Tempest Shadow stepped off the train onto the Crystal Empire station. She had been in Klugetown, cracking down on the thieves and slavers that frequent the lawless desert town, when word reached her that Equestria was going to war.

Tempest was sceptical about the claim, considering how swiftly most threats were dealt with, and how she couldn't imagine something worse than the Storm King, but she nonetheless answered the summons.

After arriving in Canterlot, Princess Celestia had requested that she meet with the leader of the 'Planetary Defense Force' to receive her orders. The fact that a planet wide alliance had been deemed necessary did nothing to help Tempest's worry, especially after Celestia informed her that Ponyville had been attacked and suffered over a hundred casualties.

The leader of the PDF was currently in the Crystal Empire, meeting with Twilight's brother, and so Tempest had come to report to this 'Aries'.

She had been told that another unicorn would meet her at the station. And after looking around for a few seconds, she found a pony matching his description: white coat, black mane and beard, dressed in uniform and appearing unfriendly at first glance, and second...and third.

Tempest approached the pony and hailed him. "Excuse me, are you Chancellor Neighsay?"

The unicorn looked at her with judgmental eyes. "Yes. And you are Fizzlepop Berrytwist, formerly known as Tempest Shadow, correct?"

Tempest raised an eyebrow at the pony's tone. "Yes. Though only Twilight and her friends are permitted to use my real name, so you will call me Tempest."

"A fitting name for a traitor. I will tell you right now that I do not share Twilight's haste for forgiveness, though in light of recent events, your services will prove necessary...for now." Neighsay declared.

Tempest wasn't too surprised. "Princess Celestia told me about you...and how your prejudice caused you to oppose her student in regards to her treatment of nonponies."

Neighsay's scowl softened for a half second before returning tenfold. "The incident with Cozy Glow has humbled me in that regard, but there is a difference between giving an unfamiliar creature a chance to betray you or befriend you, and giving a traitor a chance to betray you again."

Tempest took the accusation in stride. Honestly, it's what she expected from Twilight and the others. "Fair enough Chancellor. Please escort me to this Aries so I may remove myself from your presence."

Neighsay gave a swift, sharp nod and started walking. Tempest following at his side.

Silence reigned for the first 15 minutes, the two unicorns finding an almost unequestrian comfort in silence, before Tempest sacrificed comfort for duty. "Tell me Chancellor, what do you know of this Aries? I assume that he is not a pony, given his name."

If Neighsay was annoyed by the end of the silence, he gave no sign. "Certainly not. I believe he refers to himself as an 'astartes'. To put it simply, he is a warrior from another universe, and his enemies seek to destroy Equestria and the Elements of Harmony with it."

The only thing that shocked Tempest was the mention of another universe. Twilight had once told her of Sunset Shimmer, Celestia's wayward student, could she have some connection with this astartes, or was it a completely different other universe.

"Is there anything else you can tell me about him?" Tempest asked.

"I have not seen him myself, but from what I've heard, he is an eight foot tall bipedal knight who wears white and blue armor with the insignia of his 'legion' marking one of his shoulders, and a sword that is empowered by the legendary Alicorn Amulet...a gift from Princess Luna." Neighsay explained.

"The Alicorn Amulet!? That's-" Whatever Tempest was about to say was lost in an explosion in the distance. The two unicorns ceasing their conversation immediately as they ran to investigate.

Elsewhere

Sombra smiled sadistically as the ponies of the Crystal Empire fled in every direction, as they should. The smile disappeared as a spear landed near him, missing it's mark due to lack of practice.

Sombra turned to the Crystal Guards with clear annoyance. Weaker beings were supposed to run from him, consumed by terror, not charge him with hearts full of zeal and courage.

Sombra waited for the fools to close in before summoning a large crystal of frozen darkness beneath his hooves, riding it to ascend beyond the reach of those beneath him, who were sent flying by the emergence of the large stalagmite.

Before they could recover, Sombra appeared before the stunned warriors and fitted them both with helmets forged from shadows. The eyes of the helmets glowing green as the Crystal Guards became trapped in their darkest fears and were made into King Sombra's puppets.

As Sombra began to march forward, his new honor guard flanking him, he heard the telltale sign of a lightning based magical attack coming towards him.

He turned and formed a shield. The ball of lightning struck it and exploded, forming a small crater and lighting nearby houses on fire.

Tempest Shadow was already charging up another attack. She had advised Neighsay to focus on shielding them, something that she could not do.

Sombra. She had heard stories of the dark unicorn, but hadn't been inclined to believe them.

But that was then, and this is now. Sombra was real in this moment, and if she allowed the belief that such a thing were impossible to consume her mind, then Equestria would suffer for her inaction.

"Hmph. Take care of them." Sombra said to his guards, who charged with their spears.

They were a pegasus and an Earth Pony. They each relied on their spears and training in hoof to hoof combat. Tempest would applaud their courage for facing the Dark Lord after they woke up.

Lightning poured forth from her shattered horn, not enough to kill, but enough to render the two brainwashed ponies unconscious.

Sombra rolled his eyes. "How typical of weaklings. Though at least they proved that I actually need to put effort into crushing you."

"Come on and try it." Tempest snarled as she unleashed another electrical typhoon at the False King.

Sombra raised another crystal as a shield. The crystal exploded into shards that peppered Neighsay's shield. When the dust cleared, Sombra was gone.

"Keep your shield up. There's no way he's done with us yet." Tempest warned Neighsay, who gave a silent nod in reply.

The silence between them was interrupted when several smaller crystals surrounded them, their tips breaking on the shield.

Tempest didn't know what Sombra's plan was, but she had no interest in letting him have his way. She roared in defiance as she blasted the crystals and destroyed them all one by one...until she couldn't.

"Whu-what's happening?" Tempest asked no one in particular as her magic started to be repelled.

"I've heard of this. Sombra's crystals can form an impenetrable barrier if they surround one like so. He's trapped us." Neighsay snarled in anger as realized that they had been trapped.

"He's going after Princess Cadence. He has to be. We've got a find a way out of here before-" Tempest stopped dead.

Upon realizing that they had been trapped, she and Chancellor Neighsay had unknowingly came to the same conclusion, 'he's caught us, and thus, isn't after us' and let their guard down.

Sombra appeared behind them and slammed a helmet onto each of them. The minute he did, Tempest watched her magic run out control as lightning shot out and electrocuted Twilight and her friends, the royal sisters, and her old friends from foal hood.

She tried to stop it by pressing her hooves to her broken horn, but the lightning burned through her hooves until they were naught but charred stumps. And all Tempest could do was watch as she destroyed Equestria.

It wasn't much better for Neighsay. He saw the races of nonponies betray his trust, mock him for his foolishness, and lay siege to Equestria under the banner of the Princess of Friendship who had betrayed them all.

Everywhere he looked, ponies screamed at him for letting this happen. He should've known better, he never should've trusted nonponies and those who sympathize with their misbegotten kind.

Only two things were similar between these visions, they had failed Equestria, and their fears consumed them.

Sombra smirked with his head held high and his nose turned up as he continued towards the castle, his castle.

Elsewhere

"Come on Twilight, we need you." Cadence said as she wrote the final words in her letter and sent it to her sister-in-law. Shining Armor stood at her side with Flurry Heart, he would've been ordering troops into place...but he had given that task to someone more experienced.

As if thoughts of him summoned him forth, the doors to the throne room opened up to accommodate the War Hound astartes known as Aries.

Cadence would be lying if she said the warrior didn't unnerve her. He strode towards the royal family in armor lighter than plastic yet stronger than steel, the core of which was painted a pale cobalt blue, while the pauldrons, kneecaps, helmet, and the strange bulky backpack were bone white.

The helmet was removed, mag-locked to his thigh, just below his sword. Revealing the grotesque scar that locked his face in a primal snarl.

The warrior from another world had frightened Cadence when he arrived, but now that Sombra had somehow escaped from the Ether, she was grateful for such a being to stand between her loved ones and a power-mad tyrant.

Aries brought his fist to his chest in a warrior's salute. "I have positioned your soldiers in preparation for the enemy. All we can do now is wait for him to seal his fate."

The War Hound said this not as a boast but as a fact. Cadence envied his confidence. He didn't even know who Sombra was or what he could do, and yet he envisioned himself victorious.

"As grateful as I am for your assistance. I must warn you not to underestimate King Sombra. He wields power over his opponent's mind, and will force you to face your deepest fears." Cadence warned the Space Marine.

Aries did not scoff at the information, he only nodded in understanding. "Space Marines have no fear. Such is what I believed...until my brothers turned their backs on the Emperor, and my father with them. I died and endured a thousand hells for ten thousand years, if there are any fears left in me that I have not faced. I invite this bastard to teach them to me."

"Language please." Shining Armor hissed through clenched teeth with his hooves over Flurry Hearts ears. "She's just learning to speak."

"Ma~ma." The foal cried out. Stretching her hooves towards Cadence.

The Alicorn laughed at how quickly the tension left the room while Aries shook his head as if to say 'ponies'.

The humorous moment was gone in an instant as the sounds of battle were heard beyond the door, which had closed after Aries' entrance.

The War Hound took his helmet, fashioned very much like a knight's, from his thigh and placed it upon his head, the glass eyes lighting up an ember color.

He then drew his sword, Warp Eater, which had been forged for him at the request of Princess Luna with the guard, shaped like a two headed eagle with a snarling hound on its center, having been forged around the legendary Alicorn Amulet and the blade itself having been forged as a mixture of Equestrian steel and magic enhancing crystals that, at the flick of a switch, clothe the blade in the Amulet's power.

It is when Aries did just that, bathing the steel blade in a menacing crimson glow, that Cadence realizes his intent. "ARIES WAIT!!"

The War Hound turned his head slightly, not taking his eyes from the door. "I have no interest in prisoners."

"I understand that, and Sombra is not the sort of being to accept forgiveness, but those that follow him in battle will be brainwashed ponies, the guards that are fighting him right now. Defeating Sombra will set them free. Do not kill needlessly." Cadence explained.

Aries turned back to face the door completely. "If they are not Psykers, then they not dangerous enough to kill."

Cadence didn't know what a Psyker was, but she would take what she could get.

The sounds of battle grew closer and louder. Flurry Heart began to fuss as the noise and tension began to upset her. Cadence and Shining Armor gritted their teeth. And through it all, Aries remained calm and composed...as a World Eater, he would've had to fight against the Butcher's Nails for such a state, but now he only felt phantom pains as his mind told him that he should be feeling what was no longer there to feel.

The sounds of battle ended, giving way to a tense silence, the calm before the storm, before the doors to the throne room exploded off their hinges.

Shining Armor formed a shield around himself and his family while Aries endured the barrage of dust and shrapnel, undaunted.

From the dust came the Crystal Guard, bearing helmets of wicked design. Aries deactivated Warp Eater's power field and struck them in the head with the flat end of the blade.

Some of the possessed guardsponies moved past the War Hound to engage Cadence and Shining Armor, who defended themselves with amped up versions of a lullaby spell they use to help Flurry Heart sleep, the increased power forcing the guards to sleep.

Sombra walked into the throne room confidently, Neighsay and Tempest at his flanks. He was completely expecting the first wave to have already been defeated, but he wasn't expecting the 8 foot bipedal knight that was barreling towards him.

With a gesture, his honor guard moved to intercept. Upon seeing one's horn and the other's stump that was sparking with immaterial power, Aries reactivated Warp Eater.

Seeing this, Cadence quickly shouted for Shining Armor to stay with Flurry Heart before teleporting between the combatants and engaging the possessed unicorns. "I'LL HOLD THEM OFF! YOU DEAL WITH SOMBRA!"

Aries never broke stride. As soon as he was in range, he swung for the dark unicorn's neck.

Sombra raised a crystal beneath his feet, only to cry out in surprise when he started to fall.

Sombra became a shadow and solidified on his hooves behind his new foe and the crystal that he had cut in half.

Snarling in anger at the insolence of this creature, Sombra tried to trap him in a crystal cage.

Aries turned, located Sombra, and charged. Crystals sprang up around him, but he put his shoulder forward and charged right through them, shattering them like glass.

Sombra shot a beam of dark magic at the War Hound, but it was deflected by Warp Eater. In a last ditch effort, Sombra roared in defiance and blasted the astartes with a wave of power that saw him consumed.

Aries shook the daze from his eyes. The first thing he saw was Ponyville ablaze.

That's it, this is my greatest fear? Aries thought to himself. Admittedly, he would be disappointed if he failed his self given mission after coming so far, but wasn't afraid of it.

He was torn from his thoughts by a nearby scream. He turned and saw Fluttershy being disemboweled by a chainsword wielded by a World Eater.

The Traitor Marine turned toward Aries and charged. Aries drew Warp Eater and activated the power field.

The World Eater struck, but Aries parried him easily and stabbed him, burying Warp Eater in the twin hearts...of a Space Wolf.

Aries did a double take. He was certain that he had been fighting a traitor, and yet a loyalist laid dead at his feet.

"TRAITOR!!" Aries turned to the accusation and found himself facing a horde. Dark Angels, Iron Hands, Space Wolves, Imperial Fists and more were all charging towards him.

"NO! COUSINS WAIT! IT WAS A MISTAKE!!!" Aries pleaded, but it was hopeless. They fell upon him like a pack of rabid dogs. Beating him and stripping him of his armor and weapon.

Aries was then bound and gagged and dragged through a burning Equestria all the way to Canterlot.

At the castle of two sisters, Aries was made to kneel beside Celestia, Luna, and Twilight. They awaited execution by beheading, the death of criminals.

From seemingly out of nowhere, the Emperor himself came into view. Clad in Golden armor and wielding a sword that held the power of a sun and commanded a million more.

The Lord of Mankind addressed the gathered Space Marines. "We were meant to perish in the fires of the Horus Heresy. Before that, we were to perish in the silent darkness of Old Night. And before that, mankind was condemned to death a thousand times over by Alien Tyrants and Thirsting Gods. And every single time, we have risen from the ashes stronger than before."

Cheers arose from the gathered astartes before the Emperor raised his taloned hand for silence and continued. "Now, after countless years and enough blood to replace every planet's oceans, the last Xenos world has been purged." He then points his sword to Aries. And the last traitor faces retribution."

Cheers rose and fell, and then one by one, the Alicorns were brought before the Emperor and executed.

They begged and pleaded, insisting that they meant no harm and had only wanted to help, but it all fell on deaf ears.

After they were beheaded by the Emperor's holy blade, their heads were placed on pikes in celebration of Mankind's final victory against the Xenos. And then it was Aries' turn.

Aries racked his brain for something, anything that could prove that he wasn't a traitor, that hadn't defended the Xenos from Mankind's right for dominance over the galaxy, but there was nothing. He would die a traitor's death, such was his fate.

He was pushed to his knees before the Emperor, only just managing to look him in the eye. "Any last words heretic?"

"...Ave Imperator." Aries said as he accepted his fate. The sword rose...and then it fell.

Elsewhere

"Ahhahahaha, So much for your champion. I will put him to good use when I set my sights on Canterlot. But for now, I think you will feel..his wrath...first." Sombra's threat petered out, and Cadence knew why, because she felt it too.
Fear. Not the sort of fear that Sombra controls, but the sort that a pony feels when they stare into the eye of a manticore, or when they find themselves beneath the shadow of a Hydra, or when a sleeping Ursa Major stops snoring. There were a million examples of this kind of fear, and ponies only felt it when they were in the presence of something dangerous.

All eyes drifted to Aries, whose eyes locked onto King Sombra. "....How....dare....you..."

Sombra took a step back. "W-well, I-it seems that your will is stronger than most. I'll *ulp* I-I'll just have to put more power behind it, or you could just surrender."

There was a silent pause as no creature moved, and then Aries struck like a bolt of lightning.

Sombra threw every Crystal, Shadow, and Dark Spell that he could, but the War Hound didn't even slow down. Cadence could only think of one word to describe him, a word she would never say in front of Flurry Heart.

He.
Was.
Peeved.

Elsewhere

Chrysalis was still regaling her new allies with her limited knowledge of the Ruinous Powers when Grogar returned. "It seems that the three of you will have to suffice."

That told Chrysalis all she needed to know, but she still felt the need to ask. "What of King Sombra? Was he successful."

"HA!" Grogar exclaimed before channeling power into a large crystal ball, which then showed an image.

The villains cried out in fear and disgust, Cozy Glow even vomiting, at the sight of an 8 foot bipedal knight brutally murdering Sombra.

Chrysalis had never seen a pony bend that way before, and she was certain that the Dark Unicorn was already dead. And yet, the enraged warrior was determined to leave nothing behind but stains and cracks on the throne room floor.

Author's Note

I went through a lot of ideas for how this battle would turn out. I hope you all enjoyed it.

So yeah, I know that this volume is advertised as focusing on the Ork, but I'm going to be jumping between him and Aries as hearing the Emperor name him a heretic results in a mid-life identity crisis, just to keep his character interesting.

But that will be when I come back to this story. As I said last chapter, I am taking a break to write an alternate ending for season 9, which will be posted the day after the finale goes public in two weeks.

In the meantime, I will be posting a video for this battle on YouTube, stay tuned.