When war comes

Chapters

New arrivals
Back to Square One
Meet the locals
New Acquaintences
Time to Learn
The Wrath of Angels
"Manehattan"
The Price We Pay

New arrivals

Chapter 1 - New arrivals

Mid-afternoons were quite peaceful in the quaint little town of ponyville. On clear days, ponies walked up and down the streets fetching groceries, escorting children to and from school, and enjoying the nice weather before returning to work.

By contrast, Twilight's immense Castle of Friendship was quite the landmark. It loomed over the town and was visible from every home, business and farmstead for miles around. The few denizens who dwelled within were busy with their own tasks.

Twilight, for instance, was anxious for a response from Princess Celestia regarding a worrying sight she had spotted in the mountain ranges to the west of the small town. A noticeable column of smoke was emanating from a known cave in that region.

This was normally the sign of a dragon having set up a place to sleep or stash its hoard of gold and jewels. Sleeping dragons also let out a lot of smoke, being a fire-breathing creature. The amount of smoke they emit has the potential of affecting local wildlife ecosystems and even the climate.

Reporting the instance was step one for dealing with dragons. Step two was the most difficult: wait for a response to the report. Nervous pacing across the throne room floor did not help speed up the process at all, but it was natural for Twilight.

"Do you think she's forgotten about us, Spike?", asked Twilight in her anxious tone as she continued her circle around the throne room.

"Come on, Twilight", spike said in a confident manner as he looked up from his comic book, "you know Princess Celestia will always make your concerns a priority." The concern in question was what the proper course of action should be for a dragon sighting so close to her location.

"Besides", he continued, "It hasn't even been a whole day. I'm pretty sure her memory is better than that."

Almost right on cue, Spike winced and let out a small belch of green dragon breath. From the fumes materialized a scroll of parchment sealed with the signature blue ribbon and seal of Canterlot. Like a well-trained dog, Twilight responded immediately to this familiar sound and ran to the scroll. Her expression was one of eager anticipation, like this was going to be her best birthday present ever.

"What does it say, Spike?" Twilight almost demanded to know as she trotted in place, "read it, read it, read it!", getting more and more excited to hear from her favorite correspondent.

Spike knew the procedure well at this point. Unroll the scroll, clear his throat, start from the top of the letter, and recite it verbatim.

"Dear Princess Twilight," he began, "I am already aware of the dragon outside Ponyville. The Canterlot Wildlife Conservation Society has informed me that they are handling the situation with extreme care. There is no need to worry as long as you keep clear of the dragon's resting place. Signed, Princess Celestia."

"Well, that's good news," Twilight said as she walked toward the throne room door. "We can inform the townsfolk about this situation."

"Stay away from the dragon that's already out of our way to begin with," remarked Spike as he jogged after Twilight. "It's going to be a good day today, I can tell."

The drop pod rattled as it streaked through the upper atmosphere. This did not disturb the five-man assault squad inside as they continued to recite the liturgy of freefall. Each soldier had their eyes closed in prayer. All except for one: Sergeant Drake Agnos of the Blood Angels. His job as squad leader was to lead all battle brothers under his command to victory. Whenever new recruits were assigned to his squad, he liked to keep at least one eye on them at all times. The rookie in the ranks was Dorus Thane, fresh out of his long training period to becoming a legendary Space Marine.

As Agnos and the more seasoned battle-brothers prayed with reserved expression, the Sergeant noticed a look of eagerness on the young soldier's face, a grin that almost seemed to say 'whatever danger awaits, I welcome it with open arms'. It was an odd look for a Blood Angel, and certainly uncharacteristic of a super soldier built for war.

"Thirty seconds to impact", chimed the drop pod's internal vox.

This was the squad's cue to don their power armor's helmet, ready their weapons and prepare to disembark at a moment's notice. The sergeant was the first to speak after the alert, "Prepare yourselves brothers!" Though Thane's helmet now completely covered his face, Sergeant Agnos could still read the anticipation in the rookie soldier's body language.

Should he tell the new guy to calm down because it's just his first deployment? No, the sergeant thought to himself. If I could learn the rigors of combat the hard way, so could he. Agnos himself had once been a new blood, excited by the prospect of travelling to new worlds, bringing the glory of the Imperium to its enemies. It's not all fun and games.

The squad had been tasked with eliminating a large draconic creature that had been harassing the explorator legion sent to this planet. The sergeant knew from his many decades of service that this first encounter would set the eager young warrior straight, should he survive the battle to come.

The retro rockets fired, slowing the pod's descent. Impact! The drop pod made its landing on solid rock. No sooner had the restraint harnesses released the Space Marines and the door opened up to reveal the alien world beyond. The five-man squad quickly exited the pod and assumed their tactical formation.

Three marines scanning the front and flanks while the sergeant and Thane covered any high ground. Each one bore a bolt pistol and chainsword, a favored loadout among the assault marines of the Blood Angels. The drop pod's automated storm bolter scanned in all directions, ready to cover any area where the marines may not see.

After each marine gave an all-clear for his respective field of fire, the sergeant assessed the terrain and tactical options available to them. Their landing was not too far off their target, the mouth of a cave. Only about two hundred or so yards to the south.

"To the north, there lies our target", voxed the sergeant to the rest of the squad as he pointed to the mouth of a large cave about fifty feet up a sheer cliff wall. A thick column of black smoke rose straight up from the mouth of the cave. This was the giveaway that the fire-breathing creature was here. It was also blocking orbital scans for the local region.

"Move up. Into the cave," he ordered. A normal tactical squad would have a tough time scaling a near vertical cliff face, but these were assault marines. Each one was equipped with a powerful jump pack. It's twin thrusters had more than enough power to propel their armored bulks up to the opening.

One by one, each marine's jump pack roared to life, carrying the marines skyward, like crimson angels.

Thane was the last to activate his jump pack. He was also the least experienced in its use. He jumped just as high as his battle-brothers, but tilted forward slightly more, causing him to go into a forward roll. One full revolution later, he could see his intended landing area. To his dismay, he could also tell that he would fall short. He had a chance to grab the ledge, but would he be able to reach?

No, he would fall even shorter than that. Time seemed to slow as he fell further and further back down. Fortunately, sergeant Agnos had other plans for the new blood this day. Instead of falling to the ground below, the sergeant reached out and grabbed an outstretched hand of Thane's.

The next thing Thane could see was the unforgiving solid rock wall, then a brief moment of confusion as his body slammed into it. A moment passed, his auto senses returned and he could see the sergeant balanced precariously over the edge, golden veteran helmet staring down at him from on high. How was he holding both his own weight and an unbalanced space marine so far over the edge?

"Pull!" shouted the sergeant over his shoulder. One other squad member was holding the sergeant's other arm, counterbalancing the rookie soldier's weight. He gave a mighty heave and pulled the pair of power-armored marines to the stable ledge.

Once Thane felt he was on solid ground, he made his way to the rest of the formation just inside the cave. Stopping him was a hand grabbing his right shoulder guard. The sergeant was trying to speak to him directly rather than over the vox-net.

"Try to keep stunts like that to a minimum, soldier," said the sergeant in a low tone. He wasn't using his vox-comm link, but rather speaking through the vox-grill in his helmet.

"Yes, sergeant," replied Thane rather indignantly.

Thane was still just a novice, but only needed a reminder from one member of the squad. Better the leader who had trained dozens, possibly even hundreds, of recruits past and had the patience to do so.

The squad quickly reformed inside the cave, two members on one side, three on the other. Once again, the sergeant assessed the situation and made tactical adjustments to the squad.

"Along the cave walls, no lights, hold fire." With this order, the five-man squad would stay split into two smaller teams. They would not use any sort of light, but rely on their genehanced low-light vision to overcome the darkness of the cave. They would also not fire or attack unless in immediate danger. One implied order was to remain silent while moving. A tough feat while in full battle dress, but not impossible for a trained Astartes warrior.

Moving through the twisting caverns was quite fascinating for Thane. He had never seen any cave like this on his home world, Baal. He wondered what sort of geology existed where the rock got to be a darker and darker shade of black the deeper he went into the cave. Unbeknownst to him, this was not his enhanced vision inexplicably worsening, his battle brothers also noticed this same phenomenon.

When the surrounding walls turned an abysmal jet black, the sergeant picked up something unusual. He stopped in his tracks, prompting the others behind him to stop as well. He heard something akin to a low growl, but started and stopped very rhythmically. In his years of fighting, this was an all too familiar sign of a large beast resting.

New developments called for new tactics. The sergeant raised his pistol so that is was aimed down range, toward this yet unseen foe. It was not long before the squad found the source of the sound.

Deep in the cave, the layout changed. This chamber was not the work of natural geology. It had been hollowed out by unnatural means. Deep claw marks and gouges in solid rock carved out a spacious hollow. In the center of the hollow laid the answers to many of the young Blood Angel's curious questions.

An immense and evil-looking creature appeared to be asleep atop an even larger pile of gold and jewels.

The blackness of the rock walls was from the smoke emanating from its pulsating nostrils. The steady groaning was its heavy breathing. The surrounding rock was scarred by the creature's massive claws. But above all else, this creature was the very thing from the images the squad was shown during the pre-mission brief.

All they knew about the creature's capabilities were that it had a thick layer of scales or hide that could turn aside lasgun and autogun fire. From its mouth would spew gouts of flame if provoked enough. Up close, it could bring its claws to bear, rending anything that was unfortunate enough to be within reach.

Thane was an Adeptus Astartes, the finest warrior in the Imperium and he knew no fear. He also came to realize the gravity of his situation. It was one thing to train against simulators and drill instructors. Standing in front of an utterly alien being capable of swallowing a man whole, that was a league all to itself.

The sergeant motioned for the team to circle around the creature, two to the right, two to the left. The sergeant followed the team to the right. Laying like it was, it did not expose its underbelly. Was there a reason for this? Are there other avenues of approach? Agnos' mind asked a thousand questions, simulated a hundred different scenarios and called upon ten decades of experience to solve the problem in front of him.

Suddenly, the behemoth stirred. How had it sensed their approach? A change in air pressure? A lingering heat trace? A premonition? Did the rookie make a sound which gave away their position? Why the beast awoke was irrelevant.

Its eyes instantly opened showcasing a menacingly large cat-like eye accented by sickening yellow irises. No sooner had it propped itself up to almost the full height of the cavern, barring its teeth and extending a pair of red leathery wings.

The sight was truly one to behold. This creature would be the perfect personification of the wrath of the Blood Angels. Unfortunately, they found themselves in direct opposition to it. Agnos had run out of options. This would not be a stealthy kill.

"Engage!" bellowed the squad leader and five bolt pistols fired in near unison at the demonic creature. Despite the powerful pistols' bombardments, they seemed to have little effect on the target. The creature simply raised one arm to its face to protect it from the assault.

This would also not be a fight without resistance from the enemy. In a split second, the creature turned to its left and unleashed a wide burst of flames from its mouth. In a wide sweeping arc, it swung its head right to engulf the space occupied by the squad in fire.

The sergeant did not need to give the order to evade, for this was an instinct for each marine in the squad. Thane had used his jump pack to evade upwards and he was now directly overhead the creature's head. On his descent, he reloaded his pistol and aimed straight down. He fired four rounds, one of which struck near the creature's right eye.

The massive head jerked hard to the left, leaving Thane to land on the pile of treasures below. The creature was lashing out in pain, covering the right side of its face with its monstrous claw. The unstable pile of gold was not fit for a stable landing, so Thane ended up sinking shin-deep and sliding down the sloping end of the pile, momentarily losing his balance.

The sergeant devised a quick plan of attack. "Aim for the eyes!" Almost instantly, the left eye was fixed on the sergeant. Another instant later, the creature was spinning to the right, bringing with it a long, heavy tail covered in spines. The sergeant was struck with the tail and sent sailing across the chamber. His trajectory ended with a loud crash knocking loose rock and dust from the point of impact.

Thane had managed to dig himself out of the gold pile while the rest of the squad kept the fire on the beast. From here, he had a perfect view of the creature's underbelly. It was a very pale yellow in contrast to the rest of its blood-red scales. In fact, it looked a lot softer than the hard scales on its back.

He would not let a chance like this pass by. Thane climbed back up the pile of gold, thumbed the activation rune on his chain sword. The sword roared to life as he swung downwards in an overhead stroke to the unprotected underside. Adamantine blades cut through hide, flesh and bone as though they were jelly.

Almost instantly, the creature's legs buckled and its entire weight collapsed on the glimmering pile and the novice marine. Its long neck fell from being vertical and now laid sprawled across the cave floor.

"Move in! Finish it!", ordered the sergeant, intending to land the killing blow while it was stunned. The creature was fighting against the pain from the wound it had just received. As a death throe, it tried to snap at the advancing marines with its jaws. It missed and opened itself up to another attack to its soft neck. Two other members of the squad thrusted their roaring chainswords into its neck and dug deep.

The spastic thrashing in pain would be the last movements it made in the fight. It fell to one side motionless as the life left its remaining good eye.

"Halt, brothers. This abomination yet lives", warned one of the squad members. He called out the warning because he noticed the midsection of the beast was still twitching.

Soon, the soldiers realized why this was. Thane had managed to force his gauntlet out from under the beast's monstrous carcass. He was still clutching his bolt pistol and struggling against the immense weight of the slain monster.

The sergeant mag-locked his weapons to his waist and ordered the other marines to help their brother in distress. Without wasting any time, all four space marines got into position and rolled the mighty beast over, allowing Thane to claw the rest of the way out.

"I'm clear!", Thane called out as he scrambled to his feet. Once clear, the others pushed off and jumped clear of the dead beast.

Three brothers were splattered in alien blood and down several bolt pistol rounds, but had cleared a major impedance for the explorator legion currently stationed on the planet.

Brother Halus was the first to speak after the room was secure. "How was your first taste of battle, brother?"

"Exhilarating," said Thane in a mix of excitement and pride. "I'm ready to bring the Emperor's wrath to the next battle," he said, holding his weapons as if something were already lined up for him.

"You call that a battle?", Brother Setrex interjected, "That was merely a skirmish. We had the advantage of stealth, numbers and tactics. On top of that, we still have all five-"

"Finish bickering like neophytes later", the sergeant interrupted. "Thane, don't get too excited. You still have a lot to learn."

The young warrior's composure returned as his leader's words sunk in. "Yes, sergeant", he said as he mag-locked his weapons to his waist.

The sergeant made one last shot toward the fallen beast, seemingly out of spite. He was actually confirming the kill his team had just made. The beast's already wounded eye exploded in a shower of blood and other xenos body parts. Thane had already received a healthy shower of blood from slicing the creature's underside earlier. His canary-yellow helmet was nearly the same shade as his blood-red battle plate. Even the chapter symbol on his right shoulder guard was almost completely obscured.

"We're done here," the sergeant proclaimed. "Backtrack to the drop pod and call for extraction," he continued, marching back the way they had come. The rest of the squad formed up on the sergeant in a wide chevron, Thane occupying the outer right position.

The squad had not traversed very far into the cave, but it was a simple hollow portion of the mountain. There was one way in and out and one path to follow before hitting the dead end of the cave. A brisk walking pace would lead the Blood Angels out in just under five minutes.

Just as the welcome sight of sunlight hit their eyes, a disturbing, unwelcome sound hit their ears. It was familiar, as they had just finished hearing it not five minutes ago. It was akin to the bellowing of a ferocious ork chieftain's uncouth war cry. It could only be one thing and the assault squad was ill-equipped to face it in this narrow cave corridor.

"Get outside!" the sergeant ordered. In close quarters, the creature had the advantage and could more easily guard its softer areas. Bolt pistol rounds were ineffective against the hard scales and it could bring its claws to bear faster than they their chain blades. And Throne help them if that fire breath attack floods this small passageway. Astartes power armor was formidable, but even ceramite and plasteel had its limits.

Five pairs of heavy boots were stomping the ground, running as fast as their superhuman bodies permitted in an attempt to get out into the open and evade the desperate and angry beast. They were fast, but an enraged and wounded monstrosity could be faster. Thane glanced over his shoulder. It had only been about 15 or 20 seconds since he started sprinting, but the demonic silhouette was already visible against the far wall.

With its right eye obliterated, its single remaining eye, now rimmed in its own blood, focused like a laser on its transgressors. Thane could see the scar he himself had inflicted on the beast, still dripping fresh crimson. Two similar gouges appeared about halfway up its neck.

To turn and stand his ground now was suicide. Get out into the open, surround the creature, attack from every angle at once. It had an effect once before, but this time be more thorough with the job. The plan was in place, now to execute. To do that, however, face front and call upon every ounce of strength to propel forward.

Unfortunately, Thane would never get the chance. He had fallen somewhat short of his comrades and was now the tail element. Two soldiers including the sergeant had cleared the mouth of the cave. Thane was about to jump to safety when he felt a powerful force thrusting him forward. Recovering from the whiplash, he realized that his jump pack had not been the cause.

He found himself being constricted by an unseen force. Looking down, he recognized the creature's claws, only now they were wrapped into a tight fist around his body. He was also ascending higher and higher into the sky. This beast was capable of flight, Thane realized.

His left arm and both legs were rendered immobile. He could not wriggle or break free, even though he had the physical strength of a dozen mortal men. His pistol was useless as he could not reach it, but the grip of his chainsword was visible through the top two claws holding him in place.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a thick column of billowing smoke, much like the one that marked the cave from which he just emerged, but larger. Several small shapes orbited around the smoke and he could swear that small bursts of fire sprouted from them. The creature was facing it directly and picking up speed. If this was a central nest for these creatures, he would not stand a chance.

He would have to act fast, he was being carried higher and higher and closing in on the nest. His free hand easily reached the chainsword, but it was pinned between the claws and his body. He thought to give the blades a quick rev, to break the creatures vice-like grip.

While weighing his options, he observed how high up he had been carried. If the beast dropped him from this height, he would probably not survive the fall. To counter that argument, he still had his jump pack. He could fire downwards at the last minute to break his fall.

Good enough, time for action. With his free hand, he reached over and grabbed the handle of his chainsword. He thumbed the activation rune on his weapon, hoping to loosen its grip. Unfortunately, the way the blades were laying against his body, Thane also cut a weak point in his armor, just behind the left knee. He reflexively winced and closed his eyes in pain.

Both were struggling against the pain with which they had just been inflicted. Refocused, Thane found the beast had stopped flying and brought the trapped warrior to its face, jaws agape.

The back of its gullet was a most unholy sight. Only evil could be inferred from the serpentine tongue and razor-sharp teeth lining its jaws. He was being brought closer and closer to certain death, whether that was being eaten alive, burnt to ashes or worse.

My career will not end just as it begins, thought Thane, determined to live through this ordeal. He was now free to bring the fury of his chain blade to this demon, to fell it once more. The first swing he made sliced through the tongue and ground hard tooth bone, momentarily sending sparks against the inside of the monster's cheek.

Against another wound, the creature lashed out in pain, pulling the Blood Angel and his weapon away from its soft mouth. Thane's next action was a particularly desperate one. The creature's wrist was in easy reach of the chain sword. Thinking fast, he reached over the massive thumb and brought the sharp cutting teeth down with a mighty roar of determination.

Still reeling from its most recent wound, the flying beast thrashed around harder than before, but Thane kept the pressure on as hard his only arm could provide.

In a matter of seconds, the adamantine teeth ground through the tough scales, tough muscle and ridged bones. However, the creature's grip did not falter. In fact, he seemed to be getting constricted tighter. His retinal display flashed all manner of red and orange warning runes. He felt his armor buckling against the immense strength of the wounded beast.

Then without warning, he felt himself in freefall. the iron-like grasp was still holding firm, but not as firm as it once was. He now had a new problem: survive the fall in which he now found himself. In the back of his mind, he remembered the solid rock on which his drop pod had landed. This would not be a soft landing.

The clouds were obscuring the landscape beneath, but he knew that even landing in a deep body of water from this height would be fatal, even for a space marine.

Thane knew what he had to do. Escape the dismembered claw's grip, orient himself upright and use his jump pack to make a safe landing. As he passed head first through the clouds, he made a shocking realization: the ground was closer than he thought. Each punch, shrug and kick he gave was a bit more effective each time. Soon, he was able to push the fingers open several inches at a time.

Free at last, he pushed off, separating his armored form from the lifeless mass of flesh, sinew and sharp bone. His armor's auto gyros quickly turned him upright. One last move and he had a chance to return home with quite a tale to tell.

He fired a second too late. He slowed in his descent, but not slow enough to make a safe landing. He crashed through a fragile wooden structure, doing little to help break his fall. He still landed feet first on some fairly hard ground.

Astartes power armor was tough. It could survive a fall from outer orbit, if the wearer landed with it the right way. The warrior inside, however, was not so well-built. His enhanced bone structure could absorb much more punishment than lesser beings, but he was still human. Because of this, his human limitations began to show.

He had landed with such force that his leg bones shattered in multiple places. His fused ribcage also suffered damage and fractures, but did not yield to the force of the impact. The shock sent pain throughout his whole body, his retinal display lit up brighter than before with even more critical damage warnings and to top his misfortune, he had lost grip on his chain sword.

Even if he wanted to, he could not summon the effort to suppress his screams of agony. The pain was simply unbearable. He had never been through anything like this before and had never trained under anything even close to this kind of stress.

He rolled onto his stomach to try to quell the pain. No effect. Through the pain, he attempted to open his eyes to get his bearings. Only one eye would obey his commands, though. He had regained control of his breathing, but not silenced his grunts of pain.

He was inside a simple wooden enclosure. Not quite nomadic, but not quite industrial in nature, it was being used to store large quantities of some type of dried straw. Was this a food store, perhaps?

"What in tarnation?" To his right, Thane heard a woman's voice with an accent he had never encountered before.

"Rainbow Dash!", the woman said again, this time in a more aggressive tone, "I thought we agreed that you do your little stunt show away from my property!" Thane could make out the distinct sound of two different footsteps circling around the structure to his right, where a large open doorway stood.

Whoever this woman is, thought Thane, she speaks low Gothic, a human language. With the Emperor's blessing, I may just get some useful aid from her. Perhaps my fortune is beginning to turn.

"My name is Brother Thane of the Blood Angels," announced Thane laboriously. "I'm injured and I need your assistance, whoever you are," he continued as he dragged his crippled form across the dirt to the doorway. The footsteps stopped just before the edge of the opening.

With a moment's pause, the woman started moving and spoke again. "Look stranger, if you're hurt, I'll help ya, but don't be stormin' around like you own th-" she stopped mid-word as she rounded the corner and caught a glimpse of what lay before her.

The source of the voice was not a human, but a small orange quadruped with long blonde hair. It was clad only in a simple rustic brown hat. Its face was wearing an expression of surprise and confusion.

Thane was having a similar moment of confusion. What was this creature and how had it learned his language? Should he repeat his pleas for help? Why was his vision starting to darken? Perhaps he was not meant to have good fortune. He wasn't thinking of asking for help again because this small being was clearly not physically capable of doing so. He let out another grunt of pain and rolled onto his side to clutch his self-inflicted wound.

The last thing Thane saw before his vision faded to black was a warning icon in his helmet display:

WARNING: Blood loss detected - seek medical attention

Mid-afternoons were quite peaceful in the humble farmstead of Sweet Apple Acres. Peaceful if not the hottest part of the day. As a career farmer, this was something that Applejack and everyone in her family had learned to deal with. Her signature Stetson hat was wide enough to keep the sun off her face and neck so she could focus on her current task.

Besides, a little heat was far from bothering her at this point. Scattered clouds provided periodic relief and much needed cool down time. She would take all the relief she could get after the news she heard this morning.

Twilight had announced that a dragon had been spotted making a dwelling for itself in the mountains to the far west. She remembered the last time she had to deal with a dragon near Ponyville. It was dangerous getting up to it and even more so trying to get it to leave. Fortunately, her good friend, Fluttershy, an experienced animal expert, was able to convince it to leave.

She was hoping to avoid any conflict today. There were plenty chores around the farm to do, after all. But other matters did have a habit of popping up all over Equestria, requiring applejack's attention.

One such matter might just be the dragon she noticed flying high overhead. Working on farms her whole life, Applejack had a sharp eye for detail. Having witnessed a great dragon migration, she knew what dragons looked like from a distance. But today, neither she nor anypony else in Ponyville was giving any reason for a dragon to come and cause trouble.

Here is a good stopping point, Applejack thought to herself as she parked a cart full of apples behind a large silo. The shade would keep the apples cool while she took a quick lunch break.

So far just another day at Sweet Apple Acres. The quickest way to the house was to cut between the cow pastures and the hay barn. Granny Smith was cooking her famous stew with the secret apple flavoring that made it extra sweet. Perfect for any meal, but it was especially fitting for a lunch break after a hard working day.

Walking past the barn, she couldn't move past the news Twilight had announced this morning. A dragon nesting so close to Ponyville again? Why hadn't they been sent out to deal with it like last time? Well, reasoned Applejack, Twilight is the princess of the region now. She has to take action when anythin' happens in the area. I reckon she's askin' Princess Celestia for advice. Why, she must be nervous as a-

Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the strangest cavalcade of noises she had ever heard in her entire life. Something like a roaring storm, crunching wood and somepony screaming out seemingly in pain all while startled cattle ran amok in their enclosure, but away from the barn.

Quickly turning toward the sound of the commotion, Applejack was greeted with the sight of a collapsed barn roof, where not five seconds ago it had been as if it were just built yesterday.

"What in tarnation?", exclaimed the confused work horse. This confusion was short-lived, however, as Applejack had seen this pattern of behavior before. She had a pretty good idea of who the culprit was.

"Rainbow Dash!", she announced, "I thought we agreed that you do your little stunt show away from my property!"

This was the third time that her barn was damaged from Rainbow Dash's amateurish stunt flying practice. There was no excuse for always losing control and managing to land in the same dang spot. AJ moved up to the barn to confront Rainbow about her destructive habit.

Soon after she spoke, a strange-sounding, almost mechanical voice called out. "My name is Brother Thane of the Blood Angels," the voice sounded like it was in pain. "I'm injured and I need your assistance, whoever you are."

This unexpected reaction stopped AJ in her tracks. Something was clearly wrong. This was not RD doing another strafing run over the property. Just what the hay is going on?

"Look stranger," resumed AJ as she continued toward the barn, " if you're hurt, I'll help ya, but don't be stormin' around like you own th-"

Just as she rounded the corner to the barn's opening, she came to a complete halt yet again. This was not at all what AJ imagined she would see. What lay before her was an immense, well, suit of armor would be the best way to describe it. Deep red all around with a bright yellow head. It had a very large pair of what she guessed were wings on its back. It sounded like it was having trouble breathing, as each breath was labored. The awkwardly long pause was broken with the behemoth rolling to one side and reaching for something behind it.

This got Applejack worried it might pull something out from behind, but adding to her confusion and surprise, she picked up the scent of blood. A strong scent, at that. The armored being did not pull anything out, but instead held one of its back limbs tightly. It was trying to stop itself from bleeding, realized AJ.

Before she could speak, reassure the creature that she would be back with help, it slumped to the floor with a thud. Its metallic face remaining unchanged throughout the entire encounter.

AJ knew what she had to do now: summon help to deal with this unexpected event.

"Big Mac! Granny!" AJ called out as she galloped full speed toward the house. With Big Mac at her side, she would have the muscle to move the creature around. Granny Smith's experienced care giving would surely include first aid.

Hang in there, big fella, AJ thought to herself. You're gonna be just fine. AJ had never broken a promise before, and she sure as sugar wasn't going to start now. b

Author's Note

Just a note to all,

I had this idea in my head for a while now, but I'm not quite sure where to go from here. I'm not the best writer around, so there may be a lack of detail or spelling errors, but any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Back to Square One

Chapter 2 - Back to Square One

The rest one gets after a fierce battle is made all the more precious by its scarcity. But Thane was not resting from his recent ordeal, merely recovering from it. In his vulnerable state, his supreme strength, formidable weapons and unparalleled training would not serve him.

He could hear voices speaking, maybe calling to him at some point. He could swear his body was moving, but he was only distantly aware of it. His thoughts were focused on waking up, getting back in the fight, as was instinct for any Space Marine. His mind was bellowing orders to move, but his body simply refused to obey his commands.

There was hope, however, as a yellow smudge returned to his vision. Slowly, but surely, this smudge unblured and focused into a warning on his helmet's display.

ALERT: Morphine reserves depleted - seek medicae for resupply

He cleared the alert away with a blink and tried to move his head around. He was face-down in the dirt. Such an undignified position for one of humanity's greatest warriors. Also a great disrespect to the black Aquila emblazoned upon his chest.

One of the voices spoke, this time much more clearly. "Now don't tie it too tight, now, Applebloom. Might just make it worse fer 'im". The voice was ragged and shaky and somehow more exagerated than the voice of the small animal he encountered.

"Ya sure this'll work, Granny?", yet another voice asked. This one higher-pitched than the original, but still the same accent. There was a hint of concern as it spoke.

"Well, youngun", replied the ragged voice, "ah ain't never seen a critter like this in all mah days". Thane's auto senses were starting to return to him. He could hear two distinct voices in the immediate area.

"But," the ragged voice again said, this time sounding more perked up and cheerful, "if it works on ponies, dogs, griffons, and even bears, then darn tootin' it can work on anything under Princess Celestia's bright sun."

"Ah still don't think we should keep it in here, y'all." The original voice was here, too. Three beings surrounded him. Unsure of the enemy's numbers, their capabilities or even their intent, Thane chose to survey his surroundings silently.

It was at this point Thane was aware of a slight sting behind his left knee. In fact, the same location where his flesh wound was. What were they doing to him? Whatever plans these xenos had in mind for him, he was determined to not let it happen.

"Besides," the original voice continued, "we don't know what this thing is, where it come from or if it-"

With what strength he had, he braced his arms against the ground and pushed. The three voices jumped as though startled to his sudden movement. There was also an additional voice, one which had not spoken until now. A much deeper-pitched voice, a male of this species perhaps?

A moment later, Thane was on his feet, crouched and extending his legs to stand completely upright. Something was wrong, however. His left leg was not in pain as he expected. Still slightly crouched, he was just shy of reaching the hole through which he had entered. A quick glance down revealed a white wrapping around his knee.

What bizarre ritual were they performing? Thane thought to himself. Whatever it was, he would put a stop to it right now. Thane drew his hand-crafted combat knife from his thigh-mounted sheath. Its gleaming silver blade cut clean through the wrappings with only a flick of his wrist.

The flesh beneath the flexsteel joint appeared almost completely healed, like the mishandling of his weapon never even happened. He attributed the remarkable feat of healing to his superhuman physiology, but had no idea it could heal such grievous wounds.

Back upright, he spotted the source of the voices he heard before. Four quadrupeds, ranging in size, color and build. All were cowering in one corner opposite the structure's opening. Shaking, clutching each other and staring with fear at Thane, these creatures presented no threat. All except for one. Its heavy build and red color, reinforced by its aggressive stance and flared nostrils, almost made Thane attack this one on the spot.

He held his hand, however, because this creature was still relatively small. less than half his size, barely reaching his mid-thighs. He also had the opening to his rear, an escape route. Instead, he reversed the grip on his knife to underhand and decided to let it make the first move. If it decided to charge now, that would be its last move.

Deciding the battle was not worth his time, he made for the opening behind him. The structure was clearly built by and for these small creatures, so his hulking form had no chance of fitting through, unless he crawled low through it. If it was made by an alien, it makes way for me, Thane thought to himself, starting a light jog. The wooden wall stood no chance against the armored warrior, shattering and splintering as he charged through the wall.

A few paces past the end of the structure, he slowed to a stop to survey his surroundings and plan his next move. He was in the middle of what appeared to be an agri-world. Segregated fields of different types of crops were growing in contiguous patches of land. This wasn't a human world, however. The shapes of the fields were irregular, the land was not terraformed and there was a noticeable lack of heavy machinery harvesting the fields' bounties.

Since no immediate threats presented themselves, Thane thought to vox his location and regroup with his squad. "Brothers, this is Thane. Can you hear me?" he voxed, but he could only cast his message so far. Several seconds passed with no response. That flying beast must have taken him pretty far to be out of short vox range.

"Hey!", called a voice from behind him. He glanced to his left to investigate the source. It was the small orange animal he first encountered. "You got some nerve, smashin' up mah property!" It tried to sound aggressive and threatening, but its small stature and feminine voice made Thane conclude that it was no threat. Besides, he had more pressing problems.

Returning his focus to his vox-call, he diverted his armor's power plant to his vox-caster, he tried again, this time with more than ten times the range. "This is Thane, of the Blood Angels. If anyone can hear this, please respond," he said, this time a little more concerned and uneasy, unsure if his comrades had survived.

Thane had never been without support of his battle-brothers, chapter commanders, or even an attachment of Imperial Guardsmen. He prayed that his brethren could save him and he could go back to the life he knew.

"Hey! Ah'm talkin' to you!" This was an awfully persistent little pest. Thane decided to tune out whatever it was saying. This time, he didn't even turn to face the sounds that were distracting him from his mission.

Another few tense moments passed before his prayers were answered. "Thane, thank the Emperor you're alive, but we have our own problems." His feelings of hope were dashed just as quickly as they had been formed. In the background of the sergeant's response, he heard weapons discharge, the familiar roar of chainswords against flesh and an unsettling roar from some prehistoric monster.

"We disturbed a whole nest of creatures!" The sergeant's words ran chills up the young warrior's spine. In that small cave, where was there room for another one of those things, let alone a whole colony of them? The situation had reversed. His needed to be the one to come to his team's aid.

Looking around, he hoped to find the place where he and his squad had initially dropped. The giant beast couldn't have taken him too far. To the west, a column of smoke emanating from a mountain range. That was his landmark. The only obvious obstacle was a thick wooded area, but this would not stop the determined Space Marine.

"I see you brothers. I'm heading your way now," he said, determined to reunite with them. "Emperor be with you," came the reply before cutting the vox feed.

One thing still felt off to Thane: he had no weapon aside from his combat knife. Before he made for his squad, he would need to rearm for the journey. There was no telling what lay in wait for him on this unknown world.

Turning back to the wooden structure, he spied his chainsword and pistol propped up against the far wall. He also noticed the small orange creature galloping towards him with an angry expression. Was this an act of aggression? If so, it would be making its last stand against the armored behemoth.

Thane immediately started a sprint toward his weapons. He moved with speed and agility that belied his heavy armored form. The expression on the small creature's face changed from angry aggression to surprise with a hint of fear. Its course also changed from running straight at Thane to dodging his line of charge. Perhaps this thing has self-preservation in mind.

Reaching his weapons, he quickly mag-locked them to his belt. He silently vowed to never again let these sacred weapons leave his side. This fragile wooden wall now stood between him and his mission. A solid blow from his shoulder quickly fixed the problem. Running through the hole he just created, he did not even stop to watch the rest of the structure collapse behind him.

Twenty minutes into his trek through the thick forest and Thane had some concerns start to gnaw at him. This forested area looked a lot smaller from orbital scans. He didn't think forests grew this thick. Wherever his brothers were, he hoped to reach them in time.

He lost contact with his teammates just minutes ago when all he could receive was static. The forest canopy had gotten thicker, blocking even light from reaching the forest floor. He had been lucky, not having to use his weapons so far. He hadn't come into contact with any vicious wild animals at all so far. However, his luck was not inexhaustible.

In the distance, he could see a bright area of light breaking through the trees. A clearing with open sky was just what he needed. Heedless of any danger, he charged straight towards the clearing.

Too late, he realized he was not the only one favoring this spot. It was the resting place for a pack of wolves. At least, they had the general shape of wolves, but they appeared to be composed of logs, sticks and other parts normally associated with trees. In short, wolves made of timber.

In a heartbeat, a dozen angry yellow eyes were fixed on the Blood Angel who had so carelessly bumbled into this den. Barring fangs made of sharpened wood and tree bark, all of them growled angrily at this intruder, intent on either chasing him away or killing him, depending on what he chose to do next.

To push straight forward was suicide, considering he was outnumbered a dozen to one easy. Instead, he chose to evade and circle around this pack. To the right, he encountered more of these feral tree-wolves. Change of plans: circle left instead.

To his dismay, he got the same result. Worse still, the large pack had begun to circle in on him. As quickly as he had arrived, he was cornered by more than thirty of the beasts. This would be the end if he did not fight back and unleash the wrath of the Emperor on these demons.

Thane was an Adeptus Astartes warrior, the finest warrior mankind had to offer and he knew no fear. If this was meant to be his end, so be it, but he would not accept his fate so quietly.

Raising his chainsword to the closest of the pack, he gave the weapon a rev to ensure it was still working and to invite the first of his attackers to play their game with him.

One brave volunteer all too eagerly leapt straight at him, straight to his death. With more speed and grace than he had any right to have, Thane sidestepped the attack and sliced the creature in half from open jaws to its hind legs. Splinters, sap and disembodied wooden limbs were left in the wake of the counterattack.

Ready to sacrifice themselves for the survival of the pack, the remainder started to advance and try to take Thane down. Expertly placed slashes from the chainsword kept Thane from death, but there seemed to be no end to this pack of mythical beasts. He was the center of this frenzy, defending from all directions. He could not keep this pace forever.

As he drew his pistol, he heard a bone chilling howl from an unseen member of the pack. He started to question whether he would live through this ordeal. Three shots in the direction of the howler swiftly silenced the howling, but the damage had been done. More wolves appeared out of seemingly nowhere, angrier than ever.

They were starting to become a match for Thane. One managed to get its teeth around Thane's still-wounded knee and bite down hard. The pain registered to Thane, but not enough to distract him from the fight. The beast's bite had managed to dent and mar his shin guard as well as bite down into his exposed flesh. A downward slash from his chainblade severed the creature's head from its body. However, this left him open to an attack from above, where one of the beasts had climbed atop his back.

Scratching, clawing and biting, the attacker managed to wrench Thane's helmet from his head. Had Thane come to battle unhelmeted, this would have truly been his end. Reaching up with his bolt pistol, he put three rounds through his would-be killer. In the process, however, he also struck his helmet through an eye lens, effectively destroying it.

The pack was starting to read his movements, find his weaknesses, wear him down a little more with every bite into his armor. Soon, he had only a single magazine of bolt rounds, his chainblade was starting to dull and he was running out of stamina. The pack's determination to kill had not wavered one iota.

Half a dozen wolves now had their teeth in his body all over, pinning him to the ground. As strong as he was, Thane could not shake the creatures off in his exhausted state. He could also not effectively bring his weapons to bear, as they were being held down with his trapped arms.

As he glanced up to survey his surroundings, he found himself face to face with a wolf much larger than the rest of the other pack members. The alpha, concluded Thane. It growled deeper than the rest, bore scars all over its face and torso and glared at him with intimidating orange eyes that were unmistakably the eyes of a dominant pack leader.

Still, Thane refused to die here on this alien world. With but a thought, he activated his jump pack's thrusters, launching him forward. He had just enough energy to roll his body and strike the alpha shoulder-first. The impact threw him into a wild corkscrew to the right. One large tree stopped his trajectory fifty yards out, his body slamming into it and shaking it all the way up the trunk.

Dazed as he slowly rose to his feet, he saw the large beast charging straight towards him. Its eyes were now blood red and a new scar appeared on its face, right were Thane made his impact. Jaws agape and unleashing a guttural, bestial roar, it needed no more provocation to make the kill.

However, as long as Thane drew breath, such a shame would never befall the Blood Angels. Having lost his chainsword and bolter in the previous melee, he drew his last remaining weapon: his hand-crafted combat knife. Resigning himself to death, he took his battle stance, locked gazes with the monster and made his last great act of defiance before death.

"For the Emperor and Sanguinius! Death! Death!" the desperate Blood Angel bellowed. He could think of no more appropriate words than his chapter's battle cry.

His last words echoed as far as the dense woods would allow, but as long as his only foe heard them, this would satisfy the doomed warrior.

As he made his charge, closing the gap between himself and his foe, something happened that he could not have anticipated. Beams of light began striking the alpha wolf from its left side. They must have struck pretty hard, for the charging beast veered right and missed Thane completely as he simply thrusted his blade into empty air.

He struggled to halt his charge, regain his balance and reassess his surroundings. The wolf was dazed and confused, clutching its face with its left paw. Soon, a barrage of light beams was being launched at the alpha and its pack behind it.

As the wooden wolf pack scattered back into the thick woods, Thane's vision started to darken. He had been exhausted from the battle prior, lost his two primary weapons and was having trouble staying conscious. He intended to expend his last remaining ounces of energy making his last stand, but he was struggling to find strength to last just seconds longer.

Thane's body simply could not continue any longer. He collapsed to his knees with a heavy thud, followed by a fall forward onto the forest floor. He was unsure whether he still clutched his knife. In fact, was he even still upright? It would be a shame if he died any way other than on his feet.

"Ah see 'im over there!" a voice called out from the distance. Footsteps were running towards him. Around half a dozen individuals by his reckoning. The voice sounded familiar. Where had he heard it before?

"Oh, I hope we made it in time," another voice said, heavy with concern. Never before had he heard this one.

Whatever the voices were saying now was irrelevant. Thane lost consciousness and slumped to the ground. His blood almost blended in with his red armor, which was now cracked and punctured in several places.

Thane had fought as hard as he could and though he was just a novice, not having completed a single tour of duty, he still fought dutifully and gave his life for mankind and the Emperor. There could be no greater reward than eternal rest from a violent, warring galaxy.

Three ponies were galloping full speed after one of the strangest occurrences to ever happen in the small town. A suit of armor fell from the sky, landed on Applejack's hay barn, of all places, and ran straight into the Everfree Forest.

Princess Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had gathered at Applejack's barn, or what was left of it. Applejack filled the other two in on what had happened, but Twilight was eager to learn more.

"Ah'm tellin' ya," Applejack said as the pursued their target through the forest, "even Granny Smith ain't never seen nothin' like this in all her years."

"That's really saying something," replied Twilight. If one of Ponyville's oldest citizens was seeing this for the first time, all of Equestria may as well have never seen this before.

"Well, don't worry, you two," Rainbow Dash added, "We've seen all sorts of scary things before. I think we've got this, too." Rainbow Dash was infamous for her overconfidence, but also famous for her fierce loyalty to her friends. If she was on the team, there was nothing they couldn't overcome.

Twilight's curiosity to learn more about this incident had led her here. This was her home town, after all, so if bad things could possibly happen, it was her job to mitigate the consequences.

The trail was easy enough to follow. The tracks sunk deep into the dirt suggested that this was a large and heavy individual, but not in a bad way. It must have also been strong, for it takes a great deal of force to tear down large tree branches. Its presence must have been intimidating because the local wildlife had retreated into their nesting places, or deeper into the forest.

Wherever this newcomer was heading, he was doing so with a purpose. The trail he left was more or less a straight line, only moving when absolutely impassable obstacles appeared, such as boulders, large trees or vegetation so thick it only served as a natural ensnarement.

After about ten minutes of following the trail, a bone-chilling howl made its way through the woods, but was abruptly cut off. This was certainly not normal behavior for timberwolves, so they must have encountered something unnatural to Everfree.

Moving closer towards the sound of the howl, more sounds started to become clear. A pack of timberwolves was growling and barking at something. But there was another presence among them. A loud buzzing noise unlike anything the ponies had ever heard. There were also intermittent pops, like fireworks, only no flashing light accompanied them.

As the group approached the source of the noises, the buzzing evolved into angry roaring, the pops became small explosions and dead timberwolves lay in all directions. One was still alive, trying to drag itself away from the fight, before collapsing dead in a pool of its own tree sap blood.

In the distance, Twilight spotted two figures appearing to square off against each other. The thick canopy was blocking a lot of light from reaching the forest floor, but the silhouettes were pretty clear. One was a timberwolf alpha male. Twilight had recognized it from her studies. The other was unfamiliar. It was bipedal, bulky, but only about half the size of the alpha, and it had a gleaming silver object in its hand. It also appeared to be wounded, leaning and clutching its side.

Suddenly, there came a cry from the bipedal figure. "For the Emperor and Sanguinius! Death! Death!" This was definitely not a timberwolf sound.

Just after the bipedal figure cried out, the two charged toward each other, clearly intent on killing the other. As the princess of friendship, Twilight could not let this conflict continue any further. She aimed and fired three focused magic beams at the two figures. All three hit the timberwolf. The intent was to stun the beast, not kill it.

The timberwolf was indeed stunned, but not for long. Realizing it had a second intruder, the alpha decided to turn tail and retreat into the forest. More stun beams followed, but few made contact with the fleeing animal.

Through the trees, Applejack spotted the armored figure that destroyed her barn. "Ah see 'im over there!", she called out to the others. At the same time, she was still running toward the slumping figure.

"Oh, I hope we made it in time," Twilight said, concern dominating her tone. She worried for the strange creature's safety. Timberwolves were vicious wild animals in the Everfree Forest and few other creatures could hold their own against them.

Rainbow Dash, being the fastest of the three, was the first to reach the dazed giant. "Hey, big guy! Can you hear me? Say something!" She wanted a response from him, but got barely audible grunts. He was alive, at least, but not well enough to move on his own.

Just as Applejack and Twilight arrived, the armored creature fell to his knees, then face down, motionless. Twilight's jaw was agape in disbelief at what now lay in front of her. "What in Celestia's name...?" The exact words to express her current reaction eluded her.

This large creature was unlike anything she had ever encountered in either her adventures or studies. Just like Applejack's brief, vague description, it was wearing red armor accented with black sigils.

Rainbow had been attracted by another sight not far from where they stood. A long metallic bar that was lined with what looked like teeth. It had the same aesthetic and some of the same sigils and motifs on the creature itself. Not far was an irregularly shaped metal implement with a short stubby hollow barrel at the end. It was relatively small compared to the barbed pole, but still the size of a full-grown pony.

"Hey, over here!", Rainbow called out, "I think these belong to him," she said as she pointed to the tools which likely belonged to the metal giant. Twilight, wanting to satisfy her curiosity of the situation, came over to inspect Rainbow's finding.

"Um, Twilight?", asked Applejack, a hint of fear in her voice, "can we gander at our new friend later?" It was at this point the timberwolf pack had started to reform around them. Glowing yellow eyes and sharp wooden fangs appeared all around, growing more menacing as they inched closer to their prey.

Twilight prepared to cast a teleportation spell back to the castle in Ponyville. Her horn was aglow with magic ready to be released. Her mind's eye focused on herself, her friends, the unconscious giant and his tools. For a regular unicorn, this would have been an impressive feat of magic, given the amount of mass teleported and the distance traveled. Twilight, being a trained alicorn in the art of magic, had more than enough power to spare, but still took a fair bit of concentration.

An instant before the timberwolves pounced, the spell was cast and all involved vanished with a blinding flash of light. They all reappeared at the steps of the Friendship Castle, still wearing faces of terror. Spike, who was asleep at the time, jumped from his slumber, startled by the sudden appearance of three ponies and an iron-clad behemoth.

"Twilight?" asked Spike, now more confused than frightened, "what's going on? Where were you? What's this-" he was cut off before any more questions could be asked.

"No time to explain," Twilight said with urgency, "Get a first aid kit. Hurry!"

"On it, Princess," Spike replied before running for the supply closet as fast as he could. Twilight had planned for almost any emergency she could think of. 'Badly injured guest in throne room' was emergency number 85.

When the others realized they were now safely away from danger, their expressions changed and they let out sighs of relief. They were comfortably away from the forest in the castle's throne room, where they could now turn their attention to this new visitor to Equestria.

His injuries were extensive, bearing bite marks, deep scratches, and small pools of blood were forming underneath him. Taking a glance back at the unconscious giant and his condition, one small revision needed to be made.

"Actually, bring everything you can!" Twilight called down the hall, "We're gonna need it!"

"Gotcha covered!" Spike replied, turning back around to get more supplies.

So many thoughts ran through Twilight's mind as she eyed this strange new creature. Where did he come from? Was he friendly? Are there more like him out there? The need to know simply overwhelmed her. This was more than she alone could handle.

"Dear Princess Celestia," Twilight began as she personally prepared an expedited letter to the princess. She told all about her encounter with danger and a strange being, about which she knew absolutely nothing. She asked for guidance, knowledge, even resources if it came to that. The importance of this letter could not be stressed enough. Hoping for a quick response, she sent the letter off using her own magic.

Mid-afternoons were normally quite peaceful in the quaint little town of Ponyville, but today was the start of something big. All of Equestria would soon find out just what a single Space Marine of the Imperium of Man would bring.

Author's Note

A question for my readers:
Do the actions depicted make sense? I hope I'm not losing anyone in the scenes where the perspective changes from Thane to Twilight and friends.

Also, if I get a personality trait, lore detail or something else incorrect, I would appreciate it being pointed out. I want to learn and your feedback is the best way for me to do that.

Meet the locals

Even for a novice, being knocked out so many times was a disgrace. If the toughest fighters in the Imperium were this easy to overcome, what hope had the rest of humanity?

As the darkness around him began to recede, his senses began to make sense of the world around him. His bare cheek was pressed against a cold, smooth marble floor. The blurred shapes in front of him began to come into focus. Footsteps circled all around him and they were speaking. Probably to each other, he couldn't quite make out what they were saying. There was also a strong scent in the air. Something like concentrated sugars, culminating into an intensely sweet smell.

The first shape to come into his sight was a smiling face mere inches from his own. The saturated pink hue and cerulean blue eyes made Thane conclude that this was a demon of some kind. He turned his head upward to get a better look at observer. It could have been his captor for all he knew.

"You see?", the pink creature said as it turned away from Thane's face, "Pinkie Pie's 'Special Sunrise Delight' can wake up any pony from any kind of sleep." Turning back down, Thane spotted the source of the strong scent in the air. It was a small disc-shaped object. The closest thing Thane could think of for comparison was protein ration. Only this one was painted bright yellow with orange accents. The words 'wakey wakey' were proudly displayed in the center of the creation. An array of candles burned silently around the top edge, enhancing the brightness of the yellow paint. The entire display was set on a dish slightly larger than the object itself.

"But, what if he doesn't like cake?", asked a timid voice. This voice was barely audible, even to Thane's enhanced hearing.

"Indeed, Pinkie," yet another voice chimed in, "I don't know how you manage it, but everypony else has a diet of far more than just sweets."

Thane decided that he had enough rest. As he made an effort to rise to his feet, he expected to feel the pain of fatigue and fresh wounds from battle. To his surprise, he felt no such pain. He remembered his encounter with the pack of animals, but where was the evidence of this fight? Even the blood from the draconian beast he first encountered was gone.

Just before he could make the effort to stand, however, a small winged creature flew up to his face. It was sky blue with rainbow-colored hair. "Woah, there big fella, you won't be going anywhere like that," it said, holding out one if its arms, as if to beckon him to stop.

"You won't hold me here," Thane protested. He swatted, but missed the multi-colored pest near his head. It was agile and appeared to expend little if any effort dodging the lazy attack. In a second, he pushed off the floor and rose to his full eight foot height.

"You were bleeding all over the place when you got here. Even I don't recover from injuries that fast," said the winged blue creature as Thane scanned the room. Mere steps from where he stood, behind him lay all the wargear he was missing.

In the bottom right was his bolt pistol, cleaned of propellant residue and polished to a near mirror finish. The magazine was still inserted, presumably still full. The five empty magazines he had discarded were also here. They appeared brand new and were neatly aligned with each other to the right of the pistol.

Above this row was his chainsword. Special attention must have been paid to this weapon, for it bad been restored such that it appeared fresh out of the manufactorum. Each tooth along the chain had been meticulously cleaned. The banner painted along the bladeguard was rejuvenated and proudly read "Por Imperator et Sanguinius". Not even the small details in the eagle at the blade's tip were neglected.

Above all these tools proudly sat Thane's hand-crafted combat knife. Closer to a small sword than a dagger, but for a Space Marine, this was easily a one-handed weapon.

As walked closer to his gear, a lavender-colored member of the group walked beside him. "I appologize for Rainbow's behavior, sir," it said with a hint of humility, "We don't get many visitors here in Ponyville, but we try to make a good first impression."

As Thane walked towards his gear, the small purple creature continued as though he was still listening. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendhship," she said, this time with more pride. "If there's anything you need, let me know and I'll be happy to accommodate."

"What I need is my wargear back," said Thane. He was thinking his unit's armorer, Techmarine Allentz. The techmarine regarded the chapter's wargear as his own children, and would punish those who lost or destroyed them in battle.

Thane's comment had stopped Twilight in her tracks. "Wargear?" she asked, taken aback Thane's choice of words.

To the left of the organized equipment stood another one of the small creatures. Its coat was snow white and large loops of purple and lavender-colored hair grew from its head. Just below the hairline was a small bony protrusion.

"I hope you don't mind, darling," began the white one with a distinctly effeminate voice, "but I took the liberty of cleaning your, uhh..." the creature took a small pause and glanced back at Thane's neatly arrayed equipment. "...wargear," she concluded, turning back to Thane with a somewhat nervous smile. She was acting as if she had never seen a weapon before.

Kneeling down, Thane inspected the blade closely. The blade was slightly dulled from his recent encounter, but still very sharp. However, the length of the blade shone brightly, reflecting a brilliant white flash across his face as he turned it in all directions, ensuring it was still usable. Sheathing the knife, he turned his attention to the bolt pistol.

"I must say, the craftsmanship is simply exquisite," the creature continued, "A bit morbid for my tastes, this one," gesturing to the chainsword, "but each artist has her own style. You have such attention to detail. If only my dresses could have this much magnificence." Was this one trying to butter him up for something?

"Thanks," Thane remarked dryly as he mag-locked the pistol to his thigh. Even though a compliment had come from a xenos, he could not help but feel some degree of pride.

The Blood Angels were famous for being artists among warriors. Their armor was adorned with intricate sigils, carvings and even excerpts from holy texts. Even their weapons were decorated with crimson gemstones set in gold, acting as status symbols as well as implements of death. Thane was especially proud of the hand-painted chapter symbol on his right shoulder. A single drop of blood with spread eagle wings.

"I especially like the ruby accents along the length of this one." The purple-haired creature seemed to have an endless fascination with something she had never seen before.

Thane simply gave a grunt of acknowledgement as he secured his empty pistol magazines. Even though they were empty, they could be reused later. Besides, no matter how small it was, if it was issued by the armory, it would be returned by the mission's end. Such was the will of Armsmaster Allentz.

"I must ask, though," interjected Twilight, "In all my research, I can't find anything related to you. Nothing from ancient history to modern day." Several books surrounded by a glowing violet aura were hovering in front of her. The pages of some were seemingly leafing through themselves. This sight was not a bizarre one to Thane, as librarians and other psykers from his own chapter were capable of doing roughly the same thing.

"That's not surprising. I'm not from this world," replied Thane as he inspected the chainsword. Standing straight up, he grasped the sword's grip with both hands and judged its balance.

"You mean from Equestria?" replied a puzzled Twilight, "Well, there are other empires across the world, but I don't recognize anything like-"

Her sentence was interrupted by an ear-splitting roar. It came from Thane's chainsword. To his pleasant surprise, it functioned normally, as if these xenos' touch had not offended the machine spirit within. In fact, the action felt smoother than ever.

Almost instantly, the gaggle of multi-colored equines scattered in all directions. Several let out shrieks of terror as they ran. The chainsword was revved only once, but once was enough. Such small fragile creatures were likely oblivious to the fact that this weapon could scream louder that its wielder.

The only one who did not run was a pale yellow one with long flowing pink hair. Its mane hung low and covered half of its face. The one remaining eye stared unblinking back at Thane. It resembled a mortal human child facing a greater demon of Khorne. Laying down on all fours, it shuddered and let out barely audible squeaks, like a mouse caught in the vice-like grip of fear. This one seemed to be the very epitome of timidity.

Thane was not concerned with this small, timid animal clearly incapable of holding her own in a fight. Instead, his focus was on the blue one, who seemed fascinated, rather than frightened, by Thane's unexpected action. "Woah! That... was... Awesome!", she exclaimed, throwing her front legs above her head. The excited flying creature wore an expression of unrestrained glee.

With an unexplained agility, she darted around Thane's armored form, transfixed by the intricate, fine details and menacing equipment that covered the Space Marine. "Wow! This is amazing! I thought the Wonderbolts were cool, but you blow them out of the water!"

Stopping up near his face, she posed the question with an overly eager grin, "Do that again, please?" She was referring to the chainsword's distinctive sound. Thane did not even need to consider this request. Since he was cut off from resupplying, any commodity he had was now worth its weight in gold. Ammunition for his pistol, promethium fuel for his chainsword and jump pack, and of course, his own stamina would only be expended when absolutely necessary. Putting on a show to entertain a bunch of pastel-colored pony girls would be an embarrassing waste of resources.

"Once was enough," Thane said as he fixed his chainsword to his waist. The rainbow-haired creature groaned in disappointment as it slowly descended to the ground.

"So, you're a soldier of sorts?" Twilight asked. She approached, but kept her distance. Her tone was a mix of nervous and perplex, mostly worried that loud noises and intimidating implements were a sign of things to come, not all of them good.

"To put it mildly," replied Thane as he made his way for the largest doorway in the room. Thane could be considered a 'soldier of sorts' in the same sense that an angry tiger was a lovable cat of sorts.

"May I ask who you are and what army you serve? I'm sure they'll want you back as soon as possible," continued Twilight. She had a whole list of questions mentally prepared. New experiences tended to make her ask as much as possible to learn just as much.

"I am Thane of the Blood Angels chapter. I serve the Imperium of Man," Thane replied as he ducked and twisted to fit his armored form through the door. Even though the structure had high vaulted ceilings and wide halls, the doorways were just shy of being able to accommodate a fully armored Assault Marine comfortably.

Thane's response puzzled Twilight even further. "Hmm...," Twilight was deep in thought as she followed Thane down the hallway. She was thinking of what military organizations in Equestria were organized into chapters. The Royal Guard of Canterlot was composed of twelve infantry and three Air Guard regiments as well as the Sorcerer's Corps. No army of any other kingdom around used a system of chapters, nor did they refer to themselves as an 'imperium', whatever that was.

"I don't think I've ever come across them in a single book in the library," she said after her deep thought returned no relevant information. 'Library'. This word got Thane's attention. Only high-stature nobles were wealthy enough to afford personal libraries. His own chapter's Chief Librarian maintained the largest librarium on Baal, and only a select few were even permitted to set foot that holy place. It seems that humans are not the only species in the galaxy who collect knowledge. But for a creature who presumably owned this collection of books, she sure had a lot of questions. Perhaps they are not as smart as they look.

As the two walked the length of the hall, Twilight asked more questions. "You must live far away from Equestria," she deduced. "May I ask what you are doing all the way out here?"

There was no real consequence for telling this little xenos his mission. Besides, he was lost and they seemed friendly at best and inconsequential at worst. If he was lucky, perhaps these creatures could help him return to duty.

"Well," Thane began, "my squad was sent down to render aid to an explorator legion. They ran into some trouble while scouting the region. We had to handle a vicious creature that they could not."

These statements alone raised a great deal of questions for Twilight. First of all, if he was part of a squad, there had to be more like him out there. Secondly, she deduced that 'sent down' meant that he was sent from the north. The Crystal Empire was as far north as they had ever traveled and beyond that was just frozen wasteland. Perhaps there were more empires yet undiscovered by ponykind. Thirdly, 'explorator' could relate to exploration. Was he part of a pioneering unit which explored new lands?

The most interesting question she had so far was the fact that he called a creature of Equestria 'vicious'. There were several beings known in all of equestria that could be defined as such. Timberwolves, quarry eels, manticores, and dragons to name a few. Pretty much everything else was a simple peace-loving creature.

These questions were being constructed and filed away in Twilight's mind as Thane continued his story. "We thought the creature was dead, but we were wrong. It picked me up in its claw and flew far away from its cave. I cut off its claw and landed on that agri-patch where the orange one found me," he explained, referring to the barn he destroyed upon his landing. "The rest I think you know."

"Are you saying you fought a dragon?" asked Twilight, surprised that such a thing had happened. Thane stopped and turned to face her and found that she was staring back at him, eyes wide with disbelief. Twilight realized that he may never have seen a dragon before so clarifications were in order. "Big, scaly, fire-breathing, sleeps on a mountain of gold and jewels, really, really angry when you invade its living space," she explained, hoping to either confirm or dismiss her new concern. Her face showed that she had feelings of fear toward these monstrosities. Reasonable, given the things Thane had recently seen.

Thane had not mentioned some of the details of his fight, but Twilight had either guessed correctly or had some knowledge of these creatures. "Yes, precisely," he replied, "You know about these dragons?" Thane had never heard of anything referred to as a 'dragon' before. No creature on Baal nor any demon or alien he had read about shared that name.

"Not a lot," Twilight began, "but if you attacked one and it's still alive," her voice grew in concern and alarm, "it may come back with more of them!"

One dragon was no match for a group of well-trained Space Marines. However, a single novice Marine who is underequipped, wounded and unfamiliar with the lay of the land would not stand a chance against a pack of enraged dragons.

This small colony of creatures would fare even worse, by Thane's observations. No defense batteries, no militia at the ready, not even an early warning system seemed to be in place. This was not Thane's concern, however, as he was still focused on how he was going to get back to his own unit. If dragons truly were heading this way, he intended to be long gone by the time they arrive.

"I have no intention of staying here," declared Thane, "My battle brothers need me. I will not be remembered as a novice who lost his life on his very first assignment." The conviction in his voice echoed through the halls as he picked up the pace towards the grand foyer.

"Spike! Spike!" bellowed Twilight as she galloped back to the throne room, "We have an emergency!" Thane tuned out the creatures' cries and focused on getting out, back to where he belonged. On his way, however, he could not help but admire the craftsmanship of the structure in which he walked.

He walked across a smooth, semi-glossy marble floor, his metallic boots clunking with every step. He wondered if he was scratching it, marring its bizarre beauty. Along the walls, several windows illuminated the wide expanses. Some were stained glass works of art, depicting a particular symbol or perhaps an event in their history. Others were simply for illumination, bearing no color or image stained in glass.

He now stood at the top of a large staircase, clearly not designed for his massive treads. This was not a problem, as it was no more than a ten- or twelve-foot drop down to the ground level. He would not even need to use his jump pack to break the fall. One confident leap forward to clear the stairs and he was clear for the large landing in front of him.

What he did not expect, however, was the jostling impact he felt upon landing. The entire building shook as his feet made contact with the ground. This was not the result of a short jump, but something much bigger. Was the structure about to collapse? Did something explode or fall outside? Something was amiss and Thane had to be ready for it.

Thane continued to the large arched double doors at the front of the foyer. It had to be the exit from this place. The large doors were heavy, but not locked, so a firm push on each one made them part.

Outside, it was a calm and quiet setting. All around were presumably houses for the inhabitants of the local area. They appeared to be made of wood, straw and other naturally occurring building materials. Not quite nomadic as he first thought, but still ages behind what the Imperium could produce. Scanning the horizon, he no longer saw any familiar landmarks. This time, he would have to find his way back from being more thoroughly lost.

It was quite incongruous to see a large castle atop an ancient tree in the middle of a simple settlement. Perhaps this was all housing for the serfs of the castle. Hive cities typically had lavish living conditions for the nobles and planetary governor surrounded by minimalistic hab-blocks for ordinary citizens, workers and soldiers.

What stood out to Thane like a sore thumb was the distinct lack of any locals. The few he did see were running as fast as their little legs could carry them. They were seeking shelter in the houses lining the streets. "Junebug!" called one from her domicile, "Get in! Hurry! Bring Rosebud, too!" She was addressing two more running in her direction. Once both were safely inside, the door slammed shut. In fact, all of the houses in sight had closed doors and windows, completely shut off from the outside.

It was not long before Thane figured out why. A large shape crashed not twenty meters in front of Thane, right in the middle of a street stretching out in front of him. Reflexively, Thane drew his chainsword and pistol, shielding his eyes from the dust and debris made by the impact. Only a second later, Thane recognized the shape as the creature he had fought before.

It was not THE beast which separated him from his squad, but one of its ilk. This one was a sickly green with large horns and its back was studded with long bony spikes. The wings on this one were much larger and the tail was tipped with something akin to a blunt mace. Its body was riddled with scorch marks and puncture wounds, as if it had been in a ferocious fight with something. The wounds it bore looked awfully familiar, as if he had seen this kind of damage before.

Why had this mighty beast fallen? Looking up gave him the answer. There were several of these things flying around in the skies above. Each had a mind of its own with no sense of order or unity. The shapes high above the ground were in a massive dogfight that spanned for miles around. Looking closer, Thane was able to cut through the glare of the sun and recognize some of the shapes as Thunderhawk gunships.

Listening closely, he could pick up the distinct sound of Storm Bolters and Autocannons firing at will. He wished to be part of the action above, to fell terrible monsters with massive weapons and righteous fury. But to his dismay, he was not trained as a Thunderhawk pilot nor had he any way of joining the fray even if he did. His vox-comms were destroyed along with his helmet in his previous engagement. Even if anyone could hear him, they would be too busy fighting for their own lives.

Thane remembered his briefing before the start of the mission saying only one of these creatures had been identified and marked for death. How had this been overlooked? How was his team expected to deal with such overwhelming forces? Fortunately, the entire 6th company was present and ready for battle.

As the fighting raged above, the combatants attacked and defended against their new enemies. Dragons were filled with large-caliber rounds and plasma bolts while Thunderhawks were torn apart by rending claws and gouts of flames.

Spotting a flaming Thunderhawk spiraling straight for him, Thane made the tactical decision to seek shelter. The castle's heavy doors would provide some degree of protection, but for how long he could not say. Let the battle run its course above, then try to get their attention. If his brothers were victorious, he could flag down one of them and be extracted. As he ran back inside and closed the heavy wooden doors, he prayed that the Emperor would see his brothers, and himself, through this ordeal.

Twilight and several of the others came running in. No doubt they heard the commotion and came to investigate. "What's going on outside?" asked Twilight frantically, "Is everypony alright? Why is there-"

"Barricade those doors," ordered Thane as he pointed to the front gate, "get away from the windows and wait for the battle to end." Thane had his own survival in mind, but in the process, he would likely save all of their lives as well.

"Battle?" asked Twilight now more confused than ever. An instant later, a wounded dragon crashed through the wall and crossed the foyer, leaving a wide streak of blood where it slid. Seemingly without being dismayed by its grievous wounds, it made its way back to the gaping hole in the wall, limping on the three legs it had left. It probably did not realize that it only had one wing remaining, but pressed on regardless. As it reached the hole in the wall, the room was filled with explosive bolter fire. The wounded dragon received much of the fire directly and was filled with even more bullet wounds than before.

The ponies ran for cover screaming while Thane, trusting his battle plate, turned sideways to protect his head with his massive shoulder guard. Seconds later, the assaulting Thunderhawk screamed by the castle windows and back into the chaos above. The wounded dragon was now certainly dead. Its upper torso had been shredded by the heavy weaponry and its head was no more than half of a jaw held onto the neck by strands of muscle fibers.

"Hurry, get in the basement," Twilight said with urgency over panic. The group ran back the way they came, but took a right turn not far down the hall. Thane followed them, as they knew the structure better than he did. If he was to survive, he would have to do so alongside the natives. This was certainly against widely held beliefs by all of humanity, but if it meant Thane would live to fight another day, he could live with going against the grain.

It seemed that these creatures were incapable of fighting back directly, but could hide from danger and survive. The Codex Astartes' teachings came to Thane's mind: 'If you are quite unequal to the enemy in every way, flee from him.' Hide, resupply, plan and prepare to fight another day. This could be seen as the act of a coward, but in this situation, it is tactically wise.

Very well, Thane thought to himself, I will hide with these xenos for now. Stowing his weapons, he ran after the colorful parade of fleeing ponies down several flights of stairs. The structure was deeply rooted in the ground. The stairs and grand hallways eventually gave way to expansive caverns. The low light was not the problem, but rather the lack of a plan Thane had if he returned to the surface. In Thane's mind, survival was more pressing, so survive he would. Survive when it comes time to survive.

He had faith in his battle brothers. They had more combat experience than he and would likely survive the onslaught. They had to, as his own life depended on it. Only time would tell if he would live to fight another day.

New Acquaintences

In a dimly lit cavern beneath the castle sat six ponies, a small dragon and a novice Blood Angel Assault Marine. Despite their depth, tremors could still be felt as combatants fell from on high. It was not often one was felt, maybe one every few minutes. Regardless, all of the room's occupants stayed put, away from the violence above.

Since Thane was a fair distance away from the group, he decided to kneel down and wait out the battle. He would also observe the ponies, perhaps learn more about them and how they could help him.

"Are we gonna make it through this, Twilight?" asked a very nervous Spike. He was clutching Twilight closely, hoping that she had an answer to set him at ease.

"I don't know, Spike," Twilight replied. "But if we stay here, we should be able to wait out the fighting." This was the best answer she could have given, but it did not have the calming effect she hoped to have.

The rest of the group was not faring much better. Concern dominated their voices, expressions and thoughts. Each one had a reason to return to the surface, mostly to check on family and friends. Twilight wanted to ensure the safety of Ponyville, but she could not possible do so with so much fighting going on.

"I hope my family got to safety all right," Applejack said, "The farm house can be a makeshift fortress, but can it really stand up to a dragon attack?"

"This is all too much!" Rarity's untimely entrance got all eyes on her. "This morning, I was enjoying a fine croissant chocolate and now I'm hiding in the castle's basement from Celestia-knows-what is happening outside." Her complaint was certainly just, but the next one was even more so.

"Gasp! Sweetiebelle! I completely forgot about her! Twilight, I must know that my sister is safe!" Rarity was not thinking of her own safety as she ran toward the cave's exit. The only thing stopping her was Twilight's magical grasp, preventing her from moving any further. Her cries of protest were not ignored, but instead countered with a rather good point.

"Please, calm down, Rarity," Twilight said in a cool, collected voice, "Sweetiebelle and the girls are with Starlight. I trust Starlight to keep them safe." Rarity stopped resisting, but was still uneasy about sitting still and doing nothing while her only sister was in untold danger. "Besides, Sweetiebelle is a pretty capable magic user, herself," Twilight said, trying to give some level of reassurance. Another tremor shook the cavern, loosing small rocks and momentarily silencing the group.

Applejack felt this was an appropriate time to chime in. "Believe me, Rarity, I know how unsettled ya must feel," she said as she walked up to Rarity's side, "Applebloom means all of Equestria to me. But she's an Apple, and us Apples have gone through all kind o' guff, thick and thin." It was at this point Rarity started to feel genuinely more confident in her sister's chances for survival. "If mah little Apple can make it through, ah know Sweetie can, too."

"Don't forget about scoots," Rainbow Dash butted in with an air of pride, "I know they'll make it through with that little ball of awesomeness with 'em." Rainbow's confidence in Scootaloo was not necessarily misplaced, but it may indeed be overconfidence she felt.

With a small sigh of relief, Rarity finally responded. "You're right, girls. They're all in capable hooves and I know I'll see her again." After a group hug, another tremor with impeccable timing passed through the cave.

Thane was kneeling on the opposite wall to where the ponies had gathered. He had done so for several reasons. Firstly, the ceiling above them had stalactites above and he did not want to be under them if a tremor rattled them loose.

Secondly, he still did not know these creatures' capabilities fully. The lavender colored one, Twilight, was a psyker of sorts. She pulled her friend back with nothing but her mind. The bone sticking out of her forehead had something to do with it, as it glowed with the same aura as the affected object. Was the white one the same, perhaps more powerful?

Thirdly, the spot of his choosing had the best communications reception this far underground. He was barely able to pick up vox chatter from the Thunderhawks engaged in combat. There was no chance his armor's vox-caster could reach his comrades, as he simply could not produce a signal powerful enough to reach them. He felt most at ease at least having situational awareness even if he could not interact with his airborne brothers.

Thane's attention was also focused on the group of ponies and their interactions. He had already learned the names of many in the group: Pinkie, Rainbow, Princess of Friendship Twilight Sparkle, Spike, and Rarity. Each one had a distinct color, voice, physique and, mannerisms. His photographic memory was working to learn the group well, for if he was to use them to his advantage, knowing their names would facilitate that task.

One thing that almost disgusted him was their behavior. Where to begin? Well, firstly, with the fighting above, it was unlikely that anything would survive the falling combatants. All six of them were reinforcing the thought that loved ones would come out unscathed. Perhaps this was their way for as long as they could recall, as none seemed interested in entertaining the idea of losing someone. Secondly, while Thane chose to seek cover out of tactical wisdom, they sought shelter out of fear. He heard the panic in their voices as they ran into the caverns beneath the castle. Fear tends to make mortal creatures do irrational things.

Several minutes had passed without picking up a vox transmission or feeling a tremor. Thinking that signaled the end of the fight, one of two things was possible: the fight had migrated elsewhere or the victor was securing the area, claiming new territory. Thane knew he couldn't stay put forever, so he decided to investigate the lack of noise from above.

Rising to his full height, he was still far from the cave ceiling with plenty of room above. As he made his way to the cave exit, the group turned their attention to him.

"Thane?" asked Twilight, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to check the surface."

"But, isn't that dangerous? What if the dragons are still out there?" asked Twilight as she tried to stand in front of Thane.

"You don't know my brothers and you don't know me." Thane simply stepped over Twilight completely as he continued his pace.

"And you don't know Equestria. There are plenty of dangers that even I should watch out for!" Rainbow Dash wanted to get the message across that Equestria was a dangerous place. What better way than to get face-to-face and speak aggressively? It had the desired effect, stopping the armored warrior in his tracks, if even for just a moment. However, intimidation tactics were nigh useless on Thane.

"I know you saw what happened in the foyer upstairs," Thane replied, referring to the dragon that crashed through the castle wall. He pushed Rainbow Dash out of his face as he continued forward.

"That was but one of dozens of Thunderhawks suppressing those beasts." Thane let the confidence in his voice project, even though he was completely unaware of the situation outside. The group finally made its way to the superstructure, remarkably untouched by the falling dragons and gunships. Perhaps this castle was blessed in some way.

The ponies were still at his heels, voicing their distress and trying to sway him back to safety. However, Thane's idea of safe was on the front lines with his battle brothers, destroying the enemy, thus making the area safe. Back in the castle's foyer, the dust had long since settled and the dragon carcass had not budged an inch after its death.

Outside the opening in the wall, Thane was greeted with an unsettling sight: a crashed Thunderhawk gunship. This would normally be a reason for distress, but instead, Thane saw hope. Perhaps one or two of his battle brothers had survived the crash. He would need all the men and materials he could salvage if he and they were to survive. His first instinct was to secure the crash and render aid to any battle brothers who may still be inside.

Finding new purpose, he leapt from the balcony onto the marble floor below. This time, there was no bone rattling earthquake nor was he falling at near terminal velocity. Just a simple leap from high ground to low. Climbing over the rubble from the dragon's entrance, he passed through the gaping hole to his brothers in need.

"Brothers," he called out as he climbed the smoking wreckage, "do you yet live?" Astartes soldiers were far tougher than mortal humans, but still had their limits. A Space Marine was unlikely to survive a crash from an aircraft, but he still had a better chance than unaugmented humans.

The cockpit was on the other side of the crash, so he had to circle around to reach any survivors. "I've come to render aid! Are you-" To his dismay, the cockpit appeared to be mutilated. The pilot had not ejected, but rather something big had clawed its way into the vehicle, leaving the front end of the craft completely mangled and the crew butchered. Further adding to his growing despair, these were not the only casualties.

Looking around, the area had almost completely changed from what it was just one hour ago. Buildings were wrecked, if not completely demolished. Downed gunships and dragon carcasses littered the small town. More of the natives had emerged from their shelters, shaken and frightened by the recent ordeal. Some had even taken notice of Thane and gone back into hiding. Others were too frightened to do anything useful.

Behind him, Thane heard a small *thunk*, as if wood had struck stone. Turning around, he took notice of the pink pony whose jaw was literally on the floor, agape in awe of the spectacle before her. How it was still attached to her skull, Thane could not even begin to guess.

"Pinkie, what do you see?" asked a voice from behind her. Soon, the rest of the group assembled and reacted with equal, yet far less exaggerated, shock to the destruction before them. The voice that asked the question from earlier would receive no response.

Back to the task at hand. Statistically, if so many Thunderhawks were struck down, there was sure to be at least one survivor. On to the next one. The next ship had been scorched all over the front end. A thick layer of soot and ash completely obscured the cockpit from having any degree of visibility. The grim prospect dawned on Thane that the dragons had identified a weakness in the Thunderhawk's formidable design.

Hoping to see if any survivors were still inside, he wiped a section of the cockpit clear. It was not perfect, but it gave a good enough view to see all four crew members. Three remained motionless as one groggily looked up at the new source of light. This survivor's right arm was twisted at an odd angle, probably causing him great pain. What can I do now, Thane thought to himself. I shouldn't ask the natives for help, but what other choice do I have?

"Fret not, brother," Thane said in an attempt to reassure the wounded pilot, "I will get you out with all haste!" He was unsure if the pilot could hear him through the armorglass canopy, but it felt wrong to leave without saying anything. He was definitely alive, however, as he was reaching over to the co-pilot. Thane was unsure exactly what he was doing. Perhaps he had found two survivors from this battle instead of just one.

Perhaps the boarding ramp can be pried open, Thane thought. After all, if they got on that way, it could also be their exit. Thane jumped down to investigate the rear of the ship. As he landed, loud popping noises emanated from the ship's canopy. As the third and fourth pops made themselves known, the armorglass started to chip away. As more canopy disappeared, Thane realized what was happening. The pilot was shooting the cockpit open with his bolt pistol. The eighth round fired, signaling the end of the magazine.

Climbing back up to investigate the pilot's condition, Thane was just in time to see a fist rip through what remained of the canopy. It missed his head by just inches before retracting back into the wrecked ship.

"I'm here to help, brother!" Thane called out just before the second punch could be thrown. A sigh of relief escaped the wounded marine's vox grill before a silent thanks to the Emperor. The seat restraints would have to be cut before he could extract the pilot. His combat knife did the job just fine. After the four straps were cut, Thane climbed on top of the canopy behind the hole the pilot shot out. From here, he could pull the pilot out by his power pack. With whatever energy he could spare, the pilot put his share of effort into emerging.

As the pilot was mostly out of the cockpit, Thane lost his footing on the now fragile frame. The metal frame under his feet gave out and both warriors fell, sliding down the hull and falling hard onto the ground below. Though a novice, Thane had enough sense to land on his stomach, lest his jump pack get damaged. His new comrade was directly in front of him, face-down, but still squirming and moaning in pain. Thane was somewhat relieved that his clumsiness had not gotten a battle brother killed. As Thane got to his feet, the curious ponies in the area took notice of the two space marines.

However, idle onlookers were not the only ponies standing around. A distinct new wave of them, they looked like relief workers. Several were attached to wheeled carts emblazoned with red crossed inscribed in pink hearts. They stopped in open areas and beckoned all to come forth for medical aid. Those within earshot were running, limping, some even dragging themselves to the places of healing. Others were carrying or dragging their friends who could not help themselves. This was clearly meant for the ponies to get aid. They could not feasibly help a genetically engineered super soldier completely alien to this world.

With few options in sight and little experience upon which to draw, Thane still found the resolve to press on. "Fret not, brother," he said, kneeling down next to the only one of his kind around, "I'm no apothecary, but I will see you through this." The response he got was not what Thane expected. Instead of words, all he got was a weary arm pointing to something to his rear. The pilot must have taken such a hit that he didn't even have the energy to say 'behind you'. Turning to see, there was indeed something standing behind him. The pink-haired timid pony from before who froze up in fear.

"Um, excuse me Mr. Thane," she began, "I was just wondering if, um, your friend is OK?" What was this frail-looking creature's aim, if it even had one? It must, because it reached into its side mounted sack for something. What was it about to do? Draw a weapon? Almost by instinct, Thane reached to his thigh for his knife, but something told him to hold off. Why? His senses were on high alert and he was ready for a fight. Why would he stand down now?

It was not a weapon, at least not superficially. "I, I brought some medical supplies," she explained with a somewhat nervous stammer, presenting a small parcel like a gift. "That is, um, if you want." Her voice trailed off to an almost inaudible whimper. She retracted the small package in an indignant manner as if she had embarrassed herself with this act of kindness. Thane, dumbfounded by this act, simply stared with a confused look on his face, unaware that his battle brother had slipped into unconsciousness. "OK," she finally said after an awkward moment of silence, "I'll just go help everypony else." As she shuffled away to tend to her own kind, one idea did occur to Thane.

"Wait," he finally said to her. This got her attention and her head and ears eagerly perked back up. "Whatever aid you can render would be..." he couldn't believe what he was about to say next, "...appreciated."

"Oh, OK," she replied with a small smile and an eager trot him. As she got closer, she revealed a pair of feathery wings and took flight, hovering just above the unconscious Blood Angel. To get a better idea of just how injured his brother was, Thane rolled him onto his back.

"Oh my goodness," she said in distress, "don't move him!" She was also holding her arms in front of her, beckoning him to stop, or perhaps wishing to stop him from moving without touching him. It was too late, as the casualty was already on his back, his head hanging back lifelessly from his inert form.

"We don't know how badly he is injured yet," she explained, "You really, really shouldn't move an injured animal without knowing the extent of her injuries."

"Animal?" Thane interjected, somewhat offended by her choice of words. The shy pony started to cower from Thane's outburst. "This man is far more than some dumb animal," Thane's pride was starting to get the best of him again, "He's a hardy warrior who can take a hit and keep moving," passersby had stopped to watch the drama unfolding, "Don't tell me YOUR standard of care, we have our own. It's-"

Thane would not get a chance to finish his rant. "Listen here, you," the small creature interrupted with a volume she had not previously displayed. "My name is Fluttershy, resident veterinarian of Ponyville and I know all about caring for ALL creatures, great and small," she felt the need to emphasize her point by getting close to Thane's face. "I've treated snakes, squirrels, cats and dogs, bears, gorillas, even a baby dragon once. I still learn new things every day and I will NOT have you tell me that I can't do something related to animal care." Thane had not expected such a burst of passion to come from a previously quiet and reserved character. "Do I make myself clear?" she concluded, rather menacingly.

What was this feeling going down Thane's spine? It was like some kind of primal feeling, like knowing when to submit to a superior foe. That seemed way out of place, since this was such a small, non-threatening creature. Perhaps he was realizing it was illogical to antagonize the only hope his wounded comrade had to survive.

Snapping back to reality, he decided to relent and allow her to help. "Transparently," he replied to her question. It was a reluctant response and he did not allow her to see that he was slightly unnerved by her stare.

"Now then," Fluttershy said as she gently descended to the ground, "does his shell come off like yours?"

"Shell?" What was she talking about? Humans don't have shells. Her response was simply to tap her own temple with her hoof.

"Oh," Thane replied after a moment. He got the idea. He was not wearing a helmet while his battle brother was. If space marines were at least somewhat similar to ponies, she could help by getting a look at his body, not his armor.

The unconscious marine's helmet came off easily enough to reveal a very pale face with sharp features. It was the paleness that worried Fluttershy as she quickly checked for a pulse and for breathing. After that was confirmed, she instructed Thane to remove the casualty's breastplate. Six latch releases later, both winced at the amount of damage on display. Large bruises covered his upper torso, his ribcage was broken in several places and his right arm had been dislocated.

Fluttershy figured all this out by simply observing and prodding. If she had a more extensive suite of tools and equipment, she would have surely discovered the true extent of the injuries. She would have also been taken aback by the incredibly complex nature of astartes physiology. Instead, armed with only what medical knowledge she already had, Fluttershy relocated the arm, with Thane's help of course, and applied a topical medication for the bruising.

"Make sure he keeps breathing and don't move him from that spot," Fluttershy said as she finished her tasks on the unconscious marine, "I need to go get more supplies and help everypony else." The casualty's injuries had used up most of what Fluttershy could carry in just two saddle bags. The ponies still had to tend to their own wounded after all. "If anything changes in the next twenty minutes, be sure to let me know." She was already trotting away as she got her last few words out to Thane.

"Right," Thane acknowledged. He was taking a huge risk, leaving his comrade's life to alien medicine. However, taking no action was out of the question. Speaking of which, there were still three other crew members to aid. Even if they had perished, they do not deserve to be entombed in a huge iron coffin. One by one, Thane removed each of them from the wreck, with more care this time. Unfortunately, these three had not survived. He could not see their faces, but somehow, he knew there was a frozen expression behind their stoic metallic faces. Space marines aren't supposed to fear anything, but seeing his deceased battle brothers unnerved him in a way his words simply could not describe. To remedy this, he moved the bodies into the shadow of the Thunderhawk's hull. He had no shroud to cover the bodies, so putting them slightly out of plain sight was the best he could do with what he had.

As the sun started to set, temporary relief centers filled the once rustic streets. Thane looked to his only remaining battle brother to notice that there was nary a trace of his bruises from earlier. Perhaps it was Fluttershy's treatment, perhaps his body was a fast healer, maybe both. For now, stay out of the natives' affairs and allow them to recover before asking for further aid, thought Thane. They had been generous so far, but how long could that possibly last?

Looking around, Thane concluded that this was a makeshift relief effort. Many of the tents differed in design, capacity and staffing. The relief crews seemed to be composed of uniformed members mixed with regular civilians. Had there not been a considerable militia present, there was a good chance the line of ponies outside each tent would become a mob, desperate for supplies and aid. They had set up and began operations within just a few hours. Even the Imperium was not able to do the same with such short notice, even on a small scale. By staying back and observing the ponies, Thane learned a great deal about these creatures. Though their offensive capabilities had yet to be seen, their capacity to recover was quite remarkable. It had been less than three hours since the battle ended, but a great deal of soldiers and resources had been mobilized to aid the citizens affected. Perhaps they had some hidden capacity for war Thane had not yet seen.

Thane's problems seemed to be mounting up faster than he could keep up with them. He had no vox capabilities, his pistol only had one magazine left and now he was stranded on an alien world with no food, one injured marine and three casualties. What training could he recall to deal with this situation. Well, his fallen brethren were still in full battle dress. Perhaps he could use their equipment as his own. After all, he was in need of a new helmet, since he destroyed his own earlier. His pistol was useless if he ran out of ammunition for it. If it were at all possible, he even thought to take their battleplate to replace the damaged sections of his own. Disrespectful as it was, it would bring him back to full readiness. Ultimately, though, he dismissed the idea.

These thoughts were cut short as something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. A hundred yards down the street, a damaged house had finally collapsed under its own weight. Ponies ran amok as dust clouded the immediate area. Mothers grabbed their children and medics escorted who they could to safety. Soldiers and able-bodied volunteers shouldered past stunned or panicked bystanders to help clear away the rubble.

Cries of pain and fear radiated from the new disaster area. Unfortunately, one soul did not escape the collapsing structure. As the dust cleared, Thane could make out a pony trapped under a large timber beam, struggling for escape. Every volunteer turned their attention to this impromptu rescue operation. Even with two dozen individuals giving their best effort, the beam simply refused to move. Thane could see that it was still pinned by other fallen beams and a pile of masonry. The helpless creatures

A strange feeling was stirring in Thane's heart. Something was telling him to help this helpless pony, that it was the right thing to do. He weighed this against watching over his fallen comrades. What would he lose if aided the ponies? Aside from weapons, armor and other equipment, there wasn't really anything worth stealing from his unguarded position. The greatest worry on Thane's mind was each soldier's geneseed. If he allowed someone, or something, to steal the genetic legacy of the chapter, there would be no shame great enough for his act of neglect. On the other hand, he already felt shame for just sitting idly by while he could do something to help. He wouldn't be helping a human, but it would be appreciated all the same.

For reasons he could not explain, he felt compelled to save this small creature's life. None of the ponies expected a charging red suit of armor to show up, but here he was, springing into action. Those who noticed his approach had already evaded and stayed clear of him. The wood beam was fairly easy to grasp and lighter than it looked, being made of wood. He also chose to lift the exposed end at its farthest point, giving him the maximum leverage for the easiest lift. Had it been stone or metal, Thane would probably need a small squad of space marines to lift the heavy piece of debris.

As Thane lifted the timber off the ground, the loose masonry and smaller debris fell to the ground. Looking down, he found the pony who was reported to be trapped under the fallen structure. She was lightly built, had rosy red hair and a lime-green coat and bore an insignia resembling a series of wavy lines. Her back legs were mangled and bleeding from her recent ordeal.

Medics and rushed to her side with a wheeled stretcher and other medical supplies. As she was carted off for more specialized attention, she fought through her crippling pain, opened her eyes and caught a glimpse of the one who had saved her from almost certain death. The sun was directly behind the giant's head, creating a glorious halo effect. In her daze, she could be forgiven for seeing what she believed were wings on his back. In her mind, this was a mighty red angel sent by Princess Celestia herself, a guardian against frightening perils. If only she knew just how much truth there was in that thought.

The Angel and the pony locked gazes until she was carted out of sight into a green canvas tent. After checking his surroundings and ensuring a clear path, Thane cast the timber back toward the majority of the wreck. A small dust cloud followed in its wake, but it settled almost as soon as it started. Thane then had to step back a few paces to prevent his feet from being crushed by a falling section of the upper floor.

Looking around, Thane was surrounded by ponies all staring in his direction. Their faces were a variety of awe, disbelief, fear and some even displayed intrigue in what they had just witnessed. Even now, Thane could not justify nor explain his actions, but it was in the past now. Also, no one in his chapter had witnessed the event. Perhaps it was better not to risk a charge of heresy for aiding xenos.

The walk back to his makeshift camp at the downed gunship was a quiet one, save for the treading of metal boots against a dirt road and furtive whispering among the ponies. The crowd of ponies made way for the armored behemoth as he returned to his post. He had a lot on his mind on which to reflect. Without a doubt, his actions would not have been sanctioned by the Codex Astartes. Abandoning his battle brothers to render aid to an alien race with no benefit for himself or the chapter. In fact, all he did was facilitate one individual getting immediate care for what were likely grave injuries anyway. If his section sergeant ever caught wind of this, or worse, the company commander, he could see disciplinary flagellation in his near future.

These thoughts he pondered as the sun set. He also debated with himself whether he should use his fallen brothers' equipment or wait for the unconscious one to awaken. Whatever the case, it was clear that he would be spending the night out in the field, away from his comfort zone. To err on the side of caution, it would be best not to sleep tonight. Unless his companion recovers, Thane would have to be the watchdog throughout the night.

Whenever night fell across Equestria, the ponies began to retire to bed. From Princess Luna's point of view, each pony falling to sleep was a new window opening up. From the Dreamscape, a myriad of these portals came in to view. These windows peered into the pony's mind, displaying their thoughts, recent memories and even deepest fears or desires when they believed nopony was around. Midnight was when the most windows were open. Some were inactive, just sleeping. Others were rather lively, their minds creating vivid worlds inspired by their experiences.

Some nights, a pony would conjure up a nightmare inspired by untold fears or bad experiences. These windows shuddered with screams of terror and whatever demons lurked within them. As the princess of the night, Luna had an ethical obligation to resolve these fears from each pony who slept so unsoundly. After years of experience, stopping nightmares was a matter of routine for her. This night, however would be unlike anything even she could dream up.

One window stood out like a changeling who forgot to change. This window thrashed around so violently that its very shape was never stable. Nearby windows were disrupted, starting bad dreams of their own. Whatever this phenomenon was, it had to be stopped. As Luna approached the rift of madness, two faces appeared. There wasn't enough room for both of them, so the two faces fought to be the dominant one. It was an unsettling sight, but not one to make Luna turn back. She had seen plenty of things far more frightening than this.

The two fighting faces was just a front, as the real conflict was inside this pony's mind. In order to combat the fear, Luna often took the form of the pony's fear. Become the evil, be in its place, understand why it acts the way it does to scare the pony so much. In this instance, the fear was an amorphous cloud of darkness. It surrounded a lone figure fighting furiously against it. This figure was bipedal and clad in armor that only enhanced his stature as a fierce fighter. Luna simply had to understand why this warrior was fighting against a cloud of darkness so fruitlessly. He had no weapon, but his fists were flying in all directions without letting up.

"Calm yourself," said Luna as she announced her presence in a soothing voice. The warrior continued his assault as if he did not even notice the darkness speaking to him. "Whatever your troubles, I am here to-" Luna would never get to finish her sentence, as the mighty warrior simply struck her down. As Luna was now a cloud of darkness, she did not die, but was reformed some distance away. She was frozen in place by her last vision. That was no pony, but rather something more malevolent than she had ever seen before. It was like an angry spirit, its face contorted with madness. Inside of dreams, Luna could learn all about the dreaming pony, his or her name, recent memories and sometimes even the triggering event. Here, however, the only feelings to be felt were of anger, regret, sadness, loss and so many other crushing negative feelings. The dreaming pony had even forgotten his own name. Something had driven this one to such dark dreams and Luna had no idea where to even start looking. She could only watch from afar as the armored giant relentlessly pummeled a massless cloud of nothingness, his screams of rage disappearing into the abyss.

Just as Luna was about to give up hope, she could feel herself be pulled back into the Dreamscape. The virulent emotions surrounding her disappeared as the sleeping pony's window collapsed and vanished, quelling the turbulence it had created. If the window was gone, the dreamer had awoken, but the fears had not been resolved. For the first time in a long time, Luna had failed her duty as the princess of dreams. But this was just one pony's nightmare, despite the magnitude of its violence. There were still others to which she still had to tend, and she would not let one failure cascade into several.

Thane awoke from his trance startled and cold sweat running down his neck. His senses slowly came back as his head spun from his adrenalin rush.

"Brother," he repeatedly heard someone say, trying to get his attention, "can you hear me?" He realized this same someone was also grasping his shoulders, his face directly in front of his own. The only reaction he could give was to reciprocate the grasp. His eyes widened as if in fear, his dual hearts raced against his breathing. As he calmed himself, he realized that the one in front of him was another Blood Angel and let out a deep sigh of relief.

"Is he OK?" asked a voice to the right.

"He is," the Blood Angel replied as he pulled Thane to his feet. The voice had come from Twilight. She, her friends and the Thunderhawk pilot stood in a semi-circle

"I'm Delk, you pulled me from the crash. Who are you?" His tone was calm despite the fact that non-human creatures surrounded him.

"I'm Thane," he replied, now fully calmed from his panic.

"Ah, the new blood. I thought you looked familiar." Thane never got the opportunity to meet the rest of the company proper, but at least there was someone who would recognize him.

It was just now Thane noticed the sun peeking over the eastern horizon.

"How long was I out?" Thane asked. It had to be at least several hours since his last recollection was the dead of night.

"I came to about an hour before you did. Lucky for us the locals are friendly enough." It was clear that Delk was more comfortable around the ponies than Thane.

"Princess Celestia will be here any minute, and I know she'll have a few questions for you two," Twilight announced with a stern look on her face. "She's the ruler of all of Equestria and I know she'll want a good explanation for causing this much damage." Her pacing back and forth did nothing to increase her intimidation factor. She clearly intended to get the space marines worried that the local ruler may impose a harsh sentence for disrupting their little colony. Sadly, her efforts would yield no fruit.

"If we see your princess on our way out," Thane replied with a hint of sarcasm, "we'll be sure to behave ourselves." A smug grin briefly shot across his face, but disappeared when his partner spoke up.

"And where do you plan on going, new blood?" Delk asked Thane, crossing his arms over his chest as he did so. To Thane, it almost sounded rhetorical. Regardless, Delk spoke before Thane could respond.

"I already contacted the Sanguine Saint, the soonest rescue operation is three days out." This time, Thane had no smart answer to give. It now dawned on him that if he wanted to survive the three days for the rescue, he would do well not to antagonize the local populace. Harmless as they may seem, he could not help but imagine that they hid a great and terrible power. Whether it was military, sorcery, or something else altogether, these creatures couldn't possibly survive very long on pacifism and good will alone.

"In the meantime," Delk continued, "let their leader come. Let's just do what we can to survive." This seemed to get the young warrior back in line, at least for now. Thinking about the situation, Thane concluded that staying put and waiting for a rescue was perhaps the best option available to him right now.

The other three bodies from the crash now had shrouds over them. It looked like the ponies used their tents to hide the uncomfortable visage of a fallen warrior.

"And rearm yourself before he gets here," said Delk, pushing a helmet to Thane's breastplate. Thane took hold of the helmet before it fell, but wondered from where this extra equipment came. It could only be one place, since Delk was already slipping on his own.

He looked back to the shrouded bodies, then back to Delk, who was now mag-locking a second bolt pistol to his hip. His belt was packed nearly full with pistol magazines. There had to be at least ten by his own reckoning. Thane wanted to address the disrespect for the dead, but Delk spoke before he could.

"It's not going to do them any good now, is it?" Looking back at the crew one last time, he realized the statement was not strictly false. The helmet he was holding also contained a pistol and three more magazines of ammo. Thane had been secretly wishing for a resupply, but not like this. Accepting the grim reality of the situation, Thane reluctantly donned the scavenged helmet and secured his new collection of weapons. In the back of his mind, he was set a little more at ease being better armed and armored. His new helmet's display lit up with runes and extra pict-feeds, giving him supreme situational awareness. "Fret not, brother," Delk said through his helmet's vox grill, "I'm no sergeant, but I will see you through this." Thane had kept his promise of seeing Delk through his time of need. Now it was Delk's turn to return the favor.

As if on cue, two squads of well-equipped soldiers emerged from a blind turn not twenty yards from their current position. They formed a wide corridor, clearing the path through the street. Ordinary ponies made way for the soldiers, but stayed relatively close. The all wore eager grins, as if anticipating an entertaining spectacle. Twilight recognized this behavior as the arrival of a princess. She had this ceremony performed for her own arrival in Canterlot on occasion. As a princess herself, she was permitted to run down the aisle of guards toward her beloved mentor. She simply could not wait to greet Celestia and tell her all about the craziest week she ever had.

As Twilight approached the corner, the aforementioned Princess Celestia revealed herself. She stood twice the height of any ordinary citizen, even Twilight was dwarfed by comparison. Her radiance was only amplified by the long flowing multi-colored mane and tail, which almost seemed to move with a will of its own.

"Twilight!" exclaimed Celestia, as she caught sight of her pupil, "It's so good to see you again." The two ponies shared a brief embrace of affection. These creatures sure had some strange formalities. The two marines stood and watched as the citizens bowed as the two princesses walked toward them.

"It's good to see you too, Celestia. You won't believe the crazy week I've been having," Twilight began as she recalled her week leading up to today. Celestia simply listened as Twilight went on, her gaze fixed on Twilight. "...then they just started pouring out from the mountains by the dozens. It was like something had..."

Only once did Celestia look elsewhere and of all places, she glanced toward the Blood Angels, the only two beings that were out of place in all of Ponyville. Her second glance was quick to follow and became more of a stunned stare as Celestia stopped in her tracks and stood wide-eyed and jaw agape at the two space marines. Twilight continued her ramble for some paces before she noticed Celestia had fallen behind.

"Uh, milady? Princess Celestia?" one of the guards was just checking to make sure the princess was OK. This was very out of character for her. Even Thane and Delk found this behavior odd to say the least.

"Twilight," Celestia finally managed to say after a brief, but still awkward, pause, "I, I didn't realize you already made some new, uh..." the words nervously escaped her lips, almost as if she was being forced to say them, "...acquaintances." Celestia was transfixed on the two Blood Angels, staring at them like she just saw two crimson ghosts. In fact, she almost stopped breathing she was so taken aback.

Twilight, being her usual observant self, noticed this bizarre display of behavior and decided to inquire further. "I was just getting to that, actually," Twilight replied, hiding her suspicious tone, "Our new guests, Thane and Delk, survived the dragon incursion." Celestia simply could not bring herself to say anything, so she stood silently, splitting her attention between Twilight's recollection and the two figures before her. Finally, Twilight could not hold back any more. Something was clearly wrong and she was determined to get to the bottom of whatever it was.

"Celestia, is there something I should know?" Twilight asked, implying that Celestia was withholding information. By this point, Even the townsponies took notice of the princesses' conversation. How could they not? The highest profile pony in all of Equestria in the middle of events never before seen nor dreamed by ponykind. At least, not in recent memory. Celestia's mind was racing, thinking of ways to keep everyone, to include the space marines, calm and not too curious. Finally, she gave in. She saw no other outcome. The truth started to surface and resourceful little Twilight would uncover it completely one way or another.

"Yes, Twilight, there is much for me to explain." Celestia's tone was sincere as she lowered her head in what almost looked like shame. Everypony in the immediate area gasped and started whispering about what this dark secret could be. How long had she been hiding it? Why not bring it up earlier? How are the two armored giants possibly related to Princess Celestia?

Naturally, Twilight had a deluge of questions of her own. To her surprise, Celestia stopped her just a few words in. "It's not for you, Twilight," Celestia said, turning her attention to the Blood Angels, "I need to explain something to them." There was almost a hint of scorn in her voice, as if Thane and Delk had done something to offend, even if they were somehow unaware. Her eyes changed from being filled with fear to looking daggers at them. The feeling was mutual, as the two knights in rust red armor suppressed their xenophobic urges to attack.

The Castle of Friendship had weathered the battle quite well. Particularly, the inner rooms, which were well insulated from the airborne violence turned earthbound. Thane and Delk followed Celestia at a distance as she led them to the library's inner rooms. Whatever Celestia's next words would be, she felt the need to say it in private, away from even Twilight, despite her being a fellow princess.

As the three figures walked down the halls, Delk took in the sights of the incredible craftsmanship of the castle. Thane already got to see what the ponies' architects had to offer. The only sounds to be heard were that of cloven hooves and armored boots walking on polished marble floors. There was no conversation between the humans and the pony matriarch as they marched further into isolation. The Imperium had many doctrines prohibiting interactions with xenos. Some were born from pure xenophobia while others had at least some logical reason behind them. Celestia had her own reasons for keeping silent, though no one but she knew what them.

At last, the trio arrived at the west wing study. It was a room saved for the most intense of studies. The atmosphere in here was noticeably different. There were no windows, so no natural sunlight would disturb the occupants. Only candles and gently glowing gemstones provided any sort of light within. The paintings on the walls depicted several prominent figures, none of which the Blood Angels had any hope of recognizing. Even the ceiling was designed to give the illusion that the room was much bigger than it actually was. A deep creaking noise got the Blood Angels' attention. They turned around to see the doors to the room closing by Celestia's magic. The inside of them had an elaborately designed carving. One could be forgiven for mistaking it for another one of the walls in the circular room.

Once all three were inside, Celestia closed the heavy wooden doors to seal the feeling of isolation, but left the latch unlocked. This was deliberate. There was no need to make her 'guests' feel trapped. What good host would commit such an atrocity?

"Now, then," Celestia began in a serious tone, "if you are unaware, your kind is not welcome here." It was a fair statement. Had the situation been reversed, this would not be an unrealistic thing for the human warriors to say.

"We weren't exactly expecting a warm reception," Thane replied, crossing his arms over his chest. Delk winced under his helmet as his novice partner made his brash statement. When would he mature into a proper god among men? Surely it had to be soon, as his days as a novice were far behind him.

After a short sigh of frustration, Celestia clarified her previous statement. "I mean that you are not welcome to return to this world. After you left, I thought I made it clear that I did not want you back." She took care to emphasize the fact that they had been here before. Both marines had many thoughts as to what Celestia could possibly mean by that. Had the Imperium made contact with the ponies before? Were they violating some treaty or pact by being here? Whatever the reason, the princess was clearly agitated by it.

"We've never been here before," Delk said, arguing against Celestia's assertion.

"Perhaps not you two individuals," Celestia began her counterargument, "but your chapter and I have an agreement that you leave my people alone." Her use of the word 'chapter' was equal parts worrying and intriguing for the two Blood Angels. Neither of them had mentioned that they were part of a chapter. Delk had subtly moved his hands to hover near his pistols in case she said anything else he deemed problematic.

"And what would you know of our chapter?" Thane's tone was aggressive as he moved toward Celestia. "We don't make deals with xenos, we destroy them." Thane's behavior worried Delk to the point he felt the need to interrupt before things got too heated.

"Thane, back off," Delk urged to his hot-headed battle brother. To have more of an effect, he even grabbed Thane's shoulder guard to stop his advance. Initially, Thane did not comply. In fact, he shrugged himself away from Delk and continued his advance toward Celestia.

"I see Dante didn't inform his entire chapter," Celestia remarked, unaware of the reaction she would get. Without warning, Thane brought his pistol and chainsword to bear flagging the large white equine as the target. Celestia responded by raising a protective shield with her magic. The shield hummed with powerful energy as her eyes glowed with bright light, like a potent psyker. She even barred her teeth as an extra layer of intimidation, though it ultimately had no effect on the morale of space marines. Even Delk made his presence known by raising the two pistols at his side.

"STOP!" Delk commanded the two tense beings. Both Thane and Celestia froze, waiting for the other to move, waiting for an excuse to throw the first strike. His scream was loud enough for anyone in the building to hear, even behind the heavy wooden doors. Thane noticed something odd out of the corner of his eye. It almost appeared as if Delk had one of his pistols at him. Sure enough, he was aiming at both other beings in the room, dividing his attention between the two.

"That's enough, new blood. Stand down," Delk hissed through his vox grill. Thane ignored the order and instead moved his finger directly over the activation rune on his chain blade. Before he could activate it, however, a distinct metallic click made its way to Thane's ear. It was the cocking of a bolt pistol, readying the weapon for the next shot. Unfortunately for Thane, it was the one aimed at him and it was ready to put him down.

"That. Is. Enough." The seriousness of Delk's tone finally got through to Thane. This time, Delk's words had the desired effect. Thane relaxed his guard and put his chainsword back on his belt. His pistol was pointed at the floor, but he kept his finger on the trigger, ready for another encounter. After Thane was calmed, Delk lowered his own weapons, satisfied that he had defused the situation before it came to blows. Once both warriors were tranquil enough, Celestia discontinued her ward. It fizzled away as she took deep breaths to calm herself. There was a brief moment of silence before Delk inquired for more information.

"How exactly do you know Lord Dante?" It was a valid question. Pretty much all enemies of mankind who knew Dante's name were also slain by him. He was not known for making alliances, yet Celestia was insinuating just such a thing. Besides, any Blood Angel would be remiss not to know the entire history of their own Chapter master.

"It was over 200 years ago," replied Celestia as she retrieved a book from the shelf to the group's right. The aura surrounding her horn matched the aura around the book as it levitated towards the group. With this same magic, she leafed through the pages until she found the passage she wanted to show.

"Dante came here with his entourage and he brought war with him." She turned the book to the Blood angels, showing an image of two factions meeting on the battlefield. On the left was a mass of figures resembling Astartes space marines. It was a crude drawing, like an ancient pictogram, but the resemblance was uncanny. The feature that stood out the most was the leader of the red warriors. A large, prominent figure clad in goldenrod-colored armor. His face was more human than those of the ones he led, but his hollow eyes made him look like a vengeful spirit from the heavens. This was unmistakably Lord Commander Dante, even though he was pictured with a pair of mighty wings instead of his jump pack. Through the eyes of the alien, the Perdition Pistol and the Axe Mortalis of Lord Dante were mysterious and frightening implements of destruction.

It was the drawing on the right that completed the picture presented before them. It showed a contrasting image of green-skinned horrors in direct opposition to the red armored figures. No two green-skins were the same. Each one was a unique combination of varying sizes, crab claws, mismatched goggles, monstrous lower jaws and ramshackle implements varying from axes to large shoulder-mounted cannons. At the front of the pack stood the largest, most vicious-looking being that served to epitomize the very nature of the horde. It had a pair of circular saws in place of a left hand. It wore a helmet fashioned from the skull of an even larger animal, the long sharp horns hung with fetishes and small battle trophies. Over its entire body was not green skin like the others, but rather it was robotic machinations. There was not a single natural limb left on its body, even its torso was covered in metal plating haphazardly riveted in place.

Beneath the feet of both factions, there were several small figures, tiny by comparison. These figures somewhat resembled the ponies of this planet. They were cowering in fear while others were running from the cascade of titanic forces. The image was pretty clear, even if the alien text accompanying it was completely illegible. The Blood Angels came to this world, whatever it was called, and countered an Ork Waaagh! Obviously, the victor was Lord Dante, for the orks were not known for leaving their defeated opponents alive. By the same token, Dante did not earn the title 'Bringer of Sanguinius' Light' by being merciful. The warring between the two forces disrupted the local populace who was completely unprepared for the violence of the Ork hordes and Imperium.

"Tens of thousands died as collateral from the fighting," Celestia remarked as her voice started to quaver. It was almost as if speaking about this event brought her great emotional pain.

"I don't ever want this to happen to my people again," she continued, regaining some control over her emotions. "That is why I asked Dante to leave and not return. Besides, there is nothing of any value to your Imperium here."

There were too many questions put forth to be answered in an afternoon. What happened that day circa 200 years ago? How had Celestia convinced Dante to simply leave and never return? Why does Celestia look upon the Blood Angels with such disdain? The need to know the truth was overwhelming for the two junior battle brothers, but this information did in fact come from an alien race. Was there really any truth to it at all? Could it really be verified against imperial records? Perhaps after their rescue, they could sate their thirst for knowledge.

"If what you say is true," Delk began, "then our departure would benefit us both." For the first time since she had laid eyes on them, Celestia seemed to be genuinely relaxed in the Blood Angels' presence.

"Yes," she replied, lacking a better response, "I assume you will do so quickly, for your benefit, of course." Were the setting any more intimidating, Thane and Delk may have interpreted Celestia's words as a threat or an ultimatum.

"In three days, we will be out of your hair," Thane replied as Celestia's scowl started to return. Thane's attitude may be a challenge for the next three days.

Celestia had no response. Instead, she shelved the ancient textbook, then opened the doors to the room, revealing the long hallway which brought them to this room. This was the space marines' cue to leave. Without another word, or even a second glance back, Thane and Delk walked away from their less-than-hospitable host. The sound of old creaky floor boards gave way to metal against stone. Celestia stayed behind and closed the doors once they were out of earshot. The sound of the heavy doors closing reverberated down the hall so strongly it could almost be felt. The marines' motion sensors showed nothing behind them, no sounds out of place, not even a strange feeling. It was just the two of them walking away from an alien encounter.

"What do we make of her story?" asked Thane. He wanted to ignore the princess's words, but there was more truth to them than he expected.

"Well, if anyone would know, it would be Gureros," Delk replied, referring to the company's Codicier. Indeed, if any record containing contact with this planet existed, Gureros, a record keeper for the chapter, should be able to find it. "I can have him submit a query and shed some light on this."

"OK, but how long will that take?" Thane asked, his concern quite valid. To query Imperial archives, a librarian with archive credentials would have to pass the request up the chain of command, however long it was. Then, a chief librarian would sift through records, documents and data stores when he wasn't pawning the task off to a mindless servitor. If anything even remotely relevant was found, the information would be sent back down the chain of command to the source of the request. This is, of course, assuming that nothing is lost in translation, tasks are not forgotten and that the record keeper has the integrity to deliver exactly what is requested, regardless of obstacles or delays. The bureaucratic nature of the Imperium's archives meant the information may not be delivered for several days, weeks, or even months if it ever got delivered at all. Besides, these two would not be the only ones seeking knowledge of the past.

"He has a pretty good track record for timely delivery, new blood. You'll get to know him as I have in good time." Thane wanted to get a more concrete answer from his battle brother, but Delk was already sending a transmission to the battle barge in orbit where Gureros was still posted. The process was already set in motion, so questioning it now would be moot. For the time being, the two surviving Blood Angels would have to be patient and wait for help as well as information. That shouldn't be too hard, since the locals were not the overtly dangerous type. Still, Thane was filled with questions, fears, and other unexplainable feelings in his primary heart. He had no training to deal with this specific set of bizarre circumstances. Whatever this campaign had in store for him certainly would be revealed in due time.

Time to Learn

Evening in Ponyville was normally a time for families to enjoy dinner, children to recall their school days, and shopkeepers to conclude business for the day. For the next several evenings to come, they would instead be spent recovering from a level of devastation the town had never before seen. Many buildings were spared total devastation and indeed still served as habitable living quarters for the residents. Even then, many temporary shelters needed to be erected to help those displaced.

The hospital was a strategic location, for it was a known place of healing and medicine for the ponies. The Blood Angels could also guard the valuable supplies from desperate looters and thieves. It was also where two more battle brothers were rescued from the brink of death: Brother Dermek, a tactical marine with over one hundred years of experience behind him, and Ulyss, a lively young Sanguinary Priest who took quite well to being rescued by the ponies. In exchange for shelter in the hospital, they were to act as beasts of burden, moving heavy loads of supplies and materials around to help the relief effort. They would also move heavy rubble, as Thane already demonstrated he was capable of just such an invaluable ability.

Thane's makeshift team of one close combat marine, a pilot, a tactical marine and a medic was not exactly Codex-compliant, but no one was going to punish them for being one man short of a standard squad after a ferocious battle. Besides, Ulyss bargained shelter in exchange for their services. Ulyss himself rendered aid to the sick and injured. Around mid-day, the relief effort was well under control. There were no more new arrivals for medical aid and those who had been the first to arrive were returning to their homes, if it was still standing, or rendering what aid they could. Twilight had finished her administrative duties as Princess and turned her attention to the guests who had generated so much for her to ponder.

"Hello, Thane," Twilight announced with an eager grin as she approached him, "do you have a moment?" She was holding a long scroll of parchment, a quill and three small bottles of ink with her magic. Something told Thane that she was asking for far more than just a moment of his time.

"You wish to know a little something?" Thane asked, hoping that the 'little' part of that would be taken to heart.

"I want to know a lot of little somethings," Twilight replied as she readied her quill to transcribe. "and a few big somethings as well." This is going to be my entire day, isn't it, Thane thought as his fear of a long, boring talk session started to come true.

"Let's start with the most intriguing one first," Twilight began, "What did Celestia say to you this morning when she spoke to you and Delk?" Thane's curiosity was still gnawing at him from earlier and if Twilight could scratch that itch, he would take all the help he could get.

"She told me," as Thane spoke these few words, Twilight leaned in closer as to not miss a single detail. She was writing furiously, already using up a good deal of her roll of parchment. "that my chapter had been here before." Twilight nodded and her eyes widened with great interest in every word he spoke. Her writing pace had not wavered despite the brevity of his sentence.

"She says she convinced them to leave and that there was nothing here worth anything to us." This gave Twilight pause for thought as she let out a puzzled "Hmmm". Now it was Thane interested in Twilight's response. The story he was given was weak already, but something just didn't add up. "What did she say to you?" Thane asked, now reversing the situation.

"All she told me was that she averted a great disaster the likes of which Equestria has never seen." Twilight was lost in thought as she recalled the details of her interrogation with Celestia. "She didn't want to talk about it, though. It was like I was bringing back some painful memory or something taboo."

"Well, if you're so curious," Thane interrupted, "search your library for a record about that event in your history. You clearly have the knowledgebase available to you," he explained as he gestured to the library.

"I already searched and I can't find anything about you," Twilight explained. She did tell Thane already that she couldn't find anything related to the Imperium when they first met.

"Then what did Celestia show me that depicted my chapter on this planet?" With this sentence, Twilight's quill ceased its writing, a small ink spot appearing where the quill still touched the page.

Her head slowly turned to face Thane. "Show me this book," Twilight requested, her tone supremely skeptical. If there was a tome of knowledge that she missed in her searches and never found in all the years she had the library, perhaps a book audit was in order. However, the last time she thoroughly cataloged and reorganized the library was just a month ago. There was no way she would have missed this alleged book that would stick out like a sore horn.

"It was an old text," Thane explained as he walked toward the battered castle, "looked like it had seen better days."

Twilight's impatience overcame her so she started pressing for information. "Where did she get the book?" she asked, hovering close to Thane's face and asking rather demandingly. Thane was already retracing his steps back to the isolated room where the ancient tale was told.

"Western wing, second floor, seventh door on the left." Twilight knew exactly which room he was talking about. Without warning, she teleported away, leaving the armored warrior to make his own way up. Up two flights of stairs, past the upper foyer to the left, seven doors down the left side. Every detail Thane passed matched in his photographic memory as he retraced his steps from just this morning. Upon opening the doors to the room, he saw Twilight sifting furiously through books on the shelves lining the walls. She noticed him enter, but did not slow down or seem particularly interested in his arrival.

"This is the historical reference room. Any event that happened in the last two hundred years is right here in this room." Twilight was scanning the shelves, looking for anything even remotely related to what had happened recently. Perhaps there was a very slim chance that one of these books held the story Twilight wanted to know. As she flew around the room, she gathered a scant few books that had a chance to be the one Celestia showed Thane and Delk. Even through the levitation haze surrounding them, Thane could tell that none of them were the one.

"It was right here," he said as he pointed out the end of a particular shelf. A shelf that may once have held a book, but was now bare.

"Hmmm, I'll have to check to see if any books from this room are in circulation," Twilight said before changing the subject, "Do any of these look like the book Celestia showed you?" She presented about twenty books before Thane, hoping he would pick out at least one. Thane already took note of the books in Twilight's possession upon entering the room.

"No," was Thane's brief response. He was about to insist that it was here, but something Twilight said earlier held his tongue. "Did you say this room covers the last two hundred years of history?"

"Yes, why?" asked Twilight, puzzled by the question.

"Celestia said my chapter was here over two hundred years ago," Thane clarified, putting special emphasis on the 'over'. Perhaps it was a clerical error, the book's placement, but Twilight was not prone to sloppy organization. Had she overlooked this particular book? Unlikely, but no creature alive was capable of memorizing an entire library of knowledge, hence the very existence of such places.

"I think we should call in the big guns for this." Now this expression, Thane had heard before. But instead of more soldiers and bigger cannons, Twilight wanted to go to a place where her collection of books, spells and knowledge absolutely paled by comparison. "If any place in Equestria has what we are looking for," she declared as he chest swelled with hope, "the Canterlot Royal Archives will tell us for sure! Why didn't I think of this before?" Twilight's glee filled the room as the revelation dawned on her.

The streets of Canter lot were as busy as ever, merchants ran their shops, socialites socialized, and the royal splendor of the large city shone with brilliant radiance. Strange creatures were not completely out of place, as Equestria was home to a myriad of creatures, many of whom were intelligent enough to comprehend diplomacy and send envoys to the landmark city of the pony kingdom. Even though almost every creature in Equestria had been in Canterlot one way or another, never before had space marines set foot there. Twilight escorted Thane and Dermek through the streets as they made their way to the archives.

"I still think you should have taken Ulyss," Dermek hissed, "at least he wants to learn more like you do." He was clearly uncomfortable around all these strange life forms in a place completely unfamiliar to him. He kept his prized custom bolter close to him, his trigger finger ready to fire at a moment's notice. By contrast, Thane felt at ease around the monumental buildings, despite them being of xenos origin. They reminded him of Holy Terra, though he had only ever seen paintings and heard tales of such a grand place.

"Well, Ulyss had to take care of our fallen brothers. Besides, I trust their gene-seed with him rather than you." It was kind of a rhetorical thing to say, seeing as only Ulyss was even capable of collecting the ever-precious genetic legacy of the chapter. Dermek didn't take too kindly to being undervalued by the chapter rookie, but he dismissed Thane's attitude as simply being a novice. He would grow out of it eventually.

"Here we are," Twilight announced, "The Royal Canterlot Library!" The joy in her voice nicely complemented her radiant smile. She looked upon the massive architectural masterpiece as if it were a divine machination. "Over one million books," Twilight said as if she were speaking about a fantasy of hers, "thousands of known spells, entire fields of study, too. Alchemy, philosophy, biology, history..."

"Twilight," Thane interrupted, getting her attention.

Twilight's swooning over the library stopped and she snapped back to reality. "Right," Twilight said, eagerly trotting up the steps. At the top, Twilight inhaled deeply and mentally prepared herself before setting hoof in the cathedral-like interior of the library.

Walking through the Royal Library was an experience that many could take, but few valued it so highly as Princess Twilight. She valued knowledge, sound thinking, integrity and constant intellectual growth. Any place which condoned the acquisition of knowledge, open discussion and debate, and free access to information was akin to a sacred house of worship. Being royalty herself, the spiritual value of the place rose exponentially. So too did her sense of serenity and belonging. It was her 'happy place', her personal rapture, and nopony could ever tell her otherwise. Of course, it was not perfect for everypony.

A loud screech of steel grinding against stone echoed through the cavernous lobby, catching the attention of anypony within earshot. Twilight's daydream shattered as she winced, trying to block out the destructive noise. Thane had not removed his jump pack since he arrived on Equestria. As a result, he could not fit through the door without hitting the stone pillars on either side. It took some doing, but Thane did eventually squirm through, making somewhat of a fool of himself in the process. Space marines were immune to fear and intimidation, but embarrassment could still find purchase on Thane. All eyes in the building were on him, the sting of shame starting to dawn on him. It was only now Thane thought to remove his jump pack, then replace it once he passed the door. Dermek didn't have this problem. Firstly, he didn't have the extra equipment his young battle brother did and second, he entered without issue by crouch crawling through.

"Relax," Dermek whispered to Thane, "I've seen dumber from younger. Oh," he continued as he noticed the scuff marks on the jump pack's rear casing, "fix that before you give it back to Allentz." The strict techmarine would never tolerate wargear in less-than-serviceable condition in his armory. Well, Thane thought to himself, at least I'll have something to do after this trip. Indeed, scuff marks do not buff themselves out of ancient and ever holy relics of war.

"Alright then, let's keep going," Twilight awkwardly said after a brief moment of silence. She still had an important job to do and even if her guests were uncouth by Rainbow Dash's standards, she would still see it through. As the trio approached the reference desk, the clerk only stared in awe at the armored figures behind Princess Twilight.

As she approached the help desk, she cleared her mind and carried on as if today was just another normal day. "Hi, I need help finding some-" She stopped when she realized the clerk was still awestruck at by the Blood Angels' presence."Hello?" Twilight waved her hoof in front of his face to get his attention.

Finally, the clerk noticed Twilight in front of him. "Oh, hello Princess," he managed to get out, readjusting his focus behind his thick glasses, "How can I help you today?"

"I need to find a book related to these two, here," Twilight said as Thane knelt down to get a better view of the small pony inside the booth. The pony adjusted his spectacles to get a better view of Twilight's large crimson followers. After a moment of pondering, observing and analyzing, he came back with a response.

"I can't say I've seen this in any tome," he began, which started to dash Twilight's hopes, "but there are some old books even I haven't opened yet." Almost immediately, the light returned to Twilight's face, hopeful that she would solve this enigma. "Come with me, Princess, I'll show you the sources I have in mind." The pony exited the small booth to reveal he was the avian variety of pony. He spread his wings and took flight toward the upper floors. Twilight followed with excited energy, eager to learn the secrets of the past. Thane and Dermek couldn't follow, as lifting several tons of ceremite and flesh would have expended a considerable amount of magical energy, even for an alicorn.

"Oh, before we go," the librarian spoke up before ascending beyond the second floor, "Page," he called out, "Page, where are you?" He was addressing someone below. If they were present, surely they would respond.

Sure enough, one did respond. "I'm here, I'm here," a small sky blue unicorn came up from behind a wall of books, several were levitating in her vicinity with a goldenrod glow that was her magical grasp. Telekinesis seemed to be a near universal skill here in Equestria. Once the young one was in front of the Blood Angels, she almost lost grip on her books she was so surprised to see what was before her.

"Sirs," the librarian began, addressing Thane and Dermek "this is my assistant, Page Turner. Page, I'm going to help Princess Twilight with her task. Would you kindly look after our guests?"

"Uh, sure thing," she replied. She was nervous at the prospect of looking after two greatly imposing figures, but if her idol, Princess Twilight, was OK with them, then so was she.

"So, uh," Page began, not as confident when she was alone, "would you like me to, um, show you around the library?" Her nervous smile at the end told Thane that she was poor at interpersonal, or in this case, interpony, communication. She reminded him of Fluttershy, only a tad less shy.

In response, Thane removed his helmet to speak to her more directly. "We would like that, Page," he said in response to her offer. She flinched at first, but relaxed when she saw Thane's sharp features and short blonde hair. Instead of the intimidating red eyes staring her down, she was met with a gentle smile and eyes as blue as the deep ocean. Dermek stayed silent, dumbfounded as the new blood displayed the strangest behavior between Astartes and xenos he had seen in over a century. Perhaps, thought the veteran marine, if the populace is truly benign, then Thane won't get us killed.

"Great," Page replied with a perky smile, glad to see that humans could sport a likeable face. "Most of these books need to go to the history section for reshelving," she explained, referring to the books she hovering around her, "I can show you everything on the way there." In less than a minute, she seemed almost completely adjusted to the Blood Angels' presence. "I just ask that you keep quiet. This is a library after all." A chance to practice stealth in power armor, thought Thane. It had been so long since he honed that particular skill.

Since the start of the tour, Thane had done his best to make as little sound as possible despite his hulking armored form. To him, it was a game, to see how many times he could make Page think he had run off or been left behind. So far, he only got her attention twice between the ground floor and the eighth floor. Stairs still proved to be problematic. Other than that, he snuck through entire reading halls without turning a single set of eyes his way. The ponies here were either completely entranced with their studies or inattentive to their surroundings. At least the majority of them were.

One pony who glanced up from her book did a double take when she noticed Thane less than five meters away from her. She would have screamed hysterically, but her body simply froze up in fear. Thane took note of this and silenced her before she could make a scene. He put his finger to his lips, urging her silence. In response, the frightened pony quickly returned to her studies, her face completely obscured behind her book. From now on, Thane would need to take extra precautions. Maintain distance from the ponies, always be aware of where his shadow was cast, stay on the carpet, for the stone floor was loud against his metal boots.

As Thane moved to rejoin Page and Dermek, something caught his attention on a distant bookshelf. It was a book. But not just any book, this one was remarkably similar to one he had seen before. The scuff marks, the very specific way the leather spine had dry rotted, even the dull silvery rings binding the tome together. What truly caught his focus was a gleaming red teardrop-shaped jewel in the center of the spine. Unless Thane was hallucinating, this was the very book that Celestia used to support her assertion that the Blood Angels had once set foot on this world. His curiosity eclipsed his desire to play ninja. Something was beckoning him forth. Not a voice, but a desire, a need to know the truth behind what he was told earlier. This small book was the one artifact that could quench his thirsty wondering mind. He was making no effort to be silent now. As long as he could reach the old volume, his itch would be scratched.

He could hardly believe what was happening when he pulled the book from the shelf and gazed upon the cover. It was simultaneously unnerving and exhilarating that he would be interpreting history through the eyes of an alien race. The cover depicted a bulky red figure, bipedal in nature and facing the reader full profile. Looking into the eyes of a vengeful spirit never felt so real, yet unreal to Thane. It stood ready for conflict, it's long serrated sword and pistol were held low, but still at the ready, creating an intimidating figure, one to fear should you be unfortunate enough to meet him in person.

Suppressing his uneasiness, Thane regained his focus and began to open the book. Doing so, he loosed dust from its ancient pages, some of which cracked as he leafed through them. All other sounds seemed to disappear as his ceramite clad fingers flipped the aged parchment from right to left. He could only hear the dragging of metal on paper and the tense beating of his dual hearts in his ears. The text was a jumbled mess of lines, swirls, tick marks and dots that meant nothing to the human warrior. It was the illustrations that spoke entire volumes to him. Meteors fell from the sky, disgorging menacing crimson aliens as they landed. Another set of meteors unleashed a deluge of green-skinned demons, their mouths full of sharp teeth howling in uncouth rage. The two alien armies were akin to legions of titanic embodiments of destruction. Where they fought, fire, craters, death and thorough destruction was left in their wake.

About halfway through the book, Thane's spine shivered as he laid his eyes upon a familiar sight. The two armies coming together for a climactic battle to declare a victor. Both leaders had their weapons raised high and proud, determined to obliterate the enemy with righteous fury. Thane was aware of the outcome of this particular battle, yet he felt the need to see the next image for himself, to dispel the trace of doubt that inexplicably started to form in the back of his mind. Sure enough, there was Lord Dante himself, his Axe Mortalis ablaze with the trademark blue lightning of force weaponry. The biggest greenskin in the crowd was being torn asunder by a single blow from Dante's attack, the rest of its entourage now wearing faces of despair at the sight of their leader slain before them. Fractured, demoralized and panicked, the green horde ran amok as the cast iron discipline of the red army literally flattened any opposition. A strange sense of satisfaction came over Thane, as if his deepest desires had been granted. He hadn't even noticed the grin slowly growing across his face as he reveled in the glorious images before him. The golden warrior glowed with a halo of radiant light as the green menaces lay crushed and defeated beneath his army's feet.

The story had reached a logical conclusion, but Thane's curiosity had not wavered. What happened next, he asked, though none would ever hear this thought. The answer was buried beneath only a few thin sheets of paper. He had but to turn it to get his answer. The image now presented portrayed the golden leader of the red soldiers conversing with a large white quadruped with voluminous, multicolored hair. Their exact words would remain a mystery to Thane as the footnotes written in the alien tongue were illegible to him. The next image showed the golden warrior entering a foreboding cave. He was accompanied by some rather ornately decorated individuals of his own ilk. The white equine seemed to lead the way as the golden one followed. There had to be more to the story.

The satisfaction of the end of the story was wrenched from him as the book seemed to fly away from his hands. A yellowish glow around the book made it rise from his hands. Thane still wanted to read, but every grab he made was countered with an evasive move, as if the old text had a mind to escape its reader's grasp. It was not the book, but rather a pony who denied Thane his satisfying conclusion.

"How did this get here?" Page asked no one in particular, "This is supposed to be in the archives vault." She used her magical grasp to carefully handle the book and close its fragile pages without damaging it further. She still had a hand full of regular books with her, but they were pushed to the side as she focused on the delicate archaic tome. "Where did you get this?" she asked Thane rather accusingly.

"I wasn't done with that," Thane proclaimed, gaining the attention of every pony in the hall. He wasn't concerned with her question. He had but one desire and nothing would stand between him and that precious collection of pictures. "I said give it back!" he spat as the young mare refused to relinquish the tome. Some lustful force had overcome Thane and his normal behavior. His strides toward Page and the old book were pronounced and aggressive. He wanted so badly to finish the story. As he rapidly closed the distance, the want evolved into a need, a near insatiable one. This was the one thing on his mind as he extended his hand, singly intent of retrieving his property. HIS! He was just inches away from reclaiming the story of his past, the reward so tantalizingly close. Then, a flash of bright light distracting his vision, but not his resolve.

The next moment, he was back in reality. He had fallen to his hands and knees, his arm was outstretched into empty air. Dozens of eyes were upon him, a variety of perplex and disapproval for interrupting their studies. What was it he was pursuing again? A... book? That didn't sound right to Thane. He was well read, but not a passionate bibliophile, like Gureros, the company Librarian. The familiar and uncomfortable feeling of shame washed over him for the second time within the hour. He was also supremely confused. What had compelled him to be so possessive of something he had only seen once before? This episode of behavior did not happen when he first came near the book. What was special about now?

As Thane fought through the daze to regain control of his thoughts, someone came up behind him and seized his jump pack's carrying handle. The next thing he knew, his entire body lurched upwards, just enough so that he could stand up. Once his feet were flat on the floor, the force raising him up released its grip, allowing him to get his equilibrium and support his own weight.

"Perhaps Delk should have come," Dermek remarked somewhat sarcastically, "At least he doesn't obsess over xenos literature." Those words were meant to belittle the junior warrior, but he was still focused on the last two minutes of confusing events, replaying them over and over trying to make sense of them. As the ponies returned to their business, one prominent figure approached the two Blood Angels with a disgruntled look on her face.

"Do we have a problem here?" she asked in a hushed, yet demanding tone. This was the head of the library, investigating a disturbance in the otherwise whisper quiet mausoleum-sized library. Her stern face, conservative hair style and dress and the way she addressed the two imposing figures told all there was to know about this mare. She was very direct, indicating that she took her position very seriously. In fact, she did not even seem to care that the one she was speaking to was visibly armed and easily a dozen times her size and weight.

"I'll have you know that this is a library," she said, not giving Thane a chance to justify his actions, "I don't care where you came from, but this is Equestria. We have standards here." In Thane's mind, there was no real intimidation from this small creature, but something kept him still, listening to her rant. She went on about how the Royal Library has held high standards for centuries, how this was her domain and nothing happens without her knowing. She was on a roll when she abruptly stopped berating the young Blood Angel and turned her attention to something behind him. Thane heard the approaching hoof steps and turned to see who it was. It was Twilight.

As the princess approached the librarian, the librarian bowed deeply as was customary treatment for royalty. "Good day, Princess," the librarian said, rising back to her proper stance. Her tone shifted from abrasive to courteous, "have you found what you're looking for today?" She shifted her focus from enforcing discipline to aiding Twilight with her needs.

"In fact, I did," Twilight said gleefully, but quietly, "I was looking for any information on our visitors here," she explained, glancing to Thane and Dermek.

"Speaking of which," the librarian interrupted, "your 'visitors'," she said as if 'visitors' was not the word she would have used, "were quite disruptive of the ponies trying to study here." Though most of the ponies had long since dismissed the event or ignored it altogether, the steadfast bookkeeper had the integrity to enforce the rules of the library regardless of the circumstances. This must have hit a nerve for Twilight, as the former librarian would never allow disreputable behavior in her own library to pass without judgment.

"Oh," Twilight exclaimed, taken aback by the librarian's report, "Well, I do apologize for their behavior. They're not very familiar with Equestria's customs." Thane was not sure why Twilight was defending him, but that was in line with what she just said. He was greatly unfamiliar with the norms of this world.

"I'm afraid an apology will not excuse his behavior, Princess," the librarian replied, her conviction resurfacing, "He was especially aggressive toward another pony over a book. From what I saw, he could have seriously hurt her." The words sank into Thane as he realized the gravity of what could have happened. At the time, he had no regard for the pony's life, only the book and the information within. To disregard alien lives as long as the mission was complete was not wrong think for Astartes, but feeling sympathy toward them was not sanctioned at best and heretical at worst.

"If he is prone to this behavior, I cannot allow him on the premises." The librarian's declaration was firm. In her own domain, it was also irrevocable. The thought that he would not be allowed back in the Royal Library did not particularly bother Thane, but he knew that he made a bad first impression. The locals would talk amongst themselves and make this little event known. Keeping secrets was not one of his strong points.

"That's not really necessary, is it?"asked Twilight, trying to salvage Thane's reputation, "I don't think he meant to-"

"We can see ourselves out," Dermek interrupted. He had no intention of staying. This library was an impressive construction reminiscent of the Sanguine Saint's inner reclusiam, but the stink of the alien was getting through his air filters. Besides, he had had enough of these shenanigans for today. "Come on, new blood," he said while making his way to the nearest exit. Thane followed, but he did so quite indignantly, like a dog caught in the act of disobeying his master, though he tried his best not to let it show.

That evening, Thane spent his time thinking about his recent experience and his actions of late. There was so much mounting up that did not add up. What was the outcome of Dante's venture into the cave? If the Imperium had been here before, then surely Thane and the Blood Angels need not return. After all, if the pony matriarch's story was true, then the explorator legion on this planet was wasting valuable Imperial time and resources on a previously explored world.

He wanted so badly to know what happened all those years ago. Twilight was preoccupied going through her findings at the archives, so asking her to search the rest of her library was useless. If only there were another way to uncover the truth. He knew he should just wait for the response from the Imperial archives, but his desire to know was slowly eroding his patience. Perhaps he should just hole himself up for the next two days and forget about this whole thing. After all, his brethren in space were working hard to get an extraction operation ready. Surely they were moving with all haste. Alas, no matter how much he tried to reassure himself that help was coming and all he had to do was wait, he couldn't stop himself from thinking of things he could do to expedite the process, or at the very least, make the wait go by faster.

Without even realizing, Thane had wandered back into the reference room of the castle, the same room where he was first exposed to the cryptic event of his chapter's past. In this room, Rainbow Dash laid outstretched on one of the longer lounge chairs, her attention fixed on a small book in her hooves. Her eyes twitched back and forth as she skimmed the pages, her gentle smile saying that she was enjoying the simple act of reading her book. This was not Thane's concern, however. He wanted to know where Celestia got the tome depicting the Blood Angels. It had to be here somewhere. Unless it was taken by another, Thane would likely not get the answers he craved by day's end. As a last effort, he scanned the shelves, hoping to find it misplaced or otherwise moved from its usual place.

His hopes slowly faded as he reached the last shelf in the room, the distinct text nowhere to be found. As he slipped further towards a depressed state, Rainbow reacted suddenly and quite intensely to the book in her clutches. A deep gasp of disbelief and shock, though there was no physical threat in the room. Her meager wings fluttered spastically, but with enough order to propel her just inches from the ceiling. Whatever got her so panicked must surely be dire.

"Omygosh, Thane! Thane!" Rainbow said frantically, "Can you believe this? How is it even possible?" Her focus shifted between Thane and her book, as if she could not decide which needed it more.

"What's wrong?" Thane asked with a trace of concern, but lacking urgency.

"This," Rainbow stated, putting the open book to Thane's face, "Tell me how this is possible. I dare you to make sense of this." Rainbow was expecting a response, but there was a problem. Though Thane could instantly bring the object close to his face into crystal clear focus, there was nothing he could do about the jumbled mess of the alien inscriptions before him.

"I," Thane started to say, "I can't read your language." He pushed the book away as he realized there was no reason for panic. It must be in her head, he reasoned.

"Gal'mutehk is back!" she exclaimed as though this was some grand revelation, "The last time we saw him, he was crushed beneath tons of rock as the Temple of Immerey collapsed!" All these new names were losing Thane. Was this some lore from a different time or a fictional story, fabricated for some unexplained reason? Even as the questions mounted, Rainbow continued her rant. "The end of The Valley of Pharaohs even confirms his defeat." 'Defeat?', thought Thane, surely under tons of crushing rock no being could survive. That would be death for certain.

Rainbow pulled another book from a nearby end table and leafed through the pages until she found what she wanted. A passage near the end of the book, which she recited for Thane.

<<<

The Museum of Ancient History was quite pleased to show their latest exhibit: the Headdress of Kings. Symbol of power, icon of tyranny, conduit of great and terrible sorcery, and now a lesson to those in the present. Never must absolute power be given to anypony. The ancient Saddle Arabians learned this the hard way, as did the citizens of Manehattan. With the fearsome artifact secure within the museum, Daring could rest easy knowing it would never again be donned by anypony, living or dead.

"You see? He's powerless without the headdress!"

"Rainbow," Thane tried to interrupt, but she continued.

"I mean, the Fire Ruby, the Infinity Ring and Dovynnakh's Staff were all sent to different parts of the world! How could he get them all back so quickly?"

"Rainbow," Thane tried again, but with more volume this time. Still no effect. It was as if she was ignoring Thane's very presence and just spouting her thoughts to an invisible audience.

"We know it's not Ironeye, he's in jail and-" she took another deep gasp as an epiphany came to her, "We haven't seen Drifter since she lost contact after the hurricane. She could be the one behind all this. But what kind of epic plot twist could make Drifter turn bad? I mean, she had a motive back when she lived in New Gekistan, but it was because of Daring that she became Drifter the drifter..." At this point Rainbow sounded like an inquisitor mad with conspiracy theories and sleepless from obsessing over them for so long. For all the sense she was making, she may as well be possessed by a demon, speaking in tongues.

A loud piercing whistle reverberated throughout the room, silencing the rambling pegasus. The source of the noise was the only other being in the room: Pinkie Pie.

"I believe I can help you with your story problem, Dashie," Pinkie proclaimed without a trace of doubt. "You see, it's revealed that Ironeye had an accomplice named-" Pinkie got no further as Rainbow covered her ears with her hooves, closed her eyes and started wailing nonsensically, trying to drown out Pinkie's explanation. In a multi-colored flash, she exited the room as fast as her little wings would carry her, her mad cries still audible even after she was long gone. After Rainbow was most definitely gone, Pinkie started laughing and giggling at seemingly nothing. Perhaps it was the pink one who was possessed.

"What's so funny?" Thane asked, hoping that at least this question could be answered.

"She thinks I spoiled the book for her," Pinkie answered fighting the urge to continue laughing, "but I didn't even read the book!" After she finished her sentence, she burst out into an more maniacal than before. "I have no idea what happens next and she thinks I do," she explained through the cackling.

"I have no idea, either," Thane said with a heavy sigh. He sat down against one of the walls, sending a small tremor through the floor as his hindquarters made contact. In this moment he felt defeated and unfulfilled, almost helpless as nothing seemed to go his way. He rested with his back against the wall as one arm rested against his propped up knee. No one ever said that space marines were always optimistic. Almost immediately, Pinkie's exuberant demeanor vaporized as she noticed Thane looking depressed. There was a slight tug on Thane's left arm. Turning left, Thane noticed Pinkie had climbed up and was perched atop his shoulder guard.

"What's wrong, big guy?" Pinkie asked as if she genuinely cared, "Is somepony having a rough time?" He would have shrugged the pink equine off his shoulder, but she was not worth the effort. She wasn't even coming across to Thane as a nuisance. She probably couldn't even scratch his armor's paint job if she wanted.

"Well," Thane began, "I went to the Canterlot Library with Twilight to find information, but..." Thane's gaze returned to his feet in shame, "I was banned for causing a disturbance." Even just talking about the event stirred feelings of regret and shame in his heart. He was so embarrassed he tried to leave out details and downplay the event. It didn't help.

"You and me both, buckeroo," Pinkie replied as she patted Thane's head, "Libraries and parties do NOT go together." Pinkie seemed to be speaking from a place of genuine sympathy, like she was seriously trying to make him feel better.

"Now more than ever, I feel I don't belong here. I barely made it into the Blood Angels and even then, I'm only an assault marine by the skin of my teeth," Thane continued, his tone slowly drifting into lamenting territory. "If I could just finish the story I found there, I'd be happy."

"Well, say no more, my big cherry-colored chico," Pinkie exclaimed, now perched on top of Thane's head, her cheek pressed against his temple, "You want to be happy, then that's what we're going to do!" Unfortunately, her enthusiasm did not spread to Thane.

"What do you mean? I don't follow," Thane said, not quite understanding what she was going on about.

"I am Pinkie Pie," Pinkie started her explanation, "I make ponies happy. If you aren't happy, I'm not doing my job." Her cheerful tone had a mix of conviction. "I may have just met you and you're not a pony, but I still want to make you happy." Her bright smile across her pink face was all the more convincing that she wanted to spread her joy. Besides, her soft fur-lined body resting against his head was a pleasurable sensation he had not felt since his young childhood on Baal.

"Tell you what," Pinkie said as she shifted back onto his shoulder, "If I got you back into the library, you could finish reading your book and we'll be back by morning." She seemed so confident making this offer, but Thane still had his reasonable doubts.

"And how do you plan on pulling off a feat like that?" Thane liked the idea of getting the information he wanted, but he also remembered the decree by the chief librarian there. He was not permitted back in that space and it would surely be enforced by anyone around. Besides, how was she planning on infiltrating a highly valued store of records with a hulking armored space marine in tow. It would be difficult enough for just Pinkie to get in alone.

"Oh, don't worry," Pinkie replied, trying to be reassuring, "Your auntie Pinkie has her ways." She tried to solidify the reassurance by patting his cheek with her hoof. "Besides, I helped Twilight get in once." Thane was becoming more and more convinced that Pinkie was the answer to his problem. At last, he decided to take this offer laid out before him.

"Alright, Pinkie," Thane finally responded after a moment of consideration. Pinkie's tail was wagging eagerly, like a dog anticipating a favorable response from its owner. Her wide blue eyes focused on his as her grin grew ever wider. "Let's do it, you and me." He chose to take Pinkie up on her offer which made her rebound all over the room with unrestrained glee. She seemed to defy the scriptures of physical universe as she literally bounced off walls and made incredible leaps that her body was seemingly not designed to do. Despite all this, however, there was something quite endearing about her. Perhaps it was her voice, her physical appearance, or maybe it was how she stirred feelings of joy simply by being around her. Pinkie ended her energetic gymnastics show by wrapping herself around Thane's wrist. Thane took this for a sign of affection, which he reciprocated by putting his free hand around Pinkie. It wasn't the same as an inspiring sermon before a battle, but Thane felt just as invigorated by conversing with this little pony. For whatever came next, he was ready.

In the years before the peace which Equestria now enjoyed, the Canterlot Archives were a prime target for enemy spies and curious citizens alike. It was a massive collection of military intelligence, dangerous arcane arts and knowledge so esoteric that only a select few ponies in the known world would find it even remotely useful. Now the security was quite relaxed with only a few dozen guards patrolling the immense building. It was this security flaw on which Thane and Pinkie would capitalize. Peeking out from behind a statue, Pinkie scanned the roads and nearby windows for guards. All clear. She waved for Thane to emerge and advance to a nearby window on the first floor. He had stashed his jump pack and chainsword in a good hiding spot for this mission. They made him too flashy a target and they were not needed to accomplish the task at hand.

Though it was not imperative, Thane still kept as quiet as he could as he approached the entry point. He moved slowly enough to avoid making too much noise, but quickly enough to not waste a second of precious time. Once in position, Thane raised Pinkie up to the window so she could release the interior latch from the outside. The window was too high for any pony to reach without scaffolding or an oversized ladder, but Thane could reach it simply by extending to his full height. Once open, the two climbed through the window. Fortune seemed to find them as only one guard was turning a corner away from them at the end of the hall when they entered.

Last time Thane was here, he was practicing absolute silence, stealth in enemy territory. This was an infiltration mission and not a drill like last time. Those novice mistakes he made last time would have to disappear if he wanted to return from his mission successfully. His armor was completely sealed, giving off no emissions that even an auspex scanner could detect. The task of staying quiet, however, still rested squarely on his shoulders.

"OK," Pinkie whispered, "Like we planned. Eighth floor, all sneaky weaky, you read your book, then we leave. Nopony will ever know we were here." Thane responded with a thumbs up. It was the quickest, quietest way of acknowledging what she said without risking detection. From here, Pinkie would lead the way up since she knew the layout of the library better than Thane. It was good that Thane's earlier foray here was spent practicing stealth.

On the seventh floor, Thane shuffled slightly too loudly, prompting a patrolling guard to investigate. Pinkie simply hid behind a potted plant, contorting her body to have it completely conceal her form. In this tense moment, Thane's two hearts were pounding in his ears as his mind raced for a solution.

As the unicorn guard clad in armor turned the corner, he noticed something out of place: a balcony door slightly ajar. This was suspicious, as this floor was supposed to have been secured hours ago. Did somepony neglect their duty? Was an intruder trying to make his way in? Whatever was happening, he had to investigate. The door was not damaged, nor did the lock look like it had been forced or tampered with, though it was unlocked. The balcony itself was clean, as no pony had set hoof on it all day. There were no hooks, ropes or ladders leading up here. In fact, the only thing he could see over the edge was the magnificent city of Canterlot illuminated by Princess Luna's soft moonlight. Straight down, only the gardens and those assigned to the night watch making their rounds. Not an unauthorized soul in sight. "Probably one of the privates being lazy," the guard assured himself. His concerns dismissed, the guard returned to his duty, locking the large glass door behind him. "Whoever was assigned to this floor is gonna get smoked for negligence," he growled as his hoofsteps became more and more distant. Once he was out of sight, Pinkie slithered out from behind her hiding plant, unlocked the door and went out to the balcony. She saw Thane bolt out from behind her hiding spot and she had a pretty good idea where he was hiding.

"Thane," Pinkie whispered as loud as she dared over the edge of the rail, "He's gone, you can come up, now." No sooner than she finished speaking did Thane swing his gauntlet up and grab hold of the rail. He used all his strength to hoist his armored form up and over the rail back onto solid ground. It was a difficult maneuver, hiding under the balcony, but worth pulling off to avoid detection.

"I don't think we can afford many more of those," Thane said as he climbed back over the stone guardrail. Indeed, one incident of lax security was negligible, but two in the same night would raise more than an acceptable level of suspicion.

"Don't worry, we're almost there" Pinkie said as she used what looked like a rubber chicken's beak to pick the lock. Thane wasn't going to argue the logic of it, for the lock was successfully forced and she did so without so much as a squeak, click or shuffle. Her reassurance did not set Thane any more at ease after this close call. There was no guarantee that more guards would not show up to hamper their progress. Regardless, the two infiltrators pressed on.

Now that they were on the eighth floor, Thane took the lead, retracing his steps until he came upon the same spot where he laid eyes upon the old book. To his dismay, it was not on the shelf. No surprising since Page Turner confiscated if from him. Sifting through his recent memories, Thane recalled what she said before he left. 'This is supposed to be in the archives vault.'

"Pinkie," Thane whispered rather urgently as he knelt down close to Pinkie's ear, "Is there a vault in this building?" Pinkie turned to address him, but something she saw prevented her from responding. Her tail went limp as she put on a face of shock at the sight of something behind Thane. Two things telegraphed this to him. Firstly, her gaze was slightly off to the side. Secondly, an icon appeared on his retinal display alerting him to a presence behind him to his 5 o'clock. Fearing the worst, Thane slowly reached for his knife. His pistol would be too loud to use and he wanted to use a silent weapon to deal with this new adversary.

"Looking for something?" asked the voice, as if Thane needed any more confirmation that they were spotted. Without a second thought, Thane went into combat mode, drawing his large dagger and whirling around to strike down the opposition. With his right hand wielding his blade underhand, he spun clockwise to deliver the blow. He felt his arm stop dead in its tracks before he saw the reason for it. A human-looking hand had grabbed hold of his wrist and locked down tight. It was a creature of strength comparable to his own, for he felt the pressure through his armor. An instant later, Thane threw a wide hook punch with his left hand, but it was met with the being's other hand, his fist now caught in its grasp. By this point, Thane was now face-to-face with the creature he was battling. It's face was pale, even in the dim lighting of the library at night. The features were simultaneously soft and feminine, yet sharp, sculpted and intimidating. It's long pointed ears were what erased all doubt in Thane's mind. This was the trademark look of the Eldar and he was locked in one-on-one combat with it. How she was strong enough to halt his inhuman strength amplified by his power armor, Thane could only guess. Perhaps it was their witchcraft that made this feat possible. Whatever the enemy had to offer, Thane was determined to outmatch this xenos scum unfortunate enough to cross his path.

Thane still had enough momentum from his turn to throw a kick. His hands were occupied keeping the xenos' attention up high. She would not see an attack coming from below. Sure enough, a strong sweep under her feet threw the Eldar fighter off balance, her legs now far away from underneath her as she started her fall to the ground. Thane was able to get a glimpse of her surprised expression for only an instant, but in that instant, he was confident he had secured victory. With this move, she also lost her grip on Thane's right hand, allowing him to deliver a death blow from above. Now spinning in the opposite direction and downward, his knife had a clear stab at the Eldar's heart. Surely, this would end the battle just as quickly as it started.

Unfortunately for Thane, this Eldar was far more than just a pretty face. Her next move would reverse the situation faster than Thane had secured dominance. It was almost too fast for him, but Thane caught a glimpse of his opponent moving at inhuman speeds. He realized that she had not accidentally released the hand holding his weapon. As she fell, her left hand made its way to Thane's elbow. This would give her the leverage she needed. Her upper body twisted and brought Thane's left hand with it. Since she had his elbow, that followed as well. Before he realized what was happening, he felt his left arm being pulled by the Eldar. His legs left the ground, his body now airborne. By the time he realized how the pointy-eared alien had turned the tables on him, he had already crashed through an aisle of bookshelves. He would destroy eight more before he came to rest buried beneath hundreds of books and splintered wooden shelving.

Shaking off the daze, he spotted the Eldar being approaching his position. He lost his knife during his flight, so the only tactical option he had left was his pistol. He no longer cared for stealth, for the mission changed into a fight to the death the moment he was aware of the Eldar's presence. He struggled to reach his side arm through the debris and ruined volumes around him. Before he could bring his weapon to bear, some unseen force lifted him from the wreckage, restraining his arms and legs in the process. Once again, he found himself staring down his opponent. This time, he was at a decisive disadvantage. He had no weapon, his arms and legs were bound stiff, and he had no chance to fight back. Her scowling face meant to impress upon the restrained marine that he had been defeated, but Thane refused to accept that argument. If he didn’t have his helmet on, he probably could have spit acidic venom in her face as a last ditch effort to fight back, but the Eldar had fast reflexes. She could have avoided it easily enough. For all his might, the magical bonds around his limbs simply would not break. As he levitated just inches off the ground futilely fighting his captor's grasp, the Eldar finally spoke.

"Was it worth all this trouble?" The voice was unfamiliar to Thane, but it did not convince him to stop struggling or even respond.

"You came all this way to learn something Celestia refused to tell you," she continued. This got Thane's attention and ceased his squirming. How was Celestia known to the Eldar? There was clearly a much larger conspiracy of events at work, but the details eluded Thane.

"My name is Luna," she said, gesturing to herself, "and I think I can answer your questions with this," she said, reaching into a sack behind her. What was she about to do? If she wanted to kill him, she would have done the deed before Thane even noticed her. She could even do it now, if she wanted. Thane was tense in the moment it took for her to reach behind her, but relaxed once he identified the item in her hand. It was a book. As she revealed the cover of the book, Thane realized this was the book he was reading earlier. No spell of greed compelling him to take the book this time. Whatever allure it had before was simply absent now.

Now that Thane was relatively calm, Luna set him down amidst the damaged bookshelves. Thane got his footing on the uneven pile easily enough, but he had a hard time relaxing around this slender figure. Luna simply extended her arm, offering the book to Thane for him to read. Thane did not break eye contact as he snatched the book from Luna’s hand, still wary of what she may do to him should he drop his guard. Though he turned his focus to the book’s contents, he still kept one eye on the icon representing Luna, in case she made any sudden moves.

From where he left off, the text was still illegible, but the images spoke volumes in every tongue imaginable. Dante and his Honor Guard, led by Princess Celestia, descended into a cave resembling the maw of a creature of titanic proportions. The giant creature analogy pervaded to the next image, depicting a large underground cavity supported by large pillars resembling a rib cage. They were quite geometric in nature, but not all were intact. Was it a shrine of some sort? A place where alien forces bred, mustered or trained? Was it in fact a long dead alien titan? There were simply too many possibilities.

At last, Thane saw for himself the perplexing ending to the story he was told, but never confirmed. Inscribed in ink was Dante and his entire entourage departing with what looked like large falcons or hawks. Quite an anticlimactic ending, as the story would have been far more satisfying ending on the defeat of the Ork horde. Unfortunately, the book’s illustrations ended and the rest was the nonsensical written language of the ponies.

“What exactly is that place?” Thane asked, as he turned his gaze to meet Luna’s eyes. His tone demanded the truth. Luna had volunteered this much information so far and she seemed to have no reason to withhold it from him. What would she say next?

“Even we do not know,” was her reply, “Whatever it is, it was buried long before my sister and I arrived here.” She placed one hand on her hip and leaned on one leg as she divulged her past to Thane. “That was over 1,500 of your standard years ago.”

“So in all that time, you never thought to explore these structures?” Thane asked as he snapped the book shut. It was a sensible accusation. If it were the Imperium, there would be men, materials and equipment invested into unearthing it and extracting as much information out of it as possible. He still felt as if there was more being held back, though he had no proof of this beyond a gut feeling.

“I have,” Luna clarified, emphasizing that she personally had explored them, “Once was enough,” she said, sounding depressed and almost haunted, “I saw things in there that none ever should.” What sort of things? How were they so indescribable? Surely if they were witnessed, there would be a record of the event. The ponies and the Imperium shared the same spoken language, so there was no shortage of words to immortalize the event. Still, she could not bring herself to speak of her experience. She appeared to drop her guard as she walked toward a nearby window. Thane knew better than to try to capitalize on such a baited opportunity. Eldar warriors had incredible reflexes and sharp senses, even by astartes standards. He had heard that Dark Eldar were even more physically adept. He had no chance of catching her off guard. She stopped in front of a large window in the room, arms crossed across her chest. Her long flowing head of hair appeared to come to life, sparkling like the night sky.

“Souls,” she finally spoke, fear still dominating her tone, “I felt the presence of thousands of horrible souls. They were unlike anything I had ever seen before. An entire hive of them right beneath our feet.” The air in the room was not particularly cold, but Luna still shivered slightly as she spoke. What harrowing ordeal could she possibly have endured?

Thane saw the flaw in her story immediately. “You had two hundred years to prepare. Why stand idle all this time?” He gave his argument while he dug his dagger out of the debris. If the military forces he had seen so far were any indication of their fighting capability, the ponies should have been conquered long ago.

“You must understand,” Luna began her counterargument, turning to face Thane, “I was imprisoned in the moon for a thousand years. Only recently have I returned,” she said, looking back up at the moon, “I couldn’t have done anything even if I were present. Besides,” she continued, her gaze transfixed on the pale celestial body, “Celestia is not one in favor of superstition or fear. She does not want the people of this world to descend into madness. She distracts the citizens with thoughts of joy and happiness.” Her tone started to grow more melancholic. “She cannot hope to have this blissful sanctuary last forever. Lately, it has been threatened by forces that are not natural to this world.” Once again, Thane and Luna met gazes. This time, she silently accused him of being the force that threatened the very existence of Equestria. Of course, the last few years of Equestrian history were lightly seasoned with turmoil and empire shattering forces, both natural and supernatural. Not that Thane was expected to know this, of course.

Luna raised a hand toward Thane, palm facing him. It was not a threatening-looking hand gesture, but it was shrouded in the same manner as the unicorns he had encountered. This time, it was a deep azure and black, mimicking her hair which resembled the night sky. As the aura around her arm grew more visible, the demolished shelves in the library started squirming with what could be mistaken for life. Worried about what might happen next, Thane got clear of the piles of debris and took cover behind a nearby stone pillar. To his bewilderment, the shattered wood and ruined books began to reconstruct. What was once a chaotic mess of torn pages and wooden splinters reformed into the order it had before. Every piece of every damaged item, no matter how small, was touched by Luna’s psychic aura. She displayed such fine control over so much and squared it all away so quickly. Even the scratches in the stone floor seemed to heal from the commotion just minutes ago.

“If you’re going back to Ponyville, Blood Angel,” Luna said as she lowered her arm to her side, “would you kindly return that book to Twilight?” It took a moment for Thane to realize, but he was still holding the book Luna gave him. “It belongs to her. I know she’ll want it back.”

The pieces were starting to come together in Thane’s mind, but still the bigger picture remained so mysterious to him. Perhaps he wasn’t meant to know. He was but a simple foot soldier in an impossibly large army, a crimson pebble from a mural long since destroyed over ten thousand years ago. Perhaps this saga would never be known by human minds, but still, Thane yearned. Finally, he pushed that desire to the back of his mind and got his priorities in order. He had nothing to say as he made for the exit, nor had Luna any more to say to him.

Thane was still on a mission, albeit one so heavily changed by recent circumstances. He came here with Pinkie and he would leave with her company as well. She was probably not very skilled in hiding, as her distinctive tail was partially exposed from under a long table. Kneeling down, he peeked under to see her pale face staring back with unblinking eyes. However, once she recognized Thane’s helmet, she regained some of her sense and calmed down from the shock of what she witnessed.

“We’re done here, Pinkie. We can go home now.” Thane certainly had a hectic few days and he looked forward to some rest before getting back into the action.

“You’re done, too?” asked Pinkie somewhat exhausted and still reeling, “I’m done with libraries for a while.” Both of them could use some much needed rest once they returned to Ponyville.

Armed with new knowledge, Thane had a lot to digest for the foreseeable future. But with each iota of new knowledge he gained, new questions behind them arose. The search for knowledge was starting to feel like fighting the Hydra, but that tale had an end so must his own.

Tunneling through solid rock was no easy task, but spitting acid helps soften it up for the workers to clear away. Four tunnelers and an army of worker drones could progress up to 20 feet per hour. How much longer they would dig, no one could say for certain. After all, their aim was nowhere in particular, but simply any place where they could survive. Finally, they hit something they did not expect: a large cavity. One of the tunnelers fell to the cave floor writhing in confusion.

“Get him up,” ordered Major Fang, the leader of this foray. Instantly, six drones rushed to the aide of the hulking tunneler, righting and guiding him back to the hole they created. The Major, even larger by comparison, surveyed the chamber they found by chance and pondered the next move his troops would take. The large columns were of no interest to him, but there was a strange energy radiating from somewhere beneath them. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before. This feeling he got was strange to say the least, but not harmful. It was not love, but if emotions had a taste to them, this was quite a new experience for him. However, this was not his call to make. The decision would have to be passed up the chain of command.

“You,” the Major said to the closest drone, “Tell the Queen what we found here. It is a good place to nest and breed.” Many drones understood speech, but could only respond to a limited range of phrases. This one simply hissed an acknowledgement and scurried off through to complete his task.

As a Major, he knew how to judge how suitable a location is for expanding the hive. Some locations were so favorable they could even serve as rally points for attacks to be staged. This place was perfect for any function the hive performed. With any luck, the Queen would give him reign over this splinter of the hive to harvest the love of the creatures that were so very near…

The Wrath of Angels

Libraries were sacred to Twilight, so she would not tolerate any treatment disrespect to her house of knowledge. However, she considered misplacing a book very disrespectful. This meant her book accountability was less than 100%. Sub-standard, unacceptable. She would not stop searching for the one missing book until she was back up to the standard. Sometimes she took this seriousness a little too far, like she was doing now.

She had searched the entire castle from top to bottom. Four times. Every room had been ransacked, even common areas, the kitchen and the underside of the balconies. Every time Twilight restarted her search, she grew steadily more agitated. One book left unaccounted for was not in her normal behavior.

“Does ANYpony have ANYthing yet?!?” Twilight cried out in frustration and panic. She had her friends along with several volunteers search. She even asked the Blood Angels outside to keep an eye open for it. However they were not concerned with such a matter. They were preoccupied with their equipment maintenance.

Twilight was starting her search for the fifth time when she passed one of her search party.”Fluttershy!” she called out in hope that some progress had been made. Wanting to know as quickly as possible, she teleported herself in front of Fluttershy just as soon as she called to her, “Any news? You have your animal friends searching, right? Oh, I hope it’s not stuck somewhere damp. Moisture is the bane of books everywhere. *Gasp* What if it’s submerged?!?” After this barrage of questions, during which Fluttershy couldn’t even get a word in edgewise, Twilight instantly teleported to other places to continue her frantic search.

“Um, Twilight,” Fluttershy finally said after Twilight’s voice was no longer dominating the hall, “I’m not even sure what I’m looking for.” No sooner than the end of her last word did Twilight reappear Inches from Fluttershy’s face and commence another rant.

“The Red Knight Incident!!” Twilight’s shouting was slowly mutating from a frustrated scream to an angry one, “It’s the ONE book I can’t find. Very distinct. Historical reference. Hardback. Brown leather binding. I forget what was on the cover, BUT IT’S SO DISTINCT YOU CAN’T POSSIBLY MISS IT!!!” Using up her entire lung capacity to scream this last rant, Twilight inhaled deeply before spiriting away once more. In her wake, she left Fluttershy stunned as still as a statue. She remained standing for a few seconds before falling onto her back, face still frozen in shock and her pose unchanged from the instant Twilight appeared. The tension slowly receded as a looming shadow appeared in Fluttershy’s vision. Coming into focus, it was Thane looking down on her. He was even calling her name.

“Fluttershy? Are you OK?” His voice undistorted by his helmet’s vox grill was a welcome sound for the frightened animal caretaker.

“Oh, hi Thane,” Fluttershy replied as she rolled onto her stomach.

“What was all that about?” he asked, referring to Twilight’s erratic behavior. The magical pops from the teleporting spell periodically echoed through the halls of the castle.

“Twilight’s been looking for a book that went missing,” Fluttershy explained as she flew up to Thane’s shoulder height, “She’s pretty particular about this sort of thing.”

It didn’t take a chief librarian to put the pieces together, especially since Luna had laid them all out in front of him. “It wouldn’t happen to be this, would it?” Thane presented the book he still had in his hand. The cover portrayed the crude image of the red armored figure, but it also had some of the ponies’ scribbly text beneath its feet. Fluttershy seemed like an intelligent pony. If the ability to read was common among these creatures, she should be able to tell right away.

Sure enough, it was less than a second before she recited the title of the book. “The Red Knight Incident,” her face lit up with happiness. “We should tell her right away,” she said as urgently as her meek voice allowed. She took the book from Thane’s hand and started down the hall to tell Twilight the good news. “Twilight,” she called out rather softly, “Twilight, I found the book you’re missing. Thane had it and-” Fluttershy would never finish her sentence.

In an instant, Twilight willed herself back inside Fluttershy’s personal space. “You found it?” Twilight so eagerly asked, her hopes sky high. She seized the book from Fluttershy’s grasp, startling the shy yellow pegasus. After a moment to confirm her claim, the lavender librarian let out a squeal of elation as she flew in circles around the room. She held the old tome close to her body as her high speed release of energy was nearly met with solid stone walls. Her cries of joy continued as she continued her flight down the halls to the book’s proper storage place. Fluttershy had lost her equilibrium tracking Twilight’s path around in so many circles. Instead of falling on the cold unforgiving floor, she found herself resting in Thane’s left hand.

“Does this happen often?” Thane asked, clearly perplexed by what he had just witnessed.

“Ugh,” Fluttershy replied as she fought through the motion sickness, “whenever there’s books involved.”

There was no need to stay inside. The rescue force would arrive in a matter of hours and Thane wanted to be with his brothers, lest he be left behind. As he stepped outside, he could not help but admire the scenery. The dragon carcasses had been carried away to Canterlot for study. Thane was impressed with how such a feat was accomplished. They had deployed dozens of lighter-than-air dirigibles equipped with nets, harnesses, platforms, anything to carry the monstrous beasts by air to the city. They were extremely well coordinated. Each air ship hovered over one dead dragon while as many as a dozen pegasi worked with military precision to secure the body to the ship’s carrying rig. Each time, without fail, the ponies would communicate with arm signals and verbal commands to prepare the carcass for extraction. The pilot worked a series of levers to maneuver the gigantic craft taking care to not damage the surrounding infrastructure or the aircraft itself. The four Blood Angels who were local made it very clear that the downed Thunderhawks were to be left alone. Techmarine Allentz was responsible for maintaining them and that also included recovering them as combat casualties. In a time of war, such rare, precious and powerful vehicles had to be salvaged whenever possible, but only by the Adeptus Mechanicus. These venerated techpriests and engineseers were the only beings in the galaxy capable of doing so.

Besides the dragons, the ponies were also busy clearing debris and rebuilding what had been damaged or destroyed. Medical tents were still lining the streets, but they had since moved aside to clear the streets for supplies, building materials and traffic in the hopes that the town would resume normalcy soon.

The sun was shining in the sky of a clear, nearly cloudless, day. The weather team had been ordered to keep the skies clear to keep watch for any additional threats to the recovering town. As the sun’s rays touched Thane’s face, he felt the heat and feelings of bliss started to fill his heart and mind. Was this an effect of the planet’s sun? It would certainly explain the overall cheerful mood from the locals despite recent events. The wide variety of fur colors sported by the ponies gave Thane a soothing sight to behold. It was certainly more enjoyable than the dull gray interior of a battleship or the rust red deserts of Baal.

“Thane, get over here,” a voice called out to him. It was Delk. He was with Dermek and Ulyss camping under a downed Thunderhawk for cover. He was beckoning Thane to come forth. Without a second thought, Thane started a light jog to regroup with his brothers. Of course, a light jog for a space marine was the equivalent of a mortal running at full speed.

“What is it?” Thane asked upon reaching his brothers.

“We got a response from Gureros,” Delk replied, “Open a data feed, I’ll show you the report.”

This was exciting news for Thane. All this waiting would finally be rewarded with some answers. He still resorted to asking the alien for them, but if the Librarius never learned of his little sin, nothing bad would ever come of it. Thane jammed his helmet over his head and immediately established a connection into his battle brother’s data net. What he received was a heavily redacted report, but it was just enough detail to answer a few of his questions.

[DOCSTART]

[HEADSTART]

Document ID: 159716384A-K44

Time of File: 12:45:23 0-556-792.M41

Transcribing Librarian: Codicier Gal Julias, Blood Angels V Company

[HEADEND]

[CONTENTSTART]

Blood Angels Chapter responded to Ork invasion of manufactorum Guyss-Almans II. Chapter Master Dante dispatched I, II, III, IV, V and VI companies to combat the incursion. Two standard terran days passed before the fleet made contact. Visual reconnaissance confirmed the Ork warband as that of the Fangz clan. The horde was estimated to be over 200,000 members strong led by a war chief known as “Da Big ‘Un”. The fleet started the attack with orbit-to-ground salvos where the warboss was confirmed to be hiding. The horde splintered and began infighting as a result newly created power vacuum. The horde parted into five major splinters and several minor ones. Dante led the I company to follow the largest splinter to a nearby planet, location .

Upon planetfall, the orks had made hasty fortifications amidst ancient xenos ruins not of orkish origin. The terrain was too unstable for vehicular support, so Lord Dante led the charge into the enemy stronghold with veteran assault squads as his retinue. An Eldar Warlock was sighted engaging the orks and was categorized as a low-level priority. Mid battle, the Eldar made contact with Lord Dante and provided tactical information of the ruin’s layout and weaknesses. Dante leveraged this information to secure a decisive victory on the alien world. Tactical squads secured the front and flanks and eliminated any remaining enemy resistance.

Post battle, Lord Dante made contact with the Eldar warrior who aided in the Chapter’s efforts. Full transcription of the dialog between Lord Dante and the Eldar identified as can be found in Imperial document ID . Full account of Lord Dante’s observations can be found in Imperial document ID . Concluding Dante’s exploration of the xenos ruins, he ordered the destruction of any ork fabrications. Once the area was cleared and secured, the entire chapter force, including combat casualties, was ordered off world and back to the Fortress Monastery of Baal for resupply and recovery of battle-damaged chapter assets.

[CONTENTEND]

[DOCEND]

The report Thane got was less than satisfying. He expected a very detailed account of what happened, even if it happened centuries ago. There were records of events that happened several thousand years ago and they survived all this time and were never touched by the censor, so why would this relatively recent event be shrouded in mystery? Lord inquisitors, chief librarians, even the high lords of Terra had the capacity to strike certain information from Imperial records, but something would have had to force their hand to do so. Was there some grand conspiracy at work, corruption or perhaps a deal so secret even the Emperor’s most faithful must be kept unaware?

“This is it?” Thane asked, quite disappointed by the underwhelming and vague report he had requested three days prior.

“This is everything Gureros could find,” Delk replied, equally dissatisfied by the utter lack of information, “He said he ran a dozen different queries, but got only this report each time.”

This experience with Imperial bureaucracy made Thane question how any amount of work ever got done in the Imperium. The information came three days later than he wanted it, it was lean on details, seemingly deliberately so, and worst of all, he didn’t even need to search the archives for the information. The ponies were kind enough to share what they knew, albeit somewhat reluctantly. Either way, he got what he wanted, even if he was uncertain of what he would receive.

It was a good thing this huge cavity existed already, otherwise, the hive would be spending precious weeks carving our enough space to grow before the attack. It was spacious and the cave walls were riddled with crevices to store eggs and food and for the drones to rest between working shifts. Major Fang was quite pleased with the progress of the splinter hive and would soon give the mobilization order. All that remained was Queen Chrysalis’ word and the bounty of loving ponies was as good as theirs.

Waiting for the Queen’s order would not be problematic, as the ground beneath their feet radiated a strange energy. It didn’t taste like love, but it was nourishing all the same. Not quite to the same extent, but it would supplement what meager supplies they had for at least another week. In fact, they could eventually adapt to a diet of nothing but this strange feeling if they were desperate.

“Major,” a messenger drone called out, “the Queen is ready to attack!” Almost instantly, every changeling within earshot was loudly buzzing with eager anticipation of a feast of emotions, love, most notably. The clicking and chittering of exoskeleton segments almost drowned out the buzzing of wings and hissing from gaping maws. Every individual was ready for the invasion, but they required the command to move out. They were akin to mindless working machines, after all.

The major was about to give the order to move, but a sudden and jarring tremor held his tongue. Almost as quickly as the hive roared to life, it was silenced. Another tremor broke the silence. Now the entire hive was agitated, not knowing how to react to this new stimulus. Stranger still to the panicked insectoids was the sudden appearance of a crack along the length of the cavern.

Fearing for the safety of the hive, the major shouted the order to attack in the changeling tongue. It was unfortunate timing, as a large section of the cave floor suddenly collapsed. All the changeling soldiers who had swarmed the floor were swallowed up by the sickly green glow emanating from below. A scant few were caught on the very edge of the divide, struggling to not become the next casualty of the quake. Thousands of changelings were still scrambling for the exit while strange forms started to emerge from the now gaping fissure in the middle of the cave.

The major only caught a glimpse of the frightening array appendages emerging. They looked like all diseased bone and claws. One of them peered its head above the ground to survey its surroundings. The only thing the major could see clearly was the hollow-looking eyes aglow with anger and pain. It was like looking at the thing personified nightmares would fear. Driven by enough desperation, every changeling still alive was able to break their state of spellbound fear and either retreat to the surface or back to the main nest, whichever was closer, but more importantly, away from the newest threat.

The scouts had explored the cave systems thoroughly beforehand and marked the most direct path to the surface with pheromones along the cave walls. The scent was easy enough to follow and besides, the major himself had traversed the caves and become familiar with the cave’s layout. What Fang did not expect was not a forgotten detail of the topography or a cave-in, but an explosion unlike anything he had ever witnessed before. A changeling drone was sprinting as fast as his little legs and wings could carry him when a stream of bright green light whizzed by. Fang’s vision was distorted for only an instant, but in that instant, the sprinting drone lost the left half of his head. It was simply gone, as if it vanished into thin air. The unfortunate drone was dead before he hit the floor.

Fearing the same would happen to him, Fang picked up the pace, as fast as his body could physically go. The same fate befell at least a dozen others before the hive reached a sharp turn that led to the mouth of the cave. The blinding sunlight was a jarring and a painful shift from the pitch-black caves, but it beat being killed, eaten or worse at the hands of this formidable and terrifying foe. Every changeling in what remained of the hive screamed in agony at the blinding light, but they all preferred the relative safety of the dense jungle to the destructive nature of the new enemy they faced.

The tree canopies did not block as much light as he wanted, but Fang felt safer and safer the more distance he put between himself and the attackers that just destroyed his hive. This reprieve did not last, however. Just as he started to calm down and refocus his thoughts, the bark from the surrounding trees started to splinter and vaporize. The green-eyed attackers were not far behind.

As he ran with the rest of the swarm, it started to scatter into many different directions, the hope being that they would not be able to follow in every direction. Unfortunately, hope was a rare commodity in the untamed wilderness of Equestria. Individuals rarely possessed enough to survive more than a day or so on their own. Fang found himself in just such a predicament. His hope for survival vanished when he was struck in the leg by the deadly green beams. Pain shot through his whole body as he lost feeling from the knee down. He slid on the ground and came to rest at the base of a tree, his vision blurred and reddened by the intense pain all over. When he came to, he could not help but scream his animalistic cries of panic at what he saw. The lumbering mass of gray bones with menacing green eyes was fixed on him. A long spear in its right hand was tipped with a sharp head that danced with bluish-green sparks and emitted chirping noises not dissimilar to the venomous soldiers of his own kind. The cloak it wore only amplified its large stature and intimidating facade.

It took three steps toward the gravely injured hive major before it crushed him beneath its heavy feet. For the major, the nightmarish visions had ended. The rest of the hive still fled, scattering in all directions, uncoordinated after the death of their leader. They still had to suffer through the onslaught of a force even more nightmarish than they. To be silenced so soon was a mercy. As for the rest of Equestria, their ordeal had yet to even begin…

Back in Ponyville, the impromptu squad of Blood Angels was waiting for a Thunderhawk extraction. The four marines took shelter near a crashed Thunderhawk and continuously emitted a distress beacon so the pilot could zero in on their location. Each brother faced a different cardinal direction so that they could see the approaching vehicle coming from any direction. Delk and Dermek still did not feel safe around the ponies, so they had their weapons at the ready, but not raised as if preparing for a fight. Thane and Ulyss had become as relaxed as the ponies were with their presence, so they simply took a knee while they watched their assigned sector, weapons locked in place, but ready to draw at a moment’s notice. Thane could not help but glance at his chronos-rune every few moments. His impatience had gotten the best of him yet again. Last he checked, only twenty seconds had passed.

He knew what was going to happen, yet it could not come soon enough. A Thunderhawk carrying a rescue party would arrive in just one hour. They had orders to hold fire while extracting the four stranded marines. ‘The xenos here are not worth the expense of holy rounds’ was Dermek’s excuse. To be fair, there were more ponies on this planet than the entire chapter had bullets, so in terms of raw numbers, that battle would be a foregone conclusion.

Besides, the populace treated them with much more respect than any other xenos race. It felt wrong to attack such hospitality, but even though all four marines thought this, none of them would confess it aloud. The ponies even tried to give parting gifts before the Blood Angels made their departure. Unfortunately, foreign objects would be destroyed before they got anywhere near Imperial worlds or vessels. Any living beings trying to go with them would be quarantined, rigorously decontaminated, cleansed, and painfully dissected before being written off as more xenos filth. Death was only granted when the trials were deemed unfruitful by the apothecary conducting the tests. It was better for the Blood Angels to return to their duty while the ponies stayed on their own world. It was doubtful these peaceful creatures would ever learn the turbulence of the rest of the galaxy in the near future.

Breaking the quiet of the small serene town was something of a low buzzing noise. It was almost inaudible, but each Blood Angel in turn took note of it. Either none of the ponies seemed to notice it or they considered it normal. The space marines had never heard this particular sound before, so it was a cause for investigation.

“Delk,” Dermek asked over the squad vox net, “What do you see to the west?” Delk was already facing west, so he had the best tactical view of that sector. He also asked west because that was the apparent source of the strange sound. Thane glanced over to see what was in that direction, but turned his eyes back south because that was his assigned sector to watch.

There was a short pause while Delk scanned west of the formation. “Mass numbers of insectoid-like creatures. Moving toward our position. Approximately two kilometers to the west-south-west. Unknown allegiance.” As Delk finished his report to the temporary squad leader, Dermek started formulating a plan, but before he could relay it to the rest of the squad, one of the ponies interrupted his thoughts.

“Changelings!” cried one of the relief workers. She was pointing with her hoof to the west where Delk was keeping watch. Her horrified expression told Thane all he needed to know about what she called ‘changelings’, whatever they were. Almost immediately, every other pony in the area looked in that direction, worried and fearful that what she said was true. Thane also looked once again to the west to see if he could see what got their attention. Indeed, small shapes started approaching from the west. These shapes came as a swarm and started to take form as vicious-looking insects. What came to mind was if flies of Nurgle took inspiration from Khorne’s imagery. These creatures must have had history with the ponies, for the entire town went into a state of panic upon sighting the swarm.

The civilian ponies retreated into whatever shelter was sturdy enough to stand between them and the greenish-blue-eyed fanged insects. As the swarm descended to ground level, the town guards went into combat mode, sergeants ordered the formation of battle lines. The pony soldiers brandished bronze colored spear tips which gleamed in the sunlight as they were directed toward the enemy. Throughout the aerial invasion, the Blood angels stood their ground, refusing to change locations for the rescue operation. Dermek ordered melee weapons only to the squad. Any changeling that strayed too close to them soon found himself an obliterated by crushing steel boots, cleaving blades or fists that hit like runaway trains. At first, the swarm was nice and thin, but just minutes into the battle, they started to appear by the hundreds. For every green blood stain and crushed shell that was once a changeling, ten more seemed to appear in its place. Neither side’s resolve wavered one iota.

The meager force stationed in Ponyville was quickly getting overwhelmed as the swarm started to secrete sticky sap from their mouths, effectively immobilizing the soldiers. The battlemages who were close to hand immediately employed a spell they had for neutralizing the gelatinous gunk trapping the otherwise able-bodied combatants. The ponies had quite the system for dealing with flying enemies from the ground. The unicorns would stun the changelings with magic beams, knocking them out of the sky. The ground forces would then pummel or impale the disoriented bugs, thinning out their ranks.

Still, the sheer numbers of the enemy meant that a tactical fallback was in order. The Blood Angels also saw this and decided to relocate, following the retreating mass of ponies. The mages continued to fire into the swarm of airborne changelings. If the fall didn’t kill them, a more focused magic beam, a sharp pike, a ceramite clad fist would find its mark. Despite the collective efforts of the equine and astartes, it didn’t seem like any amount of destroying the enemy was gaining any ground in the battle. There were simply too many to fight.

With the number of changelings filling the air, firing blindly and flailing their blades around was effectively as reliable for hitting targets as skillful strikes and shots. It was a hard-pressed effort, but some of the ponies managed to find defensible shelter in the still-wrecked houses and shops. The Blood Angels had been split up amid the chaos. Thane and Delk made a hasty barricade out of antique furniture and heavy timber beams inside what was once a quaint little shop. Delk’s two pistols were firing as fast as their mechanisms would allow, reloading only while Thane was firing his weapons and keeping the changelings from flooding their hiding spot.

From their spider hole of a wrecked building, the two Blood Angels noticed the swarm finally starting to drop in number. The heard a commander issue a ceasefire order to the unicorn squads. “Don’t hit the bats, they’re on our side,” one of the grunts shouted to his battle buddy. Out in the street, an unusual, but hopeful, sight. A changeling was grappling with a dark-colored pony in combat armor. The pair crashed to the ground, but one had a decisive advantage. The pony had leathery bat-like wings instead of the feathery bird-like ones of the regular ponies. Its jaundiced eyes were filled with dominance and an iron will to emerge victorious. What prevented any one, man or pony, from attacking him was the fact that he was slaughtering the changeling with just his teeth. His sharp fangs were enough to bite through the relatively weak plating behind the neck and at the base of the skull. The sound of flesh being ripped apart and the cracking of chitin would have sickened beings of lesser constitution, but the astartes warriors easily digested the gruesome image. After the bat-pony creature confirmed his kill by spitting out the changeling’s brain stem, he sprang back into the sky to pursue more targets.

Not long after, more changelings started to fall and litter the streets of the once peaceful town. These were killed mid-flight and bore the same wound as the first of its kin to fall. Thane hopped over the makeshift barrier and peered out the window to see a truly welcome spectacle. “Hey, Delk, you have to see this,” Thane said as he beckoned his battle brother out of cover. Up above, the changelings were now evenly matched against the forces of the ponies. It would appear that the elite forces of a different entity had made their way into the fray. They seemed to be allied with the ponies so far established, for they were fighting side by side, slaying the mindless-looking drone-bugs. However, the airborne fighting had nothing to do with the havoc being wrought on the ground. In fact, there was quite a fight going on just a block away and it sounded like the other two Blood Angels were involved. The familiar pops and bangs of bolter fire punctuated the changelings’ buzzing and hissing.

Closing the distance between them and their comrades, the pair of warriors’ motion trackers picked up a large hostile entity approaching their position. Looking up, it came from above. The sun’s glare obstructed Thane’s vision, but he could make out the shape of a thickly built object barreling toward him from above. It may be an enemy trying to ambush him or it may be a large piece of debris, but regardless, Thane’s first instinct was to evade and draw his weapons. The two Blood Angels split up and stood on either side of the street. Thane had his pistol and chainsword ready while Delk sported his new favorite configuration of two bolt pistols. As the Codex Astartes dictated in battle, they held their fire until they could identify the threat. No sense in wasting ammo on a large slab of rock.

As the object made impact, its many details came into focus. It was similar to the changelings in aesthetic, but it was bipedal in nature. The closest comparison that came to Thane’s mind was an astartes Terminator corrupted by chaos. It was almost as large as one and its thick torso carapace probably served as natural body armor. If it was trying to ambush the space marines, it certainly could have picked a more graceful way to land than flat on its face with one arm missing. It slowly picked itself up with the arm it still had and shook off the daze as it scanned its surroundings trying to get its bearings. As soon as it caught sight of the two Blood Angels, its blank green eyes widened in pure fear as it let out a shriek of panic from its broken jaw. The way it was running away from them resembled a wounded animal trying to escape from its natural predator. As it scrambled on what working limbs it had, the duo of marines let loose two dozen deadly bolt pistol rounds from a total of three vengeful weapons into its exposed back. The hulking mass of flesh and bony plates was poorly protected from the rear, much like Terminators, which is why it was so strange to see this creature behave this way, especially if it was aware of its own weakness. It wasn’t worth pondering as it was dead before the bolter casings finished raining to the ground. In fact, it was probably dead around the seventh or eighth shot, but it never hurt to be sure.

After the two marines reloaded and regrouped, a blood curling roar could be heard from a nearby source. Just on the other side of a row of houses, in fact. It was also where their remaining battle brothers were located, according to their retinal displays. A disheartening status symbol appeared over the icon representing Ulyss. This icon represented a brother in critical condition.

“We have to reach the others now,” Delk stressed as his mind raced to come up with a quick plan of action.

“How are we supposed to reach them?” Thane asked his brother, his question intending to be how they were supposed to arrive together. Both Thane and Delk were aware of the situation and the urgency of their arrival, but only Thane was capable of traversing the streets freely. Jump packs were powerful pieces of equipment, but they were only designed to carry the wearer and struggled to handle much more. Delk was constrained to the surface streets, only able to go where walls did not reach higher than his own jump height. These buildings were still intact and for hundreds of yards in either direction, it looked like one large, long structure, so passing through them was not an option. However, Thane still had his jump pack and its was still good for several more jumps.

“You go on ahead,” Delk replied, gesturing for Thane to go up and over the building, “I’ll go around and catch up.” As Delk took off down the street, Thane noticed a collapsed section of the mass housing structure far down the street. Thane realized that Delk already took note of this and formulated a plan that can still include him arriving to his battle brothers’ aid. Though the Codex warned against splitting up from a group, it also stated that ‘A skilled warrior’s judgement can mean the difference between winning a battle and losing it. To deviate from combat tactics is not criminal, but rather a risk. A skilled warrior knows how to balance risks, mitigate them and take chances worth taking to emerge victorious. This is the price of victory and all men must be willing to pay it.’ As long as Thane arrived as early as he could, Delk would make all haste to join them and reinforce the Blood Angels’ ranks.

One roaring leap later, Thane was atop the building, the roof surprisingly strong enough to support his weight. Just fifty yards away, a most disturbing sight was presented to Thane. Dermek was fighting ferociously against a pair of the changeling juggernauts. His weapons were nowhere to be seen and he appeared fatigued from the recent fighting. He had even lost his helmet in the violent scuffle. Four of the changeling behemoths had already fallen. Two were riddled with holes and scorch marks, likely from powerful hellfire rounds, and the others looked like they were bludgeoned to death, their bodies caved in as if from a heavy club or a similar blunt object. Dermek was using all the strength he could muster to keep the giant from laying its rending claws on him while the other was moving to flank him. Ulyss was flat on his back off in one area of the courtyard bleeding from his chest and left arm. A long set of claw marks marked where he had been struck. He was barely alive, which is probably why the alien giants were focused on Dermek. They would finish Ulyss after the one who could still fight back.

Without a second thought, Thane leapt into the fray, his jump pack propelling him toward the flanking one with all the grace and subtlety of an angry crimson rocket. He led his charge with the heel of his boot. His target saw his approach and took a wide stance as it braced for the tremendous impact. With a thunderous slam into the enemy, he could feel the armored breastbone flex and crack as it absorbed the energy of the collision of the two heavy warriors. The impact slid the pair of combatants back almost twenty feet, leaving deep tracks where the insectoids feet dug in and pushed back. What Thane didn’t notice until it was too late was the beast’s mighty arms grabbing his waist, then slamming him to the ground back first. The next thing Thane saw was the underside of the menacing goliath’s foot, poised to slam down and crush him. Thane had confidence in his battleplate, but he had not properly serviced it since his arrival on the planet. Field repairs would only stand up to so much punishment before the damage started to show again. It certainly wouldn’t stop a heavyweight force such as this. In an act of desperation, Thane activated his jump pack, hoping to put distance between him and his soon-to-be assailant. The twin turbines roared to life, dragging the downed warrior on his back, but more importantly, allowing him to evade a fatal blow.

It took the colossal creature a moment to realize what had happened, but in that interval, Thane had rolled back onto his feet and drew the two pistols at his side. Both fighters were determined to deliver the final blow, however long it took to land it. The changeling goliath had fists ready to strike and was charging at a speed that belied its hulking form. The enraged roar it let out was all the more proof it was determined to kill. As it made its charge, Thane opened fire with his pair of pistols. He fired each weapon simultaneously. The theory he had concocted on the spot was that two rounds striking at the same time carried twice the force of a single round. If his flying kick did not break this beast, perhaps a salvo of high explosive-tipped miniature rockets would have more of an effect. Sure enough, the beast stopped its charge, stunned by the incredible force it felt as its breastbone slowly cracked a little more after each hit.

The last rounds must have finally broken through the formidable carapace, because the trickle of blood down the alien’s chest told Thane that he was slowly gaining the upper hand. After all eight rounds from both pistols were spent, Thane discarded his side arms and charged the stunned creature with his shoulder, knocking it back a good six feet and flat on its back. Climbing atop his prone adversary, Thane raised his right foot and slammed it down on the point where he punctured the changeling’s armored front. His foot shattered the breastbone and drove through muscle, sinew, organs and what he assumed was a spinal column, but what precisely he hit was not his primary focus.

The beast let out as loud a wail of pain as its collapsed lungs would allow as it flailed around in agony. Thane had been given a golden opportunity to seize victory and he had no intention of letting it slip by. He raised his chainsword above his head holding it with both hands, the tip facing the creatures head. With one final, decisive thrust, he buried the roaring chain weapon into the abomination’s gaping mouth. As he ground the last ounces of life from his foe, bits of bone, teeth, brain matter and a shower of spit and blood sprayed from the whirring razor-sharp teeth of the chainsword. The rush of adrenalin and racing emotions was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. This is how victory tastes, Thane thought to himself, relishing the feeling, I could get used to this. Once he was certain the beast was dead, he refocused his efforts on his battle brother’s aid. He yanked his foot out of the changeling’s corpse and ran to Dermek’s aid. However, it would appear that the senior Blood Angel was wrapping up his own encounter already.

While Thane dealt with his changeling, Dermek was still grappling with his, but this space marine had over one hundred years of training and instinct under his belt, so had a clear edge over his opponent. Dermek executed a textbook leg sweep takedown from his standing position, getting the lumbering behemoth on its back. He still had control over one of the creature’s arms and took full advantage of it. With herculean amounts of strength that could contend with the Thunder Warriors of ancient times, Dermek ripped the beast’s arm from its socket. He tore muscle and ligaments away from solid exoskeletal anchor points, the claw went limp as the body to which it was once attached could no longer command it.

With a newfound weapon in hand, Dermek used the creature’s own dismembered limb as a club against its poorly guarded face. Each time, the arm swung in a different direction as the sickening cracks of bone against fractured bone echoed through the courtyard. Once the arm had been worn down enough, Dermek decided to get up close and personal. He mounted the monster’s chest and unleashed a furious punishing volley of punches, jabs and any strike he could think of to do damage. Its face quickly devolved into a mess of blood, spittle, bone fragments, brain matter and several other green bodily fluids that don’t naturally mix. His screams of primal rage almost completely drowned out the tenderizing of flesh and splitting of exoskeleton armor plates. Even as the creature ceased resisting and most certainly died, his onslaught did not let up. It was like Dermek was completely lost in the fury of battle.

Thane called out to Dermek three times before he got a response. However, the response he got was simply a cessation of obliterating its already destroyed face. Dermek stopped with one fist raised, as if to land yet another blow, but something brought him back to his senses. As he calmed down and lowered his fist, his gaze remained fixed on the kill he just made. His heavy breathing was now the only sound to be heard. Thane started to approach his agitated comrade, but was met with a raised fist and a face with rejuvenated anger.

“Woah, brother,” Thane said calmly as he could as he jumped back, hands raised to show he was unarmed, “It’s just me, Thane. You know, the new blood.” Thane removed his helmet to verify his assertion. This seemed to calm Dermek down back to his cool and collected demeanor with which Thane was familiar.

“Right,” Dermek said quietly as he lowered his arm and uncurled his fists, “Thane.” He was calm again, but something was off about him. He seemed distracted or disturbed by something. Finally, Delk entered the courtyard after crashing through a wooden gate leading into the area. Thane jumped and whirled around immediately to see what the trouble was. He relaxed once he identified it as friendly. Dermek gave no reaction whatsoever. He just slowly walked over to his discarded bolter, brushed off the dust and loaded a fresh magazine.

“What in His name happened here?” Delk asked. He heard the commotion come to a close and feared the worst, but could not conclude how the scene before him came to be. Before Thane could speak, Ulyss finished administering first aid to himself and rose to his feet.

“Brothers,” Ulyss called out as he approached the group, “How do you fare? Is anyone wounded?” Apart from Ulyss’ own flesh wound from earlier, which was now somewhat healed, the squad was still in good fighting shape. The astartes medic looked around to verify the health of his team, as was his sacred duty. His visual examination stopped when he noticed the look on Dermek’s face. He knew this look. He had seen it before and each time he did, he prayed it would finally be the last time. Only those who had nearly been lost wore this expression.

“Dermek?” he asked calmly, as if somewhat afraid of what he might say to enrage or offend his battle brother, “What about you?”

“I’m fine,” he replied quickly and sharply, hoping to shut down further discussion.

“Brother, if it happened again, you’re not fine,” Ulyss asserted as he put his hand on Dermek’s shoulder.

“I said I’m fine!” Dermek violently shrugged Ulyss off his shoulder as he started to form fists, but restrained his urge to lash out. He had made his point that he didn’t want to bring up this sore subject.

“Dermek, relax,” Delk interrupted before things got too heated. He was used to mediating between quarreling brothers and had settled several disputes before they turned violent or even destructive. “We still have ten minutes until we extract. Let us move back to the rally point. We will back on the Sanguine Saint soon enough.” This reassurance seemed to calm Dermek down. Delk escorted Dermek out of the open area strewn with bodies and collapsed walls. Ulyss waited for the pair to get some distance ahead before he and Thane started following. Crowding the agitated marine would only make the situation worse. As Thane and Ulyss stepped off, Thane’s need for knowledge surfaced again and this time, he decided to query a verified source of information.

“Is there something wrong with him?” Thane asked quietly to Ulyss. Both soldiers understood which ‘him’ Thane was talking about. It was a few moments before Ulyss spoke. He was trying to formulate a response that would explain the his brother’s behavior, but he could not avoid the subject of the chapter’s curse. Finally, Ulyss decided to expose Thane to one of the Blood Angels’ most shameful secrets.

“He suffers from the Black Rage. It’s a curse on our chapter.” The medic’s words were chilling, but Thane still had more questions. A curse? As in heretical sorcery? Do all Blood Angels carry this blight? Do I possess this flaw? Is there treatment or a cure? Ulyss was still talking, so perhaps some of his many questions would be answered.

“Whenever a Blood Angel is pushed far enough,” Ulyss explained, “he risks losing control of his emotions and going berserk.” Even at a distance of twenty paces, Dermek could hear the whispered conversation of the two behind him. If Thane did not know the dangers of the curse, there would be no better time to learn about it than now.

“The damaging effects get more pronounced as the warrior ages,” Ulyss continued, “There have been too many good brothers lost to their rage. Once overcome, it’s difficult to bring him back.”

“Am I at risk of being consumed?” Thane asked. For the first time in decades, he felt genuine fear for his life. Though he was categorically superior to any mortal man, he never thought that he, an adeptus astartes, could be so fallible.

“I wouldn’t dismiss the possibility,” Ulyss replied, choosing his words carefully, “but at your young age, it may not even be noticeable. When you walk the miles I have, you’ll learn to appreciate the calmer moments. I myself have been to the brink and back once, but that was enough.”

Space marines were renowned for their unflinching discipline and wills of tempered steel, but was that alone truly no defense against a genetically inherited curse? Was it just an unfortunate fact of Thane’s, and by extension his entire chapter’s, existence? How long would it be before the junior battle brother would taste this cursed wrath? Was even the venerable Lord Dante susceptible to this affliction?

Ulyss wished not to discuss such a grim topic any further. He decided that just the knowledge of the Black Rage was depressing enough. He would spare the details of the Death Company, brothers who were branded as lost to their curse. Chaplain Talmadge had a harrowing job leading the suicide missions of that company of lost souls. Even withholding this amount of information, Thane still had a lot to think about. He was beginning to see how even a god amongst men could be so vulnerable by design.

Back at the rendezvous point for the Thunderhawk extraction, Thane, Ulyss and Delk kept a vigilant eye open for the rescue ship, and the other on their disturbed battle brother. He was being unusually quiet, even for him. Still, he pulled his share of duty and watched the sky in case the rescue party approached from his field of view. The last vox communication they received indicated a pick up time of approximately two minutes. At last, Delk spotted the tell-tale figure of the heavy gunship making its approach, searching for the stranded marines.

“I see it,” he announced as he immediately opened a vox channel to the pilot. “Volaire, this is brother Delk. I have you at approximately twenty kilometers out, azimuth 165 degrees, over.”

“This is Volaire, I see you, brothers. Beginning my descent, over.” All four marines knew that in less than two minutes, their mission would be over. After a brief period of rest, they would observe their wargear rites, wash themselves, rearm and redeploy to their next assignment. Dermek was especially anxious to move out, as he was in dire need of treatment for his condition.

Unfortunately, as soon as aid seemed possible, it was wrenched away by an unforeseen force. Without warning, the approaching gunship was hit. Exactly what with was uncertain, as the only thing clearly visible was a green salvo of what could be either fast projectiles or powerful concentrated energy. Whatever it was, it was powerful enough to punch through the heavily armored fuel tanks and ignite the ship’s fuel reserves with just one hit. From so far away, their feeling of helplessness only grew as the flaming wreck spiraled to the ground. Even though the pilot and the rescue party were surely dead, Ulyss tried in vain to contact the ship, hoping that there was still a slim chance to complete the mission.

“What happened?” Thane asked frantically. Dermek’s heartrate skyrocketed and his breathing got ragged and more anxious than before. Ulyss had no response. He did not want to dash their hopes as his had been, but he couldn’t just stay silent. He wouldn’t need to reply, as the answer came sooner than any of them expected.

The answer came in the form of a shape flying over the tree line to the west. It was not just one, but a large fleet of crescent moon-shaped craft. Each one was accented with the same emerald shade that brought down the Thunderhawk. Their dull gunmetal silver wings were like twin scythes approaching to harvest their very souls. If the changelings’ very presence in Equestria terrified every pony in the town to their very core, then these new foes invoked a fear that was orders of magnitude worse. They were utterly alien, unlike any creature ever seen by any being on this planet, to include the space marines. The fleet moved with military precision, precisely five to a squadron, each formation a chevron exactly 120 degrees wide. Not one deviated from its flight path even slightly. The pony civilians and guards alike panicked and sought shelter, though it would not protect them from what this invading force had in store for them. The Blood Angels had a feeling of unease, but their cast iron discipline kept their feet planted in place.

“Delk, what do we do?” Thane asked Delk. As the most senior member of the squad, it was now Delk’s duty to lead them through the battles ahead. Thinking tactically, Delk wasted no time weighing all the possible options and outcomes, but all he got was defeat at the hands of this new enemy. They had more craft than the squad had remaining rounds of ammo and worse, he had absolutely no idea of the enemy’s capabilities. These could be troop transports, heavy attack vehicles, or even each one a weapon of mass destruction. A frontal assault was out of the question. They could not split up, for it would weaken them beyond their already underequipped force. Delk repeatedly concluded that retreat was the only feasible option.

“Fall back! Get away from them!” Delk ordered. The squad immediately ran as fast as they could wherever was away from the deathly shadows of the scythe-ships headed their way. They had no fallback point, but rather decided to follow the mass of retreating ponies. They seemed to favor one place above all else: the Castle of Friendship at the center of Ponyville. Perhaps it was a sacred place where the faith of hundreds could somehow protect them from harm. Unlikely as it was, the structure was still sound enough to withstand whatever firepower the enemy might field. How long this desperate strategy would last, no one could guess, but it was incredibly motivating knowing that shelter was at least a possibility. “Get into the castle!” Delk said as he changed the formation’s bearing to head to the center of town.

Amidst the screaming and hysterical panicking of the ponies, one small figure was frozen solid with fear flooding her face. She could only stare upwards, completely unable to do anything aside from cower and shiver at the incoming shapes and the stampede of others around her. It was a miracle she had not already been trampled to death by ponies more concerned about their own lives over hers. Whatever possessed Thane to do so, he scooped up the child pony as he charged by her position, saving her from a horde of others all too eager to run for their lives. He held her close as he barreled down the street with his fellow astartes brothers. By virtue of being the biggest beings running, they were among the first to reach the gates of the castle. Several guards had already reached the castle and were acting as ushers and crowd control, herding the incoming ponies into whatever space the castle had to offer for protection.

As the Blood Angels entered, they got some strange looks from the guards, but they quickly returned to their duty. The squad set up a somewhat defensible position near the base of a staircase. Ulyss tried to vox the company battle barge, but could get no response. Dermek had his boltgun at the ready in case anything more aggressive than a fly made moves in his direction. Delk was busy formulating a new plan of action, but despaired at the prospect of having nowhere to go and nothing that could be done against the adversary just beyond the gates of their temporary sanctuary. Thane looked around and watched the deluge of refugees flood the castle lobby scramble to find shelter and rest after exerting themselves running to safety.

It was now that Thane could get a good look at the small pony he had saved in the street just a minute ago. She was still curled up in terror, but now her eyes flowed with tears and she sobbed so heavily it sounded like she had difficulty breathing. Her body was small enough to fit into the palm of his oversized hand. She was so rattled by her recent ordeal she didn’t even notice Thane looking down on her, even if her mane wasn’t partially obscuring her vision. What was he to do with her now? Where he was ultimately going, there was no place for the little one. Did she have family or friends before this? Who should he ask for help?

“Hey, little one,” Thane said quietly, trying to get the small pony’s attention. She looked up slowly to see the scowling helmet of a space marine staring back at her. “Relax,” he told her, “you’re OK.” His reassurance seemed to calm her down at least a little.

“Muffin?” a voice asked from a distance. To this, she had quite a positive reaction. “Mommy!” she cried out as her hears perked up, her eyes widened and focused on an object at the far corner of the room. Looking in the same direction as the small one, he only caught a glimpse of a streak out of the corner of his eye. Following the trail of color back to his hand, the small pony was gone. Further tracing the trail lead to a gray mare with blonde hair now holding the small pony in her clutches. The duo resembled a mother reuniting with her lost child. Both had smiles of boundless glee, tears of joy running down their soft faces. They must have gotten separated in the mayhem.

“Thank you, stranger, thank you so much” the mother said as she turned back to Thane. She had such gratitude and praise in her voice.

“You’re welcome,” was the only response he could think to give.

Her teary eyes could not open all the way, but Thane could tell they were unfocussed. Was that a result of an injury from the panicked crowd, a birth defect, or was she so emotional that her eyes crossed? It seemed to be unique to her, as no other pony displayed this trait. As the mother carried her daughter to the safety of the ground, the small unicorn filly waved goodbye. She no longer wore a face of fright, but one of joy and gratitude, she appeared to approve of Thane. Whatever instinct was guiding Thane, he slowly waved back, giving the filly an even bigger grin of delight. For whatever reason, it felt unbelievably satisfying to behold this sight.

“It’s the Princess!” exclaimed one of the refugees, “And she has the Elements of Harmony!” another chimed in. Looking up to the top of the foyer’s staircase, there stood Twilight and her entourage. She and her friends wore neck pendants reminiscent of a rosarius. Each one was different in design, but they were clearly alike in significance. The only standout was Twilight and her crown-like artifact. In Thane’s mind, it was akin to an iron halo which was even more rare and powerful than the rosarius pendants.

“Listen up everypony,” Twilight announced, gaining everyone’s undivided attention, “Princesses Celestia and Luna are on their way with their armies to repel these new threats,” she announced, calming much of the fear and disorder that had once dominated the room. “In the meantime,” she continued as she made her way down the stairs, “remain calm while my friends and I erect a barrier around the castle.” As she led her fellow element bearers outside to raise the defenses of which she spoke, her horn was already aglow with the preparatory spell to defend the castle and all the people within.

After a few tense moments, a bright azure beam of light shot straight up into the sky and evolved into a dome-shaped shield which enveloped the entire castle in a corporeal-looking barrier. Ponies were once again calm and confident in their chances for survival. However, the more strategically minded, to include the Blood Angels, were looking past this and silently wondering just how long the shield would last before they would be slaughtered by the ever-increasing numbers of ships filling the sky. With this grim thought growing in the back of his mind, Thane returned to his squad mates, hoping they could provide some additional comfort for him. Ulyss was still trying to contact the company in orbit, but his vox caster simply could not reach his space bound brethren.

“They wouldn’t just leave us here, would they?” Thane asked his squad. His helmet hid his face of despair as he prepared to receive the worst answer he could imagine.

“Of course not, brother,” Delk replied as he placed his hand on Thane’s uneasy shoulder, “What’s the fourth core value of the Warrior’s Creed?” Why would he ask me that now, Thane wondered before giving his reply.

“I will never leave a fallen battle brother,” Thane repeated verbatim while simultaneously analyzing every possible aspect, context and hidden meaning for this phrase. He knew the creed by heart, but it took a moment for him to connect the dots. Every astartes warrior knew, lived, breathed and died by this code. His brothers in orbit were still in orbit and they would not leave without him. This set Thane’s fears aside and he relaxed his tense shoulders. Delk could feel it even through his young brother’s thick shoulder guard.

“The Emperor has not abandoned you, Thane,” Delk reassured, “Neither have the Blood Angels, nor I.” The resolve in his voice was almost palpable. Without another word, both warriors knew that they had only to hold out until the rest of the company could break through the enemy lines. They would not be left behind. Thane had all possible faith in his brothers, but despite this, rescue still seemed like a remote possibility. He secretly wished the ponies could somehow help, but despite his liking of them, he still found it hard to trust them to mount an effective counterattack to this new menace looming over them.

Far above the ground, much higher than any pegasus normally flew, drifted a massive lighter-than-air troop transport. It was but one of dozens deployed to the Everfree Forest air space. The original intent was to overwhelm the changeling presence with a deluge of air assault troops, but now the situation had changed. The last fragments of the swarm had been crushed by the time they reached Ponyville, but something was attacking them from behind. The generals in Canterlot who got the reports could see the writing on the wall. The changeling swarm was being flushed out of the forest by a greater force. Whatever it was, it was relentless in its slaughter and advance. It was also unified, for the scouts reported such precision and coordination it its movements. Thus, the 31st airborne division, also known as Celestia’s Angels, took flight and readied themselves for battle.

The soft hum of the engines reverberated through the hull of the airship. An entire platoon of Equestrian Air Guard patiently waited for their cue to spring into action. Every single one of them was a pegasus. Their massive wings only made their musclebound bodies even more intimidating. The ten five-pony squads were lined up to jump out the back ramp, each one packed tightly into the low cargo hold. They would not jump until the ramp deployed and the ramp would not deploy until the unicorns finished their assault from a distance.

There was also a platoon of unicorns from the 75th battlemage division on board. They were using their magical attacks to try to affect the enemy’s ranks. They were having some effect, for the enemy would not be firing back otherwise. From a narrow viewport, some of the pegasi caught glimpses of green beams whizzing past the ship. This wasn’t the battlemages, their attacks were bright red, violet and blue. Green was not one of the colors emitted by the most powerful attacks the military could field. The spells were highly taxing on the caster, but nothing less than devastating would do for this battalion of battle-hardened soldiers. Besides, they could endure for however long the battle would last. They had magic reserves to rival Princess Celestia herself.

Long before they were scheduled to arrive over the drop zone, the whole ship rocked with a violent shift to one side, then the other, throwing ponies all over the place. The squad leaders were shouting to the other members to reform. The engines whined as they compensated for the structural damage. Metal plates and panels rattled as the dirigible struggled to stay together. In an act of desperation, the pilot decided to unleash the soldiers inside early. Though they were not supposed to drop so soon, the latch on the ramp released, revealing the world from above the clouds.

Ponyville looked like a tiny settlement from up here. The individual houses were indistinguishable, but the landmark Castle of Friendship had already deployed a defensive shield spell. Just above the town was a mass of black and green objects slowly advancing, spreading north and west. Were they some type of bird or a strange craft? The fleet was almost two miles above the ground, so small details were lost on everypony this high up. The only thing that was certain was that they were a threat to Ponyville. The green beams from earlier were still flying around all through the fleet. They originated from the swarm of crescent moon-shaped enemies from below.

It seemed that these strange creatures considered the airborne fleet a threat and fired back, as would any fighting force. They also considered the shielded castle a target as well and bombarded its surface with the same deadly-looking bolts. They could shoot at the soldiers all day long, but when the citizens of Equestria are threatened, anything they do becomes unforgivable. Each and every soldier in the sky now had it in his mind to destroy these attackers so thoroughly that they couldn’t possibly come back for a second round.

The platoon sergeant led the mass of soldiers out the hangar, each one fearlessly jumping out and regrouping with their respective team as they dove at ludicrous speeds. The beams of light were still coming at them, but the individual squads were spread out enough such that the platoon was not just one big target. Each team dodged and weaved to present a moving target for the enemy. Each chevron of ponies was spreading out wider and wider from the main cluster to disperse the enemy fire.

The airship from which the platoon jumped was badly damaged by the salvo of shots fired. The thick canvas of the ship’s hot air envelope had been punctured. The ship could deal with small punctures and holes, but these quickly cascaded into large tears, rendering the envelope useless for keeping the ship aloft. It was clear that this ship could not continue the fight. The ship may not have been rigid in structure, however, but the captain and his crew inside certainly were. The gondola underneath deployed a set of wings for gliding to the ground. The captain ordered the release of the air envelope. As the gondola dropped like a stone in water, it stabilized and began its final duty: returning to its base to be repaired and redeployed. The immense leather sack fluttered away like a discarded paper bag. It was designed to be expendable, for the crew inside was certainly not.

The rest of the fleet unleashed their packs of vengeful Angels upon the enemy, like of a deluge of golden clad rabid dogs, only these dogs were trained killers and defenders of peace. Perhaps it was the glare from their golden armor or perhaps their aim was off, but the Angels were getting through the enemy’s suppressing fire with relative ease. As the battalion neared their targets, each soldier readied a special close combat weapon from their sides. A pair of rending claws enchanted with a powerful destructive spell. With this spell, the razor sharp blades wouldn’t actually be cutting, but rather the magic within the weapons would simply part whatever substance it was stabbed through. The energy field would do all the work and the metal would remain sharp so that even if the enchantment wore off, it was still a deadly weapon for a deadly warrior.

Working in groups of at least five, each team tackled a single craft. The sergeant targeted the most important-looking member of the apparatus: the pilot. The sight of this creature alone would have sent lesser ponies running in terror. It was only a torso, two arms tipped with claws and a tall skull that almost seemed diseased in its life and poorly maintained after death. It appeared only to be composed of bones of a creature not native to Equestria. Whatever magic gave it life must have been malevolent because its whole body gave off an unsettling iridescent green glow. The soulless skeleton and the indomitable section chief locked eyes as the two began to fight to the death.

Every pony else in the squad went hog wild, slashing the wings, any weapons bristling from the hull and the engines which seemed to propel the contraption forward. The sergeant had quite a hard time fighting the pilot. It seemed that this menacing-looking skeleton torso could multi-task, fighting in close combat as well as maintaining control of the ship. The two traded blows for several tense and adrenalin fueled moments that seemed like hours. As the ship lurched to one side, the sergeant noticed that his team had all come together to hack and saw one of the wings off the ship. The pilot took one last futile swing at the sergeant before he jumped clear of the craft now listing heavily to the left. Soon, it spiraled out of control and hit the ground, exploding in a brilliant emerald green, sending debris and fragments of the former ship in all directions. Without even pausing for a moment of celebration, the squad reformed and set their sights on a new target.

While many squads emerged victorious from each encounter no worse for wear, others were not so fortunate. Some of the mechanical pilots were able to overpower the squad, landing a killing blow or having a fellow pilot deal with the assaulting ponies. It was like these machines had a living being guiding them, for up close, they were deadly accurate with such heavy lumbering flying machines. Only a living creature could make such fine judgement calls in the heat of battle, yet there seemed to be no way to explain the behavior of the foes before them. To make matters worse, the flying crafts seemed to be able to regenerate. Those with dents, small scratches and other minor damage could heal and return to their former fighting condition in just minutes.

The green skeleton menaces continued to pour from the Everfree Forest just as quickly as the ponies’ defense forces could destroy them. Canterlot had deployed all of its active duty forces and was currently calling all reservists into action. A few honorable retirees heard the call and donned their old duty uniforms to once again protect and serve, however they could. Beyond Equestria, Griffonstone, the Crystal Empire, even the various dragon clans took notice of the mayhem taking place in the normally peaceful nation.

Regardless of whether they mobilized in self-defense or to come to the aid of an ally, nearly every kingdom, village, territory, tribe, gang and legendary fighting creature in the known land had taken up arms to take part in this unprecedented conflict. In the coming days, armies would clash and grind each other to dust. The very landscape would change before titanic forces. Heroes would be given the ultimate trial, wills would be tested and inordinate amounts soldiers and resources would be spent to reestablish the calm peace that Equestria had enjoyed for over a millennium. The current generations of ponies were largely unaccustomed to armed conflict, but a scant few were trained for just such a climate. They would survive, but as for the rest, big, pivotal questions remained to be answered. Would a thousand years of peace prove to be the complacency that spelled out the Fall of Equestria? How many innocents would pay the ultimate price? What would be lost even if victory could be claimed? Was peace and tranquility now a thing of the past? What would be their fate if they should suffer defeat? The dice had been cast, now the only thing left to do was await the results.

"Manehattan"

It had been mere hours since the shield was cast over the castle, but the constant barrage of enemy fire was wearing it down pretty visibly. There were cracks starting to form at the spot where the heaviest fire struck. Twilight and her friends were struggling to summon the strength to maintain the barrier. These Elements of Harmony were powerful, especially in the hands of a potent psyker like Twilight. These green skeleton fighters, it seems had the power to overcome such a strong defense. The magical strain was even starting to show on the other five ponies. The guards who were once inside the castle walls now stood in a defensive perimeter around the six Element bearers, ready to catch them after they collapse from exhaustion.

After such a long effort, Fluttershy was the first to pass out. Two of the troopers hauled her body into the safety of the castle while the remaining five focused their energy into the barrier. The largest bolt of energy yet cast upon the shield struck with enough force to deform the very shape of the shield and knock Rarity and Pinkie out of the fight. Two more guards ushered them away while the first two returned to the remaining three as bodyguards. Applejack, Twilight and Rainbow Dash were sweating profusely under the colossal effort to maintain what little shielding was left. Twilight’s legs buckled as her body finally failed to provide the magic necessary to shield the castle. Four unicorn guards collectively cast a ward just large enough for themselves and the incapacitated Element bearers. The massive dome separating the ponies from the invaders shattered like a massive glass pane, but the shards simply vanished into the ether before they hit the ground.

As the enemy advanced their infantry, the remaining guards were hard pressed to deflect the incoming fire as they retreated back to the fortifications that remained of the castle. The green fizzing bolts were difficult to deflect with just the unicorns’ personal defense spells. Each bolt deflected nearly penetrated the magical aura and still managed to singe the guards armor despite their best efforts. Closing the distance between the two forces, the advancing aliens increased their fire rate on the weakened retreating force. Before the first pony could be struck down, the Blood Angels had taken up firing positions just inside the main doors. Dermek and Delk laid down suppressive counter fire, not scattering the enemy formation, but eliminating the first few enemy combatants. Bolt pistol rounds and hellfire rounds struck the suspected weak points of the walking skeletons, center mass and the center of the skull.

Pony and astartes warriors were running low on stamina and ammunition, eroding their morale as the front lines closed in. Twilight and her friends had been withdrawn and the only defenses left were weary unicorns casting defensive wards and the last few holy rounds the Blood Angels had left. Even the citizens inside were growing more and more restless and afraid for their lives. Not wavering was the tireless mechanical stamina and resolve of the enemy. It would take a miracle to win the battle at this point. Fortunately, it would seem that something heard their prayers.

Seemingly from nowhere, a flaming comet came crashing down with a deafening roar and an earth-shattering impact. The ensuing flame storm seemed to possess both intelligence and preference. The castle of Friendship was untouched by the flames and the skeletal warriors were completely engulfed in them. The astartes warriors’ melanochrome implant kicked into high gear, darkening their skin and shielding them from the intense heat. So intense was the blaze that the skeleton attackers that did not explode simply melted into a warped mass of molten metal. The sickly green glow in their eyes was extinguished and what life they may have had simply ceased along with their movements.

The sea of fire parted to reveal a pony standing in the center of the inferno. One of a large stature possessing both the wide wings and long horn of a powerful alicorn. Its impressive mane and tail appeared to be comprised of fire, as it danced with as much energy as a raging flame. Where its eyes should have been, only a blinding white beacon projected. It cast a shield around itself like the ones the guards had been using, but this one was orders of magnitude more powerful. The green rays were not just being deflected at extreme angles into safe directions, but a few were even reflected back doing considerable damage to even the heavily armored enemies. What’s more, its horn was ablaze, not just aglow, with the same magic currently burning the battlefield and the enemy combatants. As the creature turned to engage the various targets surrounding it, the sigil on its flank came into view. Anyone who came into contact with its bearer knew right away who this really was.

“Come on, stallions,” shouted a nearby pony commander, “Our Princess is holding the front lines by herself! Don’t leave her out in the wind! Go! Push ‘em back!” This rallying cry inspired the previously idle soldiers to charge into the ensuing chaos, fear completely absent from their faces. To the Blood Angels’ surprise, the fire-weakened skeletons were slayable by just a few ponies. They were even able to slowly push the front lines back, if only by inches. Perhaps this battle could be won after all.

“Delk,” Ulyss called out, “what do you want to do?” Once again, Delk considered his options carefully. It was a pretty even match between the ponies and the fearsome metal skeletons, but even just four space marines could turn the tide of this battle.

“Move up to the 11 o’clock,” Delk ordered, “bring down that heavy support unit.” He was pointing out a heavily armed vehicle kept afloat by some antigrav-style technology. It was like a man-sized skimmer vehicle piloted by just the torso of their ghastly foe. Its entire right arm was replaced with a massive cannon, discharging heavy fire at unrealistic rates for a weapon so massive. To take down this creature would likely be as much work as felling an astartes Terminator. Celestia’s shield spell was certainly powerful, but it struggled against the might of the skimmer’s weapon and she was visibly getting fatigued from exerting so much effort.

Without hesitation, the four Blood Angels advanced towards the thickest part of the enemy ranks. This is also where the ponies’ ranks were being slain at an alarming rate. The astartes warriors arrived just in time to plug the new hole in the battle line. Dermek, however, seemed more eager to engage the enemy and destroy them in close combat. He left his battle brothers behind while he charged headlong into the thick crowd, heedless of the obvious danger. His bolter hammered the enemy as he charged, screaming with inhuman fury.

“Dermek!” Delk called out, “Get back here!” His words fell on deaf ears, as the enraged battle brother continued forward without even slowing down. As one of the enemy infantry met Dermek’s charge, it raised its weapon and fired a volley of shots directly at Dermek. Those that hit were most certainly damaging. Chunks of ceramite simply vaporized as the verdant beams of energy struck his breastplate. Despite this barrage, Dermek was not swayed in his determination to fight, nor was his advance slowed. He raised his own weapon and unleashed a punishing stream of powerful bolter rounds. The lone slender trooper’s body shattered into more and more fragments as the rounds tore through its body.

Before the magazine was empty, its right arm and head had been shot off, leaving its shredded corpse to fall to the ground in a hideous wreck. Despite this, Dermek did not stop firing. Firing wildly, almost completely blindly, he waved his boltgun all around, aiming at nothing in particular, but still managing to land some target or another with every shot. Even when the expanded drum magazine had spent its last round, Dermek’s charge did not stop. Trampling over the body of his fallen opponent, he cast his prized assault rifle aside and let out a cry of primal fury. His echoes of pure rage resonated throughout the battle scarred town street as his fists pummeled anything unfortunate enough to be close to him. He did not dish out such damage without receiving quite a bit himself, but he appeared to shrug it off as if it were of little consequence. This would be the last the Blood Angels would see of Dermek before he disappeared behind the sea of enemy infantry.

While Dermek was breaking the battle formation, Thane was breaking it in his own way. He spotted an opening in the skimmer’s guard and pounced on the opportunity. Using his jump pack, he hurled himself at the giant’s face. By the time it realized what was heading its way, Thane was already securely latched on, combat knife in hand. The skimmer tried to get a fix on its new target, but lacked the dexterity for close quarters combat. He could stab and gouge out its face without worrying about the massive cannon it had for an arm, which would have undoubtedly obliterated him. As Thane finally chipped away enough of the armor around skimmer’s neck, something was grabbing his back, trying to pull him off. He realized this was the skimmer’s left arm, more articulate than the bulky gun. He had gotten this far, done this much damage, he was not about to let himself be wrenched away from victory.

The insides of these creatures were akin to machines. Intricate circuitry, cabling, hydraulic tubing and all manner of unidentifiable xenos engineering was presented to Thane as he tore the skimmer’s head from its body. Despite decapitation, the skimmer did not stop trying to remove the adamant assault marine from its chassis. The arm was pulling harder as Thane armed a frag grenade. He would only get one chance to do this, so he would have to execute it perfectly. His quick plan of action was to drop the grenade inside, then jump clear of the blast radius. Once the grenade disappeared into the torso of the skimmer, Thane activated the thrusters on his jump pack. He released his vice-like grip on the beast while he let the force of the jets deliver him from harm. The throttle was wide open, providing the maximum possible thrust.

Despite the loss of its head, the skimmer giant was still coordinated enough to aim its enormous weapon at the retreating marine. Time almost seemed to slow as Thane stared down the glowing green weapon barrel. In this instant, he knew that this may very well be his last moment. If this thing was akin to an unthinking uncaring machine, a simple trajectory calculation would be a trivial task to rack up one more kill. As the tesla coils inside the weapon energized to discharge a single fatal shot, Thane looked on with unyielding determination. There was still a small change of surviving this shot, however small it was.

Fortunately for him, his frag grenade from earlier came through and removed the skimmer from the battlefield. With one deafening blast, the remains of the torso exploded into a brilliant display of green and gunmetal-colored shrapnel. As the flow of time seemed to resume, the massive gun discharged its last shot, going wide right as it fell limp and separated from the main body. As if the very life had been stolen from its body, the skimmer fell to the ground like a heavy stone slab in water. Once again, a rush of energy excited every nerve in Thane’s body as he felled yet another large foe.

This feeling of elation would not last, however, as a more sobering sight caught his attention. He was now about thirty feet off the ground in a superior vantage point relative to the rest of the combatants. For miles in every direction, the enemy was emerging. It was a veritable sea of green skeletons, punctuated by the occasional commander figure, heavy vehicle, war walker, even a flying vehicle bristling with gun turrets and large cannons. In fact, many were not engaged in combat. They were simply advancing past the small skirmish here. Distracted by the dismaying sight before him, Thane failed to notice a few ground troops taking shots at him. The first two shots whizzed by with no effect, but by the time he noticed the following shots heading his way, it was too late. He was hit in the left arm, the left hip and one shot grazed his temple, leaving a section of his helmet singed. His crash back to earth was less than graceful as he struggled to right himself and rejoin his brothers and fellow pony fighters.

Even with the Blood Angels’ assistance, the front lines were closing in too fast to have any hope of survival. Thane and Delk had run out of ammo, the ponies’ ranks were faltering and the merciless enemy army was approaching with innumerable reinforcements and there was nothing anyone, or any pony, could do about it. The skeletons had been given the opportunity to close the distance and engage hand-to-hand. Sharp claws, pikes humming with alien energy, and colossal beings capable of demolishing entire buildings were dangerously close. Weapons of titanic proportions were being armed, charged and leveled at the desperate defending line. There was only time for one final act, the one that would see the once-quiet town of Ponyville silenced forever.

This battle, it would seem, was all but lost, but Celestia refused to let that come true. With the last of her magical strength, she cast the only spell she could think to do with so many innocents so close by. Her defensive shield had vanished, focusing her attention on this last act of defiance. One particularly agile warrior found an opening in the allied defensive line and went straight for the kill. A bladed gauntlet was zeroing in on Thane’s face and he could not raise his guard in time to stop it. Another pair of pony guards were frozen in terror as an oversized rifle prepared to fire directly at them.

Just as the last remaining fighters were certain that this turbulent battleground would be their mass grave, Celestia let out a labored groan of exertion and a blinding white light enveloped the ponies and astartes warriors. Slashes, punches and energy bolts were quickly closing in from all directions, but none of these would find their mark. In an instant, every civilian, soldier and red armor clad visitor was spirited away from the foregone defeat. It took a moment for the mechanical menaces to reassess their surroundings, but they quickly concluded that the opposition had successfully been eradicated. With that task complete, their next directive was to advance and search for any further threats.

Onward they marched across the decimated town, trampling the fallen ponies and their own dead alike. Not one set of soulless eyes faced rearward, not a word from their unhinging jaws, there was not even a puzzled thought in any of their mechanical minds. Only the slow but purposeful advance through the land once renowned for its peaceful nature.

In an instant, the throne room in Canterlot castle filled with fighters and terrified civilians, many of whom were still under the impression that the battle was still going on. Princess Luna, along with several other high-ranking military officers were taken aback by the sudden appearance of so many new bodies. Thane was in the middle of swinging his chainsword when he was caught in the teleportation spell. The adamantine blades simply tore through empty air as the motor roared with useless fury. Delk was grappling with a non-existent attacker, staggering when the fight ended.

It took a second for everyone to realize what had happened. The interior of the grand palace was unmistakable, as no other building in Equestria rivaled its intricate design. The twin thrones for the two royal sisters erased any doubt as to where they were.

“Celestia,” Luna called out as she ran to her sister, “how is Ponyville?” She would receive no answer to her question. Upon laying eyes on Celestia, Luna fell silent, horrified at what she saw before her. Celestia’s fiery hair and tail fizzled back to its normal multicolored arrangement for only a moment before it all fell limp around her. Her eyes once aglow with the intensity of the sun faded back to the mundane magenta-colored irises of many of the other ponies. She was visibly exhausted from her recent ordeal, her coat was singed in several places and she had lost her equilibrium, swaying from side to side barely able to stand up straight. As her head drooped, a trickle of blood ran down her right shoulder from a flesh wound inflicted by the enemy in the previous engagement.

As the last ounce of consciousness left her body, Celestia’s legs gave out and her massive body fell to the cold marble floor, throwing the ceremonial tiara off her head. The soft thud of flesh against stone reverberated against the walls of the throne room. The entire hall of ponies was stunned silent as the supreme being of Equestria lay broken and defeated before them. The silence was only momentary as medics clamored and rushed to the fallen Princess’s aid. They knew what they had to do almost by instinct, but several officers still issued the urgent order for good measure. They had cleared the immediate area and started first aid when something stopped them. An aura of rose and violet hues surrounded Celestia, then vaporized into the ether. The result was like watching a vampire boil away in the sun, but here, the true form of the creature was revealed.

As Celestia’s equine form lost its substance, more and more eyes turned to witness the spectacle. Her cloven hooves took the form of human-like arms and legs. Her face was somewhat human, but the sharp features and elongated pointed ears cast doubt on her genetic purity. Her tanned skin was a fitting contrast to the ivory white armor she wore. It was unmistakably armor, as there was no skin exposed, save for her face where a helmet could be fixed. The motifs and sigils over her body armor were identical to the brand on her haunches in her equine form. As the illusion spell unraveled, the onlookers stared in utter disbelief at what was unfolding before them. Even the Blood Angels were unsure of what to make of this. Ulyss, at least, was able to make some sense of it.

“Keep on your guard, brothers,” he whispered to Thane and Delk, “That’s an eldar warlock.” Almost instantly, Delk’s warrior instincts kicked in and he was on full alert. He had never faced a warlock directly, but Ulyss had. One rarely walked away from an eldar untouched by their formidable psychic attacks or physical prowess. The robotic arm and leg sported by Ulyss attested to this brutal fact.

“Can they really be so dangerous if they’re dead?” Thane asked. It occurred to Ulyss that the young assault marine had never encountered the eldar either.

“She’s still breathing,” one of the pony medics announced, “I have a pulse.” Once again, Thane baldly displayed his rash judgement and habit of under analyzing the situation. Ulyss simply shot a disapproving look at the novice. He truly had a long way to go if this is where he stood now.

“It takes far more than that to kill an eldar,” Ulyss explained. In fact, it was nigh impossible, especially for those who knew nothing about this enigmatic race. When eldar bodies cease to live, their souls are transferred into their spirit stones. This way, their essence is preserved so that they may continue their immortal lives in a new body. What puzzled Ulyss was the fact that nothing immediately stood out as the spirit stone. Normally, the stone would be set in a pendant, ring or other piece of jewelry and worn at all times. Another fairly common practice was to set the stone directly into the breastplate or even a weapon they wielded. It was an object so precious that they would literally never be caught dead without it.

The crowd of ponies kept their distance as the medics tended to Celestia. Luna approached the scene as the bystanders parted and made way for her. She was not heading towards Celestia, but rather her golden headdress that had been neglected until this point. It was slightly scratched where it struck the floor where it fell, but aside from that, it was in near perfect shape. Using her magic, she gave the jeweled tiara to an officer in the makeshift rescue operation. He hesitated when presented with such a priceless, essentially holy, item, but Luna soon made her request clear.

“Do not let this leave her possession, Captain,” she sternly, but calmly, said as she pushed the crown into his grasp. The captain was a pegasus, so he could not hold it like his psychic counterparts. He was nervous about even touching Celestia’s royal crown, but these were extraordinary situations in which he found himself. Once he collected his thoughts, he acknowledged his new duty and saw to it, as any officer of the royal guard would.

Delk and Ulyss already put two and two together, but Thane was still computing the answer to the riddle laid out before him. The pieces were all there, but the answer still eluded him. Eventually, he simply concluded that the jeweled trinket was akin to a holy relic and moved on.

The ponies had started whispering amongst themselves, speculating on what the Princess’s new form could mean. Even the soldiers were starting to lose talk, worried that their commander in chief was a strange creature this whole time. In fact, why would it stop there? Perhaps Princess Luna was disguised as well. Nopony ever saw much of the royal sisters in private. Perhaps there are some well-hidden secrets that would disrupt all of Equestria if they got out.

With Celestia’s true form out in the open, Luna worried about what the public would think and what would happen if the wrong ‘facts’ started circulating. What was she to say to maintain order in a situation like this? She knew that with Celestia incapacitated, the last remaining royal sister would have to assume command. One misstep in this most crucial moment would throw the already delicate state of affairs into total chaos and Equestria could collapse.

Luna knew what she had to say, now. None of it was rehearsed, for there was never a moment like this in Equestrian history, nor did even the royal sisters foresee an event such as this having even a remote possibility of happening.

“Citizens of Equestria,” Luna announced as she projected her voice through the throne room. Before the echoes stopped, the entire packed hall fell silent, awaiting their princess’s address. “What you see before you is no lie, no illusion,” she explained as the ponies gave their undivided attention. “Celestia and I, we have kept this alicorn form as your leaders for over one thousand years.” Her tone started to soften and depress, almost as if she was ashamed to give such a confession. “Celestia believed it better for you all if you saw something familiar at the helm instead of…” Luna’s gaze slowly drifted to Celestia’s unconscious body, “something not like you.” Such a well-guarded secret was the royal sisters’ true form that no creature, pony or beast, had ever even so much as caught wind of it in over a millennium.

“Princess,” spoke a voice from the crowd. An ornately dressed and decorated pony emerged from the crowd. His wrinkled face and snow white mane spoke of a long life of experience. His cutie mark of a five-pointed star wreathed in laurels was a well-known sight, as only the legendary Sergeant Major “Rock” Might bore it. His hoofsteps were regular and heavy with substance, as if he were marching up to do his duty. Though he was due to retire in just one week, he still stood out and spoke up. He had an address for Princess Luna and he would not allow it to go unheard.

“In all my years of service,” he continued as he stopped in front of Luna, “I have seen just about every creature in Equestria that can lead a kingdom. You and Princess Celestia have done an unparalleled job keeping us standing. What difference does it make that you don’t look like us?” His question got almost every pony in the hall thinking if not quietly discussing the issue.

“We are not native to this world.” These were the only words Luna spoke before she took action to reinforce her argument. Standing up on her hind legs, she towered above the tallest two ponies put together. Her horn glowed with a sparkling azure aura. The aura turned more and more opaque as it enveloped her entire body. Within moments, sections of jet black and deep violet emerged and formed an upward spiral as Luna’s very body changed form. It was a more graceful transformation than Celestia’s loss of control over her illusion spell.

The dark shroud of magic faded as the night sky fades to the rising sun. In its place stood an enthralling embodiment of grace and dark beauty rolled into one being. The finely sculpted features on her face were rivaled only the masterpiece quality armor which she wore. Her pale face and hands made her navy blue armor seem darker by comparison. Tiny diamond-like jewels littered the surface of her armor in a seemingly random pattern, but the effect was no less impressive. She opened her eyes and was greeted with a sight of ponies unsure of what to make of the situation. Soldiers looked upon her with confusion, mothers held their frightened children, and the former sergeant major had not budged from his post.

“Let me stop you right there,” Might interjected as Luna was about to speak. He unfurled his powerful wings and ascended to Luna’s new head height.

“I think I see where you’re going with this, but let me rephrase.” Luna could have silenced him and continued, but she would be remiss if she did not hear him out.

“As an alicorn, you coordinated the counterattack against this new menace. You got everypony organized and deployed in under a day. Not even Princess Celestia could pull something like that off.” Luna was starting to get an image of just how highly she was held by this senior enlisted stallion.

“All these counterattacks and mobilizations, they were all on your orders. Nothing has changed between then and now.” The weight of his words was starting to sink in with Luna.

“It doesn’t matter what you are,” he emphasized as he hovered closer to her face to get the point across, “what matters is who you are. You are an exemplary leader in my book and I’d follow you through the gates of Tartarus. You have the drive to do this and that’s what counts.” Might wanted to say that she was one of the ‘best damn leaders’ he ever had the honor to serve, but Luna got the idea. Besides, there were mares and foals around.

“Well, if you trust her, Sergeant Major,” a guard called out from the other end of the room, “then so do I!” Others joined in and soon, the whole crowd was looking to their new leader with renewed hope. Soft cheers of hope and praise filled the room and lifted Luna’s spirit so that she too would claim victory from this new threat. She had one last address for her subjects before she departed to her new duties.

“Then I, Princess Luna will see to it that Equestria does not fall.” Her royal Canterlot voice went unheard only by the dead. “Never before have we faced such an adversary. But never before has Equestria been more prepared to fight it.” As the masses calmed from their uneasiness and frayed nerves, many were becoming more and more interested in what she had to say. “Stand behind me and I will protect you. Stand with me and we will claim victory.” As the mood of every pony improved, so too did their morale. It seemed that the will to fight had surfaced in every able-bodied patron in the room, now they needed a plan of attack. Fortunately, the generals who worked closely with Sergeant Major Might were close by. Might and Luna made their exit to make preparations and issue orders, but Luna thought to ask one more potential ally before leaving.

“Will you be joining us, Blood Angels?” Luna asked Thane. She could not tell who was in charge of the trio of astartes as none stood out as the clear leader. She simply asked the one closest to hand, hoping that their formidable strength, despite their small number, could be strategically employed.

“I already lost one battle brother today,” Delk interrupted before Thane could throw them into unnecessary danger, “I don’t plan on throwing any more to the wolves.” Delk’s response was sharp and very firm, but not unfair. It was his professional opinion that even at full strength, even thirty astartes warriors would not make a difference in the coming battles. Besides, Delk was strongly against making unsanctioned alliances with xenos races.

“So be it,” Luna replied, conceding to leave the Blood Angels out of the fight. “Once this battle is won, we will work on sending you back to your own kind.” The crimson red lenses of his helmet did not prevent Delk and Luna from locking eyes in mutual disapproval. With this last exchange, Luna left with several ideas for a counterattack already in mind. Her eldar brain was producing them fast, but she needed a small army of military minds to put them into practice. Fortunately, there was just such a resource she could tap right under her feet…

The highly secretive war bunker beneath Canterlot is almost always deserted, save for a few patrolling guards. Now, it was busier than ever, with every briefing room packed full of soldiers getting orders to move their brigades of troops and fleets of transport craft. Nopony below a colonel was allowed access into the subterranean structure and the innermost chambers were populated with nothing but generals with at least three stars on their rank. It was in the very core of the entire complex that a table full of four-star generals and various civilian defense officials formulated their army’s next move. Whatever peacetime restrictions on military resources were in place had now been lifted. Any move kept in reserve was akin to a wasted strategy, one not being used when it was needed most. The next strategy to come out of this room would not be stalled for any reason, for it was needed most of all.

Princess Luna strode down the hall standing as tall as the low ceiling would allow. The cast iron doors parted revealing the top ten ponies in all of Equestria’s military might. They all rose in unison as their new commander entered. Luna took her seat at the head of the table and allowed the briefing to begin.

“Generals,” Luna began, addressing every uniformed individual at the table, “have you a strategy for dealing with the invaders?” She did not waste time reminding them that they were in dire straits, they were more than aware of the situation.

“We have, Princess,” spoke General Eagle, the most experienced and decorated officer at the gathering, “Lieutenant General Star has prepared a plan that will stop the enemy in their tracks. Star, proceed.” The youngest general in the room had his turn to speak. Though he was easily half the age of Eagle and the only three-star general in a sea of four-stars, he was given the honor of presenting his battle plan, a masterpiece drafted out and refined with input from the most brilliant strategists Equestria had to offer. He used large blank wall to Luna’s left to project a set of relatively simple runes, glyphs and maps which helped to illustrate his idea. This would not be the only time he would leverage his unicorn magic.

“Aerial reconnaissance has pinpointed the source of the monsters here,” he explained as a red X with location data was marked on a mostly green and blue map of Equestria, “It’s a large open pit deep in the Everfree Forest. We’ve received fire from almost a mile away on the ground, and in the air, but those were aimed at large masses of troops and airships visible to the naked eye from the ground. They didn’t seem to react to the scouts flying just a half mile above the forest canopy.” A dotted yellow traced through the forest section and directly over the red X. A pair of flapping wings indicated the scout.

“Our estimates put their numbers in the 10,000 to 12,000 range and they are extremely well-coordinated. In fact, they have been spearheading our defenses one segment at a time in order to break through.” A green haze poured from the forest, indicating the advance of the equally green enemies. As they spread, they avoided passing over dense forestry and cliff edges, but stopped when they reached the teal-colored pony lines. One sharp spur poked out from the amorphous mass and where they struck, the teal front disappeared. When the spur receded, it struck once more, this time at a different location with the same result. The ponies were replenishing the front lines, but at a slower rate than the skeletal machinations were advancing.

“We have, however, learned to read their patterns. They are attacking each contiguous front in a counterclockwise fashion. We can fairly accurately predict their movements with this pattern of behavior. Because of this, we can focus our forces to counter the most recent advances while maintaining a controlled retreat.” Now, when the green mass poked out from its territory, it was met with a more saturated mass of teal, the bright color repelling the attack. Wherever a spearhead was attempted, the ponies’ front line swelled in numbers, then moved to counter the next incursion. “Even if they start advancing on two different fronts at once or if they start randomizing their pattern, we already have a communications network set up to relay the information.”

Luna immediately saw the flaw in this plan. It was a battle of attrition and the ponies were the ones projected to lose. Even the graphic he used to illustrate his point supported this grim fact. Even matching the enemy move for move, a subtle amount of ground was lost with each battle and the ponies were not advancing, only slowly retreating. There had to be a reason for this. Instead of interjecting with her observation, Luna decided to let the young general continue with the details of his plan. This trained commander must have had good reasons for every move he made, even if they were illogical by Luna’s comprehension. After all, what would a princess know about the art of war?

“All of this that I have described is only the first part of the plan.” The arcane image continued animating itself while Star transferred it from the wall to the center of the table for all to see. “Part two is where we launch our secret weapon.” A small nimble air ship emerged from a hidden base north of Canterlot and plotted a course directly over the source of the ghoulish monsters. It was many miles above the enemy stronghold and its path simply crossed right over it.

“Since they don’t seem to notice us from above, that’s where we’ll strike. However, we want to end this thing in one decisive move. That’s where we’ll use the Manehattan Project.” Every pair of eyes was focused on the model battle presented before them. Princess Luna was wearing a puzzled look, but she too was looking upon the magical animation with great interest.

A trio of ponies passed over the target and one of them separated from the group. It was destined for the center of the X in Everfree. As the small speck neared the ground, half of the commanders leaned in for a closer look. They had never heard of this ‘Manehattan Project’ before and they were eager to see what it could do. They probably should not have leaned in so close, for the result was a bright white and yellow mushroom-shaped cloud sprouting up and spreading in all directions. The five generals who leaned in sprang right back up, their medals and badges clinking together from the sudden movement. So taken aback were they that even General “Stone Face” Sharps broke his stoic stern look with his wide-eyed surprise and a quiet “Woah” at this secret weapon the ponies had in store. Even Luna could hardly believe her eyes. Once the blast radius reached the outskirts of Ponyville, the cloud stopped growing and began to fade away.

“Finally, part three. Once the spell burns up, we’ll send in the C.H.I.M.E.R.A. Division to attack from the rear while conventional forces start pressing forward.” After the mushroom cloud was long gone, a fleet of drop ships disgorged a yellow mass of troops. The green foes were trapped between the combined forces of the Royal Guard and Equestria’s various allies. If General Star’s projections were correct, Equestria could conquer this unprecedented foe and hopefully return to the normal life they all knew and loved. “Any questions?” asked Star as the glittering battle map faded away.

“This ‘Manehattan Project’,” asked General Honors, “what is it exactly?”

“In a nutshell,” Replied Star, “It’s a living bomb.” Star projected a three-dimensional image above the table to illustrate the concept, a standard issue pony from the Sorcerer’s Division. “The average battle mage can demolish a two-story house with the Living Bomb spell. However, we have an apparatus that can amplify that energy to level an entire city.” Around the soldier appeared a bulky harness hanging with monitoring equipment, large batteries and other various arcane and technological oddities. His horn was enveloped by a hood that would more directly channel the raw energy into the device.

“And you intend to throw one of our soldiers in as a…” General Sharps interjected. He awkwardly stammered as he searched for the right words to use, “suicide bomber?!” Sharps was not the only one who was opposed to using a battle mage as an expendable weapon. Trained sorcerers were precious few and very far between in Equestria. It could be many years, if not decades, before another one could be properly trained to take his place.

“No, sir,” Star replied with a serenity that was out of character for him. Taking a deep breath, he collected himself for his next statement. “I intend to go in myself.” He already had the undivided attention of every pony in the room, but now he had their complete focus. Even Luna saw the implications with casting this spell.

“So why are you volunteering for this assignment, Star?” General Sun asked, “I say turn this over to the Sorcerer’s Division, let them assign a unicorn who can use this device.”

Before Star could defend respond, General Eagle stepped in. “We have, Sun. Star is the most powerful unicorn to ever go through Combat Magic School. Nothing less than what he’s got will give us the punch we need.” As he finished his sentence, Eagle rammed his hooves together to accentuate the magnitude of the effect. The forces at work in this plan simply could not be overstated.

“Are you certain about this, General Star?” Luna asked the young commander, changing the subject. She understood that these officers would put themselves in harm’s way if necessary, but this was a devastating spell which would undoubtedly kill the caster and anything within several miles, if his presentation was accurate.

“I have already made peace, your highness,” Star replied without a trace of doubt in his tone, “I’m ready to carry out my last mission.” All eyes were now on him, observing the gold standard Star was setting for selfless service. “The stakes are too high for me to fail. I will make this work.” The conviction in his voice was almost palpable. So much so that every pony in the room was invariably in support of Star’s plan. Even Luna was in favor of proceeding.

“If there is nothing else,” General Grit intervened, intending to wrap up the meeting, “we must move forward. The Bonies are advancing at an alarming rate and we can’t hold them off forever.” Nopony spoke up, signaling the go-ahead for General Star’s plan. “Gentlecolts,” he continued, hearing no protests, “we have our assignments. Let’s move.”

As the officers filed out and dispersed to their new duty stations, their respective lieutenants were quick to report on events that transpired during the meeting. The only one not speaking as he left the secret meeting room was General Eagle. He and General Grit arrived together, so they would leave together. Eagle hung his head slightly lower than normal, still thinking about the meeting that just concluded.

“Eagle, everything alright?” Grit knew Eagle well, for they had worked together since Officer Candidate School. Few things could weigh so heavily on Eagle’s mind as a decision that would shape Equestria’s future.

“We just sent one of the best leaders of a generation to his death,” Eagle confessed, displaying his emotional attachment to the young general, “I wanted him in the war room, not the front lines. I held my tongue and I think I’m starting to regret that decision.” Before he could continue his lament, Grit but a hoof on his fellow general’s shoulder, stopping him from marching down the dim corridor.

“You didn’t send him anywhere,” Grit emphasized, ensuring that Eagle understood the message, “He volunteered. Only the best and brightest of ten generations would take this job, let alone actually go through with it.” Eagle wished he could be as optimistic as his friend, but there were still traces of doubt in the old general’s heart.

“If you were in his place, what would you do?” Grit would receive no answer, only a dumbfounded general without the capacity to imagine such a mindset as Star’s. What must he be thinking right now, he wondered. If that were me, could I really bring myself to make the ultimate sacrifice? I’ve served for forty years and I’d do forty more for Princess and Country, but willingly giving up your own life? Star doesn’t just deserve the extra rank, he deserves to be the general of generals.

“We all need more stallions like him, but we’re stretched thin as it is. He’s one of the best we have and we’re going to let him do the best he can.” Grit was also aware of the level of dedication Star displayed. The poetic thing to do would be have the oldest general in the army perform this one last mission before retirement, but circumstance rarely favors the poet.

The reality started to set in on Eagle. The return of Nightmare Moon was a cakewalk compared to the pressures he now faced. Loss of life, property and capacity were just side effects of the invasion of the army of deathly green specters. One of the primary effects was the arousal of fighting spirits yet unseen.

“Well, then,” Eagle responded with newfound motivation, “let us follow his example and do the best we can.” Grit’s face lit up with the same level of invigorated spirit as his close friend. “He won’t be pulling the weight of this war on his back alone, I’ll make damn sure of that!”

“That’s the spirit, Golden. It’s good to see you back in action!” In addition to their spirits, their trotting pace also started back up again. They both had a tough job ahead of them and nothing would stop them from getting it done.

Equestria’s greatest conflict to date was in full swing. The grind was wearing down both sides, but one had a secret weapon and they were not afraid to use it. The plan was set, the assets were mobilized and the personnel responsible for going through with it were at their stations. The only thing left to do was execute. Too much was riding on the outcome of this battle. Too much had already been lost. Too much was this to ask from any lesser pony. Only the best, the bravest and the hardiest would do. They would be the ones who would determine Equestria’s near future… ��6��]

The Price We Pay

Normally, stealth blimps were only deployed at night and behind heavy cloud cover. The weather detail had concealed the sky quite well, but the twilight hours still produced enough light to illuminate the craft against the sky. It was a large craft, but the altitude at which it normally operated rendered it a tiny speck to all but the most powerful spotting equipment. So far, the lone craft with a skeleton crew had been moving along at a good clip without incident. It would appear that General Star’s suppositions about the enemy’s capabilities were correct. Even if the ponies simply caught a lucky break, they were close to landing a critical blow, turning the tide of the vicious battle below.

Inside, there were four ponies focused like a laser on their current tasks. The pilot paid close attention to his instruments and the outside environment. He kept the blimp high and quiet, perfect for getting in, out and back alive to tell about it. Major Skies had been assigned to this particular C-135 stealth blimp ever since he was Second Lieutenant Skies. He knew his craft inside, outside and any other side imaginable. He could even get his ship to fly higher than it was designed to go and still complete his missions.

The two tech-mages worked diligently to modify the Living Bomb harness for the current mission. Neither of them had seen anything like this before, but they pushed past their urge to marvel and carried out their duties. Stabilizer fins were riveted to the sides for stability as it fell to the ground. A streamlined windscreen was fixed over the wearers head so as not to blind the wearer as he fell. Any unnecessary equipment was removed to save weight and prevent any holdups or possible points of failure. These two were expert mechanics and superior battle mages, but there was still one part of the system which they could not fix if it broke.

General Star had not spoken a word since he boarded the ship. He was focused only on his final act. He knew it by heart and it played in his head over and over, like a mesmerizing play with a thrilling story near its climax. Here, however, he would not see the dramatic twist in the plot. Rather, he would become it. He had the honor of punctuating this fight with the most persuasive argument ever given by ponykind. One solitary line that would change the entire flow of events presented thus far. He would be forever inscribed as a true Equestrian hero, one that would not be rivaled for generations to come.

Even as the technicians were working on the intricate arcane device sported by the young general, the batteries were being charged by Star’s magic. It took quite a bit of focus on Star’s part, pushing so much energy from his body into the device. However, it was a burden for which he had trained his entire adult life. The primary batteries would be energized to near critical mass, then the secondary battery would discharge its load to the primaries. The result would be a catastrophic failure to contain the energy within. Add to that the volatile nature of magic and the titanic might of this one unicorn further amplified by the utterly unique contraption he wore, there was truly no equal to this weapon the ponies wielded.

“Here’s our opening,” Skies announced, “Get ready to drop!” The clouds cleared up and the ground below was becoming visible. The cloud cover was useful for concealment, but it was completely foolhardy to fire blindly through the clouds at this altitude. They had only one shot and it was going to count no matter what.

The point of no return was less than one minute away. It was the longest minute Star ever had to endure. In his head, the plan kept replaying itself and he kept mentally rehearsing it. He will fall for precisely 125 seconds, then the device will detonate. All the while, he would supply the batteries with the magic energy needed to have the desired effect. The energy would quickly dissipate if he did not keep a constant flow of energy to the device, so most of his focus was diverted to keeping the device charged. The legwork of maintaining the harness was the easiest tough part of the mission. He wasn’t sweating over this, but he was somewhat frightened at thoughts coming from the back of his mind. Thoughts of what would happen if he should fail.

“Everything alright, sir?” asked one of the technicians. His words were pretty muffled through the oxygen mask he wore, but the message was received all the same.

“I’m fine,” Star replied with a small nod. He needed to be well because in less than four minutes, it wouldn’t matter if he wasn’t. As long as he did his job, he could worry about his frayed nerves later.

The technicians took their places on either side of the small craft, changing gears from equipment tuners to aircraft operators. One took his place at the bomb sight, watching for the perfect moment to strike. The other stood ready at the spotter’s order to release the bomb doors. The air ship normally carried a caliper that held a single bomb or cluster of bombs to be dropped. The caliper could be removed to make room for a small squad of pegasi and their equipment. This mission, however, called for something a bit unorthodox.

The pony at the bomb sight raised his hoof. The target was less than ten seconds from lining up perfectly. The pony’s eyes widened in fear and awe as his face lit up a bright green glow through the bomb sight. He was impressed, frightened, intrigued and so many other emotions he had never felt all at once, but he did not lose focus. His arm now stretched nearly vertical indicated he was a heartbeat away from making the call. The bomb door attendant wrapped both hooves around the door release lever, preparing to put his full weight on the stubborn mechanism. Star himself assumed a forward-leaning position. It was how he would effectively use the stabilizer fins not native to the harness’s design.

In this moment, time seemed to stop, yet Star’s heartbeat was a deafening pounding in his ears. His entire life replayed before him, from his earliest childhood memories all the way up to now. Looking back on them, he had no regrets to address. He and his wife had raised three beautiful daughters, one of which took after her father and became an officer in the army. He had led a renowned career as a proactive and resourceful military commander. His friends, peers and family all spoke very highly of him and would miss him dearly if ever he should leave them. Then there was this moment, a span of time that outlasted the entirety of his life before now. It was as if the grim reaper was watching him, waiting to collect his due. Was there some unseen force trying to give him a chance to call off the mission and return home before the point of no return? Even if there was, Star refused to be remembered as a coward or for lack of integrity. The mission must go on and he would make no such call. There were simply too many reasons to continue, even though every terrified fiber of his being was screaming for him to retreat to safety.

Then, without warning, time sped up faster than ever. The spotter screamed for the doors to open, the floor beneath him lurched open and he was in free fall. The rush of wind past his helmet let him know that he had already reached speeds the Wonderbolts would find ludicrous. Not even for a moment did he stop charging the system to detonate.

As the features of the surface came into view, Star could make out the situation of the battlefield below. It was not a reassuring sight to see. The enemy had pushed farther out than he initially projected, claiming roughly ten to fifteen percent more territory than he predicted. The bomb’s blast would not reach far enough to get all of them, but there was nothing he could do about it at this point. Besides, he would still deal a crippling blow to the enemy ranks in just 90 seconds. The ground forces would be hard-pressed, but he was confident that they could contain the incursion.

The bomb was primed and ready to blow just one minute into his fall, so now he only needed to maintain it. This would take his entire focus, so a personal shield was out of the question. Fortunately, the harness came with a self-powered shield system that could rival even Princess Celestia’s powerful defenses. It would prove to be a necessity, not a luxury, for he did in fact receive fire from the ground forces. Small, scattered bursts at first, nothing the shield couldn’t handle. The shield would flare up and wear out fast for the concentrated volleys and heavy fire he took got more and more frequent as he approached the ground.

The last fifteen seconds proved to be the most nerve-wracking fifteen seconds of his life. There was still room to falter. However, Star was not known for being complacent nor did he have a reputation for substandard performance. He always saw his assignments through. It did not matter if it was a satisfying conclusion or a bitter ending, he always finished what he started. He kept his guard up, putting faith in his equipment and the ponies who would succeed him.

5 seconds remaining

The green glowing heart of the enemy’s encampment came into view, infantry continuing to emerge from the center. They were so many, but soon, they would be no more.

4 seconds

The shield’s power source was down to just 20%. Effectiveness was notably dropping. His resolve, however, had never been stronger.

He knew that they could see him now. Every small arms weapon was firing in his direction. The shield was nearly depleted, but it made a resounding last stand as it held out against the punishing blows and searing energy bolts.

All he needed to do was maintain the charge and the altimeter would trigger the explosion. He had faith in the engineers who designed this weapon many decades ago. He had faith in the technicians who studied it and customized it for him and this particular mission. He even had faith in the others who trained and prepared him for this moment in his life. Most importantly of all, everypony else had put their faith in him. They believed that he could pull this off and as long as he lived, he would not let their trust be misplaced.

This was his legacy. He relived his journey as a curious young foal, bright-eyed colt, fitness stud, straight-A student, JROTC valedictorian, standout officer candidate, legendary three-star general. Though he would not live to see it, he would be posthumously awarded a Medal of Heroism and go down in the history books as an inspirational war hero. Ponies would sing of his heroism and create awards in his honor. His children would hold their heads high when they say ‘I’m proud to call General Silver Star my father’. This could be the future he creates, or he could still fail in the one second remaining in his approach. One full second is quite generous when instants count in the execution. The impulse from the switch to the battery took up one of these precious instants, leaving the remaining time exponentially more valuable.

Ignition!

All that was visible now was a bright light. A calming glow that contained the peace and ever-lasting rewards he so rightfully earned. Though Star wanted to return home to lead his comrades and his race to victory, he knew that he couldn’t, for the afterlife is only a final destination. From there, there was no return. Still, it’s not like he had any complaints. After all, heaven was rumored to contain long lost relatives, pleasures and paradise beyond anything the mortal realm could offer and, of course, a view of the world that even dragons perched atop the highest mountains would envy.

He had done his job, performed his role and paid a price for which nopony could reasonably ask. Still, he took the initiative and paid it so that others would not have to. This was the one pony who tipped the scale so that his friends and loved ones could secure victory. Now, it was up to the remaining forces to ensure that Star’s life was not sacrificed in vain. Celestia willing, and with everypony’s utmost effort, there was no way they would allow themselves to fall.

Far from the front lines, the rest of the masses waited with anticipation for the end of the fighting. Since Princess Luna left to provide logistical support, the atmosphere had been remarkably tranquil. Most of the populace had remained calm despite recent events. There was an occasional emotional fit from an individual or two, but they were either quickly calmed by friends and family or ushered out to a more secluded place to settle their nerves. On their own, the Royal Guard would be hard-pressed to maintain order in the huge crowd of ponies. Fortunately, Thane had kept the attention of the more curious ones by sharing his lore and stories with them. They seemed quite enthralled by the story of his Primarch in the final days of the Horus Heresy. He was acting out the battle using his chainsword as a placeholder for weapons of the many different characters.

“And so, Ka'Bahnda stood over Sanguinius about to deliver the final blow when the most perfect sinister idea emerged from his mind.” The crowd of ponies, already gripped with intrigue, leaned in closer to hear the story as it unfolded.

“ ‘I have so thoroughly enjoyed breaking your body,’ ” Thane growled, doing his best to imitate a greater demon’s satanic tone, “ ‘but that will heal in time. This wound, however,’ ” he continued as he raised his chainsword, giving a visual aid to the story, “ ‘this one will fester for all eternity!’ He then left Sanguinius where he lay and began slaughtering the other Blood Angels on the battlefield.” He left the activation rune alone, but he did swing the weapon around in slow, exaggerated movements. “Blow after blow,” Thane continued with his battle dance, “each one who fell was another hit to our father’s psychic being.”

“Did anypony survive?” asked a small child, her arm extended as though she were asking a question in a schoolhouse.

“Sadly, not many,” Thane replied as he secured his chainblade to his belt, “we lost more than 500 brothers to the greater demon that day. The grief he felt as they were slain was overwhelming to Sanguinius. He lost consciousness before the demon finished his massacre.”

“How did they survive on Signus Prime?” an older stallion asked from the crowd, “If Kababble was that powerful, wouldn’t he have wiped out the entire legion?”

“You would be forgiven for thinking so,” Thane replied as he turned to face the inquisitive elder, “I came to the same conclusion myself upon hearing this tale. But the Blood Angels would not yield,” the bravado in his voice rose to accentuate the climactic end of the battle, “they had newfound righteous fury after seeing Sanguinius struck down from the heavens. Such a crime would not go unpunished, not as long as they drew breath.”

While the young marine told of his primarch’s penultimate sacrifice, his brothers stood off to the side. The looked at their young comrade as though he were making a fool of himself. He wasn’t incorrect when he told of how the Blood Angels were victorious at the battle for Signus Prime, but he was only telling a version of the story that hid the Chapter’s greatest weakness.

“Didn’t you tell him about the Rage?” Delk asked Ulyss in a whispered tone, “He may be young, but if you told him of our condition at all, he may as well know the whole story.”

“That we suffer a curse from a nightmarish demon?” Ulyss’ tone got sharp as if Delk had touched a nerve. “Even ten thousand years passing has not led us any closer to a cure.” Ulyss always had a hard time suppressing his emotions when talk of the Black Rage started. His first encounter with it was fifty years ago when he had to subdue his own company captain after a prolonged battle on Galtan VII. His second was his own frenzy just four years ago when he singlehandedly slew Mektoof Klawkutta above the Perocles gas supergiant. Only when the horde was completely wiped out did his rage subside.

“Ka'Bahnda did not curse us, Ulyss,” Delk replied in an equally sharp manner, “we are still human and thus as flawed as any mortal.”

“It only takes one flaw,” Ulyss interrupted, “one chink in the armor to start the cascade of events leading up to now. As far as I am concerned, effecting such a change in man from an inherent weakness is no different than a sorcerer’s foul magic.” To this, Delk had no response. He was one of the few in the entire Chapter to thus far lead a career untouched by the rage that had claimed so many already. Some would dare say that Delk had had the greatest fortune one could have from such an unfortunate heritage.

“Brothers,” Thane called out from the other end of the room, “what bothers you two to bicker so?” It would seem that the two warriors’ argument had grown loud enough to be overheard.

“All is well, new blood,” Ulyss replied, weakly disguising his agitation. Even Thane could see that there was a problem, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Without warning, the darkening twilight sky was instantly alight with a blinding white halo. So intense was the flash that even the Blood Angels were caught off guard and blinded by it. Their pale skin darkened reflexively in response to the intense and sudden light source. Their eyes, shut tight as they were, still let a red blotch prevent them from seeing clearly. It was good that mark VII power armor helmets had auto-photobalancing capabilities. They would filter out the excessive light when their biological optics could not.

Thane donned his own helmet and let his auto-senses adjust to the environment. The image was not painfully blinding, but it was still blank, washed out by the complete overabundance of light. Within moments, the chaos of the room came into view. The ponies who were caught in the flash were crying out in panic. They stumbled blindly, trying to find the exit or better shelter, whatever came first. It took thane a moment to realize what was bumping into his ankles.

“Holy Throne,” Delk silently exclaimed, staring out the window at something that must have been absolutely captivating.

“What happened?” Thane asked, knowing that he may not receive an answer, at least not vocally. Instead, he observed the source of the calamity for himself. Outside, there stood the telltale sign of doom for the planet. The bright light and the mushroom-shaped cloud were undeniable symptoms, but the next sign sealed the course of events in the minds of the Blood Angels.

It started as a slight tremor, but within a moment or two, the ground seemed to come to life. The already panicked room of ponies was thrown into further disarray by robbing them of solid footing. Even the Astartes’ superior equilibrium was of little use against the violent shaking ground beneath them. Delk and Ulyss remained upright by way of holding onto a candle sconce built into the wall. Thane, on the other hand, nearly crushed two helpless ponies as he tumbled forward. Had he not braced his fall with his arms, they would be ex-ponies by now.

As quickly as the earthquake started, it ceased and allowed the disoriented crowd to recover. Foals and their mothers were still frozen in fear and confusion. The guards recovered their weapons and did their best to maintain what little order remained.

“What in His name was that?” Thane asked, still regaining his bearings and processing what he just witnessed.

“Unless I’m mistaken,” Delk replied, his voice filling with dread, “that was the start of an Exterminatus strike.” Under his helmet, Thane wore an expression of confusion and fear. He had never heard of ‘Exterminatus’ before, but by his reckoning, it couldn’t possibly be anything good.

“Why would they do that,” Thane asked, “We’re still down here. Do they not care to retrieve us?” Indeed, why would Captain Emanulos order the use of capital weaponry when three brothers were still in the line of fire? Unless the situation was particularly dire, no company captain in his right mind would ever expend Astartes lives so lightly.

“It’s a game of costs, Thane,” Ulyss explained, “We are but three, a pittance compared to losing the entire company in a forlorn battle.”

Thane was always told that he was akin to a god amongst men, immeasurably more valuable than the rest of humanity. If the Imperium decided to imbue him with these gifts and not the other countless billions, there must be something about him that made him special. Why would it be wasted like this? Now, however, he was with others in his own league, an entire company of men who were equally as powerful as he. Now that he was amongst others in his own league, he was once again fair game for the violence of reality.

What set this reality apart from the mortals’ was the order of magnitude of the consequences. If ten mortal men die in battle, each is replaced by ten more in that short interval. The tide of battle is unlikely to change then and there. Should an Astartes fall, the enemy can seize the initiative from gaining such a valuable advantage. So few and precious are they that only the most pivotal of battles would be graced with their presence. Besides, the Adeptus Astartes are almost without equal in warfare. Almost. If humanity’s greatest warriors were lost, what would keep the rest of the Imperium safe from the galaxy’s innumerable horrors?

The gunships wasted no time in their approach. Engines roared ahead at full speed. The mission was initially a simple extraction of four stranded marines. Now, the situation had changed. Orbital scans showed hitherto unidentified forces wreaking havoc across the surface. The entire motor pool was finally mobilized after the much-needed repairs to what remained of the VI company’s Thunderhawks. Backing them up was the VIII company’s main force of gunships. The pilots maintained their heading while the gunners scanned the ground below and the skies above. The setting sun was making visual spotting difficult, but none were dissuaded by this small inconvenience. Onboard auspex scans showed intense activity just ten kilometers ahead. Their destination was the last known location of the four confirmed survivors of the events three heliocycles prior.

“Five kilometers and closing,” voxed the pilot to the rest of the crew. Already laser focused on their mission, the gunners started scanning more methodically for any trace of their battle brothers. All they found, however, was the miniscule constructions of the native xenos.

From the port side gunner’s seat, Brother Reless had a commanding view of the landscape and all of its details below. Through the superior preysense optics mounted on his hurricane bolter, he traced the path of what appeared to be a dirt road. This path was significant because it appeared to be used very recently. It was well worn relative to the surrounding terrain. It was also placed with intent. It was more or less straight despite the gentle rolling hills that would otherwise influence its direction. What’s more, it was not the only one of its kind. Approximately five kilometers further out, a similar path appeared, but this one was still in use.

A quick adjustment of the optics brought the distant cloud of dust into focus. The disturbance was caused by a small olive-green quadruped galloping at full speed down the road. Its muscular build easily explained its cargo in tow. Behind him, a rather sturdy-looking, but still primitive, wagon packed full of its own kind rolled along as fast as the beast of burden could go. Each of the passengers was holding a weapon reminiscent of spears or pikes. Looking behind this transport, there was one more approximately every fifty yards, each carrying a full load of beings apparently geared up for battle.

This was a makeshift military operation if Reless’ instincts were correct. If they were prepared for a fight, the senior Brother’s observations could help the rest of the fleet prepare for whatever may come. Turning the turret as far forward as it would allow, he spotted a cluster of activity far above that of the surrounding area. Taking a moment to observe, he took in the details before reporting to the pilot.

“Reless, what to you see?” The pilot did not see anything himself, but his gunner was equipped with a powerful set of eyes amplified by bionics as well as an all-revealing preysense scope.

“Five kilometers ahead, looks to be a fight. Two fronts, unknown allegiance.” Reless had more to say, but the pilot interrupted him before he could finish.

“How close are our stranded brothers?”

“Near side of the battlefront, but it is advancing in our direction.” He was simultaneously observing and reporting. As soon as he could make out new details, the rest of the squad received them. “The advancing front is emitting high amounts of electromagnetic energy.”

“Then we will make this quick,” the pilot declared before ordering the rest of the squadron to begin their descent. If they could retrieve the missing Blood Angels quickly enough, they could avoid impending battle. Whatever the local life forms were combating, the Blood Angels had no obligation to fight. Besides, they were needed elsewhere in the Imperium. This planet was quickly turning out to be more trouble than it was worth. The explorator legion should be recalled soon and the Astartes would not be far behind. If only the process were that simple.

A blinding white light threw the pilot slightly off his course, a powerful shockwave violently shook the entire craft, and for some unexplained reason, many of the readouts went blank and the engines stalled. The crew was taken by surprise, but none panicked. This was not the first time any of them had been the victim of a surprise attack, nor would it be the last. Working quickly, the pilot and navigator worked feverishly to recover from their freefall.

The Thunderhawk’s machine spirit was unresponsive for a few tense seconds, but was roused back to life in time to level out and regain control. This was a very primitive-looking world, so the sight of a thermonuclear bomb detonating was quite out of place for its setting. Whatever that explosion was, it was placed squarely in the center of the glowing green mass of combatants in the distance. Something was off about it, however. This had all the telltale signs of an Exterminatus order, but no such order had been issued.

The orbiting battle barges were not issued any such weapons, for they had no justifiable reason. They were here to provide backup for an explorator legion that had encountered some fairly hostile and formidable wildlife. It was a job that called for space marines to deal with it, but not so dangerous that the planet would need to be destroyed. Besides, exterminating all life on every world mankind visited would only build a kingdom of ashes.

Captains Emanulos and Niroces accompanied the strike force in their own attack craft and they were demanding answers as to who unleashed such a devastating weapon without so much as an early warning. A negligent discharge of capital weaponry could see the offender imprisoned or enslaved for life, executed by the most painful means possible or worse.

The investigation would have to wait until the stranded Blood Angels could be reclaimed. At this moment, recovery of chapter assets was a higher priority than dealing justice to criminal offenders. The squadron was still at its full strength despite the slight vehicle malfunctions. They were ordered to press on and complete their standing mission.

The fading light made it hard to see, but the three privates could see just fine with the non-natural light being generated. They had lured one of the lower-level demons away from the mainstay of the battle, but it had cost them their squad sergeant and another private. Still, the remaining unicorns and earth pony worked like a well-oiled machine team to take this opponent down. The two unicorns took turns firing magical beams to distract the metallic monster while the earth pony snuck up to its suspected blind spot. As far as the skeletal beast could discern, there was just one creature firing back at it, but changing positions for every volley fired.

Running as silently as he could, the earth pony dashed full speed and brandished his enchanted blade. His leap toward the beast may very well have been his last, for at the last second, it whirled around as if it noticed his approach. Fortunately for the pony, the creature waited just a moment too long. He found purchase on the creature’s upper back, causing it to stumble and lose control of its weapon. The bad part was that it was not a fatal blow. Damaging as it was, it was simply not enough to kill the mechanical horror.

As quickly as the assaulting pony had assured himself that he was victorious, he nearly panicked when the creature’s cold bony fingers wrapped around his body. Wrenching him off its back also caused one last gash across what would be its shoulder blade, but had not weakened its grip. Worse still, the blade snapped and caused the enchantment to vaporize, leaving a jagged, but ultimately useless, chunk of steel strapped to his forehoof.

As the young private struggled against the iron grip, he was stopped by something truly terrifying. He was now face to face with the green and dull silver goliath. Its glowing green eyes were burning with hatred and a fierce desire to kill. Though the head looked like a skull, it was far too elongated vertically to be any form of equine. It made no sound aside from the metallic clicking and creaking as it moved. Its unhinging jaw still bore teeth of a prehistoric monster with little instinct beyond killing for its own survival. The enigmatic sigil on its chest told of its allegiance, but it was too alien for the terrified pony warrior to understand. In fact, he was so frightened that he did not even notice the beast bending over to retrieve its weapon.

The creature’s bayonet was lined up for a fatal thrust clean through his entire body, but the killing blow would never come. Instead, the unicorns came to his aid, ending the threat to their helpless comrade. Together, their magic beams combined into a powerful lance, incinerating anything it touched. The head was the first thing to be turned into molten slag. The pair of mages wasted no time making short work of the rest of the creature. One quick downward thrust effectively cleaved the monster in two, destroying what life it had, but leaving their earth pony friend still in its grasp. The halves fell apart, molten slag still dripping from where it was parted.

With the life in its eyes extinguished, the murderous being died where it stood. Unfortunately, as more machine than organism, its claw was locked shut without a command to release its constricting fingers. The unicorns simply wrenched it open with their magic. It took both of their efforts to free the earth pony from the stubborn claw. When they were through, it was completely bent out of shape, but more importantly, it was no longer a threat to his wellbeing.

“You OK, Spur?” one of the unicorns asked.

“I’ll be fine,” came his reply. It came through a gasp for air, as the beast’s claw was no longer constricting his lungs. He quickly drew his secondary blade, fastened it to his hoof and got upright mostly under his own effort.

“Then let’s move,” the other unicorn said, “no telling how many of his friends heard all that.” If only the trio knew just how true that was.

Out of the corner of his eye, Spur caught a glimpse of movement scurrying into a collapsed house. It was far too large to be a rat, or even another pony. Far too fast for any of those things too. Whatever it was, it almost moved without a consistent shape. Spur had absolutely no idea what was coming, but his gut was churning with bad feelings and his worst fears started to come to mind.

“Something’s in that building,” Spur pointed out in a hushed, but urgent whisper. The two unicorns froze and looked in that direction, but they did not see anything of note.

“What was it?” one of the unicorns asked.

“I don’t know, but I’m not staying out here.” Whether it was pure fear of the unknown or tactical wisdom, each pony in the small squad took shelter in the house across the street. Here they could at least feel safe, though the reality was different.

Scanning every direction that was not blocked by still-standing walls, the squad kept watch in all directions watching for any threat that may present itself. They would not advance across a hot war zone unless they were certain that it was safe to do so. It was most unfortunate that there was no pegasus in the group, otherwise, they would have thought to check a crucial area for potential dangers: up.

In a fraction of a second, a weak support beam went from sturdy to snapped-in-half. Two of the ponies reacted fast enough to dodge the falling debris and splintered wood, but one unicorn was trapped on the other side. He was not crushed by the disintegrating structure, but he would soon be wishing it had. It would have been a far more merciful death.

Wooden beams and plaster was not the only thing to fall in that moment. There was something far more sinister. Something that made the trapped unicorn scream in panic and blindly fire what attack spells he could muster while fearfully retreating. He didn’t get far, however. In the middle of the street, the routed unicorn’s screams of fright morphed into blood-curling pain and agony. Only at this point did the rubble settle down, allowing the other two to hear the screams of their imperiled comrade.

“Zapp!” the unicorn nearest Spur called out, “Are you hurt?” In the interval it took him to ask this questions, the screams silenced. “Come on, talk to me!” He would receive no reply. Only a low, barely audible sound was to be heard. It was a jarring mix of tearing cloth, wet slapping, and liquid squirting from some gelatinous substance. Words simply could not do it justice, it would have to be observed directly. This was one spectacle that could serve as capital punishment by Equestria’s standards.

As the unicorn left his concealed position to check on Zapp, he was about to call out when what he saw held his tongue, widened his eyes and froze him where he stood. Whatever he saw made him visibly pale and nearly lose his lunch. Without a second thought, he turned tail and ran the other direction down the street. He had abandoned all sensibility, all tactics and decided to let his instincts take over and run for his life. It would be the last move he ever made.

The unicorn barely made it ten yards away when he was tackled by one of the horrors the ponies had been fighting for the past few hours. It was unmistakably of its ilk, but this one was different, even more sinister than usual. It had no weapons in its hands, for the massive sharp, and still wet with blood, claws were weapons in their own right. In an instant the unicorn, whose name Spur would never learn, was impaled by the unforgiving claws. He should have died then and there, but this living horror had other plans.

However long he lived, Spur would never forget the grizzly scene of a pony being flayed alive by a nightmarish demon in a tattered and bloody cloak. Upon further inspection, though, Spur did notice something odd about the beast’s hood. It was not uniform in color, sporting many tones the ponies of Ponyville once were. In fact, some sections had small icons on them. One of them he recognized: a crescent moon behind a dark cloud. It belonged to his wife’s best friend. As the monster finished pureeing its most recent victim to pulp, it added one more piece to its patchwork cloak: a navy blue section with a pair of crossed lightning bolts. He did not want to believe what he saw, but this was the same cutie mark of the nameless unicorn.

Before he knew it, Spur was meeting this demon’s gaze from under its bloody cowl. It was already preparing for victim number three within the minute and he was fighting against his paralyzing state of fear. Motivated by survival instinct and adrenalin alone, Spur made a beeline for the best place he could think to go. Given the circumstances, however, the only safe place to be was as far away from here as physically possible. This being made of steel and sadism had already made short work of two unicorns. He hoped and prayed that he would not be the third.

Much like with the other two victims, this one liked pouncing on its prey before delivering the killing blow. However, in its bid to simply incapacitate rather than kill, it miscalculated the trajectory. The razor sharp claws still connected with Spur’s hind legs, but only just. Still, this was enough to send him tumbling to the ground, coming to rest against a sturdy brick structure. Dazed and unbalanced after the tumble, Spur witnessed the beast struggling to get its claws free from the ground. Each pull it gave loosened the rending blades ever so slightly, but that still didn’t leave much time to escape.

As his survival instincts kicked in again, he tried to order his legs to carry him to safety, but a shooting pain protested any movement. Looking down, he noticed a fairly serious pair of gashes right behind his right calf. It didn’t tear into the muscle, but it was still deep enough in the skin to paralyze him through pain alone. His front legs could only drag him so far before his soon-to-be assailant closed the distance. Hearing the metal blades freed from the dirt, Spur could not help but look toward the source of the unsettling sound.

From his prone position, the gruesome beast looked all the more intimidating as its skin cloak swayed with each step. It must have wanted to savor this kill, or perhaps it thought this would be an easy task. Whatever the reason, it was simply walking up to Spur for the kill, not running and pouncing like before. Each step brought out some new horrifying detail he did not previously see. Another familiar cutie mark, the way the still fresh blood dripped off the scythe-like fingers, the unyielding green eyes that personified anger and suffering the likes of which Spur would never understand.

Spur was trapped on three sides by brick masonry, so he couldn’t run anywhere even if his leg was in good shape. This would be his small corner would be his resting place, he fretted. For the first time in his life, his vehement fear of impending death brought tears to his eyes, but he was too scared to look away or blink. His ultimate nightmare as a casualty of war had come to exact its terrible toll. However, this would not be the end for the battered soldier.

One moment, all he could see was the darkening sky and this monster’s silhouette against it, the next, a bright light from off to the side. It was enough to get his attacker’s attention and it would be his saving grace. The silver skeleton stopped its approach in the middle of the street and turned to survey its surroundings.

Celestia must have unleashed a powerful spell, for a second later, a powerful shockwave ripped through the streets, carrying the beast away with it. Huge dust clouds and entire chunks of what were once houses followed, sailing through the air as if they were a foal’s toy. It was lucky that Spur was tucked away behind this brick structure, or he would have been caught up in the blast as well. None of the debris hit Spur, but he was still hit with a powerful shockwave, the force of which was like being stepped on by a stampeding elephant. He felt a similar sensation in his sensitive eyes and ears, like they were being forced deeper into his skull. Everything on his body was being hit at once, rendering him once again incapable of even reacting immediately.

So intense was the event that he found himself blinded by the light, deafened by the noise, numbed by the shockwave and even more terrified than before. For almost ten nerve-wracking seconds, Spur was not sure if he had actually died or if Celestia herself had chosen to spare his life. Either way, he could not stay here, it was clearly too dangerous. With what strength he could muster, he got upright and limped through what remained of Ponyville.

So many lesser structures had been demolished and there were almost no landmarks to be seen, but one beacon of hope stood out above all else: the Castle of Friendship. If Princess Twilight was still there, she would know what to do. Without any other viable options, the wounded stallion started his long and painful journey to the last sanctuary not decimated by the violence of the fighting.

General Star’s secret weapon had certainly done its job, vaporizing anything in the immediate area and effectively destroying anything that was within several miles. The very edge of the weapon’s blast radius, places like Ponyville and Sweet Apple Acres, still suffered intense damage, but survivors would eventually emerge from their desperate shelters.

Now that the Blood Angels had deployed their full fighting force, the ponies would no longer be desperately fighting a losing battle. With the aerial fighters doing the heavy lifting, the remaining robotic force was ground to oblivion by the formidable Thunderhawk fleets.

The next objective was to secure the area and recover all chapter assets that could be salvaged. The gunships landed now that the battle was over and the tech adepts of the chapter began their work reclaiming the precious technological wonders of the Blood Angels ‘ vehicle pool. The ponies kept their distance as the armored behemoths spread out to salvage their property. Many of them have not even met Thane and the rest in Canterlot, so avoiding the hulking warriors was the safest option for them.

Ulyss did finally manage to contact the squadron leader, who in turn relayed their situation to Captain Emanulos of the VI company. Emanulos was supremely skeptical at first that xenos would keep their battle brothers safe from harm, but authentication procedures were in place for this very reason. An hour later, Thane, Ulyss and Delk could reach the landing zone using Equestrian military transport blimps.

Princess Luna also showed up to act as an ambassador to the pony race. Her Eldar form was what the company captains saw. Captain Niroces of the VIII company was but a young brother like Thane last time he was here on Equestria. Much like the ork Waaagh over two hundred years ago, the Blood Angels had no intention of staying. Besides, the explorator legion had done enough sampling and finally finished looking over their reports from the surface. This was not a planet worth settling, all things considered. It was obviously not of virgin soil, there was an army of powerful and ancient creatures hidden just beneath the surface and the indigenous creatures could put up far more of a fight than anyone thought possible. It would cost more to incorporate this planet into the Imperium than it could possibly produce.

[DOCSTART]

[HEADSTART]

Document ID: 66482010G-K66

Time of File: 22:18:00 1-025-995.M41

Transcribing Librarian: Codicier Tern Gureros, Blood Angels VI Company

[HEADEND]

[CONTENTSTART]

Blood Angels Chapter responded to a routine request for Astartes support for Explorator Fleet DU-334.A. Fleet was to explore and document planet designation 3-885-G45.GAMMA, codename ‘Equus’. VI and VIII companies transferred from reserve training to active duty deployment. Resistance from feral wildlife was expected to be minimal, but some species were more aggressive than initially suggested. One hive of particularly territorial and dominant reptilian creatures nearly eliminated the VI company’s reserve of Thunderhawk gunships. Three standard terran days later, all available craft were mobilized to combat any potential threats while the casualties were recovered from the surface. The chapter appeared to arrive in the middle of a civil war, as the life forms were already warring when the main force entered atmosphere. First contact was suspected Eldar or Tau automaton defenses, although no samples could be collected for verification.

Explorator Fleet DU-334.A reported unfavorable conditions for Imperial settlement and no economic value in harvesting what little resources were found. Official declaration for Equus was nullius pretii – an endeavor not worth the investment of Imperial time, personnel or resources.

In total, 85 astartes were killed in action, 2 still MIA, and 1 dead from . Of the fallen and missing brothers, 81 geneseed was recovered with 1 salvageable, but needing to be purified of . 40 Thunderhawks out of the available 80 were lost as casualties, but all were recovered and sent to the mechanicus for reconstruction.

[CONTENTEND]

[DOCEND]

It would take two whole weeks of tireless work, but the Blood Angels collected all their property and left Equestria without a glance back. Many of the ponies were relieved to finally see them go, but at the same time, many saw their arrival as a blessing. If the demons from the Everfree forest were not countered by the Blood Angels’ superior firepower, there may not be an Equestria right now.

Back in Canterlot, Princess Celestia made a full recovery and resumed her duties as co-ruler of Equestria. Luna was relieved to be sharing the workload again, but she still had a whole host of questions for Celestia. Looking over the balcony of the Royal Castle’s highest tower, Celestia watched as Ponyville made impressive progress rebuilding.

“Celestia, do you have a moment?,” Luna asked as she walked up to her sister.

“Of course, Luna,” Celestia responded, “Is something wrong?” Given recent events, it was reasonable for Celestia to have concerns that all may not be as well as it seems.

“How long have you known of the Blood Angels?” Her question was met with stunned silence.

“What about the beings from beneath Everfree?” Again, no answer, as if the explanation was a great shame to Celestia. She could not bring herself to answer Luna’s questions, only gaze out at the battered section of her otherwise beautiful world.

“I couldn’t tell you about it,” Celestia finally replied, “none of it.” Luna did not know what to make of her sister’s vague response.

“I’m your sister,” Luna said, her frustration slowly growing, “There is nothing you can tell me that would make me think less of you.” Instead of making her open up, Celestia got even more reclusive.

“I want to trust you with the knowledge, Luna, I really do, but...” Celestia’s thought trailed off just as she pondered all the things she had seen before she made Equestria her home. Luna was not Celestia’s sister by blood, but their spirits were certainly kindred. Luna was able to read so many thoughts and visons simply by looking with her mind’s eye. Visions of a thousand-year war that had its origins many more thousands of years prior. Unimaginable numbers of warriors fighting against their enemies and sometimes, each other. Billions perished from the actions of a single man. Chaos and discord pervading societies where order was absent. Celestia herself even appeared in a few of these visions. It was nowhere near clear, but this small taste gave Luna just enough insight to at least see the scale of events she just witnessed. All this information, she got in the interval where Celestia’s thoughts trailed off.

“But you don’t think they could handle the truth,” Luna said, finishing her sister’s sentence. Celestia just sighed with weary resignation. She had let her thoughts be revealed and there was nothing more to hide.

“This isn’t the first time something like this has happened, has it?” It was all becoming clear to Luna now. Though the details were absent, the concept was plain as day.

“Nowhere near the first. Luckily, time erases most of the memory of the destruction and loss. This time will be no different. Three or four generations from now, the ponies will not even remember any of this.” This was not the energetic and free-spirited Celestia that Luna remembered a thousand years ago. Something changed her.

“So,” Luna began, disgusted with Celestia’s attitude to the situation, “if two drunkards in a tavern bring their fight in your direction, you do not think to fight back? And when it does happen, your response is to just forget about it?”

“It’s worked for over a thousand years,” Celestia replied calmly, but firmly, “it will work for a thousand more.”

“It won’t be a thousand if we keep getting hit like this,” Luna snapped back, “You should tell all you can about what you know.” The mere mention of this act brought Celestia’s deepest fears to the surface. “Teach these creatures to defend themselves, let them contend with those big fish in this small pond. They should-”

“I will not jeopardize a lifetime of work over the squabbles of aliens!” Celestia grabbed Luna by the shoulders and shouted to get the message across. Luna ceased her insistences for fear of incurring Celestia’s wrath. Soon enough, Celestia calmed herself and released her grip on her sister.

“Equestria is the first place in millennia to be built on peace, love and friendship,” Celestia explained, regaining her calm demeanor, “The ponies proved that it can be done and I don’t want to see it fall to petty fighting.”

Without further words, Celestia left a dumbfounded Luna standing on the balcony. To her credit, Celestia did have a lengthy history of surviving a violent galaxy. Just about every corner of the Milky Way was involved in war in one way or another. Equestria, her creation, was the very antithesis of this way of life. It was nearly brought to oblivion by a comparatively meager event compared to the more invested battles. Her policy of isolation couldn’t possibly have lasted this long on love and tolerance alone. What was certainly not helping was maintaining a state of blissful ignorance to what lay beyond the stars. After all, if they knew nothing but their own world, how could they hope to combat something the likes of which they have never seen? Regardless, Celestia was still the de facto ruler of Equestria. Her policies would stand without opposition for now, but it would only be a matter of time before a true challenge came for Equestria.

Author's Note

At last, the story of Equestria's most recent exposure to the Imperium comes to a close. What did you think? I know I had fun writing this story. Making it up as I went along was a fun challenge.
I always welcome feedback, suggestions and requests. If I missed something, left a question unanswered, ask away. I want to bring quality work to the fanbase and every one who follows and gives feedback helps my future endeavors. If you would like to see more, do let me know.