Chapter VII : Ibram Gaunt
Chapter VII : Ibram Gaunt
Thought of the Day : An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded.
Location : Equestria, Equestrian Regiments Training Facility.
Time : 11:57 AM, 08/11/1003 in the Equestrian Calendar.
Hingard, "partially-retired" mayor of Mordian Regiments sit down and took the headphones. Massive vox-caster before him was really huge. In shortcut, it was four big metal boxes with crazy amount of buttons that didn't make any sense on the first look. His legs were creaking loudly, supressing sounds of working vox-caster.
The history of his legs was one of the strangest, indeed. Almost everybody thought that he was kind of hero, that he lost both of his legs because he was fighting heroicly with a dangerous foe. Well...
Actually, he cut one of his leg himself. During the campain on Galarnus V he was ordered along his squad to attack enemy fortified positions. He clearly knew that this was suicide. Charging several heavy bolters and a few dozens of cultists while having only a few guarsmen with stupid and stubborn Commissar, this just had to end bad. When nobody looked ( and especially when Commissar didn't looked ) he crippled himself and actually he saved his own life. All men from his squad with Commissar died pointlessly.
Still, he got metal prosthesis and he was forced to fight despire his crippleness. Hingard lost his second leg during the next campain. His leg wasn't shot or cut. Arcus Primaris was arctic planet, his normal leg just freezed out. He didn't know if he should feel proud or ashamed when younger soldiers were gloryfing him for something he didn't do.
Hingard snapped himself out of his pointless thoughts and turn vox-caster on.
/Incoming Transmission
/Proceeding
" *buzz* This is Ju*buzz* of Muni*buzz*rium. Can *buzz* hea*buzz* me?" Hingard heard the message, but it was really hard to understand.
"Testing new vox protocols. Give me moment, I have to clear buzzing." Hingard said using his vox-caster and switching settings.
"Ok*buzz*ay, I'm *buzz* *buzz* just cle*buzz*ar this mess." answered the officer of Munitorium.
"Uno momento, this frickin' thingy just can't set up right..." Hingard mumbled. The officer tried to correct settings several times, yet the buzzing didn't vanish. Technology in the Imperium was a huge paradox. Actually, everything from older times worked better than new. This voxcaster was definetely new.
He turned on and off several buttons and changed the range but this didn't make any difference.
/Incoming Transmission
"Wait, what?" Hingard asked confused.
"I thi*buzz* that someb*buzz* is *buzz* "
/Proceeding
"Is anypony there?" Hingard suddenly heard soft, mare voice.
Now this was getting really awkward.
"Who's there?" he said.
"Ehm, Twilight Sparkle." she answered. "And you?"
"Wait, this isn't some sort of casual talking." Hingard ignored her. "This is serious. Identify yourself. Rank, squad, regiment and which voxcaster are you using?"
"Privite Twilight Sparkle, unsigned for squad, Equestrian 2nd. I'm not using voxcaster." she slowly spoke.
"Okay, so for Emperor sake, how it's possible we are talking if you are not using voxcaster?"
"No, no, you didn't understand. I'm using voxcaster, but it's no the main reason." Twilight explained. "Without code I couldn't start this transmission and even if I could there is too much buzzing. I activated voxcaster, but I'm empowering it by magic. I'm testing it for science."
"It's *buzz* rea*buzz* intere*buzz*ng but *buzz* still *buzz* there!" the officer of Munitorium spoke or at least he tried.
At this moment Hingard forgot that he should ask who gave her permission for using it. This was definetely interesting.
"Magic? And how this thing work? You are like, talking by Warp or what?" he asked confused, ignoring the officer of Munitorium.
"No, no. I'm just empowering the outgoing message, while not using the main function of vox-caster. Maybe if I will upgrade the spell, it will be possible to achieve telephatic transmissions without voxcasters. I have to say that while the idea itself of vox-caster is revolutionarry, you are not using it full potential. I definetely don't have enough time to expand the researches..."
"Wait, what?"
"Ehm, how to put it simple..." Twilight said impatiently. "Okay! I'm just using my magic so this message can reach you even if it can't reach you."
"Ah. That clearly makes sense." Hingard admitted ironically.
"I wan*buzzzzzzzzzzz*" the Munitorium officer tried to say something again, but the hum was clearly too big.
"Twilight, could you actually help me?" he suddenly came up with the idea.
"Of course! What's the problem?" Twilight cheerfully agreed.
"I have a guy from Munitorium on line, and I can't understand what he is saying 'cause of fricking buzzing. Could you clear that for me?"
"Maybe? Give me moment." she answered and felt silent.
Hingard waited for several seconds, listening carefully. For a while there was only some strange noises, but suddenly he could clearly understand the outgoing message.
"I'm sick of this Emperor damnit vox-caster!" officer said.
The mayor smiled. "This is Hingard. I hear you clear and loud. Thanks Twilight."
"No problem. Cutting transmision in three seconds." she answered cheerfully.
Location : Segmentum Fleet Headquarters, Planet Hydraphur, Segmentum Pacificus
Time : 766.M41
When the servant was announcing the arrival of the all Imperial generals, it took three minutes just to introduce them. Lord-General Anders was completely mad, when the servitor started mentioning all of the Dravere's titles. He couldn't understand how it was possible to be Lord High Militant General, while also being the High Lord of Cordian and Field Marshall of Yogilavia at the same time.
However, while Anders was of course, furious, he didn't show it. He had several dozens of years in practising his perfect, blank and emotionless face. He could hold it for a few hours, it was usually enough for most of the meeting. When the discussion was over, he was usually locking himself in his chamber and destroying furnitures.
The meeting that took place in the Segmentum Command was quite nervous. The fact that almost all of participants were armed with deadly weapons didn't help too. During the introduction he spotted that Dravere was hiding bolt pistol behind his uniform, Admiral Thorner had two laspistols, several Imperial Guard colonels had hidden blades in their equipment. Fleet Headquarters in this Segmentum was one of the most heavily-guarded. In the space, several hundred vessels of Imperial Navy were defending the area. On the orbit, several planetary defence stations turned their battle cannons to meet potential threat. The planet itself was completely covered with void shields, protecting from orbital bombardment. Finally, the Headquarters itself were protected by two full regiments of Imperial Guard and several units of Stormtroopers.
The headquarters itself were placed on big mountain, artificially builded in the middle of desert. It was marvelous to see it and Anders knew that it was impossible to attack something like that. To arrive there, Munitorium called several Vendetta's to transport them. Inside however, it was a big dissapointment. It was a big pile of rocks, with no artist thinking whatseover. Besides rocks, there were also several computer systems placed by Adeptus Mechanicus. Several servitors and tacticians were controlling them, reacting to every single change on the galactic map. The place the meeting took place, was old library. All books were already stored and sent away, so they have enough place to set up.
All of the participants sit down, counting himself. First off, they received their meals, cooked by the most skilled chefs. However, Lord-General didn't focus on his food, but instead he started observating what was happening.
Dravere was whispering something silently to Inquisitor Toth of Ordo Xenos. High-Administrator Turion of Munitorium was bragging of his success in the last deployment during the battle of Avender II. Several Imperial Stormtroopers were patrolling the area with their hellguns on their backs. The upcoming topic didn't allow him to make a single bit of his food.
However, the meal couldn't take forever. The bragging and joking was over, several servitors cleaned up the rest of the food. After that, most of the guests, including his advisors and even Inquisitor Toth were forced to leave the chamber. Now, there was only him, Lord High Militant General Dravere, Admiral Thorner, Boyar Dmitri Skorzevsky and anomymous hetman of Voystroyan regiments.
Hechtor Dravere was a squat, bullish man in his sixties, balding and yet insistent upon lacquering the few remaining strands of hair across his scalp as if to prove a point. He was fleshy and ruddy, and his uniform seemed to require an entire regimental ration of starch and whitening to prepare each morning. There were medals on his chest which stuck out on a stiff brass pin. Anders never saw him without his decorations. It gave him a silly thought that they were natural part of his body.
One of the most important commanders of the Imperial Navy in this Segmentum, Admiral Thorner was incredibly low, almost like dwarf. He was also probably the oldest person in this room, his hair and beard were purely, completely white and his wrinkles were almost deep as canyons.
Bayor Skorzevsky and the hetman were looking quite similar. At first thought, he was actually thinking that they were brothers. The only major difference was their hair styles and uniforms. While both of them had long hair and even longer beards, bayor's ones were in complete disarray. He also had much bigger, feather jacket over his uniform. He had to admit that it was cold there, but to bring several pounds of bears fur to cover himself was clearly stupid.
"Gentlemens." Dravere rised from his seat. "Before we will make our way to serious topics, I want to make toast for our marvelous victory during the battle of Avender II! Glory to Skorzevsky, for his cunning and glory to his soldiers!
"Glory!" they joined in unison. Lord-General Anders with little less zeal than average.
Dravere sit down again and took another sip from his golden cup.
"We meet together to discuss quite controversial topic. Xenos serving the Imperium of Man. A long time ago High Lords of Terra themselves were arguing over the joining Ogryns to our Regiments. Finally, they allow them to join. However, Ogryns are only mutants, they are only slightly different than average human."
Dravere turned in direction of Anders.
"General Anders allowed "Equestrians" to join the Imperial Guard. It's completely not the same. You made this decision without the permission of High Lords, without the permission of Segmentum Command and of course, you made it despite the protest of Ordo Xenos. I want to hear from you why you did this."
Anders was thinking for several seconds how to answer this. Of course, he could actually state that they are not xenos, because they culture and way of thinking is incredibly similar, but at the same time, he didn't think that this could work against Dravere.
"It was purely mathematic decision." Lord-General Anders lied. "To conquer this world I needed several hundreds of my soldiers to exterminate this planet. Now, I conquered a world without a single shot. In the result, Imperium will receive taxation from Equestria and Imperial Guard will receive several cannon fodders to throw at enemy bayonetes. Instead of losing several hundreds soldiers, I will save a dozens of them, thanks to throwing the ponies body into the battle instead."
It was truth, because he actually wanted to save his soldiers lives. It was only a part of it, however. If actually these ponies would succeed, he would become the commander of next big regiment and this would give him even more power than before. It was also opportunity to stab Ordo Xenos in the back.
"Your reasoning is truly admirable... but how actually only six thousand "ponies" could work as meatshields? It's quite low amount." Admiral Thorner spotted.
"And actually, what is the value of one Equestrian? From the reports I saw, these "trained soldiers" are looking worse than conscripts." Boyar Skorzevsky added.
"They will be effective, I can assure that." Anders answered. "And actually, weren't that your soldiers that lost to single Chaos Space Marines warband? Your soldiers must be really "valueable" if you have to sacrifice two hundreds guardsmen to kill one heretic."
"How dare you!?" the boyar rised from his seat. "How dare you to suggest that these foul xenos can be more effective than human soldiers!?"
"I didn't suggest it. I stated the fact." Anders answered calmly, while his fury was slowly buzzing in his head.
Before Skorzevsky cried one of his usual curse, the anomymous hetman slowly rised from his seat.
"Seriously, gentlemens. We have to state if accepting these xenos was a good decision or not. Because you are not about to push it further, I will ask the next question. What abilities of Equestrians can assure that they will be good "meatshields?"
It was a big suprise to Anders that he actually had ally here. It took only a moment to answer.
"First of all, term "Equestrians" is quite broad." Lord-General explained. "In the Equestrian Regiments, there are six races. They are called : Earth Ponies, Unicorns, Pegasus, Crystal Ponies, Zebras and Griffons. Earth Ponies are probably the most similar to humans in terms of their possibilities. Like usual Imperial Guardsman, Earth pony can carry lasgun, heavy weapon, can use equipment like vox-caster and drive vehicles like Chimera's. From the ponies, their are the most muscular and vital."
"So basically, nothing usual. Just a few hundreds of meatshields." Dravere ironicly concluded.
"Unicorns are probably the strangest of all." Anders continued "They are capable of using "magic". To the psyker's astonishment, unicorn magic do not use Warp and had absolutely zero connection with the Chaos at all. Unicorns can use telekinesis, adapt forcefields and magic shields, threw magic bolts at enemy. Some of them are capable of short distant teleportation and most of them can empower bullets with their own magic or increase the range of vox-caster. Also, comparing to psyker's, they can't suffer from the perils of Warp."
"So that is why Ordo Xenos had problem with that. "Magic..." Admiral mumbled. "This word sounds pretty ridiculous."
"Pegasus. Now that is interesting. They can fly in normal, Terra-like atmosphere." Anders started again, after he sipped a wine from his cup. "Their bodies are much lighter and they can reach incredibly speed. They can match Imperial flying vessels in atmosphere. Most of them are also really resistant to cold and heat, thanks to their "natural magic". Also, pegasus have the longest military tradition from all six races."
"They actually have military tradition? How cute." boyar Skorzevsky snapped.
"Maybe only one thousand years, but better short one, than none." still anomymous hetman stood in the Lord-General's defence.
"These were three main races of ponies. There are also three more, but they are in minority. Crystal ponies are actually really similar to Earth ponies, the only major difference is that Crystal ponies have much bigger knowledge of geology and mineralogy. There are also Zebras, who are excelent trappers and guides. They have big knowledge of forest and jungle survival and they are really sneaky. The last one are Griffons and..."
"Wait." Admiral Thorner suddenly cut him. "You mean "this" griffon?"
Thorner was holding a big staff in one of his hands, it was symbol of his rank at all. It was covered with gold, silver and adamantium, in extreme situation this could be used as weapon. On top of that was figure of...
"Yes, indeed." Anders confirmed. "Griffons of Equestria looks exactly same."
There was a short, awkward silence.
"I didn't joke when I said that their world is really similar to us in many terms." Lord-General added.
"So, what are griffons like?" his ally hetman asked him.
"Well... imagine the ogryn, that is cunning, intelligent and for some reason can fly like pegasus." Anders answered.
"Hah! That is something that would be actually worth the effort you made!" the boyar cheerfully said and finished his entire cup in one swing.
Anders looked again on the other commanders faces. He knew already that Vostroyan hetman was on his side, boyar Skorzevsky looked convinced too. Admiral looked really confused, like the idea of his mythical griphon actually existing. The biggest unknown was Dravere himself. His blank and emotionless face was almost as good as his. It was hard to guess if he actually succeed or not.
"Well, I think that's enough. I will consult this with other generals, but at this moment I will support the Anders quest. There is no such thing like not enough meatshields. Mark this words." Dravere smiled widely.
Lord-General simply nodded.
Three Months Later
Location : Equestria atmosphere, orbital cutter of Imperial Fleet.
Time : 14:54 AM, 13/02/1004 in the Equestrian Calendar.
...
"Fire... fire all over the world. And Dust only to be left... Dust... All is Dust..."
Opening his eyes, Ibram Gaunt, Imperial Commissar, gazed into his own lean, pale face. Heavy turbulence were shaking him regularly with passion, not allowing him to sit still.
"We're making the final approach now, sir."
Gaunt looked round, away from his reflection in the small, thick port of the orbital cutter, and saw his adiutant, . Rogan, the advisor "sent" by Anders was holding the same mocking smile. He was tolerating the quakes well, much better than him.
"I said, we're making the final approach." Rogan repeated.
"I heard you." Gaunt nodded gently. "Remind me again of the schedule."
Rogan sat back in his padded leather G-chair and perused a data-slate. "Official greeting ceremony. Formal introductions to the Princesses of Equestria and the government assembly. Review of the Founding regiments. And a formal dinner tonight." Gaunt's gaze drifted back to the vast forests that flew by under the window. He hated the trappings of pomp and protocol, and Rogan knew it.
"Tomorrow, sir, the transfer shifts begin. We'll have all the regiments aboard and ready to embark before the end of the week. Of course, if Munitorium will manage to tied all the mess at the surface." the Anders agent said.
Gaunt didn't look round but said, "See if you can get the transfers to begin directly after the review. Why waste the rest of today and tonight?"
Rogan nodded, thoughtful. "That should be possible. However, I need to warn you, that "should" is a key word."
A soft chime signalled imminent landfall, and they both felt the sudden pull of deceleration g-forces. The other passengers in the craft's long cabin: an astropath, silent in his robes, and officials of the Adeptus Ministorum and the Departmento Munitorium, began to buckle their harnesses and settle back for landing. Rogan found himself looking out of the port, watching the Everfree Forest that so intrigued Gaunt.
"Strange place this, this Equestria. So they say." He rubbed his chin. "Hingard said that this world is both totally different and yet it's incredibly similar to a human world. He said that in their world even cows can speak! Can you imagine that?"
Rogan's voice dropped to a whisper. "I don't want to believe it, but one of the Mordian soldier told me that it's the touch of Chaos! Can you believe it? They say Equestria has a touch of Chaos, being this close to the Edge of Segmentum, so far away from the Emperor light."
Gaunt did not reply.
Location : ???
Time : ???
"Spirit of the Chaos, hear my..."
"I heard you! Jeez, I'm a bit busy, you know? Trying to free from my marvelous sculpture. Kind of hard, you know."
"It's a pleasure..."
"Seriously!? I have the entire Spam folder filled with your prays! I have to clear up this mess in my e-mail box."
"Ehm..."
"Discord Chaos Corporation can't provide any help if my box is so filled with your mumbling."
"But..."
"Okay, state your buisness. Or scratch that, who sent you? Or scratch that too, I already know. You can go back and tell Tzeentch I'm not backing from the vacation. I have a little "problem" with these ponies."
"I..."
"Okay, I already know. What's wrong with you people!? You always want to absend to the deamonhood. Jeez.... seriously? I started wondering why nobody wrote a story about sad, lone Chaos Lord who lost all of his friends because of his immortality."
"It's not..."
"At least say you are not psyker. Please, I'm sick of turning Librarians into deamons. The last time I did I almost blew up the entire sector. Good old times."
"It's not the Change who sent me."
"Oh, that is a suprise. So who?"
"Not Tzeentch. Or maybe it's him, but he didn't want me to know it."
"Wonderful! So we can be best Chaos friends forever! I always needed answer machine for these prays. I don't have time to answer them as you see."
"I'm not here to hear your useless mumbling. I have the offer for you. I want you to make a one, small thing."
"Oh, I'm listening! But first of all, why I would do this? What I would receive in reward? You know, the fun have to be on both sides."
...
"Freedom."
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Verlax · 13k words · 38 6 · 2.2k views
- The_Master · 3.9k words · 41 9 · 1.8k views
- Lunarmon · 3.4k words · 21 6 · 1.7k views
- 576-Belligerent-Coil · 2.5k words · 79 1 · 3.2k views
- WiskeyMikeOne · 22k words · 37 4 · 1.8k views
- Nyte-Blade · 139k words · 46 10 · 2.2k views
- Vixavior · 4.3k words · 24 3 · 2.2k views
- Miki · 13k words · 49 3 · 2.6k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.219 seconds
Total duration
1,073 users online
2,435,988 hits today, 2,328,677 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Okay, it's time for a review. (It's been a while hasn't it.)
The more I read this story, the more I like Anders. (Taking a stab at Ordo Xenos gains him many points in my book.
)
Now, for the points.
*The Equestrian regiment is made of six thousand soldiers of six races. (Earth Ponies, Unicorns, Pegasus, Crystal Ponies, Zebras and Griffons)
1:Six thousand, while a taxing toll for a civilization in , mostly, feudal world, wouldn't be much compared to armies of other factions. (Who sometimes number in the millions or much more.)
Most likely, they'll have human soldiers help and support the regiment.
2:Still, that's only six races. Six!
In cannon, there are other sentient species so far shown.
Changelings
Dragons
Buffalo
minotaurs
mules and donkeys
goats
cows
sea serpents (or river serpent)
Saddle Arabians (Basically, horses of the FIM world.)
As well as Deer, who were to appear in an episode Faust planned, but was cancelled.
Yes, I know that this is your story, you can have any race you want in it. I'm just listing the others.
3: This is just listing the strengths of the races
3.1: Earth ponies; Now You listed them as like Guardsmen. A good analogy. Though that's not entirely true. Earth Ponies are much more durable then human and even the other pony races. They are much stronger and last much longer before tiring. A human would have to have several enhancements to match such durability. They can also take much more punishment and keep fighting then their other fellow ponies.
3.2: Pegasi; Pegasi would make great hit and run troops, but better yet, they would be the best snipers. Since they can take to the skies and must have great depth perception and a longer vision range then the other races, they could just sit on a cloud and pick off the enemy. If they were spotted, due to their extreme speeds, they could easily escape, and move to another location.
As well as this, they can change the weather. This could come in handy when bad weather strikes, or to cause such weather on the enemy.
3.3: Unicorns; You've pretty much touched on them. Since they use, what you say, something not of the warp, they would be extremely valuable and frustrate chaos sorcerers.
3.4: Zebras; Again, you touched on them, and I have nothing further to say.
3.5: Crystal ponies; Good points, but I think of them one step further. I don't believe Crystal Ponies have the same connection to Earth that their Earth pony cousins have. Neither the endurance, but instead they have much thicker hides as well as a sort of night vision. I believe these for, do to their affinity with crystals, their hides became tougher. And to mine crystals, one would have to spend several hours underground. Better vision, (night vision) would be beneficial and may explain to crystal shape of their iris.
3.6: Griffons; Again, the more brutish versions of pegasi. Due to their larger bodies and build, they aren't as swift or maneuverable as pegasi. But they are more deadly in up close quarters, what with their predatory instincts, talons, and beak. A fight between a human and a griffon (unarmed) would most likely go in the griffons favor.
Those were the races you included. Again, this is your story. Do with it as you see fit. I'm just listing other races, in case you want them. Don't do it just because I'm writing them here. Just stating some facts on them.
3.7:Changelings; No creature can better due spy and espionage missions then these guys. They can fly, use magic, and are very durable, what with their thick carapace. (Let's not forget their fangs)
3.8: Diamond Dogs; Their digging skills would make them excellent soldiers in breaking sieges. Their bodies seem to imply that they have much strength and with their claws, teeth, and powerful arms, they could take on human or tau foes. (I do picture them as Ork like though.)
3.9: Minotaurs; Creatures of immense strength size. (I believe they can match a space marine in terms of it.) They would make great shocks troops.
3.10:Deer; Basically the Eldar of FIM. They are agile, quick on their hooves, faster then any other race on the race, and have better reflexes.
3.11: cows, goat, donkeys and such; Creatures such as these....Would not make great soldiers...at all really.
3.12: Saddle Arabians; Larger and faster then their pony relatives. Nothing too special that sets them apart. (Also, no unicorn or pegasi members. Just normal horses.)
3.13: Buffalo; Basically behemoths in the FIM world. Immense strength and power.
3.14: Sea (river) serpents; Aquatic and swampy campaigns could be helped with these creatures.
3.15: Dragons; The titans of FIM! Their hides are nearly impenetrable. (In several fantasy books and such, like Lord of the Rings, they state such.) Their power is next to none, as well as their ability to fly and breath fire. (Although, seeing Spike, they probably have flightless forms, who are able to dig and are much stronger then their aerial compatriots.)
3.16: Tameable beasts; FIM has a host of beasts that, if trained, could deal much damage upon the enemy. Hyrdras, manticores, Cockatrices, Timber wolves are just to name a few.
4: Discord is talking to some chaos sorcerer apparently. Hmmm, I....I don't know how to feel. To aid the four powers he would have to allow them onto the planet. Which would lead them to confront and try to kill Celestia.
I, to my best ability, say that's the last thing he wants. Discord loves having his subjects sane, which allows him to prank them better. Yes, some go insane, that's inevitable. Also, I believe him and Celestia are like yin and yang. Yes, he would love to best her, but then, the game would be over. He lives for games and Celestia is the one who makes the best opponent.
She is order, while he is chaos.
She is one of two alicorns alive today, while he is the only Draconequus.
She wants peace, he wants chaos.
(Yes, I do ship them, but they make such a great contrast, and they seem to have known each other a long time. I think that they may have been friends (or more) at one time.) That's also a good point to bring up when you remember she wanted to reform him.
As well, even though his actions were very malevolent in his first appearance. His second wasn't nearly as so. Yes, he was just trying to fool Fluttershy, but he warmed up to her. Showing that he is not all evil at heart.
Oh, and if you want to, going by previous generation or comics, there are other races.
1: Cave Troll: Appears in the Chrysalis comic. A giant, humanoid creature made of stone. Extremely strong, sturdy, and...made of rock so impervious, or at least, unaffected by small arms fire and such. But on the 'Ork' level of intelligence.
2:Giant spiders: Chrysalis comic. Apparently, there are giant, talking spiders. Full with hands and wear clothing. Huge creatures, they could lay webbing traps and be shock troops.
3: Flutterponies: Not as fast as Pegasi, but still very graceful. In groups, flutterponies can drive back even the most powerful force, just by flapping their wings in unison. (Could be extremely effective, especially against chaos forces.)
I don't know of any other races that are in the show or comics, but if there are, I'll let you know. (There are the moon creatures, but I sincerely doubt they could make soldiers.)
2732044
Well, that was huuuuuuuuge!
Okay, first of all, important disclaimer. I can't answer all of your points, because I would spoiler a lot of things. If I will ignore some of your points, it means that I don't want to make additional spoilers. If you still wish to know, you can ask me on PM.
As for Lord-General Anders. Don't forget, that while he is "ally" of ponies, he is a huge douchebag. Actually, all of generals I created for now are douchebags.
As for your Emperor damm huge list. First off, I based EQ Regiments on the races, that have strong cannon characters ( Gilda with Griffons, Zecora with Zebras and Crystal Ponies that had a lot of time on the show ). The main reason I didn't want to add so many races, is that I would have to introduce crazy amount of OC, and if you consider the fact how bad writer I am, it would just end terribly wrong.
Still, I'm going to explain some of your points. Note : If I will not mention some races, it means I don't want to spoil stuff.
Dragons - They are too wild, and to hard to maintain and supply in usual battle conditions. Incredibly hard to transport, incredibly hard to control. The army must have discipline.
Buffalo - Same problem, but in comparison to dragons, they have even worse cannon characters.
Minotaurs - Same problem, also in my opinion I can't based the entire race only on Iron Will.
mules and donkeys - Lack of cannon characters... HOWEVER, it's also worth mentioning that there is always Munitorium biurocraphy. I don't think they would spot difference between earth pony and donkey.
goats - Lack of Cannon Characters.
cows - Same, also they minds are probably the less suitable for warfare.
sea serpents (or river serpent) - Completely useless during the fight on land.
Saddle Arabians (Basically, horses of the FIM world.) - Check : Mules and Donkeys
Deer - Lack of Cannon Characters.
Tamable Beasts - Problem with controlling and suppling. Can you imagine transporting this things into space?
Cave Troll: I have completely no knowledge of them and I would like to not add even more characters.
Giant spiders: Same problem as Cave Troll.
Thanks a lot for the feedback. I hope that my answer was enough for you.
Stay Awesome
Verlax
Amazingly, this fic is not, in fact, against WH40K canon. Canonically, the Imperium only wipes out aliens that try to do the same to humans. Otherwise the aliens are either ignored completely or are made into protectorates. Surprising, considering their "purage the xenos" mentality, but they mostly connect "xenos" with "cosmic horror" like the Tyranids, the Umbra, the Orks, etc. The ponies would likely be welcomed more-or-less in a "we won't kill you" kind of way in WH canon.
Well, it's either form an army or end up like the pacifistic Nauticans (i.e. Dark Eldar bait).
Actually, something like that would be considered tame by the WH40K universe. The Emperor does the equivalent on a galactic scale while effectively comatose and only a few cells left alive in his entire body. The princesses are about Alpha Plus, which is in turn less than a speck compared to He Who Sits On The Golden Throne (see my hat? Fear it!).
That's because fiddling with it wrong can rip open a hole to hell. Pretty good deterrent.
Still, given the princesses, Elements of Harmony (which probably won't be all that effective against a Chaos invasion, but could snipe important stuff with it), and the ponies' abilities, training, and new weapons, they should fare a lot better than Tanith. In fact, since Equestria is being attacked instead of Tanith (because they just appeared, I guess), wouldn't that mean Tanith should still be ok and pumping out badasses for the Imperium?
3114787
Oh crap, that's a lot of commentary right there.
Before I will get to the point : "While it's not visable here, I turned Equestria First and Only on Hiatus, which is visable in my profile "Status Report". A long time passed from my last writing for this one, so I'm not really sure if even I remember the plot correctly. Ehm. Yea."
Okay, let's do this.
Yea, I guess that Emperor acting like a lantern is a pretty huge thingy. Still, despite that there is not really a big amount of "extreme" crazy psyker single activity. I can count Magnus teleportation ( M31 ), Rubic of Ahriman ( M31 ), some crazy demon destruction ( 11th Black Crusade if my memory is good ), some crazy prophet stuff done by Eldrad and... well. And besides that, if I would say it was "tame" it would not advertise story in really good way.
I have no real answer for that one. So... I will state this in this way :
"I like your way of thinking. It pleases Emperor."
Wh40k Cannon =/= Wh40k Writers Cannon
In "Honor Guard", four tome of "Gaunt's Ghost" series and original cross-over material, it's stated that no one gives shit about Primer. Including a damm Colonel of regiment. Including a damm Commissar with it.
Along the entire story, often I have a seriously hard choice between original cannon, and Dan Abnett cannon. In this situation, I choose second option.
At least she tried to do her best to ensure her own kind safety. It wasn't really succesful, but hey!
You are actually first reader to spot this. So!
Yes. And No.
Actually, I even mention Tanith world somewhere in the story...
But I will not spoiler more stuff.
So finally, thank you very kindly for your feedback, it pleases the immortal God Emperor of Mankind. However, author is dealing with a huge Waagh! in his sector ( slash, he had no writing fuel, so story is on Hiatus ).
Stay Awesome
- Verlax
3116121
Sorry, another long one is here!
"there is not really a big amount of "extreme" crazy psyker single activity."
Actually, fluff has rogue psykers turning entire hive cities to dust "with a single, baleful glance". This is apparently common for them to do. Certainly goes a long way to show why psykers are so feared and hated in the Imperium. It's balanced by the major threats to humanity having their own version. Still psykers can only do that when they don't have a limiter (which all but rogue psykers do). That is a large part of why rogue psykers are so feared. Even chaos psykers have limiters to avoid getting possessed or turned inside-out.
"Wh40k Cannon =/= Wh40k Writers Cannon"
Actually, a lot of the IG novels stuff was made canon fluff by the "Hammer of the Emperor" expansion of the "Only War" PnP RPG. It even made Dawn of War: Winter Assault's Eldar ending canon lore. I'm not sure what you mean by that, anyway, though. I was actually referring to the published book "The Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer". While it is sort of a step in logic, given what canon fluff says about knowing what is in the primer, and what info the published Primer has. Not knowing it's rules and regulations would result in you getting executed quickly. Not as a direct result of not knowing them (in the sense of "you don't know this rule so I'm going to execute you), but because you don't know that doing (or not doing) a certain thing is grounds for execution.
"I have a seriously hard choice between original cannon, and Dan Abnett cannon."
Abnett canon is best canon! But, seriously, given the Ordo Xenos will be breathing down their necks, they had best cling to the Primer, the Munitorium Manual, and everything else as closely as possible to avoid being exterminated by twitchy Inquisitors.
"At least she tried to do her best to ensure her own kind safety."
Celestia is trying to prevent them from ever seeing combat. While commendable in its own way, it's also foolish, given the situation. If she really wants to ensure their safety, she should join the battle alongside them.
About my comments, they are just multiple individual comments squished together to avoid having a bunch of them making a wall. Which I kinda did anyway, though.
I didn't expect a response, but thanks!
I look forward to more after your WAAAGH!!! has been defeated.
This is still awesome and still needs to update...
Ok, i like the idea, and would instantly favorite this, but the grammer is just too bad. I figure that English isn't your first language, which means that your work is admirable, but still in desperate need of a beta.
Rather interesting fic. Nice to see the opening arch nearing it's completion.
The only real issue i can see at the moment is some gramatical and minor spelling mistakes. However, I'm no angel on that so, mum's the word, what what.
this is dead
The Tanith First and Only stories are my favorite in the Warhammer universe
8493525
Same here.