//------------------------------//
// History Lessons 
// Story: Warhammer 40k: Courage and Honour and Friendship 
// by Verbose Soubriquet 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 6: History Lessons

M41.996 13:27 (Equestria time) Ponyville
Despite the presence of more than a dozen Ultramarines, Pinkie Pie’s “We Have New Alien Friends” party was very well attended.  Ponies of all ages and species showed up from all across Ponyville.  The party had been going on for barely ten minutes and already around a third of the town’s population had arrived.
The mountains of confectionary treats were disappearing off of the tables at the speed of Rainbow Dash, quite literally in some cases.  Undaunted, Pinkie just kept hauling out more.  But even her boundless energy could not keep up with the ever-increasing demand for sugar, and it began to show in a gradual, insidious degradation of the food’s quality.
“Bleagh!  What is in this thing?” Caramel said, spitting greenish chunks onto the ground.
Rose examined the splattered pastry, her nose wrinkled.  “I think it’s cabbage.”
“Whoops!” Pinkie cried as she shot by, a platter of semi-liquid cookies balanced on her head.
The food was never the only attraction at a Pinkie Pie party.  A large area of the street in front of the library had become a dance floor, although the floor was barely visible.  Bright, bouncy dance music blasted from several large speakers placed strategically throughout the party, and the dancers wasted no time in breaking it down.
Unfortunately, this also drew out some of the chief contestants for the “Dorkiest/Corniest/Just Plain Worst Dancers of Equestria” trophy (it had begun as a joke, but it had rapidly gained popularity).
In one corner of the party, a cluster of pegasi from the Weather Patrol watched in embarrassment as Cloud Shepard, a light blue colt with a yellow mane, swung his legs back and forward in what he thought was an impressive dance routine.
For the seventh time in the past five minutes, Flitter facehoofed.  “Come on, Shepard,” she begged.  “Everypony knows you can’t dance.”
Twilight Sparkle stood awkwardly beside Princess Celestia.  She was still having difficulty comprehending how anypony could think of partying now.
“To be completely fair, Pinkie has no idea about the Tyranids,” Celestia said as if reading Twilight’s thoughts.  “I can only imagine what our guests are thinking.”  She glanced over at the Ultramarines.
Twilight felt a spike of nervousness in her stomach.  Besides Sicarius, Argus, Maxilos, and Dannelos, the other Ultramarines seemed friendly enough.  Well… maybe friendly is the wrong word, she thought as she watched one of the newly arrived Space Marines scanning the party with his awful red glare.
To their credit, the Space Marines of Sergeant Manorian’s Shieldbearers remained stoically silent.  The majority of them stood guard on the periphery of the party, but they kept throwing paranoid glances back at the ponies behind them.  These looks were echoed by many of the partying ponies.  Big Macintosh in particular found the Ultramarines disconcerting.  He was used to being the biggest one in the crowd, so meeting something around twice his size was a very unusual experience.
Sergeant Praxor Manorian eased his way through the crowd, trying not to step on anypony.  Thankfully most ponies saw him coming and gave him a wide berth, often colliding with one another in their efforts to clear a path, sending cupcakes, punch, and Pinkie Pie flying.  Manorian’s target was Veteran Dannelos, who stood on the opposite end of the dance floor.
As he strode towards his battle-brother, the ponies at his knees looked up fearfully, eyeing his power sword and plasma pistol.  They had seen both weapons burn and slash straight through the Tyranids like a hot knife through butter.  Though the Ultramarines were friendly for the moment, nopony wished to tempt their wrath and end up on the receiving end of those terrible weapons.
Manorian spared a glance downward just in time to see a raspberry pink pony with a yellow mane staring up at him.  The instant their eyes met, she yelped and stumbled backward, almost dropping the plate of cupcakes she carried.
Try to be friendly, Manorian thought, remembering Sicarius’s command.  “My apologies,” he said, more forcefully than he had intended.  “I did not intend to frighten you.”  The mare looked rather less than reassured.  “Did you have a question?”
“I’m Lily,” she said, shivering in fear.  “I-I was going to… offer you some c-cupcakes.”  She held up the plate of green-frosted treats, somehow managing to hold it stable despite her nervous shaking.
The Tactical Sergeant was taken aback at the offer.  The pony was obviously terrified, but had politely offered him food.  He glanced off to the side, catching Sicarius’s gaze.  To his tremendous surprise, the Captain nodded.
“Thank you, pony.”  The words sounded alien in Manorian’s throat.  The strangeness of the situation was compounded by the stares of several other ponies who had seen the exchange and were now watching with bated breath.  Accepting food from horse-aliens.  That’s a first.
As he reached down to take one of the cupcakes, there were several sharp intakes of breath from the observing ponies.  Lily may as well have been a statue considering how much she moved.
Manorian’s fingers delicately picked up the dessert.  At the front of the gathered crowd, Lyra stared gleefully, watching the Tactical Sergeant’s every movement.
Well this should get their attention.  With his spare hand, he reached up and broke the seal on his helmet, causing a hiss of escaping air.  He lifted it clear of his head.  The ponies, who had just begun to relax after seeing the massive alien accept food from Lily, immediately held their breath again.
Inhaling deeply, Manorian took in the myriad of smells permeating the air.  The neuroglottis organ in his throat immediately kicked in, analyzing every minute odor, from the apple icing on the cupcakes to the semi-chewed cabbage that Caramel had spit out.  More importantly, the organ told him that the food was perfectly safe for human consumption, though rather high in simple carbohydrates.  With that information, the Ultramarine brought the cupcake to his mouth and took a bite.
The taste was a far cry from the Ultramarines’ typical fare.  The green icing tasted of sugar and apples, while the spongy cake had a pleasantly moist, sweet flavour.  It has been a long time since I tasted anything as satisfying as this, he thought.  We won’t have to eat ration bars for a while at this rate.
At Manorian’s nod of approval, everypony around him breathed sighs of relief.  Lily nearly fainted.  Lyra chattered excitedly to the ponies beside her, trying to impress upon them the amazing dexterity of opposable digits.
Twilight and Celestia turned their gazes away from the odd exchange and looked at each other.
“Well, it’s a start,” Twilight said with a shrug.

Near the punch bowl, Princess Luna was helping herself to another cup of fruit punch.  She had already drank three cups and showed no signs of stopping.
Well, Celly has the same problem with food in general, she grumbled as she swallowed a strawberry.  Why should I not be able to indulge myself?  We may not have such pleasures for long!
“Have no fear, Princess.  You world shall not fall while one Ultramarine stands.”
Luna took an involuntary breath and accidently inhaled half of her punch.  Spluttering, she turned to see the towering form of Argus.
“Thou hast startled us!”  Rather than sounding irritated, her voice sounded as if she had spoken while gargling.  Which she essentially had been doing.  Coughing, she looked up at Argus.  “That was most unpleasant.”
“Then you have my apologies, Princess.”  Though she could not see his expression due to his helmet, Luna detected a trace of amusement in Argus’s voice.  “Your situation does seem rather grave.”
“Thou art correct.”  Luna nodded solemnly.  “These Tyranids were able to slaughter our Royal Guards with little effort.  We fear to...” She stopped, looking up at Argus is surprise.  “How didst thou know our… excuse me, how could you-”
“Read your thoughts?  Know exactly the fear that you feel for your subjects?  Understand the mistrust that you face every day from those who you swore an oath to protect?”  The Epistolary paused.  “Yes, I can read your mind.  I take it you have little experience with telepaths?”
Luna nodded and downed her cup of punch in one gulp.  “Mind-reading and telepathy are rare gifts in Equestria,” she said, refilling her cup by magic.  “Thankfully, telekinesis is not.”  Her cup drifted away from the punchbowl, enveloped in a navy blue glow.  Another cup joined hers, filling up with the fruity concoction.  At first, she thought it belonged to a unicorn, but when she turned around, Argus’s hand was outstretched, shimmering with the same heat-haze that appeared around his cup.  “Art thou a wizard?” Luna asked.
“Technically I’m a psyker,” Argus replied, removing his helmet with a spare hand.  “But if it’s easier to call me a wizard, than that would be fine.”
For the first time, Luna was able to look upon the Epistolary without a piece of metal between them.  Like the other Ultramarines, he lacked a fur coat, but he had short, dark brown hair.  His skin was unusually pale, probably because he rarely removed his helmet.  His eyes were a light blue colour, and shone with an intensity and thirst for knowledge.  The last being that Luna had seen with eyes like that was Twilight Sparkle.
Argus brought the cup to his mouth and downed it in a single swallow.  “I don’t need to read your mind to tell that you have questions.”
Luna nodded excitedly.  “Yes.  We can find some privacy, if you wish.”
Argus nodded back.  “Lead the way.”
The unlikely pair trotted (or walked) into the library.  Luna pulled up a bench and sat down on her haunches.  Argus glanced around, searching for a place to sit.   Eventually he decided to sit on the lower stairs.  The entire tree seemed to groan from his weight, but he settled in comfortably.
“All right,” he said, leaning forward.  “Knowledge is power, and we must seek it relentlessly.  What questions do you have?”

Outside, the party had not lost any steam.  Pinkie had finally run out of food to bring out, so she joined the dance floor.  Remembering what had happened the last time that the pink pony had been on the dance floor, the crowd gave her some space.  However, everypony seemed to have forgotten Pinkie’s mysterious ability to shoot blasts of confetti out of thin air.  As a result, several ponies who made the mistake of dancing too close ended up blinking in surprise and picking paper out of their manes.
Rarity swayed gently back and forth to the beat of the music, watching other ponies pulling off some impressive dance moves.  Pinkie was doing barrel rolls above everypony’s heads, Caramel grooved low to the ground, and Thunderlane twisted around in midair.
Rarity laughed gently at her fellow ponies’ antics.  Her own tastes in music and dance were more refined, but she would never miss out on a good Pinkie Pie party.  Feeling slightly thirsty, she trotted over to the food tables for some punch.  She had just cleared the crowd when she heard some commotion.  Judging by the high-pitched voice speaking incredibly fast, Pinkie was involved.
“Oh dear,” she muttered and turned back.  Ordinarily, problems like this were not of huge concern, but when heavily armed aliens were present, Rarity could not help but worry that Pinkie had bitten off more than she could chew.
Off to the side, Pinkie was standing on her hind legs with her forelegs braced against one of the Ultramarines.  Rarity’s eyes went wide.  Is she doing what I think she’s doing?
“Come on, big guy!  Don’t ya wanna dance?”
Oh Celestia no…
The Ultramarine thankfully did not seem to have a problem with the pony leaning on his armour.  His helmet was off, so Rarity could see his face.  With an eye for detail born of years as a dressmaker and knowledge from countless social events, she was able to quickly judge the Space Marine’s attitude.  Judging by his calm expression, he was unfazed by Pinkie’s words, and appeared to be addressing her peacefully.
“I am sorry, Pinkie, but I don’t know how to dance,” he said apologetically.
“Aw come on!  It’s not hard!  Just put one hoof in front of the other!”  She turned to Vinyl Scratch, who was the DJ for the event.  “Hey DJ!  Play track four!”
The blue-maned unicorn stopped headbanging for a second to shuffle some records.  Selecting one, she pushed up her purple shades and winked at Pinkie.  The music started up a few seconds later; a cheerful, jaunty tune.  Pinkie cleared her throat.
	“You reach your right hoof in,
You reach your right hoof out,
You reach your right hoof in,
And you shake it all about!
You do the Pony Pokey meeting lots of folks with clout!
That's what I'm talking about!”
As Pinkie continued to the next verse, everypony joined in, singing and dancing to the bouncy song.  Dannelos and Manorian stared, the Sergeant in obvious distaste, the Veteran in blank confusion.
	“Come on Ultramarines!
Don’t you just wanna dance?
It could be so much fun,
If you just give it a chance!
Try dancing with your new friends and give a great big happy shout!
That’s what we’re talking about!”
Pinkie was the only pony who sang this second verse, as she had made up the new lyrics on the spot.
Manorian shook his head.  “Brother, you’re not seriously considering…” he broke off, unwilling to continue the thought.  “We have to draw the line somewhere.”
Dannelos did not respond.  Pinkie’s eyes grew even larger, if that was at all possible, and tears began welling up in the corners.
“Come, on please?” she pleaded.  “It’s easy!  Just do what I do!”  She reared up on her hind legs, doing a passable impression of how a human would stand.  Dannelos watched and waited.  Pinkie remained silent and motionless.
It is always the most quiet before the storm, Dannelos thought.  His hand moved unconsciously toward his bolt pistol.
Then the music kicked in.  Pinkie flew into action as if struck by lightning.  All four of her legs seemed to be everywhere at once, even appearing to disconnect from her trunk a few times.  Her hooves made a rapid-fire clicking as they struck the ground.  The chaotic cloud of dust, confetti, and pony hovered across the dance floor, drawing gazes of astonishment, amusement, or just pure confusion.
With a mischievous grin, Vinyl Scratch reached for the volume slider and cranked it up to max.
Pinkie took that as an encouragement, and allowed her dance to become even more ridiculous.  Her limbs flailed wildly, making her seem to have eight legs instead of four.  The speed at which she was moving, her mane and tail were utterly indistinguishable.  Everypony else on the dance floor had stopped dancing, either to watch Pinkie or because they were feeling shown up.  Or because they had to dodge the spinning blur of pink headed their way.  Berry Punch wobbled, trying to keep several glasses of punch steady.  One of Pinkie’s hooves intersected with Caramel’s head and he fell flat on his face.
Suddenly, Pinkie leapt straight upward, a streak of pink and lavender light trailing behind her like a Hearts and Hooves Day firework.
“Emperor’s breath!”  Manorian snapped up his plasma pistol.  Even Dannelos was caught off guard.  The crowd of ponies cheered and applauded as Pinkie shot skyward.
“What goes up, must come down,” Dannelos muttered.
Sure enough, Pinkie did come down, but not before causing several large candy-coloured explosions in midair.  She dropped to the ground, landing perfectly upright with a triumphant grin covering her entire face.  “Well?” she asked, turning expectantly to the crowd.
A chorus of cheers erupted again.  Caramel, Berry Punch, Rose, Lily, and Daisy all held up signs bearing the number ten, prompting even more cheering.
Pinkie hopped up and down in delight and turned to the Ultramarines.  “Your turn!”  She nodded to Vinyl, who reset the record and started the music again.
Before Dannelos or Manorian could stammer out something in confusion, a harsh mechanical squawk split the air.  They spun to see Maxilos hurrying towards them.
“Alert: xenos life form known colloquially as ‘Pinkie Pie’ appears to be experiencing muscle spasms and…” He paused, searching for words to describe Pinkie’s flight.  “…an unknown condition resulting in spontaneous emission of medium-wavelength light.  Theory: possibility of psychic ability due to contact with warp.  Will consult with Epistolary Argus to determine-”
“Yes, Techmarine.  We know,” Manorian said sarcastically.  Even he cannot explain this, he thought, a trace of amusement spreading across his face.  That’s another first.

Normally, Rainbow Dash would never miss one of Pinkie’s parties.  There was great food, music, and plenty of ponies to impress with her flying talents.
And plenty of hard cider for after the sun goes down, she thought glumly, turning her head back towards the festivities.  She would often end up in drinking contests between herself, Applejack, Berry Punch, and anypony else who thought they could hold their cider better than Equestria’s fastest flyer.
“Well at least I won’t be waking up in the fountain tomorrow morning,” she chuckled to herself.  That had been a memorable night.  “Well, maybe memorable is the wrong word for it.”
She had certainly wanted to unwind a bit after her harrowing experiences in the past few hours.  The chameleon-Tyranid in the forest had been terrifying.  She could still visualize the strange heat-haze that had almost slashed her in half with perfect clarity.  Shooting Star’s screams of pain still echoed through her mind.
But the event that stuck most unsettlingly in Rainbow’s mind was her encounter with Sergeant Marcellus.  Being trapped in the grasp of the faceless metal titan was probably the most frightening experience of her life up to now.  Never before had she seen such a hateful, destructive being.  All the adversaries that she had overcome were certainly far from friendly, but they were not motivated by pure anger as Marcellus was.  Nightmare Moon had wanted to rule Equestria.  Discord was in it for the laughs.  Chrysalis had been trying to feed a Changeling swarm.  None of them had actually wanted anypony dead.  Marcellus cared not about ruling Equestria.  He simply wanted something to kill.
Rainbow shuddered at that thought.  At least the walking blue building called “Maccabeus” had a measure of control over the Terminator.  It was only a matter of keeping as far away from Marcellus as possible.  This was her reason for leaving the party.  She had seen Marcellus stalking the edges of the crowd, and she did not want to give him another reason to kill her.  Especially when she could not fly.
She turned her head around to look back at the party.  This simple motion prompted a spike of pain through her wings and ribs, causing her to gasp slightly in pain.
“I could really use some of that cider now,” she grunted.  “I should probably head for the hospital.”  Gingerly turning her head to face forward, she trotted off in that direction.
Her path took her through several side roads, which were conspicuously vacant.  Normally on a beautiful day like this the streets would be full of ponies going about their lives, but today everypony huddled in fear behind the walls of their homes.  The few ponies that were outside looked extremely jumpy and wary, shooting looks down the road for any sign of more aliens.  The silence hung in the air like a drenched blanket, swallowing up every sound.
A yelp from down the street broke the silence, and everypony, Rainbow included, galloped to investigate.
Coming down the road were the massive figures of ten Ultramarines patrolling the town.  Rainbow felt a spike of fear, but it subsided when she realized that these aliens lacked the huge square bodies of Terminators.  Still, she did not want to make any more heavily armed and armoured enemies today, so she watched quietly from the sidelines.
The ten figures all carried massive weapons in the arms, probably each the size of a pony.  There was some variation between weapons such as golden icons or scrollwork, but their purpose was clear.  Rainbow had seen these things spew fire and lightning, striking Tyranids from a distance and blowing them apart.  The leader of the squad carried a similar, smaller weapon in one hand, but what caught the pegasus’s eyes the most was the long blade in his other hand.  It was unmistakably a sword of some kind, but it was nothing like the ones she had seen the Royal Guards using.  Instead of a polished blade it had cruelly serrated teeth like a saw.  As the squad passed by, she could see chunks of Tyranid shell splattered across these teeth.  Once again, she shuddered at the thoughts of the violence that these aliens had brought to Equestria.
After an annoyingly long time, Rainbow reached the Ponyville hospital.  “Uh, hi,” she said to the receptionist, who looked like she had not slept for days.  “Uh, I’ve got some cracked ribs and wing bones.”
“Huh?  Wha… oh,” the earth pony muttered, shaking her head and gulping down a cup of coffee.  “Just… down the hall…left.”
“Thanks.”  Rainbow headed down the hallway to a door marked “Triage Center.”  She reached out a hoof and pushed to door open.
She was immediately greeted by the stink of dried blood and the eye-watering tang of disinfectant.  Blinking tears from her eyes, she took in the scene before her.
The tile floor was almost completely covering in ponies, medical equipment, and what looked like a disturbing mixture of blood and vomit.  Ponies laid everywhere, on stretchers, on benches, or even on the floor wrapped in white sheets.  Not all of them were patients.  Parents, siblings, and spouses of the injured Royal Guards surrounded the wounded, offering reassuring words or peaceful silence.  A few cried gently over unmoving bodies, causing a painful twinge in Rainbow’s heart.  Nurses and doctors rushed about administering medicine or attempting to calm patients.  Occasionally a doctor would leave the room after speaking with a patient.
Most disconcertingly, the atmosphere in the room seemed strangely calm, despite the grievous injuries prominently on display.  Rainbow had been expecting utter chaos.  The lack of disaster was just…weird.
After a few seconds, somepony looked up and spotted the rainbow-maned pegasus in the doorway.  “It’s Rainbow Dash!”
“Really?  It’s her!”
“Omigoshomigoshomigosh!”
“Did she fight the aliens?”
Rainbow basked in the adoration of her admirers.  “Hey everypony,” she said with a modest smile.  “Hope you’re all feeling okay.”  She turned towards Nurse Tenderheart.  “I think I’ve got some cracked ribs and wing bones.  Could I get some help?”
Tenderheart nodded.  “Of course, Rainbow Dash.  Take a seat somewhere.  We’ll be right with you.”
“No,” Rainbow said firmly.  Her statement drew quite a few looks of confusion.
“Excuse me?” Tenderheart asked, sounding nervous.
“Don’t give me special treatment or anything just because I’m the Element of Loyalty,” Rainbow continued, giving the Nurse an intense stare.  “I’m hardly hurt, and I really didn’t do any fighting.”  She turned to the mass of injured Royal Guards, many of whom she had fought alongside.  “These guards are the real heroes.  They fought against those aliens, not me.  I refuse to let my stupid cracked rib be more important than any guard.”  The entire room had fallen silent.  “If any of us are gonna survive this alien invasion, we all need to be heroes.  We all need to be like these guards.  We are all going to survive this!”
The short speech had come out of nowhere, and Rainbow could not recall feeling more ridiculous while she spoke.  It still had the desired effect.  All around her, ponies jumped up and clapped vigorously.  Everywhere, guards nodded in approval, and several trotted up to shake her hoof.  Rainbow felt a hot blush of embarrassment creep across her face.  So this is what it means to be the Element of Loyalty.
“Inspiring words, pony.”  The harsh grating voice cut through the crowd.  Rainbow spun to see a huge figure in bone-white armour standing in the doorway to the operating rooms.
“What the-” she yelped, throwing herself back.  This abrupt move sent lances of pain through her bones and she collapsed.  “What’s he doing here?  Why is nopony…” she broke off, noticing that nopony appeared particularly distressed about the huge alien amongst them.
“Rainbow, this is Apothecary Venatio,” Tenderheart said soothingly.  “He’s here to help with the wounded.”
“One of them tried to kill me!” the pegasus screeched, not feeling reassured at all.  “That’s why my wings are hurt!”
“Sergeant Marcellus, I presume?” Venatio said evenly.
“Yeah, the big guy with the giant hand!” Rainbow responded angrily.
“Sergeant Marcellus and Captain Sicarius have never seen eye to eye,” Venatio continued.  “The Captain’s decision to protect you ponies may have been the last straw.”
“Are you saying that he’ll attack us?” Rainbow asked, panic edging into her voice.
“Only if you give him reason to,” Venatio said calmly.  “He is reluctant to blatantly disobey the Captain and will not take action unless provoked.  Keep your distance from him.”
Tell me something I don’t know, Rainbow thought.  “And what about you?  Why should any of us trust you?  Who’s to say you won’t try to kill us?”
“I follow my Captain’s orders,” Venatio responded.  His tone had become more forceful, as if trying to emphasize a point.  “He has already passed judgment on you, and that is enough for me.”  He strode forward among the crowd of injured ponies.  “I must attend to the injured, and I do not like to be interrupted.”  With those words, he lifted an injured guard from a gurney and left for the operating rooms.
Rainbow rounded on Nurse Tenderheart.  “What were you thinking letting him in here?” she exclaimed in a mixture of disbelief and anger.  “We can’t trust any of these aliens!”
“Rainbow Dash, I’m surprised at you!” the nurse admonished.  “Venatio came here to help the injured.  Without him, we’d have lost half of the guards already.  He’s a miracle worker.”
“It’s not a he, it’s an it,” Rainbow hissed.  “These Ultramarines are gonna get us all killed, just so they can settle their grudge with the Tyranids!”
Tenderheart shook her head in disgust.  “I have no idea how anypony could be so thickheaded.”  She turned back to bandaging a guard’s foreleg.
“Well you didn’t get almost crushed by some giant alien with a short temper!” Rainbow snapped.  “He would’ve killed me just because I asked why he couldn’t save all the dead guards.”
“I see that nothing I can say will get through to you,” Tenderheart muttered.  “Maybe Applejack can talk some sense into you.”
“They’re just mindless killers… Applejack?  She’s in here?”
“Yes, and do you know who treated her?” Tenderheart said with a roll of her eyes.  Her sarcasm was wasted on the sky-blue pegasus, as she was already galloping down the hall, searching for her friend’s room.
“Applejack!  Where are you?”  Rainbow stuck her head in an open door.
“Mmph, mmph, mmph,” the earth pony guard in the room’s bed answered, his entire body covered in casts and bandages.
“I’ll take that as a no.”
The next room was occupied by a familiar pegasus, his bleached white coat stained with blood.
“Rainbow Dash?”  Captain Sidewinder looked at her with a satisfied smile.  “I knew you couldn’t bear to let me suffer alone.”
“Aaaaannnnnnnd…. wrong door.”
“Rainbow Dash?  Is that you?” came a country accent from down the hallway.
The pegasus galloped through the next door to see the orange farmpony reclining comfortably in a hospital bed.  Even in the bed she wore her customary Stetson.
“Rainbow Dash!  Am ah glad ta see ya!” she said happily.
Rainbow trotted up and gave her friend a welcoming hug.  “Ow.  Watch the wings.”  She winced as Applejack returned the hug with enthusiasm.
“Oh, what did ya do this time?  Did one of them bug-aliens getcha?”
“Uh, no.”  Rainbow’s expression became irritable.  “One of those Ultramarines nearly killed me!”
Applejack looked incredulous.  “Are ya sure?  The Ultramarines are our friends now.”
“Why does everypony…” Rainbow muttered.  “They are NOT our friends!”  She stamped a hoof angrily, and immediately regretted it as pain shot through her leg.
“Rainbow, ya can’t just go judgin’ pon… folks because of one bad apple,” Applejack said evenly.  “Most of em are probably fine once ya get ta know em.  That guy whose name sounds like ‘potato’ done fixed me up great.”
“What even happened?” Rainbow asked, trying to change the subject.  “I didn’t see you at all during the fight.”
“Ah went off buckin’ bugs,” the farmpony said proudly.  “Ah bucked the biggest one o the pack.  Darn near broke mah legs though.”  She pulled the sheets aside, revealing bandages around her hind legs.
“You all right?”
“Course ah am.”  Applejack swung her legs off the bed and stood.  “Apothecary Potato gave me some kinda medicine that fixed mah legs in no time.  Scared the applesauce outta me when ah woke up though.  Ah’m just stayin’ here to make sure the bones set right.”
“You… let his operate on you?”  Rainbow sounded incredulous.  She had seen some of the tools on Venatio’s armour, and she shuddered to think of what they could do to a patient.
“Nah, he just gave me a shot o medicine.”  Applejack thought for a moment.  “Ya know, he could probably fix those wings o yours lickety-split.”
“Oh no!”  Rainbow Dash backed away.  “I don’t want any giant needles near me, especially if they belong to a giant alien!”
“Miss Applejack?”
Both ponies jumped at the voice.  That mechanical, droning voice.  Rainbow spun to see Apothecary Venatio standing in the doorway, his head scraping the ceiling.
“My medical scan shows that you have fully recovered.  You are free to go.”
“Well thank ya kindly, Mister Potato,” Applejack said, tipping her hat.  “But ah have one question.”  She pulled Rainbow to her side.  “Mah friend Rainbow Dash has some busted bones herself.  Could ya give her some o the same stuff ya gave me?”
“Nonononono,” Rainbow blustered struggling against Applejack’s grip.
“Of course,” Venatio responded.  “It would be done in a matter seconds.  And my name is Venatio, not Potato.”  Applejack flushed in embarrassment.
“Nonono I don’t want it!” Rainbow babbled.
“Rainbow, jus’ relax.”  Applejack put a comforting hoof on the pegasus’s shoulder.  “Ah’m right next to ya, and ah won’t let anythin’ happen.”
Venatio adjusted the contraption on the back of his arm.  “Your friend is correct.  You have nothing to fear.  The experience will be relatively painless.”
Unable to back away any further, Rainbow gave in and sat on the bed.  “Just get it over with.”
She watched as Venatio walked closer.  She nearly had a heart attack when a huge needle popped out of his arm with a loud click.  Holy manure that thing is longer than my leg!
If Rainbow had one overriding fear it was needles.  Knives or thorns or other sharp objects she had no problem with, but needles just set off some primal fear in her.  There was just something inherently wrong about an object so sharp and thin that it could poke straight through skin.
As the needle came closer to her trunk she gripped the sides of the bed tightly and clenched her jaw in anticipation.
Needle needle needle needle neeEEEEE
She drew a sharp breath as the metal point touched her barrel just behind the right foreleg.  Instinctively she reached out to stop the needle, and her hoof came into contact with the unyielding plates of Venatio’s armour.  She looked up into his eyes, which glowed a bright red that reminded her unpleasantly of Marcellus.  His bone-white armour made him look almost like a hulking, deformed skeleton.
To her immense surprise, Rainbow felt an armoured object close over her hoof lightly.  Looking at her outstretched foreleg she saw that Venatio had placed his spare hand gently over her hoof that was trying to push his first arm back.
Without speaking, Applejack leaned forward and placed her hoof with Rainbow’s and the Ultramarine’s hand.  A moment of understanding passed among the trio.
“My work here is done.”  Venatio’s voice was startlingly loud in the silence of the room.  He stood to leave, retracting the needle back into its housing.  “Your bones should mend in approximately one hour.”
Rainbow looked at her barrel where the needle had entered, and was genuinely perturbed to see it missing.  She had not felt any pain when he removed it.
Applejack grinned in a friendly “I-told-you-so” manner.
“Uh wait!” Rainbow called out to the retreating Ultramarine.  He turned back.
“Yes, Rainbow Dash?” he asked.
Rainbow was slightly surprised at his unexpected use of her name.  “Um… thanks.”

M41.996 14:23 (Equestria time) Ponyville Library
“…And that’s how the Imperium was made.”  Argus sat back on the stairs and savored the bewildered expression on Luna’s face.  Her jaw worked dumbly for a few seconds as she tried to comprehend what she had listened to for almost the past hour
“Ten thousand years?” she asked, awestruck.
“Yes.  The Imperium has stood for ten thousand years against xenos, heretics, and daemons.  And it shall last another ten thousand years if the Ultramarines have anything to say about it.”
The sheer scale of the knowledge that Luna had absorbed was staggering.  Equestria had only been a nation of its own for almost two thousand years.  Luna and Celestia were only a few centuries older than that.  Ponies only inhabited one world.  These humans populated an entire galaxy, and had survived despite endless war.  Violence seemed the only constant in their world.
The one part of the brief synopsis of Imperium history that stuck in Luna’s mind like a half-melted mint was the man called “The Emperor.”  Regarded as a living god and venerated father of the Space Marines, he had ruled the Imperium at its peak.  The humans’ prosperity had been shattered when Horus, the Emperor’s greatest son and Warmaster of the Space Marine Legions, had fallen to Chaos, sparking a war that pit Space Marine against Space Marine, brother against brother.  In the end, both the Emperor and Horus had fallen, leaving the galaxy shattered and humanity divided and leaderless.
Luna felt a feeling of déjà vu as she pondered the Horus Heresy.  The Warmaster had turned on the Emperor and his brother Primarchs, much like how she had betrayed Celestia.  Both had been corrupted by their jealousy and feelings of inadequacy, amplified by outside forces.  Luna knew little of “Chaos” as Argus referred to it, but she knew for sure what malevolent presence had touched her those many centuries ago.
In those dark days, Luna had become a recluse, brooding over her situation.  Desperate for answers, she had turned to the stars.  She reached out through the vastness of space with her magic, searching for something, anything.  And something heard her.
Whatever it was, she still did not know.  But it had filled her with visions of ponies everywhere, frolicking in the brilliant daylight and sleeping through her beautiful night.  Foals complained that the sun was gone or huddled in their beds, praying for the night to end.  And then it spoke to her.

Royal Palace, Canterlot, Equestria, 1,008 years ago 9:34 pm
“Look at them, Luna.”  The voice caressed her ears and mind, compelling her to hang onto its every word.  “Nopony appreciates you.  They do not even know that you exist.  Equestria would be so much better off without you.”
“No…” Luna said sadly.  “We will not hear these words.”
“You have been deluding yourself for centuries, Luna.  It is high time that you stopped living a fantasy.  None of these ponies care about you.  Not even your sister.”
Luna’s mood changed from depressed to angry instantly.  “Thou shalt not speak of our sister in this way!  She loves us as a sister, and values our counsel-”
“Really?”  The voice sounded smug, like it knew something she did not.  “Look what I saw,” it said in a sing-song voice.
The air before her shimmered like a mirage in the desert before resolving into an image of one of the palace’s many staterooms.  In the room stood a pair of ponies.  One was immediately recognizable as Princess Celestia, her ethereally waving mane slightly shorter and with wider, more prominent pink stripes.  The other pony was a snowy white unicorn with a cerulean mane and a cutie mark of a large diamond.  She was Duchess Platinum VI, direct descendant of one of Equestria’s founders.
“Princess, you can count on House Platinum’s full support in all matters,” the Duchess was saying.  “And I must say, you handled the politics splendidly.  Without your mediation, this feud could have escalated out of control.”
“Thank you, Duchess.  Would you care for some tea?”  Celestia levitated a large silver teapot and poured a generous amount of the steaming brown liquid into two cups.
“Of course, you majesty.  I would not dare refuse.”
The two ponies sat on a lavish red couch, drinking from a tea set that was probably worth more than a week’s profits at Sweet Apple Acres.  The rest of the room was opulently decorated with rich carmine-red drapes trimmed with gold lace and festooned with portraits of royalty.  Among these portraits were images of Princess Platinum, Commander Hurricane, and Chancellor Puddinghead, the three founders of Equestria.
Platinum sipped her tea and looked up.  “Princess, I cannot imagine how difficult this must be for you.  Trying to manage the royal duties of both yourself and your sister?  Why does she shun her responsibilities?”
Celestia shook her head in resignation.  “In all honesty I do not know.  She never speaks to anypony, not even me.  Beyond raising the moon she has no contact with other ponies whatsoever.”
“Does this not worry you?”
Celestia smiled.  “Of course not.”
Watching the scene unfold, Luna’s eyes went wide in shock and anger.  “What?  Does our royal sister not take us seriously?”
“Oh believe me, it gets better,” the voice snickered.
“My dear Luna is just going through a stage,” Celestia said nonchalantly.  “She is still young, relatively speaking, and does not understand the differences in our roles.  She will soon realize how foalish she is being and come to her senses.”
Luna could not believe what she was hearing.  Her own sister could not understand that Luna was depressed.  She had dismissed her concerns as the whining of a mere foal!
“This is the final straw,” Luna said through gritted teeth.  “If our sister cannot take us seriously, then we shalt ensure that she does!”
“I only wish to help you, Luna.”  The image shifted out of focus and vanished.  “With my help, you can overthrow Celestia.  You can be known and appreciated.  You shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.”
“Yes…” Luna said, glaring at the spot where the image of Celestia used to be.  “Do it.  Give us the power.”
“Your wish is my command,” the voice said happily and fell silent.  Luna waited.
Suddenly a cloud of dark purple and midnight blue mist flowed out from under Luna’s bed, from the curtains, and from the very air itself.  This miasma of energy ate up any light in the room, snuffing out candles and casting shadows over everything.  Soon, the only light remaining was the bluish glow from the mist itself, and the lights of the moon and stars.
“Time for a taste of true power,”the voice said, and without warning, the mist enveloped Luna, swirling around her like a cloak.  “Embrace the darkness.  Become what everypony fears at night.”
Luna gasped slightly at the sudden intrusion.  The mist felt like a cold blanket wrapping snugly around her body.  The cold feeling flowed straight through her body, but more importantly, into her mind.  Her quietly bubbling resentment and jealousy toward Celestia boiled over.  Any ideas of hesitation were gone, overwhelmed by a raging desire to teach her sister a lesson she would not soon forget.
Grinning with the overflow of power, Luna trotted towards the door.  On the way she glanced in her bedroom mirror.
The pony that looked back was no longer Princess Luna.
Her formerly midnight-blue fur was now jet-black: the colour of a moonless night.  Her legs were longer, putting her at the same height as Celestia.  The collar, crown, and shoes that she wore remained, but the crown had been reshaped into a helmet.  The glowing mist that had permeated and transformed her now composed her mane and tail.  They seemed less like actual hair and more like clouds of purplish-blue fog that had decided to follow her around.
The feature that made her gasp was her eyes.  Her pupils were sinister slits like those of a snake.  The irises were still a beautiful cyan, but any warmth or friendliness they had held was gone.
Luna simply stared at her reflection for a minute.  Then, a soft chuckle broke through her lips.  At first, she thought it very strange, but before she could ponder it further, she began laughing heartily.  Her voice had changed as well.  It was darker, more commanding.  As befitted a ruler.
Surrendering to the sensation, she laughed mirthfully, drunk on her newfound power.  As she laughed, a nimbus of lightning crackled behind her, casting shadows around the room.
“Thank you, my friend,” she said when her cackling died down.
“It was my pleasure, Luna,” the voice responded.  “Now, take your place as Queen of this land!”
“My name is no longer Luna,” the black alicorn growled.  “She was weak, and indecisive.  I shall not make the mistakes she did.”  She drew herself up to full height, spreading her wings and holding her head aloft.  “I… am Nightmare Moon!”

Ponyville Library, Equestria, 1,008 years later, 2:31 pm
Luna gasped and teetered, placing a hoof on the table to steady herself.  That was not a memory that she liked to revisit.
“Princess, are you alright?”
Luna glanced up at Argus.  The Epistolary stood before her, concern etched across his face.  “I… I am fine, Argus.  Unpleasant memories.”  She tried to stand again, but her knees were still shaky.  Just before she hit the floor, the characteristic heat-haze of Argus’s telekinesis surrounded her and gently propped her up.
“On the contrary, you are not fine.”  He still bore a concerned expression, much like that of Celestia’s when she had tried to make Luna go to bed when they were much younger.  “You have just had a painful flashback, you still feel guilty about what was not even your fault, and you are desperate to redeem yourself.”
Luna stared at him in exasperation.  “Do you actually try to do that?”
“Read your mind like an open book?  Not really.”
She sighed and sat back down.  “To this day that voice is still a mystery.  I have not even told my sister about it.”  Her thoughts turned back to the fateful time when Nightmare Moon had been defeated by Celestia and the Elements of Harmony.  “To defeat me, my sister used the Elements of Harmony.  They are-”
“Extraordinary magical artifacts representing qualities of friendship and each borne by the pony who best represents each quality.”  Luna looked up, bewildered.  “I did some light reading,” Argus explained, and levitated several books around himself.
“You read all of those?” Luna asked.
“I am not called a Librarian for nothing,” Argus responded.  “Psychic abilities do make reading very simple.”
Once again, Luna marveled at the Epistolary’s display of psychic talent.  “Moving on, the power of the Elements of Harmony banished me to the moon for a thousand years.  But as my sister did this, I heard the voice again.”  Her thoughts flew back a millennium.

“I am not finished with you yet,” the voice hissed.  “This is merely a temporary setback…” The voice then vanished, replaced by Nightmare Moon’s scream of frustration as waves of magic blasted her from Equestria.


Luna shuddered again, her breathing becoming erratic.  Suddenly she felt a heavy object on her back.  She looked up to see Argus laying a hand on her withers.  A feeling of reassurance flowed unbidden through her, calming her breathing.
“Thank you, Argus,” she said.  “The next time I heard the voice was just before my return to Equestria.  On the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars aided in my escape.”

“Did you miss me?” the voice asked her cheerfully.  “I certainly missed you."  Before Nightmare Moon could exclaim in surprise at the first voice she had heard in a millennium, the voice continued.  “Now, let’s get back to work.”
The next thing Nightmare Moon saw was an image of Ponyville.  Ponies filled the town hall, waiting for Princess Celestia to show up and raise the sun.  They all stared expectantly at the balcony where she was scheduled to appear any minute.
“…the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria, Princess Celestia!”
With a marvelous crescendo from Fluttershy’s bird choir, the curtains swung open to reveal… an empty balcony.
Nightmare Moon felt a twinge of confusion for a moment, but the voice sounded in her mind.
	“Let’s just say that your sister felt like sleeping in this morning.  She will not interfere with my plan.”
	The assembled ponies looked around nervously.  With a yelp from Pinkie Pie, the purplish-blue mist swirled around the balcony, and for the first time in a thousand years, Nightmare Moon returned to Equestria.

Luna continued.  “The final time I heard the voice was when Nightmare Moon was destroyed.”

The voice yelled in anger and surprise.  “Nooooo!  Not again!”  Waves of rainbow-coloured magic washed blasted over Nightmare Moon, peeling away layers of the evil blue mist that surrounded her.  “This is not the end…” the voice faded away as the last of the mist vanished.

Argus looked pensive for a second.  “Curious.  Very curious,” he said.  “You were corrupted by an outside force, much like Horus.  It magnified your resentment and jealousy and destroyed what was left of you.  You became but a tool for another force.”
Luna sat back down.  “I suppose that I was fortunate, compared to Horus,” she muttered.  “I might as well have been a grumpy filly compared to him.
Argus smiled slightly.  “He was proof that even the mightiest of us can be corrupted.  But we shall remain vigilant.”  He pressed a gauntlet to his chestplate.  “Our faith is our shield.”
“But will it protect us from the Tyranids?’ Luna asked.  “You Ultramarines may have your faith and skills, but we ponies are but foals playing soldiers.  How can we survive this?”
Argus leaned towards Luna.  “Princess, if there is one thing that makes the Ultramarines stand out from other Space Marines, it is the fact that we will never let innocents die for any reason.  You may not be human, but no living thing deserves to be consumed by the Great Devourer.”
Luna smiled in thanks.  “I am glad to know that such heroes will defend us.”
Argus’s vox-bead buzzed.  “Epistolary, I need you outside.  We need to discuss strategy.”
“On my way Captain.”  Argus looked at Luna apologetically.  “Perhaps we can continue this later?”
“I would enjoy that,” Luna answered, and both headed outside.

Fluttershy was not a party pony.  Her idea of an exciting afternoon was feeding ducks by the river, not dodging flying food, confetti, and Pinkie Pie.  Therefore she spent most of the party with her head bowed, trying not to call attention to herself.  Thankfully it worked, most ponies respecting her shy nature and giving her some space.  Big Macintosh had looked like he wanted to talk with her, but Pinkie had led a conga line right between him and the yellow pegasus.  By the time the dancers had moved on, Fluttershy was nowhere to be seen.
“Horseapples,” he muttered to himself.  “Try again later.”
Fluttershy had managed to escape the chaos of the party and trotted down the street, intending to visit Applejack in the hospital.  However, her path was blocked by something that looked like a huge blue block on legs.  The meek pegasus shrank back slightly at the sight of this blue-armoured titan.  It stood over twice as tall as the other Ultramarines, so she hardly came up to its ankles.  Splatters of blackish Tyranid viscera still adorned its armour, particularly its huge fist.
Whatever it was, it remained silent and unmoving.  As Fluttershy watched, a flock of birds flew up to it and landed on top.  Concerned, she flapped her wings and brought herself level with the birds.  “Hello little friends,” she said with a warm tone.  “I don’t think this is the best place to make a nest.  This big guy might want to move sometime.”
“Hello, little one.”
Despite its gentle tone, the voice boomed out across the street.  The flock of birds squawked and took wing.  Fluttershy made a noise much like a goat and dropped like a stone, barely catching herself before she hit the ground.
Landed ungracefully, Fluttershy looked up at the building-sized thing in shock.  “You… can… talk?” she asked, her voice quaking.
“Yes, pony.”  When the thing spoke, Fluttershy could feel the very ground vibrating beneath her hooves.  “I am Ancient Maccabeus of the Ultramarines.”
“I… I’m Fluttershy,” she squeaked, cowering beneath her mane, trying not to meet his eyes.  Or whatever he had instead of eyes.  “What are you?” she whispered.
“I am a Dreadnought of the Ultramarines 1st Company, and I am here to protect you and everyone here from the Tyranids.”
“You’re an Ultramarine?” Fluttershy asked.  “You don’t look much like the others… if you don’t mind me saying.”
“Not on the outside, no,” Maccabeus responded.  “My real body is the same as those of my brothers.  I pilot this metal body as if it were my own.”
“Why do you need a new body?  Are you hurt?”
“A Space Marine who is too badly injured to fight any longer is placed inside a Dreadnought body.  Even in death we still serve.”
Fluttershy’s eyes went even wider than before.  “You’re… dead?”
“In a way, yes,” Maccabeus said solemnly.  “I was injured four thousand years ago at the Battle of Calanus, when I was a member of the Ultramarines 5th Company.  I was then interred in this metal body, so I shall serve the Imperium, even in death.”
Fluttershy was silent for a moment.  This walking building held a warrior older than Equestria itself.  His original body had been crippled, and he had been placed in this machine.  She glanced back at the party, where she spotted Dannelos holding a cup of punch.  Then she looked back at Maccabeus’s massive armoured fist, which still had bits of Tyranid shell stuck to it.
The shy pony felt an overwhelming surge of sympathy for the Dreadnought.  He may have been able to live forever, but could anypony really call that life?  Trapped in a walking tin can, unable to eat, unable to feel a breeze on his face, unable to even sit down.  All that waited for him was war.
“How do you handle it?” she whispered.  “How do you not go insane every day?”
“I endure, as I have for millennia,” Maccabeus replied.
“What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?  What was it like?” Fluttershy asked quietly.
“The Battle of Calanus,” Maccabeus stated simply.  “I remember it well.”

M37.884 10:44 (Calanus time) Calanus Prime (Planetary capital)
“Enemy jetbikes inbound!”
“Diverting Land Speeders to intercept.  Hold the line, Sergeant.”
Sergeant Maccabeus aimed his bolt pistol and placed a perfectly aimed shot through the helmet of the Eldar Guardian, spraying a fine red mist across his comrades.  The Guardian behind his unfortunate comrade was met with a power sword through the chest, piercing his thin armour like paper.
The fellow Assault Marines of Maccabeus’s squad, the Champions of Calth, butchered the remaining Guardians with chainsword, bolt pistol, and flamer.  The microscopic blades fired by the xenos’ weapons were ineffective against the Ultramarines’ power armour.
“Land Speeders have arrived, Sergeant.  We’ll deal with the Eldar craft.”
Maccabeus praised the Emperor for the timely arrival of the squadron of Land Speeder Typhoons, which roared by overhead, meeting the Eldar Vypers head-on.  Assault cannons thundered and frag missiles streaked out from the spearhead formation, forcing the agile alien craft to take evasive maneuvers in the tight quarters of the city block.  As the Assault squad advanced, one of the Vypers was forced to trade paint with a hab-structure and took a frag missile dead in the cockpit, turning it into a ball of shrapnel and flame that smashed on the street.
“Thank you, brother,” Maccabeus said into his vox as the Typhoons broke formation and shot off in pursuit of the remaining Vypers.  “Ultramarines advance!”  The three Tactical squads and the Champions broke cover and charged down the street.
“Maccabeus, auspex shows more xenos seventy meters down the street.  Around fifty foot soldiers and two tanks,” Sergeant Pontius, leader of the Tactical Squad Blade of Vengeance, called out.  “Wait until the attack commences, then bring death from the skies.”
“Understood.”
The Eldar raid on Calanus had been going on for only a week, and the xenos pirates had already reduced three regiments of Planetary Defence Force to corpses.  Their attacks had only been occurring in and around the planetary capital, sending the population into a panic.  The reason for this attack was fairly simple.  The Adeptus Mechanicus had recently unearthed a large monolith with Eldar iconography several kilometers away from the capital and had brought it to the hive city for further study.  The discovery had been reported to the Administratum, and eventually the Inquisition had found out as well.  Almost as soon as Inquisitor Grecius of the Ordo Xenos had arrived, the Eldar had shown up, laying waste to the planet’s defenders.  The Inquisitor had immediately sent a call for help, and the task of protecting the planet had fallen to Captain Thelonius and the Ultramarines 5th Company.
Currently the Ultramarines were countering the Eldar raid quite literally on all avenues.  Alien warriors moved rapidly down the expansive streets of the city, launching lightning strikes against the entrenched PDF remnants.
Maccabeus sighed as the Ultramarines passed another decimated PDF barricade.  Several lacerated corpses were sprawled among the sandbags, victims of the Eldar shuriken weapons.  An autocannon emplacement sat untouched, its ammunition hopper still full.  Such was the speed of the Eldar strike that by the time the human defenders even realized how serious their situation was, the aliens were already among them.
No fixed defence would hold long against such a swift and fluid style of warfare.  Therefore, Captain Thelonius had ordered the 5th to advance steadily along the streets, meeting the aliens head-on.  Maccabeus’s detachment had already run into several squads of Eldar Aspect Warriors, all of whom they had killed with lethal efficiency.  Behind them advanced Predator tanks and Devastator squads.  The city was laid out so that almost all streets converged on a central plaza, which the Eldar appeared to be using as a deployment zone.  The Ultramarines’ strategy was to advance down the streets simultaneously with overwhelming firepower, slowly boxing their opponents in.  The aliens’ greatest asset was their speed.  Trap them against the wall and they were easy pickings.
Maccabeus’s detachment was one of three advancing down the street.  The other two, comprising of Tactical squads, the 5th’s other Assault squad, a lone Dreadnought, and Captain Thelonius’s Command squad, moved down other streets.  Behind each group advanced the slower Devastator squads and tanks.  All three groups would reach the target simultaneously, where the crafty aliens would have nowhere to run.
“Team Tertius, in position.”
“Team Primaris, awaiting orders.”
Maccabeus brought his team to a halt.  “Team Secundus, ready.”
With a rumble of engines and plumes of exhaust, the three Predator tanks and two Razorback transports ground to a halt behind them.  “Armoured units, in position.”
Captain Thelonius’s voice sounded in everyone’s ears.  “Devastators and tanks, I want the Eldar vehicles and heavy weapons out of action immediately.  Assault squads, get in and keep them busy.  Tacticals, advance behind the Assault squads.  On my mark.”
Maccabeus swept his power sword out and brought it up in vertically in front of his body.  “My faith is my shield,” he intoned, head bowed.
“Suffer not the alien to live,” growled Brother Locrian, the Champions’ flamer carrier.
“Open fire!” the Captain bellowed.  “Charge!  For glory!”
“Courage and honour!” the 5th Company thundered as one as they charged into the plaza.
The Eldar were well prepared for this engagement.  A pair of their oddly-shaped tanks spun to engage, the elegant weapons flashing with pulses of lethal energy.  Weapons platforms crewed by Guardians swung around and spewed beams of light towards their foes.  The Eldar themselves fired barrages of microscopic blades from cover.
“Champions!  To the skies!”  At the words of their Sergeant, the Champions of Calth kicked in their jump packs and rocketed airborne on pillars of fire and smoke.  Multiple gun barrels angled upward, tracking the soaring Ultramarines.  Beside Maccabeus, Brother Tycian yelled in pain as an Eldar bright lance obliterated his torso, sending his pack out of control into a building.  Maccabeus roared in defiance and fired several shots from on high.
One by one, missiles and las-beams streaked out from the Devastators, silencing several of the Eldar guns.  The volume of fire aimed at the Assault Marines lessened slightly.
That was all they needed.  Firing his jump pack again, Maccabeus shot downward at a blistering speed.  Rockcrete cracked and splintered around him as he impacted the ground, and the lightweight Eldar Guardians were knocked into the air.  The Sergeant wasted no time in laying into the stunned aliens with his sword, smashing aside any feeble defence that they attempted.
Around him, the surviving Champions landed similarly, sowing confusion and chaos within the enemy ranks.  The Guardians immediately began pulling back and were met with volleys of supporting fire from the advancing Tactical squads.
“Cowardly aliens!  Fear the Emperor’s wrath!” Sergeant Pontius shouted as he cut down several fleeing aliens.
“Enemy tanks are still active!” one of the members of Pontius’s Blades called out.
“Bring our multi-melta up!”  Another Blade, encumbered by a heavy dual-barreled weapon and its power pack, advanced towards the elegant forms of the two Eldar Falcon tanks.  Both of the tanks strafed back and forth, laying down lethal suppression fire on the Ultramarines.  The Devastators and Predators responded with lascannon and missile launcher, but the enemy vehicles jinked out of the way at what seemed like the last possible second.  Maccabeus could have sworn that several shots struck the rounded white hulls, but the images of the Falcons seemed to flicker, and suddenly they were several metres away.
“They have holo-fields!” he called out.  “We need to get in closer!”
“If your squad can draw their attention, my Blades can advance!” Pontius replied, slamming a fresh magazine into his bolter.
Maccabeus stood up and raised his sword to the sky.  “Champions, with me!”  He fired his jump pack again and shot airborne, followed closely by his battle-brothers.
Sure enough, the Eldar tanks’ guns tracked the airborne Ultramarines, spewing rainbows of death at them.  Maccabeus leaned sideways, evading a starcannon blast that would have melted his legs.  Down on the ground, Pontius’s Blades were charging forward, the multi-melta Marine at their head.
“Burn, xenos!” he roared, his voice somehow cutting through the pulsing of the Eldar lasers.  With a blinding flash of ionized air, a ravening beam of thermal energy blasted out from the gun, ripping into the alien tank.  The off-white armour at the point of impact vaporized instantly; the plates around it sagged and deformed from the heat.  Abruptly the Falcon skewed sideways, one of its antigravity drives destroyed.  A follow-up blast from the multi-melta destroyed its cockpit and it crashed to the ground for good.
The second tank, noticing the fate of its partner, reversed its engine and shot backward, still firing laser blasts at any target that presented itself.  The Blades could not advance without moving into the open, so they took cover behind the ruined Falcon.
Maccabeus surveyed the scene from cover.  The second Falcon was in a remarkably open area, where it had plenty of room to maneuver.  Its holo-fields would spare it from any anti-armour shots, so it was free to keep Team Secundus effectively pinned.
Cursed alien technology, the Sergeant thought.  There has to be a way… idea!  Grinning beneath his helmet, he reached into a pouch on his belt, pulling out a melta bomb.  “Pontius, I have a plan.”
A few quick words later, and the Champions took to the skies for a third time.  The Falcon tracked them, burning Brother Tarquin out of the air with another bright lance.
One by one, the Champions fired their packs again, landing around the tank.  The Eldar pilot strafed sideways to avoid the possibility of an armoured giant landing on his roof.  As Brother Locrian landed to its right, the alien veered to the left.
Directly into the path of Maccabeus.  With a roar of triumph, he slammed the melta bomb down right on the Falcon’s canopy.
The Assault Sergeant had brought many enemies of the Imperium to their knees, but few occasions had been as satisfying as when he imagined the look of horror on the Eldar pilot’s face.
He ignited his pack again, launching himself off the tank.  As a final, vindictive gesture, the pilot fired one last volley, which passed harmlessly over Maccabeus’s head.  A second later the bomb detonated, blowing the tank in half and sending its turret flying.
The remainder of Team Secundus cheered Maccabeus’s name as he landed among them.
“You’ll earn a Valour Crest for sure, brother!” Pontius laughed, clapping him on the shoulder.
“Save the celebrations for later, brothers,” Maccabeus said cheerfully.  “There’s still xenos to kill.”
With shouts of approval, Team Secundus advanced across the rubble-strewn plaza, the rumbling Predators and Razorbacks following close behind.
Teams Primaris and Tertius had pushed into the plaza with little effort.  Captain Thelonius cut a magnificent figure as he slashed through xenos with his lightning claws.  A short distance away, Dreadnought Victus held a howling Eldar in one fist, which spun on its joint like a top.  Blood and chunks of armour spun off the alien before he threw it aside.  Everywhere the Ultramarines looked, the Eldar were in full retreat.
“Stay vigilant, brothers,” Thelonius warned.  “They are up to something.”
Maccabeus quickened his pace and scanned through the smoke hanging over the plaza.  He could make out several hazy shapes ahead, not bulky enough to be Space Marines, but surprisingly large nonetheless.  The figures stood defiantly in the center of the plaza, accompanied by their smaller comrades.
“Captain, I can see the xenos dead ahead.  They are standing their ground.”
“A last stand then.”  Thelonius snorted derisively.  “It appears that they are ready to die.  In the Emperor’s name, we shall oblige them.”
The Ultramarines charged through the smoke, revealing around thirty Eldar of varying Aspects.  Most wore the crisp blue armour of Dire Avengers, their primary foot soldiers, but ten of them wore larger, bright green armour, marking them as Striking Scorpions, melee specialists.
In the middle of the formation stood a smaller Eldar who wore what seemed to be a long robe, covered in bizarre iconography.  In one hand he carried a large glaive with a shimmering, crystalline blade what caught the sunlight and shone beautifully.
“Xenos!” Thelonius called out.  “You have made a grave mistake coming here!  Now feel the wrath of the Ultramarines!”  He shouted a battle cry and charged, followed by the entire 5th Company.
In response, the Dire Avengers took a defensive stance, firing their shuriken catapults into the charging mass of Ultramarines.  The Scorpions spun their elegant chainswords around and stood in a wedge protecting the Warlock.
Just as the unstoppable charge of the Ultramarines met the Eldar defence line, another force of aliens emerged from the smoke and unleashed a fresh wave of devastation upon the charging Space Marines.
Maccabeus howled in defiance as he saw several battle-brothers fall.  Setting his sights firmly on the Warlock and his retinue, he fired his jump pack, shooting horizontally across the ground.
“Victoris Ultra!” he shouted as he tackled one of the Scorpions, dragging him along the pavement before stoving his helmet in with the hilt of his sword.  Hopping to his feet, he met the whirring blade of another Scorpion.  Using his superior strength, he forced the blade aside and launched a kick at the alien, but it leapt back nimbly.
Around him, the Ultramarines were engaged in an impossibly fierce battle.  Eldar reinforcements streamed in from all directions, bogging the 5th down with their numbers.  None of the tanks could assist without risking damage to their comrades, so they tried instead to interdict the squadrons of Eldar tanks and jetbikes that seemed to emerge from thin air.
Cutting through another Scorpion, Maccabeus spared a glance at the Eldar Warlock.  Curiously, the alien psyker still knelt serenely on the ground, oblivious to the havoc occurring around him.
He must be aiding his brethren somehow, Maccabeus thought.  I’ll fix that.  His target firmly set, he charged towards the alien.  As he closed in, a pair of Scorpions moved to intercept him, their pistols flashing.
Unwilling to waste time, Maccabeus launched a metal-warping kick at a nearby groundcar.  The blow sent the abandoned vehicle skidding across the ground, knocking one Scorpion away and forcing the other to flip over it.  As it landed, the Assault Sergeant swept forward and rammed his sword through its faceplate.  He did not slow down at all, letting the corpse slide off his blade.
“Brother!  Let’s end this!”  Maccabeus swung his head to the side to see Sergeant Pontius and his Blades charging as well, training their weapons on the Warlock.
Suddenly, the psyker stood.  He thrust his left hand outward, aimed toward Pontius.
Maccabeus had an awful premonition.  “Brother!  Get back!”
His words were too late.  Eldritch lightning leapt from the Warlock’s fingers, wracking Pontius.  The Tactical Sergeant howled in pain as his limbs spasmed, and he collapsed to the pavement in a charred heap.
The Blades cried in outrage, but the Warlock waved his hand, deflecting their rage-driven shots with a shimmering shield.  He then brought his staff down to the ground, and a shockwave of bright blue energy exploded outward.  Maccabeus dropped to a knee and rammed his power sword into the rockcrete, but the Tactical Marines were blown off their feet, hurtling backward.
A righteous rage blazed in Maccabeus’s chest, driving him to end this, to avenge Pontius, to prove that the Ultramarines 5th would not be made fools by alien witchcraft.  Firing his jump pack for a final time, he tackled the Warlock.  The alien’s head smacked against pieces of rubble several times before the pair came to a halt against a large surface.
Maccabeus had lost his bolt pistol in the scuffle, so he reached forward and ripped the psyker’s mask off to reveal his pale features.  He was disgusted by how… human the Eldar looked.  Their features were elfin and porcelain, but they could be mistaken for humans.
“Your trickery has failed you, xeno,” he spat in the alien’s face.  “Now feel the Emperor’s punishment.”
“Oh really?”  The Warlock coughed, splattering blood across his robes.  “Did I really fail?”  He chuckled.  “Once again, you primitives miss the obvious.  That shall be your downfall.”
Maccabeus was about to decapitate the Eldar when his eyes flashed blue.  A second later, another blue flash nearly blinded the Sergeant, and he stumbled back.
Behind the Warlock stood a massive, curving monument, which glowed an otherworldly blue.  Its surface was a bone-white, yet it seemed to shift and squirm as if alive.  Shining red gems were set along its surface, and lightning crackled among them.
“A webway portal,” Maccabeus breathed in astonishment.
“An apt observation, mon-keigh,” a voice sneered from behind him.  “Your kind has an obsession with stating the obvious.”
Behind the Sergeant stood an eldar in bulky, maroon armour with odd extensions, making him look almost like a spider.  Maccabeus launched himself at this new adversary, but he disappeared in a flash of light.
“Ancient Victus!  Bring down that structure!” he barked.  “Champions, to me!”  He spun around, searching for the elusive alien.
He heard the crackle of teleportation and spun just in time to catch a chest-full of twisting blue monofilament.  The impossibly thin substance sprayed from the Warp Spider’s deathspinner, adhering to Maccabeus’s armour like a spider’s web.  A razor-sharp, lethal web.
He charged forward, pushing through the surprising force that the weapon carried.  Suddenly, pain exploded through his body from the inside out.  Staggering, he caught a glimpse of his severed leg flopping to the ground.
As he fell, he saw another Warp Spider, his more elaborate armour marking him as an Exarch.  The blast from the weapon had pierced clean through his leg, shearing it clean off.  The pain he could handle, but now his armour was breached.
As if reading his thoughts, the first Warp Spider fired again, this time aiming low.  The monofilament wire wrapped around the stump of his leg and travelled up into his body.  More pain, as if his body was tearing itself apart from the inside out.
“Die… xenos,” he choked out, his helmet filling with blood.  The wire had reached his lungs.
“Ironic words from a dying mon-keigh,” the Exarch muttered.  “My brothers, we have outstayed our welcome.”
With a mighty crack, a ruby-red las-beam struck the alien, blowing his limbs each in a different direction.  The other xenos turned tail and one by one, vanished with the flashes of teleportation.
Brother Locrian rolled Maccabeus onto his back.  “He’s still alive!  Get the Apothecary!”
Captain Thelonius stepped forward.  “Brother, you are a hero among heroes.  By Guilliman and the Emperor I shall not let you die.”
Maccabeus’s vision was blurred with his own blood, and he could no longer feel anything below his ribcage.  But he still clasped the Captain’s gauntlet in his own.  Coughing blood out of his mouth, he spoke.
“Even in death, I will still serve.”

M41.996 14:42 (Equestria time) Ponyville
“To this day, I can remember with perfect clarity the feeling of the alien’s weapon ripping my organs apart.  I can still feel that pain.”
Fluttershy looked utterly horrified.  Her face was slightly green, and she pressed a hoof to her mouth to try to keep her lunch where it belonged.
“How did you survive?” she managed after forcing the bile back down her throat.
“By refusing to die.  I felt the pain, but I did not resist.  I let it flow through me.  I embraced it.  I let the pain become part of me, so that whenever I felt it, I knew that I was still alive for a little longer.”  The Dreadnought paused.  “And I won.  The pain gave in to my will.”
The yellow pegasus stared up at the huge alien.  A feeling passed through her that she never thought she would feel regarding the Ultramarines.  That feeling was inspiration.  She was still awestruck and horrified by what Maccabeus had endured, but now she knew, for sure, that there was hope for Equestria.
She whispered something even more unintelligible than usual.
“What was that, Fluttershy?”
“I said thank you,” she repeated.  “For being here.  And for telling me your story.  I don’t doubt you at all anymore.”  With a smile, the normally timid pegasus hopped to her hooves and trotted down the street, her head held high.
Suddenly, a thunderous roar echoed across the skies.  With a squeak of fear, Fluttershy shot into a nearby bush.
The sound had essentially ended Pinkie’s party.  Everypony forgot about dancing and stared upwards in shock.  Pinkie looked up, gasped, and jumped in shock.  However, she did not come down for quite some time, just hanging in midair.
Gliding down into the town square were four massive blue craft.  Each was larger than a full-grown dragon and was covered in armoured plates adorned with the emblem of the Ultramarines.  The massive prows of the craft looked like battering rams.
“Hey!  Those look like giant fists!” Lyra exclaimed giddily.  She turned to Bon-Bon, who was still staring in shock.  “Oh, come on!  Isn’t it at least a little interesting?”
The Ultramarines bustled about, gently pushing ponies away from the Thunderhawk Transporters’ drop-off zones.  Maxilos switched on his vox-system.  “Area clear.  Deploy vehicles.”
With a resounding crash, four Predator battle tanks and a single Land Raider dropped to the ground, bouncing on their suspension systems.  Their impacts cracked the pavement under their treads.
“Armour has arrived,” came the voice of Techmarine Aegeus.
“Excellent.”  Captain Sicarius headed for the waiting tanks.  “Perform all battle-rites and continue delivering the rest.  Are the Land Speeders ready?”
“Yes Captain.  They can deploy as soon as their pilots are ready.”
Sicarius turned back to the stunned ponies, who stared at the hulking tanks.  A few inquisitive pegasi among them flew in for a closer look, but they sailed away like leaves in a tempest as the Thunderhawks lifted off and angled back towards the sky.
Twilight’s analytical mind was racing as she watched the massive gunships leaving.  How can those things even fly? They look less aerodynamic than Applejack’s barn!  Flight is theoretically possible without flapping wings or helium, but how does something that large and ungainly fly?
The huge treaded vehicles were slightly easier to comprehend, especially once they started up and began spewing thick fumes.  Judging by the smell, I’d say they burn some sort of oil.  It’s a lot like our gas stoves, but on a much larger scale.  She examined the largest tank, which was around twice the size of the others.  Larger scale indeed, she thought.
“Ugh, what in the world are those horrid things?” Rarity asked, covering her nose against the exhaust.  “They’re so blocky.  No elegance whatsoever.  And that smell!”
Maxilos stood against one of the smaller tanks, whose massive turret bore glowing blue coils.  “This is a Deimos-Pattern Predator Executioner, a variant of our main battle tanks.  It is the mainstay of our armoured units.”  He placed a hand on the side of the Predator’s hull.  “This one is the Terminus Rex, my personal project.  I spent almost a century restoring it.”
Captains Stormcaller and Stone Mason examined the tanks intently, looks of admiration and even a bit of jealousy evident on their faces.
“Haven’t you ever seen a tank before?”  The Royal Guards turned to see Sergeant Manorian watching them from beside the Land Raider.
“As a matter of fact, yes,” Stone Mason retorted.  “We have Steam Tanks.”
“You mean we have an incomplete project that is ridiculously impractical,” Stormcaller said.  The Steam Tank was a project to create armoured vehicles for the Equestrian military.  Using boilers and coal much like a train, they were designed to move without tracks, providing mobile cover and anchoring battle formations.  Unfortunately, the results of the project were plagued with mechanical failures, and further development had been shelved.  The few Steam Tanks in service were ramshackle, ungainly machines that would last for a matter of minutes on the battlefield before stalling, breaking an axle, or sometimes even exploding.
However, they were still valuable assets.  Even with their limited mobility, they were virtually indestructible to conventional weapons such as crossbows or swords.  The large cannon mounted on their hulls served as valuable mobile artillery.
“Time to show you ponies how the Ultramarines wage war,” Manorian chuckled, patting the side of the Land Raider and striding off.
“Who does he think he is?” Stone Mason growled, watching the retreating Space Marine with contempt.  “We’re not completely incompetent.”
“We’ll just have to prove it, then.”  Stone Mason gave Stormcaller a look of shock.  “Mason, the rules were changed as soon as the Tyranids arrived.  Our usual strategies won’t work any more.”
As much as he hated to admit it, Mason knew that the unicorn was right.  These Ultramarines knew how to wage war.  “Is it wrong to want to protect my home?  I don’t want to stand by idly and let outsiders do our job for us!”
“Calm yourself, Captain.  We shall prove ourselves to our new allies.”
Mason nodded.  “The sooner the better.”
A short time later, the Ultramarine and pony leaders stood in the town square among multiple hulking tanks.  Captain Sidewinder, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack had all returned from the hospital, followed by Apothecary Venatio.
Celestia approached the white-armoured Space Marine.  “Apothecary, I cannot thank you enough for what you have done.  You saved countless lives.”
Venatio nodded.  “Nobody, human nor pony, shall die if I have anything to say about it.  I have stabilized the most critical cases.  My services will be required soon in battle.”
Sicarius cleared his throat.  “The Tyranids will not give us long to recover.  Now that they are aware that our forces are concentrated here, they will return in earnest.  Our best hope is to engage them immediately and destroy their spawning grounds before they amass enough numbers to overwhelm us.”
He glanced upward, where another Thunderhawk was delivering a pair of Whirlwind tanks.  “I know that you do not wish to leave any population centers undefended.”
“Obviously,” Rainbow Dash muttered under her breath, shooting a wary glance at Sergeant Marcellus.
“Therefore I will dispatch Land Speeders to outlying settlements, urging the citizens to take precautions.”
“Captain, I doubt that anypony would be willing to trust giant armoured aliens who show up to their homes,” Captain Sidewinder interrupted.
Marcellus shot a glare at the pegasus, but did not make his usual death threats.
“Which is why one pony will ride with each Ultramarine.”  These words sent a ripple of surprise throughout the group.  “Preferably one with a connection to the area where we send them.”
Rainbow Dash felt a twinge of paranoia.  The Ultramarines would obviously send a messenger to Cloudsdale, and she was a likely candidate to travel.  Despite the Apothecary’s healing and words of reassurance, she was still not ready to trust the Ultramarines completely.
“Cap’n, ah’d be happy to ride to Appleloosa with one o ya.”  Everypony turned to Applejack in surprise.  “Ah’ve got family there.  They should be willin’ to listen ta me.”
Sidewinder stepped forward to Rainbow Dash’s great surprise.  “I’ll ride to Cloudsdale.  It’s my hometown.”
“And I shall go to Canterlot.”  Everypony looked at Princess Celestia.
“Sister, we need you here!” Luna said.  “Let me go!”
“Luna, the nobles will listen to me,” the white alicorn said.  “And I have full confidence in your abilities to protect Ponyville.”
“We are yours to command, Princess.”  Stormcaller and Stone Mason bowed to Luna.  “We’ll follow you to Tartarus and back.”
Luna blinked away tears.  She had just been reliving her memories of Nightmare Moon, when she had thought that her sister had no faith in her.  To hear her express her trust was almost overwhelming.
“Th-thank you, sister,” she sniffled.
“Fear not, Luna,” Argus said.  While the Ultramarines still stand, this town will never fall.”
“It’s settled, then,” Sicarius stated.  “Sergeant Strabo, you and three of your brothers shall pilot the Land Speeders.  Two will travel to each settlement.  Canterlot is close enough so that Princess Celestia can reach it safely alone.”
The Assault Sergeant acknowledged the Captain with a nod and hopped onto a waiting Land Speeder Typhoon.  “Well?” he said.  “Get aboard, pony.”
Applejack started slightly and hopped in.  The seat was extremely large, designed for someone over twice her size.  Still, she managed to sit awkwardly in a passable imitation of Strabo’s posture.
Off to the side, Lyra giggled in delight as she watched Applejack sitting like a human.
The orange farmpony jumped as Strabo reached across her and pulled a large belt over her barrel, snugly fastening her to the seat.  At her confused look, he explained.  “This Land Speeder can travel at three hundred-fifty kilometers an hour.  I recommend that you hang onto something.”
“Ah have no idea what yer talkin’ about.”  Applejack squirmed under the tight seatbelt.  “An’ how does this thing go anyway?  Where’s the wheels?  How does it even stay on the road?”
Strabo started the Typhoon’s engine, enjoying the look of horror on Applejack’s face as it floated off the ground.  “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”
“Oh buck,” was all Applejack muttered before Strabo hit the accelerator, launching the vehicle forward at a face-deforming speed.
Caramel was similarly strapped into another Typhoon, and was trying his best to wriggle out after he saw the first speeder race off.  “Oh nonononono this was a bad ideaaAAAAAAAA!”  His pilot, Ionius, slammed the accelerator and shot off after Strabo.
Pinkie began snickering, and soon her laughter had infected the rest of her friends.  Their cackling only grew more raucous as two more Land Speeders shot off towards Cloudsdale.  Captain Sidewinder tried to maintain a stoic expression, which only made his face funnier to watch as his ride rocketed off.
Finally managing to compose herself, Twilight pulled out several scrolls on the physics of flight from her saddlebags.  She was still trying to wrap her mind around how the hulking Thunderhawks could fly, and now the nimble Land Speeders had just given her more to think about.
Sicarius could not help but smile beneath his helmet at the ponies’ cheerful attitudes.  So excited and happy with their lives, he thought.  Their happiness will soon be shattered.
“Captain, come in!”
At Scout-Sergeant Darius’s words, Sicarius’s mind instantly switched to tactical mode.  “What is it Sergeant?  Tyranids?”
“Several broods of Raveners and gaunts, sir.  Advancing along the path from the forest.”
“Let’s give them a warm welcome, then.”  Sicarius switched his vox-channel to Maxilos.  “Techmarine!  Bring the Terminus Rex to our defence lines.  We have Tyranids to kill.”

Sergeant Octavian fired another precision bolter burst, blowing an arm off of a charging Ravener before it could slash him apart.  The creature recoiled, allowing Octavian to smash his powerfist into its face.
“Tighten your firing arcs!  Don’t let any of them through!”
The Tactical Squad Swords of Judgment lived up to their reputation as expert marksmen and unleashed a fusillade of bolter fire, forcing the swift aliens back.
The Raveners had struck with the frightening speed characteristic of their kind.  Octavian’s squad had been closest to the intrusion, so he had immediately engaged.  The Tyranids that had already reached the buildings fell to perfectly aimed shots, but the swarms just kept coming.
“Where’s our armoured support?” Brother Diosis yelled as he flung a frag grenade.
“Predators are on their way,” Octavian replied, bringing down a leaping Hormagaunt.
As if on cue, a searing pulse of bluish-white energy from a plasma cannon incinerated a slithering Ravener.  Two more blasts identical to the first followed, claiming yet another.  Shortly thereafter as hail of heavy bolter shells ripped into the hordes of gaunts, sending their bodies flying apart and kicking up plumes of dirt.
Stormcaller sat beside Maxilos on the turret of the Terminus Rex.  He stared at the devastation that this one vehicle had unleashed.
“Can I get one of these things?” he asked with a laugh.
“Unlikely,” the Techmarine responded.  “You possess no digits capable of manipulating the controls, nor do you have any sort of training.  It would be highly illogical for you to operate a Predator tank.”
“I was kidding,” Stormcaller replied with a roll of his eyes.
Sicarius jogged up to Sergeant Octavian.  “Report, Sergeant.”
“Large enemy force comprised of fast attack troops.”  The Sergeant surveyed the battlefield, watching fire from his squad and the recently arrived Predator make short work of the remaining Tyranids.  “A probing raid.  They were gauging our defences.”
Sicarius turned back to Luna and the Element Bearers.  “Ponies, the Tyranids are going to strike soon.  Get all non-combatants to shelter and alert your soldiers.”
“But… you scared them off,” Fluttershy said.  “They’re not coming back so soon?”
“The Tyranids are nothing like the animals of your world.”  Sicarius drew his sword and pistol.  “They were testing us, seeing how we would react.  That wave was their scouting group.”
He turned back to scan the woods.  “Now the real war begins.”