Aries looked over his helmet for the tenth time since Twilight had disappeared, he had long since confirmed that there were no impurities, despite having been repaired by an alien psyker, yet seeking taint on his equipment kept him occupied.

So long as his thoughts were away from...those events, he was able to ignore the bite of the Nails.

The sun had risen an hour ago, and so Aries waited for either Luna or Twilight or some other xeno to contact him.

He equipped the helmet and checked it's every function, the HUD was fully functional, the eyes lit up, it was perfect... the Machanicus would see this world burn if they knew how perfect a completely destroyed piece of Imperial technology was after being touched by alien magic.

A short time later, as Aries considered an eleventh scan of taint on his helmet, a lavender flash signaled Twilight's return.

"Good morning Aries, did you sleep well?" The alien asked of him with a polite smile.

"I did not sleep at all alien, I require but three hours of sleep per week, and can stay awake up to two weeks if it is necessary." Aries replied.

"Oh, that's interesting, well aside from more questions that I hope to ask you later, the Princesses are ready to meet you now." Twilight said.

"Very well, lead the way." Aries said.

"No problem, just stand next to me and we'll be there in no time." Twilight responded, gesturing to her side.

Aries got the hint immediately and drew the line. "I have sacrificed a great many of my beliefs in the past 24 hours for the sake of defeating the Great Enemy, I will not use magic for ease when it is not necessary."

Twilight blinked in confusion. "H-huh, uh are you saying you wanna take the train instead?"

"Is this 'train' a means of transportation that does not involve magic?" Aries asked.

"Yeah, it's a vehicle that's runned by a steam powered engine." Twilight said the last part questioningly, as though not sure if the ceramite clad super soldier who has spent most of his life in a country sized space ship knew what an engine was.

"Primitive, but effective, we will take the train." Aries said.

"Alright, I have to inform the Princesses that we'll run a little late, we're not the only ones expected, so we should have time, uh, if you head east, you'll see a small town called Ponyville, I live in the castle at it's center, I've already told my apprentice about you so you just have to knock on the door and Starlight'll let you in, Oh! and if a pink Earth Pony points a cannon at you, it's not a weapon, please don't kill my friend." With that, Twilight vanished in a lavender flash of light.

Aries took an extra nanosecond to ponder that last one, recalling the completely pink xeno that he had seen with the yellow one when he first arrived and her unusual personality, before exiting the cave and heading back to this 'Ponyville'...what were the founders thinking when they named it.

Moments Later

Aries' trek back had been nearly as uneventful as his first trip through the forest, he had encountered a large beast with bat wings and a scorpion's tail, but the creature had taken a single scent from the World Eater and fled for it's life.

The first beast's wisdom was not shared by the second, a pack of wolf shaped wooden automatons that were held together by magic, Aries found no challenge in them, but had been grateful for the exercise.

Now, Aries was back on the outskirts of the forest, he pulled back some branches to observe Ponyville, it was a faint distance away, but he could make out the brightly colored pelts of the equine xenos.

Taking a breath, and giving another prayer for forgiveness, Aries cleared the forest and walked towards them.

It wasn't long before they saw him, several stared at him, trying to figure out what he was or what his intentions were, others fled the scene, some in braver fashion than others.

As Aries closed the distance and entered the town, none dared to approach him, he ignored the mumbles and whispers of the aliens comparing him to a minotaur or a knight, until one said something that he couldn't ignore.

"Do you think it speaks Ponish." A sea-green alien asked a cream colored xeno.

Aries halted and faced the offending xeno. "It is called Imperial Gothic, if you will speak humanity's tongue, then you will call it by it's proper title."

The alien and it's friend both stared wide-eyed at the astartes, completely stunned.

Aries did not wait for their reply, and decided that since he had already addressed them, they might as well be useful to him. "I have business with the one called Twilight, she informed me that I am to await her at a castle in this settlement."

Aries took notice of the fact that mentioning Twilight snapped them out of it instantly and seemed to calm them. "Oh, Princess Twilight's castle is right in the center of Ponyville, we can show you the way."

The two aliens trotted in front of Aries and he followed them, he would've done so silently, but something they said grabbed his interest. "Twilight led me to believe that there were only two Princesses."

The two mares seemed to find this humorous. "Well, she's only been an alicorn for two, almost three years, and the royal sisters have ruled Equestria for over a thousand years." explained the green one.

"That, and Princess Celestia was Twilight's mentor since she was a philly, so she tends to forget that she has the same rank and prestige that they do." added the cream colored one.

"Experience outranks everything." Aries said, remembering the time a green Commissar had tried to pull rank on his squad's sergeant, the enraged astartes had shown the fool the error of his ways by ordering one of his own men to shoot him dead, an order obeyed without hesitation.

"Hmm, you have a point Mr..uhh.." The green xeno looked up to him in anticipation.

"...Aries." He answered.

"Lyra, my BFF here is BonBon." The alien gestured to herself and then to her cream colored friend.

"Nice to meet you." The latter added.

"It is...better... than my usual interactions with xenos." Aries replied, uncomfortable with the small talk that served no purpose as they had veered to a meaningless topic.

"You don't have any friends?" Lyra asked, confused by the statement.

"The only other races my people have encountered have either been bloodthirsty savages or deceptive manipulators who use us as pawns for their schemes." Aries explained, startling the aliens.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that...do you at least have any friends with own kind?" asked BonBon.

That innocent question stopped Aries in his tracks, his breathing elevated slightly and he closed his fists. "...they're gone."

The aliens looked confused, but then the recognition struck them like a bolt shell. "I-I-I am so sorry, I didn't mea-"

"Enough, I've wasted enough time with the two of you, where is the castle?" Aries demanded.

Lyra pointed beyond a roof of a building to his right, beyond it was a large crystalline structure, where the village itself looked almost man-made, this structure was completely alien.

"I will find my way from here." Aries stated and pressed on, noticing the xenos' apologetic stares, sympathy from aliens, Emperor preserve him.

He navigated the maze of buildings and curious bystanders and found his destination, the castle was an impressive sight in it's own right, but Aries would prefer a Gothic design.

He approached the castle and knocked, a moment later, the door opened. "I'm sorry, but Twilight's not heeeeerrreee..."

Aries had to look down below his knees to see the eyes of the small reptilian alien, no doubt a servant. "I am aware, she told me to wait for her here."

The xeno craned his head to speak to someone inside while keeping his eyes on the astartes. "Uhh, Starlight...what does the demon slayer look like again?"

A female voice answered him as it's owner drew closer. "He's supposed to be an 8 foot bipedal knight, I think Twilight said he was-"

The mare came into view and stopped in her tracks, giving him the same look as the servant, "At...the...door." Starlight finished awkwardly. "H-he-hello.."

"Greetings." Answered Aries, not waiting for an invitation to step inside.

The aliens continued to stare at him, but he ignored them and simply waited, a few moments passed, finally Starlight worked up the courage to speak up, only to be cut off when Twilight appeared between them.

"Is everything in order?" Aries asked, getting Twilight's attention.

"Oh, I see you made it, I you hope that you weren't waiting too long, but yes, everything is in order." Twilight said.

"Then where is this train?" Aries asked.

"We're taking the train?" The servant asked.

"It's a long story, but yes, we're taking the train, and I've already informed the others, they'll meet us at the train station."

"Then let us proceed." Aries said as he headed towards the door, Twilight leading the way flanked by her cohorts.

Aries took notice that the aliens were a lot less fearful of him now that he was in the company of one of their leaders, some remained at a safe distance, and none dared to question them, but several have already resumed their daily routines.

The four of them made it to the train station without incident, Aries found that the vehicle in question ran on a fixed track and was chained to several carts made for carrying a large number of passengers from one destination to another, he doubted that it could move faster than the equines themselves, but as a machine, it wouldn't tire as they would, even astartes had limits to how long they could run.

Twilight waved down a group of mares who Aries assumed were the others she had mentioned, though he had no idea how any of them qualified to assist in what was to come...with one exception.

"ARIES!" cried a familiar voice from behind them, the World Eater turned to the familiar sight of the xenos warrior that reminded him of the 13th legion, Rainbow Dash as he recalled.

The winged equine flew to meet them and hovered in front of the astartes with one of it's hooves outstretched. "How ya been?"

Aries regarded the gesture, assuming that it was some sort of greeting that he was expected to respond to in some manner.

As the xeno had shown respectable skill in faceing a more than insignificant number of Bloodletters on her own, he decided to place an closed fist against it's hoof to show respect to the warrior. "I have been well, though I am not accustomed to spending so long away from combat."

Before any other questions could arise a voice rang out. "ALL ABOARD!!" while ringing a bell, signaling that it was time to board the train.

The group of eight aliens and one space marine entered the train, and though the transport's staff member looked at him the same way as the rest of their kind, this one actually dared to address him. "Uuuhhhh, S-sir, do you ha-have a...ticket?"

"No, I do not." Aries said, looking down at the golden horned alien with dark brown hair and green eyes.

"W-well, I'm sorry, but I cannot let you board without a ticket." The xeno said, nervous, but unfaltering.

"I have urgent business with your rulers, I do not have time for this." Aries said and turned to walk away...only for a golden flash to see the alien appear in his path, his gaze roaring defiance.

"I am sorry sir, but unless you have a ticket, I cannot let on this train." The alien said with conviction.

Aries was about to brush him aside when Twilight ran up to them with a gold colored piece of paper in her mouth.

The alien turned and looked to her confused. "That's funny, I could've sworn that I had already punched your ticket Princess."

"It's not mine, I just forgot to give Aries his before we boarded." Twilight explained, causing the xeno to look back at the astartes, and then back to Twilight.

"Very well, although you should have a talk with your friend, his manners are abhorrent." And with that, the xeno turned to leave.

"What is your name, alien?" Aries asked.

The xeno gave him a look and hesitated, but in time, an answer came. "One-way Express."

"I will remember that." Aries said, bowing his to the creature that, in spite of it's head failing to reach Aries' knee, stood his ground against a World Eater.

Author's Note

Fair points Warpsmith, one of which will be answered in chapter 6 (which I am currently writing and plan to publish on the weekend) another I will answer in a later chapter, but for the hostile aliens bid, he said that I encountered, not the Imperium, he himself, I know the Imperium has encountered nonhostile xenon before, most popular being the Jotaro (might've spelled that wrong) which the Inquisition put a leash on.