MLP / WARHAMMER 40,000 : THE INDOMITOUS CRUSADE

• Castle of the Two Sisters, Exterior-

The first glimpse of light graced itself upon the landed spacecraft of the Imperium of Man, as their engines ignited, and troops began boarding their designated craft. Roboute and the ponies boarded a designated StormRaven crafted, accompanied by Captains of each Astartes Chapter under Guilliman’s command, as well as an honor guard of Custodes. Twilight and company couldn’t believe themselves. To actually board a real-life spacecraft. Yet out of the whole group, none were more as excited to Twilight’s surprise was her own brother. She could see him getting all giddy as if he were a foal again.

“Shiny? You okay?” She asked. “Of course I am, Twiley. It’s just…” he moved closer to her ear. “We’re on a spaceship!” He whispered in excitement.

Despite her calm appearance, she too was just as excited to onboard a craft capable of space travel. Even more so once the ramps closed in, and the engines burst their thrusters as the ships took to the air, and ventured forth towards the capital of Canterlot.

-Canterlot, Throne room –

As the sun continued on its course through the skies above the land, Celestia continued reading over her pupil’s letter, while Luna and Cadence were overseeing finishing up the final preparations for the arrival of the supposed Lord Commander. Though she is glad to hear that this Guilliman had accepted her invitation, she could sense that there may be more to his visit than meets the eye. None the less, she herself was all but excited as well to meet a member of another empire outside of her world, the leader of one in that matter. It was in her deep thoughts that Luna and cadence approached Celestia.

“Sister, everything has been prepared as thou have asked for.” “Everything is all set to go, auntie.” Cadence assured.Celestia put aside the parchment and looked to her fellow alicorns. “Excellent. According to this, Twilight, and the others will be here shortly, about roughly…an hour, or so.” The two alicorns looked back in confusion. “An hour?” Luna asked. “Surely you jest.” “Yeah, the first train to here won’t arrive until later than that.” Cadence proclaimed. “I don’t think they will be traveling by train if what twilight wrote is true.” Celestia assured. “What do you mean?” The lunar alicorn asked.

Celestia once more presented the scroll to the two. “She wrote that these creatures have technology beyond our comprehension.” Luna let out a subtle scuff. “Surely they boast more than they mean. To get here in an hour, they would have to have wings. Yet there are no reports of these…Space marines having any.” She stated. “We shall see, Lulu.” Celestia teased. Her attention then turned to cadence. “As for Flurry, Twilight says she’s having a ball among them, and can’t wait to tell you all about them.” Cadence let out a slight chuckle. “Oh, flurry.” She uttered soothingly.

-An hour later –

The sun had risen higher as the ponies of Canterlot cleared the central avenue, all in order to clear a path for the arrival of the latest visitor to their kingdom. The guards escorted many a stallion, mare, and filly behind the wooden barricades as Celestia, Luna, cadence, and the delegates from all over Equestria waited at the gates of the palace for the arrival of the Imperial forces of man. The street had been cleared, with guards standing at the barricades, making sure no one could get through.

The vast crowd of ponies chattered and spoke among themselves the various rumors, and talks of the Space Marines. Among the delegates were, of course, some relatives of the elements of harmony, the parents being a majority. Things began to quiet down as Luna looked at her sister. “You see? Just as I…”

There was then a loud applause as the alicorns and delegates looked to see trotting down the avenue Twilight Sparkle, and company. They continued their path, waving, and acknowledging the bystanders. Once they had arrived to the gate, Twilight, Shining, and Flurry took their places next to the other alicorns, and the elements and spike to their spots with the other delegates, and relatives. This baffled the others a bit.

“Twilight, where are…” Before Celestia could finish her sentence, Twilight placed her hoof towards her mentor’s muzzle. “They’ll be here shortly.” She assured her fellow alicorn. With that spoken, they turned their gaze towards the city limits and began to hear the distant booming of a large force marching closer and closer. The ponies began to quiet down as they heard the loud rumble of footsteps draw near.

The first to be sighted was a familiar figure approach, a lavender pony with violet hair, and a turquoise stripe with a star as her cutie mark. It was none other than Starlight Glimmer, royal advisor to Princess Twilight Sparkle. The Princesses, delegates, and crowd looked in awe, though not initially at Starlight. No, for she was not alone. Striding alongside her was a large bipedal figure adorned in beautifully crafted blue armor, trimmed in gold, bearing the various symbols of its allegiance. They could see the creature had two appendages, which were indeed arms. One was rather bigger than the other. The larger arm had a peculiar cannon shaped object attached to it, and a chain connected to it, feeding into its backpack. The other arm was rather more proportioned, carrying a large flaming sword. This creature bore a handsome face, much like an old coin would be, bearing dutiful lines to his jaws. His brow and nose bore energy and triumph. He had blonde hair, and what appeared to be s simple olive branch, serving as his crown, much like the ancient kings of old. Above his head was a golden eagle figure, holding up a halo-like piece for all to see. It was then, Celestia looked to Twilight, who nodded, letting her know that yes…this was Roboute Guilliman.

Following behind this figure, were somewhat smaller figures, bearing similar armor as he did. Though, theirs were more identical to one another as opposed to their leader’s armor. They carried a variety of odd-looking weapons. Looking similar to crossbows, yet they weren’t at all. The ponies looked on, eyes a wide, jaws dropped as these beings marched along down the street. Though as similar as their armors were, they were all separated not only by their colors but by the ways they adorned themselves. These were, of course, the physical might and will of The Emperor made in flesh and Ceramite. These were the defenders of humanity, the Adeptus Astartes, These were the Space marines.

Though, they were not from the same chapter. No, each of the nine loyal chapters with their original legions' names and colors were present, as well as a few more not worthy successor chapters. For the most part, the blue, yellow, white, green, red, and black marines bore similar armor, with little decorations. While others were adorned with cloak like pieces, animal furs, and so on. Yet no matter how they dressed, they had their company ancients bare their banners, each marking their chapter’s symbol and colors. They were accompanied by various heavy machines and vehicles, such as dreadnaughts, and land raiders, as well as a few Razorbacks, and rhino tanks.

Of course, the space marines weren’t the only ones present. Following behind them were the forces of the imperial guard, and the Skitarii of the Adeptus Mechanicus, lead by Belisarius Cawl, who then took to Guilliman’s side, as well as the twelve company captains representing their chapters. The crowd whispered amongst themselves but grew silent as a massive shadow cast down on them. Their eyes widened in a mix of fear and excitement as a trio of Imperial knights trudged forward behind the Skitarii. The delegates and royal alicorns too were rocked by the sheer sight of the mighty forces present.

“By the moon…” Luna uttered. “How can any of this be possible?” Cadence looked to Flurry, who stood there and looked back at her mother. “Aren’t they amazing? We actually got to fly with them on their spaceship.” She boasted. “It was really cool, Cady.” Shining added. The other Delegates, such as Haakim, and Amira of Saddle Arabia took notice of the immense force. “Such giants…I have never seen anything like them.”Haakin stated. “Yes, I’d hate to face such a force in battle.” Amira proclaimed.

Once Starlight and Guilliman reached the royal alicorns, and delegates, the primarch raised The hand of Dominion above his head, and they all stopped. Not a single soldier, marine, or tech priest stepped out of place, all synchronized as part of the great machine of mankind. He lowered the large gauntlet as he approached Celestia alongside Starlight. “Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, and delegates of Equestria, may I present to you Roboute Guilliman. Primarch of the Ultramarines, and their successor chapters, Lord Commander of the Imperium of Man, Avenging Son of the Emperor of Mankind, and First Lord of Ultramar.” The primarch looked upon the alicorns, who looked back. Celestia stepped forth towards Guilliman.

“We are greatly honored for you to come all this way, Lord Guilliman. I am Princess Celestia; I am Co-ruler of Equestria alongside my sister, Princess Luna.” Luna nodded at Guilliman. In Guilliman’s deepest thoughts, he felt a bit of sentiment, seeing a world having co-rulers. Reminding him much of Macragge was once like before the Imperium.

“You truly have a mighty force at your disposal, Roboute. One our kind has never seen before. But, there is a concern as to your intentions. As impressive as your forces are, and that we are thankful that you have helped bring an end to an already bloodied conflict, we know very little about you, aside from what my pupil twilight has written.” “You are wise as to be concerned, if not in the art of war.” Guilliman stated. “There is a great concern that I have come to speak to you about, the only reason why I have come here.” The ponies looked at one another, confused as to what the Ultramarines’ primarch meant by. “But, rest assured your highness, that neither I, nor my forces mean your subjects, and world any harm.”

Celestia looked at Roboute, neither breaking eye contact. She continued to gaze at Guilliman for what felt like forever until she sensed what he said was true. “If you have no ill intent towards my little ponies, then you and your forces are more than welcomed here. I will here you out in the near future. However, in the meantime, I would like to welcome you all to Canterlot.”

The ponies let out a loud cry of cheers, a sign Guilliman had anticipated, and hoped for. This further boosted his effort to ensure that the peace between his forces, and pony kind would be maintained, despite the viewings, and upbringing of many of the Astartes, guardsmen, and tech-priests from the greater Imperium beyond. None the less, Roboute had reached out towards Celestia’s hoof, as his metallic grasp wrapped gently around the princess’ appendage. The delegates and others began to approach the primarch, many of whom had questions. But, he was then escorted by the four Alicorns to the throne room of Celestia’s palace, along with Cawl, and the twelve captains for a more in-depth introduction, and hopefully on Guilliman’s part, warn them of the dark times yet to come.