"Is that...AN ORK!?" Twilight shouted.

"Hmm, you've...seen one before?" Fluttershy asked, confused by this development.

"WHAT!? N-NO! I-UH..." Twilight was starting to freak out, so Fluttershy put a reassuring foreleg around her back.

"It's okay Twilight. I know that whatever he is is a dangerous predator, but this one has been badly hurt and doesn't want to hurt anycreature...if only because it doesn't think it can." Fluttershy said, now confusing Twilight, who sputtered out numerous failed attempts to reply before actually taking a look at the creature.

"...Wow, Aries made them sound so... monstrous... I never would've pictured this." Twilight said, confirming Fluttershy's original theory.

"So he did come from Aries' world. So, he just told you about them?" Fluttershy hypothesized.

"Uh, Y-yeah. He told me everything he knew about them. The first day after we all met him." Twilight explained.

"I'm guessing that he only knew bad things about them?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well, yeah. They're...kinda evil." Twilight said.

"Don't you think Aries might've been a bit biased? He doesn't really like aliens." Fluttershy pointed out.

"Well...I guess but... they worship war." Twilight said.

This caused Fluttershy to understand Twilight's dread upon seeing the ap-Ork. "Oh...oh dear...but um, this one doesn't seem that bad."

Twilight looked between the kind pegasus and the warmongering beast. "Okay, maybe Aries wasn't quite right...or telling the truth...or maybe this Ork just picked a fight with the wrong enemy and learned a very painful lesson about picking fights for fun."

Fluttershy grimaced as the image of, not the Chaos Marines, but Aries himself inflicting the Ork's injuries while cursing him for the crime of being 'born wrong' danced through her mind.

"Well uh, is there anything that you can tell me about this Ork?" Fluttershy asked.

Twilight, now over her panic attack, put her thinking cap on. "Hmm, well I can give you the book I wrote, but unless I ask Aries a specific question that would arouse suspicion... I think the best course is to compare notes with somepony else who knows abput Orks."

Fluttershy couldn't keep the confusion out of her face. "There's somepony else who knows more about Orks than Aries?"

Twilight nodded. "I'll tell Spike to send you the book while I go talk to her. I think you should get the others together so that we all know what we're dealing with. Getting Aries to leave this Ork in peace will probably be one of the hardest Friendship Missions we've ever done."

Fluttershy nodded as Twilight teleported away.

Twilight reappeared in her castle...face to face with Princess Luna.

"WOAH! P-PRINCESS!! WU-WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" Twilight half-shouted in surprise.

"I came here seeking knowledge on a creature from Aries' world that somehow found it's way here." Luna explained.

"You know about the Ork?" Twilight asked.

"Yes an- Wait, you know about the Ork?" Luna asked back.

The two then exchanged information. From Twilight, the Greenskin's location. From Luna, Dem Drew Ghari Gitz. And from there, the two princesses thanked each other for the exchange of information and returned to their own duties. With Princess Luna promising to keep Aries away from Fluttershy's sanctuary with help from Rainbow Dash, and with Twilight sending Spike to give Fluttershy her book about Orks before seeking further knowledge on the matter at hand.

Sunset Shimmer's Dimension

The last week of Summer Break ensured that Twilight's arrival in this dimension went unnoticed. Unfortunately, Twilight had, in her excitement, forgotten to write ahead to Sunset.

Twilight glanced around the empty schoolyard before turning to look at the statue that served as a portal between worlds. Should I go back and write to her?

Twilight pondered it, but decided against it. She had been here enough times to understand that this world's Equestria was only a city rather than a country, and it wasn't half the size of Manehattan. So she chose a direction and started walking, confident that even if she couldn't find Sunset this way, she could find somepony...or do they say somehuman in this dimension?

She made sure to stay off the road, as her last trip here taught her about cars, and keep to the streets.

She was walking for maybe five minutes before she encountered a familiar face. Unfortunately, it wasn't one that she knew in this dimension. In fact, she only knew their Equestrian counterparts for their less-than-friendly interactions with the CMCs that had ceased after they found their Cutie-Marks.

"Excuse me Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, do you mind telling where Sunset Shimmer is?" Twilight asked, already expecting a similar attitude to the Equestrian filly from the human preteen.

"Um, shouldn't you know? And what happened to your glasses?" The young girl said with a raised eyebrow and a hand on her hip.

"Um, uh, how to explain this... uh, do you remember back when Sunset was... not so friendly?" Twilight tried.

The two girls brightened up. "Well duh, that's when that other you came and took her down with awesome magic princess powers!" The started to get excited as they recalled the events.

"Yes, well, it wasn't the other me, it was...me." Twilight explained.

They stared at her for a few seconds until their eyes widened with recognition. "Y-you're...you're..."

"The awesome magic princess?" Twilight tried.

This resulted in childish squeeing and jumping and babblings of admiration before Twilight put her hands to calm them down. "Okay, okay, I know magic isn't really that common here. But please, I was just doing what anypony else would've done."

This calmed them down, but only enough that Twilight could discern what they were saying. "Ican'tbelievethis. Thisissoawesome. Isthereanythingwecandoforyouprincess?"

"YES!" Twilight shouted a little too loud. "I'm looking for Sunset Shimmer or someone who would know where to find her."

They continued their babblings about not letting her down and how cool this was while they pulled out rectangular devices that Twilight recalled being popular in this world, though she still didn't quite know how they worked.

In just over a minute, a series of beeps erupted from one of their devices. "Okay, it looks like Scootaloo is with Sunset, playing some nerdy tabletop game at a shop called Gamers N Geeks. It's not far from here. Would you like me to call a limo for you? Daddy won't mind."

"Yes, thank you." Twilight said with a slight bow, which drove the young girls wild.

A short drive later and a slightly longer than necessary goodbye and Twilight was finally at her destination.

The 'shop' had three shelves of tabletop games, the cashier counter contained various snacks, dice, and trading cards, and the rest of the building's interior was a plain white room with half a dozen tables housing just as many games with players either participating or waiting for their turns in tournaments. Except for one table that seemed to house a game similar to Ogres & Oubliettes, though from what Twilight could see at this distance, the trademark Os were replaced by Ds for some reason.

A more focused scan of the shop allowed Twilight to find Sunset, Rainbow Dash, and Scootaloo facing off against the human copies of the Dropouts in, of all things, Warhammer 40k.

Twilight made her way over to the table. As she did, she made mental notes of the armies that she knew could prove to be very real.

Sunset had foregone her Thousand Sons/Daemon army, and seemed to be playing with loyal Space Marines. It was hard to make out details from a distance, but she could see that the of their armor was red, and their symbol appeared to be a black bird with a red...something, it was too far away.

Rainbow Dash had, ironically enough, an Ork army. While their skin was varying shades of green, most of which just looked like the wrong color was used, key spots of their clothing were painted red. Twilight noticed a lot of them had something that looked like a rocket attached to their backs, and she favored vehicles over foot soldiers.

Lastly was Scootaloo's 'army', which only had two squads and a vehicle. They were human, not Space Marines like Aries, but normal looking humans with an olive green armor and camouflage pants. This would probably have been the least impressive army, especially since Scootaloo, as a child, didn't have as much money to spend. But, the reason her army was so small was the vehicle, Twilight could only guess at how big the real one would be by comparing it's model size vs the difference between the model humans and herself. The conclusion: that was one big tank.

On the other side of the table, Lightning Dust had a Space Marine army that Twilight didn't recognize, bearing white power armor and a symbol that looked like a winged lightning bolt, and like Rainbow Dash's Orks, favored vehicles over foot soldiers.

Short Fuse, on the other hand, had a very recognizable army: World Eaters, Mostly melee specialists reinforced by two artillery vehicles.

And last but not least, Rolling Thunder's army. Twilight had no idea what they were but they had a lot of blades on their armor and vehicles, and did not look friendly.

At last, Twilight closed the distance. "Um, Sunset?"

Twilight had hoped calling out before putting a hand on the human unicorn's shoulder would prevent a shock. Unfortunately, a roll to hit with a ten unit squad drowned out her words, and her hand caught Sunset completely off guard.

"WAAAGH!! HUH!? T-TWILIGHT!?" Twilight blushed in embarrassment while the rest of the table started laughing, with Rainbow Dash adding. "I thought I was the Warboss."

"Urg, Twilight. Please tell me this is impor-" Sunset's eye went wide. "...Princess?"

"I am so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, I jus-" Sunset waved off her apology. "Stop, stop. It's okay. Just tell me why you're here."

"Uh, is everything okay over there?" Lightning Dust asked. Her expression showing that she only cared because the game had stopped.

"Yeah, just...uh, hey kid, do you know enough about Space Marines to take my turn when it comes up? I'll probably be done before then." Sunset asked Scootaloo.

"Uh, I think?" Answered the preteen.

"Good enough. Come on." Sunset gestured for Twilight to follow her and walked out of the store and a small distance away from the door so that no one could eavesdrop, just in case.

"Is this about the World Eater?" Sunset asked.

"No, not really. But it's another creature from his dimension. He described them as being monstrous brutes, but this one isn't like that." Twilight explained.

"Hmm, do you mind if I see for myself?" Sunset asked while holding her hand out.

Twilight knew what she meant and nodded. Sunset placed her hand on Twilight's shoulder and her eyes began to glow. It lasted for but a moment before Sunset returned...well, not necessarily to normal, in fact she appeared pretty shaken.

"Are you okay?" Twilight asked. The minute Sunset registered her existence, she threw her arms around her in a frantic hug.

"I saw it...I-I saw Ponyville...the violence...you...you fought a NIGHT LORD!!! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THAT FREAK WOULD'VE DONE TO YOU!?"

Twilight returned the embrace, unsure how to respond. She didn't know, she had only the most barebone idea what they were up against, and that horrified her.

"Sunset...does this Ork... does he prove that some of what this game says might be wrong?" Twilight asked.

Sunset pulled herself away, with tears in her eyes. "...It...it would have...except for Luna's discovery."

"You mean 'Dem Drew Ghari Gitz'?" Twilight asked, pulling a snicker from Sunset.

"That's...definitely what an Ork would call them. I don't know too much about them myself, except for what I've seen on the TTS series, but Rolling Thunder is playing them, so maybe she can tell you."

Twilight started, but nodded. Those bladed beings were Dem Drew Ghari Gitz? Definitely not friendly.

The two made their way back inside and towards their gaming table. "Fake a smile. These three yahoos aren't going to believe the whole 'magic pony princess' thing, so just let me do the talking."

The students of Celestia returned to Rainbow Dash crying in victory as Short Fuse rage-quit after his berserker charge rolled short by an inch and left him open to a counter-charge.

"Ahem, um, Rolling Thunder?" Sunset called to one of the two Dropouts who was laughing at the third's misfortune.

She turned her attention to them. "Yeah, what's up?"

"My friend here was reading a Warhammer 40k fanfic about an Ork who was...tamed by Drukhari. And she didn't know how that was possible. I don't know enough about the Dark Eldar to tell her, but you seem like a fan." Sunset gestures to her army as she said this.

Rolling Thunder grins at Twilight. "Oh yeah, the Dark Eldar could definitely scare the Waaagh out of an Ork. Just like I'm gonna do to Rainbow Dash in a minute." She winks at the rainbow headed teen who simply turns her nose up with a confident smirk.

"Oh please, as soon as I'm done taking apart these berserkers, you're next on the chopping blo-" Rainbow's smile disappears as her eyes launch open and come down to earth, or more specifically, Rolling Thunder's Drukhari out of range to charge her Evil Sunz, but in a perfect position to charge Short Fuse's berserkers...or any other army in that range.

"H-HEY!! NO FAIR!!!" Rainbow Dash's realization of the trap she had almost fallen for threw the two more clever Dropouts into a fit of laughter while Short Fuse cried out in arrogant relief that his army came away from the jaws of death.

"Anyway, yeah. It's perfectly believable that this Ork would give up on life after a tour of Cammoragh. Poor guy probably had a hole drilled into his gender less groin so the Incubi could-" "AND WE ARE DONE WITH THIS NOW!!!" Shouted Sunset Shimmer with her hands clamped over Scootaloo's ears.

Rolling Thunder looked at her with sadistic amusement. "Oh? I thought your friend here wanted to know more about them. It's not like you can Sugarcoat them."

Sunset scowled at her. "Can't you just give her a book or something?"

The Dropout shrugged. "Only one I got with me's my codex." As she said this, she dug the book out of a box at her feet. Presumably, the one she carries her armies in.

"Thank you." Twilight said, though she wished she had her horn so she could cast a quick-clean spell on her tongue.

Twilight reached for the book, but Rolling Thunder snatched. "Woah woah woah, thirty bucks?" She declared, holding her hand out.

"THIRTY BUCKS!?!? That codex is 7E. I could buy one online for five." Rainbow Dash shouted just as Twilight decided that these 'bucks' were bits.

"Well then, I guess you're waiting for it. Hope you can get same-day shipping." Rolling Thunder replied.

"Grr. Uh, Rainbow? I only got eight." Sunset said, holding up some green paper that Twilight hypothesized were these 'bucks'.

"Don't look at me, I don't have any cash on me." Rainbow replied.

"I got it." All eyes turned to Scootaloo, who was counting a large wad of bucks.

"...What? It's been a week and a half since I got my Baneblade, and I'm saving up for some Basilisks." The preteen replied to the stares.

"Huh? Then why didn't you bring it to our last game?" Rainbow Dash asked, gesturing to the large tank.

"Um, I wasn't finished painting it?" Scootaloo said with an uncertain voice, as if she didn't know if her answer was acceptable.

The older teens nodded in understanding before Rainbow Dash took the money and exchanged it for the codex...and then grabbing another one from her own box.

"Here Twilight, this is my Ork codex." She then hugged her friend and whispered. "Sunset told me what's going on. I don't know everything, and I definitely don't know what you discussed with her, but good luck."

The interdimensional friends broke the hug. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna make little miss cheapskate pay for that stunt. I will not be charging the berserkers. Instead, my Wartrukks will deposit my Stormboyz, who will jump into the Dark Eldar lines and roll to hit."

The most audible reaction came from Short Fuse "WOO HOO!! YOU ARE SO GONNA PAY FOR THAT ON MY NEXT TURN!!"

"OH NO SHE WON'T!! AS SOON AS RAINBOW FINISHES HER TURN, I'M OPENING FIRE ON YOUR BERSERKERS WITH MY BANEBLADE!! HOPE YOU'RE READY FOR ELEVEN BARRELS OF HEEEEeeeeeeeeecckk??" Scootaloo bit her tongue when she saw Rainbow Dash's warning scowl.

"Nice save." The older teen said without softening her expression, causing the preteen to blush in shame.

Rainbow Dash finally looked away and started counting up the dice for her hit roll as Twilight started her journey home...only to come back a minute later. "Uh, Sunset? I kinda need a ride."

Author's Note

My most sincere apologies for taking so long. There were a number of reasons, the most immediate being my weekend.

I do most of writing over the weekend, I usually only need Saturday, but if I'm busy Saturday, I try to catch up on Sunday.

This week, however, my Trade School had a Dance Party on Saturday which I chose to participate in, and introduced a new activity that will occupy my Sundays until further notice: PAINTBALL!!

But, these are not the only reasons. I also did not have this chapter completely thought out from the beginning...and I fear that this problem is not over.

There are a lot of things I want to happen in this Volume, and things that I need to happen, and I don't how to make them happen.

I view writing a story as painting a puzzle picture while putting it together: my mind gives me plot twists, fight scenes, and other images subconsciously (I'm Schizotypal and use it to my advantage) I have to make my mind paint the missing pieces so I can complete the puzzle. All the while, my mad mind is painting puzzle pieces that form other pictures, and I am tempted to put away what I am trying to build in order to work on this new idea.

I am not going on hiatus...not yet. But, I have very few painted pieces for Vol. 3, so I am going to conclude this Volume, and then start on this new project, and when I run out of painted pieces there, I'll return to begin Vol. 3.

In the meantime, enjoy this filler chapter. P.S. I have never had the privilege of playing the tabletop, and will (hopefully) be getting my first figures this holiday season.

And if anyone's curious as to why I chose Rolling Thunder to be the Helper-Fairy this chapter, the Dark Eldar's need-for-speed gimmick made the Dropouts an easy choice, and Rolling Thunder's just sounds like it would belong to a pervert (but that might just be me)

I may add to it later to make it more interesting (I originally planned a conversation between Twilight and EG Diamond Tiara to give her a backstory separate from her pony counterpart, but I lolly gagged and felt like I didn't have time.)