//------------------------------// // On terra // Story: The last black crusade // by ThatRarityIsaSpy //------------------------------// Luna walked around the Imperial palace, always catching many stares. She had flew above the palace before to admire the exterior and mass of it. Canterlot castle couldn't as much as hold a candle to this construct nor could the royal guard have anything on with the Custodes whom had faithfully guard this place for over 10,000 years. That kind of devotion was the thing of legend on Equestria. The type where it had only been done by her sister when she raised the sun and moon at dawn and dusk. There was one thing in the palace that she was rather interested in. It was the long hallway just before the eternity gate where many unfurled banners were located. She watched with interest at the many symbols within the room with a curiosity of a cat to a ball of yarn. Why not take a closer look? The first banner she had chanced upon was one which had belonged to Dorn. She hadn't moved to a distance of about eight paces when a vision overtook her. She saw Dorn in his youth being raised by his "grandfather". She saw him first give his loyalty to the Emperor and his many moments of glory. She saw him construct the defenses of Terra and watched as he boarded a ship only to find the mortally wounded body of the Emperor and the corpses of two men Luna did not know. She watched him in his frustration with himself, his arguments with Guilliman and his final day with the rest of his kind as he battled aboard the Sword of Sacrilege. That was when the light overtook him and he was thrown into Equestria, where he first spent a thousand years of Equestrian time (Equestria at this point was still in it's own pocket universe where time flowed differently from the rest of the universe), on his quest to find the sigilite and to attempt and decipher who he may be. That was when the vision ended and Luna was back where she had been a bit surprised and confused over what happened. Another thing interested her. She saw the symbol of the blood angels, the one of which had belonged to one of the dead men. She approached it to get a closer look, resulting in another vision. "Horus. Stop this madness now." A human said as he approached his treacherous brother. He had wings similar to that of a pegasus. Human pegasus? "It's not too late brother. Join me and we shall take down that false emperor and rule the galaxy for ourselves." Horus replied. "My loyalties lie with our father. You have gone mad Horus. You know what I am here to do." "Then die like the rest of them, Sanguinius." Horus replied attacking Sanguinius. The battle ended with a chink in Horus' armor and the swift and painful death of the winged figure. Luna, hardly caught his name, but the scream already escaped her mouth. "SANGUINIUS!" The vision stopped. She was once again, alone in the hall. She looked around and breathed a sigh of relief that no one had saw (or heard) her. There was one last banner that interested her. It was the mark of Malcador. "Behold the greatest sacrifice of our age! Malcador the Sigillite is no more. Henceforth he shall always and only ever be Malcador the Hero!" Luna watched the robed human sit upon the golden throne, clenching his teeth as the shockwaves of pain struck him, again and again. Slowly wearing him down. The Emperor gave one final bow to Malcador and left in full body armor and weaponry. The vision once again continued when she saw the same robed man standing in an Equestrian field, speaking to a random pony. She watched him grow more and more amused when the pony spoke back. She watched as Malcador taught the pony to read and write in low gothic. She watched when the two primarchs, Harmony and Discord landed. The problem they had with their ship which effectively marooned the trio. She watched as Harmony too, found a liking to ponykind and taught them various things that would prove useful. She watched as both Harmony and Malcador met a pregnant alicorn and regarded her with awe and respect. She watched as Discord began to experiment with dark magic which mutated his body. She watched as Harmony grew disgusted with Discord and the two fought with both hardly making it out alive. She watched as Harmony agreed to separate his soul only to have Malcador realize that he wouldn't be able to use the elements later on, so he decided to merge with the unborn child (or children since Malcador had no way of knowing) of the alicorn since it took a pony. And it needed to be a powerful user of magic as well. She watched as her mother died in childbirth and her children had no clue of their true origins. Only reaching adulthood unnaturally early, finding the tree of harmony where the elements had been placed carefully by Malcador before the process and defeating the rather mischievous Discord as opposed to the destructive and evil one which Harmony had ended up killing in their battle. And that's when that vision ended. So that's who she once a part of. A man whom had given his life and went through hell on earth for his loyalty to mankind and his emperor. Who even after dying once, was intent on making sure chaos never left it's mark anywhere. He truly was a great man. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Luna had recently finished her shift once again. While casting her spell she had asked the Emperor about the moon. "What's the moon called again?" A chuckle escaped his lips. "Luna." Oddly fitting for the princess of the moon to have the same name as the moon above holy terra itself. Now, here at the Terran dawn, she watched Terra. The weary custodes who have been eternally vigilant, the throngs of pilgrims who had waited generations, all wishing to get ONE glimpse of the Emperor in his new body. She pondered on how weary the human race truly was. Seeing how the air pollution was rather dense, she used her magic to instantly clear it. The night on Terra had never been so beautiful. Luna made a point of arranging the constellations into a pattern that was as majestic as possible. (She did not actually move the stars, rather used her magic to make an illusion.) Gasps of surprise echoed throughout the Imperial palace as the legions of people went to get a glimpse at the dark sacred night. The beautiful moon that was still there. Even the ever-vigilant custodes allowed themselves just a millisecond of a peek. For this was something that couldn't be missed. Had he been able to, perhaps even the Emperor would have looked upon the beauty of the Terran dawn, and admired it himself. Luna made sure dawn looked just as good. Though for now, she returned to the palace, lest she miss breakfast. Though many people would just for the sake of watching the Terran dawn. The new Terran dawn. The dawn of the Emperor's rebirth. And with that, the dawn of a new golden age for not just mankind, but the entire galaxy, and all who wished to be apart of it.