• Published 1st Jul 2015
  • 4,499 Views, 132 Comments

Forged Anew - Vermillion Prose



Twilight has restored her newest companion to the world, a Rubricae of the Thousand Sons. Now, what does the presence of this former Astartes mean for Equestria?

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Royal Introductions, Part 1

Twilight was deep in the process of sifting through official documents when Spike tore into the room, sliding to a halt with a roll of parchment in hand. She immediately took the scroll with polite thanks to her assistant, knowing whom the letter came from immediately. Then again, quite few ponies could send letters to Spike, and the royal seal binding the paper confirmed it beyond doubt.

Unrolling it, her brow furrowed and her lips tugged downwards in a slight frown as she considered the contents and precisely what they entailed. Returning the parchment to its rolled state, she placed it in the drawer of her desk specifically set aside for storing such missives and made her way out of the room, traveling down the halls of her crystal castle until she arrived at her private study.

Outside, Hesperos stood silent sentinel, only showing any signs of awareness when he turned to greet her, providing his customary fist to chest salute and respectful inclination of his helm. A friendly and familiar gesture of her wing beckoned him to accompany her into the study, and he promptly obliged.

Within, she bade him sit and explained the situation as he reclined on the massive marble throne she had commissioned for him. She was still finding bits of the crystal chair he had shattered the last time she insisted he sit.

Princesses Celestia and Luna had recently returned from foreign negotiations and received word of the arrival and conflict of beings associated with the ship that had fallen in the desert. As such, they had deemed it of utmost importance that they meet and assess the precise nature of the visitor for themselves. Hesperos could sense the uncertainty in the alicorn before him. She was concerned that his previous associations and dangerous knowledge would cause issue with the royal sisters.

He immediately, if tactfully, requested she provide all the relevant information for customs and courtesies to be extended to Equestrian royalty, which she eagerly supplied directly through their psychic link. He found he had breached quite a few of these in his interactions with Twilight, which she again dismissed as she detected his soft ire at having unknowingly trampled over a fair number of them.

“You’re my friend. That’s what they need to see.” He had simply nodded at this before querying her for a plan of action.


The sun was midway through the clear skies over Ponyville as the imposing golden chariot bearing the royal sisters arrived. Armored pegasi blew great fanfare for their arrival with their brass horns, and the guard towing the chariot unhitched as Celestia and Luna set hoof before the castle doors. As the guards formed an avenue of procession, the princesses began to move at what onlookers would have described as a sedate pace.

Few would recognize the well masked tension in their stride, or the subtle flutter of feathers or cutting of eyes that communicated volumes between the siblings.

That tension in them nearly became readable as the gilded doors of the crystal tree opened with a different fanfare, Twilight’s personal guard providing her own avenue of approach from the foyer. Their expressions were even more severe than those of the guards outside, but their eyes were lit with fierce pride. Few had accompanied the princess of friendship into the fires of upheaval as they had. Surviving an encounter with a creature of the warp may have tested and hardened them, but it had also strengthened them.

Twilight strode into the daylight with as confident a smile as she could muster, but it faltered as Hesperos, but a step to her left and behind her, also stepped into the midday sun, the light glinting from the bold crimson plate and ivory affectations.

Even at such a distance, and without considering the high crest of his helm, he was a head taller than Celestia, and Luna was forced to lift her gaze as the two parties closed. The night princess had become visibly tense, while the only betrayal of emotion from the solar royal was a faint narrowing of her eyes.

Twilight’s wings flitted nervously at her side for a moment, the open field before her castle leaving her feeling exposed. She could feel a whispering sense of panic rising, before a cool weight against her withers snapped her out of her daze and her eyes snapped to her left and up. Gleaming emerald lenses glimmered slightly in the noon light as Hesperos gave her a subtle, reassuring tilt of the head. He got the briefest impression of a grateful smile before she looked back to the other princesses, clearing her throat awkwardly into a hoof.

“So, uh, who wants cake?”