For the Empress!

by Joshabi

Rating: teen
Tags: Other, Adventure, Princess Celestia, Crossover, Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 9595

In the Grim Darkness of the 41st Millenium, you can only hope...

The Emperor of Mankind has survived his confrontation with Horus, only to be split from his group of trusted supporters as they attempt to make their way to the last peaceful place know to them. Split through time by a creature with a power none of the group has seen before, it is only as the 41st millenium begins to come to a close that they can reunite around the Emperor. On a planet where no humans roam... And the twin Primares Celestia and Luna have only been re-united for a year after Luna's banishment to the Warp...

Published 2012-08-29 16:44:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-08-29 16:44:02 UTC

An Apology Overdue

For the Empress
Chapter 1: An Apology Overdue

What happened to the emperor? Why isn't he strong enough to heal his immortal body? Why was the Machine Cult accepted so widely by the Ecclesiarch? This story goes to the heart of that - and where the God-Emperor came from in his quest to untie humanity. But it goes a bit further than that...
You see, those of you who are relatively sharp eyed might have noticed the absence of two legions of marines in the codex. This isn't a GW choice - they were never there. They come directly from a decision from the Emperor himself, after the two Primarchs revealed a slight issue in their current state.
Those who enjoy questioning such things may also wonder why Luna turned dark, and how she achieved such great power.
It is no coincidence, unfortunately, that the Horus Heresy and the Nightmare Moon incident happened at almost the exactly the same time, with a similar time span.
And Luna certainly spent more than 1000 years away from her sister...

Nightmare Night, 15729 AD (After Discord), 41M Aprox.

"I'm so sorry big sister, I've missed you so much!"
Those had been Luna's first words to her sister after she truly returned, without Nightmare Moon clouding her thoughts. Now she had to apologise properly. Her magic had long since returned and begun to act on her body, and she had to be careful not to lapse into Royal Canterlot Voice, which would be dangerous, given the topic she was about to discuss.
"Celestia? Can I come in?"
Luna peered around the door, half praying that her sister wasn't there.
"Of course Luna. What is it?"
"I... I came to apologise. To you."
"To me?" Celestia looked up from a piece of paper in front of her. Luna saw her move another over it. The word 'Heresy' loomed out before it was covered.
"I know I did one of the worst things I could have before, but I have to apologise. I have to try!"
"Luna..." Celestia sighed and laid her head on the desk in front of her.
"I know I shouldn't have listened to Horus, and I should have trusted you, and I know I did something wrong, BUT WE BEG YOUR forgiveness Celestia, I just DEEMED OUR BROTHER TO BE right and-"
"Luna, first of all, you're lapsing back into RCV." Celestia looked sideways at her sister as Luna lowered her head, blushing slightly. "Secondly, I forgive you. Completely. I had been acting like an arse, and that was unacceptable. I completely understand how you could be decieved, and I DON't blame you."
Luna closed her eyes. "You're just saying that..."
"I'm not. Look, I forgave you when I banished you to that horrible place, so don't worry. If it helps, why don't you go to Ponyville for the celebrations? There's candy."
Luna smiled. "Thank you sister. I feel better now. Perhaps I should go in costume myself..."
Celestia smiled. "Why not go as a princess?"
Luna laughed, and with a nod, ran out to find a suitable chariot to mess around with.
Celestia's smile slowly turned to a frown.
"Father, on the other hand..."

A space cruiser galactic east edge of the Milky Way Galaxy, 5729 AD (After Discord), M31 Aprox.

"Damnit!"
The two young men feverently worked at the controls of the small cruiser, no small feat given the size of the ship. Below, in the engine rooms and various holds, a variety of Space Marines, servitors and tech priests worked at the ship, carefully coaxing it to go ever faster through the warp.
"Left three!"
The pair yelled out commands and statistics as they moved from console to console, each of which was directed to groups in the holds. One was wearing black and red, while the other wore white and red. In the middle, a constantly shifting form slowly gained a semblance of humanity.
"Shields stabilising!"
"Engines stabilising!"
"Core temperature reaching safe levels!"
"Hull breaches contained and fixed!"
"Requesting roll call!"
"Sanguine reporting!"
"Horus reporting."
"Cog reporting!"
"Mech reporting."
"Atticus reporting!"
"Tech Priests reporting twenty down!"
"Marines reporting three down!"
"Combat Servitors reporting at under half strength."
"Gun Servitors reporting at around two thirds strength."
"Tech Servitors at one quarter advisable operating level, requesting reserve deployment."
"Request granted." The boy in white flopped down onto a nearby chair. "Horus, get your and Sanguine's arses up here right now."

The boy in white, who had reported in as Cog, stared at Horus. The Primarch turned Chaos turned good had spent most of his time on the ship so far purging his body of the taint, and was now mostly human. The boy in black, Mech, was grinning and giving Sanguine a thumbs up, which the winged Primarch returned gladly. The past few days had been hell for all of them.

Flashback
Sanguine charged into Horus's throne room, sword ready.
"Ah, Sanguine, so good to see you again."
"Damnit Horus, this isn't you!"
"So what? The rest of you always were jealous at how I got command of the army. Why should you care?"
"Horus, I do care, please stop this! You haven't seen what you've done to Luna!"
"I don't care! Like you don't really care! And neither does father! I'll kill you both!" Horus yelled at the golden figure.
"I won't let you!" Sanguine yelled back, charging at his brother.
"Both of you, stop this!"
The pair turned, as their father, the Emperor, burst through the door. Horus spread his arms and grinned.
"Father, I thought you wouldn't come."
"Horus, please, I can see you aren't yourself, I don't want to hurt you!"
"Tough."
As Horus charged forward to stab his father, Sanguine pulled out his own sword to stab Horus. He flew in front of his father to protect him, drew back his sword to strike as Horus did the same.
The pair stabbed forward, only to find their swords buried straight through their father.
"Heh." The Emperor smiled at Horus. "Guess that didn't work as well as I'd hoped." He gestured to a slight scratch on Horus's armour.
"You..." Horus gaped. "You do care..."
As he desperately pulled the tainted sword out of the Emperor, watching as the immortal began to decay. Sanguine pulled out his sword, sheathing it and desperately trying to inhibit the spread of the rotting. "Help me you idiot!"
As Horus began to focus the few pure parts of his power, he and Sanguine heard a scream from the warp.
"I give you power, and you give me this?!"
Horus turned to find a demon manifesting itself in the room behind his throne.
"You worthless retch! I'll destroy you like I destroyed your brothers!"
Horus moved into a defensive stance as a hail of bullets flew into the demon over his shoulder. It screamed and stepped back.
"We've got this jerk covered, now get out to the grand cruiser! The others will deal with the rest!"
Horus turned to Cog and Mech, who were armed with an impressive weapon, with the support of a Dreadnought.
"Go you moron, and get his phylactery while you're at it!"
Horus pulled up Sanguine, and wrenched off an impressive gem from the armour of the rotting corpse, running out past the hunk of metal in the corridor.
"Now then, who wants a piercing?" Mech said, grinning.
End Flashback

Cog looked towards the Emperor, currently trying to regain some part of his body. It was taking a while. "So Horus, do you believe me NOW?"
Cog and Sanguine glared at the larger Primarch, who rested his face in his hands. He looked tired.
"I'm sorry Cog. I should have listened."
"Damn right. I dread to think what we'll do about the legions who haven't repented. And then there's the burocracy, and... Ugh, we've got way too much to do. There's even a chance we'll have to find some of the other Primarchs and save them, good or bad. Now what the hell are we supposed to do?"
"May I make a suggestion?"
The psychic voice was unmistakeable. Even Tzeench's daemons had problems copying it.
"There are two Primarchs who haven't been to the inner sections of the galaxy for a while..."
Cog leaned back. "Celly and Lulu? Is their world even safe?"
"I've been told so. Last I heard they weren't talking much, so..."
Mech struck up a dramatic pose. "Never mind! To their world! To... Uh, what was it called again?" He looked at Horus.
"Equestria."
"To Equestria!" Mech yelled, striking the pose again. Cog shook his head.
"Odd name, isn't it?" He said.
"I've been told it's appropriate." Sanguine said. "Though I dread to think why."

Between times, on the edge of the Equestrian Solar system.

"It can't hold her much longer!" Cog yelled.
Sanguine and Horus were on all fours on the floor, as the systems strange warp radiation forced their bodies into impossible shapes on its way to a definite one. Cog was in a ball underneath one of the consoles next to Mech, who was in a similar position. The pair were using their considerable psychic powers to hold the ship in a fixed direction. The Emperor was in a considerably worse situation, currently trying to aid the surviving crew members and marines who had survived what had proven to be a devastating journey. They were now in various positions around the ship as they and their clothing changed to the solar systems whims.
"!" Cog yelled. He couldn't feel his hands, and he could feel his muscular system adapting over a matter of seconds. He'd been chewed by a Gargantuan Squigoth before, and this was much, much worse.
Sanguine was looking at Horus. He couldn't see much of him, but he knew that it would be worse for him, especially since he was only recently saved from the warp, and now it seemed to be enacting its revenge.
Horus felt a being behind the change. It wasn't a choice, like being used as a vessel, but he knew chaos, and this wasn't it. "We're going to be OK!" He yelled, his voice fracturing as he spoke.
Mech screamed as something grew out of his forehead and snapped in a matter of seconds. He may have had bionics put in, but he felt limbs come back, forcing the detailed electronics out of his system. Chaos wouldn't have been that subtle.
Atticus, the dreadnought, felt the metal of his sarcophagus screech as it changed shape. He didn't care much, provided he was still of use.
Down in the engine rooms, Tech Priests, servitors and space marines alike heard the delicate mechanisms that made up the interstellar craft shatter, which would have made them worry about being consumed by the warp had they not already been forced to leave.

Cog felt the terrible psychic presence leave his body as he regained enough composure to look out of the main window. What he saw shocked him to the core, so much that he nearly left the ships integrity to Mech, which could never have survived without his help. "There's a star and moon going around a planet!"
Mech pulled himself out of his hidey hole. Cog glanced towards him, only to find a grey pony with a mane and tail. He also had a broken horn and pair of bats wings. He looked over his shoulder and felt his head. He had an intact horn, and bird wings, but had a white coat and red tail. He also had a tattoo on his flank of the Adeptus Mechanicus symbol. Mech had an inverted one, while Horus and Sanguine, at a glance, had any possible marking covered by their power armour. They seemed to be silvery and gold respectively, with dark blue and red manes. Cog sniggered.
"Fancy."
"Says the winged unicorn." Horus retorted.
"Hey, you've got them to." Cog pointed out. "I wonder if the Marines and Servitors have them as well."
"Some have wings, some have horns, some have neither, but all are different. The servitors all lack either feature, though some have scars, and still have their implants, but the Tech Priests were very distressed."
The four ponies turned to the Emperor. Cog nearly dropped his hold, but a sudden glow from Mech’s horn made him pick up his side again. Their horns glowed for a few seconds before petering out as the action became an afterthought.
He was HUGE. Sanguine dwarfed the two smaller ponies in front of him, and Horus was a good inch taller than him, but the Emperor was absolutely giant. His coat was a bright white, and his mane was a vivid green. He had wings and a horn, but seemed quite calm despite the transformation he had undergone.
"Cog, Mech, go check on them. I need you to reassure them that this is no divine punishment of yours."
"What did cause it?" Cog asked, trying out different methods of walking. "A warp storm?"
"Au contraire my little ponies!" A voice yelled. There was the distinct sound of a mariachi band.
"Who are you? Show yourself!" The Emperor yelled, as the five Alicorns formed a defensive circle.
"For who, you may call me almost anything. And I don't think I'll show myself just yet. You see, I want you to play a little game with me."
Horus snorted. "Sure, scum, I'll play your game. What's it worth?"
"Scum? That's not fair now, is it? I haven't done anything to you, have I?"
"You turned us into ponies." Cog pointed bluntly.
"That just stops the warp. No, I want you to play a very simple game. It's called, 'Survive the Ship Crash'."
With a yell, all five ponies began to focus on the ship, as they felt their control on its integrity crushed. Cog grabbed Mech, as Sanguine grabbed Horus and pulled him down. The Emperor ran down into to the engine rooms.
"Damnit!" Cog yelled. The ship screamed defiance at the foreign interference, and as he watched, holo-displays, control panels, and vox-links turned into jelly, fish tanks and all manner of other things. "We've got to help-"
With an unearthly screech, the ship split in time, leaving its inhabitants to various fates as they went hurtling down towards the paradise planet of Equestria.

Interesting Ways to Nearly Die

For the Empress: A MLP and Warhammer Crossover
Chapter 2: Interesting Ways to (Nearly) Die

Glimmering Lake, 15700 AD
"Fancy, you are being so kind to me right now, I would almost think that you wanted to sweeten me up for something."
"Whatever gave you that idea my flower?"
A younger Fancy Pants and Fleur de Lis were walking along the edge of a beautiful lake. The pair were enjoying themselves, chatting, exchanging insults, the sort if things young adults do. Fancy had a picnic in his saddlebags, though the pair were about to have their plans for the afternoon spectacularly ruined. Fancy Pants went quiet, staring at the ground. Fleur noticed, and nudged her friend, lifting his head up to hers.
"What is it Fancy?"
Fancy Pants looked up at her. Fleur had a smile on her face. That beautiful smile on her perfect face. Now or never Fancy. He stiffened slightly, opening his mouth, but Fleur frowned suddenly. "What's that?"
Fancy turned around.
"An airship of some sort, metal, travelling at high speeds, heading down. It looks like its on course to hit the lake..."
Fleur's eyes widened. "Can you really tell all that from just looking at it?"
Fancy shrugged. "It's a guess. A bit ironic, seeing as how the lake was supposedly formed by an object hitting the area a long time ago." He looked up. "It's certainly moving fast. I think it's going to... Let me see..." Fancy quickly drew some things in the dirt. "I think it should miss us. There's a one in 25,000 chance I'm wrong, and that's including shrapnel if it hits the ground."
Fleur laid on top of him suddenly, making him stagger a bit. "Show off. Anyone would think you tried to make your head look bigger."
Fancy shrugged her off. If the object, which was now rather close, was going to hit the lake, then... "Fleur, watch out!" Fancy yelled, putting up a shield, as the falling ship crashed into the water, sending a huge wave over the pair. Fancy's shield was nowhere near strong enough, and the pair were soaked by the small wave. A bird in a nearby tree tweeted unhappily*.
"My mane!" Fleur gasped, her coat clinging to her. Fancy ran over to the lake, looking at the sinking vessel.
"There are ponies in there!"
Fleur gasped again, and ran over next to Fancy as the pair began wrenching plates off of the ship and pulling out the ponies in the part of the ship that crashed. They found two, unconscious and clinging onto each other, so badly hurt one had even lost his horn, and Fancy set to work reviving them.
"We need to get them proper help." He decided quickly, looking to Fleur. The budding supermodel nodded, levitating the smaller white one onto her back, while Fancy took the larger grey one. The pair made swift progress back to Fancy's home, not even worried that he had lost two very fine saddlebags in the process.

Cog awoke slowly. He was in some pain, and he was less than happy about the state his wings were in, but he was alive. He slowly tried to get up, but after trying to use his hands to balance several times, he remembered the events of the crash. He dropped onto all fours and looked around.
The room he was in was quite large, with a double bed, writing desk, bedside table, and bookcase. There were three doors, and when he opened the first he found nothing but a pole and some shelves. "Primitive storage." he muttered. The second one he opened was a full en-suite bathroom, complete with toiletries. At this revelation, he began to prepare some relaxation, with the best looking soap and shampoo he could find.
As he was about to get in, he realised that he had a bandage around his chest. It looked safe, but unwinding it showed that his right wing had lost some of its feathers, while he had a huge scar up his left side. He sighed and carefully poked it. Luckily, it appeared that he had kept his healing abilities, aside from the feathers, and he happily dived in the water.
About half an hour later he got out, and began towelling himself off. He realised that he probably ought to find out where he was. There was a bell pull on one wall, so he made use of it. He turned around to find, much to his shock, that there was a butler standing behind him.
"You rang, sir?"
Cog blinked, and quickly looked over the pony. He was, in every way, a butler. Posture, clothing, manner - Cog decided that if he settled down he would definitely get one from the same stock. "Can I first ask your name?"
"Wilkins, sir." The butler replied. "Might I ask your name, sir?"
"Solos Mechanicus, but most people call me Cog."
The butler nodded. "Thank you sir. Would you like any refreshments, sir?"
Cog rubbed his throat. It was rather dry after his rest. "Can I have a cup of tea?"
"Of course sir." Wilkins replied. "I shall inform the master of your awakening and bring up your drink post-haste."
Cog nodded. As Wilkins reached the door, Cog suddenly spoke.
"Wait."
Wilkins turned around, one eyebrow raised.
"Can you tell my friends I'm up?"
"I shall sir. However, there was only one other pony on the vessel, sir, and he is still not awake." Wilkins said, leaving the room. Cog sat down, staring at the door. He was still there when the butler returned with Fancy Pants a few minutes later.

Cog checked his opposite’s physique. Mech had, unfortunately, taken the crash rather worse than Cog, and was practically a mummy. His horn hadn’t healed, and his wings had torn where – if Mr Pants was to be believed, he had been pierced by several shards of metal. Cog looked over at the clock. He had been in there for five hours, and Mech hadn’t healed at all. Cog spread his wings and looked them over. He’d regained his feathers during his talk with Fancy Pants, and had realised that the incredible pain in his torso was where his rib grew back**. The doctor had commented on his healing before mentioning that Mech was still healing, and Cog had launched himself upstairs. Cog looked back at the dark Alicorn in the bed. Maybe it had something to do with their horns...
“Sir, the master would like to speak to you again. He is on his way upstairs now.”
Cog leapt around at the sound of the butler. He shook himself down, coughing. “Right. Thank you.”
Cog watched the Butler walk slowly outside, and breathed out. That man was unnatural.
Except... It wasn’t man. It was pony.
Cog sighed and looked around at his companion. His placed his hooves on the bed, and bent his head. “I need you right now Mech. Wake up. Please.”
“Mr Mechanicus?”
Mech looked around. Fancy Pants stood by the door, flanked by two ponies in armour. He looked very nervous.
“These gentlestallions would like to speak to you. There’s somepony else who may get involved as well...”
“Cog! I can’t believe it!”
“Tia! Look at you! You’ve grown so much!”
“You haven’t changed a bit!”
Fancy Pants and the guards stared in shock at the two ponies standing in front of them hugging. Fancy looked ready to faint.
The pair moved apart. Cog looked at Celestia and grinned. “And how is your father’s daughter doing?”
Celestia beamed and hugged Cog again.”All the better for seeing another alicorn. I haven’t seen anything more advanced than a gas oven since we populated this place.”
Cog tutted and moved away from her, sitting down. “I expected better than that from you Tia. You and Luna said that you were doing so well the last time I heard from you.”
Celestia looked down at the ground suddenly. “Yes. Me and Luna...”
Cog moved to her, pulling her head up so he could look at her. “Tia, what happened. We last heard about you from a warp message that said something about an argument between you.”
Celestia gasped and stood up. “But that- I mean, I sent- What year is it?” She asked him suddenly.
Cog put his hoof to his chin and paused. “I remember it being early 36th millennia.”
Celestia groaned. “This is exactly what I was worried about happening. You and Mech upstairs are the only members of your ‘party’ who made it to the now. The rest are somewhere else in time.”
Cog frowned, eyes closed. Fancy Pants gaped. “Sorry your Majesty, but by that do you mean that the larger group... Is in another time period completely?”
Celestia nodded. Cog looked at Fancy Pants again. “I don’t mean to intrude on you Fancy, but could I use your library? I have a feeling that it will help greatly with this.”
Fancy nodded. Celestia pushed herself up and looked at Fancy. “Fancy, I would like to see the other pony that was in the ship. My last thing before I head off to look for something important.”

“Orion, Swiftwing, Brutal Blade, Crushing Blow, Burning Rain, Freezing Thought... How hard can it be to find mention of an Alicorn?” Cog muttered, trawling through the legends of Equestria. “That’s Celestia... Hey this might be it!
“The Mare in the Moon. Hmm... Well, worth a shot! Let’s see, ‘Long ago, the land of Equestria...’”

A/N: Because I roughly know the story, this won’t be entirely accurate. Consider it a revised edition.

Long ago, the land of Equestria was ruled by two alicorn sisters. One controlled the sun, while the other controlled the moon and stars.
For a time, they ruled in harmony.
But the sister who controlled the moon became jealous of her sister, for while the ponies played and revered the day, they shunned and slept through her beautiful night.
One day, with no warning, she refused to lower the moon to make way for the sun.
The other sister tried to convince her to lower the moon, but her words only hit a harsh barrier inside her younger sibling. Her hate and jealously hate been brewing, causing turmoil inside, and had turned her into a creature fuelled by hate.
Nightmare Moon.
In a desperate gambit, the older sister used our world’s most powerful magic, the Elements of Harmony, to stop her sister. They sealed Nightmare Moon away, putting an end the endless night.
The older sister took over both duties, of the moon and the sun, and the land returned to peace.
But the seal was not perfect, and after a thousand years, the stars shall aid her, and the sister shall break out from her prison, in an...

“... attempt to bring night eternal again.”
Cog stared at the book. The Primarchs, like Terra, were immortal, so they could survive that long. They would have power armour, so they could breathe, but they would need to eat again in a few weeks, so-
“I wouldn’t take that book literally.”
Cog wheeled around at the sound of Celestia’s voice. She picked up the book and put it back in it’s place, pulling out another one.
“This one should have what you are looking for.”
“The Elements of Harmony... A Reference Guide?” He asked, snorting. “Who wrote this?”
“Sanguine, just before he left to the east.”
“Sanguine!” Cog yelled. “But this thing isn’t even red, how could he have made it?”
“Horus helped.” Celestia replied. “They both haven’t been seen for a little under 10,000 years.”
“10,000? But the book...” Cog looked at Celestia and sat down. “Alright Tia, what REALLY happened?”
Celestia sighed and sat down. “Well, I owe that to you. This story takes place a little under 10,000 years ago, when the fledgling world could still produce power armour and Space Mareines. I was aiding a patrol out on the western borders, looking for signs of what sounded like a magical disaster...”

Coming up, yet ANOTHER alternative NMM creation story!
And, where are the Primarchs?
Also included, pointless fluff!
*Dumb Pegasi! Got soaked!
**They do for most ponies after all.***
*** [Whispered] No they don’t!

In Times of Yore

For the Empress: A MLP and Warhammer Crossover
Chapter 3: In Times of Yore

God I’m lazy. I refuse to let this die, but to prevent confusion, possessed or demonic creatures will not speak like this, while any other emphasis will be whatever I think is appropriate. And I’m sorry to those of you who think Starswirl is awesome...
There are male and female Mareines because of genetics. SOMEPONY tried mixing the genes of two Primarchs, and it made the legions gender-equal.
Oh, and if someone’s got a GOOD name for Luna and Celestia’s legions, I’d appreciate it.

Equestria’s Western Border, 8956 AD
“Horus? Horus! Horus you lazy oaf wake up!”
“I shall only be a few more minutes...”
Sanguine kicked his brother’s head with the strength of a strong human. Horus grumbled and opened his eyes.
“Daemon!”
“Relax Horus, it’s me! Sanguine! You got turned into a pony too, so don’t think about it too hard.”
“Oh.” Horus rolled over on his bed of rocks and moss, before suddenly rolling back over. “WHAT?!”
The Warmaster stood up, looking over his body to see if his brother was joking. He wasn’t.
“Oh man, Dad’s gonna kill us.”
“Hey, it’s not like that time Fulgrim came home with that demonic sword of his. THIS TIME, we didn’t take anything that didn’t belong to us.”
“You just had to mention that, didn’t you?” Horus snarled at Sanguine. “Can you try not to rub it in anymore?”
Sanguine paused for a few seconds, mouth open. “Sorry.”
“I should hope so. Were it not for this infernal form I might come over there and beat you over the head! How am I supposed to walk like this!?”
Sanguine nudged his brother’s side, shoving him over into his feet. “Try to walk and find out.”
Grumbling, Horus tried to stand up. Pushing up with his hind legs, he tried to stand up.
Like a human. Which made him fall backwards and hit his head on more rocks, which the idiot had failed to notice.
“What in the name of-!”
Sanguine burst out laughing. “Very good Warmaster! Ahaha! I see you have the perfect mastery for this sort of occasion!”
Horus growled and rolled over to stand on all fours. “Well then Sanguine, perhaps you’d rather be on EQUAL FOOTING!”
Standing on all his legs, Horus attempted a pounce at Sanguine, only managing to jump a few feet and completely missing his brother. Sanguine fell on the floor, laughing hysterically.
“Mercy brother, mercy! I yield to your superior psychological warfare!” The Primarch finally managed to blurt out, before collapsing on the ground and entering hysterics again. Giving up on attacking for now, Horus began to dedicate himself to getting up.
“Be still! Declare your name and rank!”
Sanguine abruptly stopped laughing, and Horus, on the verge of being able to run, fell over in shock. A group of armoured ponies, all smaller than the Primarchs, all with wings and horns of varying sizes, stood facing them, all wielding bolters and weapons in varying states of repair. Sanguine stood up, assuming a tall, confident pose, and spread his wings.
“I am Sanguinus, Primarch of the Blood Angels Legion, the Angel, Son of the Emperor of Mankind. The other pony you see before you is Horus, Primarch of the Lunar Wolves, Warmaster, and another son of the Emperor of Mankind. I ask that you state your names and ranks.”
One of the ponies stepped forward and bowed his head.
“Forgive us Primarchs, we have not seen any in person but our own, Celestia and Luna. Could you please come with us? They will want to greet you personally, I’m sure.”
Horus, who was carefully standing up again, looked up again, startled. “Luna!?”
He fell over.
Sanguine snickered under his breath. “Perhaps you could give Horus a hand, he hasn’t quite mastered walking yet.”
Horus grumbled as two of the armoured ponies walked over and carefully lifted him onto their backs, “And I used to be Warmaster.”
“Don’t worry brother,” Sanguine patted his brother on the back, wobbling slightly as he did, “You still are.”

“What was the point of that?”
Cog looked at Celestia blankly. She shrugged.
“I thought it was an interesting story. Proof, I suppose.”
Cog sighed and shook his head. “You know, out of all of Kid’s children, you confuse me the most. Go on, skip to the important bit. You shouldn’t stay here for too long.”
Celestia tilted her head sideways and looked up at the ceiling.
“Alright then.”

“Luna! Take off the armour!”
“No! You merely wish to attain the level of power the I have!”

“Alright, I get it, now stop pissing around and tell me how Luna got hold of Chaos corrupted armour.”
Celestia smiled.
“Thank you. You should understand that the armour Sanguine had been wearing got torn from him in the crash, and that Horus’ armour was already stored in a very secure place in the ship.”
“Of course, I put it there myself,” Cog pointed out, “Until I could destroy and purge it as I saw fit.”
“Naturally.” Celestia stopped smiling for a few seconds. “I wondered though, did you know of the presence of Chaos before the sword was found? Did you know what the sword did?”
“Had I seen it, maybe. But I had only ever heard rumours, and the first time for decades that I left the Golden Throne complex was when Magnus... Well.” Cog shuddered. “Gods we may be, but immortal we are not.”
“I see...” Celestia spaced out for a few seconds, before shaking herself into concentration. “Returning to my story, even a safe built by your hands is not indestructible. A ship crash, for example...”

“Bring more water!”
Celestia, armoured in the brilliant white and yellow of her half-formed legion, charged into the burning wreckage of the spaceship. It had formed a huge crater, and the shrapnel had flown out over a huge distance. Ponies, Mareines and Techpriests alike fought to control the fire as the four Primarchs charged around the wreckage looking for survivors. Horus forced a blast of cold air through the interior with what little magic he knew, but managed nothing, as he raced through to the engine room. Sanguine, on the other side of the ship, struggled through wreckage to find the bridge, while Celestia and Luna searched for the armoury and cargo bay.
Celestia ran down a corridor, only to find the way blocked by collapsed girders and a roaring flame.
“Luna! I can’t reach the armoury from my position! You’ll need to go there instead!”
“Gotcha!
From her side of the ship, Luna ran left down a corridor, heading quickly towards the vault. Celestia took off towards the cargo bay to cover for her sister.
“If you’re behind that door, move it or getta whole lotta Primarch!
Horus smashed down the door to the engine room with his body, sending the already weakened door flying. A group of Space Marines stepped from the side of the door, carrying Tech Priests on their backs. Horus pointed back the way he’d come.
“Run out! This place is going to blow up far too soon for my liking!”
As the Space Marines ran outside, Horus ran INSIDE the engine room. He looked around the room, with no idea what he was looking for.
“What would Cog make a safe like!?”

Sanguine, in the bridge, luckily did not have to worry about the same thing. He did, on the other hand, have to worry about what seemed to be an awful lot of explosive jelly and gummy bears of all things. Sanguine cursed the thing that had caused all the problems and began looking for his father and the two tech gods he’d been travelling with. They weren’t there, and neither were their bodies. He turned around and began to run out of the ship again, ignoring the earth-covered windows, cursing their unseen adversary at the top of his lungs.
“Son of a bitch!”

Luna jumped as her brother’s profanity came through the commlink, but quickly started running again. Coming to the heavily reinforced door of the armoury, Luna sped up.
In one swift movement, she swung around, planting her hooves on the ground in front of the door, and bringing the other pair around to smash through. They stayed in contact with the door as it burst open, her other hooves lifting off the ground as she spun around again, landing inside the room in a surfer style pose on the bucked door.*
The inside of the armoury was... Well... An armoury. One side was lined with suits of power armour (transformed by the world’s unusual Majiks** to the shapes of ponies,) another with guns of varying strength and power, and one that was fitted with tools and workbenches that looked capable of covering everything.
“What am I here to take again?” Luna asked through her link.
“Tools mainly, then weapons, then armour. In that order.” Came Celestia’s voice, calm as ever, “Nothing else.”
Luna grabbed as much as she could with her magic. Drawing all the tools together into a ball, she realised she had picked up a box with them. An experimental smack with her hoof did nothing to it, so she resolved to keep it, even though it was rather large. Grabbing the cache of weapons, taking sword in her teeth for ease, she decided to take two suits to carry the tools and weapons, and began running outside. The box came too.

“You’re kidding,” Cog put his head near to the floor, “Please tell me you’re kidding.”
“It came open with the aid of a Lascannon. A rather impressive move, but a waste of a charge, I always thought.”
Celestia patted Cog on the back as he hit his head on the floor.
“Shall I skip the slow decline into semi-madness?”
“Please do.”
Celestia nodded and took a sip of a glass of water that had been placed next to her. Cog looked around in shock to find that he had a glass of apple juice placed next to him.
“DAMN he’s a good butler.”
Celestia smiled.
“In abbreviated form, Luna had built up a chaos-aligned army and made a fortress in the area known as the Everfree Forest. It was un-infiltrate-able by any pony.
“But we aren’t ponies by birth.”

“LUNA! SURRENDER OR SUFFER AT THE HANDS OF ONE WHO HAS SEEN THE LIGHT!”
“I don’t think that will be happening any time soon Horus. It is a lovely piece of armour.”
“VERY WELL! THEN WE SHALL BRING THE FIGHT TO YOU!”
“That isn’t possible you foals.”
“NOT BY A MORTAL PONY!”
Horus, Sanguine and Celestia flew over the ravine separating the castle from the rest of the forest. A bolt of thunder from Celestia’s horn as they got close was enough to create a hole in the shield Luna had set up. And the trio’s incredible strength was enough to withstand the sudden hail of bullets that they encountered as they passed through.
And then they dropped it.****
The three passed through the corridors of the otherwise unpenetrable fortress, mowing down traitors left right and centre. Celestia made her way up, Horus made his way down, and Sanguine made his way straight ahead. If anything, they sped up as they split.

Sanguine came to a room guarded-
Make that PREVIOUSLY guarded by a full squad of traitor Mareines. He smashed down the door with ease and checked inside.
The hideously mutated form of Luna’s second most powerful (The most being Luna) mage stood in front of him. It smiled.
“Sanguine, how good to see you.”
“Starswirl. You always were ambitious.”
The blue twisted form of Starswirl the Bearded, Traitor Space Mareine, chuckled.
“I don’t suppose you would rather work with your sister rather than force me to kill you, would you?”
Sanguine chuckled in turn, drawing an assortment of weapons and forming a ball of fire.
“Bitch, please.”
Eventually, having torn Starswirl into pieces for his heresy, Sanguine looked over the rest of the room. At the back was an orb that pulsed with energy, standing on a pedestal. There were also several bookcases. Sanguine idly shot the orb, causing the magic to explode through the ley-lines sending it through the castle. Having achieved the first part of his mission, Sanguine picked up a group of books and began searching them for any diaries or magic journals.

Outside, the forcefield shattered, losing major areas of its protection. Various explosive went out, only for even more to be hurled back in. Sister-Captain White Burst grinned, standing on the edge of the crevice. She’d always wanted to punch Star Swirl’s smug face into oblivion, and she was FAR too good a pony to take it out on his children. She began ordering pegasi and unicorns into making a firm bridge that they could cross...

Horus shot several bullets through several heretic’s face’s as he descended to the lowest point of the castle. Luna was being cocky. In staying in the highest point of the castle, Celestia had to do more work, but Luna was more at risk of being attacked. It was a trick that was meant to show she had the upper hand, and Horus admired her guts.
She was wrong about the upper hand though.
Horus smashed another group of heretics aside, his current target in sight. An orb, twice the size of the one Sanguine had been going after, lay on a pedestal, surrounded by more guards who towered over it. From his chance Vantage point, Horus shot the orb with a bolter round, making it explode and rousing the guards. They turned to look at the orb, then over to Horus. As one big, ugly group, they snarled. Horus laughed.
“More fun for me!”

Outside, the Mareines charged across a magic and stone bridge, taking the Chaos Horde head-on. Their battle cry was one, and their strength was tenfold from it.
“FOR THE EMPORER!”

Celestia ascended the last level of stairs in a flash, tearing yet more guards into pieces as she went. She burst through the door to the stairwell, sending the door flying off its hinges.
“LUNA!”
“Celestia.”
Luna sent a black magical missile towards her sister, nearly nailing her straight in the head. She tutted.
“Trying to be difficult, are we?”
“Only to the demon that tries to copy my sister. This isn’t the way she would act out of choice, and I know it.”
“So narrow minded. Don’t you believe that your sister can act of her own free will? That she can make her own life decisions?”
“That’s not a life decision, that’s forced possession.”
“You’re just shallow minded.”
“I AM A FOLLOWER OF THE IMPERIAL TRUTH!”
“Shallow lies of a false god.”
“WILL YOU SHUT UP YOU ARROGANT LITTLE RAT!”
Celestia gritted her teeth and drew her own sword. It had six gems set into the hilt, and crackled with magical energies.
“I CHALLENGE YOU! HERE! NOW! TO RECLAIM MY SISTER! BY SWORD AND BY GUN!”
Swinging the sword to point at Luna, she raised her head.
“WILL YOU FIGHT ME AS AN EQUAL? OR SHALL I USE MY OWN TRICKS TO BEST YOU DEMON?”
Luna, or the thing calling itself Luna, smirked and drew its own sword. It had no gems, but crackled with raw power all the same.
“Very well. I shall accept your challenge. By sword or by gun, one of us shall fall tonight.”
And the two clashed, in a confrontation that would scar the landscape for millennia.

NO EPIC BATTLE FOR YOU! Possibly ever. I just want to get this up before I go to bed, it’s kinda late and I’ll only do the entire battle if I need to. I’ll tell you if I’ve changed it when I put the next chapter up.

*A technique that would be forgotten and unused by ponykind for a VERY long time afterwards.
**Yeah, Majiks***. They’re that messed up.
***I even wrote it in bold and italics. With a capital letter. You get it?
**** No idea what ‘it’ literally is, but ‘it’ blew stuff up.

About Time...

For the Empress
Chapter 4: About Time...

Speaking now, as the author, I found something rather peculiar. Time is both very open-minded and yet very finicky.
Let me explain – if I wanted to go back in time and kill Hitler, I could. I could take his place, work as he had but without the mistakes – I could change history so that A. Hitler, leader of Germany, won WW2. No holocaust even.
But that wouldn’t lead to a Nazi state today.
I could change the outcome of the American Civil War so that the Royalists, the English troops, won. America never reached its true state of independence, no declaration, nothing.
But the British Empire would fall, and with it, the colony of America would become independent, rife with poverty and a corrupt government, but it would be free. And the Empire WILL fall. Count on it.
Time isn’t worried about the HOW, it’s about ensuring the occasional little thing DOES happen. Even if Obama cheats his way into office, what matters is that he gets there. And in Equestria... Well, how about I show you?

“They’re right there! In the middle of the chamber!”
Rainbow Dash gestured to Fluttershy, who grabbed a stone from a pedestal and began lowing it to the floor. Twilight looked at it and closed her eyes.
“Rarity, are you..?”
“Nothing. Perhaps it’s a puzzle?”
Twilight nodded at her friend’s suggestion. Looking around the base of pedestal, she rubbed off years of moss and vines to read the text underneath.
“Spark...Ignite... I think I need to hit the rocks with a spark, and that should make all the gems turn up.”
“But there’s only five rocks for six gems!”
Pinkie Pie bounced over to the pedestal, squinting at the text Twilight had uncovered.
“I don’t know if this means normal magic Twi’...”
“It’s all we’ve got. I’m going to need to concentrate.”
“Come on ya’ll,” Applejack sighed, heading towards the door to the abandoned castle, “Ya know what that means.”
Grumbling a bit, five ponies left the room, leaving Twilight to try things on the stone orbs. In any other circumstances, maybe they would never have met. Or perhaps it was meant to be.
Twilight was a purple unicorn. Wearing the light cloth armour of battle mages everywhere, she was the group’s leader and researcher. Her family were from a long line of exiled nobles, who had only one or two generations ago been accepted back into society. Twilight still found it hard to stay in the same place, and that was why she was here now.
Applejack was the group’s tank. She was no healer, but her own innate magic had been boosted by years of meditation and forced practice, leaving her with the ability to heal from life-threatening injuries in mere hours. Her family had been farmers for years, but she had found some escape and comfort in travelling with her friends. Her steady mind meant that she took over while Twilight was otherwise engaged.
Rainbow Dash was wild. She didn’t really follow any restrictions if she could help it, she fought with any and everybody, and (Much to the others chagrin) wasn’t fussed with her orientation. But she was a strong fighter, a brilliant flyer, and she listened to her friends enough to respect what she needed to do. She was from Cloudsdale originally, and no one but her knew why she was here, except maybe Fluttershy.
Rarity... In her turn, she was a fine armoursmith, and her special spell, which tracked gems, had saved the group’s lives before. A snow white unicorn with a taste in the extravagant, it seemed to be a love of money which brought her along. But she was happy to give – it was her actions that brought the group to the castle – and of the group she was the most selfless. Her family often came up, but other than brief mentions of her sister...
Fluttershy and Rarity were as thick as thieves, as the saying goes. Neither were particularly good at the exploration themselves, but Fluttershy was a very skilled medic. Often she dealt with the ‘clingers’ of the group at dangerous times, but it was her compassion that held the group together when times were really tough. She had become close friends with Twilight at one point in her early travels, and they had begun travelling as a three with Applejack when they were very young themselves. Seven years of being the best team out there had done a lot for her mostly timid personality, but she was much quieter than the others.
And then there was Pinkie Pie. No one understood Pinkie Pie. Even Pinkie Pie. But she had a brilliant insight, and Twilight trusted her, so that was good enough for the others.
Damn fine baker too.
Now, Twilight closed her eyes to look for something inside her. Pinkie had said more than normal magic. Twilight tried to find something inside her. A spike. A bulb. A...
A glow.
It was a warm feeling inside. She touched on it as she found something about... Applejack. Twilight sifted the emotion to one side. The gems – Elements of Harmony – perhaps there was more to them than just one pony. She looked for the feeling again.
Another glow. This time from Fluttershy. It was likely-
Twilight frowned as shouts came in from her friends. She was busy, they would have to deal with it themselves. She wanted to be back in town before the Summer Sun Celebration finished.

“The sky, look at the sky!”
Pinkie watched the moon with a look of horror. Rainbow Dash squinted.
“I don’t get it, what’s so big?”
“The stars! She’s getting the help of the stars!”
“Who is? Twilight?”
“No! Nightmare Moon!”
A stream of stars hit the castle where Twilight was standing. Pinkie Pie wailed and ran in.
“Twilight! Look out!”

“You have rather... Interesting friends, I see.”
All that Twilight felt was a sense of panic. She had never panicked before. Not even during her accidental spell burst on that day-
No, focus, find the elements.
Twilight reached into the magic around her – thick, sickening stuff, which made her feel like fainting – and grabbed the five rocks. As she was forced to manifest again, she kept the elements, which clunked to the ground around her.
“Though I suppose it was supposed to be this way. Things are planned far beyond what you know, little pony.”
Retching from the taste, Twilight stood up and began to gather her magic. She looked at the pony in front of her.
And all her resolve to cast spells shattered. It was another spell, she was sure, but her breath caught in her throat, and then a headache began, followed by a twisting pain in her heart-
“You’re just so easy to play with! My word, this is the most fun I’ve had in years. Such a stoic child, aren’t you? Trying to play so hard to get!”
“You... Who are you?”
“Who am I! Does royalty no longer count for anything?!”
The black pony reared up, striking a pose against the moon.
“Have over a thousand years of imprisonment stopped me from my place on the throne?!”
“A thousand... You’re Nightmare Moon!” Twilight gasped, regaining her composure, “I won’t let you take the Elements!”
“The elements of harmony cannot be wielded by a pony that is not pure of heart. Only someone who represents the virtues of our society can use them, and that’s definitely not you,” Nightmare scoffed, “So you may as well give them to me.”
“...No.”
Twilight shook her head, and grabbed the stones in her magic.
“Even if I can’t use them, their worth is immeasurable. I’m taking them with me!”
Nighmare spluttered. “But in their dormant state they’re nothing more than rocks! Trash!”
“Still got worth! Goodbye!”
Twilight belted.

The group of six, (having met up on the stairs) charged back across the bridge and into the Everfree proper. Twilight sprinted in front, focusing her magic.

“My... Sister... And... Brother...”

A chorus of affirmative grunts came from behind her. Twilight dropped back and let Applejack lead.

From her vantage point on the roof of the town hall, Nightmare Moon watched the six ponies gallop into the town square with a bored expression. Using her magic, she amplified her voice out over the area.
“Took your time.”
The group skidded to a stop by the porch. Twilight and Rainbow looked up in grudging admiration.
“Oh she’s good.”
Nightmare disappeared in a cloud of smoke which thinned itself out over the courtyard.
“I’ll give you a hint, since you’re that far from being able to act – only the Elements of Harmony can beat me. Nothing else. Good luck with getting them to wok, any of you.”
Twilight tested the magic around her carefully. Sparks flew.
“She’s trying something...”
“Even though,” The ancient mare continued, “There is no real danger from you, I do like to be thorough, and you do have five very important rocks.
“So sorry, but you’re in my way.”
Twilight’s magic grabbed the stone elements and chucked them to her friends, preparing a strong spell of her own.
But too slow.
Nightmare’s magic grabbed the unicorn and pulled her down. Twilight didn’t have the time to shout.
Her friends did. And something in the elements responded.
Nightmare formed again, bigger and more intimidating this time, in front of Fluttershy. The normally timid Pegasus snapped and lashed out, giving the demonic pony a real shiner around her right eye. Rainbow barged her sideways to avoid the magical retaliation, losing the greater part of her tail to a burning bolt. Fluttershy began sobbing quietly.
“She killed Twilight, oh Celestia she killed Twilight.”
Rainbow managed to murmur something under her breath before scooting up into the sky. The group began their own fight, the Elements crushed underfoot.

“...
“Huh.”
Twilight lazily floated in the haze of stars that she thought she’d seen in Nightmare Moon’s mane. She calmly got her breath back over a few seconds.
“My, I did not expect to see anyone else in here.”
Twilight twisted around. A white alicorn waved from a few meters away. Twilight sighed.
“Oh, Princess Celestia. PRINCESS CELESTIA!?”
“Please, my little pony, now isn’t the time for formalities.”
“Bu- bu- bu- but you’re here! In Nightmare Moon’s mane! With me! How!?”
“Nightmare Moon is getting power from something I don’t truly understand. As such, I couldn’t counter it...” The alicorn sighed, “And the only thing that could is hidden.”
“The Elements of Harmony?”
Celestia nodded.
“But those are right next to where Nightmare Moon is now!”
“What?!”
Celestia balked.
“But they were cast into stone!”
“Well, they are still stone...” Twilight admitted. Celestia groaned and put her hoof to her face.
“This is horrible. Unless you have six ponies that represent the six elements, or at least ponies who represent all of them, they don’t work.”
“Well...
“If you help me out then I think I can get them to work.”
Celestia looked up at Twilight, and suddenly a serene smile came across her face.
“You didn’t go after the elements alone.”
Twilight shook her head.
“Six ponies for six elements. It can’t be a coincidence.”
There was a pregnant pause. Celestia nodded.
“Hold on to your armour, this could be rough!”

The Elements found their owners.
Nightmare Moon was defeated.
And the band of treasure hunters moved on.

Some things are meant to happen.
Despite the fact that I just wasted however many minutes of our time (I had to write it remember), I have made a point – time won’t change some things for some timelines. I can’t stop Nightmare from being redeemed.
Nor can I stop Luna falling.
Celestia wept at a memory, comforted by the small red and white pony. Hundreds of years of tears came out at once, finally able to tell someone. Cog sat and listened. Eventually, he spoke up over the crying.
“One day, when the Emperor was still very young, he came into me crying. He’d lost a pet I’d given him. He thought he’d done something wrong, that he was going to get into trouble.
“I told him that it wasn’t his fault, and that it was going to happen. He said that he could have tried something – his potent psychic abilities had manifested a few months ago – but I had to tell him the truth.
“Some things always happen. You might not know it, but that one thing, it’s going to be very important later. His pet dying, I think it was the reason he didn’t just walk in and kill Horus. Losing people close to you is hard, but it wasn’t your fault Celestia. You SAVED her. You only held her away – one day, she’ll come back. I know it’ll happen.”
Celestia’s crying slowly stopped. Cog nodded at the doorway, and the butler silently came in and placed a drink down. Cog nudged the princess to stand up.
“Come on, you have things you’ll need to do. You can’t do it while you’re crying in here.”
“Th- th- Thank you... Cog...”
Celestia sniffed.
“I needed that...”
“Sometimes you just have to-“
A loud thud came from upstairs. Cog looked up and gently pushed Celestia down so she was sitting. As he made his way to the door, the butler burst in, flustered.
“Begging pardon sir and princess, but the second pony from the craft... He’s just burst out the front door and ran.”
Cog shouldered the butler aside and sprinted up the stairs, running past a slightly battered Fancy to stare out the door. A dark grey flash came from the nearby gardens, making Cog fall forwards and grab his head tightly.
“Damnit Mech, why are you blocking me?”
One of the guards ran to the door and tried to jump out, only to be held back by Cog’s magic.
“Shouldn’t I go stop him sir?”
“Not unless you want to end up talking with the dude with a scythe” Cog muttered bitterly. He pointed the guard towards the cellar, “You should go and tell Celestia I won’t be able to talk to anyone for a while.”

Another thing I couldn’t stop.
Someone always ran. But it may as well be Mech.