Aries oversaw the mobilization of the Planetary Defense Force. They would stand to face the coming storm, while the civilian populace were being evacuated to Ponyville

Many had questioned why the evacuation was centered around Ponyville, the answer was it's close proximity to the Everfree Forest. Should the worse come to pass, the civilians can flee into the wild. Of course, the aptly named village of ponies was far too small to hold non-combatants of six different species, and so every single camping tent was being set up just ahead of the small town's borders, whilst the floating city of Cloudsdale was being repositioned directly over Ponyville.

The Pegasai were enshrouding their city with storm clouds the color of a Raven Guard's armor with but a single opening from which fresh new volunteers for the PDF were falling into sloppy undisciplined ranks...Aries would work on that later.

Pegasai may have made up the majority of Pony recruits, but Ponies were far from the PDF's majority. Dragon Lord Garble knew the truth of the threat posed to Equestria, and committed all but the youngest Dragons to their defense whilst the youngest and unhatched eggs were being held in Ponyville with the other civilians.

"Faster, we are facing the swiftest and cruelest foes the galaxy has to offer. We need these defenses up and running NOW!" Aries ordered as the PDF and Equestrian Royal Guard dug out trenches and positioned tanks. Aries almost smiled when he heard that they had tanks, but his good mood faded when he realized that they were the absolute most bare-boned tanks he had ever seen. Two treaded tracks held up a Feudal Age cannon behind a lightly armored canopy that was only big enough for one Pony.

Almost useless, Aries was at least able to introduce them to the idea of grapeshot by putting nails and screws in place of a cannonball. Completely incapable of piercing Wraithbone, but possibly able to disorient their lighter flyers and slay Wytches.

Ultimately, the bulk of the Equestrian Defense fell to sorcery. Unicorns were evenly spaced out in every trench to provide shields to the defenders and stromclouds were being moved into position directly in front of them and would stretch a mile out in all directions.

Aries once more cursed the necessity of such madness, yet here he was, helping Daemons of the Warp defend their home when all logic said he should be purging the planet himself. What more madness will follow? Aries thought to himself.

"Lord Aries? A moment if you will?" A vaguely familiar voice not belonging to an Equestrian he dealt with routinely came from behind him.

The War Hound turned and lowered his gaze to that of Dazzling Light...and a firearm

"...It's only been 4 days...how?" Was all Aries could say to the miracle.

"When we heard there was trouble coming up, we pulled out all the stops and did the best to get at least something ready...unfortunately we could only manage to get a prototype for the weapon, the magazine, and about 500 rounds of ammo. We shot 5 of them. They seem to work. Anyhow, since figuring out that our best case scenario was one working gun. We decided to save the Pony version for later and make this one for you." The Unicorn explained, holding up the weapon.

Aries took the firearm in his hand. It was far lighter than a bolt gun, with a far more slender profile but for the round drum magazine, which only held 30 high caliber rounds of magically enchanted bullets.

He remembered seeing the blueprints from the shared dream, the generic version of this weapon was meant to have a lever-like trigger without a guard, but this version was clearly made for human hands. Nay, his hands, it fit perfectly into his grip, and also lacked the stock of the generic version.

"...What do I call this weapon?" Aries asked.

"We call it: The Equestrian Defender...Mk1." Dazzling replied.

Aries said nothing in response, for he was thinking. He had not meant the weapon's type, but the weapon in his hands. The miracle that should've taken weeks, months even, to be ready to defend it's creators, and was ready in days.

Was it truly a miracle? Or was it the defiance of peaceful creatures that refused to vanish into the darkness.

...Defiance. That shall be your name. Aries said this to himself, Dazzling Light had already left.

Six eyes watched from the Everfree Forest as Fluttershy and Nurse Redheart helped Smoulder carry Dragon Eggs to a prepared fire pit. Smoulder had shouldered the burden of caring for the eggs while her brother helped Aries prepare the defense...though the ones watching them neither knew this nor cared to learn.

"Well, it's safe to say that they're not interested in us." Tirek concluded when he realized that the Equestrians were commiting all of their forces to defending themselves and not hunting for he and the others.

"Discord must've finally slithered his way to Canterlot." Chrysalis added, grinning at the thought of the Lord of Chaos being brought so low after decieving them.

"So...they believe him...about the Dark Eldar." Cozy Glow stated with no small amount of nervousness in her voice.

A haunting chill clawed the spines of the elder villains as they were reminded of the coming doom that threatened them all. "Well...at least we can take over the rest of Equestria while the ponies' attention is focused on Ponyville." Tirek stated, though none were too thrilled at the idea of conquering a doomed world.

"Well...you two have fun. I'm going to blend in with the refugees and wait for this to blow over." Cozy Glow declared and tried to fly away only to be caught by Tirek.

"Oh no you don't. If you get caught, you'll sell us out to save your own hide. We're just going to wait it out here, right?" The last word was meant for Chrysalis, but she had walked away while the other two were busy.

"Hey, no fair! Let me go Tirek, Chrysalis is stealing my idea." The young filly whined. The centaur simply snarled at his luck while dragging Cozy Glow with him into the darker depths of the Everfree.

A Unicorn mare trotted unnoticed past Fluttershy and Smoulder. She had a pale green coat with a mane and tail that were two different shades of orange, appearing like Autumn leaves.

She waved a hoof as she passed the Pegasus, her smile appearing friendly enough, and then turning into a smirk at a successful infiltration.

These ponies are so easy to dupe. Chrysalis thought to herself as she explored the camp.

Yaks had joined the Ponies and Dragons now and the first Hyppogriffs could be seen in the distant sky, less than 20 minutes away. So spots where she could be alone were few and far between.

A small voice in the back of her mind said she should help set up camp, if only to throw off suspicion, but she quickly tore the voice limb from limb, the thought translating to reality as she shook her head with clenched teeth.

She wasn't here to help these fools, they were here to help her. A truth taught to her by her ancestors...It was once believed that the Changelings were meant to serve up Equestria for beings greater than themselves, but the ancient ones that believed this were deposed long ago...just like she had been.

She shook her head again, slaughtering more annoying voices. The fools that came before her didn't matter. The fools that abandoned her didn't matter. She was neither of them and held little interest in their beliefs. What she believed in, and what she would fight for, was herself. All else was meaningless an- Chrysalis was pulled from her thoughts when she hit something. Something hard. She shook her head and looked up...and up.

Aries turned to stare at the foolish equine that bumbed into him, and was now staring at him slack jawed. "If you are not here to join the defense, then get out of my sight."

The mare remembered how to close her mouth and shook the shock from her mind. "Uh um, the defense. Ri- Wait! You mean against the invaders!?"

There was shock, but not fear. As though the conclusion was that Aries was fighting the enemy. "Yes." He answered simply.

"Wuh why would somecreature like you defend ponies?" The mare asked, as though Aries should be above such things. It was...different.

"I fight to kill the enemies of the Imperium of Man and the Emperor of Mankind. The Dark Eldar are among these enemies." Aries stated. "I have no further interest in your questions. If you do not wish to fight, leave. If you do wish to fight, your sorcery will be best served shielding the tanks."

The mare stared for a moment...and then smiled as she trotted towards the tanks.

Chrysalis didn't know why she felt this way. But something about that creature, one the likes of which she had seen numerous times before, felt...familiar. Like it could've been her inside that armor.

She knew who this creature was, as Grogar had informed them of Aries' nature after she and the others watched him kill Sombra, but now that she had actually been in his presence, she could no longer see him as another fool taken in by the promises of peace and everlasting happiness.

Instead, she felt his unease and discontent, and now believed that whatever this creature was, or wherever he came from, they were just like her.

Of course, this meant that they wouldn't tolerate her, but she could fix that. If this Imperium ever showed up, she could replace a single soldier and work her way up the latter, maybe one day she would replace the Emperor and rule mankind herself.

It was a pleasant enough thought. So when she finally shook off the shock of her encounter with the War Hound and realized that she was standing beside ponies to fight against the Dark Eldar, it felt...right. Yes, she belonged on a battlefield. Teaching her enemies that she was superior to them. And for the first time since the betrayal of her hive...she didn't feel alone.

"Are you sure that everyone's ready?" Thorax asked.

"Yes Lord Thorax. Everychangeling is accounted for and ready to leave." A younger Changeling named Buzz replied.

Thorax could tell by Buzz's tone that he wished they had left already, and he shared the sentiment, but he refused to leave anyone behind. "Alright. Let's get go-" Thorax stopped when he heard piercing shriek growing louder and louder.

Thorax turned his head and barely made out a large dark shape fly right past him and into Buzz. By the time Thorax turned his head back to the younger Changeling, he was already falling to the ground in two halves.

Thorax didn't have time to be in shock before the shrieking returned. Thorax turned to the sound far faster, and still barely transformed into a housefly in time to evade Buzz's fate.

More shrieking, followed by the screams of panicked Changelings told Thorax the grim tale. The Dark Eldar had arrived.

Author's Note

At last, the moment we've all been waiting for. I have no excuses for why the ponies built a gun in 4 days, I just wanted Aries to have one is all. If my description was too vague, it's basically an AR-15 chambered in 50Beowulf with no stock and a drum mag.

Future Equestrian Defenders will not be seen until Vol. 3, but they will draw their inspiration from this video.

For Chrysalis, yeah I know most people like to compare her to genestealers(I even gave a nod to that) but I always drew more comparisons with the Imperium for her.

If anyone wants a in depth on how the Changelings descend from genestealers in this fic. A patriarch found itself in Equestria via Warp Shenanigans(same as the Orks that fought the Dragons) and started breeding amongst the ponies. However, the Spirit was able to Corrupt/Purify them(the only real difference between these two is the eye of the beholder) and gradually turn them away from serving the Tyranids.

It doesn't really matter though, as this bit of lore is never going to be explained in the story any deeper than this.

Also, before you jump down my throat about Chrysalis relating to Aries, she has some serious issues regarding a solitary life style, as proven by her habit of talking to logs.

And while Tirek and Cozy Glow may also be villains, they are not the same...I will admit that I'm mostly drawing up this proud warrior persona for Chrysalis because she went down fighting while the others got petrified in very cowardly poses, and I'm a sucker for characters that don't give up on their dreams...even if they're evil.

Not much more for this, except to say that I'm planning nonstop violence for the rest of the story until the aftermath bit so...buckle up buttercup.