be right about them? That they are corrupt and untrustworthy beyond hope of redemption?" Luna asked as her eyes narrowed.

Big Mac winced again, and he started looking around nervously. Clearly he had an answer, but he didn't want to share it.

"Come now, Macintosh," Luna smirked as she sat down next to him and then settled a wing over his back, "thou may speak freely here."

Big Mac took a deep breath. "Well... with respect to... her Highness, Princess Celestia... she don't always make the-" he bit his tongue before the word "right" slipped out. "... she don't always make the most PRACTICAL decisions."

Luna laughed outright, startling the stallion. Then she slapped a hoof onto his back, nearly knocking him over.

"Such nerve!" Luna giggled, grinning. "And yet thee looks to expect lightning to smite thee for thy criticism! Dost thou fear retribution from us?"

"Not so much that," the stallion mumbled as he winced at the new bruise forming on his back, "like Ah said, Ah don't right like judgin' folk. Judgin' royalty especially, as if an apple farmer has any clue what it's like to run a country, jus' don't sit well. Ah could be totally wrong 'bout her highness."

Luna nodded, still smiling. "Thy humility and prudence lends credence to thy words, Macintosh. Please, continue. Thou surely has more to share."

Another pause, and then Big Mac sighed. "Ah reckon Miss Trixie said it best, actually. Them Iron Warriors know these critters. They fight fer a livin'. When the grays swooped in and started puttin' down roots, we didn't even know they were there. But when the 38th got to 'em, they took 'em apart like a rickety shed. They know what they're doin', but we're new to this. We can't do this without their help. And speakin' from experience, their help is pretty good, even if they're right awful people."

Luna nodded solemnly. "'Tis true. But Sparkle confided that they art unlikely to aid us for this upcoming conflict."

Macintosh sighed. "Eeyup."

The Princess of the Night went back to pacing, considering the matter silently for a few minutes.

"... Very well," Luna said suddenly as she lifted her head, "firstly, We shalt write a letter!"

Big Mac blinked as he watched the Princess trot over to a small desk evidently made of polished onyx. Luna quickly levitated a sheet of parchment and a feather pen onto it.

"We shalt request a meeting between our governing agents to discuss the coming invasion and what might be done. No longer will the burden of negotiating with the alien fleet fall upon the Elements of Harmony alone. Sister may find the prospect of meeting with the Warsmith distasteful, but We art confident We can convince her to be 'practical' for an occasion!"

Big Macintosh sat patiently as Luna wrote her letter, idly wondering if she had finished with him. She had said that she'd return him in the evening, but that left most of the day ahead of them. Did she intend to keep talking to him, or was he going to be helping in the castle some more? There was certainly enough work to go around in restoring the royal property to some semblance of order.

"Complete!" Luna announced, magically rolling the parchment up and then sealing it with wax.

Luna walked to her bedroom door, and then opened it up. Big Mac got up and followed her out.

"Guard! See to the delivery of this missive to the postal service! It is to be delivered to Warsmith Solon within Ferrous Dominus with all haste!" Luna commanded to the unicorn standing outside her door.

The guard seemed surprised to see Luna step out of her bedroom (probably because he hadn't seen her enter), and his surprise doubled when he noticed a large, red, partially cybernetic stallion following her.

He had his orders, though, so he saluted hesitantly and levitated the scroll over to him. "At once, Princess. I'll see to its dispatch personally."

Big Mac watched the other stallion go as he stepped out into the hall, and then he glanced toward Luna, awaiting his next task or imminent dismissal.

The dark-furred alicorn waited until the guard's hoofsteps passed out of hearing range before she spoke, still looking down the hall and away from Big Mac. "We have another task that We would ask of thee, Macintosh. If thou would suffer our presence until the sun's waning hours."

Big Mac bobbed his head calmly. "Eeyup."

"Lay with us."

Big Mac's eyes widened, and then his chest panel blasted open, ejecting a sudden burst of steam.

Luna couldn't keep a serious composure at the sight after she turned around to look, and she burst out laughing as she watched the stallion quickly slam the hatch closed.

"Oh. Ya were... Ya were just jokin'," Big Mac said awkwardly as he looked away. He really didn't know how to feel about that.

As Luna stifled her giggles and brushed the tears from her eyes, her wing came up under Mac's head to tilt it toward her again. "Nay, We were not. We find thy company comforting, thy character pleasing, and thy body... intriguing." Her expression turned more somber. "In these distressing times, We find ourselves yearning. We would have thee sate us, dear Macintosh."

Whatever mental faculty of Mac's that normally dished out decisive yup-or-nope answers had apparently failed the stallion, and his mouth hung open silently for a few seconds.

"Ah think Ah had a dream like this once," he said suddenly, without really thinking about it, "can't remember much of it; Ah woke up in some kinda tube of jelly in Solon's place and was mighty confused from almost dyin' and all... it had the farm, and... somethin' about... a booty... somethin'." Mac realized he was babbling, and he snapped his mouth shut.

Luna snickered as she cast a smoky gaze toward her companion. "We remember that dream well. We were there." She swept her tail over Big Mac's face as she sauntered back into her room, leaving the stunned draft pony in the hall.

After a few seconds of silent contemplation, Macintosh took a deep breath, and then headed back inside Luna's bedroom with a determined expression.

"Eeyup."

****

Canterlot City - The Iron Chest

"I... I don't... really understand. Where's Miss Rarity?" asked Orchid Flair nervously as she stood up against the front counter of her shop.

Norris Delgan was standing in front of her, thumbing through the store's inventory ledger. Behind him, a small squad of riflemen clustered together, staring at the large hole that had been blasted in the shop's wall some time last night. The mercenaries weren't part of Delgan's personal team, but the Trademaster was well-known among the Company's humans, and they knew they would be entitled to a small bonus for serving as a temporary security detail.

"Is this... Is this about the guns? I'm really sorry I handed them out like that, but come on! We were in a battle!" the unicorn mare stressed to the mustachioed human.

Delgan had kept mostly silent after arriving and demanding to look over the store's records, and after perusing them to his satisfaction, he put the book down and looked up at the store manager.

"This property's lease contract is being terminated prematurely. Luckily, your people don't seem to think anything of it when I include a clause allowing for release in case of the local outbreak of hostilities," Delgan said evenly.

Orchid frowned. "Wouldn't that refer to hostilities between Equestria and the 38th Company specifically, though?"

"I'm sure that's what the landlord thought, too," Delgan noted, "this shop will be closed and its remaining inventory returned to my stocks."

"But... it... I..." Orchid shook her head, feeling bewildered. "Come on, be real! I know things have been a little intense recently, but this is an AWFUL time to shut down! Do you know how many ponies wanted to talk to me last night about guard robots and weapons after seeing the assault in action? Somepony even asked about buying a GUNSHIP! It's like all the tension from before about dealing with human gear just up and vanished! You're turning down good bits, here!"

Delgan sighed, regarding the unicorn with a slightly less dismissive expression. "The... irony of my timing is not lost on me. Nonetheless, the stock here is my property, and I will see it returned."

"But I really like this job!" Orchid complained, rapping her hooves against the counter like a filly who had been denied a piece of candy. "What exactly does Miss Rarity have to say about this, anyway? Last I heard, SHE was in charge, here!"

"Yes, that IS what you've heard," Delgan agreed, "and I assure you, her signature will be attached to all the relevant documentation. For now, however, I must recommend letting the heavily armed humans behind me do their job and empty out that back room. The unregistered inventory is too sensitive and valuable to leave here."

Delgan turned on his heel and gestured to the soldiers, who hesitantly walked into the building and headed toward the back. Being trained in tactics, firing drills, rampant looting, and the occasional ritual desecration of Imperial shrines, being used as repo men was new and strange to them.

Delgan sighed as he stepped out onto the streets, fingering the bridge of his nose. He hadn't gotten much sleep since the previous day's battle, and the strenuous physical toll of melee combat and chemical stimulants had left him quite exhausted.

Besides that, he was genuinely displeased that his ventures in Equestria had to be cut short so soon. He hadn't had many opportunities to engage in (mostly) legitimate trade and business with aliens in the past, and those few occasions had been anything but enjoyable. The sorts of alien species that were willing to deal with Chaos forces were usually just as despised and untrustworthy as the renegades and cultists themselves. Heavy security, extreme caution, and sometimes even psychic presence were necessary just to conduct simple deals. Doing business with ponies was pleasant by comparison.

Actually, he'd be willing to admit that doing business with ponies was pleasant even without comparison.

"Another investment squandered before it could bear ripe fruit," Delgan groused to himself.

"I thought I'd find you here, mumbling to yourself," said a voice behind him.

Delgan kept a grimace off his face as he turned toward the mare addressing him.

"Lady Rarity, Princess Sparkle. Good morning," Delgan said politely as he dipped his head.

Rarity was standing on the sidewalk watching the storefront, a parasol hoisted over her head by Spike. Twilight stood just behind them, looking thoughtful.

"Actually, since the planetary rotation was paused for more than half a day, speaking in terms of the current time, which corresponds more closely to our sleep cycles, it's actually-"

"Twilight, darling, we agreed to let me do the talking," Rarity interrupted, batting her eyelids meaningfully at the purple pony. Twilight cringed and fell silent.

"Thank you," Delgan drawled.

"Oh, poor Twilight is just feeling a bit excitable right now. She tends to think too much when she gets stressed," Rarity explained with a light, airy chuckle.

Her expression turned more neutral as she watched several armed men carrying crates and armloads of equipment out of The Iron Chest. "Oh, dear. Delgan, it seems as if some ruffians are looting your establishment," her light tone indicated that she didn't put much stock in that theory.

"I'm shutting down, I'm afraid," Delgan mumbled, turning to watch the soldiers carrying his inventory.

"Now? I would have thought that with the prohibition against humans lifted, you would have been doing more business than ever," Rarity wondered, touching a hoof to her chin.

"Oh, I am," the Trademaster countered, "now that I can finally stroll about your capital, I've finally gotten in touch with the owners of a few decent mining companies. I plan to buy out their stocks, and that of a few farming cooperatives that serve the city. Ores for the Dark Mechanicus and food for the Company's soldiers equals machines and personnel for me."

"Well, I suppose we probably won't need those supplies ourselves for much longer," Twilight mumbled absently.

Delgan raised an eyebrow, glancing at the alicorn. Then he turned his gaze back to Rarity.

"You know why I'm leaving, it would seem."

Rarity groaned and slapped a hoof against her face. "Twilight!"

"Wh-What? What did I do? Were we keeping that a secret? Why?" Twilight asked nervously.

"Well, it's a pity we couldn't keep up pretenses a little longer, Miss Rarity. However, I have to go. I'm SURE you understand," the Trademaster said, moving to follow after the men carrying his property.

Rarity rounded on Twilight, speaking through clenched teeth. "THAT'S why, Twilight. This is a delicate matter!" Spike was glaring at her too, although he honestly didn't have any more idea than Twilight of what she had done wrong.

Before the young Princess could figure out a response, the snow-colored unicorn had rushed past her and raced in front of Delgan, with Spike struggling to keep the parasol in place.

"Norris, wait!" Rarity said, skidding to a stop in front of the man. "We just want to talk!"

Delgan stopped short, his face carefully inexpressive. "I'm terribly sorry, Miss Rarity, but I don't have the time. I'm sure you have your own affairs to tend to as well. You should receive the paperwork soon to see to the closure of The Iron Chest. As soon as that is dealt with, your obligation to me is fulfilled."

"Good to know, but that has nothing to do with what we wish to discuss," Rarity replied evenly, "come now, have a meal with us. We won't keep you too long."

"I think there are precious few restaurants open the day after your city is put to siege," the Trademaster noted blithely.

"Then tea at the castle," Rarity said, drawing a hoof under her mane and brushing it aside, "come on, it will be fun! You can point out which blood stains you caused!"

She was hoping that a joke would lighten the atmosphere, but Delgan didn't seem amused.

He glanced up for a few moments in thought, and then glanced back down at her. "No."

Rarity restrained a frustrated growl. "Norris, please," she said seriously, once again using his first name, "we just want to talk. We're not going to ask you for anything."

He looked more annoyed at her reassurance, although this time he didn't say anything.

"As long as we're done with false pretenses, let's just be open about this," the unicorn said grimly, resting a hoof against her chest, "we're scared, and we need help. All I'm going to ask of you is to sit down with us and answer some questions. We want to know what to expect."

"From us, or from the Orks?" Delgan mumbled.

Rarity was quite pleased by the response, but tried to keep her face straight. "As much as you can divulge."

The Trademaster was thinking hard on the subject now, and Rarity knew that it was now or never.

"I'm not asking you this as a business partner, Delgan. You owe us ponies nothing, and I don't blame you for leaving," the unicorn admitted, "but I ask you as a companion. As a friend. Could you help us this much?"

Delgan couldn't restrain a snort. "And here I thought you were too cynical about that 'friendship' tripe."

"Cynical about friendship? Never!" Rarity insisted. "I was mostly cynical about you and your fleet of murderous pirates. It's an instinct that's served me well in dealing with you."

Delgan sighed, his eyes dropping to the ground. "All right, you'll have your meeting. But not here or now. Back in Ponyville, after I've returned and caught a nap." He grimaced. "I have too many other 'friends' to see to at the moment."

Rarity dipped her head to the man. "Thank you, Delgan. I mean it. I'll see you back home."

"Home," the Trademaster mumbled bitterly as he walked off, "... right."

Rarity let out a long breath as the piratical merchant left, and then turned back to Twilight with a bemused expression on her face.

"... Okay, I'm still confused as to what I did wrong," the purple pony admitted as Rarity and Spike walked past her.

"You put his guard up," Rarity answered, trying not to sound too irritated, "Delgan is surprisingly sensitive, and a merchant to the core. You have to manage conversations with him carefully, or he'll either take advantage of you or ignore you."

Twilight frowned and stared hard at a crack in the sidewalk. "... What does any of that have to do with the impending invasion and destruction of the world?"

"In this particular example, the connection is that he's abandoning this planet like a rat fleeing a sinking ship, and he expects to be treated as such," Rarity said sharply, jabbing Twilight with a hoof, "especially when confronted by the ponies he's leaving behind. I half expected him to turn those shield bracers back on, he was so nervous!"

Twilight looked at the fashionista incredulously. Nervous? That was Delgan when he was nervous? As far as she could tell, the man had been cool as winter frost the entire time. "So, wait, if we weren't supposed to let him know that we knew about the Orks, how were we going to ask him about them?"

"I was planning to lure him into revealing it himself, actually. Most likely while he was trying to probe us to see whether we already knew," Rarity mumbled thoughtfully, "after that, we could ask him anything we needed to. And even if he figured out that we had already been informed, he'd feel more in control, and more willing to help."

Twilight stared at the unicorn. "... Is there a book that explains this sort of thing?"

Rarity rolled her eyes as she turned around. "Let's depart, darling. All this dust is starting to dirty my fur, and I'm in DESPERATE need of a spa treatment."

Twilight shook her head as the unicorn trotted off toward the train station with Spike rushing to keep pace. She'd always found Delgan surprisingly hard to get along with, considering that the man was perfectly sane and mostly devoted to material pursuits rather than being a career killer or religious fanatic. But she never thought that asking him a few simple questions would be such an ordeal of diplomatic maneuvering.

"I'll catch up with you," she called as she turned back toward The Iron Chest. She could see a shelf full of informational dataslates mounted on the wall, left behind by the soldiers as very low-value artifacts. There had to be a solution to this problem, and she would search for it the best way she knew how: reading.

****

Canterlot Castle

Princess Celestia fought off a groan as she trudged down the hall, her head hung low. Predictably, her lack of sleep had exacerbated the stress of her capture and the subsequent siege considerably. Her constant worrying about the the Chaos soldiers rummaging through the ruins of her city had done her no favors, either.

Logically, though, she had to admit that the recovery was going very well. Kibitz had been worried about Celestia's reluctance to meet with the human and post-human Captains that practically controlled Canterlot at this point, but as before the pony and Company objectives had found a curious and helpful synergy. The humans' main concern now that the battle over was salvage and looting. As it so happened, the Tau had left plenty of both behind, and the ponies wanted it gone from their capital. So the 38th Company had been given free reign over the city to dig through the rubble and recover weapons, bodies, and equipment. As for looting the city itself, few of the soldiers of Chaos had much use for shiny baubles or art pieces, and were suspicious of anything magical by default. Most of the objects scavenged from pony homes were bottles of alcohol and food. Most of the Chaos troopers didn't even bother with that much, as they got plenty in celebration for having liberated the city.

As before, the 38th Company saw to its affairs and left the ponies alone, working with smooth efficiency and palpable expertise. The ponies, meanwhile, tried to help them as much as they could, offering space for temporary hospitals or barracks in their gutted homes. The royal guard, still smarting after being rendered inconsequential during the invasion, had offered up its troops to help comb through rubble or carry things, since Iron Warrior vehicles were impossible to drive through Canterlot's narrow streets. Some considered that adding insult to injury, as they were serving one alien army as free laborers after having been locked up by the last lot, but at least they were doing SOMETHING.

Celestia's day had mostly been spent hearing about new proposals for human/pony relations and integration. Some advisors thought Equestria should contract the humans themselves for rebuilding, considering the efficiency as which they labored. Others had proposals for new laws making it easier for humans to live and work in Equestria. Some had ideas on new defensive measures for Canterlot. One pony wished to acquire some land for a museum dedicated to Equestria's first contact and conflict with alien life.

That particular matter had felt like a kick to the gut. She hadn't informed anypony yet that they would be expecting a second conflict soon.

Celestia reached the door of her lounge, and then took a deep breath. It was time for a break, and she desperately needed a nap. Then it was back to emergency measures, budget approvals, and the ever-more-difficult task of trying to keep her people from being too welcoming to the army of bloodthirsty maniacs roaming Canterlot's streets. All while silently fretting about an impending genocide.

She opened the door, and her heart stopped on the spot as she suddenly heard the voice of Shas'o Voidsong.

"I suppose you thought the 'hidden dagger' descriptor was just a metaphor... Die, monster."

"HA! Oh, that was PERFECT!" Discord laughed as Solon's head separated from his shoulders and tumbled onto the floor.

On the holovid projector, that is. The holovid projector that was mounted on the wall of Celestia's personal lounge. Apparently.

Celestia's heart started up again as her shock was rapidly translated into irritation.

"It was quite a turnaround," Virgil agreed, pausing to dig into a bucket of popcorn, "but then, that's the Warsmith's luck."

"What's his record for lost duels? It's got to be in the triple digits by now!"

"One hundred and sixty-seven losses. Eleven by decapitation. Thirty disembowelings. Nine occasions of having his torso ripped off of his chassis and thrown away. And two occasions of being drowned. In lava."

Discord laughed uproariously, slapping his knee.

"Arguably the worst kind of drowning," Virgil pointed out needlessly.

Celestia remained standing at the entrance, her eyebrow twitching. Discord and some dark-skinned human were sitting in her lounge on a dirty old sofa that definitely had not been there the last time she had been in this room, watching the projection of some sort of machine that shared the same distinction.

Her almost-entrance hadn't gone unnoticed, it seemed, because Discord bent his neck backward until he was looking the Princess in the eyes, albeit upside-down.

"Solon has the galactic record for the most lost duels and combats," the draconequus sniggered, "mostly because he keeps surviving to lose another one!"

"That depends, actually," Virgil pointed out, "if you include daemons and Lucius the Eternal, then it's not a record."

"But I DON'T," Discord noted, "it's MUCH less impressive if you're automatically reincarnated."

"Do Necrons count?"

"If you include them, then you'd have to put EVERY glorified toaster into the running! Forget it!"

"WHERE IS YOUR GOD NOW?!" thundered Voidsong's voice from the holovid.

"Enough!" Princess Celestia barked, scowling as she entered the room. "Turn that off!"

Virgil silently obeyed, clicking a remote control and pausing the holovid.

"I don't know what you're doing here, Discord, but I'm not COMPLETELY displeased to see you," Celestia began.

Discord leaned over to Virgil and prodded him with an elbow. "She's quite the tsundere, am I right?"

The alicorn didn't know what that meant, so she ignored it. "We have an impending crisis on our hands. There's an enormous fleet of Orks heading straight for our world."

Discord grinned. Virgil clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Told you they'd screw up," Discord chuckled.

"I really thought we had this one covered. Pity," Virgil grumbled.

Then Virgil removed a jingling sack from his robe. Discord reached up and yanked on one of his horns, and his lower jaw jutted forward suddenly while making the sound of a cash register drawer opening. Virgil placed the sack into Discord's waiting mouth, and the Chaos spirit immediately swallowed the sum on the spot.

Celestia could hear a strange sound on the edge of her perception. It almost sounded like a tea pot being brought to boil, but it seemed very distant.

"Discord." Celestia said, her voice hard and cold. "Did you know what the Tau were planning?"

Discord blinked, curling his head around to look Celestia in the eyes again. "Well, that depends."

Celestia took a deep, calming breath. She was tired, cranky, and extremely troubled, but she wasn't going to break now.

"Depends on what?" she asked calmly.

"Well, the phrasing of your question implies that it could refer to any one of an infinite number of distinct time periods arbitrarily labeled as 'past'," Discord pointed out, keeping his tone casual, "for example, I did know what the Tau were planning... after you told me just now. Was that what you meant?"

The Princess took another calming breath. In, and out...

"Did you know what the Tau were planning previous to Dark Magos Kaelith informing me and the other Princesses of the approaching threat?"

"Hmmm," Discord scratched at his chin with his bird talons, "well, that depends."

In, and out. "On WHAT?"

"On what definition of time you're operating under," Discord answered with a helpless shrug.

How odd. That tea kettle whistle seemed to be getting louder.

"What is THAT supposed to mean?" Celestia demanded.

"Some Chaos entities have a non-linear perception of the passage of time," Virgil explained with a tired sigh, "although in your defense, I'm pretty sure that Discord knows exactly what definition you're using."

"Discord. When did you first learn of the Tau plot?" Celestia rephrased her original question in the hopes to get around the stupid non-logic he was using.

"Just under two minutes ago, when you told me," Discord replied, "of course, I perceived that event for the first time at six PM last Tuesday. Well, actually, that was the second time. But the first time I was still a statue, so it's not like I could do anything about it."

Yes, that tea kettle was definitely getting louder. Had she put on tea? Celestia really couldn't remember.

After about ten seconds of silence, Virgil rolled his head toward Discord. "I don't think she gets it."

"Then allow me to explain!" Discord mimed pressing the button of a remote control, and the holovid recording of Solon's throne room duel was replaced with a graph. The graph had two long planes split in half by a horizontal axis, and a long, wavy line that curved up and down across its length.

"Now this point, here," Discord begin, zipping over to the display and pointing at a high point on the squiggly line, "represents me last week. At this point I was abnormally aware of future timelines."

Then he barked out a laugh. "And believe me! This one is a DOOZY! Hah!"

Sobering instantly, Discord gestured to the point where the line intersected the graph's axis. "This is me once in closer proximity to worshipers of the darker powers. Their ambient psionic presence tends to enforce your myopic understanding of space-time upon Chaos entities, and I found myself only able to see the present. I was pretty hazy on the past too, actually."

Then Discord pointed to the low arc of the line he had summoned. "Finally, this section here tells us that I wasn't really paying attention when I made this graph."

The whistling was getting distracting now; a furious, high-pitched screech in Celestia's ears that threatened to drown out her senses.

"Discord! There is a massive fleet of Orks coming to our world!" Celestia shouted,

Discord blinked. "Oh? How'd that happen?"

The Princess stared at him incredulously. "The Tau finished their beacon to lead them here! We JUST went over this!"

"Oh! Is THAT what their plan was?" Discord asked, looking surprised. "Sorry about that. I'm having some trouble perceiving the past right now."

Virgil flinched away as a beam of hot, searing light came from the white Princess, accompanied by a scream of ungodly rage. Discord barely had time to let out a fearful squeak before the magic slammed into him, wreathing his form in a halo of magical fire.

The couch lit aflame a second later, and Virgil wordlessly leapt to his feet to avoid getting scorched.

Princess Celestia's horn crackled with power as she glared at Discord's blackened body.

The whistling noise was gone now.

"You," the alicorn said, her eyes glancing over at the human in the room.

"My name is Vir-"

"I don't care," Celestia interrupted sharply, her horn pulsing yellow, "take Discord and get out. Now."

The curiously sane preacher did as he was told, grabbing the end of Discord's scorched tail and dragging him out the door.

"Can we take the holovid player with us?" Virgil asked as he passed by the pony princess.

"You will leave the holovid player where it is," Celestia instructed curtly, giving a disgusted look at the thick, black stripe Discord was leaving on her floors.

Virgil rolled his eyes and left the room, carrying Discord behind him. The door swung shut a moment later, courtesy of Celestia's magic.

With another pulse of yellow, the flames on the couch receded, and then the burnt fibers began to dissolve as the damage was spontaneously undone.

Celestia mutely climbed onto the restored sofa, and her telekinesis lifted up the remote control that had been dropped on the floor at the side.

She spent a moment looking at the buttons, and then clicked one labeled "Play".

The nonsensical graph was replaced with an image of Shas'o Voidsong holding Acolyte Gaela at gunpoint.

"I wonder if this includes the part when our powers were restored," Celestia mumbled as she watched Gaela start her chant to the Omnissiah, "I wouldn't mind seeing that again."

****

Ponyville - Sugarcube Corner

"Hello, everypony! I'm BAAAAAACK!!"

Numerous ponies and a pair of humans flinched at the sudden shout as Pinkie Pie barreled into the shop.

Dest looked up from the counter, where he was drawing frosting onto cookies in the shapes of Chaos marks. "Greetings, Pie."

"Welcome home, Pinkie," Mrs. Cake said brightly as she closed an oven. Pound Cake was bouncing happily atop her rear, giggling at the sudden excitement.

"Hey, Pinks!" Daniels greeted, waving to the energetic pony. He was seated at a table in front of some pastries, along with another mercenary. "Good to see you back in one piece! Take it the siege went well?"

"Ha ha ha!" Pinkie laughed, not answering the question. "Hey, I just thought of a joke! What's red and dead and green all over?"

Daniels glanced across the table at Gotts, who shrugged.

"Got us. What is it?"

Pinkie sniggered. "Our planet, one month from now!"

A loud rimshot came from the corner of the shop, and the customers glanced over to see Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake in front of a drum set, each with a drumstick in their mouth.

"It took me FOREVER to teach them to do that," Pinkie confided as she walked up to, and then bounced on to, the counter.

"I don't get it," Daniels confessed, "why would your planet be red, dead, and/or green in a month?"

Pinkie paused, her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth as she considered the question.

"Well, you know how you start a really awesome battle, and you're kicking serious flank, and then at the last minute you remember that there's actually a mission objective more important than beating up the other guys?"

"I am familiar with these frustrations, yes," Dest rumbled, leaning against the counter.

Pinkie chuckled, although now her mirth was of a distinctly nervous kind. "Well, that kind of happened to us. Canterlot is free, but they got their dumb secret machine to safety."

"So we beat the Tau, but they won anyway," Daniels grumbled, "lame. Do we know what the blasted machine does?"

"Yuppers!" Pinkie Pie chirped. "It painted a giant target on our world for like a bazillion Orks!"

"I'm out." Gotts immediately stood up from his seat and rushed out the door, almost tripping over Roseluck in the process.

Daniels glanced after his fellow mercenary, and then back at Pinkie Pie.

The Cake twins played another rimshot.

"No, no, not now," Pinkie mumbled to them, "that wasn't very funny."

"Was that Gotts?" Applejack asked as she stepped into the building, her head twisted about to look behind her. "Where's he off to in such a hurry?"

"I imagine he's looking to find the most expedient route off the planet's surface," Dest said as he went back to decorating the cookies.

Applejack turned around, and then her eyes centered on Daniels. "Danny! Good to see ya! We gotta situation!"

The mercenary looked down at his table, seeming curiously subdued. "Orks, right?"

"Naw, not Orks. Not yet, anyways," the farmer snorted, "all the livestock animals formed a circle 'round the North silo, and they keep chantin' some kind of spooky, mystical nonsense! Ah saw some kind of flickering, ethereal light comin' from inside, so Ah'm guessin' it's some kind of dark Chaos shenanigans." The orange mare explained, her eyes narrowing. "Now, Ah know it was either you or the fillies, and ya were supposed to be watchin' the fillies!"

Daniels was silent for several seconds, staring down at the pastry in front of him. "Your farm animals can talk?" he asked finally, glancing up at Applejack.

"Yeah? So?" she replied, not understanding the human's bewilderment.

A few more seconds of contemplative silence. "Can Winona talk?"

"What? No! She's a dog!" Applejack exclaimed, finding the notion appropriately absurd. Several other ponies, including Pinkie, snickered at the question.

Daniels stood up. "I... I need some air." He made a rather sedate pace for the exit, holding a hand to the side of his head.

Applejack looked concerned as the mercenary walked past her, her brow furrowing. "Daniels? Hey, ya alright?" The man didn't answer, exiting the shop as if in a daze. The apple farmer frowned, and then followed after him.

Pinkie wiped a hoof over her forehead, and then trotted off toward her room. "Welp, I've gotta prep for the NEXT alien invasion to threaten our entire planet! Toodles!" The Cakes rolled their eyes, already having planned for their helper's absence.

Dest finished with the cookies, and then slipped the tray into a glass display counter. "So now it's Orks, is it?" The Astartes grumbled, leaning against the counter.

Then he turned his gaze on a certain pegasus sitting near the corner and munching on a blueberry muffin.

"You know, when you think about it, this is actually YOUR fault for failing to deliver the artifact to the proper place."

Derpy Hooves perked up, a few crumbs dropping from her muzzle. Then her ears drooped sadly. "I just don't know what went wrong..."

"Awww, it's all right, sweetie," Mrs. Cake cooed, "Dest, be a dear and pull the fresh batch of muffins out of the oven, would you?"

The Chaos Marine sighed and headed to the back. "It's a wonder your species has survived as long as you have," he grumbled.

****

Ponyville - Fluttershy's cottage

Fluttershy had set a deliberately meandering pace back to her home. Her path wound ponderously through Ponyville's parks and markets, and contained several long breaks before eventually heading back to her cottage at a speed that could charitably be considered sluggish.

She told herself that she was merely trying to take in the tranquil, simple beauty of pony life, given the prospect of it all being exterminated soon, but she wasn't fooling herself.

She sighed and hung her head as her cottage came into view. Fluttershy didn't want to go back, but she had responsibilities. And keeping her animal friends happy and healthy took priority over her own fears.

No matter how justified those fears may be.

Fluttershy winced as she spotted the soot-stained furrows on the lawn outside her house. She swore Tellis landed that way on purpose, just to cause damage and disruption. She also saw that there were more skid marks than she remembered there were when she'd left, so that almost certainly meant that her unwanted housemate had returned.

The meek pegasus took a deep breath, allowing her sense of depressed resignation to swallow her fear of what new horrors awaited her inside. Whatever Tellis had done during her absence, and whatever he planned on doing while she was present, she would endure.

She didn't really have a choice.

Fluttershy pushed open the front door.

To her quiet approval, the sight that greeted her within her home was not so terrifying that it elicited a scream of horror. Tellis was in the living room, facing away from her, and stooped over a pile of bloody bones while muttering incoherently to himself.

Fluttershy had to stop and reflect upon the fact that the scene no longer ranked as scream-worthy to her. Apparently she had been exposed to so much real and serious danger recently that even she had become desensitized to grisly but otherwise harmless situations. She had mixed feelings about that.

"Huh? Oh, Shy, you're back. I didn't hear you scream when you came in," Tellis said as he turned around, "look, we need to talk."

Fluttershy blinked. This was new. "Uhm, okay. What's wrong?" she asked, idly pushing the front door closed with her leg.

Or as closed as it would get. It was still broken from Gaela's forced entrance.

Tellis crossed his arms over his chest, rattling the skulls that hung around his neck. "It's Mister Bear. That guy is out of control, and I think it's time you put your foot down. Hoof, I mean. Whatever."

Fluttershy wasn't given to sarcasm in general, and was constantly aware that Tellis could end her life with a whim and a swift kick. But even she couldn't keep her voice neutral after hearing that.

"Really. HE'S out of control?" Fluttershy asked flatly, an eyebrow arching.

"I'm serious, Shy! Just look at this!" he pointed toward the bones on the floor.

Fluttershy looked at the bones as requested. She wasn't as familiar with the biology of animals after they were dead, so she couldn't make a good guess at what the animal had been, but it did look fairly big. Bigger than a pony, at least.

"Okay. And what is this?" the pegasus asked wearily.

"That's my prisoner! Or what's left of it, anyway," Tellis complained.

"Gaela killed the one that you brought here first," Fluttershy noted with a slight hint of bitterness in her voice, "said that it would feed the animals that needed meat." She had briefly forgotten about that unpleasant episode, what with all the unpleasantness that had followed. Now it came rushing back to her, clouding her already low mood as she stared at its morbid results.

"Well, it worked. Worked too well, in fact," Tellis grumbled, "when I saw him eating the first one, I was surprised, but figured it didn't really matter. Thing is, Bear's developed a taste for the grays. I tried locking the other two in your room, but apparently he broke in there and ate them, too."

Fluttershy slapped a hoof against her face.

"Angel Bunny's in there too. Not to eat, but apparently he's trying to build a little bone fort. Which is actually pretty awesome, but I digress..."

Fluttershy's jaw tightened, and then she looked up at Tellis with a decidedly firm expression. "So what? Why do you care?"

The Raptor Lord was surprised by the response. "Why do I care? Shy, Mister Bear broke two major rules of the household: no killing on the property, and always clean up after you're done eating and/or completing dark rituals!"

Fluttershy's expression hardened further, and her teeth clenched. "So what? Why do you CARE?" she demanded.

"Well..." the Iron Warrior hesitated, confused by her sudden attitude, "don't you want to keep your place clean, at least? This is a flagrant breach of discipline, you know?"

"YOU'RE A FLAGRANT BREACH OF DISCIPLINE!!" Fluttershy suddenly screamed, pounding a hoof against the floor.

"...... I don't have a response to that," Tellis admitted, scratching the cheek of his helmet, "Shy? Something the matter? You're way less doormatty than usual."

"YES!! Yes, something's the matter, you psychotic nincompoop!" the normally meek pegasus shouted, leaping into the air and hovering right in front of the Iron Warrior. "We're going to die!"

Tellis cocked his head to one side. "Well, sure. That's mortality for ya. Did you stumble upon this fact recently, or...?"

"Not that, you... RRRRGH!!" Fluttershy held her head with her hooves in frustration. "YOU'RE not going to die! Just us! Just Ponyville, Canterlot, Manehattan, Cloudsdale, and every other place on this world! YOU'LL be out in space, already on your way to screw up the next planet you find!"

"... I'm not following you," Tellis mumbled, "is it something I did? I'm not used to causing planet-wide extinction by accident, but these things can happen, I guess."

"You FAILED, you idiot!" Fluttershy screamed. She knew that she was well into hysterics now, releasing emotions she never meant to let out to precisely the worst person to vent on, but the dam had broken and the outpour wouldn't stop. "They trusted you! My friends all thought that if there was ONE THING you FREAKS could do right, you could at least stop the Tau from finishing their own mission! But you screwed it up, and now Orks are going to come and kill all of us!"

Fluttershy was crying now as she raged at him, tears trickling down her sneering face while she flailed her hooves in the air. Tellis was hardly new to having females sobbing and screaming in front of him, but normally this was both a direct and deliberate result of his actions.

"Uhm..." the Raptor Lord offered as Fluttershy gasped for breath.

"So then what was the point?!" the pegasus shrieked. "You dragged us into your stupid war and nearly got poor Big Mac killed and made us sneak into a base and destroyed half of Canterlot, and for WHAT?! What good are you and all your awful weapons and horrible gods when we can't even count on you to win?!"

"Err..." Tellis tried.

Fluttershy grabbed hold of the Raptor's helmet with her forelegs and glared angrily through her tears into the glowing red lenses of his visor. "You're USELESS! You didn't stop the Tau, you can't stop the Orks, and now all you worthless psychotics are going to run off into space while me and everything I've ever loved are destroyed by rampaging aliens! So YES!! SOMETHING IS THE MATTER, AND I AM QUITE UPSET ABOUT IT!! DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?!"

Tellis, in his confusion and bewilderment, found himself without anything to say, in fact. So he fell back on an old default response.

"Blood for the... Blood... God?"

Fluttershy screamed incoherently, and then reared back a foreleg to slap him.

Now, Tellis may have been bested by Rainbow Dash in terms of agility and speed, but Fluttershy wasn't Rainbow Dash. In the time it took the yellow pegasus to move her hoof from the cocked position to the cheek of his helmet, he could have ripped her into three pieces, with one hand, without even using his lightning claws.

He didn't do that.

But he didn't move, either.

Fluttershy wailed in pain as her foreleg connected with the shell of daemon-forged adamantium. In her fury she had once wrestled a bear into submission, and that hidden strength hadn't budged the Chaos Lord one millimeter.

She turned away and floated upstairs, sobbing and gasping while she cradled her bruised foreleg. She didn't look back at Tellis, and although the Iron Warrior watched her go, he didn't otherwise make a move or sound.

Fluttershy entered her bedroom, and then slammed the door behind her.

****

Ponyville - Golden Oaks park

Daniels sat on a park bench, elbows resting on his legs as he stared out at the grassy fields and playgrounds.

Several fillies were playing in a space filled with sand and equipment.

He knew some of them. Sweetie Belle was talking to a small cluster of young ponies, making grand gestures and beckoning to the sky. Apple Bloom was staring at a wasp's nest at a proximity that nobody but a Nurglite would deem safe. Scootaloo was beating up some colt twice her size, slamming his head into a tree over and over while he cried for his mother.

On the other side of the playground, Jacob was helping push several young ponies who were on the swings. Lyra stood by with an expression of pride as she talked to several other mares walking their pets, oblivious to their uneasy expressions.

In the middle of the park, ponies took long, luxurious walks through the shaded paths, one of which passed right in front of his bench. Some of them stopped to point and stare at Daniels. Sometimes he'd wave to them. They always waved back.

The mercenary shifted to reach behind him, and he pulled out his rail rifle. He laid it across his legs, staring at the words etched into the side of the casing. Love and Tolerate.

A joke. A message of hope and benevolence etched into a machine made to end lives, in the possession of a man whose only passions were money and alcohol and obtained both with contractual murder. It was a wonderful irony, his own small jab at the casual cruelty of a galaxy that had raised him without either love or tolerance, and then slowly stripped him of life's other comforts. The Dark Techpriest had thought it was funny. Even more so when he'd told her that the ponies seemed to take the creed seriously.

He didn't think it was very funny anymore.

"You look depressed, soldier."

Daniels looked behind him.

"Master Delgan," the mercenary mumbled, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

The Trademaster looked slightly refreshed from his earlier state, but still carried his weapons and xenotech bracers. Were he in a better mood, Daniels probably would have been observing the articles closely and trying to guess at their value, but he wasn't in such a mood.

"You owe it to misery, soldier, which I hear enjoys company," Delgan said evenly, walking up behind the bench and staring out at the playground, "aren't you going to join your friend in playing with the equines?"

Daniels grimaced, leaning back with his hands resting on his weapon. "Nah. No point in getting attached now. Well, more attached, anyway..."

Delgan glanced down at the man, and then clasped his hands behind his back. "You know, then. I wonder if they do," he jutted his chin toward the ponies playing in the park.

"Maybe," Daniels murmured, "Pinkie and AJ knew, and they didn't seem especially bothered."

"That will change," Delgan said calmly, watching as the mercenary in the playground helped a few colts to climb a tree, "the realities of war will reach them, and their hope will be broken. And soon after, they will be too."

Daniels didn't respond.

"You pity them, don't you?" the Trademaster asked.

"You don't?" the mercenary replied, his tone tinged with bitterness.

"Compassion is a weakness, soldier. I cannot afford to show weakness."

Daniels chuckled humorlessly. "I never thought there'd be something I could afford that you couldn't, Master Delgan."

He pointed at a tall tree. "I can see it now. That tree, covered in scaffolding to make a gun tower. Shootas and grots packed tight behind the barricade, shooting into the houses. Laughing all the while." He turned his head toward the center of town. "Rokks hitting ground in the square. Boyz spilling out by the dozens." Then he spread a hand toward the path out toward Sweet Apple Acres. "Meanwhile, a convoy of trukks and wartrakks come down the road, shooting at everything they see, whether it moves or not. Pieces of Tau and our gunships are bolted onto the sides, looted from the scrap pile in the barn. Some of the Orks are using the Tau pulse rifles as makeshift clubs."

"You've seen this before," Delgan drawled, interrupting the increasingly bleak imagery.

"The end of planets? Yeah. Twice to the Orks. Once to the Tyranids. Twice to the Imperium itself. And three times to..." Daniels trailed off.

"Chaos?" Delgan guessed, watching as the man's jaw tightened. "And which side were you on when you saw those invasions?"

"... It varied," Daniels grunted after a pause, "probably wouldn't be so damn torn up about it if it were us doing this, but it isn't. Funny, that."

Delgan considered the idea. "If we were the ones pillaging and killing Centaur III, it would be an act of purpose; we would be slaying others to further ourselves and survive by gathering resources."

Daniels snorted. "I stopped trying to justify my job ages ago, Master Delgan."

"Even so," the Trademaster continued, "the coming massacre of these creatures serves no purpose. To the Tau, it was an unfortunate side-effect of a much larger strategy. To the Orks... well, their killing is an end in itself."

"Another damn planet thrown away and drowned in blood because nobody needed it," Daniels spat, "I've seen too many."

"And you'll see many more," the Trademaster assured him, "so long as you live long enough. Such is the life of the pirate and hired rifle."

"Even so," Daniels grumbled, "this one feels different, somehow. Worse."

Delgan sighed deeply. "Well, as much as I'm enjoying this bright and uplifting conversation, I have an appointment to keep. I've been asked to detail for Lady Sparkle exactly how doomed they are, and in what particular ways. Good day, Mister Daniels."

"So long, Master Delgan," Daniels mumbled. Then, after a second, he added, "And good luck."

****

Ponyville - Twilight's library

"Ah, Mister Delgan! Welcome!" Rarity said brightly as Spike let the man in. "I'm so glad you found the time to meet with us after all!"

Delgan said nothing as he stepped into the library, giving a brief nod to acknowledge the young dragon.

"You can put your weapons over there," Spike advised him, pointing to the metal crate that had become the library's temporary weapon storage (given that so many people who came in were armed nowadays).

Delgan glanced over at the space, and then rested his hands on the grips of his power swords. "That's all right. I won't be here too long, I hope."

Rarity frowned. "You never used to wander about Ponyville so heavily armed."

"I become somewhat paranoid whenever I'm faced with an imminent doomsday scenario, Lady Rarity," Delgan explained curtly, "you'll have to forgive me my nervous habits."

Rarity gave Spike a meaningful look, and the young dragon nodded emphatically, impressed at how perfectly Rarity had interpreted Delgan's behavior from before.

Rarity was seated next to a small desk, and she tapped the top of it with a hoof. "Well, feel free to make yourself comfortable. Twilight will be with us shortly, but she's busy... well... trying to come up with a plan to save the world." She batted her eyes at Spike. "Can we get some tea going, Spikey Wikey?"

Delgan sat down as Spike rushed off to the kitchen.

"So," Rarity began promptly, "I remember you telling me some time ago that you mainly deal in trade, not murder." The unicorn raised an eyebrow, "That's not what it looked like in the throne room."

Delgan's expression was schooled more carefully than normal, and Rarity decided that her attempt at small talk was making him more nervous rather than less.

"I do not... advertise my combat skills," Delgan admitted stiffly, "they're most useful when others are unaware of them." Then he held up an arm, displaying the bracer. "Also, no small measure of my combat prowess is thanks to my equipment. Eldar-made combat bracers, reflex boosters, and power swords forged by the Warsmith himself," he explained, "in war, like all things, wealth provides a critical edge."

"Is it hard to keep up when you're surrounded by super-soldiers?" Rarity asked as Spike brought in their tea.

"It's rarely an issue," he answered, looking away, "I'm not usually delivered into active war zones. Still, combat tends to reach every corner of a pirate fleet, so it pays to know how to handle a blade."

Rarity quirked an eyebrow as she poured some tea for the man across from her. "If you're rarely deployed into combat, why did you come with us into Canterlot? Surely there was no shortage of troopers available."

Another pause, still facing away. Delgan's face was nearly inscrutable, but Rarity had largely unraveled the way his mind worked.

"Were you trying to impress us?" the snow-colored pony asked, leaning back in her seat as she poured some tea for herself.

Delgan's cheek twitched to make a half-grimace. "It seemed that it could only be to my benefit if I was seen personally assisting in the liberation of your capital. Particularly in front of the Princesses."

Then Rarity gasped as she levitated her cup up to her muzzle. "Oh! Delgan, are you embarrassed about running away from Voidsong?"

The Trademaster didn't answer right away, picking up his teacup (adorably small in a grown man's hand) and taking a quick gulp.

"I imagine it did not leave a stunning impression," he mumbled bitterly.

Rarity laughed lightly, pressing a hoof to her chest. "Mister Delgan. As gallant as it would have been for you to leap to our rescue and slay the enemy commander, let's be reasonable." She levitated her cup to her lips and took a sip of tea before she continued. "That alien harpy took apart Warsmith Solon like a piece of bad stitching. What were we going to expect you to do about it?"

Spike blinked, recalling Solon's image. Then he recalled the battlesuit that had introduced itself in the throne room.

His eyes bulged. "Wait, SHE beat Solon?!"

Rarity took another sip of tea. "Oh, yes. Quite soundly. Shot him apart piece by piece, put a few holes in him, and then cut off his head for good measure. Then she hacked up Gaela too, just because she could."

Spike was stunned. "So... they... I mean, are they... uh..."

"They'll be fine," Delgan said, tiring of the dragon's stuttering, "both Iron Warriors and Dark Mechanicus handle dismemberment with exceptional grace."

Spike probably would have asked for further details about the fight, but was suddenly interrupted by a triumphant shout from above.

"I'VE GOT IT!!"

Pony, human, and dragon all looked up as Twilight staggered down the stairs, a stack of papers settled precariously on her back. Her mane had the distinctly frayed look it possessed when she was working on something to the verge of a nervous breakdown, but she was also smiling victoriously.

"You've got what? All your affairs in order?" Spike asked.

Twilight glared at him immediately. "Spike, if an alien horde tramples all of pony civilization, then obviously all matters of inheritance and interment become a moot point! Do you think I hadn't thought of that?"

She didn't give her assistant time to answer, instead hopping down onto the ground floor. She promptly snapped her attention to Delgan and Rarity as the papers fluttered down into place on her back, settling between her wings.

"I have a plan! A grand strategy that will save almost all of ponykind for an indefinite period of time without aid from the 38th Company!"

Twilight spread her wings, and pieces of paper went flying everywhere. She didn't seem to notice.

"I've accounted for everything! Food, water, sewage, generational expansion! The latter of which was surprisingly easy! Did you know that the gender ratio of Equestria suggests a persistent population decline when modeled mathematically? It's kind of funny, when you think about it!"

"Twilight, darling, back up, please," Rarity said as she put down her tea.

Twilight paused and took several steps backward.

"No, I meant metaphorically," Rarity huffed, "you really found a way to beat the Orks?"

"No! That's completely impossible!" Twilight announced with an eerily happy voice. "But I DID devise models for several magical shelters that can be constructed within two weeks to hide the entire pony population of the planet from the invaders! Storm barriers to protect the pegasi shelter! An environmentally-modified earthen vault for the earth ponies! A massive extra-dimensional planar rift for the unicorns! Teleport gates to link them together! Subterranean farms! Mass-condensation cloud factories! We're going to be just fine, kind of!"

Spike picked up one of the sheets of paper, reluctantly impressed.

The alicorn's eye twitched. "Of course, this plan IS tantamount to abandoning the planet to the Orks, true! And it does mean that pretty much all non-pony life forms will face the Ork threat alone and perish, which is, of course, horrible! But aside from those two extremely important flaws, the plan is foolproof! Without magic-users of their own, the Orks will never be able to get us!"

Delgan finished his cup of tea, and then set the empty cup down. "The Orks do have psykers, though."

"GYAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!"

Rarity and Spike flinched as Twilight reared back and screamed at the ceiling, her papers spilling off of her back and onto the floor.

Twilight took a deep, gasping breath, and then she flew straight into Delgan's face, seizing it between her hooves. His hands twitched toward his power swords, but to his credit he restrained himself.

"This is insane! There's absolutely no way! We're doomed! All is lost! Game over, mare, GAME OVER!" the purple pony screamed into Delgan's partially reconstructed face.

"Is it really necessary for me to be here?" he asked blithely. "It seems like you have an excellent grasp of the situation already."

Rarity wondered not for the first time why she ever let Twilight stick around when they needed something from the Trademaster. "Twilight, calm down! You're embarrassing yourself! And me! And Spike! And probably Celestia as well, just from association!"

Twilight hopped down from the human, but she was still breathing hard and looked decidedly unhinged. "You humans have fought the Orks before, right?"

"Extensively," Delgan answered, leaning as far back away from the Princess as he could.

"Well, how do you deal with it when you have NINE POINT SEVEN BILLION of them heading for you?" she demanded.

"When we have sufficient warning?" Delgan asked. "We station nine point eight billion soldiers on the planet to defend it."

Silence.

"Really?" Spike eventually asked. Honestly, he barely had a concept of what a billion of anything looked like. He could hardly imagine an army of that size.

"Well, if it's Imperial and important enough, anyway," Delgan amended, "even then, it doesn't always work. Estimations of Ork fleet size are terribly unreliable."

Rarity considered that. "Unreliable enough that nine billion might end up being nine hundred?"

"I won't dignify that with an answer."

Twilight shook her head, looking slightly less frazzled as her mind went from panic mode to a more soothing and logical question-and-answer pacing.

"Okay, so if you don't HAVE billions of soldiers to fight back, THEN what do you do?" the purple pony asked.

"You do exactly what I'm doing," Delgan said with a barely detectable tone of regret, "dump all your on-world assets and take to the void."

Spike raised a hand. "Hey, uh... I know that we've been trying to avoid talking about it, but... is there any way we can do that too?"

Twilight glared at him again, but said nothing.

Delgan, for his part, merely shrugged. "Sure."

Rarity looked startled at that. "What? Really?"

"If by 'we' you're referring to the individuals in this room," the Trademaster clarified. "You're all intelligent enough to be useful, and we always have roles for psykers that would join the fleet. I would be happy to take you onto my team."

Then he cleared his throat. "Of course, the deal becomes more difficult the more ponies you wish to save. I would not be so pleased to take some of your friends into my staff; your pegasi friends in particular would not be especially useful to me. And then there's your other friends and family. Would you be willing to leave them behind? I only have so much time to conduct 'interviews', after all."

Twilight and Rarity's ears fell flat as they considered the matter, and Spike quickly deflated.

"So something like mass relocation is out of the question?" Twilight asked tenderly.

"Even if we would take a substantial portion of your population somewhere else, where would we take them? The first place we're headed to after we leave the system is a daemonic fortress world to off-load our resources. After that we're striking out again to seek vulnerable worlds to plunder. Do you think you'll be well-treated if we sack a city and then drop you all off to settle in the ruins among the survivors?" Implicit in Delgan's point was the fact that the Iron Warriors weren't going to go out of their way to drop off a colony of ponies on top of caring for them until then.

Twilight shook her head. "You're right. We can't give up and abandon this planet. There HAS to be a way."

"I'm not saying that," Delgan said stiffly as he shifted in his seat, "but I will help lay out the various unpleasant options for you."

Twilight took a deep breath, and she tapped a hoof against her forehead. "Okay. It's time to get my head back in the game. I tried to make a plan without doing my research, and all I did was waste four hours."

She looked up at Delgan. "I got some dataslates from your store, but none of them had information on Orks. Just technologies like Warp travel and lasers and psionics. I need to know the enemy."

Delgan suppressed a sigh, resigned to his role as advisor. "What do you want to know about them?"

"EVERYTHING," Twilight insisted.

"Then we're going to need more tea."

****

Ponyville - Sugarcube Corner

Dest pushed his way outside through the back door, carrying a garbage bag in each hand as he hauled the trash to the dumpster.

As soon as he got to within ten meters of the metal bins, he threw each of the trash bags toward them. Each one-handed toss landed the cargo perfectly within the dumpsters, and the resulting vibration knocked the dumpster lid closed, as well.

"Woo-hoo! Six points!" Pinkie Pie cheered from the second-story window briefly. Then she ducked back inside, apparently finished contributing to the trash removal process.

Dest chuckled as he turned back to the bakery, but then paused as he heard the sound of heavy footfalls approaching.

The rhino driver was very surprised to see Tellis walking through town toward him. Mostly because Tellis never seemed to walk anywhere when he could be blasting through the air, but also because he had no particular relationship with the other Iron Warrior, despite being the only other Astartes currently in Ponyville.

"Hey, you. Uh..." Tellis stopped to check the identifier tag through his visor. "Dest. I need to talk to you."

The other Chaos Marine was on his guard in an instant, but then relaxed. Tellis was acting somewhat subdued, and frankly, if the Raptor Lord wanted to harm him then there was extremely little Dest could do to stop it.

"Yes, Lord? How may I serve?"

Tellis stopped to look back and forth, confirming that there was nobody else around.

"So, uh... you hear about the Orks?"

"I have, Lord."

Tellis scratched at the back of his helmet, generating an awful screech from the scrape of metal on metal.

"Yeah. I kinda just learned about 'em. We kinda screwed up, huh?" the Khornate asked.

Dest raised an eyebrow. This conversation was getting stranger every moment.

"I must disagree, Lord. We have no responsibility to foil the Tau or protect this world. We would have if we'd had the chance, but the doom of this planet is not our fault."

Dest grunted, folding his arms over his chest as he stared up at the setting sun. "That said, I do regret the fate of this planet, and will be most displeased to leave it."

Tellis glanced over to the dumpsters, and then back at the helmetless driver. "You like doing this? This is damn petty stuff even for mortals, dude."

Dest's expression remained unchanged. "I suppose it is. And yet my Legion function is as a glorified ferrier. Another petty task that could easily be completed by mortal hands. The main difference, I've found, is that in my current, temporary occupation, my efforts are rewarded and appreciated to some small degree. I find it a... pleasant change."

Tellis grunted, and then moved over to a small retaining wall that divided the rear of the bakery's property from the rest of the space beyond. He sat down on it, and Dest could hear the masonry crack as it struggled to support the Raptor's weight.

"Okay, fine. Whatever. That's not what I'm here to talk about," Tellis mumbled, "it's just..."

A long pause.

"Well, Fluttershy kind of chewed me out for us screwing up the siege and dooming the planet," Tellis admitted, "ever since, I've been getting these... things."

"Things, Lord?"

A low growl came from Tellis' vox grille. "I don't know what to call them. They're like... little impulses. Like I get when I kill something, or come up with a really good zinger. But not as... fun."

"I believe those are called 'feelings', Lord Tellis," Dest drawled.

The Raptor Lord recoiled. "What? No way! I'm not supposed to have those!"

"You're not the only one who's surprised," the driver noted, "is there a particular reason you're sharing this with me?"

"Because we're both Astartes and Iron Warriors, ya know?" Tellis reasoned. "Common origin, and all that. I mean, I can't share this stuff with Dash. She's a pony. A CHICK pony. She wouldn't get it."

"I don't get it, either. My fondness for this place is practical and forthright: I rather enjoy laboring here, find the inhabitants universally inoffensive, and generally dislike my Legion duties. I'm not sure any of those conditions apply to you, Lord."

Tellis grumbled something under his helmet.

"... But I suppose we do have common ground, at the same time," Dest allowed, "we both chose to live among the ponies when we had the opportunity. We both have... difficulty relating to our Iron Warrior peers, albeit for very different reasons. And we both seem to care what happens to this planet."

"Whoa, hey, I didn't say that," Tellis countered, "if the Orks stomp this place flat, whatever. Blood and skulls, ya know?"

Dest rolled his eyes and turned away. "Then I can think of no reason for your so-called 'feelings'. After all, if the Blood God is pleased, is that not all that matters?"

"Well, yeah," Tellis mumbled to the driver's backpack as Dest walked back toward the house, "I mean, isn't it?"

"I wouldn't know, Lord. I've never been very interested in Khorne's creed. But that aside, us homo sapiens have always been more true to ourselves than our gods or other masters would like." He reached the back door and opened it up. "Good night, Lord Tellis."

****

Sweet Apple Acres

Applejack grunted as she walked out of the North silo. She was quite dirty, and had a bucket hanging from her jaw that contained cleaning supplies and a lot of revolting-looking fluid.

Standing in front of the silo in a cluster were the farm's pigs, sheep, and cows. Applejack took a few moments to glare at them before she dropped the bucket in front of her.

"All right, move along! Nothin' to see here! Ah cleaned out them glyphs and covered up the glowy bits, so this silo's clean! No more dark worship to be had here!"

"AAAWWWWWW..." a disappointed chorus came from the assembled barnyard animals.

"But, the voices!" protested one sheep, her eye twitching frequently. "The voices said-"

She was interrupted by a bemused orange pony staring down at her barely an inch away.

"The only voice you oughta be worried about is MINE, askin' why y'all ain't in yer pens. Now GIT!"

The animals quailed and quickly retreated back to their sleeping areas.

"And tomorrow Ah'm gonna be comin' around to clean off all those silly marks y'all drew on yerselves!" Applejack shouted after them. "Fer Apple's sake, this is a farm, not a daggone cursed temple!"

Still muttering under her breath, Applejack started to head back to the farmstead when she spotted a familiar figure standing next to the road.

Quirking an eyebrow, she adjusted course and picked up the pace.

"Hey, Daniels! Ya lost or somethin'?" Applejack asked as she approached the mercenary.

Daniels looked up at her, and then quickly averted his gaze. "No, that's not... uh..."

As he trailed off, the orange mare walked up and sat down on her haunches, staring up at him with a decidedly cool expression.

Daniels eventually organized his thoughts, and he looked down at Applejack.

"Look, I'm... sorry about before. I kind of lost my senses for a while there. Didn't mean to brush you off like that, AJ."

She tilted her head to one side. "No problem, Danny. But aren't ya the one that's dealt with this kinda thing before?"

Daniels nodded hesitantly. "Well... yeah. That's why, actually. I know what you're in for. It's... It's not pretty."

Applejack snorted. "Well, save it fer Twilight fer now. Ah still got plenty of alien junk on mah farm as it is, and Ah don't wanna hear about the next batch comin' fer us."

Daniels winced. "Uh, yeah. Speaking of which... is it okay if I crash here again tonight? Nema and Gotts kind of took off with the transport, and I don't know anybody in Master Delgan's deployment."

Applejack frowned. "Daniels, Ah am INSULTED," she began, her face shifting into a scowl, "that ya think ya need to ask! Ah owe ya way too much to even think of leavin' ya out in the cold! C'mon!"

Daniels let out a relieved sigh, and then started to follow the orange pony toward the house.

They were interrupted, however, by a sharp crackling sound that seemed to come from all around them. Daniels immediately gripped his pulse pistol, and Applejack's eyes darted all around nervously as the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

Both of them relaxed when a dark flare of magical power appeared briefly next to the farmstead, depositing a familiar pony into the area with a rather understated popping noise.

"Big Mac!" Applejack said cheerfully.

The crimson stallion jerked to attention immediately, whirling his head around and looking unreasonably surprised to see his sister standing in front of their home.

Big Macintosh looked rather out of sorts, with his mane and fur quite messy for somepony who HADN'T been working on a farm all day for once. He also had a large, open-topped crate next to him which held the pieces of his power armor.

"Ha! Looks like the Princess put ya through yer paces!" Applejack laughed as she trotted up to the elder Apple. "What'd she have ya do, anyway? Ya look like ya spent the whole day plowin' or somethin'!"

Big Mac opened his mouth, thought the better of it, and then closed his mouth without uttering a word.

"Hey, is that your armor?" Daniels asked, looking into the crate.

"Yeah. Looks like they fixed it up, too," Applejack said approvingly, letting her previous question go unanswered.

"Oh? Did it take a lot of damage?"

"Sure did! Ah saw it happen right in front o'me, too! Nearly gave me a heart attack!" Applejack complained.

She was about to continue, but paused when she saw something dark in her brother's mane.

"Hold on, Mac, ya got something up in here..." she sifted a hoof through his golden-orange hair, and a night-blue feather fell out onto the ground.

"There ya go," Applejack said, moving on without pausing to consider the piece of detritus. Big Mac's eyes tracked left and right nervously, and he continued to remain still and silent as Daniels and his sister walked past him.

"Anyway, like Ah was sayin', mah bro was gettin' real into the fight back there. Was actually gettin' a little scary, the way he was snappin' and thrashin' about like a timberwolf on fire. So then he rushes out ahead o'the Iron Warriors..."

Big Mac waited until they had entered the farmstead, and then breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

Moving around the crate, he began to tilt it over in order to get the hefty container onto his back.

He paused as he spotted the dark feather lying in the dirt underneath him, barely visible in the darkness thanks the dim lumen strips affixed to the farmstead bunker.

Stopping to glance about again, Big Macintosh quickly picked up the feather in his mouth and spat it into the crate.

Then he shifted his head under the container to lift it up and slide it onto his back.

Without further delay, the Apple stallion headed into the farmstead and up toward his room, wondering all the while if he might find opportunities to take more trips into Canterlot in the near future.

****

Canterlot Castle - royal baths

Celestia sighed as she levitated a towel over her mane, wrapping it up into a pastel-colored bundle.

Glancing out a window, she saw the moon high in the sky, and glowing brightly. The white Princess nodded in silent approval, and decided that she'd check up on Luna before retiring for the night. Her younger sister had been handling the recent outbreak of intergalactic hostilities quite well, but these were extraordinary times and the royal house needed to be seen working in concert and to its fullest capacity. She also wanted to know if Luna was planning on continuing her dream world espionage on the 38th Company; at this point, Celestia wasn't sure if it would yield any more useful information, given that the Iron Warriors certainly planned to flee the coming invasion. Luna's time was probably better spent attending to the administrative details of tending to Canterlot's rebuilding, or brainstorming on possible solutions to the coming war.

Celestia reached for the door, but paused as she heard the pounding of incoming hooves on the other side.

She barely had time to dodge out of the way before the door burst open in front of her.

"Tia! Thou art still sensate! Excellent!" Luna crowed, grinning as a scroll floated behind her in the grip of her magic.

Celestia recoiled again. Luna was practically prancing from hoof to hoof, and was naked. Well, more naked than usual. Her shoes and collar were missing, although her crown was sitting awkwardly atop the unkempt mess that currently described her mane. There were shooting stars zig-zagging everywhere through the shadowy, ethereal pool of hair, and she swore she could see at least a dozen twinkling lights going supernova.

"Luna, are you okay?" Celestia asked uncertainly. The dark alicorn certainly seemed pleased, and as far as she was aware there was little cause for excitement as of late.

"We art better than okay!" Luna proclaimed, pushing the scroll forward. "But We wished thee to see this before thy rest! We hast sent a communique to the Warsmith, and he hath responded to our summons! Come tomorrow noon, the leadership of the 38th shalt meet with us for a strategy conference! We hast sent word to the Elements of Harmony, and shalt adjust our sleep schedule to prepare!"

"Wait, wait, wait! Luna!" Celestia scowled. "We haven't even gotten the last of their soldiers out of our capital, and you're already arranging new meetings with them?"

"Aye!" the younger alicorn said brightly, either ignorant or indifferent to her sister's ire. "There is no point in delay! Every second will count if we are to turn away the green tide!"

Celestia pursed her lips. "Luna, I don't believe the humans are going to help. And I must confess that I'm in no mood for yet another conference with alien soldiers. The last two went poorly enough."

Luna considered pointing out that her meeting with the Iron Warriors had gone badly mostly because Celestia had decided ahead of time that she wanted nothing to do with them, but she resisted the impulse. The last thing she wanted to do was start an argument right before her sister went to bed.

"This is a necessity of war, Tia," Luna insisted. She tried to make a serious expression, but it merely reduced her grin to a smirk. "I hast meditated on the matter and sought counsel on how to best ensure our survival and the continued prosperity of our world."

She magically rolled up the scroll and then stuck it into an empty towel basket. "No matter what thee thinks of the servants of Chaos, their experience in the ways of war and the green mongrels in particular are extensive. To deny their aid would be foolish, Sister."

Celestia's wings ruffled irritably. "And at what cost to us will their aid come?"

"We will not know until we meet them, Sister. But We do not believe that Equestria can prevail alone," Luna countered, "and even if they art to take to the void and leave us to our fate, we would be best served to hear of their plans from them, would we not?"

The elder alicorn mulled over the argument silently for a time, finding very little to object to in her sister's plea. Her expression softened, and she nodded her head. "You're right. Again," she admitted with a sad smile, "I apologize for being such a coward, Luna. But my first instinct where Chaos is concerned is always resistance."

"And a wise instinct it is, Sister," Luna said with a nod, "but whether by fortune or nature, these sapiens art not our enemy. It is the Tau Empire that hath doomed our world in service to their 'Greater Good', and the Ork fiends that drive toward our world thirsting for war. The Iron Warriors hath tolerated our interests thus far."

"We'll see how long that lasts," Celestia mumbled, "but thank you for doing this. I've been completely overwhelmed since last night, but to be sure we cannot afford to stand still. Too much depends on us."

She nuzzled her sister across the cheek, and then paused and wrinkled her snout.

Luna realized what was wrong, and she chuckled as she trotted past the larger alicorn. "Excuse us, Sister. We must wash before holding court tonight."

"Yes, please do," Celestia mumbled wryly, "you reek of sweat... and..." she tilted her head to one side in confusion. "And... apples?"

"Aye," Luna said brightly as she magically yanked a towel over her withers and headed for the baths, "We had one earlier. Rest well, Sister."

****

Ferrous Dominus - Trixie's room

"You've been awfully touchy-feely since Trixie returned, Suuna," Trixie mumbled awkwardly, "Trixie is beginning to feel weird about this."

The awkwardness was no doubt because she had been suddenly hoisted up off the floor and was being hugged tightly against her assistant's chest. It wasn't uncomfortable, strictly speaking, and wasn't as if Suuna didn't spend plenty of time rubbing the unicorn on command, but the spontaneity was throwing Trixie off a bit. She had been scooped up off her hooves the very moment she had finished removing her armor.

"F-Forgive me, Mistress," Suuna stuttered, "I'm just... very happy to see you home safe!"

The palpable relief in her voice, as well as the sentiment itself, briefly rendered Trixie speechless. Having a real home at all was quite rare for her, much less someone to welcome her back after an absence.

Suuna still wasn't letting go, however.

"You simply disappeared yesterday! I was too scared to leave the room to search for you at first, but then even after the planet rotation began again you still didn't come back! And then we ran out of food so I had to leave, and then I asked around and heard you were deployed!" Suuna couldn't keep a few tears from squeezing out as she squeezed the blue pony tighter. "I was terrified! If something happened to you, I don't know what I'd do!"

"Yes, well, Trixie must apologize for failing to provide notice of Trixie's departure," Trixie said, shifting as best she could so that the squeezing didn't constrict her breathing, "unfortunately, Trixie's mission was a surprise to Trixie, as well. Being so Great and Powerful can be a curse as well as a blessing, sometimes." The blue unicorn coughed meaningfully. "Speaking of which: as amazing and enchantingly beautiful as Trixie is, certainly you must find yourself hard-pressed to restrain yourself. But Trixie must ask that you put her down now."

Suuna did so. Eventually.

"You didn't get hurt, did you? I mean, your armor looks okay, so you probably didn't, but-"

"Suuna," Trixie interrupted, causing the young woman to fall silent, "Trixie is unharmed. Cool your bits." She spent a moment stretching and shaking out her tail. "The armor Solon made is excellent, but Trixie wishes it wasn't so constricting. It is particularly annoying to have Trixie's tail bundled up in the back. It feels good to get out of it for a while."

Suuna frowned. "I can't believe that the Company made you fight a battle as soon as they outfitted with an armor suit! You're an entertainer!"

Trixie raised an eyebrow at her.

"... Well, okay, I suppose it isn't actually that surprising," the former slave promptly admitted, "but still. It's bad."

"Trixie is displeased too, but must admit that Trixie should have seen it coming," the unicorn sighed as she levitated her helmet up and stared into the blood-red lenses. "Still, the Great and Powerful Trixie always makes the most of a bad situation. The tale of Trixie's victory in Canterlot, saving the Princess from the vile Tau and restoring the planet of Centaur III to its natural - if entirely magic-managed - state, shall surely make a fine addition to Trixie's act!"

The unicorn paused, rubbing her chin with her hoof. "Trixie will have to come up with a prologue that explains this world's unique nature if Trixie is going to tell the story on other planets, though. Trixie was unaware that other solar systems were so different."

"Why would you be giving a show on other planets?" Suuna asked.

"Because this one is going to be tragically short on audiences soon," Trixie said with a snort. Then she paused. "Unless Orks like magic shows." She looked up at her assistant. "Do Orks like magic shows?"

Suuna was staring at her with wide eyes and gaping mouth.

"Ah. Trixie sees you hadn't heard. Yeah, so it turns out that the Tau's big plan was to lure a bunch of Orks here with their fancy Warp-space transmitter thingy, and away from their own planets. And apparently they succeeded."

Suuna still looked stunned, so Trixie took that as her cue to keep talking, as usual.

"Trixie's heart bleeds for her homeworld, but will do her part to help it live on in the bardic tradition," the showmare said, beckoning with a hoof toward empty air, "she will tell grand tales of its wonder and majesty, and put on magic puppet shows about Twilight Sparkle's presumably noble defense of the planet and subsequently fatal mauling! Trixie was thinking of doing it in limerick form."

Suuna sat down stiffly, hugging herself silently.

"... Trixie couldn't help but notice you're taking news of this world's impending destruction much worse than Trixie is," the unicorn pointed out.

"I was looking forward to leaving the fleet with you," Suuna mumbled, trying to keep the disappointment from her voice, "this planet is... well, nice. Nicer than my home world, even. And you're the first creature to show me any real kindness since my family was killed." She couldn't keep the bitterness out of her tone now. "And now your home's been ripped apart by warfare between Tau and Chaos, all to prepare for being swarmed by Orks." Tears started to crawl down her face. "I'm sorry, Mistress Trixie. I'm so sorry. You were all so happy here, safe and isolated, and now... we've ruined it. We've ruined EVERYTHING."

Trixie stared up at Suuna, looking singularly unimpressed.

"Trixie rejects your useless pity," the unicorn said flatly.

Suuna seemed surprised, and she watched as Trixie trotted away toward the recently-installed kitchen section of her room.

"Feel free to sob over the fate of the REST of ponykind if you must, but Trixie is going to survive and thrive, Orks or no. Trixie has cast her lot in with you space people, and does not regret doing so. It hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows - in fact, both those things are exceptionally rare here - but Trixie's life has never been easy, and Trixie wouldn't have it any other way." She levitated a jar of oats off the counter along with some sugar purchased from the dessert shop. "Besides, you've done nothing wrong. The 38th Company hasn't even done anything wrong. Well, in this specific instance, at least."

"But still," Suuna mumbled uncomfortably, "if you could just be left alone..."

"Personally, Trixie wished just the Tau would have left us alone, but things are not so convenient." She dumped some sugar onto the oats, and then stuck her her muzzle into the sack, chomping away.

Suuna waited until she finished chewing and swallowed. "So, what are we going to do? Is there any way to save this planet?"

The blue pony ran her tongue over her lips. "What WE'RE going to do is our jobs. Trixie is employed by the Iron Warriors now, and intends to continue being employed by them long enough to be carried away from here if necessary." Her jaw tightened. "As for Trixie's planet... well, Trixie isn't expecting miracles, but Sparkle has managed some pretty impressive victories in the past, or so Trixie hears. And she has the backing of the royal family, a spirit of Chaos, the Elements of Harmony, as well as some influence here among you humans. Even Trixie would aid her, so long as there were SOME real chance of success. She might yet find a way out of this."

****

Ponyville - Twilight's library

Twilight pushed aside the empty can of nutrient paste and dabbed at her muzzle with a cloth. Her eyes never left the dataslate placed on her desk as she finished cleaning up after dinner, just as they had hardly left the dataslate while she had been eating.

She was in her room, alone, and Luna's moon cast a pale light through her window that supplemented the dim lumen strip Gaela had fixed to her desk.

Gaela. Twilight's thoughts briefly wandered toward the fate of the Dark Acolyte. Would she see Gaela again? She had left Canterlot with Solon, before the Iron Warriors had consolidated their victory in the city and long before the celebrations. Twilight felt bad about that, considering how much the Dark Acolyte had helped. Gaela had also left her severed arm behind in the throne room, unlike her power axe and damaged pistol. The palace cleaning crew had eventually thrown it out like another piece of debris. Twilight felt bad about that too, but was pretty sure Gaela didn't mind that much.

She wondered what Gaela's new arms would look like.

Twilight's attention snapped back onto the dataslate. Warp travel. Time diffusion. Spatial relativity. Real-space translation.

Delgan had been extremely helpful, although he had remained convinced that their efforts were doomed. Twilight knew a great deal about the Orks now, even though she'd yet to see a single one of the creatures. She knew about their biology, their behavioral tendencies, and what passed for tactics among the creatures.

All of that knowledge, though, still sat in the shadow of one giant, terrifying number. Nine-point-seven billion. Give or take two billion, Delgan guessed. Probably give, especially as the Warp beacon would even attract Ork ships that weren't part of the warfleet that the Tau were trying to divert. Those wandering Orks could be less than a week away, thanks to the speed of Warp travel.

They could probably destroy the beacon that the abandoned Tau army still protected, but apparently the signal would bounce around in the Warp for days or weeks afterward, giving a heading to any Ork ships that translated into Warp space in search of new targets. But Orks apparently got lost or distracted constantly, so cutting off the constant reminder of where the Centaur system was would probably lose some large portion of them.

But how many Orks could Equestria and its hypothetical allies handle? Two zeroes would probably be easy. Four would be brutal, but needn't mean the end of the world. Once they got to seven zeroes, the efforts of ponies and dragons and humans and every other species that she could imagine fighting on their side (including the rather fanciful contributions of the changelings and the diversion of a few parasprite swarms) started to look positively empty. And ten million was less than one percent of this fleet's reputed strength.

They couldn't let the Orks land their main force on the planet. And they couldn't stop them from landing once they translated into real-space in the star system. Cutting an Ork invasion force down to a manageable size in void combat was apparently a favored tactic of Imperial battle groups, thanks to the general superiority of human technology, tactics, and gunnery, but it obviously wasn't an option for Equestria. It wasn't even feasible for the 38th Company, even if she presumed that they'd be willing to help.

As Twilight saw it, the only possible way to stop the Orks was to stop them from coming out of Warp space anywhere close enough to their planet to reach it using sub-light speed.

Unsurprisingly, she didn't exactly know how to do that. Her knowledge of Warp space was nascent, and her research materials were mediocre.

But she had an idea.

Twilight took a sip of her tea, grimacing at how cold it was. Then she glanced over at the scroll sitting on the middle of her bed. The scroll was from Princess Luna, and invited her to a strategy meeting with the Princesses and the Iron Warriors.

"If it's possible, then Solon will know," Twilight said to herself, rubbing at her drooping eyelids, "it has to work. Everything depends on it."

Author's Note

DRAMA. EMOTION. FEEEEELINGSSSSSS!!
And the odd dirty joke. More Lunamac out of left field.
Please bear with me while I navigate us through all this mushy emotional drivel so that we can get back to all the sexy violence. It won't be long, I promise!

Also, I decided that this installment of the saga earned a Dark tag, since all the characters are operating under the threat of complete planetary extinction. I may also use that as an excuse to bump up the grimdark levels. But not too much. I mean, come on, these are Orks we're talking about. Yeesh.

This would also be a good time to view the first two chapter of Visions of Darkness, which present Dest and Daniels' backstories. Dest's chapter immediately follows this one.

Edit: Character list has been altered now that Book 4 is almost done and I know better which characters had speaking lines and such.

Salvation

Iron Hearts: Book 4

Chapter 2

Salvation

****

Ponyville - train station

Twilight stared anxiously at the train as it waited to be boarded, taking in the changes that had been made to the vehicle recently. They had been apparent when she had come home from Canterlot the previous day, yet somehow they seemed more pertinent now.

Battle damage still scarred the train cars, for the ponies had no idea how to repair durasteel plating, and the Dark Mechanicus that had installed it in the first place hadn't bothered. Shredded metal topped some of the cars, while the others still possessed mortars that had run dry of munitions that had yet to be replaced. Every car of the train was shielded with additional armor, much of which bore scorch marks from pulse fire or holes from Tau railguns. The train engine was still a nightmare construct of spikes and metal tubing, and its smoke stack released a thin wisp of exhaust rather than the billowing clouds of a proper steam engine.

"Well, this's it, girls," Applejack said as she adjusted her hat, "y'all ready fer this?"

The loud affirmations from Pinkie and Rainbow Dash drowned out the more measured response from Twilight and Rarity, and Fluttershy yelped and ducked her head down. Twilight noted that Fluttershy had been much more excitable than usual this morning, constantly glancing around and leaping into hiding at any sudden noises.

Must be frayed nerves. Not a huge surprise, considering what they were getting into.

Twilight quintuple-checked her saddlebags and took a deep breath before she followed her friends into the armored passenger carriage.

****

Canterlot Castle - throne room

"Hello, and thank you all for coming, once again," Celestia said as the Elements of Harmony were ushered into the room, "I know matters have been hectic of late, to say the least. I did not give you all much time to see to your own affairs."

Most of the mares greeted Princess Celestia warmly, but Twilight was distracted. The throne room was obviously still a mess; there was no longer shattered glass and piles of corpses on the floor, and the craters caused by Solon's strange cannon had been covered over with wooden boards, but every window was still shattered and heat scarring adorned many of the walls. Celestia's throne had been replaced by a layer of satin pillows, and as Twilight observed the spots where the Mark of Nurgle and Chaos had been mysteriously carved into the stone, she saw that they had indeed been spackled over as Kibitz had suggested.

Twilight wondered at the logic of having the conference in the throne room when it had barely been cleaned up yet. Was it supposed to be a reminder of their joint accomplishment? Or perhaps a reminder of the destruction that the Iron Warriors had unleashed here?

"Twily? You okay?"

The lavender alicorn snapped out of her daze at the sound of Shining Armor's voice. She hadn't even realized he was there, standing at attention in front of Celestia. No sign of Cadence, though.

"Yeah, I am. Just a little... tense," Twilight assured him with a lopsided smile. Her brother seemed quite tired, but hid it well; she supposed he had been very busy lately.

Luna was in the throne room too, seated slightly lower than Celestia on her own cushion. In contrast to the white alicorn, she seemed quietly content, and even a bit excited.

"Not long from now, the Iron Warrior leaders will arrive to speak with us," Celestia said, her tone inscrutable, "it is no small irony that the army I once feared would lay waste to Equestria may now offer our best chance of survival." She frowned delicately. "Before, when... when the Tau were here, I dismissed your opinions as irrelevant and unreliable. Although more serious consideration would likely have not changed the outcome of that meeting, I was wrong, and would like to apologize for my error."

"Aw, nothin' fer it, Princess," Applejack said breezily.

"Yeah, those water caste jerks were actually pretty slick," Rainbow Dash agreed, "hay, if we didn't already hate them just based on their species, they might have fooled us, too!"

Celestia blinked. "That's... uh... Well, in any case, we stand now on a crossroads."

"I thought we were in the throne room?" Pinkie whispered to Rarity. The unicorn sighed and ignored her.

"The Orks are a threat unlike anything Equestria has ever faced before," Celestia continued, "brutal and bloodthirsty, the Orks take to war as other species would a sport. Other aliens may show no mercy, but the Orks do not even understand it. If they are not stopped, Equestria and every other nation on this world shall be overrun, and their citizens killed or enslaved." Celestia took a moment to brace herself and take a deep breath, as if the next words were physically painful to say. "Despite my earlier orders and extensive misgivings about the 38th Company, we find ourselves... allied with the Chaos cultists. An alliance of coincidence and convenience, of course, but as I understand it, you have fought for the sake of their goals, and... some of their battles may have been to our benefit as well." Her jaw shifted briefly, as if she was trying to covertly remove an unpleasant taste from her mouth. "I am still leery of Warsmith Solon and his men, obviously, but if they offer some hope of turning away the alien horde, then it would be foolish and cowardly of me to refuse to hear them out."

Applejack and Rainbow Dash had to firmly contain sarcasm at hearing such a reluctant acceptance of the alien warriors. Certainly after the Company secured Canterlot from the Tau and then left, they thought that the Iron Warriors deserved a lot more than being heard.

Shining Armor looked up as the sound of jet engines came from outside. "Sounds like they're here. With so many of the human aircraft coming and going, we set up a temporary landing zone in the gardens. What used to be the gardens, I mean."

Celestia forced herself not to react at the reminder of the Iron Warriors' collateral damage, instead focusing entirely on the Elements of Harmony.

"Before they arrive, do you have any ideas you would like to establish beforehand, so we know what to discuss?"

Shining spoke first, clearing his throat delicately. "I... don't think it really needs to be said, but there is no chance of the Equestrian military fighting off billions of opponents," he said grimly, "even if these Orks turned out to be inept, puny weaklings, those kinds of numbers are beyond the ability of any kind of fortification or magic to contain." He paused. "Well, at least, any fortification or magic I'm aware of. The Iron Warriors might have something that can deal with an army of that scale..."

As he trailed off, Twilight sighed. "They don't. That much I've confirmed. Even if they wanted to put their all into a defense, fortify pony land, and try to break the incoming invasion, Delgan seemed certain they just don't have the numbers." Then she grimaced. "And for the record, Orks are not puny weaklings, although humans do seem to find them relatively dim."

Twilight wet her lips for a moment and was going to speak again when Rainbow Dash piped up. "Well, don't stress about it! I have a plan!"

Twilight's mouth had already been open to speak, and it stretched open further once she processed what Rainbow Dash had said.

"YOU have an idea?" Rarity asked skeptically. "I hope you don't mean that absurd plan you shared yesterday about us fighting off the slavering hordes in power armor!"

"No, no, trust me, this one's even better!" Rainbow Dash said proudly, planting her forelegs on her hips as she hovered upright in the air. "It's super clever and stuff! I spent like an hour working it out yesterday before bed! I just need to run it by the big guy!"

Twilight's eyebrow twitched. An hour? That was far less than she'd spent on her magic sanctuary plan, and that had come undone as soon as she'd spoken to someone who knew anything about Orks. Rainbow Dash didn't know anything about the aliens save their skin color. What could she have come up with?

It seemed like some of her friends were going to ask the same question when the battered front doors to the throne room opened up.

A terrified-looking pegasus guard with a dull yellow coat and a blue mane walked stiffly into the room, his legs moving with his knees locked straight.

"P-P-Princesses, pr-presenting the W-W-Warsmith S-Solon and c-c-c-company!" the guard sputtered, beads of sweat crawling down the sides of his head.

Celestia sighed, remembering that Solon tended to terrify every pony that saw him on sight. "Thank you. They may enter at once."

As the sound of metal pistons shifting came from behind, the pegasus guard yelped and leapt out of the way. He was tempted to take flight and bolt out a broken window, but with three of Equestria's Princesses present, he managed to hold onto enough professional dignity to stay in the room as the metal goliath stomped through the doors.

Warsmith Solon entered the throne room, his legs hissing and pounding noisily as they carried him along. The Chaos Lord had evidently repaired the most severe damage that he had taken in the fight with Voidsong, and Twilight noticed that pieces of his torso and chassis armor shined brighter than the rest, no doubt marking the recently patched segments.

Then she noticed who had followed the Warsmith in, and she scowled. That response was mirrored by every single Element of Harmony save Fluttershy, who merely squeaked and ducked behind Pinkie Pie.

Sliver and Serith followed behind the Mechanized Iron Warrior, both of them armed with their usual melee weapons.

"Welp, we just got off to a real bad start, didn' we?" Applejack muttered.

"Warsmith Solon! Greetings!" Luna bellowed, keeping her speech volume somewhere in that gray area between "ear-bleeding" and "much louder than necessary". "We see thou hast recovered from thy wounds!"

"Moshtly, yesh," Solon allowed as his optics took a sweep of the room, "my pride remainsh deeply shcarred, however."

"Oh, I wish I could have been there. It was surely a grand sight," Serith chuckled. His helmet was also taking in the room, looking at each crater and crack as if trying to work out their origin.

Sliver remained silent, placing his hammer upside-down onto the floor and resting his arms on the handle. The guards on that side of the room quietly took a few steps back, wrinkling their snouts at the smell.

Twilight had guessed - or perhaps hoped - that Celestia would begin with a display of humility, just as she had greeted her and the other Elements of Harmony. No such display seemed to be forthcoming, however, and the white Princess seemed to be straining to suppress an array of negative emotions as she spoke.

"I wish to begin immediately, but it seems there's one among you to whom I have not been properly introduced." Her gaze fixed on the single fish eye lens of Sliver's helmet. "I remember seeing you briefly the other day, Mister...?"

"Ah, yesh. Thish here ish Shliver, my shecond in command and premiere tactician!" Solon said, gesturing to the hulk of terminator armor quite deliberately ignoring the aggravated glares coming from the mares in the middle of the hall.

"Ah, so thou art Sliver! We hast heard of thee!" Luna said. "T'was thee who recommended that Canterlot be destroyed entirely when the Tau captured it, was thee not?"

Well, if there was any part of the mood not sour by now, that had done it in. The guards and Shining Armor were now scowling openly at the Chaos Lord as well. Only Luna herself seemed unbothered, still looking upon the Iron Warriors with a polite smile.

Sliver didn't answer at first, his helmet turning slowly to take in the throne hall.

"It wass the better sstrategy," he said finally, his crimson lens falling on Twilight and staying there.

It wasn't given as an excuse or a defense; Sliver said it as if he was stating a simple fact. A fact that apparently hadn't changed despite the success of their siege.

Princess Celestia cleared her throat.

"Yes, well. We all know why we're here, so let's not waste any more time." She finally released the grimace that she had been holding back, thinking that it might now be attributed to their circumstances rather than the Chaos Space Marines in her castle. "I will now formally convene this war council. Due to the actions of the Tau Empire, a fleet of overwhelming numbers of hostile aliens is rapidly approaching our world. What is to be done about this?"

"Well, I hardly think it should come ash a shurprishe to any of you, but my fleet ish preparing to leave the shyshtem at once," Solon said, "we should depart high orbit within fifty hoursh."

A wave of wincing expressions moved through the ponies present. There wasn't one among them who honestly expected them to want to stay, but it still stung to hear they were abandoning the planet in short order.

Twilight blinked as she thought of something. "But... fifty hours? I thought you needed weeks to get your Warp engines done."

Solon's helmet twisted over to regard the young Princess. "Ah, sho you were paying attention. Yesh, unfortunately we are departing quite early, and will have to abandon the shipsh that are shtill crippled. If we were to shtay for two weeksh, and then the daysh beyond that which would be neceshary to inshtall the new enginesh, there ish a conshiderable chance that the main Ork fleet would reach thish shyshtem by then and cut off eshcape. We'd face the rishk of loshing more shipsh than we shave."

Twilight had to keep from lighting up at hearing the Warsmith's explanation. She hadn't thought the 38th Company would have any incentive at all to stay long enough to help.

"Our preshence here ish moshtly to anshwer any queshtionsh you might have about the Orksh, and alsho to ashk what you'd like ush to do with Ferroush Dominush."

"Uh... you mean your base, right?" Shining Armor asked. "What about it?"

"It will be one of the firsht targetsh of the Orksh once they land a large enough fighting force," Solon pointed out, "so we can either trap the place to kill the lootersh, or we can leave it sho that you can ushe it in a heroic but entirely futile lasht shtand."

"Well, what if I told you that things didn't have to come to that?"

All eyes (and mechanical equivalents) fell on Rainbow Dash as the pegasus hovered above the other Elements of Harmony.

"Thiss should be good," Sliver murmured, his shoulder pads shifting.

"Oh? You have a plan?" Solon asked, tilting his helmet to one side.

"Yeah! Here's the deal," Rainbow began, pointing a hoof off to the side, "the last of the Tau are still holed up in the Badlands, right? They're guarding the dumb beacon that's causing all this!"

Then she pounded her hooves together. "I say we go in and clear them out once and for all! And THEN, you guys can nab the beacon!" She then waved one hoof toward the ceiling. "Then all you have to do is drop it off on some other planet away from here!"

Twilight stared at Rainbow Dash with wide eyes as the pegasus grinned. She was hardly the only one.

That was BRILLIANT! How had Rainbow Dash, of all ponies, come up with something like that?

After a moment of thought, however, it seemed obvious: the plan was simple, bold, and confrontational. It was precisely the sort of thing Rainbow would come up with, Twilight realized, even if it did involve many aspects of warfare and technology she was utterly clueless about.

Solon turned toward Sliver. Nopony heard anything but a quiet hum from the two Chaos Lords, and Twilight decided that they were communicating with their external vox turned off.

After a few more seconds, Solon turned back toward his hosts.

"An intriguing idea. That would indeed draw the bulk of the Ork fleet away from this shyshtem."

Shining Armor frowned. "The bulk? Not all of them?"

"I'm sure that some portion of the fleet will arrive here anyway," Serith answered, "either because they're low on supplies, sick of Warp travel, or privy to some other dim impulse of the Ork mind. You'll get a few thousand here, a million there. You know how it is." The unicorn cringed at the thought of a million enemies.

"Ha! I knew it would work!" Rainbow Dash cheered as many of the other ponies started smiling hopefully.

"It would. But we're not doing that," Solon said.

The smiles died quick, painful deaths.

"What? But why not?" Rainbow asked.

"It involvesh too great an inveshtment on our part, for one thing," Solon mumbled, "attacking the only Tau bashe actually prepared for ush would be no shmall matter. But the main problem ish that it would leave our two crippled shipsh shtuck here in the Centaur shyshtem when the Ork vanguard arrivesh, unable to flee and without the shupport of the resht of the fleet. We would almost certainly loshe them anyway. Sho we loshe everything we came for, and gain nothing."

"Oh. Well, uh... huh." Rainbow's confidence had crumbled by now, and she was rubbing at her neck with a hoof. "Well, is there any chance you could do it anyhow? For us? ... Please?"

"No," Sliver said succinctly, causing the blue pony to bristle in anger.

Solon continued before she could lash out and further deteriorate the mood. "Sho if there'sh nothing elshe, how about that fortresh?"

Twilight chewed her lip briefly. This was it, wasn't it? She didn't really have a plan even as complete as Rainbow's had been, but she had to at least bring up her idea.

"Actually, I have a question," the purple alicorn said, tilting her head up to look the Warsmith in the optics.

"Yesh? Go ahead, Princesh," Solon said patiently. It was fairly obvious that he wasn't expecting anything useful from her or any of them.

"Well, obviously I'm new to the topic of Warp travel, but I read up on it last night," she paused briefly, "it seems to be a rather... unreliable form of travel in general, but in particular, I heard that sometimes these things called 'Warp storms' occur and prevent passage into certain regions of space."

Serith silently turned his helmet to the side, as if considering something.

Solon shrugged his armored shoulders. "Thish ish true."

"Well... is there... maybe... some way to create a Warp storm deliberately around our system? To cut off all travel to it for some time?" Twilight finished, speaking harshly around the lump in her throat.

"Oh, of coursse!" Sliver suddenly said, startling the ponies with his surprisingly jovial exclamation. "We'll jusst deploy our Warp sstorm generator! It'ss sso obviouss!"

"Sweet!" Pinkie Pie grinned, bouncing up and down. "How long will that take?"

"THERE IS NO WARP STORM GENERATOR!!" Sliver roared, his bellow almost knocking the ponies over from the volume alone. The foul air blasting out of his vox grille at the same time was an added touch of unpleasantness, and some of the mares started coughing in disgust.

Celestia's frown tightened. "I see. There is no need to shout, Mister Sliver. We simply have no idea what the limits of your technology are."

Sliver snorted angrily, and Solon quickly took hold of the conversation again.

"Although it ish not unheard of for Warp shtormsh to be controlled, shuch thingsh are far beyond our power," the Warsmith explained, "it requiresh an enormoush array of pactsh, shacrificesh, and shorceriesh, not to mention expertishe in the more... eshoteric fieldsh of metaphyshicsh. In fact..."

Twilight would have found the explanation quite fascinating, but had already interpreted his answer as "no" and wasn't really listening anymore. Somehow she found her mind elsewhere, her eyes and thoughts wandering as the Chaos Lord spoke.

She wished Gaela was here. She had no idea when she'd built such a connection to the cold, corrupted cyborg, or if the bond was mutual, but she was certainly regretting the woman's absence when faced with nothing but the glowering, blood-colored visors of the Iron Warriors. She had asked these Chaos Lords for aid before, and were it not for the Dark Acolyte, Canterlot would be ashes and rubble for her efforts.

Her eyes tracked upward, glancing at the patches of wall filling that had covered up the Star of Chaos on the ceiling.

Why do humans turn to Chaos?

Twilight had never asked the question before. It hadn't occurred to her. In the absence of a human population that wasn't beholden to some kind of malevolent Warp-thing, it hadn't seemed relevant. When such humans HAD appeared, they had done so in the service of the Tau Empire, so she had found herself favoring the cultists anyway.

She hadn't asked the question. But Gaela had answered it while fighting Voidsong. With her armor broken, her arms destroyed, and facing down an enemy she couldn't possibly defeat in a face-to-face battle even at her best, Gaela had explained the brutal simplicity of their hateful cult.

Sometimes they needed help. And in desperation, they turned to the darkness, begging for power.

Wasn't that exactly what she was doing now?

"There is a way."

And sometimes... the darkness answered.

Everyone in the room whirled toward Serith, most of them looking stunned.

"What wash that?" Solon asked.

Serith looked up at him. "There is a way. I hadn't thought of it until Lady Sparkle brought it up. We can generate a controlled Warp storm to block the entry of the alien fleet using the resources and time we have available."

Solon and Sliver glanced at each other. Their helmets hid their faces completely, but there was no mistaking that they were just as surprised as every pony in the hall.

"How may we do this?" Luna asked eagerly.

"There is a certain kind of construct that can be built, a unique type of Dark Portal," Serith explained. His voice was calm and unassuming, as if the fate of a world's people weren't hanging on his words. "It is called a Nethalican. It can accomplish what we seek."

"A Nethal... what? I've never heard of ssuch a thing," Sliver growled.

"That's because its secrets are known to only one Legion: the Thousand Sons," Serith explained.

"Your former Legion," Solon mumbled.

"Indeed," Serith confirmed, although his voice came out much quieter now, as if he was struggling to get the words out, "among all the original traitor Legions, the Thousand Sons possess by far the smallest space fleet in proportion to its numbers. We... THEY cannot defend planets from orbit, so they developed other means to protect themselves from attack. Obviously, such methods rely heavily upon sorcery."

Twilight was too stunned at what she was hearing to speak, but Rainbow Dash wasn't so easy to render speechless.

"You said this Nethaliwhatsit is a 'Dark Portal'? That sounds super sketchy, dude," Rainbow said through narrowed eyes.

Serith seemed to recover his bravado, laughing at the pegasus. "Oh, it is. To create a Dark Portal is to wound the very fabric of reality, and then prop open the breach. The universe itself struggles against such a thing, and the Warp reacts little better," the Sorcerer said with a dark chuckle. Then he trailed off, his glittering visor slowly moving from pony to pony as he spoke. "It is not a simple or a safe thing. But it offers a chance. A hope, if you will." He said the word with a deliberate snort, charging it with contempt.

"Well, that's somethin'," Applejack admitted, looking to Rarity. She shrugged back.

"It DOES sound considerably more manageable than an unwinnable war," Shining Armor agreed.

"It'ss imposssible," Sliver declared, growling as he stomped closer to the Sorcerer. "I am no witch, Sserith, but I know a thing or two about Dark Portalss. It would require a hundred pssykerss and many more ssacrificess to esstablish one! The ssacrificess could perhapss be provided by the Orkss themsselvess, but we have no Ssorcererss to sspare for thiss foolishnesss!"

Serith laughed, and Twilight honestly didn't know whether she sympathized with Sliver as he shook with rage. She may have disliked both of them, but she despised Serith personally, and every time he laughed she wanted to fire a magic bolt into his face.

"My Lord Sliver," Serith said happily, spreading his free hand out toward the ponies, "did you forget where we are? We have all the psykers we could ever want."

Every horned pony in the room except Luna recoiled in surprise.

Serith noticed their reaction, and turned his helmet to regard the equines. "Make no mistake, ponies: this is your war as well, and you too will play your part. Should we construct the Nethalican, it will be a joint effort, not a gift from the 38th Company."

Twilight chewed her lip thoughtfully. That didn't seem at all unreasonable, actually, but she still had a hard time wrapping her head around the fact that SERITH was making a serious effort to save them.

"As Lord Sliver suggested, the Orks themselves will provide the blood. They have strong spirits, and the first waves should arrive in... defeatable numbers," Serith mused, "their graves will lay the foundation. And with the aid of the unicorns I will tear open the Materium and stop the Orks' approach through the Warp. With no way to translate into the system, they will pick up the next beacon the Tau have laid, or move on to other parts of the sector."

A tense silence hung over the room as the Sorcerer finished speaking.

Luna raised her head. "We approve of thy plan, Sorcerer," she said firmly, surprising many of the other ponies. Then she turned her head toward Celestia. "Sister, Sir Armor, what say thee?"

Princess Celestia cringed, but Shining Armor stood up straight.

"It is my professional opinion that we proceed, your Highness," Shining Armor said, "no matter what this Nethalican does, it can't be worse than having Equestria overrun and pillaged by space barbarians." Then he coughed. "Also, it's my personal opinion that it's better for us that we have a crucial role in this. It doesn't feel right to have the future of our world ENTIRELY in the hands of the Company, after all."

Celestia grimaced, seeming to teeter on the edge of a decision.

Twilight was already nodding her head eagerly. She hadn't held out much hope that her idea would bear fruit, but now that they had a working plan she could feel her heart swelling. Maybe it was possible, after all! The Iron Warriors and Equestria, working together to save their planet from an overwhelming alien menace!

She was about to add her own endorsement when a dark growl came from one of the Iron Warriors.

"Warssmith, you can't sserioussly be conssidering thiss!" Sliver hissed.

Solon, who had been quiet since Serith started talking, glanced over at him. Then he looked over to the Equestrians.

"I have conshidered it," Solon said finally, "and the anshwer ish no."

Just like that, Twilight felt as if the floor had been knocked out under her.

"Wh-What?" the purple alicorn gasped.

"No. Ash in 'no, we're not building a Nethalican'," Solon elaborated, "although I musht credit Princesh Shparkle and Sherith for their clever thinking."

"But why? Dost this strategy displease thee?" Luna asked, looking rattled. Celestia looked confused now, as if she wasn't sure whether to be relieved or as shocked as everypony else.

"It'sh better than the plan for relocating the beacon, but it'sh shtill far too much rishk for too little reward," Solon explained calmly, seemingly oblivious to the distressed expressions all around him, "beshidesh: it ish clear that thish ishn't about getting my shipsh repaired, but about shaving your world from deshtruction."

"Well, yeah," Applejack mumbled, quirking an eyebrow, "there a problem with that?"

Solon's optics whirled in their socket. "The 38th Company hash not been ashked to shave thish world. We have been ashked to leave it."

The silence that greeted his explanation spoke volumes. Twilight felt like a ball of ice had formed in her stomach. Again. It was becoming an uncomfortably familiar feeling during these kinds of encounters.

"Ohhhhhh. Riiiiiight," Pinkie mumbled after several seconds, her ears falling flat as she winced, "I kinda forgot about that."

"I've noticed," Solon quipped as his legs started winding up, "in any cashe, if you have an anshwer for my queshtion about the fortresh, feel free to shend me a letter or shomething. Good luck with your imminent annihilation."

Solon started turning his chassis around. Serith and Sliver said nothing as they likewise turned around to follow, although the latter was now holding his hammer loosely over his shoulder pad in a subtly upbeat display.

"But wait! Solon! Come on, be cool, man!" Rainbow Dash tried, grinning nervously.

"No," the Warsmith said simply as he started moving toward the door.

"Uhm, please?" Fluttershy asked timidly.

"Leaving now," Solon said without looking back.

Twilight's heart raced. They had a plan. They had the tools and the knowledge and the power to stop the Orks. The only thing they were missing was a price.

She felt stupid for being so surprised. She was the one who had first pointed out how little the Iron Warriors had to gain from helping them. She saw Solon's point clearly, and even had to agree with him; obviously, she was very invested in the survival of her world, but she couldn't think of much reason for the post-humans to care. Their damaged ships could only be worth so many lives and so much risk. But Equestria? That meant nothing to them. Why would they bother? What could Equestria offer them?

What could SHE offer them?

"WAIT!" Twilight appeared in front of the Iron Warriors in a flash of purple light. They halted, although Sliver shifted into what was obviously a combat stance, ready to force his way out if necessary.

Solon stared down at the lavender alicorn, noting how labored her breath seemed. "Yesh, Princesh? Make it quick, pleashe. I have much work ahead of me today."

Twilight took a deep breath, and then, to the other ponies' shock, she lowered her head into a bow.

"Warsmith Solon, I beg that you give your sanction and assistance to construct the Nethalican and save our planet from the invading Ork threat," Twilight said in a rush, her eyes fixed firmly on the cracked flooring, "in return, I, Princess Twilight Sparkle, shall join the 38th Company on a permanent basis, and serve the Iron Warriors however you wish."

Shining Armor's eyes bugged out. "Twily?!"

Celestia's reaction was far less restrained. "NO! Absolutely not!" the white Princess shouted. "Twilight! Stop this at once!"

Sliver snorted and stepped forward, his hand outstretched as if to swat the pony away. "I've had enough of-"

He paused as Serith raised an arm in his path.

"Let her speak, Lord," the Sorcerer said calmly, visor fixed on Twilight, "listening costs us nothing."

"No! This meeting is over!" Celestia barked, standing up.

For the first time, Twilight completely and deliberately tuned out her mentor as she powered forward with her offer. "I know that your fleet takes in mercenaries that are not necessarily aligned to Chaos, and I know that psykers are particularly valuable to you! I am one of the most powerful and studied psykers in Equestria, and I'm positive I can be of use to you, Lord!"

Solon tilted his helmet to the side, and then glanced behind him at Celestia. The taller alicorn looked stuck between fury and horror, unsure as to whether she should incapacitate Twilight on the spot or flee the room in tears.

The Warsmith looked back down at Twilight.

"You overeshtimate yourshelf, Princesh," Solon said, his optics pulsing, "one pshyker doesh not account for the fate of a world."

Twilight wilted, very nearly feeling her legs give out. Her final, desperate gambit had failed.

"Then how about two psykers?"

Princess Celestia made a strangled, sputtering noise as Rarity stepped forward, sweeping her hair to one side. "I'm not as accomplished as Twilight, but Delgan seemed more than happy at the prospect of having my help."

"I am intrigued," Serith admitted, getting a sharp glare from Sliver.

"And don't forget me!" Rainbow Dash said, floating upward and putting a hoof against her chest. "I'm no psyker or whatever, but I can handle myself in a fight! I'm in!" Then she gestured to Fluttershy. "She's in, too."

Fluttershy slapped her hoof against her face and groaned.

"Ooh! Ooh! Me! Me! I wanna join! I wanna be a space pirate! It's my second most wanted dream job after 'Candy Factory Quality Control Manager'!" Pinkie jumped up and down excitedly, grinning.

"My little ponies, please! Think about what you're doing!" Celestia said anxiously.

"Sorry, Princess," Applejack said as she tilted back her hat, "but even on our world o'harmony, ya don't get nothin' fer free. We need this Chaos thingamajigger, and it looks like we gotta pay a price." She smirked and saluted with a foreleg. "Crabapple's data fer mah house, the Tau base fer mah brother's life, and now mahself fer mah planet. Can't beat those prices. Ah'm with ya, Warsmith."

Solon turned to looked down at Serith. Serith shrugged.

"All right, that wash my fault," Solon said as he swiveled back around to face the majority of the equines trying to swear themselves to his service, "the issue ishn't the quantity, really. Even a hundred poniesh aren't worth rishking the fate of my entire fleet on a shorceroush conshtruct. I'm tempted, shomewhat, but the anshwer ish shtill no. The rishk ish shtill too great."

Luna's jaw tightened, and she glimpsed her older sister slumping in relief.

"Economy, is it?" the Night Princess mumbled, taking a deep breath. "So be it."

When Luna spoke again, it was at her usual, less subtle volume.

"The Warsmith is correct! Even a prize as valuable as the Elements of Harmony cannot account for the fate of our planet," Luna said, trotting down from the elevated section of the throne room.

Celestia's head jerked up. "Luna, what are you doing?" she asked quickly.

Luna waited until the Iron Warriors were all looking at her before she continued. "Thou owes the state of Equestria nothing. Thou owes us nothing. Within the month, thou plans to depart to distant lands, never to return. And yet we beg thee to spend the lives of thy brothers to our salvation. This is no bargain. Thou art right to refuse to save our world."

"Lunaaaaaa," Celestia said, her voice getting steadily higher, "I don't like where you're going with this."

A brief flicker of magic touched Luna's horn before her voice reached Celestia's mind.

Forgive me, Sister. They can save us. I know they can. This must be done.

Solon tilted his helmet to the side. "I'm glad you agree. I guesh. Sho what?"

"So, if thou will not save our planet, would thou save thine own?" Luna asked.

For a few seconds, silence.

"I'm not sure I follow you," Solon confessed. He was turning his chassis around again, however, and Twilight finally raised her head from the floor.

"Thou hast built a grand fortress, and a factory within it of unimagined scale. Thy military supremacy is absolute, and we talk of erecting an edifice empowered by thy black magic. Thy fleet plies the void around this planet unchallenged." The dark alicorn paused. "This world belongs to thee, Warsmith. Should thou relinquish thy intention to depart it, Equestria would stand with thee in alliance as ruler."

"Luna, no," Celestia gasped, "you can't do this!"

"Thou would keep thy fortress and factory, and save thy vessels," Luna continued, heedless of her sister, "and this planet would serve thee as thy safe haven as thy fleets roam the distant stars seeking plunder. The nation of Equestria would aid thee in any manner we can."

Solon once again glanced at his subordinates.

"This deal gets better every moment," Serith said pleasantly, "a planet, a company of psykers, a Dark Portal... shall we hold out further, Lords? We might get another Princess out of it."

"If necessary, We, Princess Luna, shall also submit to thy command," the dark blue alicorn declared firmly, "anything to secure our world's survival."

Princess Celestia couldn't even bring herself to protest anymore. Her mouth felt dry as sand.

Sliver was silent, for once, running figures and theories through his head. He didn't want to make a deal of any sort with the Equestrians, but if he was to recommend its rejection, he at least had to give an honest accounting of its possible benefits.

"A hosht planet... a permanent bashe..." Solon mused. "We hadn't conshidered that."

"The establishment of the Nethalican will do more than allow us to shroud the system from approach through the Warp," Serith pointed out, "with a Dark Portal in place, we can shape the eddies of the Empyrean coming from the system, greatly improving our travel speed. We could cross the breadth of the galaxy and enter the Eye of Terror in mere weeks, if we wished. It would be quite a boon, Warsmith. I must endorse this bargain."

Solon looked up at the head of the throne room. "I'm not sure. It doeshn't look like the shovereign ish very happy with theshe termsh."

Celestia glared at him silently, which Solon thought was quite unfair. He was evidently giving her opinion more weight than anyone else in the room.

Sister, please! There is no other way! We must save our people! Luna's voice once again crossed Celestia's thoughts, but the white alicorn remained silent.

How could she willingly hand the planet over to the forces of Chaos? How could she possibly consent to, much less aid, the construction of Dark Portals and daemonic constructs?

But that didn't mean Luna was wrong.

"It sheemsh like you have shome thingsh to dishcush," Solon said as he turned away, "ash do we. I will think over your offer, Princesh, and have an anshwer for you by nightfall."

The Warsmith started to leave again, but then paused. "You know how to contact me." With that final statement, he moved for the door again. Twilight scrambled to get out of the way, and she made sure to stare suspiciously at Serith as the chuckling Sorcerer strode past. Sliver was the last to leave, departing in surly silence before the throne room doors swung shut behind him.

A collective sigh of relief came from the guards in the throne room as the doors closed.

Then, silence.

"Well," Shining Armor said, tenderly breaking the heavy mood that had followed the Iron Warriors' departure, "I don't know about anypony else, but that went WAY better than I expected."

"RAAAAAUGH!!" Princess Celestia released an incoherent howl of fury and anguish, and then vanished in a flare of yellow light.

****

Canterlot Castle - dining hall, thirty minutes later

"Well girls, we're still starin' down a massive alien horde, our planet's been put up fer sale, we're relyin' on the biggest creep in the 38th Company to save ponykind, and we all just volunteered ourselves into slavery."

Applejack took a took a generous swig of apple cider, and then sighed in contentment as she put the depleted mug down. "Good times, mi'right?" She was smirking as she said it, and Rainbow Dash chuckled.

Twilight grimaced. "That... isn't really accurate. It's not slavery if we volunteer."

"Call it what ya like, Twi, but Ah'm right surprised to hear ya offer it. What brought that on?" Applejack started to re-fill her mug from the barrel set in the corner. "Now, as fer me, Ah owe the humans anyhow. Never figgered Ah'd be joinin' em, but there ya go."

Twilight sighed, turning her cup of water back and forth between her hooves. "I... well... panicked, I guess. But if we can really get them to agree to set up a Dark Portal, then it will be worth it."

"I'm not sure how much I trust Serith's magic construct to do as he's described," Rarity mumbled, "Solon certainly didn't seem thrilled by the idea, and I have much more faith in the Warsmith." She sighed. "But if our service is contingent on them staving off the Orks, then we hardly have much to lose in the bargain. I couldn't call myself a pony of any decency if I didn't do my part."

Rainbow Dash grinned and patted her chest. "The way I see it, signing up with them is the best chance I'll ever get to nab a suit of power armor. That's how Trixie got hers."

Twilight groaned, her ears dropping to the sides of her head. "Rainbow! Is that what this is about?"

"Nah, of course not!" the pegasus scoffed. "This is about giving everything we've got to save the world from certain destruction! But if I can nab some power armor along the way, then it becomes awesome rather than a total drag!"

"Ooh! Ooh! Me next!" Pinkie Pie chirped, waving her hoof in the air. "I want a dreadnought!"

"Sure, Pinkie. Good luck with that," Twilight deadpanned. Inwardly she was feeling quite relieved and hopeful, however. Considering Princess Celestia's reaction, it was quite uplifting to see her friends so cheerful about the situation.

Well, except Fluttershy. She was laying her head against the table and was murmuring to herself miserably. But four out of five was still better than she could have hoped for.

The door opened behind her, and Twilight turned around to see Luna and Shining Armor entering the room.

"How is the Princess?" Twilight asked nervously.

"Absolutely inconsolable," Luna said curtly, her expression part annoyed and part solemn.

"Princess Celestia doesn't care for the prospect of Chaos controlling the planet," Shining Armor explained, severely understating the obvious, "but nor can she bring herself to refuse the arrangement outright. It would be very hard to explain to anypony that she'd rather Equestria fall to the Orks than survive under the 38th Company."

"And yet, We art sure that is precisely how Sister feels," Luna said, grimacing.

This earned a few frowns from the Elements of Harmony.

"Okay, you know what?" Rainbow Dash said, hovering up out of her chair. "I have to say it: I respect Princess Celestia like crazy, but just WHAT is her problem?"

Twilight gave the pegasus a sharp glare. "Rainbow Dash! Princess Celestia-"

"Has been totally on these guys' case since they showed up!" Rainbow Dash interrupted. "First thing she does when she sees the humans is declare that they have to be defeated and shipped out into space! And you know what? I went along with it! I figured Celestia knows best, right? But she didn't! The whole time we were tip-hoofing around the Chaos fortress the Tau were planning to trash our whole world just to save their own lousy skins!"

Twilight winced badly. "That's... true. But Princess Celestia didn't know!"

"Didn't know that the Tau were going to get us all killed, or didn't know that the 38th Company didn't want to bother us?" Rainbow demanded.

"Neither, Ah'm pretty sure," Applejack mumbled with a raised eyebrow.

"Okay, yeah, fine. But now we all know BOTH those things, and she STILL has a problem with them!" the blue pegasus snapped. "Even with Solon! SOLON! Solon has been SUPER COOL with us!"

"We must stand in agreement with the Element of Loyalty," Luna said solemnly, "Warsmith Solon hath been most chill." That earned her a curious look from Shining Armor, but the unicorn stallion said nothing.

"Right?! First time we meet, we bust into his home ready to flatten him with the Elements of Harmony, and the dude backs off without a fight!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, landing on the table with three legs and pointing the other at Twilight. "Next time I see him? 'Oh, hey there Mister Chaos Lord, you mind fixing up this dying stallion you've never even met?' And he did it!"

Rainbow Dash walked to the edge of the table, a leg still extended toward Twilight. The purple pony started leaning back away from it, frowning.

"And then when Canterlot was taken over! Who was it that came up with an awesome plan to capture the city when the other brainy jerks just wanted to level it? SOLON. I can't even blame him for not wanting to help us any more! Celestia still treats him like he's some kind of... some kind of... gross, giant bug, or something!"

Twilight briefly shared an awkward glance with Rarity, and then her eyes snapped back up to Rainbow Dash.

She cleared her throat delicately. "What are you getting at, Dash?" Twilight said frostily.

Rainbow opened her mouth to continue her tirade, but in a moment of uncharacteristic forethought, she hesitated. Brash and quick to judge as she often was, criticizing the sovereign ruler of Equestria, keeper of the sun, and their personal taskmistress was not something she did lightly.

"It's just..." Rainbow Dash put down her hoof, her eyes darting from side to side. "I mean... it just hasn't worked out like it usually does. Chaos bad, harmony good, right? It's not supposed to be complicated. But... I dunno... what if it IS?"

"Whoa, easy girl!" Applejack said with mock concern. "Don't wanna hurt yerself with all that there deep philosophizin'!"

As the pegasus glared at the earth pony, Rarity cleared her throat daintily. "I believe what Rainbow Dash is TRYING to express is that Princess Celestia seems far more wary of Chaos, even after they've helped us, than she is of the other aliens, even when they pose an obvious and absolute threat."

She furrowed her brow under her horn. "And I have to agree. Although the humans have given us plenty of reasons not to trust them, they've also done us some good favors, and yet Princess Celestia stands utterly unimpressed."

Shining Armor looked up at Luna. "Is there something we're not seeing here? None of us are so naive to think that Princess Celestia is worrying over nothing, but neither can we see a particular reason for this."

Luna sighed. "There is much that needs to be said, but only so much We can divulge. The knowledge is forbidden, and for good reason."

The dark alicorn paused, wetting her lips. "We can at least mention foes that thou hast faced directly. King Sombra. That showmare that possessed the Alicorn Amulet. And... ourself, as Nightmare Moon."

Twilight recoiled. "Wait, you mean when you were Nightmare Moon, you were acting as an agent of Chaos?"

Luna shook her head firmly. "Nay! We served no one, and swore no allegiance to gods of any sort!" She took another pause to figure out how best to explain this matter.

"There is... a darkness to magic," Luna finally said, glancing down at the curious equines staring at her intently, "an innate, corruptive force that lay within the arcane power that eats away at sanity and reason. We do not possess a proper name or descriptor for it."

Twilight had dozens of questions racing through her mind just with this small admission, but she restrained herself to let Luna finish.

"Ponies art protected from it," Luna informed them, although there was a hint of deep regret in her voice, "We art uncertain why this is so. But We do know that this protection can be... overcome. The darkness can be sensed, seized, shaped, and used. But the results..."

She looked down at the floor, unable to meet the eyes of the other equines. "The results speak for themselves. Mine own powers differ from that of other ponies, and as a result We art... closer to this taint than most. We made no bargain with any daemons and heard no whispers from any gods, but during our moment of weakness We reached for this power, and the madness consumed us." Luna looked up again, her expression firmer now. "We hast recovered, and art stronger now. But still the threat of our corruption remains even after our purification. That is the power that Sister fears."

"Okay," Twilight said slowly, "so this aspect of magic can corrupt ponies' minds and turn them evil without them actually swearing service to Chaos itself?" Her thoughts turned toward a certain three fillies who seemed to be in the opposite situation, having devoted themselves to the Dark Gods without becoming insane or hateful creatures.

Luna frowned again, clearly struggling with the subject. "Aye. Chaos itself is... the dark magic given will, intellect, and direction, We suppose. We understand little more than that. Equestria hath spent its long existence denying such knowledge and building a lasting peace so that few would have reason to seek out destructive magic power. It hath worked, mostly."

Then she looked away, gazing toward the wall in the direction of Ferrous Dominus. "But these humans... they took a different path. They embraced the darkness. They worshiped it, sated it, and learned from it. They heard voices in the dark and they spoke back. In this way they've managed some level of understanding and control that equines hath never achieved, but the source of their power is clearly the same malevolent rot that hath poisoned ponies' minds and turned them against Sister." She sighed deeply. "This is why Sister so ardently opposes the forces of Chaos, whatever their particular intent. This is deeply personal to Celestia. Seeing ponies close to her volunteer themselves to the Company's service must hath been especially unpleasant."

A grim silence hung over the room as Luna finished.

"Well, all right. I can get that," Rainbow Dash finally said, "but we're not looking to join up with the Chaos Church, here, and they're not asking us to. We just want the humans to build their Nethatosis thing."

"Nethalican, Rainbow Dash," Twilight corrected.

"Aye. We seek the power that Chaos offers, and hath found an acceptable price," Luna agreed readily, "but Sister feels differently. Celestia fears that if she should abet the cult upon this planet, then she merely condemns our world to a slow, twisted demise rather than the quick, brutal fate offered by the Orks."

Applejack frowned, tapping a hoof on the table thoughtfully. "What about Discord, then? She don't seem all that worried 'bout him. Even had him reformed and everythin'."

"Discord is... a strange case," Luna admitted, sitting down, "he is a creature of Chaos rather than a natural being corrupted to darkness, yet he serves no dark gods. At least, We believe that to be the case; Discord is most unhelpful when being questioned, and it is impossible to know whether he speaks in riddle or jest." She huffed irritably. "But as for why Sister is not so severe toward our ancient enemy, there art two reasons: one is familiarity. Celestia knows well Discord's goals and methods, and as such thought it possible that he could be turned away from them."

"And the second reason?" Applejack asked, cocking her head to the side.

Luna pursed her lips. "The other reason is that Discord had already been defeated before. It thus stands to reason that we could stop him again, if necessary. Sister is quite uncertain that we could overcome the Iron Warriors should the need arise."

"Ah. Yeah. That is a good point, actually," Shining Armor admitted, "but even so, I'll gladly take the questionable alliance over fighting the war by ourselves."

"Sister will come around," Luna declared confidently, "she is no fool, and sees the enormity of the threat before us." Then the dark-furred Princess smiled. "Besides, there hath been precious little evidence of any ponies being corrupted thus far for the Company's presence. It is not as if our citizens will start worshiping the Dark Gods!"

"Oh, will you LOOK at the time!" Rarity gasped suddenly, practically leaping from her chair. "I didn't expect saving the planet to take so long! We absolutely MUST get back to Ponyville right away! Especially Applejack, who is extremely busy and doesn't have any time to say anything else!"

Applejack duly kept her jaw shut as she hopped down from her chair and followed Rarity to the door, practically sprinting. The rest of her friends followed at a slightly less panicked pace, trying not to look nervous as they fled the room.

"Er... but what about-" Shining Armor started to speak, but Twilight cut him off.

"Thanks a lot Shining! Luna, Good work with the war council!" Twilight said loudly as she walked backward toward the exit, her wings spread anxiously. "Let me know when the fate of the world is decided! Gotta go!"

She bolted into the hall, her horn flaring as the door magically slammed shut behind her.

Luna quirked an eyebrow. "Most ominous."

"I'm... sure it's nothing, your Highness," Shining Armor said, not feeling half as confident as he sounded, "I trust Twilight. She's done an excellent job handling Equestria's relations with the 38th Company so far." His voice dropped considerably. "Better than we have, anyway."

Luna nodded slowly. "Very well, Sir Armor. Let us see to Sister. Until the standards of Chaos and Equestria fly side by side, our task is not yet complete!"

The unicorn stallion nodded hesitantly. "Never thought I'd hear THAT sentence..."

****

Ponyville

"That'll be six bits, please." Roseluck said, placing a flower bundle on the counter of booth.

Although she was speaking to Lyra, her eyes were fixed on the bipedal figure that was standing quietly behind Lyra with a lasrifle held loosely in one hand.

"Here you go, 'Luck!" Lyra said as she levitated the money onto the counter. Then she leaned over and took a bite out of the bouquet, smiling around the mouthful of blossoms.

Roseluck was still staring up at the human nervously, but behind her, Daisy cleared her throat. "Lyra? Anything for your... um, friend? We have some excellent morning glories in today."

"I don't eat flowers," Jacob explained bluntly.

Lyra swallowed her first bite of violets, and then stuffed the rest of the flower bundle into her saddlebags. "Yeah, I get him that nutrient sludge from the Company market."

Lily made a disgusted face. "Ugh, really? I've tried that stuff! It's terrible!"

"Tell me about it," Jacob grunted.

Lyra shrugged. "Well, sometimes I'll get him apples too, but that's been harder since... you know..."

The four mares shared a pensive glance toward Sweet Apple Acres.

"Like to know what it takes to get a steak around here," the mercenary mumbled, his voice barely intelligible through his respirator mask.

Lyra patted her hoof against the human's leg sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Jakey, but you know we can't afford it! Meat is just way too hard to get in Equestria!"

Daisy raised an eyebrow.

Lily and Roseluck's reactions were less subtle.

"Humans eat MEAT?!"

"Murderer!"

"I knew he was eyeing me up! He's gonna eat us!"

"The horror! THE HORROR!!"

Daisy facehoofed as the mares next to her screamed, and then gave Lyra an apologetic shrug.

The mint-colored unicorn just rolled her eyes, ignoring the hysterical wailing as she turned around and walked away with her human.

As soon as the pair were out of earshot, Daisy turned and smacked Lily upside the head, causing her to yelp and bash her forehead into Roseluck's face.

"Would you two quit that? Have you seriously never met a meat-eater before?" Daisy snapped. "The humans aren't going to eat us! Why would they? There's plenty of dumb animals around Equestria if they want meat, and they mostly live off that nutrient goop anyway!"

The other two mares slowly massaged their new bruises as they thought this over.

"But just think about all the recent pony disappearances!" Lily exclaimed. "It's way too suspicious!"

Daisy glanced at her warily. "What pony disappearances?"

"The Elements of Harmony!" Roseluck gasped. "What happened to them?"

Daisy gave her a look. "I saw Rarity just this morning."

"Right!" Lily said, her eyes narrowing. "And we haven't seen hide nor hair of her since!"

Daisy calmly raised her foreleg again, ready to smack some more sense into her business partners.

"Okay, okay, fine! The Elements of Harmony probably aren't missing!" Lily admitted. "But what about Big Macintosh?"

Roseluck nodded rapidly. "Yeah! Nopony's seen him in days! And considering all the damage that's been done to Sweet Apple Acres, you know he should be in town buying supplies and stuff!"

Daisy groaned. "Okay, so we haven't seen Big Mac recently. But that doesn't mean he's missing, and it certainly doesn't mean he was killed and devoured by humans!"

Lily's eyes narrowed again. "I'll bet that's just what they WANT us to think!"

"Oh Celestia, give me strength," Daisy moaned, turning away from her friends and looking away toward a row of houses.

She noticed something off immediately, seeing a thin trail of smoke rising from behind the homes. There were also some heavy, unfamiliar noises coming from that direction, and she could see many ponies standing around and staring at something out of her line of sight.

Then she saw a familiar figure step into view, causing the onlookers to move away and clear a path.

"Ah-ha!" Daisy said, pointing a foreleg at the large, red figure. "There's Big Macintosh! See? He's just... fine?"

As the crimson stallion approached, Daisy had to confess that the familiar figure was not that familiar anymore.

And then came Apple Bloom riding on top of some kind of smoke-belching metal dragon thing. That was pretty new, too.

Big Macintosh did his best to ignore the stunned staring all around him as he walked through the market, his bionics whirring softly with every step.

He was immensely glad that Apple Bloom had thought to take Crabapple along with them; he didn't want ponies gawking at his augmetics and asking him about them, and as expected most of the spectators were finding it hard to concentrate on his new legs when there was a gigantic daemon engine following him. Apple Bloom had no issues with being the center of attention herself, and waved happily at the slack-jawed ponies from atop Crabapple's head.

"Ooh! Big Mac, can we git some flowers?" Apple Bloom asked, beckoning to the flower stand.

Big Mac glanced over at the flower trio, and then bobbed his head. "Eeyup."

The three mares' heads slowly tilted upward further and further as the Apple siblings approached, their eyes fixed on the maulerfiend looming high above them.

Big Mac and Crabapple stopped, and Apple Bloom waved some more.

Big Macintosh looked over the selection immediately visible, idly chewing on a stalk of wheat. "Anythin' on special?"

The mares suddenly dropped their gazes to him, clearly still stunned.

"Duh... Duh..." Daisy's jaw took a few moments to start working again. "Daffodils!" she finally managed to spit out. "Two b-b-bits for a half-d-dozen!"

"Eeyup," Big Mac agreed, raising his bionic foreleg to his chest panel.

With a heavy clanking noise, he pulled it open and then reached inside to retrieve a small bag.

He dropped two bits onto the counter, and then slipped the bag back into his chest before clicking the panel shut.

None of the three mares made any move to take the money. Or any move at all, really.

After twenty seconds or so, Big Mac silently stepped over to the bucket of daffodils and helped himself to six of them. Crabapple lowered its head toward the ground as Big Mac turned around, and Apple Bloom happily took the flowers and started munching on the blossoms.

"Thanks. G'bye," Macintosh said as he plodded down the road. Crabapple raised its head and followed, its wire-bundle tail sweeping back and forth behind it.

"...... Bye," Daisy squeaked long after he was out of earshot.

Eventually Daisy came to her senses, and she offered her business partners a wry and obviously forced chuckle.

"See that? Big Macintosh is alive and well! Or... alive, at least."

Lily nodded reluctantly. "I guess the humans only ate half of him."

"Not even. More like a third," Roseluck corrected, "very merciful of them."

"Oh, for pony's sake," Daisy groaned, letting her face fall onto the counter.

****

Ferrous Dominus - Solon's forge

Solon loomed over a slim, nude figure laid out over an iron slab, his head surrounded by hololith screens and twitching, ceiling-mounted servo arms. In his hand was an ionic diffusion core, salvaged from the fight in Canterlot Castle.

"There'sh a wonderful irony in thish arrangement," Solon said happily, lowering the core into place into a vambrace casing, "the ion blashter that felled you will now become a part of you. It'sh poetic. With each trial we shurvive, we are rebuilt, greater than before."

The form on the table said nothing as Solon worked at securing the weapon core in place with an array of humming laser welders.

"You sheem preoccupied, Mish Gaela," Solon said after a few silent seconds.

The figure on the table quickly turned her head to regard the Warsmith, although she was careful not to move any other part of her body.

"My apologies, Warsmith. I am distracted. Did you require something?" Gaela said quickly.

"What hash you sho diverted?" Solon asked, his optics focusing now on the particle dampers he was installing in the vambrace casing. "Getting new wargear ish ushually one of the few thingsh that can bring shome trace of excitement out of you."

Gaela frowned, glancing at the new bulky metal construction that now dominated her left shoulder. The pieces of her new arm were placed around the table, carefully organized in a pattern that would best aid quick assembly.

Solon was right, of course. She was in the process of having another portion of her weak, dying flesh replaced with unyielding cybernetics; cybernetics constructed by the Warsmith himself, at that. She should have been giddy enough to stop frowning, or even smirk slightly.

"It is nothing of importance, Warsmith. I beg your forgiveness for my inattention," she said rigidly.

"I didn't ashk how important it wash," the Chaos Lord pointed out. There was no heat to his response, but it seemed like he wasn't willing to let the matter go so easily.

Gaela suppressed a groan. "I... have looked into the proposition generated by the war council earlier today," she admitted reluctantly, "the alliance with Equestria and the development of a sorcerous construct to block Warp transit to this world. An analysis and commentary log has been circulating on the noosphere cache."

Solon began attaching the vambrace to the bicep plating, remaining silent as he worked.

"The consensus is clear: the Dark Mechanicus thinks that remaining on this world is an unacceptable risk," Gaela said evenly.

"You dishagree?" Solon asked.

Gaela didn't respond right away.

"... Their analysis is based exclusively upon their distrust of a solution that relies on sorcery," she said finally, "there is unanimous agreement that the proposition would be highly beneficial if this 'Nethalican' performs as Serith has promised. But exceptionally few believe there is any worthwhile chance of that."

"Chaosh shorcery ish not known for itsh reliability," Solon agreed as he worked his tools into the elbow joint that would connect the arm segments, "but again, you do not anshwer my queshtion."

Gaela scowled. She did not want to have this conversation. Not with Solon, not even with herself. But she would not lie to her Warsmith.

"I... want to see this planet spared," Gaela said grimly, as if admitting some deep, dark secret.

"There. That washn't sho hard, wash it?" Solon said with a throaty chuckle.

"It is," Gaela said honestly, "my opinion toward the proposed strategic solution is based not upon an objective analysis of costs and benefits, but subjective emotional imperatives not shared by the rest of the fleet." She scowled deeper. "It is a sign of weakness, and unbecoming of one of the Mechanicus."

"Well, yesh, that'sh true," Solon said as he finished the elbow joint, "but it'sh alsho shomewhat fitting."

Gaela raised her eyebrow.

"Part of our turn to Chaosh ish to indulge our own whimsh, not jusht perform the shame dutiesh we carried out under the Imperium for different mashtersh," the Chaos Lord noted as he moved to the augmetic hand. It was a large, unwieldy thing, with three hefty claws fixed around the particle stream accelerator. "There are thoshe who shay that Chaosh ish shimply another shet of chainsh; longer, perhapsh, but barbed, if nothing elshe. A different shlavery from Imperial shervice, but shtill a shlavery."

He started affixing the hand to the vambrace. "They're right. But it ish shtill a difference. Shervice to Chaosh ish firsht and foremosht shervice to oneshelf, and we have no ushe for the Imperial creed. You wish to conshider the intereshtsh of xenosh? Then you may. The Dark Godsh have nothing to shay on the matter."

Gaela's scowl shifted back into her usual frown. "I think I should rather retain my dignity and standing with my peers rather than be seen coddling equines."

"That too ish your choice," Solon said as he finished final assembly of the augmetic arm, "although you may find more shympathy than you'd expect."

She raised her eyebrow again.

"General Gnosh ish quite willing to throw hish shupport behind the Nethalican," Solon explained, stopping as he shifted the bionic into place, "I believe a shurprishing number of the mercenariesh agree with him."

Gaela turned her head slightly, thinking this over. "I suppose that makes some sense," she admitted, "to such men, they are ever in the care of powers beyond their comprehension, whether it be daemonic power, sorcery, or technology. They see little difference between trusting their fate to Serith's construct and entrusting the Harvest of Steel to safely carry them through the Warp." She snorted. "Not all of us can afford such comforting ignorance."

"And yet, they could be right," Solon said as he kept working at the arm, laying down circuits in preparation for the exterior plating, "there ish shometimesh a crude wishdom in men whom have no leash beshidesh their own passionsh and quesht for shurvival. They are unburdened by dogma and loyalty. They accept thingsh for what they are, rather than shome relativishtic calculation or dishtant objective."

"I much prefer your deeper and more weighty wisdom, Lord," Gaela sniffed.

"Ah, no doubt," Solon chuckled as he leaned over the Mechanicus priestess, lining up the new arm with her shoulder, "but if I knew what to do, I wouldn't be ashking anyone elshe, would I? Now be shtill. We're almosht done."

****

Harvest of Steel - high orbit over Centaur III

Sliver's armor plodded heavily upon the moist, rusted floors as he made his way through the hall that served as the Temple of Nurgle within the ship. His Rusted Brotherhood followed behind him. Or what was left of it, anyway.

Four Terminators, reduced to two. Each of the survivors carried a helmet belonging to a Rusted Brother that had fallen, the artifacts carefully scavenged from the armor hulks that had eventually failed them. The armor would be repaired, refurbished, and eventually granted to new initiates. The helmets, however, Sliver had a different use for.

At the end of the hall, past a pair of festering shrines, was a wall covered in shelves. Upon the shelves laid dozens of Terminator helmets, each one bearing the distinctively rusted, scrap-like appearance of the Rusted Brotherhood's armor.

"Two more Brotherss losst, given over to Nurgle'ss final embrace," Sliver hissed, halting before the wall and kneeling respectfully.

"Gehran," murmured the Terminator to his left, stepping forward with ceremonial stiffness and placing the helmet upon the wall.

"Telethiel," said the one on Sliver's right, doing the same thing with the second memento.

Sliver waited until his soldiers had finished and backed away from the wall.

"Another two livess I could not ssalvage. Another two failuress to add to the lisst of indignitiess ssuffered by the 38th," growled the Chaos Lord.

The other Terminators remained silent. They disagreed, but Sliver already knew that.

Sliver looked over the wall, his optic lens glimmering in the dim lumens. There weren't all that many helmets, honestly, the total numbering a mere twenty-three. But that spoke as much of how few of his circle there were as it did their strength.

"Two more livess losst on that damnable planet!" Sliver snapped, his voice rising. "I never should have allowed it! We should be away from here already! Away from the Tau, away from the Orkss, away from..."

Sliver trailed off, letting his anger cool. He honestly couldn't bring himself to start railing against ponies while standing before the gazes of his fallen brothers. It was just too undignified. Such creatures were supposed to be beneath his notice. Beneath even his contempt.

"And now there iss talk of sstaying," Sliver hissed, his breath wheezing from behind the helmet filters, "of shrouding thiss ssysstem in the tidess of the Warp and making a permanent basse. Why would the Warssmith even conssider it?"

The Rusted Brothers behind him shared a glance.

"To hand the fate of the 38th Company to Sserith, of all people, sso that we may RETURN to thiss worthlesss globe? What iss the point?" Sliver asked, as if expecting an answer from the empty visors in front of him.

"We would have a home again."

Sliver slowly turned to his right as he stood up, and the lens of his helmet pulsed a bright red. "What?"

The Iron Warrior shifted his massively armored shoulders uncomfortably. "I approve of it. The Nethalican. Taking this world. It... appeals."

Sliver turned the rest of the way around, not quite sure what to say.

"We'd have a home, Lord Sliver. A planet of our own. We'd no longer have to rely on berth from whatever fortress world calls upon us to claim our resources. We would have a land to return to. A land to defend."

"Defend from a xeno onsslaught that iss already in transsit to this ssysstem!" Sliver raged.

"Let them come," the Terminator said defiantly, "to do battle with the xeno from behind our own walls, defending our own fortress, for our own gain... it would be a pleasure. One that has been too long denied us!"

"If you want a home ssysstem, there are hundredss that AREN'T lying in the path of an Ork WAAUGH!" the Chaos Lord growled.

"Serith's Nethalican makes this place feasible," the other Terminator noted, breaking his silent contemplation, "without it, it will not be possible to travel quickly enough through the Warp to perform our duties or protect the system from retribution." He paused. "And without the xeno psykers, the Nethalican cannot be built. And of course there's the crippled ships to consider."

"To Hell with them! The xenoss and the Ssorcerer!" Sliver spat. "You LIKE that planet?! You think a world like that iss worth protecting?!"

"Then let's MAKE it a world worth protecting. Rebuild it to our liking," the first Terminator said, clenching his upraised power fist in the air between them, "we may never get this chance again." Then he pointed the clawed fingers of his weapon at the wall of helmets. "And at least this way, Gehran and Telethiel will have fallen for a reason."

Sliver fell silent for some time after that.

"Leave me," the Chaos Lord eventually said, turning back toward the memorial, "ssubmit your opinionss on the matter to the Warssmith if you sso wish. I came here to grieve."

The Rusted Brothers nodded cautiously, stepping away from their commander.

Before long the sound of their heavy footprints receded, leaving Sliver alone to face the ghosts of his brothers.

****

Canterlot Statue Gardens

Princess Celestia spared a glance toward the sky for the rising moon as she walked through the gauntlet of soldiers that had cut off access to the gardens. Night had fallen, and as far as she knew Equestria's immediate future was already being hashed out in the world of dreams.

She indulged in a rush of indignation for a moment; the fact that she was not able to be present to hear the decision of the Iron Warriors was no small slight against her. But even she could reason that things would conclude more smoothly if she wasn't sitting nearby grinding her teeth about it.

She was getting increasingly suspicious about Luna's relationship with Warsmith Solon - which was clearly more familiar than her sister had admitted to - but this too she dismissed for the sake of her mood.

There was no point in moping about the agreement that would save her nation from its most immediate doom, so she was on her way to do the next best thing.

She was going to have a long, angry chat with the person responsible for all this.

Shas'o Voidsong stood at the rear of the garden in a temporary holding yard, cordoned off by a length of red cord. Ultimately the garden planner wanted to place the alien High Commander between a bronze replica of a Tau battlesuit and another of an Iron Warrior, probably in the empty space left by a vehicle crash that had demolished the Royal Guard diorama. But approval for such a project would unfortunately have to wait until she was sure there would be a future generation of Equestrians alive to enjoy it; there were far too many pressing projects requiring attention and resources now. In the meantime, the cord barrier hadn't done an exceptional job of protecting the statue. It was covered with mocking graffiti, including a host of colorful slogans: from the juvenile "Chaos rules, Greater Good drools!" to the cryptic "Bring back Squats!"

Halting briefly to check that her guards were holding position at the garden perimeter and out of earshot, her horn started to glow brightly.

Then, with a pulsing ray of yellow light, the statue was consumed by magic.

The effect was immediate, and cracks appeared all over the statue before the stone surface started to crumble and disintegrate.

The figure beneath the petrified prison didn't move immediately, despite having muscle control restored almost instantly. When she did budge, her movements were slow and ponderous.

Voidsong lowered her head slightly from her pose staring up into the sky, and then her eyes tracked back and forth, taking in her immediate surroundings. She noticed Princess Celestia immediately, of course, but her eyes barely lingered on the alicorn before scanning the rest of the area and assembling the immediate details in her head.

It was night time. She was un-petrified, standing in an unfamiliar place, and wearing her pilot suit. One of the Princesses - the big, naive one, specifically - was facing her, horn aglow, and the only other life forms she could make out were a few pegasus guards hovering quite some distance away.

Shas'o Voidsong couldn't make any sense of the scene right away, so she decided to throw caution to the wind.

"You know, when I was told you were going to petrify me, I thought it would last a fairly long time. Did I get time off for good behavior? How do you even measure that from a statue?"

Celestia said nothing, her eyes locked with the Tau officer in a glare full of accusation and slow-burning fury.

"You look more upset now than when I took over your capital and prompted a full-scale invasion of it," Voidsong deadpanned, "I wonder why that is."

"You..." Celestia had to take several calming breaths at seeing Voidsong's reaction. She had predicted fury or smug pride, had been prepared for fear, and was hoping for regret. But this... the alien warrior seemed glibly resigned. Indifferent. Clearly aware of what she had done but without any particular feelings about it.

"We know what you've done," Celestia said darkly, "we know the Orks are coming."

"Well, congratulations. I'd offer you a cookie for being so clever, but I'm pretty sure the humans told you that before they bolted." Voidsong calmly let herself down into a seated position on the podium she had been positioned on. "So. I'm genuinely surprised to be let out. What's the occasion? Guilt trip? Begging for assistance? Want me to suffer the same fate as the rest of your world? Did you want to double my sentence?"

"Voidsong," the alicorn growled through clenched teeth.

"No, no, hear me out. You turn me into a statue, and then you put that statue inside a BIGGER statue. That'll show me."

The Tau's vision was suddenly obscured by yellow, and she couldn't restrain a grunt as she was pulled from her seat and hurled onto the ground at Celestia's hooves.

"Do you understand what you've done?" The Princess hissed, glaring down at the alien and resisting the urge to throttle her on the spot. "You condemned our entire world to destruction, and when confronted you sit there making jokes?!"

The Shas'o looked up at the Princess, her expression as bland as ever. "It's a defensive reaction. I'm used to being the most powerful person in the room, and having that dynamic reversed is proving awkward." She sat up calmly, and then beckoned to the pony. "Anyway, it sounded like you were going for 'guilt trip'. Go ahead. I'm listening."

Princess Celestia's mind whirled, quickly organizing and discarding topics and rants that she had planned on the way here.

"Why our world?" she asked first. "What particular quality of this system, this planet, makes this sacrifice necessary?"

Voidsong held up a hand, and then extended one finger. "It was in the right place," she extended another finger, "it was not a planet we'd colonized or yet surveyed for colonization," a third finger came up, "it has a rich biosphere."

Celestia furrowed her brow. "Why would you WANT to use planets with life? Why not use uninhabited, barren worlds to guide the savages?"

"Orks get bored easily," Voidsong sighed, "if they arrive at the beacon and find nothing, they're as likely to wander off than trust that the next one will lead to a battle." She grimaced. "Our original plan had us keeping the fleet in-system so that the vanguard forces could make contact with an enemy, and then evacuate our ground forces just before the bulk of the Orks arrived. That way they would keep scenting conflict ahead, while still having plenty to do on the planet to keep them distracted and... entertained." She grunted. "Obviously the Iron Warriors scuttled that plan, at least for this system. Hopefully with all the wreckage and the gutted fortress left behind for looting, the damn savages will conclude there's a good fight happening at the next beacon."

"You'll have to forgive me for not particularly caring for the success of your plan," the white alicorn said tightly.

"Of course you don't; why should the destruction of an entire civilization of unpleasant creatures you've only just met bother you?" the Tau officer agreed. "Now you know how I feel."

Celestia's eye narrowed to slits. "Don't you dare, alien," she snapped, "we have done nothing to your people, and yet you come to our planet, claim it in the name of your empire, and then use it as bait! Don't compare us to you!"

Voidsong paused for several seconds, and her cool demeanor cracked slightly.

"I hardly think it needs to be said, and it definitely doesn't change anything, but I'm sorry things worked out this way," Voidsong finally admitted, looking up at the Princess, "if we'd had more time, perhaps we could have worked out another solution... found a suitable world without any intelligent life, at least, or evacuated your population to become part of the Tau hegemony."

Celestia snorted angrily. "And you think we'd allow that? After you sacrifice our world, you think we'd become another set of pawns for your empire?"

"Yes," Voidsong said simply, "it's a far better fate than the one facing you now. But unfortunately for all of us, you don't get any choices. And for that, at least, I am sorry."

Celestia was silent for a long moment before she spoke again. "They gave us a choice." Her voice was cool as ice.

Voidsong looked up. "Hm? Who?"

"The humans. The Iron Warriors..." her face twisted into a grimace, "Chaos."

Disbelief was written plain across the alien's face, so Celestia continued. "They've offered us a way to cut off the Orks from getting into our system. I'm not sure how it is supposed to work, exactly. Something called a 'Warp storm'..." she trailed off as her forehead furrowed. "But if it fails, then the 38th Company may well perish alongside us. We have a chance now. A hope."

Voidsong silently stood up, her mind racing as she backed up and once again sat on the stone podium.

A smirk slowly crossed her face.

"You filthy hypocrite," she said finally, chuckling ruefully.

Celestia recoiled, and then stepped forward angrily. "Hypocrite?!"

Voidsong's smirk turned into a more neutral expression. "How many died during the siege?"

Celestia was more than a little confused by the change of topic, but saw no reason to keep the information a secret. "We were quite lucky. No ponies were-"

"Not ponies," the Tau snapped, "humans, Princess. How many humans and post-humans fell defending YOUR capital from us?"

The alicorn blinked, and then searched her memory. "I'm not sure-"

"How many lives did the Iron Warriors spend to YOUR benefit? How many tears did you shed, Princess, for every hominid soldier whose future vanished in a flash of pulse fire or ion bursts?"

Celestia's eyes narrowed again into a glare. "They died for their own goals, not for us."

"Ah, of course. And because it only worked to your advantage incidentally, their sacrifice doesn't COUNT, is that it?" Voidsong mused. "It doesn't matter if the humans die fighting your enemies. Why should you care, as long as your people are safe? Again, you might note the similarity to my own situation."

"Don't you talk down to me, alien," Celestia snapped, her horn flaring yellow as she glared down at the Tau officer, "the forces of Chaos are twisted, hateful creatures who would destroy ALL if given the chance!"

"Yes, sure, I know," Voidsong mumbled, utterly indifferent to the threatening energy in the air, "I'm well aware of the pictures that we draw in order to ease the burden of erasing a life. They're are all monsters. They hate us for no good reason. They're evil, and want to destroy everything." She chuckled. "Though we typically reserve such labels for our enemies, not our allies."

"It is because of YOU that we must take our enemies as allies!" the alicorn countered.

"Two distant races, polar opposites of each other, driven together to save a world from destruction," Voidsong said, staring up at the sky melodramatically as she spoke, "you should write a play about this. This is good stuff." As her gaze fell back to the bemused pony, her tone darkened. "But seriously, I can't believe you. The Iron Warriors hand you salvation on a dish and all you can do is moan about it."

"You don't know what they asked for in return," Celestia grumbled, her horn going dim once more, "in saving my ponies from the coming annihilation, I may end up condemning them to corruption and misery instead."

"Chaos..." Voidsong mumbled to herself, looking up at the stars thoughtfully. "It's a strange thing, isn't it? To think that there really is some greater power, some ancient will, underpinning the natural universe?" She chuckled humorlessly. "The Tau have no religions. We think of such things as silly superstitions and encourage our auxiliary species to cast them away. I'd never heard of Chaos until I saw the otherworldly monsters roaming the bridge of one of my ships. It's really quite interesting, from an objective point of view."

"There's nothing interesting about it," Celestia countered, her feathers ruffling, "the force that lay behind Chaos turns decent equines into madmares and can twist even the Astartes into... well, you saw. ONLY the threat of complete and certain annihilation by a third party could bring me to submit myself to them."

"But those are the cards we've been dealt. And so here we are," Voidsong said with a smirk, "you, forced to negotiate with monsters to save your people, and me, facing a sentence as a bird roost for saving mine. These are the prices we have to pay." She stood up on the pedestal, and then twisted into her earlier pose. "I know better than to ask you to forgive the Tau, Princess, but at least you should find it in your gushing, naive heart to forgive the army offering you safe haven."

"I hardly think a world hosting a Chaos army could be considered a 'safe haven'," Celestia pointed out darkly, "you aliens bring destruction and warfare with you like a disease. What kind of future am I to offer my ponies if our very survival is to depend upon the good graces of Chaos?"

"A future they may yet live to face," Voidsong snorted. "It's a rough galaxy, pony. Get used to it. Now make with the stoning. I'm finding petrification more enjoyable than chatting with you."

There was silence around the gardens as Voidsong waited, and then, finally, Celestia's horn began to glow.

A thin beam shot out of the alicorn's horn and struck the Tau officer's arm, singing it badly. Voidsong yelped in pain before doubling over, sputtering a profanity in her native language as she clutched her arm.

A second later she was about to move back into her pose in an act of grim defiance, but to her shock she wasn't able to budge. In the brief moment it took for the pain in her arm to recede, Voidsong's lower torso had already turned to stone, and the effect was rapidly moving up her body.

"Oh, you snarky bit-" her tongue froze in her mouth as her head finished petrifying. The Tau High Commander was now hunched over and staggered, her face trapped in an angry sneer.

"... Yes. I think I like this pose better," Celestia said to herself as she turned around.

****

???

Luna coalesced into being, her body wrapping itself together from strings of shadow that emerged from nowhere.

The Princess of the Night looked around eagerly as she finished materializing, observing her new surroundings with a gleam in her eye.

She found herself in a grand hall within some kind of bastion, that much she could tell. The walls and ceilings were reinforced metal, with chains hanging from above and holding braziers.

The floor, however, was cut from stone and then polished to a shine, and Luna could see the Legion's Iron Skull grinning at her from the cold rock beneath her hooves.

She very much wanted to go sightseeing, but this time she was here on formal business. Luna calmly let her presence flow through the phantasms that surrounded her, and detected the mind that was holding it all together. Then she headed toward its central nexus at a graceful trot.

The sudden blare of alarm klaxons caused her to leap into the air in surprise, and Luna started twisting her head around to figure out what was going on.

Defensive turrets started dropping open from the ceilings and walls, aiming multi lasers and heavy bolters all around the room as the alarm blared. One by one the mechanical sentinels turned and locked onto the alicorn as the only living thing in the room, although none of them fired.

Luna swallowed nervously, feeling her heart start to race. It wasn't as if the guns could actually hurt her; this was only a dream, after all. But if she were to look for subtle hints as to the Warsmith's current mood...

Well, this probably didn't count, but only because it wasn't very subtle.

Luna walked up to the doorway, noting that it didn't open for her. Yet she could feel that Solon was on the other side. She suddenly felt rather overwhelmed.

Shouldn't she have a speech prepared? Some kind of lavish appeal to the Iron Warrior or formalized acceptance ceremony? Or at least the trappings of one? Walking in and cheerfully informing the man that Equestria was on board with the Nethalican suddenly seemed entirely inadequate, now.

Luna puffed up her cheeks in irritation. She had always spoken to Solon before as an equal (on the occasions that she wasn't threatening him, at least). She realized only now that offering herself to his service made her a subordinate, and the implications were quite unpleasant.

"Oh, to hay with it," the Lunar Princess mumbled, her horn flaring with power. She knew court protocol, she knew Solon, and she knew what was at stake. That would have to be enough.

With a bright blue flash, Luna teleported to the other side of the door.

Solon stood in the next alcove, his back to the door. He was wearing Techmarine power armor for the first time that Luna could recall in a dream, and was staring out of a high wall of shielded armorglass.

Luna's hoofsteps seemed to echo in her ears as she walked forward slowly, trying to decide on the right blend of regal confidence and servile humility.

"GREETINGS, WARSMITH!! HOW FARES THEE?!?!" Luna boomed, nervously slipping into the Canterlot Voice by accident. The armorglass wall shook from the volume, and several screens on a nearby cogitator bank shattered. The dark blue pony winced immediately, deciding to dial down the regal confidence a bit more.

Solon, for his part, didn't flinch at the sound.

"I fare well enough, thank you," the Iron Warrior replied, still facing away from the Princess toward the glass. Then he spread his arms toward it, gesturing to the scene outside the glass. "How do you like it?"

Luna's attention had been entirely focused on the Warsmith up until then, and she finally looked at what lay outside the window.

Great edifices of metal loomed over the viewing glass, all of it built into mountains of icy brown rock. There were massive towers and dozens of large transport tubes, and no small number of heavy weapons turrets built atop reinforced buildings. What was strange about it, however, was that there was nothing around the buildings but hard void; the stars glimmered down on the gunmetal structures without any of the refraction or dilution caused by atmosphere.

"We art in space?" Luna asked, keeping her voice down this time. "Yet, not on a ship?"

"An asteroid base, actually," Solon said, his helmet turning to watch as the turrets tracked something out of their line of sight and then opened fire, "Ferrous Nocturne, my first and only attempt at a permanent base for my fleet. A refueling and repair station cut into a great asteroid in a system far away in the Segmentum Solar."

Luna walked up to the armorglass, taking in the details of the nearby complexes while her eyes kept darting up to the blanket of stars. Most ponies probably would have found the complex cold and stifling, or at best just another example of impressive human technology. To Luna, however, the prospect of a city permanently wrapped in the deepest night was a thing of absolute beauty. "'Tis a marvel," she said breathlessly.

"Yes," Solon mumbled, "yes, it was."

Luna recoiled as a series of light flares came from the transport tubes of one building. The tubes noiselessly came apart before her eyes, spilling debris and power-armored bodies into the vacuum.

She then remembered the alarm klaxons, having previously pushed the noise into the back of her mind. She had thought that the alert had been some sort of passive-aggressive reproach to her, but it seemed that it was merely part of the dream. She felt some of her nervousness ebb away.

Luna glanced up as a gunship passed by the window, her eyes narrowing at its black and white color scheme.

"Black Templars," Solon said as way of explanation, "the Segmentum Solar is a big place. But not big enough to evade retribution forever. Ferrous Nocturne operated for a mere decade before our foes tracked us down and ripped it asunder." He snorted. "I'm not completely sure how they found us, but I'd wager the Eldar had something to do with it. The loyalist fools are as much their tools as the Imperium's."

"The scoundrels!" Luna groused as she watched explosions rip through a mooring bay.

"Yes, well, I can't say I didn't earn their ire," Solon said with a careless shrug, "after this encounter I constructed the Harvest of Steel, and it's served in lieu of a base ever since."

He turned around, focusing the optics of his helmet on Luna. "And now I look to Centaur III and imagine its future. What should I see?"

"Thy forces and ours, standing rank by rank to repel the enemy," Luna said immediately, "the dark standard of Chaos flying aside Equestria's sacred crest! The lands littered with flame and the ruined bodies of the foe!"

Solon had to pause after that. "That was pretty good. Did you have that prepared?"

"Nay! We art the Seer of Dreams!" Luna announced cheerfully. "Such imagery comes to us with great frequency!"

"Yes, well, I was thinking more in terms of after the immediate crisis," Solon mused, "what lay in store for your planet? Will the oceans be boiled away? The mantle ripped open for minerals? Will Chaos temples rise within your cities and daemons roam the forests?"

Luna frowned, thinking over the imagery. "We art hoping not," she admitted with a shrug, "but what of it? Is that the fate that is to compare unfavorably to extermination? If humans hath found their way under such conditions, art We to quail before thy future?"

Another flash of light came from outside, and Luna briefly tilted her head to the side as a structure started venting atmosphere from a gaping hole in the wall.

"We realize that thou hast chosen this place deliberately, Warsmith, but is this an ideal setting to formalize our alliance?" the blue alicorn asked.

"Ah. Yes. 'Alliance'," Solon murmured, turning away from Luna again, "it didn't escape my notice that you used that term to describe our arrangement. As if our forces were equals in any way."

Luna hesitated for a moment. "We care not which of us is the better of the other," she sniffed, "pony and sapien shalt do battle against the Ork side by side, for the common defense of our planet. We shalt fight together, suffer together, survive together, and prosper together."

Solon had to hold back a chuckle. "Do you really think it will happen like that?"

"Aye," Luna said with a sharp nod, "We shalt MAKE it happen like that. No other outcome is acceptable."

Then she continued, beckoning to the Iron Warrior with a wing. "We know thy forces are touched by darkness. We know the threat thy men pose, the corruption that thou brings. But We have no fear of thee."

"Perhaps you should," Solon countered, "I am not fond of your sister, Princess, but I can hardly fault her judgment. She sees me for what I am, and acts accordingly."

To his surprise, the alicorn in front of him started laughing, for some reason. Really, this meeting wasn't going anything like he had expected.

"Thou claims Sister knows thee better than We?" Luna asked, still chuckling. "How many worlds and craft hath Sister explored, crewed by thy Chaos Space Marines? How many inventions of thine has Sister puzzled over? Both of us watched thee fall before the alien wench, but which of us hast tasted thy power once before? We hast seen thy home world of Olympus and watched its purging; Sister knows nothing of thee save an unpleasant association with insects."

Luna was feeling much more confident now, and she approached the Iron Warrior completely at ease even as the building trembled and the bulkheads around them groaned. It seemed silly now for her to have worried over conduct and propriety; Solon was not the sort to put much stock in ceremony. He barely seemed to put stock in his own chain of command. "Moreover, We truly wished thee to stay, Warsmith. For our nation's protection, in part, but We enjoy being with thee."

"You mean you enjoy playing in my simulated memories," Solon corrected, though he couldn't manage to put any annoyance or bitterness into it.

"But of course!" Luna grinned. "We hast not had such fun in living memory! But besides this, thou art our friend, and We wish for thee to be treated well here!"

Solon fell into silence after hearing that, his gaze turning back to the armorglass window. A lance strike punched through a major gun tower just outside, and the entire structure turned to flame and molten slag in an eerie silence right in front of him.

"Your world will likely share the same fate," Solon noted, gesturing to the crumbling void fortress, "your planet is no longer hidden from the premiere powers of the galaxy. Yesterday it was the Tau, tomorrow it will be Orks, but in time you may well have the Imperium, or some Eldar filth marching on Equestrian soil... if it is not undone by the very portal that is supposed to save it."

"Then so be it," Luna said simply, spreading her wings upward, "whether it be thine enemies or our own, or even the machinations of thy dark power, we will stand against the threat!"

This time the explosions were heard rather than seen, and Luna's head twisted toward the door as she heard the defense turrets discharging.

"It seems thy dreams seek to intrude upon our council," Luna said with a smirk as her horn glowed, "shalt we save the fine details of the negotiations for after these 'Black Templars' art laid to waste?"

A pair of power swords appeared in front of Luna, and the alicorn Princess grinned as more small explosions came from the next room.

Solon was about to simply pause the simulation so that they could finish speaking, but he hesitated at seeing the unabashed excitement and anticipation on Luna's face.

"Oh, fine. Why not?" he mumbled, walking over to the wall where a power axe and bolter hung from large metal hooks. "It's been a while since I've done combat on two legs..."

The door was blasted open by a melta charge just as he took up his weapons, and Luna blew away the fog of vaporized metals with a puff of magic.

A giant in black armor, lined in white, and wearing a tabard shouldered through the breach, his chainsword roaring.

"Cleanse! Purge! KILL!!"

"HAVE AT THEE, KNAVE!!!"

****

Ponyville - Twilight's library, the following morning

Applejack slurped down a cup of coffee, offering a contented sigh as she relaxed on a chair in the library's main room.

"So, how'd the family take the news?" Rainbow Dash asked, sitting across from the farmpony. Rarity was resting behind her, looking over the top of a dataslate at the other mares.

"Reactions were... mixed," Applejack grumbled as she set her mug down, "Mac was mad. Real mad."

The other two ponies raised eyebrows, having a difficult time imagining the placid red stallion infuriated.

"He thinks it should be him goin' instead," Applejack sighed, knitting her eyebrows, "got real vocal about it, too, tryin' to talk down to me and whatnot."

"When he starts speaking in full sentences, then you KNOW he's upset," Rainbow whispered to Rarity, who tittered behind a hoof.

Applejack chose to ignore the comment. "Apple Bloom is excited as all get-out to hear that her big sis is 'goin' ta space', but then she still don't really understand the kinda state we're in with the fields demolished. Daniels seemed a little worried, but he knows Ah can take care o'business. And, uh... Granny says Ah'd better come back to visit fer the holidays. Didn't really know what to say to that."

"Well, look at it this way: things will have to turn out very well before you really have to worry about losing the farm, much less worry about attending special occasions regularly," Rarity reasoned.

The sound of books dropping onto a desk nearby halted their conversation, and the three mares looked over to Twilight. The alicorn was already pulling the top-most title from the stack of tomes she had gathered from the shelves, and had a determined expression on her face.

Rainbow Dash read the title Twilight had levitated up. It read "Beginner's Guide to Battlefield Tactics". Reading the titles of the other books, the pegasus quickly noticed a theme. They included "Combat Telekinesis and You", "How to Summon Friends and Incinerate People", "Evocation: For Dummies", and "The Anarchist's Cookbook: Pyromancer's Edition".

"Niiiiice," Rainbow said with a smirk.

"Twilight, darling, have you heard anything back from the palace yet?" Rarity asked, "I thought everything would have been decided by now."

Twilight paused as she cracked open the first book. "Yes. Well... kind of."

"I got a message real early this morning," Spike informed the ponies as he walked into the room carrying a box, "it was from Luna."

Rainbow Dash gaped at Spike, and then she snapped her head around to Twilight again. "WELL?! Are we golden or not?"

Twilight furrowed her brow as she levitated a scroll out of the drawer. "Take a look and see for yourself."

Rarity quickly seized up the paper with her magic and unrolled it.

"Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle," Rainbow Dash read aloud, "Nailed it. Sincerely, Princess Luna."

The mares frowned at the missive.

"It's a little light on details," Spike said dryly as he started unpacking the box.

"Well, Ah'm gonna take that fer a good sign," Applejack said, leaning back with her coffee, "which means Ah gotta worry about how to cover the cost of half a harvest."

"And then, when you get that out of the way, you'll finally have time to worry about having sworn service to a band of Chaos space pirates," Rarity said before sipping her tea.

As the mares snickered, Spike finished his immediate task and looked upstairs. "Hey, Twilight? Is Fluttershy coming down?"

"Fluttershy's here? Already?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking puzzled.

"She stayed the night here, actually," Twilight mumbled, frowning as she looked up from her book, "I think it had something to do with Tellis."

"Tellis? What makes you say that?" Rainbow asked.

"Because every time somepony knocks on the door, she dives under the bed while saying 'Is it Tellis? It's not Tellis, is it? I'm not here!' Did those two have a fight?"

She got quite a few incredulous stares in return.

"I know it's a little silly, but I'm pretty sure she wasn't QUITE this terrified of him before," Twilight grunted, "and whatever happened, she won't tell me about it."

"Well, let me have a shot," Rainbow said as she bounced to her hooves, "I'm sure it's nothing. Her and Tellis get along just fine!"

"Yes. Like a wyvern and a field mouse," Rarity deadpanned as the pegasus trotted up the stairs.

After a brief silence, Rarity finished her tea and then set the cup aside. "Applejack, darling, since you've already decided to join the Company like the rest of us, have you considered taking up an actual contract? There's no particular reason why you shouldn't get paid if you're working for them."

Applejack frowned. "Huh. That's a fair point, Rares, although Daniels says they don't make much fer what they do."

"It will actually look better once it's converted to bits. Credits are overvalued at the current exchange rate," Twilight noted absently.

"That's... uh... sure," Applejack mumbled uncertainly, "do ya think we'll have to leave Equestria eventually? Ah mean, if we've really signed up to this... we gonna go to other planets and rob 'em?"

Twilight and Rarity shared a glance.

"Well, if the 38th Company is keeping a permanent presence here, then there should be work to do on the planet for anypony who wants it," Twilight said thoughtfully, "and most of the work off-planet would be combat drops and such. So we probably could-"

The front door suddenly opened, and everypony in the room turned sharply to see who had arrived.

"Sparkle," came a crackling, static-laced voice as an unfamiliar, heavily armored Dark Techpriest walked through the door carrying a power axe and a dataslate.

"That's me," Twilight said, promptly marking her place in the book and rushing over to the cyborg, "can I help you?" Spike, who had left the room to refill Rarity's tea, came back from the kitchen and raised an eyebrow at the new guest.

The Dark Techpriest offered Twilight the dataslate. "Congratulations on your acceptance into the ranks, Twilight Sparkle. From this point forward, you serve the 38th Company and its Iron Warriors. These are your orders."

Twilight froze in place. "Wait... that would imply-"

"That we will begin constructing the Nethalican with all haste," the armored figure finished, "there is much to do if we are to ensure the safety of Ferrous Dominus and its host planet."

Twilight's mouth hung open as she levitated the dataslate toward her, unsure of what to say. The news brought a potent mix of emotions to the fore, to be sure: relief, obviously, but there was plenty of room for anxious trepidation as well.

Spike, in the mean time, walked up to the Dark Techpriest, who promptly handed over the power axe to him.

"Hey, nice to see you again, Gaela," Spike said as he carefully placed the weapon in its usual place, "I heard what happened to your arm! That must have sucked!"

The mares in the room blinked, glanced up at the tech cultist, and then shared an amused look.

"Spike, that's not Gaela," Twilight said with a snicker.

Really, she had no idea how Spike had made the mistake. The figure in front of them looking nothing like her. It was much bulkier with bulbous, rounded plating over its armor, and a long, curtain-like robe that concealed the head and torso much better than Gaela's had. There were also four servo limbs on its back, two of them splayed out to the side. Completely different from Gaela's equipment.

Which is why she was so startled when the Techpriest's helmet cracked open and revealed a familiar face.

"Hello, Sparkle," Gaela said in her usual dull monotone before looking over to the young dragon, "and you too, Spike. As for the arm, it won't be missed." She raised her left augmetic and clasped the tri-claws together. "From the forge of the Warsmith himself. The loss of a single arm was a petty price for such a gift."

"I... how did... but she..." Twilight looked from Gaela to Spike, her eyebrow twitching. Rarity and Applejack looked equally stunned.

Spike smirked as he pointed to Gaela power axe. "That's Gaela's axe. It has a bunch of custom script on the haft. Besides, there's no way a Dark Mechie would just hand over their weapon to a complete stranger." He looked up at the armored woman. "That's a new suit, right? Pretty cool!"

Gaela nodded mildly. "A heavy combat model, since my old armor and servo rig was extensively damaged in battle. Given to me by Magos Kaelith to congratulate me on my promotion."

"Promotion?" Applejack asked, leaning forward.

"Affirmative," Gaela paused to look around the room cautiously, "I have been granted the title of Dark Techpriest. Please refrain from telling Pie, or else I'm sure she'll-"

Gaela was interrupted by a desk drawer banging open, and a spray of confetti blasted from the drawer interior before a dreaded pink figure burst out from within the impossibly small space.

"CONGRATULATION ON YOUR PROMOTION AND THANKS FOR SAVING OUR PLANET PARTY IS GO!! GUESTS ARRIVE IN TWO MINUTES, EVERYPONY!!"

"... Damn it."

Author's Note

Before anyone asks (or rather, despite the people who may ask anyway, because not everyone reads author notes), the Nethalican is something I made up myself because I wanted a unique name for my MacGuffin building rather than having them build a "Black Nexus" or "Warp Temple" or something. And then the entire time I was writing the rest of the chapter, I was constantly looking back to try to remember how the damn thing was spelled, while simultaneously worrying about whether it sounds dumb.
I know that most Dark Portals in Warhammer 40K games are an instantaneous gateway into the Eye of Terror or the Warp, but their function has always been pretty obscure (and convenient). It makes sense to me that the Legion unrivaled in Sorcery and Warp lore would have purpose-built portals that can work spells big enough to turn away space fleets.
Oh, and lots more dialogue for the slurring Iron Warriors I hate writing dialogue for!

This just about fills the Plot quota. Next chapter it's back to comedy, violence, and violent comedy, I promise.

The Enemy of My Enemy

Iron Hearts: Book 4

Chapter 8

The Enemy of My Enemy

****

Centaur System - Ork kill krooza

"Dat's roight, bring 'er 'round. Nyss n'slo."

Hazarr squinted into the navigation panels of his vessel as he guided it through the debris field. Chunks of metal and scorched rubble floated freely through the void around enormous portions of carved-out starship hulls, each one bearing the distinctive forms unique to Tau engineering and the dark Sept colors of Lamman.

Into this small graveyard flew the remnants of Hazarr's raider fleet. Once large enough to threaten a poorly-defended world or small military outpost, the Ork band was now a shattered fraction of its former strength.

Which wasn't to say that the alien warriors were at all shaken. Orks didn't suffer from poor morale in the same manner as other sentient creatures; death and loss held no drama or horror to them. Fresh from the battlefield, and still within striking distance of the Iron Warriors, the raiders were already looking forward to their next battle.

Some with more foresight than others.

"Wot we doin' heah, Boss Coggz?" demanded a Loota as he stared at the monitors. "We'z not goin' ta a new planet?"

Hazarr chuckled as he swiveled around to face his subordinate. "Now why'z we gonna do dat? Dere's all da fightin' and lootin' we could ask fer, roight heah!"

The other Orks glanced at each other.

"Erm, yeah, dat's roight, but... da fightin's too much fer us lot, roight? An' we can't loot 'til da fightin's done, roight?" the Nob that spoke looked slightly nervous, as if he was afraid of looking stupid.

Which he did, of course. If the idiots didn't want to look stupid they should have kept their mouths shut.

"Yer roight. We needs a lot mo' boyz ta fight da spikies and krump 'em propa," Hazarr confirmed, "dat's why we'z stayin' heah and layin' low."

This did nothing to alleviate the confusion of the other Orks, so Hazarr elaborated.

"Did ya dumb gitz ferget why we'z heah?" the Big Mek demanded.

A nearby gretchin raised his hand timidly. "F-Fightin' and lootin'?"

"NO!" Hazarr snapped, stomping a heavy boot down on the small, simpering creature and reducing it to a greasy stain on the floor. "Dat's WHAT we'z doin' heah, not 'why'! We'z heah 'cuz of da WAAAGH signal!" He narrowed his eyes as he glared through his visor at his crew. "An' ya kin bet yer last toof dat we won' be da only Orks dat come lookin' fer a scrap."

The first expressions of dim understanding were starting to appear over the faces of his crew, and he continued. "When mo' boyz show up, we'z gonna hook up wit' dem. An' when we go back ta da planet, we'll be reddy fer da spikies. 'Til den..."

He turned toward the monitor and pointed toward the free-floating carcass of a Tau frigate. "We'z doin' spess lootin'. I gots a lotta dakka ta make. Den Hazarr Wrencha is gonna teach dem spikies - AND da dumb hosses - why da Orks is da best dere is! WAAAAAGH!!"

****

Ferrous Dominus - sector 7

Large, colored spotlights swept the soot-stained sky, and a deep, thrumming beat pulsed through the ferrocrete flooring as the sun progressed on its final descent toward the horizon. The 38th Company's fortress-factory was alive with much more than the machinery of warfare on this night, and the wide avenues and bare plazas played host to hundreds of mercenaries and menials cheering and talking. An atmospheric field had been deployed over a large section of the roadway, shielding the gathering from the fumes and toxins of the manufactorum smokestacks. Tables that had been set up under wide canopies and covered in food - real food, albeit all strictly vegetarian - were supervised by earth pony chefs wearing white, mushroom-shaped hats on top of their heads. Makeshift targeting ranges and a few other games had been set up on one side of the celebration, while on the other, huge vats of synthehol dispensed a practically limitless supply of intoxicants.

It wasn't a real Pinkie Party, as it was far too subdued and only involved people and ponies who were directly involved with the victory they were celebrating, but it was still a deal more than the human soldiery was used to. The mercenaries gladly indulged in the selection of desserts and vegetable dishes that the ponies had to offer, although the ponies were more cautious indulging in the humans' liquor.

Well, most of them were.

"BEHOLD! THE POWER OF THE PRINCESS OF THE - hic! - NIGHT! THE MOON SHALT NOW - hic! - TAKE ITS RIGHTFUL DOMINION IN - hic! - THE VOID!" Luna shouted while standing on top of a Leman Russ tank's battle cannon. She was wearing a tank commander's hat with a Chaos Star pinned on it rather than her usual ebony crown, and a tankard of synthehol floated unsteadily behind her in her magical grip.

As she crossed her eyes in concentration, however, Twilight alighted on top of the turret housing behind her.

"Princess! Wait!" the purple pony hissed, no longer wearing her power armor and bearing a gauze bandage wrapped around her head.

"TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" Luna shouted, starting to turn around on the narrow barrel of the cannon. She promptly lost her footing, and only avoided crashing into the ground by flapping her wings frantically to stay up.

"HOW NICE OF - hic! - THEE TO JOIN US!" Luna added after returning to her previous position and ignoring the snickering from a heavy weapons team below them.

"Princess, please, stop shouting," Twilight pleaded, her ears folding down, "and it's still too early to raise the moon. It's-"

"BAH!" Luna scoffed, banging a hoof against the tank cannon. "THOU CANNOT TELL US HOW TO DO OUR - hic! - CHOSEN DUTY! DOST THOU REALIZE HOW LONG WE HAST BEEN - hic! - MISTRESS OF THE NIGHT SKY?!"

Twilight sighed. "That would be about one thousand, two hundred and eighty-eight years, or one thousand, three hundred and twelve. It depends on whether Dusty Tome's theory about the early days of the Nightfall were true, and whether it really did change the solar cycle up until your full banishment."

Luna was silent for several seconds as she tried to work her thoughts through the fog of inebriation and the throb of the party music.

"Ugh. Cadence was - hic! - correct. Thou ART a nerd," Luna mumbled, turning her attention upward again, "whatever. BEHOLD! MOON!"

With a pulse of bright blue, the white lunar sphere suddenly zoomed up above the horizon, moving like a cannon shot before suddenly shuddering to a halt.

There was a great deal of whistling and clapping all around, but Twilight cringed. "Princess? You DO remember that there are Company ships in orbit, right? Ships that can't easily evade a magically propelled miniature planetoid?"

"OF COURSE!" Luna scoffed. "THE COMPANY - hic! - VESSELS ART IN AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT ORBITAL RING THAN..." she hiccupped again, and then squinted up at the sky. "Wait, which orbital ring doth they occupy, again? We cannot easily spot the craft from here."

"This is why every other natural planetary orbital in the universe is guided by gravity and inertia, not fallible sentients," said Gaela as she approached the Leman Russ. The Dark Techpriest was still wearing her power armor, but at least she had her dome-shaped helmet disengaged.

Luna leaned down toward the woman, scowling. "Who art thou calling - hic! - 'fallible'?" she demanded.

"Technically, I associated it with every organism not guided entirely by strict mechanical response or crude instinct. For the purposes of the immediate conversation, however, I was referring to you," Gaela explained at length. She was carrying a canteen of water with her, and she paused to take a drink, "and I assure you, 'fallible' is the least of the criticisms I can leverage against you."

Twilight honestly wasn't sure how Luna would react to Gaela's barbs, especially while drunk, but to her relief the larger alicorn just laughed.

Luna hopped down from the tank gun and landed next to Gaela with a gentle flap of her wings. "Sister may not appreciate thy caustic wit and disrespect, but We - hic! - find thy crude charm most amusing!" She paused to tilt the tankard down her throat, gulping down another mouthful of synthehol.

"'Crude charm', is it?" Gaela asked with a bemused expression.

"Aye! We can see how Sparkle hath not - hic! - disintegrated thee out of sheer outrage and indignation!" Luna clarified with a laugh.

"Princess!" Twilight shouted as she dropped down. "You know I wouldn't do that!"

"I agree," Gaela noted with a nod, "Sparkle's naïve and ignorantly optimistic temperament prevents her from using the most expedient and logical means to address her problems."

As Luna laughed and hiccupped some more, Twilight scowled up at the cyborg. "Hmph. The Orks might disagree."

"Aye! Indeed they would, hath the barbarians not been so well thrashed!" Luna said happily, interjecting herself back into the conversation.

"How would you know?" Gaela asked. "We found you lying-"

"So tell us, Sparkle!" Luna continued, speaking loudly enough to drown out Gaela's tepid monotone. "How many of the - hic! - green tide broke themselves upon thy weapons and were - hic! - thusly delivered from this world?"

Twilight frowned. "I, uh... wait, hold on," she mumbled quietly as she started counting in her head.

"According to her suit recorder, Sparkle registered forty-eight direct kills, including six enemy vehicles and three enemy command units," Gaela answered, "granted, that total does not include assisted terminations, including a clever use of her IFF signal as an improvised artillery beacon."

"A most impressive - hic! - tally!" Luna declared brightly. "We ourselves slew near a hundred of the foul aliens!"

Then Luna scowled. "T'would have been a full hundred - hic! - and more, if not for that honorless scoundrel!"

Twilight nodded cautiously. "The enemy leader must have been a very powerful Ork to stand up to you."

The larger alicorn snorted. "We referred - hic! - to the Element of Loyalty, not the Ork. Miss Dash hath a most unseemly habit of destroying foes that We hast weakened when her aid - hic! - is unneeded."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "There's other measures of proficiency in warfare besides a kill count, Princess. I don't know if Fluttershy even SAW an Ork today, but she saved dozens of people's lives! That's a contribution just as important as killing as many aliens as possible."

Gaela and Luna stared at the purple pony silently for several seconds, and then the latter gave the former an exasperated look.

"Doth she not simply drain the vitality from the conversation without the slightest effort?" Luna asked, having suddenly been cured both of her boisterous mood and her hiccups. "Surely, Sparkle's cutie mark is most inaccurate. It should be a frowning miser stamped across her buttocks." She took a deep swig from her tankard as Twilight's face burned.

"True. Then again, that's why she gets along so well with us here," Gaela agreed, embarrassing the purple mare even further.

Luna suddenly stepped in front of Gaela, and the Dark Techpriest recoiled ever-so slightly as a midnight blue wing spread over her arm.

"But enough of this diversion, Dark Techpriest! We hast matters of import to discuss with thee!"

"You do?" Gaela asked, honestly surprised.

"Indeed! Come along!" Luna commanded sharply as she and the cyborg left Twilight behind. "We must inquire as to the possible commission of new quarters. Our current accommodations art most... inadequate."

****

On the other side of the lots, Rainbow Dash - also having shed her armor - swept over the crowd of soldiers and ponies as she carried two flasks of synthehol between her hooves.

Her target wasn't hard to find despite the crowd, since she was standing on an elevated platform apart from the rest of the party-goers.

"Heya, Scratch! Got something for ya!" Rainbow called out as she swung in on the DJ's booth. A squad of four servitors stood in a circle at the edge of the platform, their grotesque, cybernetic bodies covered with heavy speaker ports and trailing thick coils of power cabling. Standing between them, and bobbing her head rhythmically, Vinyl Scratch was working a set of gearwork turntables as the very ground trembled in tune with the music's beat.

The DJ turned her head up as soon as Rainbow Dash passed over the noise servitors. "Hey, thanks, Dash!" Her horn glowed to levitate one of the flasks to the table.

Another pulse of telekinesis unscrewed the cap, and Rainbow tapped her flask against the floating container before the two mares took a deep swig.

"Phew! Bwhrhrhrhr!" Vinyl shook her head as she tilted her drink away from her. "It tastes like the sludge from my gutters, but that KICK is something else!"

Rainbow Dash started laughing, barely managing to keep from spitting out her own drink. Vinyl looked up at her and gave the pegasus a long look through her shades.

"Hey, you get your legs pierced or something? What's with the studs?" Vinyl asked, lifting up her shades over her horn. She had to shout to be heard over her music, although with her current setup the center of the stage was the ONLY place nearby that wasn't being directly bombarded with ear-shattering sound.

"Yeah, I got 'em 'pierced' all right!" Rainbow shuddered. "It's for the power armor!"

"Aw, yeah! I hear you kicked plot out there today, filly!" the unicorn shouted with a grin. "How many greenies did you put down?!"

"Oh, just a dozen!" Rainbow answered with a shrug. "Of course, three of them were PLANES, but, you know, not a big deal." The smirk on her face belied any attempt at modesty on her part.

"Nice! Well then, another drink for the conquering pony! Those ugly thickheads don't stand a chance!"

They bumped their flasks together again and took another quick sip each.

"It's nice of you to come down here on short notice, though!" Rainbow Dash said. "It's not exactly a quick walk from Ponyville!"

Vinyl Scratch laughed. "Ponyville? I live here now!"

Rainbow Dash blinked. "Say what?"

The snow-white unicorn adopted a way-too-serious expression and saluted. "Conscript Scratch of the Pony Coven, reporting for duty! Need a hole ripped in the fabric of the universe? I'm your mare! Apparently!" She laughed again and dropped the salute. "I was shipped here with the rest of the unlucky unicorns after that creepy wizard guy picked me out!"

"No kidding! How's that Nethal-whatsit been going?" Rainbow asked, landing closer to the other mare so that she wouldn't have to shout. "I mean, Twi and Rarity have combat duties, and they hate Serith, so they don't have to do it, but I haven't really heard from any ponies that do."

Vinyl's good humor fizzled as she put down her flask and pressed her lips into a thin line.

"It's going... well enough, I guess. The big metal creep seems happy with us." She was speaking low enough that Rainbow had to put her ear almost right up to the unicorn's mouth to make everything out.

"Well that's good, but what do you guys DO?" Rainbow asked.

"We learn," Vinyl said, scratching at her horn with a hoof, "we learn about magic. Or really, it's more like we unlearn everything we THOUGHT we knew about magic." She grimaced and looked away. "Serith is teaching us to open our eyes when we use spells, and let me tell you: what we're seeing isn't pretty."

Rainbow Dash couldn't really understand that at all, so she shrugged. "Well, don't let that guy get to you. Even if he IS our best hope to survive an alien invasion, Serith is a total jerk!"

Vinyl Scratch offered up a snort as she took a moment to select the next song in her lineup.

Then she turned back to the other pony hesitantly.

"Hey... you know Serith, right? Like, personally?"

Rainbow tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Serith? A little, I guess?" She scowled. "The guy's crazy dangerous! I mean, all Iron Warriors are, but he doesn't mind his own business like the rest do, and the unicorn favoritism is seriously uncool!"

Vinyl Scratch chewed her lip briefly. "What IS he?"

"Huh?" the pegasus leaned her head back, even more confused. "He's an Iron Warrior. A Chaos Space Marine. Adeptus Astartes and all that. But with magic. You know, because obviously they aren't powerful enough already."

The pony DJ frowned as she stared at her synthehol flask. "Yeah... that's what he's supposed to be, I guess... it's just... I don't think he is..."

That revelation was appropriately weird and vague for Rainbow Dash to stare uncomprehending at the unicorn for several seconds as Vinyl sipped at her drink again.

"Well, enough about that depressing stuff!" the DJ suddenly shouted, stretching a leg out at the servitors hooked to the power transformer behind her. "How do you like my new rig?! Pretty sweet, huh? Pinkie Pie hooked me up!"

Rainbow Dash looked over to the rumbling cyber-slave next to her. Its pallid, waxy skin was covered in circuitry and braided wire, and it had speaker housings (called a "caster" by the humans) that filled its mouth, torso, and was mounted on each arm in lieu of hands.

"I think it's gross and creepy!" the pegasus answered.

"Oh, totally! But the sound quality is AMAZING!!" Vinyl laughed. "I have to be careful though, because apparently the highest volume settings can ACTUALLY kill people! That would be pretty awful! Not really sure why they built them like that!"

Rainbow Dash snorted and rolled her eyes. "I don't think these guys build anything that CAN'T be used to kill people. It's just how they do things, you know?"

"Right? That is so METAL!"

****

"We never even saw it coming! One moment everything was fine and we were on our way to clear out the last of the brutes, and then the next..."

Rarity paused to take a sip of her amasec, as if needing to calm her nerves.

"It was as if the world simply kicked up around us. The transport was flung through the air, the noise was terrible, and all our equipment wouldn't work properly! Those Orks gave us quite a scare!"

Rarity was standing under one of the larger canopies, nursing her drink and talking to a small group of other unicorns. Applejack was standing behind a table under the same shelter, making fruit pies with the help of two other mares and a plasma cooker.

"Dreadful! However did you survive?" asked Fleur de Lis, a cocktail hovering behind her head.

"With the magic of friendship, of course!" Rarity said, floating her drink a little higher. "With some support from the technology of hatred and murder." She paused to take a sip, and then exhaled deeply. "I must say, I'm glad I was talked out of my less... practical armor designs. I would have hated to be out in that dust cloud with my mane and tail exposed. Could you even IMAGINE?"

"That armor certainly sounds remarkable," agreed another unicorn between sips of liquor, "but didn't you have to have some sort of surgery?"

Rarity lifted a leg, a mild smirk on her face. "Oh, yes, it was quite awful, really. But a lady always endures."

Fleur frowned as she looked over Rarity's foreleg. "I don't really see anything..."

"Good," Rarity answered with a smile as she put her leg down, "I had those hideous metal studs painted over to match my coat as soon as the whole affair was over. But there's simply no helping the armor itself. Wearing it means having my mane and tail practically wrapped around me, and any time I take it off I have to style everything again."

"Yer still more worried 'bout yer mane gettin' mussed up than gettin' yer noggin blown off?" Applejack asked, interrupting the conversation as she dropped a pie onto the table.

"Am I not allowed to worry about both?" Rarity said, turning her nose up. "This place doesn't even have a proper spa yet, and I've already spent all day with my mane and tail plastered against my coat! I was probably sweating, too!"

Applejack dropped another pie on the table. "Ya know, some days Ah really wanna clock you one, Rares." Then she tilted her head to the side. "Wait, whaddya mean they don' have a proper spa 'yet'? The DarkMech settin' up a beauty parlor or somethin'?"

"If ONLY," Rarity snorted, "I'm sure I could make Gaela halfway presentable with enough servo applicators, restraining shackles, and a lathe."

The other mares giggled lightly (or in Applejack's case, guffawed loudly) at the comment, and then she continued.

"Seriously, though. There are two new chefs who have moved into Sector 9 to open up restaurants, and I've been approached by an upper-class noblepony who found himself conscripted and needs a new wardrobe. With a chunk of the Canterlot citizenry here, we can expect a steady influx of new services."

"No kiddin'?" Applejack asked, arching an eyebrow. "Ah guess Ah never reckoned the Company would take to that."

"I think it would do them some good," Fleur interjected, "I've never met an Iron Warrior who couldn't benefit from a makeover."

Another round of laughter erupted from the ponies as they each conjured a mental image of one of the dour, armored giants undergoing various beauty treatments.

"Hey, everypony! Having fun?!" Chirped a voice from nearby.

Dest approached the canopy at a ponderous walk, Pinkie Pie sitting on his backpack. The Iron Warrior had his helmet off, and was carrying a tray on one hand stacked high with cupcakes.

"Pinkie, darling, lovely to see you," Rarity offered, waving her over, "you've done a wonderful job with the celebration. Tasteful and entertaining all around."

Pinkie's expression suddenly turned grim and serious. "This is a celebration of victory, but also of mourning. Of those lives lost in the defense of our planet to the alien horde, and their sacrifice for our future."

She held her somber expression for barely two seconds before it broke into a smile again. "Try Desty's cupcakes! They're scrum-diddly-icious!"

Dest placed the platter down on the table, and his eyes lingered on one of the pies. Most of the unicorns silently excused themselves, instantly uncomfortable in the presence of a Chaos Marine, but Fleur de Lis looked up at the driver with a smile.

"It's so nice of you to join us, Lord! There are precious few Marines out celebrating, I noticed."

It was easy to see what she meant. Out of a crowd of more than three hundred individuals, merely half a dozen of them were Space Marines.

Dest shrugged. "My brothers tend to find revelry wasteful and useless. And Lord Sliver was most displeased about the last celebration."

"I imagine Lord Sliver would be most displeased by anything fun," Rarity sniffed.

"Aw, maybe he just needs to learn to loosen up!" Pinkie mused.

"What he NEEDS is a bath," Rarity countered, "ideally, in a tub full of bleach."

Several of the ponies tried their best to stifle laughter, perhaps thinking that Dest would be offended. The Iron Warrior simply smirked and held up some pie over his head, which Pinkie snapped up with gusto.

"Ah ha! Over here! I found it!" came a very enthusiastic, male voice from above.

A trio of pegasi swooped in under the canopy, and most of the ponies straightened up as they recognized the blue and yellow jumpsuits (dusty and worn as they were) they wore.

"YES! I told you guys somepony was serving pie!" Soarin cheered as he landed in front of the table.

The male Wonderbolt seemed entirely oblivious to the gussied-up unicorns on one side of him and the Iron Warrior on the other as he happily trotted up to the table.

"Howdy!" Applejack greeted the stallion warmly, tapping a hoof against the table top. "If'n yer lookin' fer pie, ya came to the right pony!"

The other two Wonderbolts, who Rarity quickly identified as Fleetfoot and Spitfire, came to a more cautious landing while casting uncertain glances at the Chaos Marine. Both of them had clearly cleaned up since being on the battlefield, although all the Wonderbolts still wore their head sets with the optics visors flipped up.

"This here apple pie is made with top-quality galas from mah farm back in Ponyville!" Applejack said proudly as she pushed the dessert forward.

"Wow, you brought your apple harvest here with you?" Soarin asked.

"Nah. These apples arrived here a little while back," the farmer explained. Then, after a moment, she added, "Instead of that Warp core thing, apparently. By mistake."

"So when you think about it," Pinkie mumbled through a mouthful of pie, "these apples are partly responsible for the imminent invasion of our planet!"

"It's not their fault!" Applejack snapped. "The apples are innocent!"

Soarin couldn't care less about such things, and released a rapturous sigh as he took his first bite of the steaming hot dessert. The other two Wonderbolts made a detour toward Rarity.

"Miss Rarity, I'd like to thank you again for your help back there on the cliff," Spitfire said with an easygoing smile.

"Oh, think nothing of it, darling," the fashionista replied, "we're all fighting for the same thing, and you certainly did your part." She tilted her head to the side. "How is Mister Silver Lining faring?"

Spitfire snorted. "He'll make a full recovery easily enough, and the humans gave him some sort of injection that's sealing up his bones so he can even stay active. They also tried to talk him into cutting off his leg and getting a metal one, but I don't think he was very interested."

"Speaking of metal legs!" Fleetfoot said suddenly, hopping forward toward the unicorn. "I have somepony to thank too, but I'm having a little trouble finding him. Are you familiar with Mister Macintosh?"

Applejack's ear twitched.

"I am," Rarity answered before taking another sip of her drink, "but if you're looking for him, you should probably ask his sister, Applejack." She jabbed a hoof lightly toward the orange pony, and Fleetfoot whirled about on the spot.

Applejack fixed the Wonderbolt with a scrutinizing look for a few seconds before turning back toward one of the ovens. "Mac's workin'."

"Working? That's no fun!" Pinkie declared, pouting.

Applejack shrugged. "Ya know how he is. If it ain't his day off, he'd rather nap on hot coals than waste daylight. He's helpin' haul ammo and whatnot from the supply trucks."

"An example more of your kind should aspire to," Dest rumbled. As he ate pie with a pink pony on his shoulder.

"Okay, that's fine. Do you know where he's working, then?" Fleetfoot asked anxiously.

"Ah'd rather ya didn't bother him while he's on the job," Applejack replied evenly after dropping another pie on the table.

"The job which no one asked him to do, and for which he is not being paid," Rarity added while looking in a different direction. She quickly tilted her glass up to her muzzle to drink as Applejack shot her an annoyed look.

Fleetfoot frowned. She didn't really like the way the orange pony was sizing her up. It felt like she was being judged. And found wanting, at that.

"Look, I just want to thank him for saving my life!" Fleetfoot said, an anxious edge to her voice.

Soarin chuckled. "Yeah, you'd like to thank him all night lo-"

Fleetfoot smacked Soarin on the back of his head, pushing him muzzle-first into the hot apple pie Applejack had just set down.

He didn't really seem to mind.

"Ahem. Like I was saying," Fleetfoot continued, placing a hoof to her chest, "Mister Macintosh braved great danger to rescue me from the Orks, and I think he deserves my gratitude."

Spitfire nodded. "I agree. I'd also like to personally than-"

"I CAN HANDLE IT ON MY OWN CAPTAIN THANK YOU VERY MUCH," Fleetfoot said through clenched teeth, causing the other pegasus to jerk back.

Applejack looked quite unimpressed by the plea, and she idly noticed Rarity and Fleur de Lis whispering to each other and tittering.

"It ain't happenin', sugarcube," the farmer said. Her tone was one of bored finality, like she was blowing off a customer that was haggling too aggressively.

"Ooh! Plot-blocked!" Pinkie hissed loudly enough for everyone under or near the canopy to overhear.

Fleetfoot reared up and slammed her front hooves on the table angrily. "What are you, his mother?! Tell me where the stallion is, hayseed!"

Applejack's eyes narrowed and her jaw tightened. "Now you look here, you feather-brained hussy..."

Whatever Applejack was about to say was mercifully cut off by the sound of sudden bolter fire.

The Wonderbolts, Applejack, and Rarity dropped prone instantly, hooves over their heads. Dest whirled toward the sound, snapping up the boltgun on his thigh. Pinkie Pie adopted a comically exaggerated martial arts stance upon the Marine's shoulder.

The music warbled and then cut out as one of the noise servitors slumped from the DJ's platform with a hole in its chest. Ponies started shuffling about nervously, while the humans mostly fell silent and grimly turned to face the source of the interruption.

Chaos Lord Sliver stomped through the edge of the atmospheric bubble, a combi-bolter in his hand and a large squad of fully armed Chaos Marines behind him.

"Oh, great. It's the FUN POLICE," Pinkie Pie grumbled, her ears flipping down.

"More like the fun elite kill team," Rarity quipped as she peeked over the top of the table, "ladies and gentlemen, exit stage right?"

"I don't get it. Who's that guy? What's his problem?" Soarin asked, bits of apple pie still stuck to his face.

"Ah'd like to introduce y'all to Lord Sliver," Applejack grumbled from under the table, "he's one o'the reasons we ponies try to avoid certain sectors 'round here."

The crowd rapidly parted in front of the foul-smelling Chaos Marine, with the ponies hiding behind the humans where possible. The humans themselves, as well as the few Iron Warriors gathered, seemed to wait silently for the Chaos Lord to pass judgment.

Sliver came to a stop in the middle of the throng, his helmet sweeping back and forth.

It briefly lingered on a banner that had been suspended across the avenue. It had the word "Victory!" written across it repeatedly, with small, disembodied Ork heads (with X's for eyes) drawn around the letters.

"... Pathetic," Sliver decided, letting his gaze drop once more to the party-goers, "you foolss ssurvive one minor sskirmish in thiss idiot endeavor and you celebrate it as victory."

"A minor skirmish, was it?"

The crowd silently parted again, this time to let Luna through to meet the Iron Warrior in the middle.

"Mayhap it were. But We see no harm in such revelry to maintain morale." The dark alicorn kept her head held high, but she was barely as tall as the abdominal plating of the rusted hulk of terminator armor.

Sliver regarded Luna silently for a few seconds, and plumes of ugly green vapor puffed from the filter of his helmet.

"I will not ssuffer another dissruption to our operationss," he said finally, "you will all disspersse immediately."

"Waitwaitwaitwait!" A pink blur zipped through the crowd, eventually coming to a halt in front of Sliver's foot.

"Hi there! I know you were SUPER upset about the slaves escaping last time, so even though that's kind of a good thing since slavery is bad I thought I should talk to the General guy ahead of time to keep this exact thing that's happening now from happening!"

Sliver watched silently as Pinkie Pie held out a dataslate toward him, and then he picked up the device with his free hand.

"That thingy has my party permit, music license, energy requisition approval, security scheduling, intoxicant... um..." she trailed off as Sliver crushed the dataslate to shards between his fingers, not even glancing at the device's contents.

Luna frowned. "We see no reason for thy antagonism, Lord Sliver. Did we not obtain a victory - however minor as thou likes - for thy Company? Surely some dancing and drink is not too great a reward for a successful combat."

"Ssuccesssful?" Sliver hissed, his voice stretching the word out horribly. "Do you think me a fool, xeno? Our deployment wass never in danger of defeat againsst an Ork detachment of that ssize. General Gnosss iss at leasst that capable. And yet we sstill ssuffered heavy losssess of armor becausse YOUR usselesss sscoutss made no notice of the potential threat until it wass too late."

"My bad!" called out Rainbow Dash quickly before she ducked back down out of sight.

If Sliver heard or cared about the admission, he didn't show it as he continued staring Luna down. "The Warssmith protectss your world on one of hiss idiot whimss. It iss only a matter of time until thiss charade crumbless, and I will ssee to it that my brotherss do not throw away their livess for thiss worthlesss rock."

Pinkie and Luna scowled at the Chaos Lord.

"Hey! Don't call Shmithy an idiot! Leave him alone!" Pinkie protested.

"The Warsmith is thy master, and thou wouldst do well not to speak of him with such insolence," Luna said coldly.

Sliver hesitated, genuinely confused. That wasn't the part of his speech he had expected them to object to.

"Ssolon has wassted livess and ressourcess bringing uss to thiss world, and now he risskss the entire fleet on the ssorceriess of your feeble race," Sliver growled out, "hiss ineptitude and foolish indulgence wearss thin. The Warssmith'ss failuress can only be tolerated for sso long."

"Failures?" Luna asked, bristling. "Lord Solon hath enacted a strategy to salvage thy fleet and make thy Company more powerful than ever!"

"You know nothing of the Warssmith, or our Legion, alien," Sliver said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

There were new figures moving forward through the crowd now, coming closer to stare at the Chaos Lord in stony disapproval. Sliver didn't recognize Dest, but Twilight Sparkle and Gaela were both familiar to him.

He hardly felt intimidated by their approach, but considered that he was being carried off-topic.

"But I did not come here to disscusss the Warssmith'ss incompetence. Thiss gathering iss to be disssolved at once." At his ultimatum, the Iron Warriors behind him aimed their boltguns, preparing to fire into the crowd that surrounded them.

The humans started backing away, and even Luna's stern expression faltered as she considered the prospect of fending off a bolter fusillade. Again.

Pinkie Pie, on the other hand, took a step closer.

"You can't talk about Shmithy like that!" she declared angrily, shaking a hoof at the diseased giant. "Shmithy's great! And I'll PROVE it!"

A Chaos Marine stepped forward with his bolt pistol trained directly at Pinkie's forehead. To his surprise, Sliver held up his arm, obstructing the shot.

"By all meanss," Sliver drawled, glaring down at the little pink pony, "go ahead. I have sserved Ssolon for millennia. You met him mere weekss ago. You can 'prove' nothing."

"I can, and I WILL!" Pinkie protested. "With the power of SONG!"

Twilight winced. "No, Pinkie, I don't think-"

Suddenly, every lumen on the street went dark. Those that had helmet autosenses quickly cycled their visors to low-light mode, expecting some sort of attack or for the party-goers to flee in the confusion.

Instead, a pair of spotlight lumens turned on over the DJ platform. Pinkie Pie now stood there rather than Vinyl Scratch, and she loudly cleared her throat.

"Oh, no..." Twilight groaned as the light, peppy music came from the noise servitors, and she slapped a hoof against her face as Pinkie reared up on her hind legs.

"He is the very model of a modern Chaos General!"

"He knows of things daemonic, terrible, and visceral!"

"He knew the mighty Emperor and fought the war Heretical!"

"From Olympia to Cadia, against the foes most venerable!"

Pinkie sang at a breathless pace as she leapt from the stage, and she started trotting along the avenue as the spotlight lumens followed her from above.

"He's even well acquainted with the techna xenological!"

"His knowledge of Chaotic lore is frankly astronomical!"

"His weapons shame the greatest constructs of the Dark Mechanicus!"

"And surpass the vaunted quality of every tank Macharius!"

Pinkie snapped a hoof out to the side. "CHORUS!"

Prince Blueblood stepped forward into a new spotlight.

"He's skilled at engineering and obscure mechanics numerous."

Fancy Pants nodded alongside him.

"He's advanced many theologies of the non-salubrious."

Then their voices spoke in tandem.

"Whether it be daemonic, terrible, or in some manner visceral, he is the very MODEL of a modern Chaos General!"

When the lights re-focused on Pinkie, she was holding up a pict-slate that rapidly scrolled through images at a pace that matched her verse.

"He's killed all manner xeno from the gnarloc to the carnifex!"

"He's smashed the tanks and walkers of the enemy to smoking wrecks!"

"He's scoured the tombs of Necrons and the webway of the Eldar scum!"

"He's made blades and bullets of the finest unobtanium!"

She flung the pict-slate away, and then gestured grandly to the night sky above.

"He's traveled through the galaxy on pathways immaterial!"

"When it comes to genocide, his history is serial!"

"From naval skirmish to the siege his experience is manifold!"

"On planets of volcanic heat to utter void so very cold!"

Pinkie thrust out another hoof. "CHORUS!"

Trixie posed eagerly as a spotlight centered on her.

"His skills span all the subjects of metaphysics and economy!"

Luna stepped in behind her, her voice emerging as a window-shaking bellow.

"WE'VE SEEN HE KNOWS A THING OR TWO ABOUT ENTOMOLOGY!"

Trixie had to raise her voice considerably as the two mares then sang together.

"WHEN IT COMES TO TOPICS DAEMONIC, TERRIBLE, AND VISCERAL, HE IS THE VERY MODEL OF A MODERN CHAOS GENERAL!"

Pinkie was standing on Dest's head as she took over again, watching the sky as drop rigs careened toward the ground far away.

"He plies the stars in constant pursuit of his goals piratical!"

"He plunders helpless cities with technologies theatrical!"

"Upon our home of Centaur III, he chose to make planetfall!"

"And made us very happy by deciding not to kill us all!"

Pinkie leaned down and nuzzled the top of Dest's head as the driver stayed perfectly still and ignored her.

"Now we are the bestest friends, and allies til' the end of time!"

"Killing countless aliens and belting out this friendship rhyme!"

"Even if his Chaos faith is icky to the ninth degree!"

"It's all good so long as he aims his guns away from me!"

Pinkie threw her forelegs up into the air. "Bring me home!"

All at once, the normal lumens switched back on, and nearly every pony that had attended the celebration rocked back and forth as they sang.

"HE'S OUR CYBORG MASTER FROM THE FAR SIDE OF THE GALAXY! EVEN IF ALONG THE WAY HE MAY HAVE LOST A DUEL OR THREE!"

"AND WHEN IT COMES TO THINGS DAEMONIC, TERRIBLE, AND VISCERAL, HE IS THE VERY MODEL OF A MODERN CHAOS GENERAL!"

The music cut out as Pinkie leapt from Dest's head, landing in front of Sliver and his squad.

Not a single one of the Iron Warriors seemed to have budged since the song started, although they were all staring attentively at Pinkie Pie.

The party-loving mare had a smug smile as she leaned her head back and looked up at the single crimson lens of Sliver's helmet. "Well?"

Sliver said nothing, simply staring down at her for nearly ten seconds.

He slowly raised a hand as if to point at the pony.

He hesitated, and then, after a few more seconds, he lowered his hand again.

Sliver then turned on his heel and walked away without saying a word.

Twilight watched the soldiers leave, every one of them seeming somehow dazed after witnessing the musical number. She was hardly much better.

Gaela was slightly harder to faze, and she walked up to the pink equine and glared at her.

"How do you know about most of those things you sang about?" she demanded. "You haven't even looked at the archives. You can't possibly know what Cadia or a Macharius are."

Pinkie Pie blinked up at her. "I don't, really. It's not like I wrote that song."

Leaving the Dark Techpriest to puzzle over that unhelpful tidbit, Pinkie pranced back to the canopy where Applejack and Rarity were waiting.

"Attagirl, Pinks! Ya showed that smelly varmint what fer!" Applejack laughed.

"I propose a toast, then," Rarity said, floating her glass up into the air, "to the brilliant, destructive abomination who made all of this possible!"

"Yeah!" Pinkie chirped, producing a mug of cider. "You're the best, Twilight!"

"HEY!" shouted an irate voice behind her as her other friends snickered.

Pinkie stuck out her tongue playfully, but then frowned as she tapped her drink cup against Rarity's. "Where is Shmithy, anyway? I know I invited him! This is his party too!"

"Oh, you know how the Warsmith is," Rarity replied, sipping her drink, "I'm sure he's working, as usual. A pity he can't find time for a little fun, but he probably has a lot to do."

****

Ferrous Dominus - Solon's forge

Solon stared down at the pony standing patiently in front of the entrance to his forge, his optics whirring softly in his helmet.

Big Macintosh stared back as he sat on his haunches silently, still wearing his power armor. His magnetic harpoon was deployed as well, and was attached to a metal cart behind him.

Inside the cart were the pieces of four power armor suits in widely varying states of damage and disrepair. Only Fluttershy had apparently refrained from adding her wargear to the pile.

At the top of the heap of metal and ceramite was a yellow sticky note attached to a certain unicorn's discarded helmet.

We'll pick these back up tomorrow morning. That radioactive dust ruined the finish on my armor, so don't forget to give it a good wax and polish when you're done fixing up all the scratches.

XOXOXO - Rarity

"I really hate that mare," Solon sighed as he turned around to head back into his forge.

****

Ferrous Dominus - sector 6, Sweet Cream coffee shop, the following morning

Twilight levitated a bowl of sugar over her tea and spilled some of the snowy powder into the steaming beverage in front of her.

She was currently sitting at a metal table with the rest of the Elements of Harmony, plus Big Macintosh. All had their own steaming hot beverages in front of them, and were drinking them with varying levels of gusto.

"So, I guess we have a coffee shop, now," Rainbow mumbled between gulps of her drink, "you know, if it weren't for the huge blanket of oily smog outside, you'd hardly be able to tell that this place is a giant death factory."

That was an exaggeration, Twilight decided. Even the more benign establishments were still in fortified buildings, often with defenses built right into the walls. Their table wasn't even supported by legs, but rather by a crate of heavy bolter ammunition. Still, the over-militarized decor in a pony-run coffee shop emphasized Rainbow's point rather than diminished it.

"I hope they can eventually come up with a way to take care of the pollution, too," Rarity said, her tea cup hovering in front of her, "some of these establishments could certainly use outdoor seating, which is hard when the air is toxic." She paused to sip her tea. "But I suppose I should be happy they've made this much progress. Most humans apparently didn't know what tea WAS before they came to our planet!"

Twilight pondered on that matter as she blew on her tea to cool it. Not about whether a race of aliens had heard of tea - which didn't especially surprise her - but rather that shops opening up in a massive war fortress was considered "progress". Progress toward what, she wondered.

"They could definitely use a farm outside the palisade if'n they're gonna be stayin' here long-term," Applejack added as she put down her mug of coffee, "not on the wasteland, o'course, and it would have t'be a ways out to avoid the weird evil blight this place puts over the soil, but Ah think them hills over on the west side could hold a grove or two. Ah figger me an' a couple more earth ponies could set something up after this Ork mess blows over."

"Eeyup," Big Mac added helpfully.

"Do you think they'd use ponies to run it, though? They might want to staff the farm with slaves or machines," Rarity pointed out.

Applejack snorted hotly, her brow creasing. "Naw, ya won't get quality produce that way. There ain't no substitute fer good ol' earth pony farmin'!"

"Don't think for a second I disagree, but you've SEEN what humans eat, darling," Rarity murmured with a raised eyebrow.

Twilight took a long sip from her tea and then put the cup down before clearing her throat loudly.

"All right, everypony. I think it's time we got started, here." She paused to take a look around the table, and then paused longer to wait for Pinkie Pie, who was lying face-down in a mug of hot cocoa. After a few seconds Pinkie snapped her head up, suddenly paying full attention as hot chocolate dripped down her muzzle.

"Thank you. Now, I'm sure that after our second operation and first real full-scale combat engagement under the 38th Company, we all might have some concerns and questions," Twilight began, taking on a tone that she hoped projected gentle authority, "after all, even if we've been in fights and risked our lives before, none of us are soldiers. Killing other creatures on sight because they're a certain species or wearing certain colors is new to us."

Twilight briefly glanced over at Applejack. "New to most of us," she corrected. Applejack rolled her eyes.

"So I'd like to start off with something that's been bothering me ever since we left the battlefield yesterday," Twilight continued, pausing for effect.

Then she pointed a hoof at Rainbow Dash. "We are NOT calling our unit 'Rainbow Squad'."

Rainbow Dash groaned. "What's wrong with 'Rainbow Squad'? It's an awesome unit name! And it totally fits us!"

"HOW?" Twilight asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Because we're all different colors!" Rainbow explained, rolling her eyes. "Duh."

"Indisputable logic, Dash," Rarity said with amusement, "except that our armor colors are all the same drab, industrial palette. It presents a rather colorless impression."

"Besides that, I think it would be best if we all decided on a unit name together and took a vote on it, rather than one pony deciding for all of us," Twilight declared, lifting up a dataslate and setting it down in the middle of the table, "I've come up with some ideas and listed them here. We just need to decide on one."

Applejack glanced down at the list, and then raised her foreleg. "Ah nominate 'Apple Squad'. Don't see that on the list."

Twilight smacked a hoof against her face. "Applejack..."

Big Mac raised his own hoof. "Eeyup."

"Ooh, two votes already!" Pinkie said, rubbing her hooves together. "We may have a winner!"

Twilight's eyes narrowed. "... Big Macintosh, I don't mean to suggest that you don't belong or anything, and of course you've been a great help to us, but... why are you here, exactly?"

"Mac figgers he owes the Company fer savin' his life and fixin' him up," Applejack answered, "and 'til the Historical folks move all that there alien junk from the farm, we can't rebuild it. So he's decided to stick around and help out here as much as he can."

Big Mac nodded in silent agreement.

"What about your kid sis?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Doesn't somepony need to take care of her?"

"Oh, Ah'm not worried," the farmer replied, shifting her hat to the side, "between Granny, Crabapple, an' her schoolin', Ah'm sure Apple Bloom is just fine!"

****

Sweet Apple Acres

Winona yelped frantically as she rushed into the farmstead, diving to hide under the couch.

A few seconds later three young, Chaos-marked fillies darted in after her before quickly splitting up.

As Sweetie Belle slammed both forehooves down on the door access panel, Apple Bloom gulped in air and then yelled into the next room.

"Granny! The wasps Ah was keepin' mutated into a swarm of daemonic monsters!"

Scootaloo jumped up to one of the armorglass windows to look outside, looking far more excited than horrified. A few moments later a muskrat-sized wasp slammed into the view port, stabbing furiously at the armorglass with its knife-like legs and stinger. Its compound eyes glowed a soft green, and dark, oily toxins dribbled from its mouth and abdomen.

"This is SO COOL!" Scootaloo gushed as she watched the winged monstrosity claw at the window.

Granny Smith hobbled into the room at Apple Bloom's shout, and then took a moment to peer out at the monstrous insects.

"Ah'm sorry, Granny," Apple Bloom said sadly, her ears drooping, "Ah tried to reason with 'em, but they wouldn't listen! Now they're tryin' to lay their eggs in us!"

"I'm too young to be a daemon mommy!" Sweetie Belle complained, her back pressed against the locked and reinforced entry door. "Especially the kind that gets eaten when the babies are born!"

A series of heavy thumping and crashing noises came from outside, and Scootaloo whistled and started waving her hooves about. "Aw, yeah! Go get 'em, Crabapple! Kill 'em all!"

Granny Smith snorted in the direction of the daemon wasp, and then hobbled over to her rocking chair. "Bah, why all the fuss over that lil' thing? Filly, lemme tell ya 'bout the time a swarm of Everfree hornets set up a nest in the orchard. Now THEM varmints were nasty! Bigger'n Winona, an' a shell like iron! Ya could take a hoe to one o'those things, and if ya were lucky 'nuff to survive, ya'd at least hafta buy yerself a new hoe!"

"Go! Go! Punch the big one on the right! No, the right! MY right!" Scootaloo shouted, gesturing wildly in front of the window. "Whoa! They're crawling into her exhaust pipes! They're trying to choke her out!"

Apple Bloom cringed. "Anypony remember where the button fer that siege mode thing is?"

"Next to the fireplace, dear," Granny Smith said as she pulled a quilt over her lap.

"Thanks, Granny!"

****

Ferrous Dominus - sector 6, Sweet Cream coffee shop

"All right, then. So it's agreed that from now on, we will be referred to as Equinought Squadron," Twilight said happily, nodding her head.

Rainbow Dash shrugged, having already resigned herself to the change.

Applejack had her forelegs crossed, and looked irritated. "That ain't very democratic-like, Twi."

"With all due respect, Big Macintosh isn't part of our unit, so he doesn't get a vote on matters involving our unit," Twilight explained calmly. The crimson stallion pouted sadly.

"That's discrimination!" Applejack claimed angrily, banging her hoof on the table.

"... No, it isn't," Twilight countered dryly.

"I still think Rainbow Squad was fine, but whatever. Equinought isn't bad," Rainbow Dash said, "so is there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"Yeah, actually, I was thinking we don't have very good squad cohesion," Twilight pointed out, glad to change the subject, "we need to work as a team, but when we got into the field we all kind of split up and did our own thing."

Pinkie Pie hummed to herself as she stared up at the ceiling. "... That totally worked, though."

"And some of our gear doesn't really work well with each other," Rainbow pointed out, "my fancy armor jets aren't going to be a big help if I have to stick by you guys. This isn't really like our Elements of Harmony deal."

Twilight frowned and stared down at the table. "Good points. Let's shelve that matter for now and move on."

Then she turned toward Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie, why is your dreadnought shell different from the one you started the battle in?" Twilight pointed a hoof out the window toward the assault walker in question. It was standing immobile on the street with its body hunched forward, and had no head piece to speak of.

"Didn't I tell you? An Ork blew up my last one," Pinkie explained.

"Yes, but how did you get a new walker before the battle was even over?" Twilight pressed.

"I just borrowed Hett's walker," Pinkie said with a shrug. "Without permission."

"What?" Twilight leaned in.

"What?" Pinkie said.

They stared at each other for a few seconds, and then Rainbow Dash interrupted the stare-off.

"So, how are you going to gear it up?"

"Oh, I was thinking a heavy party mortar this time," Pinkie explained excitedly, "the Easy Bake 600 will have indirect-fire capability and TWICE the speaker power! And a microwave for mid-combat snacks. I didn't really know this until recently, but excessive heat venting and heavy radiation exposure give me an appetite!"

Twilight shook her head. "Wait, back up, you said you got the dreadnought shell from-"

"Actually, do you suppose we could cut this short?" Rarity interrupted. "Delgan wanted to have a meeting with me in about an hour, and I want to make sure we pick up our power armor before then."

"Aw, shucks, yer right. Ah volunteered fer one o'them combat patrols, too. Don't wanna head out there naked," Applejack said, fitting her respirator mask over her muzzle.

"But... she..." Twilight trailed off into a sigh as her friends scattered some bits over the table and stepped down from their chairs to leave.

Pinkie trotted outside happily, stopping in front of the walker and digging around in her mane for a moment.

She pulled out a keychain with a small plastic device attached, and then aimed it at the dreadnought before pressing a button on the device.

The dreadnought beeped twice, and a clicking noise was heard from within the sarcophagus housing before Pinkie leapt up and crawled inside.

"Don't question it, it's Pinkie. Don't question it, it's Pinkie," Twilight mumbled to herself as she followed the Apple siblings outside.

"Well, I'm going to go work on this baby! See you guys later!" Pinkie shouted as the walker's power core started up and the limbs jerked to attention.

"Later!" Rainbow Dash called as she swooped up above the others.

Fluttershy quietly excused herself as well, as her armor hadn't been dropped off for repair.

"Hey, whoa, what's that?" Rainbow Dash stopped suddenly and dropped down so that her friend could hear.

She was staring at a procession of dozens of human and Astartes soldiers, all marching down the avenue with guns drawn.

Twilight frowned as she glimpsed a figure in the middle of the procession. "Is that... a Tau?"

Rainbow hovered up higher, and then nodded. "Hey, yeah, it is! I wonder what's up."

"What makes ya think somethin's up? There're plenty of grayskins 'round here," Applejack said, not at all perturbed.

"Yeah, but that one's not chained up, and it's still wearing battle gear," Rainbow informed the others, "that part's weird."

Twilight pressed a hoof to her chin. "... All right, let's go get our armor. I can link to the noosphere prisoner registry and find out if there were any new captures recently."

"I don't see what it matters," Rarity admitted, "the Company certainly has that one under control."

"That's just it, though. They don't usually escort the slave miners with half a dozen infantry squads," Twilight pointed out, "I just want to stay informed."

Rarity shrugged as the soldiers passed by, eager to get on with their own errand. She was wearing her rubber cloak ensemble again, and wanted to replace it with her armor suit as soon as possible so long as she had to be outside.

Nearly twenty minutes later, the newly-dubbed Equinoughts were approaching the main gates to Solon's forge. The enormous blast doors had a trio of sigils carved into them, with the Iron Skull taking a position of prominence at the top, while the Star of Chaos and the Mark of Nurgle stood below it on either side. More Chaos symbolism, Twilight decided, and as subtle as ever.

The purple alicorn sped up and raised her security band for the door scanner.

She was promptly rejected by a rather rude noise, followed by a pattern of flashing red lights.

"Tch! I guess we don't have independent access to this area," Twilight said, clicking her tongue.

"Try throwing Dark Techpriests at it," Rainbow Dash suggested, "that usually works."

Twilight gave her an annoyed stare as Big Macintosh walked by her. "I don't know what that means, exactly, but there's no reason for that. There's a terminal over there. We can-"

"Access signum registered. Access priority primarus," rumbled a voice from above, "access granted."

Twilight whirled around, and then her jaw fell open as she saw Big Macintosh with his augmetic forehoof pressed against the access scanner. The doors released a blast of steam, and then started to grind open.

"Wait! YOU can access Solon's forge?" Twilight asked.

"Eeyup," Big Mac replied, putting his leg back down.

"Like, whenever you want?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Eeyup," he replied again as he walked forward.

"Well, that's convenient!" Rarity said cheerfully as she and Applejack trotted after the draft pony.

"Eeyup."

"Why?" Twilight demanded as she and Rainbow entered, hoping to force Big Mac into using a complete sentence.

He foiled her with a hefty shrug as he ambled ahead.

Of course, he had his suspicions that Solon simply didn't like or didn't trust the Elements of Harmony enough to let them drop in on his personal facilities whenever they felt like it, but nopony had asked him for his speculation.

"Ah, and there they are!" Rarity said with a relieved sigh. Standing in a row like grim sentinels were the five Centaur-pattern power armor suits, each one completely restored to shining perfection. Rarity's in particular stood out as it gleamed in the dim overhead lumens, despite being utterly dwarfed by the Apple siblings' suits on either side of it.

"Hey, Sol!" Rainbow Dash yelled, spotting the hulking Warsmith further inside the forge and surrounded by bright orange hololith screens.

The Chaos Lord turned, his optics whirring softly in his helmet. "... What? Ish shomething unshatishfactory?"

Rainbow Dash snorted, trying to restrain a giggle. She didn't find Solon's slur to be nearly as funny as Pinkie did, but she just couldn't help it when it came to some words.

"Nah, they're fine!" she shouted, beckoning him over with her hooves. "C'mere for a sec, man! We wanna talk to you!"

Solon gave an annoyed grunt before he crossed the distance to reach the equines, most of whom were already starting to disassemble the armor to put it on.

"Yesh? About what?" Solon asked. "I'm very bushy at the moment."

He saw Applejack struggling to unlock the internal latch for the main torso plating, and then he tapped one leg rapidly on the ground to gain the ponies' attention.

"Ashembly program sheven-sheven-three-one, initiate," he said to the air. Then he looked down at the ponies. "You're going to want to shtay shtill."

The ponies all froze, and Rainbow landed uncertainly. Then large servo arms on overhead and wall-mounted rails slid into place above and behind the ponies and started armoring them automatically.

"Oh, hey. This's handy," Applejack said, giving a little yelp when a cold metal claw grabbed her leg and lifted it up before placing it into a boot.

"Yeah, nifty," Rainbow Dash said, feeling a little less sure about having big metal arms marehandling her. She resolved to resist the discomfort and continue. "Anyway, I'm sure you've heard all about the battle by now, right? And I'm extra-sure you've heard how completely we ROCKED it, right?"

"I've reviewed the after-action reportsh and your shuit recordersh, yesh. Your contributionsh were entirely adequate, which exceeded the very low expectationsh we had shet for your performance. Wash that all?"

Rainbow Dash glared up at the Warsmith, but Twilight couldn't help speaking up as her wing plating was secured in place.

"What expectations were those, exactly?" she asked curiously.

"You're all shtill alive," Solon clarified, "I guarantee shome power weaponsh were won and losht in wagersh upon your shafe return."

"Don't give us that, dude," Rainbow Dash grunted as her gorget tightened up around her neck and locks snapped into place, "we kicked flank out there!"

"And with shuperior armament, an army at your back, and shpecial REM training against a foe of mediocre shtrength, that wash to be expected. Or it would have been if we hadn't preshumed grosh incompetence on your part."

Rainbow Dash fumed, apparently having expected the Iron Warrior to be impressed. "Oh, come on! I took out three planes! THREE!"

"Two and a half," Solon countered, "and I don't much like that you've been picking up Tellish'sh attitude toward following combat ordersh."

As the pegasus winced, Rarity chuckled lightly, hoping to change the topic. "Well, in any case, thank you so much for repairing our gear in a timely matter! Another Ork incursion could happen at any time, and we have to be ready, after all!"

Solon's optics seemed to flicker for a moment, and a gear twitched somewhere on his chassis. "Of courshe..."

Rarity stripped off her respirator mask as the servo arm lowered her helmet over her head. "Ah, that's much better!" She levitated the protective rubber clothing she had stripped off into a neat stack, and then gave it a magical toss to land on the back of Solon's chassis. "I have a meeting with Trademaster Delgan. Have a servitor or something drop that off back at my quarters, would you? Tah-tah!"

+I hope you trip into a molten metal flow, you irritating cow,+ the Warsmith replied in low-frequency Binaric Cant.

Rarity apparently didn't think anything of the noise, and she made a good pace toward the forge exit.

"Okay, but seriously, getting back to business, here," Rainbow Dash continued after Rarity was out of earshot, "I think we deserve some more medals." Her own armor was finished fitting, and she kicked out her legs one by one to once again get a feel for the effortless strength the suit granted her limbs.

"If another piece of ammunition attached to your neck chain will get you out of here fashter, fine," Solon rumbled, "just tosh them onto me. If the white one doeshn't have to feign reshpect I don't shee why the resht of you should bother."

"Awesome!" Rainbow said before biting onto the chain and then tossing it over to the Chaos Lord, looping it over one of his smokestacks. "So, do you think we'll qualify for GOLD bolts this time?"

"Don't push it, xeno," Solon snorted.

Applejack and Twilight quietly tossed their own chains over Rainbow's a moment later. "Whash there anything elshe?"

"Yes, actually," Twilight admitted as she mag-locked her helmet onto her gorget, "we need to change our unit designation."

"Oh? Why'sh that?" Solon asked as his cogitator brought up the relevant data. "Oh. That'sh why."

Rainbow Dash pouted and kicked at the floor.

"Right. So anyway, we've decided that we want to be called 'Equinought Squadron'," Twilight said with a pleased nod.

Solon looked down at her. "What'sh an 'Equinought'?"

The purple alicorn blinked. "Uh... it's, well... us, I think. We kind of made up the word on the spot. Pinkie thought 'Equine Squadron' didn't sound very science-fiction-appropriate. Which I thought was a strange argument, given that this isn't fiction, but I kind of liked Equinought."

"Hey, Warsmith," Applejack said suddenly, "whaddya think of 'Apple Squad'?"

"I like Apple Shquad," he said. Then his optics blinked. "There. You're Apple Shquad now."

"AJ!" shouted Twilight and Rainbow Dash, glaring at the earth pony.

Applejack offered a (somewhat) apologetic smile. "What? Wasn't mah decision. Least we ain't named 'Team Applejack', right?"

"If you're quite finished, I have to-" Solon's dismissal was cut off by a crackling energy flare, and then another pony teleported into the room, "okay, thish ish going to be a trend, ishn't it?"

"Warsmith, good morn!" Luna said brightly as she approached the others.

"Maybe I should jusht clear the day'sh shchedule," the Chaos Lord grumbled as he slumped forward on his chassis, "hello, Princesh."

"And greetings to you, Elements, Macintosh!" Luna said with small nods of her head. She quickly turned her full attention back to Solon, however. "We hast arrived to discuss the configuration of our armor!"

"Of courshe you have," Solon deadpanned, "becaushe, really, who caresh about the losh of thirty combat vehiclesh. I'm sure I can take care of that any old time."

"Oh, hey! Luna should get a medal too!" Rainbow Dash interrupted. "She killed lots of dudes! And she was wounded, too!"

"Medals?" the dark alicorn's ears perked. "We may receive honors for displays of valor and courage? Most intriguing!"

"Yesh, fine. Shilver bolt. Whatever. Ash for armor-"

"Oh, and I had this great idea for the next time we do that dream training!" Rainbow Dash interrupted again. "Instead of just fighting off waves of Orks, we should totally have a free-for-all against each other!"

Twilight frowned, furrowing her brow. "How will that help us fight the Orks?"

"It won't, really. But it would be awesome!"

"Aye, 'tis a fine idea!" Luna agreed eagerly.

As Solon considered the prospect of having ponies playing multiplayer deathmatch in his dreams night after night, he idly wondered if Celestia had to put up with this kind of crap.

"My resht cycle shimulationsh are not gamesh," Solon said firmly, "I only allowed the exercishesh previoushly for training purposhesh."

Luna's expression suddenly turned serious. "Aye, thou art correct. Thy dreams art no place for mere diversion. We apologize," she agreed as her horn pulsed.

I shalt retrieve thee when next the Warsmith sleeps. Honors to the first one to fell the Princess of the Night in battle! Luna declared to the mares telepathically. Rainbow Dash and Applejack grinned at each other, while Twilight glanced at Solon and smiled nervously.

Big Mac jerked to attention as he heard a very different message in his head.

We shalt make for our bedchambers within the hour. Meet us there?

"But in any case, We came to speak of wargear, and discuss the progression of the greater campaign," Luna said, her expression as grim and serious as the others had ever seen it.

Solon still would have preferred to be left alone, but at least the topic was shifting to something more relevant.

"The Ork raider fleet is broken, and itsh remaining threat ish negligible," the Warsmith began, "however, the cashualtiesh caushed today are a paltry toll compared to the energiesh we sheek to harnesh. Many more shacrificesh will be needed before we can attempt to wresht control of the eddiesh of the Warp for ourshelvesh."

Twilight frowned. "Uh, about that..." she looked up at the metal goliath uncertainly. "Powering magic constructs with murder is a pretty new field of study for me. I'm not familiar at all with the mechanics or methodology. How exactly does my shooting an Ork a hundred miles from here help with whatever, exactly, that Serith is doing? Wouldn't there be some sort of ritualized process for powering the Nethalican?"

"Hey, that's a good point," Applejack mumbled, tilting her head to the side, "when Bloom and them were doin' their Chaos stuff, there was a lot of weird symbols n'all. We don't gotta do that?"

"Shuch triflesh are a matter of shcale," Solon explained, hololiths appearing and flickering about him in a strange rhythm, "devotionsh by a trio of younglingsh require conshiderable effortsh and embellishmentsh to attract the attention of Godsh and draw the Warp into the material world. War, however, is a tumult of emotion and pain. The deathsh of thoshe fighting, their terror and hatred, draw daemonsh and dark will with little need for ritual. Every life losht fuelsh the malevolent forcesh that watch behind the veil, and ash the killing acceleratesh the Dark Godsh yearn to make their preshence felt among the bloodshed. It ish harneshing this latent energy in the way we want that ish the challenge, and thoshe shecretsh belong to Sherith."

"So all we need to do is keep killing Orks, wherever and however we can, and it'll power the Nether-whatsit?" Rainbow Dash asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Well, it's not JUSHT Orksh. If humansh, Space Marinesh, or yourshelvesh perish, that alsho feedsh the daemonic forcesh. Chaosh ishn't picky," Solon said breezily, not noticing as the ponies cringed, "oh, but Tau don't count. Their shoulsh are sho weak that they have next to no pshychic preshence."

"Figgers they ain't even good fer that much," Applejack grumbled.

Twilight grimaced. "I know we don't have much in the way of options, and powering magic by defeating an enemy we have to fight anyway is certainly a... convenient method, if nothing else..." she trailed off, shifting inside her armor suit. "But even if the Orks are evil, it's still pretty awful to think we're using them as a power source like this."

Solon halted, leaning back slightly as his optics whirled in their sockets. "Evil? The Orksh?" A grating, stuttering chuckle came from the massive Astartes. "Princesh, Orksh aren't evil."

That got the Iron Warrior a few odd stares.

"Thou described them as warmongering savages," Luna reminded him, "and having faced the brutes ourselves, We art in agreement."

"Indeed. But ALL Orksh are warrior barbariansh. Every shingle one," Solon said.

"And that makes 'em... NOT evil?" Applejack said, squinting.

"It doesh!" Solon confirmed. "In the complete abshence of 'good' Orksh, how can the resht be evil?"

Most of the ponies mulled that over as he paused, though Solon noticed that Big Macintosh was walking toward the exit. Apparently the stallion wasn't interested in a philosophy lesson. Or perhaps had something better to do.

"Evil ish a function of agency. It requiresh a choice to embrace idealsh of jushtice and good will, and the conshioush rejection of that choice. Orksh are a warrior race, a shentient bio-weapon; they can no more shtop fighting and killing than you can shtop eating. They are our enemiesh, but they are not evil."

Applejack frowned up at the Chaos Lord. "But YOU are?"

"Indeed," the Warsmith said without hesitation, "when the decishion came to fight for humanity'sh future or avenge the pershonal grievancesh of my Legion, I gladly turned my gunsh on the righteoush shervantsh of my Imperium. When it became clear that our noble intentionsh and jusht motivationsh had been twishted into mere shpite and hatred, I did not atone or repent. And when I shaw for myshelf the corruption and cruelty of Chaosh worship, I embraced it eagerly. Every shtep I've taken down this dark path hash been conshidered and choshen, willfully and freely, when it wash within my power to turn back. THAT, my poniesh, ish evil."

Dead silence followed the Warsmith's lecture, save the sound of the doors grinding shut behind Big Mac.

"... Have I ever thanked you personally for not killing us?" Rainbow Dash said, grinning nervously. "Because I don't think you get enough credit for that. Seriously. Thanks!"

"You're welcome," Solon said curtly, a large hololith screen flickering in front of him and displaying a series of streaming numbers.

"Well, shucks..." Applejack mumbled, "gettin' back to the Orks, that almost makes me feel a lil' sorry fer 'em. It's like we're just killin' a bunch of dumb animals."

"Dumb animals that practice organized, genocidal warfare and build fully functional war machines," Twilight reminded the others, "I'm not totally comfortable with using them as fuel for a dark ritual, but you won't catch me feeling sorry for them, either."

"Hey, yeah, I wondered about that before, when I saw their tanks out there," Rainbow said suddenly, tapping a boot against one of Solon's legs, "how do Orks build weapons and stuff if they're so dumb?"

"According to what I've read, it's some kind of bizarre genetic determinism," Twilight answered, sounding annoyed, "APPARENTLY, individual Orks are all predisposed toward a certain function since birth. So once they grow up, some Orks are automatically and inherently skilled and knowledgeable at building things or performing some other useful, specialized task." She snorted. "It's completely ridiculous, if you ask me."

"Yesh, you're right. It ish entirely abshurd," Solon agreed, his optics zooming in on the cutie mark stamped on Applejack's shoulder pad.

"So their apparent technology level isn't an indicator of intelligence," Twilight continued, "I don't know how such a crude society can even maintain a functional military hierarchy."

"Ah, speaking of hierarchy," Luna interjected, "We believe that it would be best for us to take overall command of the Company's equine forces in future engagements." She paused. "Given that We art the largest and most powerful pony amongst us, that is."

"Fair enough," Twilight agreed.

"Makes sense t'me," Applejack added.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "You're the boss."

Solon made an awkward, mechanical snorting sound. "Yesh, well... conshidering that Princesh Shparkle'sh lot comprishe the entirety of our 'equine forcesh' sho far, shall you be leading Apple Squad directly?"

Luna puzzled over the unit name briefly before she shook her head. "Nay. Eventually We shalt take to the field with our Night Guard, once they art equipped sufficiently. But first our own armament must be procured, of course."

"Right, right. And now we come back to the armor," Solon grumbled.

"Ah can vouch fer the terminator suits," Applejack said brightly, stomping a foreleg onto the floor, "them Ork slugs bounce right off like nothin'. Don't even notice most of 'em."

"No way!" Rainbow Dash scoffed, bouncing up and igniting her jets into a hover. "Princess Luna's armor needs to fly! She needs a serious flight pack, too! Not one of those sissy turbine-repulsor things Shy and Twi have!"

"What's wrong with the repulsor engines?" Twilight asked, looking offended at the criticism. "They're much less dangerous than your impulse drive."

"You just answered your own question," Rainbow answered with a smirk.

Luna thought it over as she looked between the three ponies and their respective armor models. Logic dictated that Twilight's design, being constructed for an alicorn, would be the most appropriate for another Princess. But she had to admit that it didn't especially impress on its own; certainly the massive plating of Applejack's armor or the oversized jets of Rainbow's were far more interesting to her.

"What dost thou think, Warsmith?" Luna asked, looking up to the Chaos Lord next to them.

Solon stared down at Luna for several seconds as more hololith screens started flickering around him. "Well, if I'm going to do thish, I may ash well do it right. You're a tremendoushly powerful pshyker, and unlike the other poniesh, your control of the lunar shatellite meansh your shurvival ish actually shomewhat important."

"We're RIGHT HERE, you know," Rainbow Dash complained.

"You are indeed. Much to my chagrin. There'sh a reashon I only give forge accesh to the equine that never talksh." Solon grumbled before focusing on Luna again. "How do you feel about daemon armor?"

Luna's head jerked back, and she winced. "We art not so sure... having to act in concert with a powerful, malevolent will doth not appeal to us."

"That'sh one way of thinking of it," Solon admitted, "on the other hand, you'll be wearing that powerful, malevolent will ash a shield against the fire of the enemy. There'sh shomething uniquely shatishfying about forcing Warpshpawn to take bulletsh for you."

Luna arched an eyebrow. "... Go on."

"With the right proceshesh, the armor can prove ash shtrong ash tactical dreadnought plating, but shtill be light enough and provide shufficient power for enhanced mobility."

Twilight made a face. "But... there's going to be a DAEMON inside it?"

"An angry and necesharily powerful daemon," Solon corrected, "both Tellish and Shliver poshessh daemon armor that I've conshtructed. You've sheen at leasht shome meashure of what they're capable of. No conventional shuit can manage thoshe levelsh of performance."

Luna tilted her head to the side. "And what sort of ill influence shalt the daemon possess over its bearer?"

"None," Solon said cheerfully, before adding, "probably."

"Probably?"

"Look, I sherve Chaosh. We call it that for a reashon," the Warsmith said, "making equipment from shcreeching, otherwordly monshtersh ish not an exact shience."

"Go for it, Princess!" Rainbow Dash insisted. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"The WORST that could happen is that the exposure to malignant Warp influence causes her to regress back into a destructive megalomaniac," Twilight reasoned, "it could be Nightmare Moon all over again."

Luna frowned deeply, a silver-encased hoof pressed to her chin.

"That shoundsh like a fine worsht-cashe scenario," Solon said, "I will begin preliminary deshignsh today."

Luna narrowed her eyes. "And thou art SURE the armor probably won't corrupt us?"

"Completely shure it probably won't," Solon assured her, "and even if it did, it ish my opinion that it would be entirely worth it."

Twilight looked like she wanted to respond to that, but Luna spoke before she could.

"Very well, then!" Luna proclaimed, swinging one foreleg up into the air. "We art at war, and our planet's very survival requires great risk and sacrifice! If it means that We shalt have to match wits with a fell beast imprisoned in steel and clockwork, so be it! We shalt wear thy armor, Warsmith!"

"Shwell," Solon said as more hololiths appeared around him, "now get out."

****

Ferrous Dominus - sector 18 (new) psyker dorms

Serith stood at the front of the room as Fleur de Lis sat on her haunches in front of him, her eyes crossed and her horn glowing softly.

"To feel the Warp is not a mere act of perception. You do not see it as you see objects in the Materium. You do not 'see' it at all, strictly speaking," the Sorcerer explained, his rich, deep voice sending a small shudder down Fleur's spine.

Sitting in rows of desks facing Serith and Fleur were over fifty unicorns of a wide array of vivid colors, most of them levitating a stylus over a dataslate as they watched the lesson intently. Trixie was laying on a bench next to the door in her power armor, save her helmet, looking distantly interested as Fleur worked through the demonstration.

"The Empyrean is a mirror of the true universe, wrought in pure energy and emotion manifest. It is not a realm that the mortal mind is... suited to observe," Serith continued, "the psykers of other races, unprotected from that ocean of power and madness, grow somewhat accustomed to its unreality, and jaded to its horrors." He paused. "The unicorn race is different, connecting to the Warp in such a way as to treat it as a mere power source. This is largely to your benefit. But the task being asked of you requires greater understanding than that."

Fleur de Lis stared nervously at the unicorns staring back at her. Her eyes were windows of pearly white, bleached of all color and seething with magical energy.

"Were that I had time, I would teach you all to view the Empyrean in its true, terrible glory, and unleash your full psionic potential. But time is limited. This wytchsight cantrip is a poor substitute, but it will serve our purposes as you seek to rend a persisting tear in reality."

Fleur de Lis wet her lips as she looked over the other unicorns. Each one bore an aura of ghastly light, with a halo that glowed intensely around their horns. The tips of their horns seemed like active lightning rods, silently writhing with ribbons of power.

That much wasn't all that strange. It was even kind of pretty. But that was hardly the only the bizarre thing to be seen with this spell.

Great seams of energy, throbbing like the veins of a living thing, ran through the floor of the room, and every few seconds they would discharge a horrendous surge of power into the perfectly oblivious equines sitting on top of them. The blank, sheer walls of the room, which should have been perfectly inert metal, swam with crudely-formed images and flashes of disorienting color. Some of the images seemed to trigger flashes of comprehension or emotion, like a memory of a drink shared with one of the mares or a yearning envy. Most of them seemed to feature herself.

But Serith...

She couldn't bring herself to turn around and look directly at him. She had tried. Each time she started turning her head she had glimpsed a series of slithering dark strands spread through the air and connected to the strange seams in the floor. And each time, her muscles had seized up before she could turn any further, her body paralyzed with dread until she tried to look away again.

It was more than a little ominous.

"Now, Lady de Lis, observe..." Serith said, his voice trailing off into a breathless whisper.

The unicorns watching blinked as a spark appeared in the air in front of the Fleur de Lis, and then flared into a purple flame roughly the size of a golf ball. A few of them whistled or clapped their hooves politely, but most of them had seen far more impressive feats of magic.

Fleur de Lis gulped audibly. To her eyes the hovering flame was being supported in the air by an upside-down tornado of seething crimson energy. Arcs of dark lightning constantly leapt from the glowing seams across the floor, and from these brief surges of power she could see flickering glimpses of ghostly faces locked in silent screams. Most of the faces were human, as far as she could tell. But not all of them.

"You see the wound. The point in which reality opens to allow the Warp in," Serith stated simply, a single finger extended to point at the otherworldly flame, "reach out with your mind. Touch the breach."

Fleur's breath grew heavier as the glow around her horn grew brighter.

She had to do this. She had to learn. This was for ponykind. This was for Equestria. This was for Celestia. This was for Fancy-

The stray thought of her beloved was utterly obliterated as her magic reached the strange whirlwind that was generating the Warpflame. All sensible perception ceased, and she was suddenly surrounded by howling faces, liquid fire, and waves of blood.

Fleur de Lis screamed. She screamed loud, and long, and repeatedly, completely emptying her lungs of air. Even then, her body refused to take a breath, and her shrieks trailed off into weak, strangled whimpers.

And then Trixie dumped a bucket of water on her.

Fleur blinked rapidly as reality snapped back into place around her. Her vision was back to normal, aside from being partially obstructed by locks of wet mane, and her chest heaved as she desperately sucked in air. Most of the unicorns watching sported looks ranging from shock to deep concern, with a few having left their seats as if to help.

"Trixie warned you," Trixie said to Serith as she levitated the empty pail back onto the floor, "these Canterlot unicorns have no constitution. You can't expect them to manage this kind of sorcery." Her tone was bored and dismissive, and if Fleur hadn't been recently traumatized she probably would have been quite offended.

"I can, and I will, Lady Trixie," Serith said defiantly, "they need only form a conduit for the energies that the Nethalican will shape to our will. It is not difficult."

Fleur shuddered, and it wasn't from the cold water soaking her coat.

"What... What WAS that?" Fleur asked, her voice shaking.

"That was your mind truly touching the Warp for the first time," Serith said, sounding quite pleased with himself, "congratulations!"

She stared up at the Chaos Sorcerer incredulously. "THAT'S what you aliens have to go through every time you use a spell? I don't... I c-can't even..."

As she trailed off, Serith chuckled. "I cannot say for sure if our experiences are similar. The Warp is notoriously inconstant. It will differ from individual to individual and from time to time."

The lithe unicorn looked over at Trixie. The armored pony cast a spell on her hat while it was upside-down, and then tilted it toward the pail standing next to her. Water spilled out of the hat and into the bucket, refilling it from some magically connected source.

Trixie still looked rather bored, Fleur decided. In fact, Trixie had been present in every "class" that Serith had held so far, and she always made her contributions with the same sense of haughty ambivalence. Apparently none of this bothered her. Either Trixie really thought that properly connecting with the Warp was beneath her abilities, or she had already witnessed so many awful things among the Iron Warriors that she simply no longer cared.

"That will be enough for now, Lady de Lis. You may be seated," Serith instructed, pointing to another pony, "Lady Sparkler, you are next."

The next unicorn cringed and slowly stood up, giving Fleur de Lis a nervous glance while the pony model slowly walked back to her desk.

Fleur stopped, and then turned her head back toward the Sorcerer. "It won't always be that bad... will it?"

Serith tilted his helmet to the side slightly before he replied. "You'll get used to it," he insisted after a moment, "after all, you have no choice."

****

Ferrous Dominus - sector 7, mercenary barracks complex delta

"Hey, Ironside! Nice job out there yesterday!"

Big Mac suppressed a groan as a pair of vehicle crewmen approached him through the hall, calling out to the augmented stallion. He was lying on the floor, parallel to the wall, and trying not to feel bored and embarrassed as groups of soldiers walked by. Nearly every one of them had greeted him by name as they passed by, too (insofar as "Ironside" was one of his names now), which honestly made the apple farmer somewhat nervous. What had he done to earn all this attention?

Still, it was bad form to ignore a friendly greeting, and he offered the men a sleepy nod. "Eeyup."

"Ya think we have any carrots in the food stores?" one of the men asked the other as they walked past the stallion.

"Doubt it. Why?"

"Well, don't you give horses carrots as a treat or something?"

"That's a little patronizing, mate."

"What? He's a pony, isn't he?"

"A pony with a heavy bolter. C'mon."

Big Mac kept his silence as the men walked around the corner and out of sight. Although since they brought it up, he wouldn't have turned down a carrot right about now. He ate two ration tins a day when in Ferrous Dominus, whereas most ponies and humans were perfectly content with one. He still tended to feel peckish before bed, though. Nutrient sludge was a harsh change from home-cooked meals with his favorite produce.

As his thoughts continued wandering, he glanced over the numerous doors set in the hallway, many of them with moon emblems carved or drawn onto the surface. These were the quarters of the Night Guard, the bat ponies that had accompanied Princess Luna in her transfer of responsibilities from Equestria to the Iron Warriors. He'd never met one, although he'd heard all manner of stories about the mysterious bat ponies and their origins. Rumors placed the species as being a sort of outcast class of pony, with a wide variety of possible reasons. Some said that they had supported Nightmare Moon's rise when the royal sisters faced that awful confrontation over a thousand years ago. Others said that their diet, which was not necessarily herbivorous, was the reason they were shunned. And a dozen other reasons besides had been offered and guessed at, ranging from the truly petty to seriously grim.

Still, Mac wondered what they were like. He'd never liked the idea of judging anypony on rumor, much less an entire species.

A loud crackle and a rush of air announced the teleport before Big Macintosh saw Luna appear in a flurry of liquid shadows.

"Ah, Macintosh! Excellent! Thou made it here in good time!" Luna said brightly as the stallion stood up.

She paused next to her room, frowning at the door. "Pitiful lodgings, art they not?" she grimaced as she raised a wing toward the room entrance. "The same as my guards, evidently. We know that the forces of Chaos hath little sense for propriety, but We were not even offered a commander's dwelling!"

Big Mac nodded in silent sympathy. That sure didn't sound to him like any way to treat royalty.

"But We did not ask thee here to witness our petty complaints," Luna said, turning down the hall and trotting away, "follow."

The alicorn princess led Big Macintosh higher in the complex, saying nothing more to him in explanation. Soon they reached a stairwell entry door leading up to the roof, and Luna headed up the stairs while quickening her pace.

Then they emerged onto the roof of the barracks complex, and Big Mac hesitated, wrinkling his snout.

The haze of pollution that plagued Ferrous Dominus was entirely tolerable at street level; the ponies, unaccustomed to air pollution in general, took the Company's word for it that it was actually hazardous to breathe too much of it. At roof level, however, the soiled sky was far more potent and obvious, and Macintosh felt that he should probably put on his helmet.

Luna seemed to sense his sudden discomfort, or at least had decided on her own that she'd rather not choke on the particulate filth. With a flash of her horn a blast of wind enveloped her and the stallion behind her, blowing away the foul air before forming a swirling bubble around them to keep the pollutants at bay.

"The 38th Company fouls the very air with their industry of war," Luna began, sitting near the edge of the roof and looking over the manufactorum, "wasteland though this may be, it has been rendered further ashen and blighted by humanity's presence."

"Eeyup," Big Mac agreed, mostly just to assure the Princess he was listening.

Luna paused, squinting at the smokestacks. "'Tis a fitting metaphor for our predicament, is it not? As the human factories churn out the tools of our salvation from one orifice, the others disgorge poison into the land. 'Tis a cruel, dark necessity. And merely the most physically obvious of the corruptions we endure for our bargain. Soon magic of the most perverse sort shalt be unleashed upon our home, Macintosh."

Luna paused briefly, but Big Mac had nothing to add to that as he sat down next to the alicorn and looked out over the fortress. He rarely seemed to want to add an opinion until it was solicited from another. It was a refreshing change from the sorts of ponies she knew in Canterlot, and one of the reasons she liked talking to him.

They were fairly high up, but the barracks were far from the tallest structures in the area, limiting their view of the surrounding blocks somewhat. Still, there were a great number of giant mechanical wonders visible from their vantage point, not least the planetary landing vessels that traveled in a near-constant circuit between the fleet and the fortress city.

"Repulsive and vile, and yet, We must confess that there is a certain magnificence to all of it," Luna finally continued, "whether it be their machines," she smirked as she brushed a wing against Big Mac's armor, "their vessels, or even their terrible black magic, the humans never fail to impress, do they not?"

"Nnope," Macintosh agreed. Then, after a pause, he added, "Their food's right awful, though."

Luna snickered as she laid her forelegs over the edge of the roof (which boasted a short barricade wall, naturally). "Aye! At least in the culinary arts we equines may topple the primates!" she shouted, staring up at the enormous symbol of the Dark Mechanicus carved into a manufactorum tower.

Her humor evaporated quickly, and Luna's thoughts raced about in her head. Big Macintosh remained seated and silent, patient and unassuming.

"We begin to wonder..." Luna began, but she trailed off as she tried to organize her next sentence. True to form, the stallion next to her merely tilted his head slightly to let her know that he wasn't ignoring her.

"We wonder if Sister may hath been right," Luna confessed, wincing. It certainly seemed like an odd thing to say on the eve of a successful battle against the Orks and long before Equestria's safety was assured. Big Mac turned to face her, his expression one of calm concern.

"Celestia feared that the influence of Chaos may yet find footing upon ponykind. And by providing the 38th Company with reason and method to make home here, We fear We hast made this an inevitability." Luna wet her lips briefly. "Further, We cannot deny our fascination with the humans' creations, and stand in awe of their power. So much so, perhaps, that We at times forget the nature of that power."

Another pause. "The Warsmith reminded us of that nature most explicitly whilst discussing the fate of the Orks. He is not a leader guided by morals, or hope, or even mere pride. Supremacy is his only desire. We hast used this to entice Solon to protect us, but We must confess to giving little thought as to the price we ponies may yet pay in the bargain."

Luna turned to look at Macintosh, her expression anxious and uncertain. Mac tilted his head again.

"Ya think ya made the wrong decision?" the farmer asked.

Luna hesitated. "... Between the alliance and certain annihilation, no, We art quite certain We made the better choice," the Princess affirmed, looking back down at the fortress, "but We cannot help but wonder: was that the choice faced by these humans, at one point? Is this how it begins? The promise of power, the hope borne of destruction and conflict, and then cometh the blight?"

Luna scowled, her ears and wings drooping.

"Eeyup. Ah reckon so," Big Mac confirmed, thinking over his own experience with the humans and the stories he'd heard from Daniels.

Luna was still staring at the avenues and grimacing, and he took that as a request to continue. "It ain't pretty what we're in fer. But ya can't work a farm without gettin' dirty."

Luna arched an eyebrow as she glanced over at the stallion. "We do not intend to mock thee, but We art skeptical that agriculture compares in any meaningful way to matters of cosmic warfare and dark magic."

Big Mac wilted slightly, drawing his head down. "... Ah ain't got much 'sides farmin' metaphors, Highness."

Luna considered this for a few seconds, and then faced forward with an inscrutable expression. "Continue."

The stallion took one of his long pauses to sort through his words, and then spoke again. "The way Ah see it, farm work ain't fer everypony, but everypony needs to eat. There're plenty of ponies that have never plowed a field or tended animals, and they might well starve before they try it themselves. And that's okay. Ah plow fields and harvest crops so they don't have to, and they tend to their own business."

He lifted up his augmetic foreleg, inspecting the hoof as the actuators whirred softly. "What we're doin' here ain't pretty, and some ponies are gonna get hurt. But we're still here so that lots of ponies in Canterlot and Ponyville and all across Equestria don't have to ever meet an Ork. Or a human, fer that matter, since they're right dangerous, too. And that's important."

Luna considered this at length as a trio of gunships roared overhead, heading for the landing block.

"And what of us, then?" she asked finally, her eyes settling upon one of the countless Chaos Star emblems that were scattered around the base. She felt her horn start to itch, as it always did when she looked directly at the accursed objects. "Art we lost? Shalt we embrace this hatred, this 'Chaos' fully as the humans do, for the sake of martial supremacy?"

Big Mac craned his neck upward thoughtfully. "Nnope."

"Encouraging," Luna said with an amused snort, "do go on."

He hesitated again. "Well... we can't forget why we're here to begin with. Whatever happened to the humans to turn 'em this way, they DID forget, and now the power that saved 'em is all they got." Then he adopted an overly serious, highly dignified expression. "Farmin' is dirty work, but ya still gotta clean yerself up when yer done. That's a lesson them Nurgle boys could take literally."

"And so We return again to the wisdom of the farm," Luna said with a smirk, standing up again. Then her expression softened again as she looked down at the crimson stallion. "Dost thou think We... think I made the right choice in joining them?" she said, deliberately dropping her use of the Royal "We" for this question.

Macintosh frowned silently for a while, and then looked up at her. "Can't rightly say. Nopony knows better'n you what we're gettin' into. You've walked this path before." Then he smiled. "But Ah trust ya. And yer not alone this time."

The Lunar Princess dwelt on that for a moment, feeling her face heat up and a fluttering sensation in her chest. Then she cleared her throat loudly.

"The day wears on, and We must retire to our bed," she said finally, turning toward the stairs sharply, "thank thee for thy counsel, Macintosh. We find these conversations with thee... soothing."

Big Mac nodded absently as Luna trotted to the door. "Glad t'be of service, yer Highness."

Luna paused as she reached the stairwell entrance, her horn still aglow to maintain the wind shield. Big Macintosh was still staring out over the fortress with his usual sleepy, contented expression.

"Shalt thou join us?" she asked, a familiar half-grin on her face.

Macintosh turned around and almost bolted toward the stairs, but managed to keep his pace to a dignified trot. Barely.

****

Ferrous Dominus - sector 15 armor lots

Twilight soared through the air above the armor lots, scanning the ground through her visor as she cut a visible swath through the pollutant clouds. Her flight pack emitted a low hum alongside the whir of its turbines, carrying her through the sky at a pace at least equivalent to what she could manage with bare wings.

Twilight found herself reflecting on her flight pack as she sailed over the rows of tanks and APCs, no doubt because of her earlier discussion about Luna's prospective armor design. Her repulsor-turbine design was certainly less impressive and versatile than Rainbow's impulse thrusters, but far more practical. It produced less noise, was more stable, and used less power than Rainbow's flight pack. And Twilight didn't need to see Dash turn herself into a living missile to see the safety problems with having overpowered directional rockets attached to her. Of course, having SEEN the reckless pegasus suffer several high-speed crashes, she actually suspected Solon was trying to teach Dash a subtle lesson about caution and restraint.

Either that, or he was trying to kill her via the ingenious method of giving her exactly what she wanted. Probably the lesson thing, though.

"Hi, Gaela!" Twilight said brightly as she descended to the ground.

"Greetings, Sparkle," Gaela replied, not looking up. She was working on cutting off the useless tracks from a Leman Russ battle tank that bore the distinct partially-melted look of the vehicles that had suffered from the Orks' surprise defense of their camp. The wheels and tracks of the vehicle had fused together and needed to be replaced, as did those of every other armored vehicle retrieved from that battlefield. Dark Acolytes and Techpriests swarmed over the war machines to conduct the repairs, while a line of servitors and Scavurel hauled away scrapped parts or brought new ones.

After her greeting and landing, Twilight spent a moment just watching Gaela's torch melt through the armor tracks, letting her visor fill up with irrelevant details about the process. She always liked watching Gaela work.

The melta torch eventually cut away the track plating from the hull, and Gaela pulled away a meter-long chunk of warped plating half an inch thick and tossed it on the ground.

"May the Dark Gods restore this machine, crippled by the treachery of the alien and left for dead among the ashes of lesser creations. As it sheds the defeated steel of its previous trials, it is renewed. Remade. Reforged," Gaela finished her prayer, her head bowed and her servo limbs tilted downward in respectful deference to the mighty vehicle she was repairing.

Then she swung her power axe down into the melted-down wheels and treads, tearing them off their damaged mountings.

Twilight winced as she watched the crackling weapon rise and descend in a strong, rhythmic tempo, sending bits of metal flying in all directions. This part of the repair process was distinctively less graceful and enigmatic than before, and the purple pony promptly remembered why she had tracked down Gaela in the first place.

"Gaela, I was wondering if you still wanted to do that tactical analysis and formation planning you brought up as we were extracting," Twilight said eagerly, "when does your shift end?"

Gaela hesitated, halting in her axe strokes. "... I shall be able to transfer to another queued task within the hour," she mumbled uncertainly.

"Perfect! You go right ahead, I'll wait for you."

It was strange. The way Twilight had approached her reminded her of the way that soldiers and aspirants would arrange plans to socialize and divert themselves after working, which was something that she distinctly hated doing. But Twilight's chosen activity for after work was really more work, just of a different kind.

It rather unsettled her how much she was coming to enjoy Twilight Sparkle's company.

"Hey, got the gas canisters!" a familiar voice said from behind Twilight. "Oh, hey Twi. Got your armor back, huh?"

Spike walked up to Gaela, a case of small cylinders held under one arm.

"Good. Install them," Gaela grunted as she went back to hacking at the tank with her power axe.

Without needing further instruction, Spike had withdrawn two cylinders from the case and was climbing up the back of Gaela's servo harness to place them in the welders.

"You've been keeping busy, I see," Twilight mumbled as her assistant unlatched the depleted melta canisters on Gaela's harness and snapped the new ones into place.

"Idleness breeds weakness," Spike replied with a hint of sarcasm as he sealed the canister ports and climbed down Gaela's back again, "or so she says."

"These removed armor components go to scrap processing, category three. The tread and wheeling, category four," the Dark Techpriest instructed.

Spike whistled, beckoning over a pair of servitors that were plodding across the repair yard. Then he started tossing metal into their waiting arms.

Twilight stepped out of the way of the flying scrap to move next to Gaela again. "By the way, I was wondering if you could do me a favor..."

The cyborg looked up from her work, saying nothing.

"Well, it's kind of a strange situation, but I need our noosphere unit designation changed," Twilight said pleasantly, her eyes shifting left and right behind her visor.

Gaela stood up, silently accessing the relevant information.

"... What's wrong with 'Apple Squad'?" the Dark Techpriest asked.

Spike snickered, but they both ignored him.

"Well, it's not what me and the others agreed on," Twilight said with a small cough, "we decided to call ourselves 'Equinought Squadron'."

"That's not a thing," Gaela pointed out.

"And most of our squad aren't Apples," Twilight countered, "besides, the name isn't really that important, is it?"

"It is important enough that you're holding up my work to get it altered."

There was a pause.

"I don't want to take off my helmet right now because of all the poisonous fumes around here, but I'm giving you one of my looks," the alicorn grumbled with her nose scrunched up and her eyes narrowed, "it's the 'can't you just do this little thing for me without an interrogation?' look."

Gaela sighed. "Very well." Her optical array started blinking. "In future, you may wish to leverage your command status to accomplish petty matters such as this. It will save us the time spent debating your proposals." Then Gaela looked up. "Finished. Your unit and command registers have been changed. Again."

"Thank you." Twilight halted, considering Gaela's words. "So... if I were to want to change the name of something else... like, say, a piece of my own, personal equipment... I could just walk up to any Dark Techpriest and tell them to do it for me?"

"Negative," Gaela replied as she went back to pulling apart the tank chassis.

"Why not?"

"Because nobody is going to let you call your weapon the 'Twiblade'."

"Hmph."

****

Ferrous Dominus - sector 17 command center

In the center of a dimly-lit meeting room, two figures sat opposite each other around a large, metal table, its surface littered with scrolls and dataslates. On one side of the table sat General Cyrus Gnoss, his arms crossed over his chest and a grim smile on his face.

On the other side stood a short, pale, blue-skinned figure who had introduced himself as Shas'el Wraithstar.

Standing against the walls of the room were Iron Warriors, every one of them with their optics locked onto the alien and bolters at the ready. The security was entirely superfluous; Wraithstar had been checked repeatedly for weapons and devices, and Gnoss was fully armed and capable of defending himself. But the General hadn't survived as long as he had by taking his strength for granted.

The Tau Commander himself was squirming and grimacing under the glares of the helmets, poring over the documents in front of him to distract himself. This was not a situation he had ever anticipated or been trained for; it was neither his caste function, nor within his described duties. But here he was.

"Would you care for something to drink?" Gnoss said suddenly.

Wraithstar's gaze snapped up to meet the man's eyes, and then twitched away.

"No? Maybe some cake? We have a lovely dessert shop a few sectors down. It's no trouble," the General continued. At seeing the alien's incredulous look, he raised an eyebrow. "You needn't fear being poisoned, or anything of that sort. If we wanted you dead - and I'm not saying we won't before the day is over - then we would inform you straight away, and then execute you directly and immediately."

Wraithstar made a disgusted noise before dropping the dataslate in his hands. "I'm fine. How much longer is this going to take?"

"I don't have an answer to that," Gnoss replied with a shrug, "I have seen your terms and find them agreeable. But my masters," he briefly twirled his finger about in a general gesture to the Chaos Marines in the room, "have other priorities. And they're more suspicious than I as to the motives of xenos."

Wraithstar's lip twitched. "My 'motives' should be obvious. I want to give me and my men a fighting chance of surviving the next few weeks."

"That's something us mere mortals can appreciate," Gnoss said with a smirk, pressing a hand to his chest, "the urge to keep living tends to render moot our... cultural differences. For the Astartes it is different. And they have every reason to be on their guard after your... surprisingly complex plans to destroy this planet."

Wraithstar glowered down at the documents below him for a few seconds.

"If you're still offering, I'd like some water," the Tau Commander grumbled.

A hololith screen flash in front of Cyrus Gnoss, and he tapped a few squares before it vanished again.

After some more seconds of silently stewing in his seat, Wraithstar spoke again.

"It was never our intention to destroy this planet," Wraithstar said, holding up a dataslate that contained a regional map, "it was an unfortunate consequence of the plan. And the plan was necessary."

Gnoss rolled his eyes and leaned back. "Of course. You don't need to defend yourself to me."

"It's important," Wraithstar insisted, glowering at the pirate, "it is the basis upon which our current deal rests. Don't think for a second that I would risk foiling the Emerald Dawn Project just to save my own skin."

"Ah. I see," Gnoss mumbled, drumming his fingers on the table, "still loyal to the cowards that fled from our fleet, leaving you, your soldiers, and the refugees to die? All for the sake of other ignorant citizens who will live without ever even knowing or caring for the sacrifice you suffered for them." He leaned forward again. "Maybe I was wrong. Even now, you and I aren't very similar after all."

Wraithstar decided to take that as a compliment. "I'd hope not. But if we can save our people and still live another day, you can believe we'll take that opportunity."

The door behind Gnoss shifted open, and Wraithstar quickly shifted his attention to the person entering.

Then he had to shift his attention downward, as the newcomer was a good three feet shorter in height than he had expected.

The unicorn mare that entered was wearing an adjusted shirt and jacket from a military uniform, and a metal platter was floating over her back with two glasses of water on it. That a pony was making any sort of appearance during a negotiation between Tau and human forces was strange enough, but despite himself Wraithstar was mostly perplexed about why any creature would wear a shirt but not pants or shoes.

The mare stopped short as she met Wraithstar's gaze, but she quickly turned away to address the human officer.

"Here you are, General," she said pleasantly, floating the glass over to the man and letting it clink softly onto the table.

Then she floated the second glass in front of her as she turned to the Tau officer.

"And this is for you. Hhhhghk!" her face contorted badly before she spat into the glass, and then she floated the drink into place next to the alien.

"Thank you," Wraithstar mumbled dryly.

"Go die in a fire," the pony replied as she walked out of the room. Several vox-distorted chuckles followed her out into the hall.

Cyrus Gnoss waited until the door closed shut, and then he set his unsullied glass of water closer to the Tau Commander.

"You know, I'm much more accustomed to dealing with xenos on non-hostile terms than my Imperial counterparts," he noted, "but even I find it perfectly novel to be allied with an alien species that actively hates the Tau Empire and not homo sapiens."

Wraithstar snorted in-between gulps of water, and then set down the empty glass. "... I am aware of the irony," he mumbled, "but even the Greater Good cannot promise prosperity to absolutely everyone. Sacrifices must be made."

"Yes, you know that quite well, don't you?" Gnoss drawled.

The alien officer's eyes darted up at Gnoss, and then back down again.

"Do you think we're wrong?" Wraithstar asked, leaning his head back.

The General across from him snorted to suppress a laugh. "Perhaps you'd get a stream of self-righteous gibberish from an Imperial commander, and I've no doubt the equines have a host of opinions on the matter, but I'm not interested in such tripe," Gnoss said as he leaned forward, "your plan is clever, and - crucially - seems to be working. To me, that alone makes you better than a whole host of other aliens I've faced in service to the Company. That, Shas'el Wraithstar, is why I've recommended your bargain to my masters."

"Such... secular reasoning," the alien officer mumbled, "I wouldn't have expected it from one of your kind."

"Strength and intellect," Gnoss said pleasantly, "those are the virtues demanded by the 38th Company. Luckily for you, loyalty rates a rather... distant third."

The hololith screen flashed in front of Gnoss again, and his smile grew further.

"Ah. It seems we have a response..."

****

Ferrous Dominus - sector 4, Dark Mechanicus temple secundus

"In individual combat, you performed well enough, Sparkle," Gaela stated as she looked over a hololithic display of yesterday's battlefield, "in some cases, your combined capability with psychic power, tactical prowess, and wargear proficiency exceeded that of an Iron Warrior, technically speaking."

Twilight promised herself she wasn't going to giggle happily to herself. This was a tactical review of a major battle. Super-serious stuff. She couldn't quite wipe the goofy grin off her face, though.

"Your performance against the Ork Nob was less impressive and quite ill-advised, but I hardly think you need outside criticism to determine that," Gaela continued.

"What exactly happened to your head, anyway?" Spike asked, sitting on a large iron bench behind the armored females.

Twilight winced, suddenly quite aware of the bandages wrapped around her forehead and under her horn. "Oh, I just bit off a bit more than I could chew. There really is a very substantial difference in strength between the Ork foot soldiers and their leaders."

"Indeed. Although the Astartes are quite capable of handling the greenskins in melee, human and pony soldiers are likely to find themselves badly outmatched," Gaela noted, "on that note, you seem curiously eager to engage the enemy at close range when you possess long-range armaments."

"It's a lot harder to handle and aim the beam weapon in combat when everyone's shooting back at you," Twilight admitted, "and my spells work better at short range. The calculations grow exponentially more complex the farther away a target is."

"These are factors that can be improved with training and experience, and you are expected to do so," Gaela insisted, "you must ensure that the enemy's weaknesses guide the course of battle, not your own."

Twilight gulped, nodding seriously. That did sound like rather good advice, and in the Orks they had an enemy whose tactical weaknesses were mercifully obvious.

"Now, let's discuss your squad. I believe..."

Gaela trailed off as the door to the room slid open to admit someone new. That someone was a pony, and not one that Gaela had already met, at that.

"Princess Sparkle?" the newcomer asked, entering the room and bowing hesitantly.

Twilight raised an eyebrow and offered Gaela a confused glance. She didn't know this pony either.

"Please, you don't need to bow to me," the Princess insisted, "what can I do for you?"

The unicorn quickly trotted up to Twilight, looking anxious. "There's something I was hoping to ask you about, Princess," she whispered, casting a suspicious glance over to Gaela, "I was serving some drinks in the Command Center when I saw General Gnoss in a secured room with a Tau officer."

Twilight nodded slowly, suddenly reminded of the heavily guarded procession she had seen earlier that day. She had completely forgotten about it until now.

"Okay... is this a problem?" she asked uncertainly.

"It... didn't look like he was a prisoner," the unicorn mumbled, frowning down at the floor, "the room was guarded inside and out, but not locked down, and he wasn't restrained or anything. He didn't look roughed up, and he was presiding over a lot of notes and stuff. I was hoping you knew what was going on."

Twilight turned toward Gaela. "Gaela, can you bring up the prisoner registry and see if there were any recent Tau additions? Or any patrols reporting a contact?"

"I think there is a much more pressing question at hand," the Dark Techpriest countered, staring at the unicorn, "why are equine personnel wearing only the upper half of the staff uniform?"

"Gaela," Twilight said dryly.

"It is a perfectly reasonable question," the Dark Techpriest pressed, "out of all the components of the uniform, the upper torso portion is the least important. You should at least wear the pants."

"Says you," the unfamiliar pony scoffed, swinging her tail back and forth, "I don't like pants. And you sapiens get WAY too worked up about your nether regions, if you don't mind me saying."

"As a matter of fact, I-"

"GAELA," Twilight said, her voice rising considerably, "it seems like it's just a personal choice, okay? Can we talk about the Tau?"

"Affirmative. One moment," Gaela said, her biological eye closing as she submerged her mind fully into the noosphere network.

Twilight turned back to the unicorn. "Really, I wouldn't worry about the Tau attacking us, though. They haven't made a move since completing their Warp beacon. And with the Orks on the way, they have no reason to."

"I'm not afraid of them attacking us," the other mare grumbled, "I'm worried about them negotiating with us."

"Oh," Twilight answered. Then she paused. "Why?"

"Because when we tried that, we lost our capital to the scheming mules," the unicorn seethed, "I hope the humans don't think we can trust them."

"We don't," Gaela interjected, "but trust is something we've never asked of our allies, nor given in return."

This confused the Equestrians in the room, though Spike was the first to speak his thoughts aloud.

"Wait, allies? We're talking about the Tau, here."

"Indeed. A general alert has just been dispatched," Gaela pointed out, "the remnants of the Lamman Sept on Centaur III have formally surrendered to the 38th Company. The Tau are with us."

Author's Note

(Crosses "Pirates of Penzance parody song" off of fanfiction checklist)

All right people, one more chapter and then it's on to Book 5.