Forged Anew

Chapters

A New Life, A New Name
Royal Introductions, Part 2
Dark, the Night & the Mare
Here Comes the Sun
Terms & Conditions
Fortification & Frosting
Declaring Challenges
Single Combat
Interlude I - Discovery
Malus Domestica
Crystal Clarity
Kindness & Chaos
Proper Authorization
Sus-An
Resuscitation
Hot Pursuit
Discussion
Once More
Royal Introductions, Part 1
Final Royal Introductions

A New Life, A New Name

She had not once, since they had met over a month ago, ever used his name. For that matter, she did not even know his name. She had never asked, and he had never proffered one. He always seemed to know when she was referring to him, and the one time it had come up in conversation they had gone down a tangent regarding the power a name had over an individual. The guards and most others still struggled to frame his existence beyond an object, calling him “it,” “the armor,” or “Mr. Dusty” (the last being Pinkie Pie’s nickname for the Rubricae.)

She was now quite sure he had deflected her by taking advantage of her natural curiosity, and the fact that it tied into her current project had meant her priorities had been skewed at the time. When she had asked him about it a couple of days later, he had made it clear that who he was was only relevant as it pertained to aiding her in any of her endeavors. His new life was apart from his old.

As such, she had decided to do some indirect research. She had asked him about myths and legends of his culture, and, being a Thousand Son, his knowledge of the topic was exemplary. In fact, he had graced upon several concepts that quite intrigued the princess, and one particular name tied to an ancient civilization stuck.

After completing her research and compiling a seven volume collection she had entitled Collected Abridged Mythology, Legends, and Cultures of Terran Origin, she had discussed several and directed the conversation towards the topic of her interest and found him just as receptive to the subject. He had a love of symbolism and believed that every name or story should have a greater meaning.

As such, when she beckoned him to follow her into her study and dismissed the guards, he tilted his head slightly in curiosity. She had taken a rather formal bearing as she sat, although a twinkle of mischief was in her eye as she declared that she had tired of shaming him with namelessness, and it was, additionally, a bother to have to constantly refer to him without a singular name that readily identified him. As such, she proposed a solution.

She recalled aloud, in the fashion storytellers of ancient Greece of Terra might have, his arrival, a fallen Star in the evening sky. Discovered by the princess of Friendship, this mighty warrior had been granted a new life and something his previous life had denied: peace. Then the horrible battle with a corrupt beast, a monstrous thing of nightmares and his heroic sacrifice to buy his new friend the time she needed, the bright fallen Star extinguished. But from the ashes her Friendship would not let him fade, and the Star of Twilight was restored to it’s place.

As such, Hesperos could only nod in approval at his new name.

Royal Introductions, Part 2

Twilight had faced many towering beings in her time since leaving Canterlot to live in Ponyville, but never before had she felt quite so small.

The table at which she sat with the other princesses and the Rubricae was one of the largest in the castle. Celestia and Luna both sat tall and rigid, the former sipping quietly at her tea, expression neutral, and the latter leveling a glare both accusatory and curious at Hesperos, who occupied his marble throne. Twilight twiddled her hooves together in the imposing silence. She had tried twice already to spark a conversation with the other princesses, but it had cooled to this state each time.

Without warning, Hesperos smoothly stood. The elder alicorns both stiffened in place and Luna’s wings began to extend before he smoothly raised a gauntlet in a placating gesture. He turned his helm to Twilight and gestured to the communion gem in his helm. She suppressed the urge to gulp or fidget as she lit her horn and adjusted the magic infused within.

Both princesses flinched at the reverberating vox output from his helm as he spoke aloud.

“Noble rulers of Equestria, you do Lady Twilight a disservice.” The teacups vibrated slightly in harmony with his smooth, basso voice.

Luna’s muzzle opened, about to spout off protest as she leapt to her hooves, but Celestia had extended a wing to hold her back, though she too had risen to her hooves. Luna’s mouth shut with a clack of teeth before her gaze was drawn back to the armor. A strange, almost stuttering noise was emitting from his helm grill.

He was…. laughing.

He spoke once more, expressing his amusement and pleasure that he should still inspire such response with his mere presence, but that it was not his intent. Then he gestured to Twilight, offering for them to read a tome they had prepared together for the occasion. Twilight only shrunk in her seat for a moment before taking a deep breath and extending a foreleg. She then presented the book in her magic.

Its cover was studded with memory shards, much like the ones that hung from above the crystal map in her throne room. Several displayed their early encounters, including the dream realm, and others the aftermath of his restoration. The largest, however, stood as centerpiece, and displayed their struggle against the daemon that had emerged from the Everfree.

“I know of no better demonstration of intent than in battle,” he offered, gesturing to the center shard. Celestia appeared less on edge, but no less concerned, while Luna’s hostility had wilted in the face of curiosity.

Twilight waved with a nervous smile as the royal sisters departed. There was little to no fanfare this time, which she was honestly thankful for. A reassuring weight rested on her withers, directing her attention aside and upwards.

Hesperos offered a simple, reassuring nod before gesturing back towards the castle. She returned a nod before turning and leading the way back inside, the Rubricae sparing a moment to watch the departing alicorns before following her inside. The castle doors closed with a gentle boom.

The sisters had not readily passed judgement, and had said they would consider the situation further before making any decisions or statements. Until such time, he was Twilight’s concern. That suited him just fine.

In reflection, he simply wished it did not leave Twilight a nervous wreck for him to tend to.

Dark, the Night & the Mare

Twilight had long departed for bed when Hesperos began to patrol the halls of the castle. His relationships with the guards stationed throughout the crystal tree remained cool, but their shared experiences had at least left them amicable and respectful towards each other. In truth, he suspected he would always engender nervous tension. He was simply too martial.

However, it was this martial nature that encouraged him to lay a hand on his sword, ready to draw, as the natural calm of the night became too still, the shadows too long. Even within his metal frame and without flesh he sensed the slight chill seeping into the castle. The air was perfectly crisp and still, and he positioned himself in the center of the room, scanning his surroundings.

His only warning was the faint, echoing and ephemeral laughter of sinister feminine intent.

His blade was up in an instant before the shadows leapt at him, a silvery blade clashing against his raised khopesh. Fangs flashed in the faint moonlight through windows as the dark mare before him nearly met him eye to eye, wings flared and slitted eyes glaring daggers at him. He threw his armored knee towards her barrel, but she twisted aside and greatly reduced the impact of the blow, her silvery blue armor folded slightly from the blow. She grunted through the pain and unleashed a flurry of strikes with her sword, which he deflected unflinchingly, the ring of the clashing weapons fading in the unnatural shadows of the hall.

He was untiring, and she was relentless, yet eventually he deemed the fight long enough. He dropped his own sword and caught the blade of hers in both hands, snapping it into shards he tossed aside. Fearing her grasping the pieces in her magic and assaulting him in a storm of metal fragments, he swept up his own sword once more and lunged forward. Armored gauntlet grasped horn tightly and forced the dark mare against the wall, and the blade was quickly pressed to her throat.

The hall returned to unnatural stillness for a moment before Hesperos released her and stepped back, flourishing his sword into a vertical salute to his opponent. Laughter bubbled up again from her before the black coat bled away like mist to reveal the regal blue beneath, and her eyes returned to their natural, unslitted state. Her laughter nearly reached a guffaw as an eager gleam in her eyes provided the only warning before she embraced Hesperos, the surprising force of the hug actually rocking the Rubricae.

“Oh glorious fun! I have not faced so worthy an opponent in an age!” Luna proclaimed loudly and enthusiastically. He gestured firmly with a finger to vox grill at her outburst, but she waved a wing dismissively. “Sound dampening, none ever heard our bout,” she offered in explanation, her volume unchanged. His gaze remained locked on her without moving, his closest approximation of a glare.

“I must admit, I was afraid you might follow through and finish me,” she told him, eyeing him critically. “But whether it be a change in your ways, or your perception being even sharper than I surmised, you knew when the fight was done. I am most pleased.”

“There is only one with that visage,” he stated simply.

Her enthusiasm finally dimmed. “Yes. That is true. And perhaps why I am willing to see what you might become. Not all who walk dark paths remain lost.”

Hesperos dipped his head in agreement, and gestured for her to follow him. It was a short journey to the study, and the guards posted masked their surprise fairly well upon seeing Princess Luna accompanying Hesperos. Nods were exchanged, and the two entered.

The hours leading towards dawn were spent recounting their pasts and growing a mutual respect and understanding through their shared experiences in the darker aspects of life, and at many points only the soundproofing spells kept Hesperos from clamping a hand over the muzzle of the night princess, so vocal she became when invested in a conversation.

Needless to say, when a groggy Twilight stepped into the study that morning, she was very confused to see Hesperos’s demonstration of Astartes hand to hand techniques to the most battle-inclined of the princesses. Tangled on the floor, Luna’s legs were wrapped around his limbs in an attempt to wrench herself free and he had a grasp of her throat as he pressed down atop her.

“Uh… ‘tis not what it looks like.”

Twilight, having had nowhere near enough coffee yet, simply turned around and left the way she came.

Here Comes the Sun

Twilight sat at her dining room table while Hesperos stood across from her. She maintained a somewhat neutral, bemused expression leveled at his impassive helm. Hesperos did not stir under her observation, continuing his vigil as she finished her bowl of cereal noisily, slurping the last bits of milk. An empty coffee pot sat next to a half-filled mug, which was quickly emptied as well as Twilight finished it off in one long pull.

Wordlessly, she levitated all the used dining ware to the sink and cleaned it, not once breaking her stare. The rubricae remained as impassive as ever. Once the dishes were clean and she felt she had stared long enough, she simply muttered, “Not even going to ask.”

With that, she shuffled from the room, nearly bumping into an energetic Spike as he came running into the doorway, scroll in claw. The young alicorn groaned for a moment before unfurling it and reading, the implications of its content waking her up and sending hair springing out of place from her mane. Without a word, she shoved the scroll back to Spike, who read it and simply slapped a claw to his face and dragged it downwards, trudging from the room after her. He tossed the parchment over his shoulder as he departed.

Hesperos finally moved, stepping over and crouching down to retrieve the discarded missive. A quick examination readily explained her sudden and erratic response.

Celestia was coming for another visit. Today.

Twilight had just finished her third check of the castle’s condition, much to the chagrin of Spike and the guards she had directed in the matter, as a golden flair announced the arrival of the solar alicorn. Twilight proffered her usual enthusiastic greeting, which was met warmly and kindly, as ever it was. However, even in as sweet a tone as she used, Twilight became very nervous when Celestia requested to hold conference with Hesperos. Alone.

The doors to the study shut with a low, soft boom that seemed to echo more thoroughly in the absence of the resident princess as Celestia shut them behind herself and the armor from beyond the stars. She calmly strode into the room, eyes locking with the emerald gaze Hesperos leveled at her. As she approached him, the temperature in the room began to rise, subtly at first, but then so rapidly that the flower in a nearby vase wilted in but a moment, the water filling it flashing into vapor. Her mane whipped slightly as if in a stronger gale, and her horn radiated light without her golden aura of magic present. If the rubricae felt the heat, he showed no sign of it.

She stood before him looking up into his faceplate. He could feel the pressure of her powerful presence on his soul, and while his physical form was immune to the heat in the room, her aura very nearly seared his mind. However, he had endured worse.

As she let her power abate, she offered a simple truth. Should he hurt any ponies, should he dare lay a hand on Twilight with ill intent, she would scour him from the world with the very heart of the sun’s power.

He simply nodded. She blinked at him, her intimidating presence faltering slowly as he made no other moves or responses. Her head cocked to the side, silently querying for anything else he might say. She had rather expected more of a reaction to such provocation.

After a few moments, Hesperos matched the tilt to her head with his own. Celestia was not sure if he was mocking her, as she knew he was not dim or slow. She opted to simply clear her throat as the silence became awkward. The silence was broken as he approached slowly, her ears instantly turning to track the weighty footfalls before he stopped in front of her, lifted a gauntlet above her head, and opened his palm downwards.

She stood stock still, breath hitched, before she felt the feather-light pat pat on her head. Bewildered,she did not even move to track him as he casually strode from the room to find Princess Twilight.

Terms & Conditions

Twilight was frantically pacing in the hallway when she bumped directly into Hesperos. Who had finally found her. She immediately bombarded him with questions regarding his meeting with Celestia, ending with a desperate, almost manic need to know where she was at now. A soft, awkward clearing of the solar alicorn’s throat succinctly answered the question. Twilight leaned to see past the rubricae to see her mentor standing there awkwardly, eyes switching between Twilight and Hesperos.

Twilight quickly broke from her brief stupor to zip over to Celestia, who looked pointedly at Hesperos for a moment. Twilight looked to him as well, and he dipped his helm momentarily before departing the hall. Twilight looked back to Celestia, who sighed for a moment before placing a hoof to the smaller alicorn’s side.

She simply told Twilight the impression she had gotten and what she felt on the matter of the astartes remaining in Equestria. Though she still harbored serious concerns, she had not gotten the impression that he possessed ill intent towards their subjects. She would allow him to remain, for now, but wanted to ensure that he would be both frequently observed for any signs of trouble and vetted by those of great character. Twilight did not have to think about who she was referring to.

After Celestia had departed, Twilight sought out Hesperos and laid things out for him. He would spend his time with each of her friends so that he might become more accepted within Ponyville, and thus Equestria, as well as have his character assessed by the best judges of such available.

Hesperos agreed that this was a useful solution, and asked where they would begin.

That was when Pinkie Pie burst in with a concussive burst and shower of confetti and subjected them to a typical string of nearly unintelligible gibberish that could be summarized with one statement.

Hesperos would be getting a party.

Hesperos was sat upon his throne in the study, and if he could have adopted a flat, unamused expression, he would have. As it was, he had assumed a slouching posture wholly unheard of among astartes, Imperial or otherwise. Twilight was, he hoped, wrapping up her dissertation on the acceptable behaviors and appropriate courtesies he would be expected to exhibit at the upcoming party, which would also serve to debut the plan Celestia had laid before them.

After several hours of agonizingly detailed restrictions and guidance, she finally released him. He waited for her to flee the room upon discovering her tardiness for an appointment with the mayor in a flash of magical discharge before slowly releasing his death grip on the armrests of his throne. Small marble chips bounced away with the ring of stone on crystal as he stood and ran through the Enumerations, the mental structures and exercises bringing his psyche fully back under his control. Even for a scholar as curious and patient as he, his humors had never gotten quite so out of balance so quickly as when subjected to one of the purple alicorn’s neurotic episodes. He could hardly lay blame at the hooves of the solar ruler for this particular tribulation, but he would certainly recall the overwhelming effect her approval, or lack thereof, influenced Twilight’s behavior.

Regardless, the instructions Twilight had left with him were clear. With a well defined objective, he could act with clarity. As he reached the castle doors however, he paused. He had already stored his sword in a secure location, as they had agreed it was unnecessary for a party. Beyond the implication of bearing a weapon, he hardly expected anything to be remotely threatening. Should such even manage to appear, he sincerely doubted it would even require the blade.

However, he was thankful he had been briefed on the… eccentricities of the party host. Twilight had spent quite a bit of time emphasizing that the party cannon can not be anticipated and would likely appear at either the most or least opportune moment. He had sworn his restraint, employing his discipline to suppress normal battle responses to the discharging of cannons. He appreciated the more diplomatic nature of his Legion, as it was likely the only reason he had not been destroyed upon less than pleasant first contact.

Thankfully, her departure left ample time to prepare himself mentally for the inevitable barrage of tests upon his restraint and patience. His thankfully limited experiences with the pony known as Pinkie Pie had ensured he was at least aware of her unique nature and mannerisms. While her casual ignorance of causality was reminiscent of some daemons Hesperos had encountered in his time, her demeanor and personality were as diametrically opposed to his own as any could be.

In short, the approaching appointment may very well be the greatest test of will he may ever encounter in his unholy existence.

Fortification & Frosting

Ponies, by and large, are highly unaccustomed to the subject of armed conflict. Most were only familiar with the spears and swords carried by royal guards, and those seldom saw use.

As such, the residents of Ponyville were supremely wary of Sugarcube Corner this day. Most looked upon its temporary additions and renovations with confusion, for they had never seen much of what now adorned the normally cheery building. As Twilight stood, eye twitching and mane fraying, her mind struggled to comprehend how Pinkie had learned of, let alone acquired, the new architectural panoply in which the bakery was dressed.

Concrete dragon’s teeth connected with faux plastic razor wire channeled patrons through the front door, and floodlights, while currently dark, were placed to illuminate all approaches to the building. Metal panels covered the windows, and large firing slits fitted with mounted water cannons with overlapping fields of fire were set for full overwatch of the building. A drab facade had been applied to the colorful exterior to render it a more militant appearance, though the cupcake spire had been left primarily untouched, and seemed to be a mark of heraldry judging by the hung banners bearing an image of the same cupcake.

Pinkie stood waving cheerfully from her balcony, wearing the same camouflage uniform she had worn during the dragon migration. Across her back was a large backpack with hoses connected to what appeared to be an Imperial hellgun, though the clear tubing indicated it was likely a water gun replica. Even so, that fact was enough to distract Hesperos from attempting to break Twilight’s own stupor.

They remained still and, in the princess’s case, gaping, until Pinkie bounced up to them and gently closed Twilight’s dangling muzzle. “Super duper, right?!” she asked animatedly, “I made sure to get everything perfect so Dusty can feel right at home!” Upon mentioning him by nickname, the towering rubricae finally shifted his gaze to the pink mare, who had made a point to attempt to wrap her forelegs around him in what would have been a crushing embrace to any pony. Pinkie was eternally grateful that he was so durable and she could hug him with extreme prejudice, especially since he had missed out on so, so many warm hugs!

Hesperos allowed the party mare to continue while his purple companion recomposed herself, before placing a gauntlet on Pinkie’s head and petting her gently, armored fingers running through the unnaturally poofy mane. He had witnessed, on several occasions, the reality warping capabilities of this particular creature. He had not once sensed the presence of sorcery or warp dabbling, and despite exhaustive querying of the princess and his own observations, he could come up with no better understanding or explanation than the other ponies. Pinkie Pie was, simply, Pinkie Pie, as fundamental as the immaterium or stars in the heavens. As such, he strove to not displease her, lest he somehow invoke her wrath.

Pinkie escorted them in, expositing in her usual rapid-fire fashion, and though the initial shock had worn off, they still gazed about at a loss to what they were witnessing. The tables mostly remained the same, though they were now dressed with camo netting, but the chairs had been swapped for the folding type often used for camping or military field exercises.The tool cabinets had been disguised as arms lockers, and the pastry display now sported transparent stickers listing the specifications and attributes of the treats on sale. Mr. and Mrs. Cake, seemingly unperturbed, were dressed the same as Pinkie, and greeted the mares warmly before their gazes moved to Hesperos behind them. They hesitated for a moment, sharing a look, before Carrot cleared his throat and offered in a faintly shaky voice, “Welcome to Sugarcube Corner mister, ah…” he stuttered. His ears pinned back as he looked to the mares around him for help.

“Dusty!” Pinkie chirped merrily before Twilight interjected, “Hesperos, Mr. Cake.” He gave them a subtle and thankful nod.

“Mr. Hesperos, welcome to our humble store. I hope it is to your liking,” he finished, his voice more confident as he finished. Even so, a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face as he waited for some perceived judgement.

Hesperos made a show of panning his gaze about before nodding and inclining his head towards the bakers. They started as his vox speakers rumbled into action. “You honor me with your efforts. This will more than suffice,” he offered slowly before turning his gaze to Pinkie. “I know not how this was done, but I am most impressed. However, I believe the libraries of Tizca would have been more welcoming,” he said at length. Upon seeing Pinkie’s expression dim and her mane lose some of its bounce, he placed a hand upon her withers. “Fret not, Miss Pie. This suits my tastes well, and we must merely do better next time.” It was a calculated risk on his part to imply there would be another party. Even so, he found himself rewarded.

Pinkie Pie not only perked up to her cheery state before, but he would swear that he felt an echo in the warp from her joy as she latched onto his arm and began to prattle on about all the things she could do at the next party.

Undignified for an Astartes, perhaps, to offer such kindness to a sentient equine. But given it inspired a sense of satisfaction unlike any he had achieved in battle, he chose not to ruminate on that fact long.

Declaring Challenges

The party was in full swing once the rest of Twilight’s friends had arrived, and a few other brave souls dared enter and join the festivities despite the intimidating presence. Those that did had been invited by Pinkie specifically for their more grounded traits, or for being friendly to a fault.

In fact, Hesperos spent a surprising amount of time conversing with the grey pegasus mare perched awkwardly upon his armored backpack. The local mailmare introduced herself as Derpy and had already explained she was perfectly comfortable before offering him a muffin, which made their audience of three fillies, each a different tribe yet all bearing a similar mark, giggle at their exchanges. He had mentally chuckled when they declared themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The four female ponies had been among the few who approached him with little to no reservation, and he had complimented their audacity and entertained their presence with more enthusiasm than Twilight had expected of him at a social event.

He was regaling a tale of a rather amusing battle where he had nearly lost his life if not for the almost fated and comical timing of one of his battle brothers coming to his aid, impressing the princess that he would speak for so long to ponies he barely knew, when she spotted furtive activity in a corner away from the storytelling warrior.

Pinkie Pie was excitedly whispering to Rainbow Dash, who looked curious and slightly confused until her wings flared and she donned an expression somewhere between offense and eagerness. The moment she spotted Pinkie equipping Rainbow with a water hellgun identical to her own, she realized things would likely go awry very quickly.

She made a beeline for Hesperos and interrupted his story, much the the chagrin of the fillies, and tugged on his arm towards the exit. He immediately addressed her odd behavior with suspicious questioning as to why they would need to depart. He quickly received his answer when a boxy contraption slid across the floor towards him. Twilight looked down at it and stared agape at the nearly perfect rendition of a box-fed Umbra-Ferrox pattern boltgun. He had a moment to pick it up and examine it with Twilight before things escalated.

“For Equestria!” a pair of feminine voices cried out into the shop. All heads snapped to Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, kitted out in equine replicas of the carapace armor worn by human guardsmen across the Imperium. Nopony moved until they both unleased the surprisingly potent water guns mounted on shoulder harnesses, hosing down ponies left and right. Twilight quickly erected a shield to protect herself and the Crusaders, while Derpy immediately ducked behind the tall crest of Hesperos’s helm. Twilight glanced warily at him as a rumbling sound emitted from him, until she recognized the sound.

He was laughing, the deep grinding sound of shifting boulders signaling his mirth.

In an instant, the boltgun was hefted and leveled, and he yanked back on the charging handle before the bolter coughed out concussive bursts of air and what appeared to be either colorful paint or frosting that splattered over the counter, sending the assaulting equines diving for cover. Twilight did a double take at the new armament while Hesperos ceased with warning shots. He had to be sure it was a non-lethal tool before properly addressing the upstarts.

Pinkie dashed from cover to cover and guest to guest, distributing a plethora of arms to the gathered ponies. Some frantically waved her off, while others, such as Applejack, armed up and joined the battle with war cries of their own. Hesperos made a fighting withdrawal to the doors with his charges in tow, the Crusaders shouting their encouragement to him and Derpy decrying their opposition as meanies. Twilight shielded them as the partygoers not cowering in cover, as Rarity or Fluttershy were, increased the pressure.

Ponies outside were so flabbergasted by the sudden eruption of battle from Sugarcube Corner that few made it to cover before the water cannons roared to life. The repulsed quintet found cover behind a market stall while Hesperos assessed the situation.

As Twilight’s mane finally frayed beyond the point of no return, she immediately commanded the ponies not cowering to retaliate. When they replied with a confusing mess of complaints or questions as to how, she encased Hesperos’s new paint bolter in her magic, drawing his attention, before replicating it into a few dozen of the same. Ponies obeyed in wide-eyed surprise as the Princess of Friendship hefted two with her magic and turned them upon Sugarcube corner, the Crusaders working together to field another.

As the battle erupted into full swing, ponies close by could hear the guidance, praise, and amusement of the towering warrior-armor as the Crusaders took to the art of combat with unabashed eagerness.

Single Combat

Ponyville square was an absolute mess. What was not drenched was most often marred by clashing neon streaks of paint or frosting, as were the ponies that had entered the fray as tempers flared and patience was exhausted. Only now, as each side paused to reload and recover, was there a window of calm in the midst of the amusingly violent storm.

Stepping from cover, a relatively dry and unmarred Hesperos strode into the open, bolter held across his front in a familiar and relaxed stance. His vox speakers boomed across the still plaza as ponies leaned out from cover to observe him, either with curiosity or suspicion. Twilight herself was too distracted replicating a flamer capable of instead spewing paint to pay him much mind.

“Warriors of Sugarcube corner, let us end this. I challenge the boldest, most capable of you to single combat,” his voice droned, almost monotone, to reach every pony within half a kilometer. He knew of one pony that would be unable to resist the call to prove herself, and was rewarded with a squealing cry of protest he knew to be Pinkie Pie as a multi-hued blur streaked out of the confectionary shop and ended with a cyan pegasus standing before him, wings spread and a cocky grin on her muzzle.

“Oh you are so on!” the tomboyish mare shot at him, eyes alight with the prospect of strutting her stuff. Rainbow Dash knew he was tough, but that would not be enough. She had taken on dragons and demigods before. One metal man? Easy-peasy.

Hesperos was counting on this.

He nodded, and all was silent as the eyes of dozens of ponies gazed intently at the two representatives. Rainbow spoke up once more. “So if I win, my whole team wins, right?” She received another slow nod. “Awesome. Let’s do this!”

The moment she took wing, the bolter was brought into a ready position, and soon ponies were ducking for cover again as paint and what now appeared to be fruit punch were exchanged back and forth. Rainbow made good use of her agility to outpace his aim, but her speed also ruined her own accuracy as the wind she kicked up scattered her sweet liquid fury almost anywhere but her target. Hesperos simply sidestepped what few sprays nearly caught him.

To the onlookers, it appeared as if Rainbow had the upper hand, her speed eclipsing the power and precision of the rubricae. However, Hesperos made no indication that he was troubled, instead carefully placing shots in what appeared to the ponies as almost desperate snap shots.

Twilight had finally finished constructing what she now dubbed a Friendship-pattern painter, and had begun observing the duel as she recognized the significance of single combat. As soon as she did, she noticed a pattern emerging from the seemingly stray shots. She almost shouted a warning to Dash before remembering who started this whole mess. Instead, she waited, and when the moment came, smiled smugly.

That moment arrived when a burst of fire caused Rainbow to veer into a new course, one which was immediately intercepted by a gauntlet snapped into her path. The ceramite fingers clamped down on the end of her tail, arresting her flight with a yelp as he held her before him, dangling with the barrel of his bolter pointed right at her muzzle. Twilight, and a good number of the other ponies present, stiffened in alarm. A shot at that range would certainly not bode well for a pony, paint or not.

Rainbow Dash stared wide eyed down the barrel of the massive weapon before flicking her gaze furiously and defiantly at the faceplate of her opponent. He simply cocked his head to the side and poked her nose with the massive weapon, and she groaned as she got his point.

“Alright, alright, you win...” she huffed, crossing her forelegs across her barrel.

As Hesperos raised his bolter smoothly and triumphantly above his head, the plaza erupted into cheers as distant moans of disappointment filtered out of Sugarcube Corner.

Some time later, after cleanup had been mostly completed and the last of the party enjoyed, Hesperos found himself accosted by Rainbow Dash. She rubbed one hoof against the opposite foreleg nervously before she blurted out, “Thanks!”

When he looked down at her and said nothing, she blushed slightly, before adding, “For, you know, not blasting my face. You were kinda awesome, even if that wasn’t fair.” He tilted his head towards her, which she immediately recognized as skepticism. “Okay, whatever. Just don’t think this is the end of it!” she hastily added, delivering a half-hearted punch to one of his vambraces before darting away.

He watched the prismatic trail fade away before shaking his head slowly in amusement and making his way back to the castle.

Interlude I - Discovery

The Ordus Arcana had been a strike cruiser of no little size. Capable of carrying and supporting a force of over one hundred astartes, its large launch bays, drop pod launchers, and other planetary assault assets had taken up much of the ship tonnage. What was not dedicated to those operations were the massive and powerful realspace engines and weapon systems that would ensure it arrived at the heart of a target star system, and the warp drive that allowed galaxy-spanning transit had been a large portion of the engineering quarter. As such, much of the ship had survived atmospheric entry, though the damage from battle and stress of its fall from orbit had broken the cruiser into a multitude of pieces.

The section that Twilight had discovered had been a portion of engineering. Though the warp drive had disappeared, along with much of the main reactor, during the event that had flung the crippled vessel careening into Equestria, the armored bulkheads of the section had likely been the only thing that preserved the integrity of the rubricae’s armor.

In another portion of the desert, miles away, lay one of the few portions of the vessel that had made landfall largely intact. With the extensive damage to it and a lack of knowledge or point of reference, the pony scientists and recovery teams exploring it under the auspices of the royal guard could not readily determine what section of the ship it was. However, it was clear it had been more central in the hull, for it contained what were surmised to be living quarters, training facilities, and meditation chambers.

Some of the scientists were outside among the expedition tents trying to recover their wits and control of their stomachs. Within the wreck had been several dozen charred or otherwise ruined bodies in broken power armor, charred, pulped, torn, or otherwise killed either in battle or during the crash. Among the scholars and recovery team were a few griffons and minotaurs selected by their nations with the Sisters' blessing to contribute and represent their peoples in the endeavor.

Sigfried, one of the griffons, was far less off-put by the prospect of grisly demise. His family had a history of royal service, often in the griffon army, some as medics or surgeons, and as such had passed down a sense of necessary indifference and focus on completing the task. Being squeamish was an obstacle.

Even so, he made sure to wipe off his talons any time they slipped in a greasy slick of something unidentifiable, though while doing so he slipped on yet another that he had failed to spot while wiping his claw off. His wings sprawled out as he cut out an eagle-cry of frustration and surprise, flailing down the corridor he had slipped into and tumbling to a stop abruptly and forcefully against a sealed blast door.

After spluttering a few curses, righting himself, and dusting himself off, he lifted the flashlight he had brought with him and panned it about the hall to take stock of his surroundings. The area was in better shape than some of the other places he had seen, and as his light flashed over the door he noticed the labeling above the hatch. He flipped through the notes provided to the recovery team, compiled from Twilight’s exchanges with the living armor that had been recovered weeks before, and compared her studies on the human writing styles with the markings above the door.

“ARMOURY”

Malus Domestica

Author's Note

Apologies for the uncharacteristic delay! The holidays had me rather occupied, but I'm back into the swing of things now. Get ready for things to become interesting some time soon... :pinkiecrazy:

Malus Domestica

The sun had barely risen as Hesperos arrived at Sweet Apple Acres at the appointed time. The distant sound of Applejack directing her sister’s morning routine reached him as the sizeable red stallion he knew to be the eldest Apple plodded out to meet him in her stead. Big Macintosh stopped in front of him and they locked eyes to visors for a moment, matching shades of green, before Mac gestured with a hoof for the astartes to follow.

They marched in silence to the barn, where Mac hooked himself up to a plow and pointed to a second in the corner. Hesperos moved and lifted the whole thing in his arms. Mac’s eyes widened before he nodded his approval and took lead out to the field they were preparing. After demonstrating the procedure, he indicated Hesperos should attempt it. Pulling the chains hooked to the farm equipment over his massive shoulders, he hauled it across the field in nearly half the time it took Mac.

Mac stood nearly agape before rejoining the effort, offering in passing a decisive and approving, “Eeyup!”

Applejack found the two standing next to the freshly prepared field, observing the orchard in relative silence. Occasionally, Mac would offer an apple or other produce for Hesperos to examine, receiving simple nods of approval. In exchange, Hesperos had laid out a blueprint for structural improvements to the barn or new arrangements for the fields that could increase yields. Mac would reply with a thankful and enthusiastic, “Eeyup!”

Applejack smiled faintly before interrupting, not accustomed to seeing her brother so at ease and cooperative with an unfamiliar guest. However, they would have time to collaborate more later. For now, it was time to hit the west orchard.

They wandered out, Applejack rambling about the farm and her family as she was wont to do. He marched along next to her silently, occasionally offering a tilt of his helm or wave of a gauntlet to indicate she continue. He was at this point passively listening to what she was saying. Though he remembered what she said in detail, his mind was primarily focused on observing the orchard itself and contemplating his current circumstances.

The trees around him appeared very differently to him than any he had seen before. Where warp presences he would describe as roiling balls of immaterial fire, small candles or roaring hearthfires depending upon the entity in question, the magic he had encountered in Equestria was inherently more stable. Unicorns appeared as brilliant lumen stips, a measured and consistent spot of power. Yet even pegasi and earth ponies shone as glow globes or chemical illuminators. He had concluded, and had confirmed with Twilight, that all the equine tribes or races had magic in one form or another.

As such, standing in the center of the orchard, it appeared to him in his spectral vision as a strange nightscape filled with bioluminescent flora and, rarely, fauna. His optical indicators provided readouts indicative of nearly any verdant agri-world, but his witch sight revealed the much more intriguing and fundamental nature of the realm he now occupied.

He put aside his ruminations as Applejack indicated it was time to get to work and to observe her demonstration.

She approached one of the many apple trees of the orchard, spun in place and lashed out with her hind legs, bucking the tree and sending apples falling from the branches. Most curious, when her hooves had connected, it had appeared to his unearthly senses much the way connecting an active circuit might, a spark and brief brightening of the tree in his aetheric perception as the apples fell.

He was interrupted before he could analyze further as she indicated he try. He stepped towards the next ripe tree and looked it up and down before spreading his stance. He pulled back his arm before pistoning it forward, landing an open-palm strike with a resounding thump of metal on wood. The limbs shivered from the impact, and some fruit fell, but not more than half. Where his hollow hand struck, the bark was scuffed and nearly cracked.

Applejack grimaced as she admonished him. “It’s not about brute force! Hurtin’ the trees ain’t gonna make the fruit come to ya. Ya gotta just give ‘em a love tap.” She demonstrated more as she began to work in earnest, leaving him to try again.

He utterly detached himself from the senses provided by his armor and focused on his psychic perception. He concentrated his will into the center of his being, and focused on the immaterial imprint of the next magic-infused apple tree in line. Millennia ago, when he had still been flesh and blood, he had not possessed significant psychic potential, but like most scions of the XV Legion, he had acquired at least a small level of proficiency. The cult of his aptitude had been that of the Athanaeans, the legion telepaths. He tapped into his rudimentary skills, long unused, and connected his senses to the tree.

When next his palm thrust struck the tree, a moment of psychic impulse passed through the shell of his armor and into the healthy bark of the tree, which subtly flexed from his carefully measured strike of armored palm. The bark was no more bruised than that of those the Apple down the line had already seen to, and all but the most stubborn fruit fell to the bushels positioned below.

Applejack trotted back over with a somewhat impressed expression and a low whistle.

“Well tarnation, we might make an apple farmer of you yet!” she offered with a wink and comradely punch to his thigh plate he correctly identified as praise.

Crystal Clarity

Hesperos stood stock still, locked in paced by the unexpected nature of the area in which he found himself. Memories long dormant slithered to the fore as recollection of a nearly sacred place fundamental to a planet he once called home seeped into his awareness in ghostly flashes of the past. His stance and fluctuating emotions and mentality went unnoticed by the alabaster unicorn trotting ahead.

Rarity’s horn was alight and scanning her most recently discovered hunting grounds, and her geological prey was quite abundant here. She tutted slightly that intermixed with the more precious gem formations were an uncharacteristically high amount of quartz variations. Fortunately, amethyst was the most abundant and a stone she was more than comfortable working with.

Hesperos strode forward as if in a daze, more so than his usual, and knelt closely to the ground. He placed a gauntlet to the dirt and traced around the precious stones hidden beneath, each alight and singing with resonant energy. He extended his faint psychic power out and felt it attune and flow smoothly, pure and free of the usual instability of power drawn from the Great Ocean.

Rarity paused in her searches, several emeralds floating behind her in her grasp, to offer an inquiring glance to the unusual behavior he was displaying. It was ever so difficult to read the marine, his faceplate expressionless and his body language horridly subdued, but this was very different than any way he had acted around the castle or during his brief times in town.

“Are you alright, darling?”

She was almost certain he had not heard her as he stayed locked in place for a moment before his helmet shifted to her, then panned around the area once. He smoothly stood and walked over to her. She resisted the urge to shy away or cower, as imposing as he was, because it would have been terribly rude, but did not resist when he plucked one of the crystals from her mage-grasp.

The emerald, even uncut and unpolished, shone nearly as cleanly and brightly as those few worked into his armor. In fact, once treated properly it would likely surpass any of the embedded stones in both beauty and purity. But more keenly, a handful of them would be a boon to any who practiced the great mysteries.

He returned the stone and his gaze to Rarity, taking a knee to better meet her eye to eye. He extended a hand to rest upon her shoulder. “Lady Rarity, your talents are most wondrous,” his voice rumbled smoothly.

As he stood and turned to return to the cart they had brought with them to retrieve digging tools, Rarity stood and blinked in mild bemusement before getting to work at marking dig locations. She was taken by slight surprise when he started to dig up crystal growths she had yet to mark, and he offered a short explanation that he could clearly see all the stones her magic had touched as they reflected it through the aether. Thus together they hauled away an impressive collection of precious minerals that even Spike may have struggled to aid her in acquiring. The unearthly strength of the rubricae made such tasks nearly beneath him.

Upon returning to the castle that evening, Hesperos brought with him a small pouch loaded with gems Rarity had insisted he be allowed to select and take with as repayment for an unusually bountiful afternoon. Included were several that were ill-attuned or improperly formed for either of their uses, but that would serve as an excellent treat for a certain little drake. Once those had been delivered, Hesperos retired to the spartan chamber he had grudgingly accepted from Twilight as his personal room.

At his insistence, there was no bed, but there was a massive and reinforced steel-frame couch with what amounted to sandbags for cushions. Anything less would not endure his armored presence. A simple but refined mahogany desk was the only vanity he had allowed, the sturdy yet gorgeous wood enough to bear the weight of tomes and magical artifacts and add a scholarly touch. Fine tools for a variety of crafts sat in ordered racks, and a magnifying lens hovered over the center, suspended on an adjustable and multi-jointed armature. A steel chair to match the couch was drawn back and awaiting.

A crystal bookshelf beside it held dozens of tomes, most copies of Equestrian works that had intrigued him, while several massive volumes contained the research conducted with the resident princess.

He had insisted on a room within the castle, so there were no windows, but a scorched and tattered banner hung from the wall, crimson and ivory bound by the energies of a magical stasis spell Twilight had perfected during their studies.

His first act was to take a small sheet of parchment, scrawled with a task list, and add the desire to research the local cave structures. After, he emptied the gemstones onto the table, sorting them as he pleased. After ponderously taking a seat, he retrieved his tools, a polishing cloth, and a text regarding both the trade of gemcutting and the nature of Equestrian crystal formation.

As the day outside wound to a close, the faint ping of chisel on crystal rang through a secluded hall of the Ponyville castle.

Kindness & Chaos

Author's Note

This would have been out sooner but a work trip made getting back to finish, refine, and edit this chapter rather vexing. Now, however, the chaos resumes!

Kindness & Chaos

In his ten millennia of existence, across countless worlds and in innumerable implausible circumstances, never before had Hesperos felt so utterly out of place.

The tall crest of his helm nearly scraped the ceiling of the tree-cottage he now sat within. There were scratches and faint gouges trailing from the top of front door to where he now sat, a testament to his stooped and awkward shuffle to accept the hospitality of the princess’s timid friend. The fact that he had been welcomed at all likely only had to do with his quiet nature, and he had done as much as he could to minimize the volume of any statement he made to avoid startling the skittish yellow mare.

It had taken little time to determine what would most endear himself to Fluttershy. Once a squirrel had made to perch upon his shoulder, warranting a fearful “eep!” from its caretaker, and he had not harmed it, she finally seemed inclined to become more open with him. He had asked her about her connection with her charges and about each creature in turn. Her trepidation had evaporated as he fed several birds that alighted on his arm, beaks pecking into an armored palm cupping a small pile of birdseed, and she described her routine and how she cared for each of the dizzying array of animals that shared the same living space.

The mood became dour as she nervously began to ask him about himself. He deftly steered the conversation around the grim, fatal aspects of his previous life without avoiding his status as a warrior. It was a delicate balance, but one that rewarded him teal eyes wide with concern and fear, but not the urge to flee.

He faltered after describing his current state. Tears pooled in the pegasus’s gentle eyes. Had he said something that offended her? Was his state or presence now that she understood his nature unwelcome?

His concerns, and most other thoughts, came crashing to a halt with the empty thud of the pegasus tackling into his breastplate, her forelegs attempting and failing to encircle his waist as she cried apologetically into his resilient midriff.

“Oh, you poor thing!”

It took several moments and a few entreating stares at the now scattered animals for guidance before he thought to return the gesture, very carefully offering feather-light pats to Fluttershy’s heaving back. He assured her that it was no tragedy, especially after so long in such a state. He reminded her that despite his ashen unlife, his arrival in Equestria has restored parts of him that may have been lost forever otherwise.

“Oh, is THAT what all the fuss is about?” The voice that broke the soft sound of dwindling mourning was loud, self-absorbed, and obnoxious. It was also immediately behind the sitting rubricae.

Hesperos rolled forward, tucking Fluttershy into his arms as she let out a panicked squeal. He deposited her behind him as he assumed a low, ready crouch, hands readied. One extended before him, ready to slice out with crushing force, while the other was drawn back to deliver an open-palm strike. His stance faltered as he assessed the intruder.

Discord in all his mismatched ‘splendor’ hovered over the weight-warped chair he had abandoned, cackling like a loon at his reaction. “Oh my, you are fun! So easy to get a rise out of,” the draconequus quipped, the chair and several unfortunate animals swirling over him in a levitated loop. “But all this boo-hooing over such a little thing is just no fun.”

“Daemon…” Hesperos hissed. It was unlike any warp-beast he had ever seen. The creature was a psychedelic kaleidoscope of colors across the spectrum, mind-searing and utterly unpredictable. Were his mind not hardened against intrusions he was sure it would have driven him to apoplexy.

“What?!” Discord retorted, eyes wide. He placed a claw to his chest and threw out his hip in offense. “I’m no measly ‘daemon,’ thank you very much. I am one of a kind!” A text bubble appeared over his head, reading ‘ORIGINAL CHARACTER. DO NOT STEAL.’ “Besides, I wouldn’t be caught undead with those creeps you idiots call gods.”

Hesperos almost sagged with uncertainty, especially once Fluttershy shot forward and began to scold the beast.

As the normally reserved mare argued back and forth with Discord in matronly fashion, Hesperos reassessed the situation. There was none of the usual malice he would sense in the presence of warp beasts as he knew them. Though the locus of this ‘Discord’ and his power was nearly identical to what he would associate with a daemon, perhaps even above a greater daemon, it was somehow void of the turmoil and sinister bent he associated with the Ruinous Powers. It was, simply, and he reflected, aptly named, discord.

And, more glaringly, it appeared Fluttershy had the situation more under control than himself. Perhaps she had bound the creature to her will.

Eventually he was pulled from his introspection, and literally to his feet, by a halfhearted apology and agreeable handshake that made his metal hand creak from the stress of it. The creature shot something he did not catch back to Fluttershy as he was momentarily overwhelmed by the presence of the walking abomination. Should this creature wish to unmake the barriers between worlds it need only…

A snap of claws was the only warning he got before the creature disappeared in a flash. He concluded his time with Fluttershy perfunctorily and departed with her appreciation for handling Discord's unexpected arrival so well. Another comrade, and one less seal of approval to receive.

That evening, however, Twilight would enjoy the full weight of his attention as he gathered as much information from her as he could regarding the beast accordingly titled Discord.

Proper Authorization

Hesperos stood immobile, arms extended to his sides, as two of Twilight’s guards scrubbed his armor. Cheap paint and cream filling slopped off and to the ground as the two unicorns aggressively attacked the mess with oversized sponges laden with soapy water. He had recently returned from investigating rumors of disruptive activities in town. Unfortunately, that had placed him in the line of fire for a rather gratuitous prank war. He had a new respect for the ambush tactics of Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.

Twilight trotted into the room with acute energy in her stride as the cleanup was concluding, polishing cloths restoring his armor to a pristine finish. The guards moved aside and to ready positions on the edges of the room, earning a brief eye roll from the princess for their stubbornly formal behavior.

“Pack your things,” she announced to the room at large. “We’re going on a trip!” She focused back on Hesperos. “The recovery teams found a sealed chamber on your ship still intact. If they read correctly, it’s an armory.” She could not tell from his stance whether he was intrigued, but if the intense glow of the psy-stone in his helm was any indication, that had certainly gotten his attention.

The preparations for their trip to the recovery site were swift. Hesperos had conspicuously collected both sword and gun, one on his hip and the other maglocked to the armored power plant on his back. She found it odd that he brought the gun with him as well, before realizing he may intend to resupply once the armory had been opened. While she was wary of him carrying such dangerous munitions, she also trusted him as a friend, and had he wished anypony harm, he was utterly lethal with the sword alone and had ample opportunity before.

The train ride past Dodge Junction was uneventful, and thankful the private car that had been added to the train, despite Twilight’s protests, had afforded them privacy and prevented much of the gawking and nervousness that inevitably greeted Hesperos outside of Ponyville. Their arrival was thankfully a matter of course with little fanfare, though the unavoidable gawking was less in shock or nervousness and far more from curiosity and excitement. In fact, much of it was directed towards the princess and not the spectral armor.

Hesperos watched in satisfaction as Twilight entered her element, fielding multiple discussions with the researchers and recovery personnel as they exchanged information at a blistering pace, academics truly in their element and in the presence of the princess who had become their greatest patron. Hesperos, however, slipped away and inquired about the armory. A nervous stallion not even yet out of university directed him with a shaking hoof towards the largest hull section sitting over the sand dunes outside of camp.

Hesperos arrived after an unhurried march among the scattered wreckage of a strike cruiser he once called home. A couple of Twilight’s guard had caught up to him, having spotted his departure and shadowed him there, only coming out when he had summoned them from hiding in good humor. There was no need for suspicion, and he was grateful for having extra hands, or hooves, to accompany him.

The stallions stayed close to him, illuminating their path with hornlight as he led them into the canted depths of ancient human artifice. After orienting himself, Hesperos took the most direct route to the armory he knew to be in this sector.

The door had nearly imperceptible warping, from both intense heat and violent impact, and he was caught off guard when he noticed the security cogitator still functioned, flickering almost piteously where he brushed away the dust and ash coating the panel. As his gauntlet brushed across the surface, it let out a weak warble as the system recognized Astartes authorizaton and indicators changed shades, an emergency light sputtering above the door preceding a grinding clank as the doors tried and failed to open.

Hesperoes looked to the guards, who were carefully composing themselves. Though their weapons were not drawn, hooves were laid on the pommels of swords, and he could clearly see their tension and unease. He nodded reassuringly before stepping forward, wedging his fingers into the gap in the hatch and preparing to force open the doors. The guards leaned forward apprehensively, grip on weapons tightening.

An actinic pop, brilliant flash, and surge of energy saw all three whirling, weapons whipping up before them in a wall of blades. Twilight gave them a deadpan expression as the couple of researchers accompanying her yelped and cowered. Her guards offered sheepish expressions as they sheathed their weapons, Hesperos returning his own to his hip as well. After a brief explanation of the situation, he returned to the door and set his grip once more.

“Huh. Whatever wards were there are gone with the door cracked like that. I’ll just teleport in!” Hesperos’s gaze whipped around faster than she had ever seen, but her horn was already lit and his protest never voiced as a pair of further pops and flashes placed the alicorn inside the armory. Magenta light filtered out through the crack as she lit her horn. There was a sharp intake of breath.

Twilight’s shaky voice called out faintly through the gap. “H-Hesperos, I need you in here…”

The doors shrieked as the rubricae put all of his unnatural strength into forcing open the doors, the mechanisms shearing and giving their last as the door was forced wide enough for him to slip through, the guards close on his heels. Swords were drawn once more, and far more decisively, as they arrayed themselves next to the princess. The guard stallions faltered as they took in their surroundings, but the rubricae’s grip tightened.

Weapons of unimaginable provenance surrounded them, their functions and purpose lost upon the equines. A small part of Hesperos was pleased so many cases of bolter ammunition survived, and while the plasma weapons would likely be truly dangerous to attempt to wield after such a poor landing, the meltas and flamers should be quite serviceable. Chainswords, combat blades, and a number of other less common implements of battle were spread about a space cramped despite its size. Whatever had not been secured in one of the heavy duty storage racks or pallets had been mercilessly scattered around the room, forming a mess of loose ammunition and broken weapons. Scorch marks indicated where ammunition or fuels had cooked off, and only the absurd resilience of the storage for explosives had prevented their detonation and subsequent loss of such a valuable cache of wargear.

The majority of his attention, however, was fixed upon a form much like his, haphazardly slumped in a corner of the armory. Dark stains marked the deck where blood had pooled and cooked during reentry. Ceramite fragments hung from the abused suit of Aquila-pattern armor. Scorch marks and damage obscured much of the heraldry, but two things were evident.

The armor had once been a rich viridian, and the abused body drew in nigh imperceptible breath.

Sus-An

The faint sound of magic and the murmuring of working physicians filled one of the larger guest rooms in Twilight’s castle. The princess herself sat quietly next to Hesperos, who stood imposingly next to her. While most ponies were ever wary of him, she could read his mood in a way most never could.

He was alert, on edge, a high tension wire ready to snap.

They had discussed at length what to do with the astartes they had recovered from the armory. Without hesitation, the rubricae had armed himself thoroughly. Ammunition had been acquired and stored in carefully positioned pouches on his waist, and a fairly large crate of bolt rounds was secured in his room. His boltgun was in hand more often than not now that it was useful again, and an ancient and ornate plasma pistol was locked to his thigh. Cylindrical devices he had explained were explosives of various kinds completed his repertoire, and even with his fierce loyalty such a concentrated show of combat power made her somewhat nervous.

She once more discarded such concerns as she considered the massive body lying on the reinforced bed acquired specifically to handle the absurd mass of the superhuman. She had asked the identity of the warrior, and though Hesperos had his suspicions, he had not deigned to share them.

It had been determined the comatose warrior would not likely be a threat, and that any injuries he may have sustained should be treated. Hesperos had not openly dissented, but his distaste and concern for the idea was palpable. He had argued with Twilight regarding the dangers and risks of a superhuman killing machine being restored and awoken, but her argument that this was no different than Hesperos’s own arrival and her adamant stance of extending the olive branch had overridden his objections. His more complete wargear was his answer.

Using guidance gleaned from study with the rubricae, Twilight lit her magic and began disengaging the seals of the battered and scorched power armor encasing the space marine. She grunted as she was forced to unweld seams and tear ruined seals to properly free the dense ceramite plating and durable undersuit from the body. She did not attempt to lift any of the pieces free until she successfully disengaged the helmet seal with a pop of equalizing pressure. All ponies present gasped, some looking ill, as the helm was slowly pulled off.

Onyx skin steamed for a moment in the cool air, sweat or residue quickly swept away in the gentle air currents of moving bodies. Ponies cringed at what they believed to be fatal, utterly ruinous burns over his skin. Hesperos merely nodded, as if something had been confirmed.

“Salamander,” he stated, as if it was perfectly normal and obvious. Twilight offered him a questioning glance as her horn lit and his psi-stone glowed. The mental conversation hastened things along and her eyes widened in awe.

“So… that’s normal? I mean, for a… Salamander?” The name was spoken somewhat awkwardly, the concepts still forming in her mind. “So is he a dragon hybrid, or…?” She sensed Hesperos’s amusement as he clarified the strange genetic quirk that caused such strange pigmentation in the sons of Vulkan. He also highlighted their innate resistance to heat, likely the only thing allowing the battered man to survive.

As she encouraged the rest of the medical ponies to aid her in removing the armor, she gasped at what was much more obviously damage.

Great whorling patterns of scar tissue were interrupted by raw and weeping burns, much more recent. The part of her that had gained knowledge through the recent mental link identified the ritual brands that had not been ruined by injury. As the plates and undersuit came away, piece by piece, medical scans and visual inspection noted uncountable burns, lacerations, and bone fractures, many of which were already well into the healing stages. Of more note were a multitude of internal injuries to anatomy that utterly baffled most of the physicians present.

When she shared her findings with Hesperos, the rubricae wandered over to observe, though she could tell he was observing less of his physical state and more the psychic.

“The sus-an membrane…” he stated slowly aloud, the other ponies in the room glancing at him nervously and in confusion. “Suspended animation; a healing trance,” he simplified and clarified at once. “He requires an apothecary.” The doctors looked indignant at the the use of the archaic term, feeling discounted, but Twilight allayed their fears.

“We don’t exactly have any space marine healers around. Didn’t your legion use magic for these things?”

Hesperos turned to regard her. “We have no practitioner of the Pavoni arts here…” he trailed off, displeased with the eager look she was giving him.

Resuscitation

Twilight ignored what she knew to be a glare directed at the back of her head as she lit her horn and enveloped the comatose Salamander in front of her. In a both reassuring and disconcerting turn of events, Hesperos had found ample support from her guards, who formed a well armed perimeter around her and the unconscious astartes she was working upon. The unicorns managed to levitate bolt pistols acquired from the crash site, instructed in their use by the rubricae. Weapons of disturbing lethality, overkill in nearly any other circumstance, she was not comfortable with ponies bearing such items. In this instance, her guards and Hesperos were in ironclad accord that such overwhelming force may prove necessary. Even so, Twilight had forbade their use without her permission. The Thousand Son had made a point to have sword and pistol drawn, plasma coils glowing in readiness. The medical staff on hand had been shuffling nervously as she worked.

The previous night had been spent mind-delving, Hesperos reluctantly sharing his knowledge of the Pavoni arts of biomancy with the adamant princess. He had no flair for such workings himself, but as he expected, the young alicorn had absorbed, processed, and tested the practicality of such spells. He had provided ample evidence of the dangers inherent in this field of sorcery, and she had been sure to avoid pushing beyond her capabilities, but she had worked out key flaws in several approaches to the art in short order.

Now, she was working her way through alien anatomy, knitting wounds and healing burns. Nigh-failed organs were carefully restored, and several hours of work returned the Salamander’s body to merely a battered but fully functioning state. Hesperos had assured her his physiology would complete the rest, which her body scans confirmed. Now, there was but one path left.

Awakening.

Twilight dismissed the hovering doctors and nurses, who scurried out of the room but could not help spying around the edge of the doorway in what they hoped was subtle but in reality utterly obvious. Even so, Twilight was already prepared to erect a barrier as necessary, and reached her magic into the synapses of the Salamander to simulate the awakening stimulation necessary to restart the warrior’s consciousness.

Minutes passed as the process continued, until a sudden, rattling gasp signalled the start of his awakening. The pony guards flinched, leveling weapons as Hesperos took a ready stance, sword level to the ground across his front and pistol aimed squarely past Twilight to the Salamander.

A second desperate gasp for air filled the Salamander’s collapsed third lung and his twin hearts beat furiously as he awakened. Eyes shot open to reveal blazing crimson, infernal and filled with alarm. His attempt to lunge to his feet resulted in a surge of pain. His gaze danced about the ceiling until it chanced upon Twilight.

The Salamander loosed a shuddering roar as he attempted to lunge for her, his protesting body merely rolling off the table and dropping heavily to the floor. The guards took a solid step forward before Twilight sharply indicated they stay back with a wing. Her eyes were unyielding as they fixed on Hesperos, and the rubricae was torn between obeying and doing what he knew was necessary to defend her.

The Salamander got to his hands and knees, panting and coughing at his rude awakening. Twilight lit her horn to cast a translation charm worked from her experiences with Hesperos.

“Where…? What…?” his voice grated out, parched and threadbare. His gaze lifted again, locking onto the ornate suit of power armor behind the princess. His eyes widened and his face twisted into fury as he managed to stagger into a lunge, hands splayed like claws to attack the rubricae.

Before Hesperos could fire, his pistol was enveloped in lavender and pulled aside. “No killing!” The princess shouted, her voice echoing oddly in two languages as her spell continued its work.

An eery sound Twilight identified as a snarl slipped from the vox grill of the Thousand Son as he smacked the battered loyalist aside with the flat of his blade, the swing almost slow compared to the flesh and blood warrior before him, but it was enough to deter the Salamander.

After a couple moments to assess the situation, and seeing the floating bolt pistols around him, the Salamander took the first course of action to enter his addled mind and sprinted from the room, scattering the last bits of his sundered armor as he went.

Hot Pursuit

The limited castle staff (Twilight had never wanted many servants), fled and hid as the terrifying ebon bipedal sprinted faltering through the estate, searching for the exit through intense disorientation. Though his body had recovered most of his wounds, the unconventional means of his revival left even his enhanced cognition disjointed.

The crystal walls around him were dazzling and confusing, and so many of the doors and halls looked the same. His sense of direction clashed with what his eyes were telling him, though eventually he managed to determine he needed to head down after passing a window with a spectacular view of a quaint village of too many vivid colors.

As her guards poured from the room in pursuit, Twilight had galloped after Hesperos, who had immediately made for the swiftest route to the castle foyer. Twilight expedited things the moment she caught up with him, cutting him off and powering her horn before he could question or protest. An actinic pop and flare of magic heralded their translocation to the main castle door, which remained resolutely closed despite the couple of terrified castle staff who had fled there. Either they had been so terrified they had not thought to open them, or otherwise wise enough to attempt to trap whatever was loose within the castle.

Twilight paced nervously, hearing the strange echoes of her guard shouting to each other in distant corners of her home, but thankfully no roar of guns. Hesperos had assumed a ready sentry position the moment they arrived, pistol and sword stowed in favor of leveling his bolter towards the castle halls. His aim panned slowly back and forth, awaiting any sign of the quarry.

They both snapped their attention to one of the adjacent halls as the sound of discharging bolts boomed off of crystal walls.

Confusion reigned as he fled. He had managed to knock a couple of his pursuers out cold, acquiring their bolt pistols. He had also succeeded in avoiding the others as he closed on what he hoped was the exit, although the sharp clip of hooves on gemstone floor had dogged his evasion tirelessly. If he was not in such dire straits he would have admired their tenacity.

Two more had come around the corner, their sorcerous ways plain as they erected a barrier of light before them as they came. None had yet used their pistols to engage him, which was curious. It strongly suggested they wanted to subdue rather than destroy him. Until he had ascertained the truth of the situation, he would at least return that small, cold kindness.

With pistol in hand, left and right, he whirled towards them, firing on the shield they had erected. It flared and flickered as the bolts exploded against it, the shield shattering into glittering motes of light caught in the breeze of their passing. Both guards staggered, the feedback from so violent a sundering of their spellcraft lashing them with feedback. By the time they had recovered, the Salamander was gone.

The first warning Hesperos had of the Salamander’s arrival was the roar of twin bolters, a round caroming off his right pauldron. The second impact against one of his greaves only occurred because he had forgone evasion to interpose himself between the Salamander and Twilight. The Salamander relented only as his magazines ran empty, the suppressing fire from before leaving him little to work with. As such, before Twilight could cast any spells, the Salamander charged, stance low and arms wide and ready to grapple.

Hesperos dropped the boltgun on its sling, allowing it to slide behind him as he lifted his own hands to capture his opponent’s. Even with the weight of his armored form, the impact of palms forced him back a step, boots squealing briefly against the floor. He used the motion and the leverage he had to twist the Salamander around and press him towards the wall. He threw his leg up in a knee kick that impacted square in his target’s ashen abdomen, eliciting a grunt and growl from his opponent.

Both continued to struggle before a Royal Canterlot Shout rang out, freezing every pony in the castle and even a couple outside.

“ENOUGH!” Twilight bellowed, horn blazing into life and suspending both supermen in the air. She leveled a stare at each in turn, eyes alight with power.

“You will both sort this out like mature adults or so help me I’ll banish you to the moon!”

Both stopped and looked at each other, Hesperos as expressionless as usual, and the Salamander cross and confused. Hesperos simply shrugged and offered a nod to his opposite, as if to say, ‘your move.’

The Salamander swallowed thickly before grudgingly nodding at the little horse witch currently holding him in an iron ethereal binding.

“There. Now was that so hard?”

She ignored the muttered curses of the Salamander as she towed both astartes behind her back to the study.

Discussion

Author's Note

As promised, we continue our tale, with not one, but two chapters! More to come. Just as planned...

Discussion

Within Twilight’s study, the servants had brought in a hastily acquired wooden throne that matched the proportions of the Salamander that was forced to occupy it. While Twilight had dismissed her guards, to much protest, Hesperos remained close at hand. The rubricae kept his weapons slung and holstered, but emanated a faint malice that the princess pointedly ignored.

Twilight had been asking questions of the Salamander for some time, but the ebon skinned giant remained resolutely silent. Just as the mare’s mane was beginning to fray, the door to the study banged open as Spike sprinted into the room.

“Twilight! I was out in town when I heard about explosions in the castle and….! Whoa!” he blurted, performing a double take at the seated astartes. “What’s with this guy?”

The Salamander’s eyes widened at the little drake, and he murmured a prayer to Vulkan which caused Twilight’s ear to twitch. She whirled on him to stab a hoof out with a manic, “Ah ha!”

Spike deadpanned. “Did you even offer him any food or something to drink?” The alicorn wilted in turn, while the rubricae behind her slowly shook his head. Spike shuffled away, muttering, and returned a few minutes later with tea, biscuits, and a few apples from the Acres.

The Salamander eyed the array dubiously, but glanced to Spike as if looking for a sign. The little drake rolled his eyes, and Twilight quickly expanded the translation charm to include him. “Come on, I didn’t even cook any of it. It’s not poisoned or anything.” He made a point to swiftly devour a biscuit while levitating an apple to Twilight, who took the hint and slowly began to eat it. Spike smirked as the simple act seemed to start evening her back out.

Hesperos spoke, a resonant, eerie bass slipping around the study. “You are in no danger here, Salamander. Vulkan himself would not harm the ponies of this land. Or this little drake.” He pointed meaningfully at Spike, and just the faintest brush of telepathy made the Salamander flinch, but left him with a distinct feeling that he should watch his words about his heritage around the little dragon.

Tentatively, the effectively captive astartes tried first a biscuit, then an apple. Despite thoroughly tasting and testing the food with his senses, all he could experience was excellent, otherworldly flavor. No toxins his body could not defeat, or even a normal human would find troubling. Perhaps more sugar content than was healthy, but the food was otherwise excellent.

“Te'kan.” Twilight and Spike started, while Hesperos seemed to focus more intently. “I am Te'kan of the Salamander’s Third Company,” he stated and locked his fiery gaze on the rubricae, “and I do not consort with traitors.” His voice was the ashy tumble of volcanic stone.

Twilight’s ears pinned back as her eyes dimmed, while Spike scratched his head. Hesperos nodded thoughtfully, turning in place and communing with the princess to do the same. The confusion that spread across Te'kan’s face as his eyes darted between his new armor livery and Twilight’s cutie mark was well worth it.

“What by Vulkan is this place?”

Twilight beamed. “Hi Te'kan! I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, and I would like to welcome you to Equestria!”

“Emperor preserve me.”

Once More

There was no hiding the recent events from the other princesses. In short order, Twilight was given a deadline for the arrival of Celestia and Luna to assess the latest super-warrior addition to her castle. As such, her panic was at usual levels of mania.

Te'kan was hesitant to interact with the clearly insane equine, but he had found himself warming to the endearing little drake she kept as a pet. It had taken the better part of the week they had to prepare to reach that point, but Spike was pragmatic, clever, and clearly had the purple pony’s number. Most importantly, Spike had answered his every question in a short, efficient manner. He had stopped asking Princess Twilight questions to avoid the lectures.

Spike had been enamored with a fighting force that styled itself after dragons, or rather salamanders, native to Nocturne, homeworld and base of operations for Te'kan and his brothers. Te'kan had, the evening before, tentatively shared his story of his hunt for a Salamander as his initiation rites. He had left out the fatal, gruesome details, but had pointed out the honor brand he had earned. Every time he pointed out one of the brands, the little drake seemed a bit squeamish, which would make Te'kan grin.

However, he remained frighteningly cold for one so hot blooded in the presence of Hesperos. Some feuds were too old and bloody to simply forego, as Twilight was frustrated to learn. On the bright side, Te'kan had come to terms with his predicament.

He was just as trapped as the rubricae.

With no other foes of the Emperor present and the rubricae clearly being both subservient to and under the care of the princess for reasons beyond his ken, Te'kan had accepted his only option was to bide his time and be at peace with the locals. Aside from their frightfully potent witchcraft, little about them even remotely intimidated the astartes. Natives of his homeworld, human or otherwise, were far more imposing. He only had reason to fear the pink one.

The pink one, he shuddered to think of, was impossible. Ever present, always more aware than she seemed. Strong enough to nearly lift him from his feet in a hug and durable enough his reflex to crush her in his iron-strong arms was, to her, merely an impressive bear hug. He would have more concern and venom towards her if she had not proven so adept with food. Somehow, some way, she had replicated a couple of Nocturnian recipes from offhand, overheard conversations within the castle.

The galaxy would fall to madness if there were others like her.

Thankfully Twilight assured him that was not the case. She did, however, provide ample desensitization to the myriad improbabilities and eccentricities of the world he now inhabited. It was for this reason the announcement that the princesses would be arriving the next morning did little to phase him.

Hesperos watched from the shadows in amusement with Luna, who had intermittently shadow-walked to join him in his observations and place bets on the inevitable meeting.

Royal Introductions, Part 1

Twilight was deep in the process of sifting through official documents when Spike tore into the room, sliding to a halt with a roll of parchment in hand. She immediately took the scroll with polite thanks to her assistant, knowing whom the letter came from immediately. Then again, quite few ponies could send letters to Spike, and the royal seal binding the paper confirmed it beyond doubt.

Unrolling it, her brow furrowed and her lips tugged downwards in a slight frown as she considered the contents and precisely what they entailed. Returning the parchment to its rolled state, she placed it in the drawer of her desk specifically set aside for storing such missives and made her way out of the room, traveling down the halls of her crystal castle until she arrived at her private study.

Outside, Hesperos stood silent sentinel, only showing any signs of awareness when he turned to greet her, providing his customary fist to chest salute and respectful inclination of his helm. A friendly and familiar gesture of her wing beckoned him to accompany her into the study, and he promptly obliged.

Within, she bade him sit and explained the situation as he reclined on the massive marble throne she had commissioned for him. She was still finding bits of the crystal chair he had shattered the last time she insisted he sit.

Princesses Celestia and Luna had recently returned from foreign negotiations and received word of the arrival and conflict of beings associated with the ship that had fallen in the desert. As such, they had deemed it of utmost importance that they meet and assess the precise nature of the visitor for themselves. Hesperos could sense the uncertainty in the alicorn before him. She was concerned that his previous associations and dangerous knowledge would cause issue with the royal sisters.

He immediately, if tactfully, requested she provide all the relevant information for customs and courtesies to be extended to Equestrian royalty, which she eagerly supplied directly through their psychic link. He found he had breached quite a few of these in his interactions with Twilight, which she again dismissed as she detected his soft ire at having unknowingly trampled over a fair number of them.

“You’re my friend. That’s what they need to see.” He had simply nodded at this before querying her for a plan of action.

The sun was midway through the clear skies over Ponyville as the imposing golden chariot bearing the royal sisters arrived. Armored pegasi blew great fanfare for their arrival with their brass horns, and the guard towing the chariot unhitched as Celestia and Luna set hoof before the castle doors. As the guards formed an avenue of procession, the princesses began to move at what onlookers would have described as a sedate pace.

Few would recognize the well masked tension in their stride, or the subtle flutter of feathers or cutting of eyes that communicated volumes between the siblings.

That tension in them nearly became readable as the gilded doors of the crystal tree opened with a different fanfare, Twilight’s personal guard providing her own avenue of approach from the foyer. Their expressions were even more severe than those of the guards outside, but their eyes were lit with fierce pride. Few had accompanied the princess of friendship into the fires of upheaval as they had. Surviving an encounter with a creature of the warp may have tested and hardened them, but it had also strengthened them.

Twilight strode into the daylight with as confident a smile as she could muster, but it faltered as Hesperos, but a step to her left and behind her, also stepped into the midday sun, the light glinting from the bold crimson plate and ivory affectations.

Even at such a distance, and without considering the high crest of his helm, he was a head taller than Celestia, and Luna was forced to lift her gaze as the two parties closed. The night princess had become visibly tense, while the only betrayal of emotion from the solar royal was a faint narrowing of her eyes.

Twilight’s wings flitted nervously at her side for a moment, the open field before her castle leaving her feeling exposed. She could feel a whispering sense of panic rising, before a cool weight against her withers snapped her out of her daze and her eyes snapped to her left and up. Gleaming emerald lenses glimmered slightly in the noon light as Hesperos gave her a subtle, reassuring tilt of the head. He got the briefest impression of a grateful smile before she looked back to the other princesses, clearing her throat awkwardly into a hoof.

“So, uh, who wants cake?”

Final Royal Introductions

The diarchs of Canterlot sat in the Council of Friendship with Twilight, Spike, and Hesperos. Twilight had dismissed her guards. The air was thick with a tense silence. China clinked as the ponies took tea. Te’kan sat quietly, declining to partake. Twilight was sweating nervously.

Spike wandered back in from the kitchen, looking between the silent princesses and humans. “Oh come on! You guys are making this harder than it has to be.” All eyes turned to him.

“Te’kan, you won’t hurt anypony right?” The Salamander nodded hesitantly. “He is as good as his word! I know, he was super serious about his oaths of moment. Will an oath work now?”

The royal sisters, looked between each other. Celestia seemed hesitant, but Luna nodded. “We would be satisfied with a solemnly sworn oath.” This much seemed to register with Te’kan. He stood, taking a knee and looking to Spike. “Later, can you have wax and parchment ready for me? I would make a proper oath of moment.” All eyes were on him.

“By the honor of my chapter, and the grace of the Emperor, I shall not harm an innocent creature of this realm or bring ruin to your land.” It was spoken with gravelly surety, his crimson eyes intense and earnest.

“Huzzah! It is done then. See? Not so much trouble, sister.” Celestia rolled her eyes at Luna, but smiled and nodded, adding, “Welcome to Equestria, Te’kan. We shall endeavor to aid you in returning home but shall welcome you so long as you remain.”

The Salamander seemed offput, at a loss for words, and simply nodded his agreement and gratitude. Spike walked over with a happy cheer and raised an open claw for a high five. The Salamander blinked before hesitantly completing the gesture.

Hesperos was satisfied, though reservations lingered. He looked to the ceiling, and beyond it to the heavens. The warp was idyllic where it touched this word. Quiet, calm, harmonious.

Why, then, did he have a growing sense of trepidation?

Author's Note

Finally, another chapter! The downside? In looking at where the story is, and where I would like it to go, this here is the end to the second act of our story. it may be some time, but there shall be a third. The conflict, the climax, and the end.

Blessed is the mind too small for doubt.