My Little Xeno 2 - Equinox Knights

On the day of the Grand Galloping Gala, Antonius, Calgar, Tigurius and Cassius met in Antonius’ quarters. All of them were wearing their armors, but they had added elaborate capes and other decorations to honor the occasion.

“Unnecessary pomp,” Cassius stated.

“It’s an important festivity of the ponies,” Calgar said,
“so we show our respect by decorating our armors, just as the ponies wear elaborate dresses.”

“Hmm… at least we were able to keep the unicorn from re-clothing us completely.”

“Much to her dismay,” Antonius grinned.

“I would never meet with this ‘Discord’ without my armor just because of the ponies’ sensitivities.”

“Understandable, but please be aware of the fact that Discord is, in fact, reformed. There may still be a lot of shenanigans on his mind, but he isn’t evil anymore.”

“‘Shenanigans’?” Tigurius inquired,
“what kind of shenanigans?”

“Just expect the unexpected,” Antonius shrugged.

“So, business as usual,” Calgar commented drily.

Now, there was a knock on the door, and Antonius went to open it. Magos Gearhart entered the room. He was wearing his usual robe, but there was a new addition to his mask; a shiny, flat, triangular device that covered the spot where his mouth was - or should have been.

“Hello, Gearhart,” Antonius greeted him,
“new equipment?”

“Yes,” Gearhart answered, and the new device displayed a pixelated pictogram of a smile.

“Huh? That’s great! How did you get that idea?”

“Gentle Breeze told me that it is sometimes hard to properly ascertain the exact meaning of my words, since I did not have any facial expressions. As this could possibly unsettle our hosts, I opted to correct this issue by adding this screen to my mask. Judged by your reaction, I succeeded.”

“Certainly. Where’s Aleksa, by the way?”

“On her way. She had a boot-centered wardrobe malfunction and Gentle Breeze is helping her fix it. They told me to move on and should be here momentarily.”

Just a few seconds later, they appeared in the still open door. The mare wore an elaborate dress over her artificial body (which looked, in all honesty, a little strange), and Aleksa had substituted her robe for something way more festive, too:
She wore a long, sparkly, red dress, which was completed by equally looking long gloves and boots.

“Greetings,” she smiled as she entered,
“sorry I was delayed, but I have to get used to those heels…”

“No worries,” Antonius said,
“and my compliments on that dress. You and Rarity really have outdone yourselves.”

“Thank you. I just wish Marcus would be able to attend the Gala, too.”

“While he’s making good progress, Ambrosius thinks it’s too early to let him walk around… you’ll have to present your dress to him when you visit him the next time… but be careful that you don’t cause any disturbances among the chapter serfs.”

“I’ll do my best,” Aleksa grinned and walked up to Gearhart.

“Well, now we’re just waiting for Luna,” Calgar stated.

“It can't take her long to arrive,” Antonius said and took a look outside,
“yeah, there she’s coming… but that’s not exactly a dress.”

Luna entered the room - wearing her armor.

“Greetings, everybody,” she smiled.

“Uh, Luna… why are you wearing armor?”

“Well, I thought it would go nicely with you, and I want to allow for all possibilities.”

“Discord?” Calgar asked.

“Celestia,” Luna told him flatly.

After exchanging some confused looks, they left the room and headed for the Gala.

“There we are,” Luna stated as they had reached the door to the main ball room in which the Gala took place.

“Listen,” Tigurius said,
“there’s some ruckus in there. Is that normal?”

“That depends on your definition of ‘normal’. For the Grand Galloping Gala, it is kinda normal, for a gala as you probably image it, it is rather not.”

“Well let’s go in and find out,” Antonius suggested as he opened the door,
“I mean, it can’t be that… huh?”

A wave of green slime hit their feet.

“So much for the new outfit,” Aleksa grumbled.

“While I usually don’t like to repeat myself, I have to ask again: Is that normal?” Tigurius inquired.

“And what is it?” Calgar added.

“The only creatures I know on this planet that are capable of massively producing green slime are changelings,” Antonius told them,
“but their slime is quite viscous. This slime here is more inviscid. Luna?”

“Hmm… I’ve seen such slime before…” Luna told them,
“but I cannot believe somepony would have been deranged enough to bring that creature here.”

“Should we not get rid of it instead of just gawking?” Cassius asked.

“Indeed,” Calgar answered,
“Antonius, take the lead.”

“Affirmative,” Antonius replied, grabbed his storm bolter and strode into the ball room.

The whole ground was covered with that strange slime, as were parts of the walls and windows, where some ponies were stuck. It really was a mess in there.

“The slime is neither acidic nor corrosive,” Gearhart informed them.

“So, there’s no acute danger,” Calgar said.

The whole group had entered the ball room by now, and the Ultramarines had all fetched their weapons.

“Would somepony mind telling me what’s going on?” Antonius called.

“Antonius!” Twilight cried back, covered in slime,
“it’s the Smooze!”

“It’s the what?”

“The creature I mentioned earlier,” Luna said,
“though I would like to know how it got here.”

“That’s Discord’s doing!” Twilight exclaimed.

“So, that’s what you meant with ‘shenanigans’,” Tigurius deadpanned.

“Where is that creature?” Cassius wanted to know.

“Over there,” Antonius told him, pointing at Discord, who was lying on some sort of swing,
“obviously busy making a bad first impression.”

The Ultramarines fanned out now, while Antonius turned to Discord:

“Discord! What the hell are you doing? And what’s up with that ‘Smooze’?”

“The Smooze?” Discord asked, still focused on Fluttershy and another, green pony who was stuck to a window next to her,
“he’s an old friend of mine… a loyal friend!”

“Fine. Tell your friend to stop whatever it is he’s doing.”

“Seems like something might have harshed his flow, you know?” the green pony said,
“like, his senses are agitated.”

Agitated? Well, there should be a way to correct that… besides the obvious way to end all agitation of a creature.
So, while Discord was arguing with the mares on the window, Antonius reached down into the slime and used his powers. Really, there was a consciousness, and the pony had been right: this ‘Smooze’ was definitely agitated.
So he started to calm the creature down telepathically, to his surprise aided by some weird noises the green one made and that the slime-thing seemed to like - contrary to himself.

The slime accumulated and formed something like a rudimentary face. A few seconds later, all of the slime had gathered into a pretty big… blob.
The ponies started cheering for the green pony who had made the strange sounds.
Well, while he had helped, her approach would have worked on its own, too.

“Crisis solved?” Calgar inquired.

Now Discord seemed to snap. He screamed, argued some more, and finally… tore a rift into the fabric of space!

“Yes, but we have a new one,” Antonius grumbled.

Really, what a fantastic way to introduce his brothers to Discord.

“This is getting out of hand,” Calgar stated, calmly but with determination, and Antonius had to agree.

“Intervening,” he said, put his storm bolter away and dashed towards Discord.

While doing so, he tried to receive something, anything from his target that could possibly explain this whole mess. It was obvious that he was livid, but the hell why?
Jealousy. It was a fit of jealous rage, directed at the green mare who had hung next to Fluttershy. Now, she was in his grip, and he was about to toss her through the portal he had created.

Before he could do so, Antonius jumped and slammed into him. With his momentum, he rammed Discord into the wall. Unfortunately, that didn’t break his focus; the portal was still open and the mare was still hovering in front of it.

“Calm down, you idiot!” Antonius shouted.

Discord was not willing to listen. He bared his fangs, showed his claws and growled:

“You stay out of this!”

“How could I?” Antonius shouted, fetched his sword and powered up the protective runes of his armor.

While it was designed to fight daemons, he would never had thought that Discord would be the first (almost-) daemon (Primarch) he had to fight…

“STOP!” Fluttershy suddenly screamed.

“I will, just as soon as she’s gone!” Discord responded, pointing at the green mare.

What followed now was a lively discussion between Fluttershy and Discord, in which she tried to explain to him that someone could have multiple friends without devaluing other friends.
Antonius hoped that it would work, but he kept his sword in his hand, just in case.

Thankfully, it worked. Discord closed the portal and set down the green pony, and Fluttershy was even able to convince him to apologize to the mare. At that opportunity, Antonius got to know that her name was Tree Hugger, which reminded him of a story his friends had told him about Fluttershy allegedly wanting to be a tree… which still made no sense to him.

Be that as it may, now that this second crisis was over, Antonius put the sword back to his back and returned to the gathering Ultramarines. While underway, he overheard Celestia mentioning to Twilight that she thought the incidents had been ‘fun’, which made him doubt her sanity to some extend. It peaked in her statement:

“And since the Ultramarines kept calm even under these circumstances, we don’t need to worry about them causing inappropriate harm anymore.”

Antonius was just glad that his brothers had been out of earshot.

“Well,” Calgar mused,
“one thing’s for certain: it doesn’t get boring around here.”

“And we got a proper introduction of this ‘Discord’,” Cassius added.

“As well as a proof of the ponies abilities,” Tigurius said.

“To almost fall victim to a daemon?”

“To calm said daemon down. Fluttershy was able to reign him in, after all.”

“Hmm… true.”

So… at least there was something of a positive aspect to this whole mess. Not that it was going to make what was about to come easier…

“Brothers and friends,” Antonius said,
“I think it’s time now to introduce you to Discord. Please follow me. And - I know it’s hard - try not to kill him.”

They walked up to Discord, who was standing between Fluttershy and Tree Hugger, and Antonius addressed him:

“Discord. After you introducing yourself so inimitably, let me introduce my brothers to you.”

Discord winced for a second and asked:

“How long have you all been here?”

Goodness! He had been so engrossed in his jealous rage that he hadn’t even realized that they had been there the whole time!

“Long enough,” Calgar answered calmly, taking a scrutinizing look at him.

“Well, you know the saying: If you can’t handle me at my worst, you don’t deserve me at my best.”

“So, you have a ‘best’?” Cassius asked with clearly audible doubts.

“Of course I have a best! But who are you? And why is your armor black?”

“Right,” Tigurius said,
“he left the Imperium before chaplains were introduced to the chapters.”

“Chaplains? Weren’t those Lorgar’s idea?”

“Even the cursed Primarchs had good ideas at times before they decided to become insane traitors,” Calgar told him coldly.

“Ah, you’re the boss, right?”

“Correct. I’m Marneus Augustus Calgar, former chapter master of the Ultramarines, relieved by revered Primarch Roboute Guilliman, and the commander of the Ultramarine forces in this sector.”

“A chapter master? Relieved by Rob himself?”

“Primarch Roboute Guilliman. Indeed.”

Discord was silent for a second, then he asked, surprisingly sincere:

“How’s my brother doing?”

“At the time we left Ultramar, he was fine.”

“That’s… good to hear. I heard a lot has happened since I left… but we can talk about that later. I still don’t know who the rest of you are.”

The introductions were concluded without casualties.
Following this, the Ultramarines were benign enough to tell Discord about the state of the Imperium.

“Hmm…” Discord mused,
“not exactly what my father had in mind… but I guess I’m in no position to complain.”

“No, you are not,” Cassius confirmed flatly.

“Chaplain Cassius, there is only one being who is competent to pass judgement on me, and that being is the Emperor. So leave that to Him.”

Yes, there still was quite some tension between the Astartes and the former Primarch…

“Whoa, the bad vibes here are bumming me out,” Tree Hugger suddenly said,
“could you, like, take a deep breath and reconcile with your groove?”

“You want us to do what?” Calgar asked, slightly confused.

“Calm down,” Fluttershy told them,
“Tree Hugger really dislikes disharmony… present company excluded.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Fluttershy,” Discord grinned,
“I’m not that sensitive, and the Ultramarines and I just have to sort out a matter… or two.”

“Agreed,” Calgar said,
“there is no need to be alarmed. And now, Discord, we have a few questions.”

“Then ask. I’ll try to answer them.”

Again, nobody violently died during the next few minutes, and Discord was remarkably honest with the humans.
Then, Calgar inquired:

“You said you banished some of your men to strange dimensions?”

“Yeah… guess I couldn’t get quite rid of that habit…” Discord admitted somewhat sheepishly.

“Do you still know where you banished them to?”

“Oh… I opened portals at random back then… but I think I could recreate them, given enough time.”

“Apropos time: what is the flow of time like in those other places?”

“That varies greatly… oh, I get it! You want to look for them and bring them back?”

“That’s my plan.”

“Sorry, but that won’t work. Too much time has gone by there, too much even for Astartes.”

“Well, at least we can try to salvage their mortal remains and give them an appropriate burial within the confines of the Imperium.”

That was a good idea. Antonius had to admit that he hadn’t thought of that. While finding them alive would have been better of course, finding their remains was indeed the least they could do.
Although…

“Discord,” Antonius asked,
“won’t those portals draw attention to us? Won’t Chaos be able to detect that something is going on here if we contact other universes, dimension or whatever that way?”

Discord thought about that, then he answered:

“Hard to say. I’ve never really cared much about not being detected.”

“Then,” Tigurius said,
“we should postpone this operation until our main goal is achieved. We cannot risk drawing attention to us.”

“I agree with the chief-librarian,” Cassius interjected,
“while worthwhile, our fight against the forces of Chaos must not recklessly be compromised.”

“Agreed,” Calgar nodded,
“I had hoped to find some of them alive and give them the chance to fight for mankind once again, but since those were deceitful hopes, I also say we keep as quiet as possible… that also means that we should limit and carefully monitor any such activities.”

“Like the mirror to this abhuman world?” Tigurius inquired.

“Exactly.”

“Our new magic meters should be suitable for this task,” Gearhart told them,
“however, I will talk to Twilight Sparkle to verify that and build a device specialized for detecting portal activity.”

“Good, do that.”

“It is a pity we cannot bring those Space Marines back alive,” Luna lamented.

“True,” Calgar said,
“but the chances are too slim, and the risk is too great.”

“Anyway,” Cassius noted,
“we would have had to thoroughly test them for corruption.”

“Not that they’ve become such weird friends of nonhumans as I have?” Antonius grinned.

“Indeed.”

The Ultramarines grinned at that somewhat blunt answer, and Tree Hugger said:

“Ah, now your vibes are much better.”

The rest of the Gala went by without any noteworthy incidents. The Ultramarines and the tech-priests - as well as most ponies - had retired by now, and Luna and Antonius were also in their quarters.

“All told, it could have gone worse,” Antonius opined.

“Indeed,” Luna agreed as she took off her armor,
“although things went a little far now and then… and Cassius remains a tough nut to crack.”

“Hmm? The ‘weird friend of nonhumans’ thing?”

“Yes. He still does not trust us.”

“If he really didn’t trust us, Luna, he would be way more… active.”

“Maybe… but still! I should go and talk to him.”

“And how are you planning to convince him that the ponies are nothing but benevolent?”

“I am not certain as to how I am going to achieve that… but I will try.”

“I can’t convince you to change your mind?”

“No.”

“Hmm… I thought so. Shall I tag along?”

“No. This should be an one-on-one encounter to avoid the impression that we want to pressure him into something. I will be back in a few minutes.”

“Well, good luck. And try not to be too pushy.”

“Antonius! I have never been ‘pushy’, nor will I ever be ‘pushy’. And now wait until I am back!”

“At your command, your Royal Pushyness!” Antonius laughed.

Luna rolled her eyes and left. She went straight to the room that had been allocated to the chaplain and knocked.

Cassius opened the door and looked down at her.

“Princess Luna,” he stated.

“Chaplain Cassius,” Luna replied with a polite nod,
“do you have a minute? I would like to have a word with you.”

Cassius stepped aside, so Luna saw this as a positive affirmation and entered his quarters.

“What do you want to talk about?” he inquired as he closed the door.

Well, how to start? Thankfully, she had an idea that should work with any Ultramarine…

“The human-pony relationship,” she answered.

“We cooperate to fight a common foe.”

“Yes, but I could not fail to notice that this relationship is currently beneath peak efficiency.”

“Shouldn’t you… talk to Antonius if you’re… dissatisfied?”

He sounded weirdly perturbed, and it look Luna a moment to realize why.

“I’m talking about the human-pony relationship in general, not about my relationship to Antonius,” she clarified.

“That’s good… but Antonius still is your liaison to mankind… strangely enough in every sense of the word,” Cassius replied.

“That very well may be. I still think that you are the correct interlocutor.”

“In what way?”

“You still don’t trust us. That’s a negative influence on the human-pony relations and decreases the efficiency of our cooperation. Tell me, how can we convince you that we are truly benevolent?”

That should work. Ultramarines were all about efficiency.

“Is that the reason for your visit? If so, it’s unnecessary.”

Damn, that Cassius was stubborn.

“It is very much necessary. As I said, as long as you think that we are secretly malevolent…”

“I don’t think that,” Cassius interrupted her flatly.

“Huh? No?” Luna asked in surprise.

“No. I am well aware of the fact that you are actually benevolent.”

“Then… if you know that we are no threat…”

“I did not say that.”

“Come again?”

“Princess, you may not be malevolent, but you still are a threat.”

In Luna’s opinion, that made no sense whatsoever, so she just said:

“I do not follow.”

“If you have the choice, which do you prefer: war or peace?”

“Well… peace.”

“Of course. So do I. So does everyone who is not insane, an ork or a disciple of Khorne. But the circumstances force us into waging wars. The Imperium is struggling to survive, attacked from all sides by aliens, mutants, heretics and daemons.”

“I am well aware of that… but where is the connection to us?”

“Space Marines live to wage war. It is what we were created for, it is what we must do now, and it is what we will have to do until all enemies of mankind are eradicated. We have no choice but to fight, lest we all perish.”

“Excuse me, but I still do not see why this means that we are a threat.”

“You offer an alternative to the wars we actually have to fight. You offer a life of peace and friendship, far away from the violent reality of our galaxy.
This offer is tempting.
That is why - while not a threat directly to humans lives - you are a threat to human minds. You tempt them to shirk from their duties and enjoy the peace you offer, just by being yourselves.
As a chaplain, I take care of the spiritual wellbeing of my brothers. I make sure that they are imbued with a sense of duty, and you challenge this sense of duty. That is why I see you as a threat, Princess.”

Luna had no idea what to answer. She could see Cassius point, even if it was a somewhat weird way of thinking. After some seconds of pondering a response, she said:

“But does it not help that we are willing to leave our peaceful world and join you in your struggles? If we are willing to give up our peace and face war, friendly as we are, should that not be an incentive for you to fight, too?”

Now it was Cassius who did not answer immediately, but needed time to think about the topic.

“I see what you mean,” he finally said.

“So, I was successful in decreasing the assumed threat level of ponykind?”

“Somewhat, Princess.”

“Good! Are there other problems you worry about I could help you with?”

“Maybe…”

“Well, then tell me: What is the problem?”

“You,” Cassius told her bluntly.

“Me?” Luna asked in confusion,
“oh, it is about the nightmare remnant, is it not?”

“My primary concern is your relationship with Antonius.”

“I beg your pardon? I love Antonius. How could that be a problem?”

“Astates live for their duty, and Astartes die for their duty. Duty is their purpose, and it is their sole purpose. Antonius’ attention, however, is divided between his duty to mankind and his relationship with you.”

“Well… I would not call it ‘divided’, since I am committed to saving mankind, too, just as he is.”

“So, if - by unfortunate circumstances - he has to choose between saving you and saving mankind, would you say ‘let me die’, and would Antonius do so? Would he allow you to be killed and save mankind?”

“Yes,” Luna answered with conviction,
“Antonius already gave his life to save ponykind. If it comes to the worst, I would die to save mankind, just as he would. And I am certain he would choose saving mankind over saving me, because he knows all too well how much is at stake.”

“And you accept that your… companion would let you die?”

“Yes, because I know how much is at stake, too. I would never demand him to save me if it meant sacrificing mankind, for mankind is much more important than I am.”

Cassius looked at her for a while, then he said:

“I am starting to comprehend why Antonius is so fond of you. You may not be a human, but your personality is noble. Keep to your words, and act accordingly, and the efficiency of the human-pony cooperation will be at acceptable levels.”

“Thank you, Chaplain Cassius. I will now retire. I wish you a good night.”

“I reciprocate this wish.”

Luna bowed and left Cassius’ quarters.
On her way back to Antonius, she sighed in relief. She had been successful.
Back in their rooms, she told him the good news, and also what she had discussed with the chaplain.

“Hmm…” Antonius pondered,
“you are right. If I really had to choose between you and mankind, I’d have to save mankind. It’s an unsettling thought, but I couldn’t let my species go extinct just for the sake of the two of us. I know it sounds cold…”

“No,” Luna interrupted him,
“it sounds reasonable. I could not just continue my life knowing that untold billions had to die just to save me.”

“For the same reason, you’d have to let me die and save mankind.”

They were silent for a few seconds, then Luna said:

“Pretty depressing thoughts, especially in the aftermath of a party.”

“Yeah. I think a conversation with your spouse is supposed to go ‘I’d die for you’ or something like that, yet ours is ‘If I had to choose, I’d let you die for something more important’. Well, most couples don’t have such an important mission. We can still try our best that we’ll never have to make this choice and will be able to save mankind as well as each other.”

“This is a notion I can support wholeheartedly.”