A Light in the Grim Darkness

Ian and the princess conversed a while longer before he turned back to his retinue

and nodded to them. All of them gave a final salute to their beloved master, and Ian

approached them and one by one embraced them as if they were family. Emil was the

last one in line. The old Kasrkin had been his closest friend and confidant, and was more

like a father to him than a friend and had faithfully born the Inquisitorial banner into the thick

of some of the worst fighting that Ian had been in. He and Ian had fought and bled together,

and whenever Ian was brooding on the horrors of Laureus IX, Emil had been there to help him

through it.

“Take care Emil, Emperor bless you for your service and kindness.”

“You too, Ian.” Emil replied choking down the tears threatening to expose themselves to all present.

The two old friends embraced as the last of Ian’s gear was removed from the shuttle by

inquisitorial servants and picked up by ponies dressed in bellhop like uniforms. Ian

walked back towards the palace as his retinue boarded the shuttle. Ian whispered them

a prayer as he walked.

“Emperor, protect them on their journey home, and watch over them I beg of you.”

The shuttle’s door closed as the engines once again rumbled to life. The landing struts

retracted as the shuttle lifted off the ground, turned about, and shot into the night sky and

back towards the Tannenburg. Ian walked back to Celestia’s side, and they walked into the castle together.

*****************************************************************************

Twilight and her friends watched from the window as the human bid his comrades goodbye.

“The poor dear, I couldn’t imagine having to say goodbye to any of you under similar circumstances.”

said Rarity feeling genuinely bad for the human.

“I know what will cheer him up! A party!” squeaked Pinkie Pie

“Just remember that what Princess Celestia said to us earlier still applies, do not do anything

that might frighten him, and that means nothing that would be considered odd.” said Twilight.

The princess had given them a quick overview on how to treat with visitors from outside

Equestria when she had summoned them to the palace a few weeks ago. All eyes in the

room immediately glared at Pinkie Pie.

“What?!” she asked innocently.

“Ah think ya know what.” said Applejack face hoofing.

“He seems nice enough, maybe he will be friendly.” Said Fluttershy hopefully.

“I don’t trust him Shy, I mean look at him! He showed up here in armor and wearing weapons.”

replied Rainbow Dash.

“Which he kept sheathed.” replied Applejack.

“Yeah, and my dad was a Royal Guard, and he always said that when a foreign dignitary

shows up armed to the teeth and in a suit of armor it is to put on a show of force, even when

they keep the weapons in their holsters.” Shot back Dash.

The two were on the verge of an argument when Twilight’s brother walked up to them.

Twilight used the opportunity to distract from the argument.

“Hey Shiny!” she said giving her brother a hug.

Shining returned the hug with a smile. He was very proud of his little sister, and had great

reason to be. She had started as Celestia’s student and was now a princess of Equestria

and the bearer of the element of magic.

“Hey Twily!” he said returning the hug and continuing. “You guys can come downstairs and meet

our new guest now.”

“Who is he?” asked Twilight.

“Well from what I gathered his name is Ian Ludones and he is an Inquisitor from a place called

the Imperium of Mankind.” replied Shining.

The word inquisitor made most of the ponies very nervous, all of them had remembered

their high school studies of medieval Equestria. The times then had been incredibly turbulent

and Equestria had not been the utopian society that it was today. Some unicorns had practiced

black magic, and the princesses had been forced to create the Equestrian Ministry of the

Inquisition and Witch Hunting. This group was a ruthless agency built with the intention to

curtail and eventually destroy those who used black magic. Unfortunately, the agency had

gotten out of hand and its leaders were corrupted by their power and had to be brutally

disbanded. Many innocents had died by the hooves of the witch hunters before Celestia

and Luna had them shut down and their leaders executed for the murders and shady dealings

that they had committed.

“Is he anything like the old witch hunters we had?” asked Twilight.

“I honestly don’t know.” replied Shining.

“See, I told you he’s not to be trusted!” said Rainbow Dash glaring at Applejack.

“We haven’t even met him yet, how can ya say that? And besides, his job may have a

different meaning where he is from, so how do ya know he is or aint trustworthy.”

replied Applejack with a glare of her own.

“Girls! Both of you calm down, we are about to meet a visitor from another world, we need

to be as polite and open minded about this as possible. Who knows what his home is like

or what he has been through, we need to be understanding to find out.” said Twilight.

The two agreed to end their argument; for now at least, as the element bearers and Shining

Armor made their way to the great hall of the palace.

*****************************************************************************

Although it may not have held a candle to the Imperial Palace on Holy Terra, the Canterlot

Palace was a sight to behold. Ian could not help but be impressed by the beautiful tapestries

and gold and silver ornaments that hung on the white marble walls. The architecture was

breathtakingly bright and used a lot of stained glass windows, which while used in the

Imperium’s Gothic architecture, were not used in such large amounts except in Ecclesiarchy

buildings. The last time he had seen so much stained glass was in the convent of the Adepta

Sororitas during a pilgrimage to Holy Kaurava.  The buildings here were just beautiful.

As Celestia and Ian reached the staircase of the great hall, they were met by seven more

ponies, who Celestia introduced.

“Inquisitor Ludones, these good ponies are the bearers of the elements of harmony, I will

allow them to introduce themselves to you.” said Celestia.

Ian first met the lavender alicorn, who introduced herself as Princess Twilight Sparkle,

element of magic. Ian gave a polite bow of his head to show her the respect due

her office.

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance your highness.” said Ian.

“The pleasure is all mine Inquisitor, and please, just call me Twilight.”

“As you wish Twilight.” replied Ian.

He could sense an immense amount of power emanating from her. He then met Rarity

who offered him her hoof.

“Pleasure to meet you.” said Ian shaking her hoof.

“Charmed to meet you as well Inquisitor I’m Rarity, element of generosity.” she said in a

high class accent that reminded Ian of the wives of some of the planetary governors he

had dealt with over the years.

The next to introduce herself was Fluttershy. Ian could tell even with a quick glance that

she was extremely timid, even her mane gave it away as it appeared groomed for the

little Pegasus to hide her face behind. Ian removed his hat to appear less menacing

and with a kind smile, and slowly extended his hand.

“h-hi, I’m Fluttershy, element of kindness.” said the yellow Pegasus in a very quiet voice

as she lay her hoof in the Inquisitor’s gauntleted hand.

“It is good to meet you Fluttershy, don’t be afraid of me, I’m not here to hurt anyone.”

said Ian in a kind and friendly manner as he lightly shook her hoof.

Pinkie Pie introduced herself in her normal excited manner, rapidly shaking Ian’s hand

and talking a million miles a minute.

“HI! I’m Pinkie Pie element of laughter it’s great to meet you!”

“Good to meet you too Miss Pie.” Replied Ian whilst thinking to himself

“Sweet Emperor, this must be what they mean by ‘this is your brain on

chems’.” And her pink coat, it was just so bright. Even her mane was pink.

it vaguely reminded him of a Slaaneshi cultist… He would have to keep

an eye on this one…

Rainbow Dash, despite her mistrust of the human, knew better than to act rude.

The princess had been very clear about treating foreign dignitaries with respect,

and she offered her hoof.

“It is a pleasure to meet you miss…?”

“Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria, and element of loyalty.” said Dash with

great pride as she flew up and hovering at Ian’s eye level.

“Loyalty, a trait we admire greatly in the Imperium, I think you and I will get along

well.” said Ian.

The Pegasus smiled, although she thought to herself: “Yeah, we’ll just see about

that.” Ian could tell that she did not trust him one bit. Then again he could not

blame her; he, a stranger had shown up on her world out of the vastness of

space armed to the teeth and wearing armor that made him seem like he was

more machine than living being. The last pony he met was obviously either a

farmer or a cow mare. He was pleased with himself that he did not laugh at the

sight of a pony wearing a stetson.

“Nice hat.” said Ian holding out his hand to Applejack.

“Not a bad one yerself.” replied Applejack accepting Ian’s offer of a hoof shake.

“Name’s Applejack, element of honesty, but you can just call me AJ.”

“It’s good to meet you AJ, my name is Inquisitor Ian Ludones, but you may call

me Ian.” he replied. Ian then turned to the rest of the ponies, the princess

included.

“That goes for all of you; just call me Ian, no need for formalities.” said Ian.

The last pony that Ian met was Shining Armor, captain of the royal guard. Ian could

tell that Shining had a fierce sense of martial pride that was reminiscent of an imperial

general. Ian snapped into a salute, which Shining returned with the same enthusiasm.

“Pleasure to meet you captain.” said Ian.

“Likewise inquisitor, likewise.” replied Shining.

“So Ian, what exactly does an inquisitor do?” asked Twilight with a quill and parchment

levitating in front of her in her magical grasp. Before she could get an answer,

Applejack cut her off.

“Uh, Twi, he just walked through the door after a really long trip, ya think that the questions

can wait til mornin’?”

Twilight blushed with embarrassment and put away her quill and parchment. It was common courtesy

not to bombard a visitor with questions right after they had just walked in, especially after a journey as

long as Ian had been on.

“Uh, sorry.” said Twilight sheepishly.

“It is perfectly alright, knowledge is power after all. If you wish we can have a meeting

tomorrow in which I will answer any questions you have as long as they are not about my

personal past.” said Ian.

“Why can’t we ask you about your past!?” asked Dash in an argumentative tone

completely forgetting her composure. Ian’s previously calm face hardened.

“Because it’s like a dragon’s tongue; it’s long and it’s nasty and thus should not be

known by anyone.” said Ian revealing some of his nasty temper, which quickly subsided

after the cyan Pegasus backed down.

“Yes, I was thinking the same thing as well; we can hold a private court for about an

hour from nine inthe morning until ten, maybe you can answer some questions

then?” asked Celestia, who had just finished giving Dash a “to the moon” glare for her

tone with the visitor.

“That sounds good, and it was good to meet all of you, but I tire. Where am I to stay

your majesty?” asked Ian.

Celestia looked up at the clock, the shuttle had arrived around nine p.m., and it was

now almost midnight.

“Oh dear, I had not figured on having a long term guest.” said Celestia racking her

brain as to where she could room a six-and-a-half foot tall human comfortably. The

bellhop uniformed servants were standing around waiting for direction from her.

That was when a heavily accented southern voice spoke up.

“Aw hay princess, he can room with me, ah was the only one without a roommate

and the room has two bedrooms with beds big enough ta hold a cow, he can have

one of em’. said Applejack.

“Are you sure Miss Applejack? I don’t want to be a bother to anyone.” replied Ian

astonished at such a selfless act.

“Oh its fahn, you won’t be botherin’ me so long as ya don’t play loud music.”

replied Applejack glaring at Rainbow Dash.

“What!?” asked the cyan pegasus.

“You and your loud rock n’ roll music, we heard it all the way down the hall!”

said Rarity with an aggravated look.

“Oh, oops! sorry.” replied Dash.

The servants looked once again to Celestia for confirmation of this plan and she

nodded; that was all the servant’s needed to begin taking Ian’s baggage up the

stairs towards Applejacks suite. Everyone said goodnight and went to their rooms,

and Ian and Applejack walked together towards the suite.

“Thank you Miss Applejack, this is very kind of you.” said Ian.

“Aw shucks it’s nothin’ all, and don’t call me miss Applejack sugar cube, it’s

Applejack er AJ.” replied the farmer meekly.

*****************************************************************************

   Ian and Applejack got to the large room with the servants in tow. Applejack had not a

t all been joking when she said the suite had been huge. There was a common living room

complete with a radio and several shelves of books, as well as a very large balcony. There

were two rooms, each had a very big bed, which was indeed large enough to comfortably

hold a Black Angus bull, and both had attached bathrooms and walk-in closets, as well as a

wardrobe and dressers.

“Room on the right is yers, ahm on the left.”

“Thank you again AJ.”

“Think nothin’ of it, but there’s a few ground rules ah’d like ta go over if ya don’t mind.” said Applejack.

“Of course AJ.” Ian said suppressing the laughs as he was very sure he knew what was coming.

Applejack waited until the servants were out of the room before she began ‘laying down the

law’ as it were.

“Alright, first rule; knock at the door if its closed, don’t just barge in, I wouldn’t just open the door

ta yer room without askin’ so don’t do it ta me.”

Ian shook his head as this was a very agreeable rule.

“Number two, no funny business, ahm already seein’ some pony".

Ian burst out laughing, it was just too much. He thought to himself “Totally called it!”

“What the hay is so funny!?” asked Applejack somewhat confused and a bit miffed.

“No offense Miss AJ, but you’re not exactly my type.” said Ian still laughing.

Applejack didn’t know why she was blushing or why she suddenly felt angry, or in fact

why what she said next came out of her mouth.

“Oh ah see, the likes of me aint good enough fer the likes uh ya’ll! Well what exactly is

yer type Mr. High Class!?” asked Applejack in a frustrated tone.

Ian stopped laughing and straightened his face with some difficulty.

“Let’s see, I like blondes, you do have that going for you, but I like my women a bit taller

and more uh, how should I say it? Human.” replied Ian before continuing to laugh.

Applejack felt very embarrassed, she was still figuring out why she had gotten so upset

about his reaction. Once Ian calmed down, he apologized for his reaction and

explained why he had reacted with such laughter.

“I am sure that here in Equestria, you are a very attractive young mare by equine

standards, but to humans like me you resemble a horse, a beast we have in the

Imperium that we use for farm work and even as a mode of transportation. They

don’t talk, they are loyal, and they are not highly intelligent such as the ponies

here. It would go against everything I stand for to try any ‘funny business’ with

you or any other pony here. I would be considered a freak at best and never be able

to show my face back home again, or a heretic at worst and burnt to ash by one or

more of my fellows.”

“Oh.” was all the still blushing and now somewhat horrified Applejack

could respond with.

“Yeah, the Imperium really does not encourage inter-species relationships of any

kind; in fact it is usually an offense punishable by immediate execution. So you do

not have to worry about any funny business.” finished Ian.

“Oh crabapples ah don’t even know why ah acted like that or said that stuff.” said

Applejack deeply embarrassed.

“It’s alright AJ, many women in the Imperium would have reacted the same way if a

man had reacted the way I did to your rule. You seem like a very moral young la-

mare.” Ian said whilst correcting himself and patting her on her shoulder.

“Well, ah try, and ah’m glad were on the same page.” said Applejack.

“Likewise AJ, likewise.” replied Ian.

*****************************************************************************

Ian was in his new room, and he loved it. There was plenty of space, a huge

closet, and who doesn’t love a bathroom. In the corner nearest her bed Ian had

set up his armor stand, while all his clothes were in the dresser and wardrobe.

He put his weapons in the huge walk-in closet, except for Dread Bane. The

ancient heirloom was in its velvet lined cherry case atop the dresser, the machine

spirit within hummed contently, causing Ian to smile and pat the old hammer.

“Glad you’re happy old friend.” said Ian.

Ian was easily by far the 9500 year old hammer’s favorite wielder to date, and it

had been wielded by a member of the Ludones family ever since it was forged.

Ian finished polishing his armor and put it on the armor stand, complete with its

helmet, which resembled the helm worn by a medieval knight.  He then grabbed

one item that no one had guessed he would have carried: a crutch. Ian sat on the

bed and rolled up the leg of his slacks, revealing the prosthetic limb that had

replaced his left leg. He reached took the key from around his neck, reached

down and found the release, and with a light pop, the leg released.

Ian then put on his pajamas, the left leg of which was tied off just above the knee where the

stump of his leg ended. Ian looked at the prosthetic. He had several that he used and had

brought with him, but this one was his favorite by far. It had been built by the same genius

tech-priest who had created his shotgun rounds, from the leg of a vanquished Necron lord

and when he wore it, it was indiscernible from a real limb. The living metal was impressive

to say the least and made a great interrogation tool in the rather unorthodox methods he

used on male suspects. No man that Ian had met liked a metal object going at high speed

smashing into them, particularly in an areaas sensitive as the groin.

He would have worn the leg to bed, but it was very uncomfortable, and if he needed to

use the bathroom, he was not going to bother putting the leg on only to remove it

again minutes later. Ian was removed from his thoughts by a knock at the door.

“Yes, come in, the door is unlocked.” said Ian standing and leaning on the crutch.

Applejack opened the door and walked in, her mane was no longer in the pony tail it

had been earlier, it was long and ungroomed, and she was not wearing her stetson.

“Ah just wanted to apologize fer earlier and say- Oh my sweet Celestia! Ian what

happened ta yer leg!? she asked with a very shocked face upon noticing Ian’s

missing limb.

Ian got a somewhat annoyed look on his face.

“Applejack, what did I say about asking questions about my past?”

“Long, nasty, and shouldn’t be known?” she asked sheepishly.

“Yes. However, I will make an exception in this case. I lost it in a battle seven years

ago. It was well worth it though.” He said.

“How could it be well worth it?” she asked very puzzled.

“Because I lost my leg, but I was able to save a fellow inquisitor and friend from the

enemy that would have taken his life.” replied Ian with a smile.

Applejack then noticed a picture on the nightstand next to Ian’s bed. He was smiling

and happy, andnext to him was what must have been a female of the human species.

She was very happy and had long blonde hair; she and Ian looked like the perfect

match.

“Ian is that yer very special some pony?” she asked excitedly.

She soon regretted asking the question, as Ian’s face sank from one of happiness

at the fond memory of saving the life of his old friend, to a sadness that made her

want to cry herself.

“She was my very special someone.” he replied sadly.

“What happened?” asked Applejack

“She died.” Ian finished.

The wall clock read 1 a.m. Ian wished Applejack goodnight, and she went to

her room to go to bed herself. Ian shut off the lights and drifted into an uneasy

sleep, hoping that morning would bring a new day that would bring some sort

of reprieve from the bad memories of his past.