The Following day

Twilight was the first Equestrian out of bed. She had hardly slept on account of the new developments. And looking outside revealed that Celestia had yet to raise the sun.

Twilight made her way downstairs toward the library in order to grab a few books to read until the others awakened...only to find that she, in fact, wasn't the first one awake.

Aries paced around the library anxiously, his breathing elevated. Twilight could tell that something troubled him.

Aries stopped pacing when Twilight cleared her throat to get his attention. "Couldn't sleep either, I take it?" she asked him.

"That is not a problem, I do not require more than 3 hours of sleep within a week. One of many enhancements that separate astartes from the humans they once were." Aries replied.

Twilight blinked away the shock and suppressed the urge to question him, for now, and skipped to the point. "Oh, well then, why did you seem stressed? is it because of the possible invasion?"

Aries paused before answering. "In a manner of speaking...I am a warrior Twilight Sparkle. And unlike the common men and women of the Astra Militarum, I cannot simply stop being a warrior. There are some astartes capable of such, the sons of Vulkan and Fulgrim, but not a World Eater, not me...the waiting is hell, it's always been hell, but this is worse than anything I've endured...because it's 'possible' that I wait for nothing."

Twilight pieced it together, he had made the battlefield his home. It was something that anypony would call barbaric, or crazy, but she found herself recalling how Applejack got her cutie-mark.

After she moved to Manehattan to get away from the farm. She had spent the whole time pining for it, and returned early, because it was where she belonged. That was what war meant for Aries, it was home...and it was so far away.

Twilight racked her brain for ways to help the astartes feel better, confident in the belief that the usual tactics were out of the question. "Um, well...you couldn't have been fighting ALL the time, what did you do between fights?"

Aries actually made a sound that caused Twilight to believe that he was smirking beneath his helmet. "I sparred with my brothers and tended to my weapons and armor."

Twilight was stunned, not because of his dedication to his calling, but because he actually showed that he could experience humor. "Oh, well then...umm, I got nothing...but I may know some ponies who can help you."

Aries tilted his head. "Who would that be?"

Twilight answered by turning to show her flank to him. "You see this mark? We call them 'cutie-marks'. They magically appear on our flanks when we discover our destiny." Twilight explained, Aries listening in the belief that there is a point to this.

"A few years ago, a trio of fillies discovered that their destiny was helping others find their destiny, whether it's helping younger foals get their cutie-marks, helping older ponies understand their cutie-marks, or even helping other creatures without cutie-marks find their place in the world." Twilight concluded.

"And you believe these three children can help me?" Aries showed no confidence in that plan.

"Well I'd bet every book in my library that if you were a pony, your cutie-mark would be the insignia on your shoulder." Twilight said, pointing a hoof at the mark of the 12th legion.

"Being a World Eater is your destiny, and right now you don't know what to do with it because you're in a world of peace and changing that is what they want. And if there's anypony that can help you, it's the Cutie-mark Crusaders." Twilight concluded.

"I am all but certain that this will be a waste of my time...but I have a week to waste. Very well, where will I find them?" Aries asked.

"It's not a matter of where, they live here in Ponyville. We just have to wait until a decent hour." Twilight said, pointing to a window and the lack of sunlight.

Aries looked like he was about to protest, but then decided against it. "Very well, how long must we wait?"

Twilight smiled at the astartes allowing her to help him. "Just a few hours, in the meantime, would you mind telling me more about where you came from. I know your legion is a sore topic, but what about the others, what about the imperium, and you mentioned other aliens?"

Twilight summoned a blank scroll and a quill and ink. Aries shrugged in a 'why not' manner and sat in a chair, removing his helmet as he did. "What I know of xenos is what I learned from fighting them. So it's no surprise that I am most familiar with the Ork race, a species of barbaric savages that worship war as you worship friendship."

Hours passed, yet Twilight never noticed the sun rise, she hung on Aries every word, writing an entire novel dedicated to the foul greenskins, even subtly complicating some of their beliefs to make them understandable for more complex creatures, such as referring to Gork as a clever fighter and Mork as a violent strategist.

"So...is it a decent hour yet?" Aries asked, pointing to the window.

Twilight turned to see the sunlight and actually leaped into the air with surprise. "WHOA!! Oh, um, sorry."

Twilight composed herself and cleared her throat. "Yes it's a decent hour, and it's not a school day, so let's go see if we can burrow them for the day."

With that, Twilight explained the situation to Spike, who would pass it on to Starlight, and the two set out.

The moment Aries stepped out of the castle, he was surprised to see that the locals have a done a complete 180 in regards to his presence, waving their hooves at him in pleasant greetings.

Aries ignored them and proceeded to follow Twilight towards a small shop of sorts labeled 'Rarity for you'.

Twilight entered the building easily enough, but Aries had to crouch and turn his shoulders in order to squeeze in. "Oh, sorry about that." Twilight apologized.

"You could not have foreseen that your buildings would have to fit an astartes, so there is nothing to apologize for." Aries affirmed.

"Oh, Twilight what can I do fo-...uh, how did he get in?" The unicorn that Aries recognized from the war meeting had come from a back room levitating a piece of fabric with her magic.

"He's surprisingly flexible." Twilight replied before getting down to business. "Um, is Sweetie Belle around?"

Rarity nodded. "Why, yes she is, but might I ask what you need her for?"

"Aries is having trouble adjusting to... not being at war with everything all the time, and I was hoping that the CMCs could help him find a place in Equestria when we're not preparing for a war that we might not even have to fight if we're lucky." Twilight explained.

"Ah, I see. OH SWEETIE BELLE, COULD YOU COME HERE DARLING?" Rarity called out towards the room she had come from.

"COMING!" Replied the voice of a young girl before the owner of said voice emerged.

The unicorn filly had white fur and a twin colored mane and tail of two different shades of purple and a 'cutie-mark' of a shield with a music note within a star upon it's center.

Sweetie Belle opened her mouth to ask a question, but fell silent as she laid eyes upon the World Eater. "...Whoa, you must the Demon Slayer." The filly's eyes started to sparkle as though she were enchanted by the space marine.

"I have slain far more than Daemons child, but there are very few creatures on this planet that can satisfy my need for blood and honor. I was told you and two others could help with that." Aries explained.

The World Eater's blunt expectations seemed to dispell the enchantment. "Oh, uhh... Scootaloo and Apple Bloom might have some ideas, Scootaloo knows all about the need for heart stopping adrenaline, and Apple Bloom is pretty straight forward in her approach. I'll go find them."

Twilight gave a nervous laugh and chipped in. "We'll go find them, you go and look for Scootaloo while me and Aries find Apple Bloom. We can regroup at your tree house, okay?"

"Sounds good to me, I'll see you there Princess, nice meeting you Mr. Demon Slayer." Sweetie Belle said as she made her way outside.

Twilight was about to follow her when- "Um, Twilight, darling... you and your friend aren't going to do anything...dangerous, are you?"

Twilight turned to Rarity, but Aries answered first. "I will only endanger myself, the children will be kept at a safe distance."

"Oh, um...alright then..." Rarity was still nervous but said nothing else.

Aries started to crouch again to exit the store, only for a lavender aura to envelope the door, and cause it to stretch as if the solid doorframe was elastic and grow big enough to accommodate him.

Aries looked back to Twilight, who was straining to hold the spell, and then quickly went through the opening.

The doorframe returned to normal, and Twilight said a few final words to Rarity before exiting the boutique herself.

"You didn't have to do that." Aries said as he started walking.

"Maybe, but what kind of friend would I be if I didn't?" Twilight asked him, catching up to lead the way to their destination.

Aries looked at her. "We...are friends?" he said, unsure.

"Of course." Twilight answered with a smile.

Aries didn't know how to think about that. "Hmph, I guess this is how Jerrik felt when we first met." He said to himself, forgetting to switch his vox to a private line.

"Who's Jerrik?" Twilight said, alerting the World Eater to his blunder.

Aries' astartes mind allowed him to mentally berate himself, analyze the situation, and determine whether or not if it would be better to clarify or not in such speed that Twilight never even knew that his tongue slipped.

"Jerrik was a Librarian in my legion, a psyker like yourself." Aries began, earning the alicorn's undivided attention.

"Psykers have a difficult time mastering their abilities, and the destruction caused by untrained psykers discovering their abilities led to them being feared among the imperium. It is not uncommon for human controlled worlds to hunt psykers as monsters and witches, and many astartes legions refuse the use of psykers, fewer still treat their psychic brothers as equals." He went on, horrifying the princess.

"I, however, do not share that fear, for the Emperor himself is a psyker, the most powerful of all, and He stands as an example of how these feared powers can be used for good, just like my legion and the VIIIth do for rage and fear respectively. So I saw no reason not to treat Jerrik as he was, a brother, not unlike any other World Eater." Aries concluded.

Twilight smiled at his answer, only for her happy expession to turn into sadness when she realized that Jerrik was undoubtedly dead, like the rest of Aries' friends. The thought of such a thing befalling her own friends assaulting her mind, as they had the night before.

Aries saw her expression and knew what caused it. He said nothing more on the subject as he could confirm what she knew.

They arrived at a farm called Sweet Apple Acres. Aries saw naught but a single breed of fruit bearing trees stretching out for a good length. As well as various breeds of livestock, though what purpose equines had for such creatures eluded him.

"HELLO!? IS ANYPONY HOME!?" Twilight called out, resulting in a larger, male equine with fur as red as the farm's namesake fruit emerging from the barn.

"Hiya Big Mac, is Apple Bloom home?" Twilight asked the stallion.

"Eeyup." Was his reply.

"Great, I was hoping the CMCs could help me with something, you don't mind if I pull her away from the farm today, do you?" Twilight asked.

Big Mac thought about it, Aries believing that he was weighing the loss in productivity over helping him and Twilight, before smiling at her. "Nnope."

"Great, can you tell me where she is? It's been awhile since I navigated the farm." Twilight asked him.

The crimson stallion silently pointed a hoof down one of the paths between the rows of apple trees. "Thanks." Twilight nodded her head towards him, a gesture he returned with a silent smile.

Big Mac went inside the barn while Twilight and Aries went off in the indicated direction...Aries couldn't tell if he respected the stallion for his straightforward approach, or if he was just grateful for the lack of pointless conversation.

As they walked down the path, Aries noticed that every tree they passed had been harvested recently. He also noticed a loud impact sound every 20 seconds.

Eventually, he spotted a tree that was so filled with fruit, the branches bent with the weight. That is, until another impact caused the tree to shake, dislodging every single fruit.

Aries and Twilight made their way to the harvesters, one Aries recognized as Applejack, and the other was a bright yellow furred filly with bright red hair that was a few shades darker than Big Mac's fur tied up with a pink bow and another shield shaped cutie-mark with a heart inside of an apple.

"Hey Applejack, Apple Bloom." Twilight greeted when they were ten feet away.

"Howdy Twi, what brings ya down here an- Oh, ya brought Aries along?" Applejack sounded a bit concerned and looked towards Apple Bloom, who had the same look as Sweetie Belle.

"Wow, so yer that Demon Slayer that mah sister told me about?" The filly asked the astartes.

"Yes, I am. I was told that you and your friends could help me find an occupation in a world with no Daemons to slay." Aries replied.

Unlike Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom actually got even brighter. "Sure...don' suppose ya wanna give apple buckin' a try?" The filly pointed a hoof at an apple tree with buckets beneath it.

"Bucking? You...kick the trees?" Aries inquired, to which the filly nodded and Applejack walked over to a tree on the other side of the path.

"It may be a little difficult at first, since ya gotta figure out how hard to buck it ta get all the apples to fall without damagin' the tree." After an explanation, Applejack brought up her back legs and kicked the tree, causing every apple to fall from it's perch and into the buckets below.

Aries pondered the option, it may not be as adrenalizing as front line combat, but may be the closest he can get until he can start training the Planetary Defense Force.

Aries walked up to the tree that Apple Bloom had marked for him. Putting his hand upon it as he contemplated how much to hold back lest he break it in half. It was strong, sturdy, he could increase the effect of a weaker kick by aiming higher than the base, increasing the shake effect.

With this in mind, he positioned himself with his right arm facing the tree, before leaning right, jumping left without his right foot touching the ground, and finally leaping right with a high kick-off on the tree, rolling as he landed.

He turned back to see the results. Less than half the tree's fruit had been harvested.

"Hey, not bad. I only got two of em on mah first try." Apple Bloom stated with a smile.

"Heh, well I'm sure that even his kind don't get that big by skippin' leg day." Applejack joked.

"If you are referring to training exercises, no, we do not skip." Aries said. "Apple bucking is a definitely a challenge, but I would prefer to combat something that can fight back if at all possible."

"Hmm, well I don't know about fighting somecreature, but I'm sure Scootaloo can find somethin' that'll get yer blood pumpin'." Apple Bloom said.

"Very well, shall we proceed to the rendezvous?" Aries asked Twilight.

"You don't mind, right Applejack?" Twilight asked her friend.

The farm pony waved her off. "Nah, I can finish up by myself. Have fun sugercube." With that, the three head out to the CMCs clubhouse.

The walk was relatively short, as the clubhouse was located just off the farm.

They came upon the tree house to find Sweetie Belle waiting for them, along with a pegasus filly with orange fur and a purple mane and tail and third shield shaped cutie-mark with a lightning bolt inside a feathered wing.

"Heya Crusaders, I take it you both know what we're doin' today?" Apple Bloom asked her allies.

Sweetie Belle nodded, while Scootaloo got her turn with the enchanted eyes at her first time seeing the astartes up close. "Whoa, you're every bit as awesome as Rainbow Dash said you were."

"So, you are related to the warrior are you? Then perhaps you can tell me how I may occupy myself as I wait for the Defense Force to be drawn up." Aries said.

"Hmm, as a matter of fact, I do have something that might interest you, and it's starting later today." The filly pulled out a flyer and handed it to the World Eater.

The flyer announced that 2 hours from now, a gladiator like competition was to be held, a series of fights with a champion match for the main event.

Aries handed the flyer back to Scootaloo. "An interesting idea, though I have my doubts, particularly on how much your kind can challenge me."

"You do look pretty strong. Hmm, how about we watch the show so you can see if you like it, and if you do, then we talk about getting you in the ring. What do you say?" Scootaloo inquired.

Aries pondered it for a moment. If nothing else, he can an idea on how the equines fight. "Very well, lead the way."

Author's Note

I'm cutting it here, because next chapter...the impossible happens.

On an unrelated note: ho-ly FUCK the season 9 premiere actually had me out of my seat and pacing to calm myself down. The trailer terrified me because I thought they gave away the ending, but no, that's how it STARTS!!

If there is anything disappointing about the premier, it's that they hyped up Sombra's return and then hit him with the stupid stick, so 9.999/10 cause everything else was Bad to the Ass like HOW IN ALL THE WARP'S HELLS IS THIS GONNA END!?!?!?

However, I will be making this fic an AU because I already had a pre-set plan for Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow, so I won't be including any character developments that emerge in later episodes.

One last thing to mention before I wrap this up, I've copied this story on fimfiction and someone on that site has informed me that I've been merging sentences by using commas in place of periods, so I will going back to fix that later, so pardon the updates that will not be the next chapter.

All right, that's all I got, see you all next time.