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


Chapter 8: Skyfire

M41.996 16:10 (Equestria time) Appleloosa, Equestria
Ah was right.  Ah am really regretting this, Sheriff Silverstar thought, holding his hat on his head with one hoof and clinging to his seat in the Typhoon with the other.  The ungainly-looking craft flew quite smoothly, but the sensation of acceleration and the wind roaring past his ears left him gritting his teeth in tension.
Caramel, crammed in the seat next to the Sheriff, had tried to strike up a conversation, but they could hardly hear each other over the rushing wind and sharp whining of the Typhoon’s engines.  Besides, the massive armoured alien sitting next to them put a damper on socializing.
After what seemed like an hour of nervous silence to the two stallions, but in reality was a matter of minutes, the familiar wooden structures of Appleloosa came into view.  The afternoon sun beat down heavily on the dulled colours of the buildings, casting long shadows across the dusty streets.  Sparse apple trees from the nearby orchard spread towards the town.  The clock tower stood tall and proud beside the town hall, a monument to the tenacity of the frontiersponies who decided to build a settlement out in the empty desert.  Every structure was dusty and worn but each had stood the tests of time, sandstorms, buffalo stampedes, and even a derailed train carrying hundreds of jugs of hard apple cider directly into the blacksmith’s shop, resulting in a massive, strong-smelling detonation.
But the part of Appleloosa that truly embodied the spirit of the town was its ponies.  Mostly earth ponies, but with a scattering of pegasi and unicorns, these rugged ponies had chosen to live in one of the toughest environments in Equestria.  Hard labor had forged them into a particularly hardy breed that had stood in the face of oppressive weather, drought, and stampeding buffalo without flinching.  Braeburn felt a surge of pride in his town, knowing that his fellow Appleloosans would never back down in the face of adversity.
“Set down on the outskirts,” Strabo said.  “And let the ponies out first.”
Silverstar grabbed at his hat again as Ionius banked the Typhoon right to land behind the train station, followed closely by Strabo’s.  The two aircraft set down among swirling clouds of dust, their engines winding down.  Applejack hopped out of the Typhoon, followed closely by Braeburn, wearing his ever-present cheerful grin.
“Caramel,” Silverstar muttered irritably.  “How do ya always manage ta get us inta messes like this?”
“Hey, I didn’t do anything!” the amber stallion replied.  “These aliens just showed up!”
“Ah was talkin’ bout this.”  Silverstar pointed at the flight harness, which Caramel had somehow managed to get tangled around them.  Caramel’s indignant expression became rather sheepish.
“Hold still.”  Both stallions turned to see Ionius leaning towards them, hands outstretched.  Silverstar felt a moment of panic, but it faded as the Ultramarine undid the buckles, depositing the two ponies in a heap on the floor of the Typhoon.
“Er, thanks,” Silverstar said, awkwardly replacing his hat and trying not to meet Ionius’s eyes.
Braeburn turned back to the two Ultramarines, his grin causing Strabo a slight twinge of alarm.  “Well, now that we’re here, ah’d like ta officially welcome you two ta Aaaaappleloosa!”  He reared onto his hind legs with an excited whinny.
Hasn’t changed a bit, Applejack thought with a smile.  “Heh, heh.”  She looked up at Strabo with an expression of both expectation and nervousness.
“Thank you, Braeburn,” Strabo said.  “You two will need to show the citizens here that you trust us.  Once they believe that we mean no harm, then we can appraise them of the situation.”
“Applejack trusts ya, and if she trusts ya, everypony else should,” Braeburn said  “An’ there ain’t no way they won’t believe the Element of Honesty herself!”  He stood proudly, stretching himself to full height.
Element of Honesty… Strabo mused.  Yet another confusing part of this world.  I will have to learn more later.
Applejack nodded in agreement.  “Even if they didn’t see us flyin’ in, they musta heard Braeburn here.”  She pointed a hoof to her cousin, who grinned in embarrassment.  “They’re probably all on their way now.”  She threw a glance toward the town, waiting for the inevitable herd of gaping ponies to arrive.  “Probably best fer us ta move a little bit closer.”
“Agreed,” Strabo said and began walking towards the station.  To Applejack’s relief he kept both his weapons holstered.  She trotted up to match the Ultramarine’s pace, joined quickly by Braeburn.
“Hey Braeburn,” she asked.  “What were you an’ the Sheriff doin’ out in the desert with yer guns?  Quite a coincidence that ya found us.”
“I have been meaning to ask that as well,” Strabo put in without turning.
“Oh, me an’ Sheriff Silverstar were trackin’ a pack o’ Diamond Dogs that done robbed our bank,” Braeburn said, an uncharacteristic touch of anger entering his tone.  “They’ve been tunnelin’ near Appleloosa fer a coupla weeks now, an we’ve been too busy harvestin’ apples ta do much about ‘em.”
“Diamond Dogs?” Strabo asked, turning his head.
“Big, ugly dog-critters that walk on two legs,” Applejack said.  “Spend most ‘o their time tunnelin’ and minin’.”  She shook her head and gave a remarkably equine snort.  “Sometimes, they decide ta come and ponynap helpless ponies ta do the dirty work fer ‘em.  Mah friend Rarity got captured by ‘em a coupla years back.”
Silverstar stepped in.  “There ain’t no reasonin’ with those hoodlums.  Nothing ta do with ‘em but send ‘em packin’.”  He patted the rifle secured to his back.  “One way or another.”
The four ponies and two Space Marines were interrupted by an unexpectedly sarcastic-sounding voice from the dirt road in front of the train station.  “Mind telling us exactly WHAT THOSE THINGS ARE?”
A herd of Appleloosan ponies stood in the middle of the road, staring at the strange procession of Space Marines and ponies.  Ionius had thought it odd that Applejack wore a hat, but now he was faced with ponies wearing a wide variety of hats, vests, saddlebags, and duster coats.  Several ponies were armed with guns similar to those of Braeburn and the Sheriff, grasping them tightly with hooves or magic, but ready for trouble.  Unlike Braeburn’s welcoming smile, they wore expressions of fright, confusion, and some of downright hostility and suspicion.  A few eyed Ionius’s chainsword and bolt pistol, blood draining from their faces as they realized the devices’ deadly function.
“They some kind ‘o Diamond Dog?”
“They mus’ be!  They walk on two legs!”
“Four legs good!  Two legs bad!”
“Sergeant?” Ionius asked over the vox.  “This may get out of hand.  Perhaps a demonstration of our… abilities?”
“Negative.”  Strabo kept his hands at his sides, moving as little as possible so not to spook the ponies.  “We need them to trust us, not to fear us.”  Braeburn and Applejack both stepped forward, hooves raised to placate the crowd.
“Would everypony please calm down?”  Applejack’s voice shushed most of the crowd.  “These folks mean us no harm.”
“They’re Diamond Dogs!” one reddish mare called out.  “Jus’ look at ‘em!  Who else walks on two legs?”
“They do!”  A dozen pairs of eyes locked onto Braeburn.  “Ah don’t believe this.”  He shook his head sadly.  “Whatever happened ta manners?  Y’all should be welcomin’ our guests, not throwin’ mindless accusations about.”
All the anger and surprise left the mob like air from a balloon.  Several ponies looked downward, trying not to meet Braeburn’s reproachful gaze.
“Uh, yeah.”  A few ponies perked up to look at Caramel, who stood awkwardly beside Applejack.  “What he said.”
“Now folks, let’s give these aliens a good ol-fashioned Aaaaaaappeloosa welcome!”
A deathly silence fell over the crowd and everypony stared first at Applejack, then at the two Ultramarines, who had neither spoken nor moved since arriving.
Aliens.  The mysterious beings that inspired scary stories, omnipresent works of fiction, and zany conspiracy theories trying to prove anything, from how Prince Blueblood was royalty to Princess Celestia actually being a blancmange obsessed with beating Princess Luna in a doubles tennis match.  Either way, aliens were the terrifying spectres of the imagination, their motives incomprehensible to all but themselves and the legally insane.  And two of them were standing in the middle of Appaloosa.
As usual, everything happened at once.
“RUN!”
“Save the cows!”
“Get the tinfoil hats!”
For his part, Braeburn looked utterly confused at the sudden chaos.  “What?” he exclaimed, looking to his cousin for aid.  “Was it somethin’ ah said?”
Applejack facehoofed as the herd degenerated back into a panicked mob, galloping back and forth.  Why does introducing ponies ta folks from another planet have ta be so danged annoyin’?
Strabo felt Ionius’s eyes boring into the side of his helmet, so he turned slowly to face his battle-brother.  “If you have something to say…”
“I think it is safe to assume that diplomacy has failed?”
“Failing, brother.  Not failed.”  Strabo unholstered his bolt pistol and checked the magazine.  “Then again, diplomacy is just war with words instead of bullets.”
Silverstar, who had given up on trying to shout the mob into submission, spotted the massive handgun in Strabo’s hand.  “Wait!  Stop!” he shouted, but his words went unheeded, as the Assault Sergeant aimed the pistol into the sky and fired.
Ponies everywhere dropped flat or dove for cover, searching for the source of the gunshot.  They poked their heads out from behind buildings, through windows, and out of barrels to stare at Strabo, who still pointed the pistol skyward.
“Citizens of Appleloosa,” he began, his harsh voice cutting into everypony’s ears.  “I am Sergeant Strabo of the Ultramarines 2nd Company.  What Braeburn said is true; we are aliens, but we mean you no harm.”
His words garnered looks of confusion and surprise from the ponies, both from his use of Braeburn’s name and that he had not started melting their brains yet.
“Why are you here?” a reddish-brown stallion by the name of Meadow Song asked, stepping hesitantly from behind a parked carriage.
“We came here in pursuit of another race of aliens: the Tyranids.”  Strabo almost spat the words out as if insulted by them.  “They landed near Ponyville and Appleloosa, and my brothers and I are under orders to protect you.”
These words sent further ripples of confusion through the crowd, which was still having difficulty accepting the fact that aliens existed, and furthermore, had not started probing them or swapping their internal organs with vegetables.  For a minute, nopony spoke.
Caramel held his breath, silently praying that the situation would not turn ugly.  Please don’t freak out.  Keep calm and listen to the giant armoured aliens.
“Why should we believe you?”
Oh horseapples.
The indignant voice was quickly joined by several more, none of them sounding particularly happy.
“Tell us why yer really here!”
“What the hay is a Tire-nid?”
“You can’t scare us!”
Braeburn’s smile was doing an admirable job of attempting to remain on his face, but it was fighting a losing battle.  “Everypony please jus’ calm down,” he said, but his voice was lost in the clamour.  “Uh, could y’all please listen ta these folks?”
Strabo was about to speak again when a gunshot rang out.  Not the powerful roar of a bolter, but the sharp crack of one of the ponies’ guns.  The bullet struck him in the shoulder pad and ricocheted off into the ground.
Now suitably irked, Strabo ignited his power sword, its light blue glow contrasting sharply with the warmer hues of his surroundings.
“ENOUGH!” he bellowed, his helmet amplifying his voice to frightening levels.  “ALL OF YOU, SILENCE!”
Everypony froze, too startled to even dive for cover.  Palmer, an orange-brown stallion and owner of the smoking rifle, stared in horror at the huge alien now brandishing a glowing, humming sword longer than a pony.  When he met Strabo’s glowing eye-lenses, his terrified eyes rolled back in his head and he flopped backward in a dead faint.
“I will overlook that as an accident.”  Strabo lowered his sword.  “Now if you would all calm down, I will explain what is happening to your world.”

For the second time in barely a day, Caramel listened to a being from another world explain that an alien invasion was happening.  And for the second time, he worried if Equestria would survive the coming storm.  After witnessing the Tyranids’ wild ferocity, he had honestly believed that his home was doomed.  A full battalion of Royal Guards had been reduced to only sixteen shell-shocked guardsponies in minutes.  Caramel himself had almost been eviscerated by the curved talons of a smaller Tyranid.
And then the Ultramarines had dropped out of the sky, quite literally in the cases of Sergeant Strabo and the other Assault Marines, to crush the Tyranids beneath their boots and grind what was left into the ground.  The unstoppable force of the swarm had met the immovable object of the 2nd Company.
“All seems a bit hard ta believe, dontcha think?”
Caramel turned to see Sheriff Silverstar standing next to him, a look of resignation on his face.
“Trust me, Sheriff,” Caramel said empathetically.  “If you had seen what I’ve seen, you still probably wouldn’t believe it.”
Strabo, standing in front of the train platform, had finished speaking and was busy answering questions from the crowd, which had remained quiet and polite, though probably out of fear.
“Not just the aliens,” Silverstar said.  “Ah’m talking ‘bout why this ‘Captain Sicarius’ decided that all of us were worth protectin’.”
“I still haven’t figured that out.”  Caramel’s gaze floated over to Ionius, who had not spoken a word since leaving his Typhoon.  “Seems to me that most of them don’t even want to be here.”
“Ah know what ya mean,” Silverstar replied.  “Ah can tell that this one don’t like us much.”
“You’re right.  Most of them act like we did something to offend them.”  Caramel’s thoughts turned back to events several hours earlier.  Specifically, watching Marcellus nearly kill Rainbow Dash.  “At least one of them downright hates us.”
“So why do they even bother helpin’ us?” Silverstar asked.  “If they have such a problem with us, why don’t they just kill us?”
“Sheriff, I can guarantee you; if the Captain wanted us dead, Ponyville would be a smoking crater right now.  So he obviously doesn’t want us dead.”
Silverstar shook his head in confusion.  “If he wants us alive, dontcha think that he might need us for somethin’?”
“I have no idea what,” Caramel responded with a shrug.  “I mean, what could we offer giant armoured aliens?  They certainly don’t need our help fighting.”
Silverstar did not answer, so the pair simply stood in silence for a minute.
Caramel’s mind was working overtime, tossing theories back and forth like baseballs.  Contrary to his forgetful nature, he could be quite the thoughtful colt when he wanted to be.
Finally, an idea dawned on him.  So blatantly simple, yet just as unlikely as any of his other thoughts.  It had been there all along; he had just not been able to believe it.
Silverstar was listening to Strabo try to explain what a “Termagant” was when he heard a soft muttering.  “What was that, Caramel?” he inquired.
“Maybe…” the stallion paused, brow furrowed in concentration.  “It sounds crazier than Pinkie Pie, but I don’t see what else it could be.”
“Then what is it?  Tell me.”
“Maybe… Sicarius just wants to protect us.”
Silence fell between the two stallions.  Both watched the ponies in the crowd, who listened to Strabo’s description of Tyranid Gargoyles with mixed expressions of fascination and fright.
“Ah hope fer all our sakes yer right, ‘Mel,” the Sheriff said solemnly.

Braeburn had hung onto Strabo’s each and every word for the past twenty minutes, and he feared for what was happening to Equestria.  These Tyranids are serious business, he thought.  What in the world could wipe out an entire guard battalion?
He had quickly moved past the disbelieving stage and was stuck worrying himself sick over what could happen next.  The armoured giants before him, plus the sticky black blood smeared on their armour and onto Applejack’s coat were more than sufficient proof for him, but that certainly did not go for everypony.  Frontiersponies, the Apple family in particular, were known for their legendary stubbornness.  Braeburn just hoped that they would believe the newcomers.
Over in the corner, Ionius stood silently while Strabo answered a steady stream of questions.  He had no problem with this, preferring to keep the ponies at arm’s length.  He was used to being feared by Imperial citizens or Guardsmen, who found Space Marines rather intimidating up close.  But these ponies were ridiculous.  Every pony that he had even spared a glance at had cowered in abject terror.  Being feared in this manner made him feel distinctly uncomfortable.  Furthermore he had no idea why it even bothered him, making him feel even more uncomfortable.
“Pardon me, big fella, but do ya mind if ah talk to ya fer a minute?”
Ionius looked downward to see the yellowish-tan pony identified as “Braeburn” looking up at him.  Rather perturbing was the fact that he displayed no signs of fear, only a friendly, inquisitive smile.  And for some reason that scared him.
“What do you want, pony?”
“Mah name’s Braeburn,” the still-smiling pony said.  “Yer Ionius, right?”
“Yes,” the Assault Marine replied brusquely, bracing himself for a barrage of inane questions.
“Ah ju’ wanted ta say ah’m mighty sorry fer shootin’ at ya earlier.”  Braeburn removed his expression, and to the shock of several nearby ponies, his grin vanished, replaced by an apologetic expression.  “Ah sure hope ah didn’t hurt ya none.”
Well that was unexpected, Ionius thought.  “Thank you,” he said hesitantly.  “Your aim is impressive for you to have made such a shot.”  He turned to display his right shoulder plate, which had lost some paint from the bullet.
“Well, thank you kindly,” Braeburn said, smiling in embarrassment.
Ionius spotted the rifle slung across the pony’s back.  “I did not expect to see firearms on this world.”  The Royal Guards back in Ponyville had all used crossbows and swords, but as far as he had observed, the level of technology in Equestria was stupefyingly inconsistent.
“We ain’t got many guns in Equestria.”  Braeburn unlimbered his rifle and held it lovingly.  “Hard ta make, an they tend ta break down.  Crossbows are more reliable, so the Royal Guards use ‘em instead.”  He eyed the massive holster on Ionius’s hip.  “What about you fellas?  Those are big guns you guys got.”
Braeburn’s eyes went wide with astonishment as the bolt pistol came out.  Its squarish body was matte-black while the rest of it was a polished silvery-grey.  Near its muzzle it bore a crux-shaped icon with a single spread wing.  It lacked a stock entirely and had an odd, protruding grip that looked better suited for the Ultramarines’ hands than for a pony’s hoof.  Jutting from its blocky forestock was a banana-shaped object that Braeburn supposed contained its ammunition.
“This is an Astartes Mark III bolt pistol,” Ionius said, a hint of pride in his voice.  “It weighs six kilograms and fires seventy-five calibre high-explosive shells semi-automatically.  It has an effective range of fifty metres and has a ten-round magazine.  This particular pistol has belonged to me for forty-nine years, and has accounted for at least five hundred foes, from Necron Scarabs to a Tyrannofex.  The shots punch through a target’s armour and detonate inside, blowing it apart from within.”  He racked the slide and looked at the awestruck stallion.  “Any questions?”
Braeburn looked at the gun longingly.  “Er, do ya mind if ah…”
Ionius felt a brief rush of anger at Braeburn’s unspoken request.  Permitting an alien to touch the sanctified technology of the Omnissiah was almost certainly blasphemous, and his immediate impulse was to demonstrate the bolt pistol’s stopping power by blowing the offending pony in half.
Though half of his mind urged him to rearrange the layout of Braeburn’s face, Ionius kept the weapon lowered.  We are not techno-zealots like the Iron Hands, he thought.  And it will be that much harder to protect the ponies if they do not trust us.
“Very well.”  He switched the safety on and held the gun grip-first to Braeburn.
With an excited light in his eyes, Braeburn reared onto his hind legs, adopting a bipedal stance.  Then, showing amazing dexterity for a being without opposable digits, he wrapped one hoof around the grip and supported the rest with his other.
“Whoa, nelly.”  His forelegs sagged as he tried to counterbalance the weighty weapon.  “This is one heavy gun.”
Ionius allowed himself a slight smile at the pony’s expense.  Still, Braeburn managed to balance himself and hold the bolt pistol as if it were a rifle.  The tip of his hoof fit squarely in the trigger guard.
“Ya can take a look at mah gun, ya know,” Braeburn said, craning to look down the sight.  “Only fair.”
Slightly taken aback, Ionius reached over and delicately picked up the pony firearm.  It felt like a twig in his gauntlet.  It appeared functionally identical to a human rifle, albeit a rather ancient one modified to be held with hooves.  Consequently Ionius could fit his fingers within its oversized trigger guard and lever.
Maxilos would certainly enjoy this, he thought as he ran a practiced eye across the gun.  It was a simple lever-action rifle with a tubular magazine containing about fifteen rounds.
“This is a quality weapon,” Ionius said approvingly, returning the gun to its owner.
“Thank you.”  Braeburn accepted his rifle and returned the bolt pistol.  An inspired look crept across his face and he grinned.  “Hey.  Ah got an idea.”  He leaned in conspiratorially, glancing to his sides.  “We’ve got a shootin’ range out by the orchard.  Wanna shoot some bottles?”
The suggestion took Ionius slightly by surprise, but he still felt relieved to be able to fire a weapon, even if he was only shooting bottles.  Furthermore it was another opportunity to earn the ponies’ trust.
“Not a bad idea.”  He holstered his pistol and followed Braeburn, who was once again grinning gleefully.  The pair drew a few confused looks, but any potential questions were defused by Braeburn’s cheerful demeanour and Ionius’s menacing size.  To the Ultramarine’s relief, Strabo was occupied by a cluster of ponies asking questions ranging from what Hormagaunts were to if they were allergic to lemon juice.
Wooden structures, Ionius thought as Braeburn led him down the main road.  Even less protection than the ones in Ponyville.  For the ponies’ sake, I hope that the Tyranids never discover this town.  That last thought took him aback.  Once again, he wondered why he had even volunteered for this mission.  At least back in Ponyville he could smite Tyranids and forget about colourful talking horses for a while.
Ionius considered himself a model Ultramarine, hating xenos just as much as his battle-brothers.  Suffer not the alien to live.  For almost two centuries he had lived by these words, and now, he was suddenly faced with a grey area.  Ponies were certainly not human, yet many aspects of their society were so human.  The Captain had passed his own judgment, but many of the 2nd Company were undoubtedly questioning his decision.
Disturbingly enough, Ionius found himself agreeing with Sicarius, despite having no clue as to his motivation.  The Tyranids were probably the greatest terror that Equestria had ever faced, and no being, human or otherwise, deserved to be Tyranid fodder.
“Well, here we are.”  Braeburn’s voice snapped Ionius from his moral ponderings to see a vacant, dirt field enclosed by a fence, the far side of which was lined with glass bottles.  “Try yer aim.”
In the blink of an eye, the bolt pistol was out of its holster and three bottles exploded.
Rubbing his eyes, Braeburn looked at the fence where the bottles used to be, then up at Ionius.  The Ultramarine held his pistol one-handed, and wisps of smoke still curled from its muzzle.
“That’s jus’ showin’ off!”  Braeburn flicked his safety off and took aim, setting his sights on a sarsaparilla bottle.  Holding his breath, he squeezed the trigger and smiled in satisfaction as his target shattered.  Not one to be shown up, he cocked his rifle and fired twice more, blowing two more bottles apart.
“Impressive.”  Ionius leaned down and picked up another bottle from a crate.  “What about a moving target?”  He flung the bottle airborne, allowed it to fly for a few seconds, and blew it out of the sky.
His smile disappeared as Braeburn bucked a crate into the air, sending bottles flying.  As the stallion spun to shoot the falling targets, he shot Ionius a challenging look.
His initial reaction was to balk at the pony’s audacity, but that was quickly overshadowed by a competitive thrill.  Beneath his helmet, Ionius matched Braeburn’s expression and kicked another crate upwards.  Without taking his eyes off the targets, he spoke to his opponent.
“It…is…on.”
Braeburn laughed and cocked his rifle.  “Go!” he shouted and began firing.
The sounds of a frontierspony’s rifle, a Space Marine’s bolt pistol, and the near-constant cacophony of shattering glass could be heard all across Appleloosa.

M41.996 16:35 (Equestria time) Ponyville, Equestria
War was not a clean affair.  Tyranids, whether dead or alive, seemed obsessed with making it as messy as possible.  Their corpses formed a bloody carpet that concealed the ground, as well as several Tyranids who lacked the good manners to stay dead.  A supposedly dead Warrior had torn a pair of Cloudsdale Guards and a few inquisitive civilians to shreds before Ultracius had smashed it repeatedly into the ground.
Twilight walked numbly down the Ultramarines’ defence line, trying not to look at the carnage laid out before her.  Tyranid corpses, or what was left of them, littered the fields between Ponyville and the Everfree Forest.  Everywhere she looked, an alien lay dead in a more gruesome fashion than the one that she had seen moments ago.
“Ohhhh.”  Rarity clasped a hoof to her mouth as her face turned green.  Her legs wobbled, prompting Spike to rush to her side to steady her, his expression full of legitimate worry.  “Thank you, Spike,” she said hoarsely after a few seconds of retching.
Fluttershy simply stared with dead eyes, her wings drooping at her sides.
“Fluttershy?  Are you okay?”  Pinkie nudged the pegasus, her usual carefree manner forgotten.
Oblivious to the pink pony, Fluttershy simply stared onward.
“It’s… just horrible,” Pinkie said.
Spike, still giving Rarity a supporting arm, nodded.  “I thought that the Ultramarines were really cool, but…” He paused, looking at a nearby Warrior cadaver that seemed to have been half melted into a puddle.  “I knew it would be like this, but I didn’t expect it to be like… this.”
“Look.”  Twilight’s voice drew the eyes of the group forward to a group of Ultramarines.  About two dozen others were kneeling while Captain Sicarius and Apothecary Venatio stood, looking down on something.
“Can you see what they’re doing?” Spike whispered.
Pinkie craned her neck, stretching it upward in a manner that did not seem physically possible.  “Nope,” she said.  “I can’t see anything.”
“Oh my.”  Everypony turned to Rarity, who pointed a hoof.  “Those are dead Ultramarines.”
Following the white unicorn’s hoof, Twilight spotted three massive forms lying on the cobblestone ground.  Each wore blue armour.
“Oh, my…” she whispered.  The three fallen Ultramarines were laid flat on the ground, arms folded across their chestplates in a peaceful manner.  As the ponies watched, Venatio leaned downward to one of the bodies.
“I think he’s saying something.”  The ponies crept forward, just in time to hear the white-armoured Space Marine speak.
“Pain and death are illusions of the weak mind,” he said, placing a palm on the helmet of one of the dead.  “While his gene-seed returns to the Chapter, a Marine cannot die.  Without death, pain loses its relevance.”
A sniffle from Fluttershy caught the attention of her friends, who turned to see her eyes brimming with tears.
“He that may fight, heal him,” Venatio continued. 
”He that may fight no more, give him peace.”  The apparatus on the back of his arm whirred and a small drill-like tool extended outward. 
”He that is dead, take from him the Chapter's due.”
Prayer complete, he drove the drill downward, where it bit through the chestplate and into the flesh.  A sharp cracking sound signaled that the drill had struck bone.  Twilight started at this disturbing act, but continued to watch in morbid fascination.  A few seconds later, Venatio withdrew the device, slick with blood.
“Just when we thought they couldn’t get any weirder.”  Everypony spun to see Rainbow Dash hovering near them, one of her hind legs wrapped in bandages.
“Rainbow Dash, shame on you!” Rarity hissed.  “Can’t you see that they’re mourning?  Show some respect!”
Rainbow snorted and landed.  “I don’t see them crying over any ponies.  Fifty Royal Guards died, and they don’t even care!”
Though she was loath to admit it, Rarity had to concede that Rainbow Dash had a point.  The Ultramarines were happy to have a ceremony for a mere three of their fallen brethren, but they did not even spare a thought for the dozens of guardsponies who had died in a matter of hours.
Venatio methodically performed his macabre procedure on the remaining bodies.  With the ground-shaking thud of many armoured boots striking them ground, all the Ultramarines stood, abruptly ending the brewing argument among the Element Bearers.
“Return to your posts,” Sicarius ordered.  “Make sure the ponies stay within our perimeter.”  These final words he spoke with unexpected venom, followed by a threatening glare towards the five mares and dragon.
Oh, no, Rarity thought as the Ultramarine Captain strode towards them, one hand on his sword hilt.  “Er, is there a problem, Captain?” she inquired, trying to keep her voice from wavering.
Sicarius’s blood-red helmet lenses bored into Rarity.  “Only if you create one.”  His glare shifted to Rainbow Dash.  “Did you think I could not hear you?”
Oh, horseapples.  “Uh, hear what?” she stammered.
“Don’t play a fool, pony,” Sicarius snapped.  “If you ever disrespect the Ultramarines again, I shall kill you myself.  Consider this your first and only warning.”
Rarity was taken aback at this threatening statement.  The calm, polite Ultramarine that she had made friendly small talk with only a few hours ago was revealing his true colours.
“Furthermore,” he continued.  “If you want to survive you will follow my commands without question.  I will not tolerate you getting in my way during battle.”
“Who put you in charge?”  Rainbow Dash zipped forward and floated at the Captain’s eye level.  “And whatever happened to ‘protecting Equestria’?  Did you just say that so you could take over?”
Sicarius leaned forward, almost knocking heads with Rainbow.  “Curb your insolence, pony.  My business here is with the Tyranids.  Their destruction is our priority, not saving every one of you.”
“Then why are you even helping us?” Rainbow challenged.  “Why not just leave us to die?”
“I…” Sicarius paused, searching for an explanation.  He had promised to protect Equestria, but why?  What had made him decide to spare the ponies from the horror of the Tyranids?
Miraculously, his train of thought, which was already stricken with mechanical failures, was interrupted by a massive belch from Spike.  Even more surprising than his volume was the vivid green gout of flame that blasted from his throat.  He snatched it out of the air and unfolded it, his eyes going wide as he read.
“The Tyranids are attacking Canterlot!” he cried, wisps of smoke curling from his mouth.
“What?”  Everypony yelped simultaneously.
No, this wasn’t supposed to happen, Twilight thought in a panic.  My parents, Shining Armour, Cadance, Celestia…
Ignoring the shocked ponies, Sicarius snapped to action.  “Aegeus, prepare the Gladius for immediate departure.  Lions, assemble at the landing zone.”  He strode off towards the town square, the ponies galloping in his wake.
With a flutter of wings, Princess Luna landed and galloped alongside Twilight.  “Twilight Sparkle!  What hath happened?  Why is the Captain in such a hurry?”
“Letter from Princess Celestia!” Spike responded for his sister.  “Tyranids are attacking Canterlot!”
“THIS IS A CRISIS!  SPEED YOUR HOOVES, MY LITTLE PONIES!”
Wincing at Luna’s professional wrestling announcer-worthy volume, everypony shot toward the town square.  The sight of the airborne Princess, four galloping Element Bearers and one bouncing Element Bearer, and one young dragon clinging to Twilight’s back for dear life would have normally caught dozens of confused stares, but given the events of the past five hours, nopony paid them excessive attention.
In a matter of seconds, the herd of ponies arrived at the town square, which the Ultramarines had converted into a staging ground.  A single hulking Thunderhawk Gunship sat among stacks of crates like a blue mountain.
“What the hay is going on?” Captain Stormcaller asked, having just arrived with his pegasus and earth pony counterparts.
“CAPTAIN!” Luna shouted, screeching to a halt before Sicarius.  “WE HATH LEARNED OF THE TYRANID ATTACK!  THOU MUST HURRY!”
Luna suddenly found herself facing down the barrel of multiple bolters before Sicarius waved his squad down.
“Oh,” Sidewinder said.
“Calm yourself, Princess,” Sicarius said.  “I have no intention of leaving the city to be devoured.”
Sergeant Marcellus approached Sicarius.  “Captain, if the Tyranids have dispatched forces to the capital, then the bio-ship in the forest is vulnerable.  We may not have another chance to destroy it!”
“You would abandon innocents to the Tyranids?” boomed Maccabeus, shaking the ground with each footfall.
“Nobody is innocent; there are merely varying degrees of guilt,” Marcellus quoted defiantly.  “They are xenos, and the galaxy would be better for their deaths.”
Fluttershy felt her eyelid twitch at the Terminator’s blind intolerance.  He’d leave us all to die, just because we’re not humans?
“I simply cannot believe this!”  Marcellus’s attention was drawn to Rarity, who threw him a disgusted look.  “You are supposed to be mighty heroes, but you refuse to save helpless ponies?  Shame on you!”
Taking a deep breath, Marcellus managed to keep his temper from boiling over.  Losing control of his anger again, this time in the presence of Sicarius, Argus, and Maccabeus would not end well.
His eyes turned to Sicarius, daring him to act.  “Well, Captain?  What is our course of action?”
The Captain met Marcellus’s gaze unwaveringly.  “Sergeant, you may not be one of the 2nd, but I expect you to follow my judgment nevertheless.”
The two Ultramarines stood face-to-face, locked in wordless, unmoving combat.  Everyone present remained utterly silent, waiting for one of the two titans to back down.
Judgment? Marcellus thought.  His “judgment” led over a hundred Ultramarines through the warp!  We all seek vengeance for Macragge, but this is madness!
I cannot let this happen, Sicarius thought desperately.  This damned zealot keeps forcing confrontation.  It is only a matter of time before I cannot dodge the question any longer.
Nobody spoke.  Nobody moved, though Pinkie was sweating profusely at having to remain still for so long.
Finally, shattering the silence like a stained-glass tennis racket, Dannelos cleared his throat and stepped between his brothers.  “This is a distraction,” he said, raising his hands as if holding two combatants apart.  “While you two argue, the Tyranids are on the move.”
This guy’s got balls, Rainbow thought, staring in amazed admiration.
With an angry growl, Marcellus spun and stormed off, cursing Sicarius.  The sight of his back retreating triggered collective sighs of release from everypony, most notably Pinkie, who instantly began spewing a punctuation-free barrage of words.
“Wow I was quiet for a really long time that big guy sure is a big old meany-pants hmm that name actually makes sense now because he actually wears pants kind of and he’ll be back…”
“And everything is back to normal.”  Dannelos grinned and glanced at Pinkie.  “Relatively speaking.”
“Normal has a different definition here,” Spike said.
“Captain, what is your plan?” Luna asked.
Sicarius slapped a fresh energy cell into is plasma pistol.  “The attack on Canterlot is a diversion.  I will take two squads to Canterlot to repel the raid.”  He turned to Maccabeus.  “Ancient, you have command until I return.”
“This town shall not fall as long as I stand, Captain.”  The Dreadnought plodded away, picking his path through a throng of crates.
“Lions and Hammer, prepare to depart.”  As Daceus and Tirian led their squads onto the Thunderhawk, Sicarius felt a nudge by his knee.  He looked down to see Twilight standing there.  “What is it?”
“Captain,” she began swallowing in nervousness.  “I want to come with you.  My family lives in Canterlot, and I’d never forgive myself if they…” she broke off, tears welling in her eyes at the mere thought of what she had been about to say.
“Then I’m coming too.”  Spike put a comforting hand on Twilight’s shoulder.  “You’re gonna stop by the Canterlot Library, and someone is gonna have to carry all your books.”  Twilight smiled in thanks.
Before Sicarius could dismiss the purple unicorn, Rarity trotted up beside her.  “If they are going, then I insist that I come as well.  I couldn’t possibly let my dearest friends run off into danger!”  Spike’s eyes brightened considerably at these words.
“And I’m coming too!”  Rainbow floated above the two unicorns and dragon.  “These three will need somepony to watch their backs.”
With simultaneous, comical shrugs, Stormcaller and Sidewinder joined the growing group.  “I’ll watch your back anytime, Miss Dash,” Sidewinder said with what he thought was a flirtatious grin.
“If he’s gonna be doing that all day long, then I am definitely staying here,” Mason said as he and Nimbus cringed.
Fluttershy bore an adorably apologetic expression.  “I’m so sorry, but I… just…”
“Oh that’s all right Fluttershy!  We can stay here and help with the animals and make food for the guards and Ultramarines!”  With a burst of confetti, Pinkie shot towards Sergeant Vorolanus and stared him dead in the eye.  Without blinking, she held her face inches from his helmet.  “Do you like waffles?”
Sicarius allowed himself a small smile at the ponies’ antics.  “I was about to say something, but I changed my mind.  Get on board the Gladius and we shall leave.”
With a yelp of realization, Rarity galloped off.  “I just need to pack a few things!”
“I’ll help you!” Spike said hurriedly as he rushed off after her.
“Oh, great.”  Rainbow rolled her eyes.  “I hope this flying brick can carry the entire Carousel Boutique.”
Dannelos emerged from behind the massive craft.  “Captain, the Techmarines have finished their rites.  Both our Stormtalon Gunships are armed and operational.”
“Excellent.  We will need the air support.”
The Veteran strode off towards a pair of new craft, followed by a curious Rainbow.
“What the hay?”  Dannelos turned to see a hilarious expression of stunned disbelief on Rainbow’s face.  “Don’t tell me those things fly.”
“Of course they do,” Dannelos replied.
“That doesn’t seem physically possible.”  To Rainbow, the “Stormtalons” looked less aerodynamic than a train.  Big Macintosh probably had a better chance of flying by flapping his legs.  I would pay to see that.
With a chuckle, Dannelos climbed into the squat craft and started the ignition sequence.  Maneuvering jets on its underside fired, lifting the ship gently off the pavement.
“Go, on.  I believe you were saying something amusing.”
With a roll of her eyes, Rainbow headed back to the Gladius, where Rarity and Spike had just returned, the latter straining under the weight of two overstuffed suitcases.
“Do you really need that much?” Twilight asked, levitating the luggage out of the arms of a grateful, sore dragon.
“Well, I couldn’t possibly go to Canterlot without some formal wear,” Rarity admonished, carrying a set of saddlebags toward the Gladius.
After a brief exchange between the Guard Captains, the Element Bearers, Spike, and the surviving Canterlot Royal Guards trotted up the ramp into the gaping maw of the Thunderhawk.
Twilight gaped at the cavernous expanse before her.  Every surface in the troop bay was burnished grey metal, covered with racks of weaponry, glowing screens, and massive benches with crash harnesses.  On opposite walls were massive blast doors big enough for four or five ponies to walk in side by side.  The ceiling was easily five times her height, and bore dull yellow lighting strips that filled the compartment with a gentle light.  Standing in the middle of the huge alien craft made her feel very small indeed.
Noticing the two squads of Ultramarines already strapped in and ready to go, Stormcaller motioned the guardsponies forward, where they awkwardly fastened buckles and hung in odd sitting positions.
“Techmarine, take us up.”
An abrupt rumble shook the Thunderhawk and the growing roar of its powerful engines filled the interior.  Rainbow Dash fidgeted uncomfortably in her harness.  Rarity withdrew a small paper fan from her saddlebags and fanned herself furiously.
After a few seconds of squeezing his eyes shut, Spike finally looked up.  “Did we take off yet?”
“We have been airborne for seventeen point nine-one-six seconds,” the pilot’s voice droned from the cockpit.  “ETA to Canterlot: three point four-seven-seven minutes.”
Sicarius turned to Twilight.  “Does the message say anything specific?”
Twilight produced the scroll from her saddlebag and scanned it.  “Princess Celestia says that Canterlot is under attack by swarms of Tyranid flyers.  There’s too many of them for the Royal Guards to handle.”
“Brothers!”  Sicarius caught an angry expression from Rainbow.  “And ponies.  We will be landing in a warzone, possibly under fire.  The Gladius will retreat as soon as we have offloaded supplies, and the Stormtalons will provide close air support.  Devastators, spread out and find vantage points.  Lions, with me.  We shall sweep the city clean of these invaders.”
“Hey, what about us?” Rainbow asked irritably.  “We’re not useless!”
“Of course you’re not useless,” Sergeant Tirian said smoothly.  “You make a very effective diversion.”
“Captain Stormcaller, you and your troops link up with any surviving Canterlot Guards.  Find your Princess and protect her.”  Sicarius looked at the three mares and dragon.  “You four.  Stay out of trouble.  Any questions?”
Rainbow Dash shifted in her harness.  “Yeah.  Are we there yet?”

M41.996 17:10 (Equestria time) Canterlot, Equestria
Dozens of disgusting, black-shelled beetles hissed through the air and splattered against General Shining Armour’s kite shield, sending another spike of pain through his foreleg.  Behind him, his fellow Canterlot Royal Guards mimicked his stance, forming a metal barrier against the rain of beetles from the Tyranid flock.
Hearing a lull in the foul barrage, Shining barked out an order to the platoon.  “Crossbows!  Now!”  A volley of crossbow bolts hissed forward into the swarm, killing a dozen of the bat-like creatures.  “Advance!”  Locking their shields forward, the guardsponies walked towards the remaining Tyranids.  Outnumbered, the four survivors scuttled along the walls and floors and took flight from one of the Royal Palace’s massive balconies.
“Golden Dawn, take your squad to the southeastern tower.  Summer Gale, sweep the northern wing and round up any survivors.  Rest of you, follow me.”
The platoon split into three groups and separated.  As Shining led his detachment, he heard a slight whimpering noise from behind a splendid red curtain.  Raising his sword, he motioned for his troops to cover him and yanked the rich fabric back.
Hiding behind the curtain was Private Windy Fields, cowering behind his hooves.  He bore no signs of injury, though his bleached white coat was drenched with copious amounts of blood.
“Windy, are you alright?” Shining asked, his voice gentle and low so not to frighten the earth pony any further.
“No no no no no no…” Windy babbled, shaking uncontrollably.  “They’re everywhere!  Get them off me!”  He lunged forward unexpectedly, springing to his hooves and looking fearfully in all directions.
Shining grasped the young Private around his shoulders and stared into his eyes.  “Private, get it together!  I’m going to get us all out of this!”
“No no no it’s too late, we’re all gonna die like Strawberry Skies!”
A heavy, cold feeling spawned within Shining’s heart.  Corpspony Strawberry Skies had been a medic in Windy’s squad and a very close friend of his.  The two had been inseparable, even during battle.
Which made it that much more horrific when Strawberry took a burst of the lethal beetles dead in the breastplate, ripping through the metal and tearing her throat open.  The blood caking Windy was not his own.
Oh, dammit.  I can’t take this anymore, Shining thought as the icy stiletto of failure slipped into his heart.  Losing soldiers, no, ponies, was physically painful to think about.  So he tried not to, but seeing Windy shocked and traumatized brought the excruciating pain of failure back.
Pushing the pain aside, he looked into the earth pony’s tear-streaked eyes.  “Windy, I know it hurts.  Losing so many of you is killing me.  But we can’t break down now.  I need you, now.”
Windy simply whimpered again and curled into a fetal position.  Shining sighed and slung him over his back, where he fell silent.
“We have to get him to the medics.”  Slinging his shield up his foreleg, he led his detachment up a gleaming marble staircase.  The guardsponies had set up a triage center in the Palace throne room.  Ponies in bloodstained uniforms rushed back and forth carrying bags of medical equipment and ponies on stretchers.  The medics of Canterlot were some of the best, but casualties were pouring in at a disturbing pace, bearing horrendous injuries.
“We’ll take him from here, General,” a medic said, taking Windy’s limp form.
“Shining!”  The guard General turned to see a slender pink alicorn rushing towards him.
“Cadance!” he called and met his wife’s embrace.
“Thank heavens you’re alright!” she said, kissing him lovingly.
Noticing the awkward looks of his troops, Shining decided to ignore them and returned his wife’s kiss.  “Guard the entrance,” he ordered them with a laugh.
As Shining broke his embrace, his coat came away sticky with blood.  The source of the mess revealed itself as Cadance’s formerly white doctor’s coat.
“It’s not going well,” she said, anticipating his question.  “Half the cases are dead before we get to them, and the rest won’t be on their hooves for a long time.”
“This’ll teach those bloody nobles to not believe Princess Celestia,” Shining growled.
“Give them some credit,” Cadance said.  “After all, who expected this?”  She waved a hoof at the carnage before them.  “Alien invasions?  I didn’t believe her at first.”
“Princess?  Could use a hoof here.”
“Coming!”  Cadance turned back to Shining.  “I’ve got my work cut out for me.”  She leaned in close, barely an inch away from his face.  “Stay safe.  I don’t want to have to patch you up.”
Shining smiled and gave her a gentle peck on the lips.  “You won’t get rid of me that easily.”
With a warm smile of her own, Cadance trotted over to one of the patients.  Shining sighed fondly as she left.
“Whoa there loverboy.”  He spun to see Lieutenant Summer Gale grinning at him.
“General!”  Shining was interrupted from reprimanding Gale by a hurtling pegasus, who barely avoided crashing headlong into him.
“What is it Private?”
The guardspony panted heavily.  “Another swarm of ‘em!  Pushing hard at the western ramparts!”
Shining shouted for his troops.  “Platoon!  Western ramparts!  Move!”  With a clunking of armour, the seventeen ponies bolted into action and charged after their General.
The platoon left the throne room in a blur, galloping through the entrance hall.  Startled citizens leapt out of the way left and right.  Gale nearly clotheslined a classy-looking unicorn with a top hat and monocle with his wing.  The startled noble stumbled backward and tripped, landing squarely in a large fountain.
Shining emerged onto the ramparts just in time to hear a piercing alien shriek.  Throwing himself to the side, he evaded the swiping claws of a smaller Tyranid.
“Stand fast, soldiers!  Hold the line!”  Crossbow bolts shot outward, striking many of the screeching Tyranids and sending them plummeting thousands of feet down the palace walls and down the mountain.  But the aliens fought hard.  Salvoes of beetles ripped through the guardsponies’ armour with alarming effectiveness.  One unicorn was beset by three of the smaller creatures, which lifted him airborne and began tearing him limb from limb.
“General!  Thank Celestia!”  Sergeant Trail Blazer dashed forward to Shining.  “These things are everywhere!  And my unicorns are having trouble with their magic.”
“Then it’s my turn,” Shining said, his horn igniting with a purple glow.  But almost as soon as it started the magic aura fizzled and faded, a few lonely sparks flying off the end of his horn.  Confused, he redoubled his efforts, only for a splitting pain to explode through his skull, driving him to his knees with its abruptness.  He had not felt this kind of headache since the Changeling Invasion.
“Incoming!  Scatter!”
Grimacing from the pain, Shining looked up in time to see a trio of the medium-sized aliens flying toward him in formation, grubs spewing from the odd conical weapons melded to their limbs.  He dropped flat, but seconds too late.  The first group of grubs clipped his helmet and detonated in a burst of acid.
His head spinning from the impact, he jumped back to his feet and aimed his crossbow with a forehoof.  A single bolt whizzed out and struck his attacker in a hind leg as they veered off.
“Sir!” Trail Blazer yelled.  “Lose your helmet!”
Horrified realization struck Shining and he immediately grabbed his helmet.  Ignoring the buckles, he simply ripped it off and flung it to the ground.  Its formerly regal purple finish was slick with a steaming, greenish fluid that ate though the paint.  His forehooves and the skin of his face felt raw and burnt where they had come into contact with the acid.
“They’re coming around for another pass!” a unicorn called out.
“Platoon!  Load up!” Shining barked in his best parade ground voice.  “Hold fire until my command!”
Guardsponies quickly formed ranks and loaded their crossbows.  Off in the distance, the trio of flyers swung around and began another strafing run.
“Hold!”  Nervousness rippled through the ranks as ponies remembered the gruesome deaths of their comrades.
“HOLD!”  Sweat dripped down a dozen brows.  The Tyranids closed in.
“Sir?” a guardspony shouted.  The aliens were almost in range.
“FIRE!” Shining roared, pulling the trigger of his crossbow.  A flurry of bolts erupted outward.
With a roar and a thunderous bang, one of the three flyers exploded.  Its torso simply blew apart; limbs spiraling off in random directions.
“What?”  Both the guardsponies and the Tyranids seemed equally surprised by the sudden, explosive kill.  Seconds later, a teeth-rattling chugging sound filled the air, along with blazing yellow streaks of flame that ripped into the remaining aliens and tore them apart.
Following the bright streaks burned into his retinas, Shining turned to see something he did not expect.
Ten new aliens stood arrayed behind his platoon, each wearing huge blue and gold armour and bearing weapons larger than a pony.  They were bipedal, each standing about three times as tall as Shining.  Not an inch of fur or skin could be seen, making them seem like huge statues.  Two of their giant weapons spewed a constant stream of yellow flame, while another pair of tube-shaped devices expelled plumes of smoke and fire.  Within seconds, their sheer volume of fire had broken the back of the Tyranid assault and the surviving aliens broke off.
“Holy manure!”  A lone crossbow twanged and a bolt shot out towards the newcomers.  It struck the lead titan in the knee and glanced off harmlessly.
“Was that supposed to hurt?”  It took the guardsponies a moment to realize that the deep, mechanical voice had come from the alien.  Panic rose among the ranks.  Several ponies hesitantly aimed their crossbows.
“Who is in charge here?” another alien asked.
Dread flowing through him like freezing flame, Shining stepped forward.  “I am.  General Shining Armour, Commander of the Equestrian Royal Guard.”
“I am Sergeant Tirian of the Ultramarines 2nd Company.  Captain Sicarius requires your presence at the southern garden.”  The Sergeant waved several of his squadmates forward to take positions along the ramparts. 
“Wait,” Shining said, approaching the alien.  “What is going on?  Who are you and what are you doing here?”
“My squad will hold this sector.  You must go, now.”
Whoever this “Captain Sicarius” is, he’s got a lot of questions to answer.  “Right,” Shining said grimly.  “Trail Blazer.  Hold your position, and stay out of their way.”
“Sir, are you insane?”  The earth pony looked up nervously at the huge armoured figure standing beside him.  Ignoring Trail Blazer, the alien hefted his huge weapon and sprayed rippling suppressive fire into the regrouping Tyranids.  “Who the hay are these guys?  And why should we trust them?”
“For a start, they’re not shooting at us.”  Shining glanced around at the newly formed defensive line.  “Look, I have no idea what’s going on, but whoever they are, they put up a damn good fight.  I’ll figure out what’s going on.  You don’t need to trust them.  Trust me.”
Confidence thus gained, Trail Blazer nodded.  “I…understand.”
Nodding in reply, Shining cantered back into the palace, heading towards the gardens.

Well this is just great.  Finally get out of that stupid flying thing, and I still can’t fly.  Rainbow Dash shot an angry glare at the Thunderhawk, which occupied over half the huge garden.  Fluttershy would probably be freaking out right about now, she thought, noticing the craft’s massive landing gear that had probably displaced who knew how many small, adorable animals.
As soon as the gunship had landed, the Lions of Macragge, Guilliman’s Hammer, and Stormcaller’s guardsponies split up, the command squad and ponies clearing the gardens and the Devastators rushing to the palace walls.  Several Ultramarines remained, offloading crates of weaponry.
Rarity was having difficulty just getting out of the troop bay.  The Gladius’s ramp had opened so that anybody getting out would have to walk straight through a large duck pond.  Simple enough, but where Rarity was concerned, a red carpet should have been in order.
“Come on Rarity!” Twilight called.  “It’s just a little water!”
“Have you any idea what ‘just a little water’ would do to my complexion?  Besides, there were ducks in there!”
“There’s no ducks here!”
“Then why is it called a duck pond?”
Resolution came in the form of Apothecary Venatio, who simply lifted Rarity off her hooves and carried her, squirming all the way, down the ramp and onto dry grass.  Her filled-to-bursting suitcases flew out after her shortly thereafter, one landing on Spike.
Captain Sicarius and Company Champion Prabian stood at a quickly established command post with Princess Celestia.  Captains Stormcaller and Sidewinder joined the group, waiting for the arrival of General Shining Armour.
“And the nobles did not believe you?” Sicarius was asking Celestia.
“Sadly, no.”  The white alicorn shook her head.  “Though I suppose they can hardly be blamed.  Nopony wants to believe that their world is ending.”
“To question is to doubt,” Prabian quoted.  “And doubts rule the minds of the weak.”
“Whatever opinions you have formed about them, I believe we will have the support of the nobles in the aftermath of this.”
Around the corner came Private Tulip, accompanied by a helmetless unicorn wearing brilliant purple armour with a gold trim.  His snowy white coat was marred by several bloodstains and acid-singed patches.
“Princess?” he asked, throwing a worried look in the Ultramarines’ direction.  “Captains?  I… what in Tartarus is going on?”
“General, there is no time for pleasantries,” Sicarius said.  “One breach in your defences and the city will fall.”
Shining stared at the Captain, still confused.  “Whoever you are, I assume you have a plan?”
“Yes.”  Sicarius tapped some keys on the hololith, projecting an image of Canterlot.  “Canterlot,” he said plainly.
“Canterlot?”  Shining asked incredulously.
“Canterlot,” Stormcaller said.
“It’s only a model.”  Sicarius pressed another key and the image zoomed in to the city’s western edge.  “The western side of the city is being overrun.  Tirian’s Devastators can hold the walls, but we must be prepared to counter flanking attacks.”
Shining scanned the projection.  “There are literally hundreds of possible entrances for flyers.  Many of these ‘Tyranids’ have already slipped through our defences using windows and balconies and such.  How can you hold a city with only eight soldiers?”
“General, you obviously need to see these guys in action,” Sidewinder chuckled.
Sicarius cleared his throat.  “My squad will sweep the city of intruders.  Our Stormtalons will patrol the skies and intercept flanking attacks.”
Shining was about to ask what Stormtalons were when a whooshing roar filled the gardens.  A pair of small, brilliant blue craft swept overhead and came to a hover several dozen feet above.
“Captain, we’ve spotted multiple Shrikes approaching from the south,” Dannelos’s voice buzzed over the vox-station.  “Permission to intercept?”
“Granted.  Shatter their sky, brother.”  Angling their jets, the bulky gunships shot away.
“Stormcaller and Sidewinder.”  The two captains perked up.  “Take your squad and sweep the palace.  Get any civilians to safety.”  With quick nods the two officers galloped off with their troops.  Sicarius turned to Shining.  “General.  What is the quickest way to the city from here?”
“Follow the staircases down to the entrance hall,” Shining said, tracing a path on the hologram.  “The palace exit leads to the Upper District.”
“Good.  Link up with your troops and join us as soon as possible.”  Sicarius unsheathed his sword and strode off, his squad following in his wake.
Shining’s jaw hung slack as the blue aliens disappeared into the palace.  “What just happened?”
“Don’t worry.  It was the same for us.”
“Twiley!”  Shining spun to see his little sister and Spike standing behind him.  Rushing forward, he crushed her smaller frame in a hug.  “You’re alright!  I couldn’t stop worrying!”
“Shiny, please.” Twilight croaked.  “Not when you’re in your armour.”
He hastily released her, smiling in awkward apology.  “Sorry about that.”  Finally noticing Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Spike, he extended a hoof in greeting.  “Hey girls.  And guy.”
“Pleasure to see you again, General,” Rarity said.  Rainbow grinned.  Spike grunted out something just before his knees buckled under the weight of Rarity’s luggage.
Shining’s expression switched from friendly to serious mode.  “All four of you, go to the throne room.  Cadance is there, and it’s probably the safest place in the palace right now.  I want you to stay there until this is over.”
Rainbow cocked an eyebrow.  “Let me get this straight.  I was just stuck in a flying tin can for hours, and now you’re telling me I still can’t fly?”
Spike emerged from a pile of bathrobes.  “Rainbow, we were only in the gunship for five minutes.”
“Well it felt like hours!”
Twilight looked her brother straight in the eye.  “Shiny, we came here because we want to help!  I was just as worried about you as you were for me!”
“Twilight, I’m not arguing about this!”  Shining’s voice rose sternly.  “This is life or death.  I’ve already lost too many friends.  Don’t make me add my only sister to the list!”  His voice broke and gradually became slightly hysterical.
“General.”  Celestia’s soothing voice flowed through the air.  “If anypony can take care of herself here, it’s your sister.  She fought these monsters in Ponyville.  I have full confidence in her abilities.”
Rarity nodded supportively.  “When we had to save ponies in the library, your sister fought back dozens of the horrid things!  We all did!”
“Yeah!  And I bucked one right in the face!”  Rainbow landed on her hind legs and showed off some karate skills.
“Shiny, I want to help,” Twilight pleaded.  “It’s dangerous here, but I know that!  That’s why I’m here!”
In the face of his sister’s eagerness and courage, Shining’s protectiveness faltered.  “I… Twiley,” he stammered, before wrapping her in another crushing hug.  “Please.  Just stay safe.”  Finally letting her go, he adjusted his shield.  “Let’s go.  We’ve got ponies to save.”
“And aliens to buck upside the head!”
The four ponies galloped off, leaving Spike in the dust with Rarity’s suitcases.  “Uh, guys?  Rarity?  What do I do with your bags?  Where are you going?”  He groaned in resignation.  “Why do they always do that?”

M41.996 17:18 (Equestria time) Ponyville, Equestria
Big Macintosh grunted as he hauled a cart full of apples, farming tools, and wood down the road from Sweet Apple Acres.  Occasional dead Tyranids lay sprawled across the ground in various gruesome conditions.  One corpse was split open like a watermelon.
He reached out and pulled the Cutie Mark Crusaders to his other side.  “Ya don’t need ta see that,” he said, his voice gentle but firm.
“Ewww.”  Apple Bloom wrinkled her nose.  “They sure do smell somethin’ lousy.”
Sweetie Belle could not answer, as she was holding a hoof to her mouth, trying not to vomit.
Remind me why ah let them come with, Big Mac thought.
Because you wanted to keep a close eye on Apple Bloom, a voice in his head said.  Not your fault her little friends came with.  Now you’ve got three curious fillies to protect from the Tyranids.
The Tyranids aren’t what ah’m worried ‘bout.
Saviours though they were, Big Mac still did not trust the Ultramarines any further than he could throw them.  War was not foreign to ponies, but the sheer scale of the destruction wrought by the Ultramarines and Tyranids was staggering.  Equestria was caught in events greater than anypony could comprehend.
They’ll burn all ‘o Equestria ta the ground havin’ their war.  Ah’m keeping mah family as far away from them as possible.
After a few minutes, Big Mac reached the Ponyville schoolhouse.  The red, wooden structure sat on top of a small grassy knoll surrounded by a fence.  All around it, the fillies and colts of Ponyville Elementary galloped around the playground, giggling excitedly.  With eager squeals, the Cutie Mark Crusaders hopped off of his cart and back to join their classmates.  Big Mac smiled warmly at the sight.
That smiled died an abrupt death as his eyes moved to the ten Terminators standing guard nearby.  As he passed by, two sets of massive, claw-like blades sprang out of the gauntlets of one Terminator.  He winced as he involuntarily imagined those blades slicing through flesh.
“Greetings, Big Macintosh.”  For the third time, he winced at Maxilos’s grating voice.  “Observation: you have acquired the necessary supplies.”
“Eeyup,” Big Mac said, dumping off a load of wooden planks.  In a blur, Maxilos’s many arms shot out and seized several boards.
“Fibrous plant matter.  Minimal use as armour,” he droned, placing one of the boards on the fence and fixing it in place with a massive rivet gun.  Big Mac huffed in irritation.
His irritation disappeared as Fluttershy came around the corner, the setting sun framing her slender form.  A smile crept onto his face as she trotted towards him.
Her mouth opened, and the sweetest, most gentle voice he had ever heard emerged.  “Hello Big Macintosh.”
Blushing invisibly under his red coat, Big Mac cleared his throat.  “Good afternoon, Miss-”
“Alert: I have detected a rise in your body temperature, accompanied by increased heart and respiratory rates.  Query: is something wrong?”
Both ponies jumped at Maxilos’s sudden arrival.  The Techmarine stood just behind the red stallion, a large blue crate sitting beside him.
Darn it.  “Nnnope.”  Perfect timin’, big guy.
“Recommendation: all ponies should relocate to somewhere closer to the town center.  The town perimeter will be hazardous.”  Maxilos tapped some controls on the crate, which whirred and sprang open.  Within was an oddly-shaped contraption with several antennas protruding from the top.  Big Mac gulped as he spied two wide barrels poking out of the armoured blue casing.
“Yer bringin’ more ‘o those guns here?” he asked.
“Affirmative.  Though the majority of the 2nd Company’s armoury has not yet been delivered.  Current inventory consists of twenty-five Tarantula-pattern sentry guns, three Thunderfire Cannons-”
“Ya know,” Big Mac interrupted.  “Ya might save Equestria, but yer gonna blow it up in the process.”
Blissfully unaware of the destruction that the Ultramarines could unleash upon Equestria, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were happily tossing tennis balls back and forth.  Scootaloo in particular was having fun juggling three balls with her wings.
“Neat trick, Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle said approvingly.
“Thanks,” the orange pegasus replied somewhat glumly.  “It stinks that I can do awesome stuff like that, but I still can’t fly.”
“Ah, don’t feel bad Scootaloo.”  Apple Bloom put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder.  “Yer gonna figure it out someday.”
“Thanks…whoops!”  While in the process of hugging Apple Bloom, Scootaloo dropped one of the tennis balls, which rolled down the hill and out the gate.  The three fillies looked at each other for a second, then shot off in pursuit.
“Wait!” Cheerilee called as the fillies galloped through the gate.  “Girls, stop!”
“Don’t worry, Cheerilee.”  Fluttershy trotted up alongside the magenta pony.  “I know how to deal with them.”
“How can a ball be this fast?”
“It’s rollin’ left!”
With a muffled pop, a huge armoured foot came down on the ball.  The Cutie Mark Crusaders hit the brakes.  Meaning they smacked headlong into the owner of the foot.
“Ow!  Scootaloo!  Why didn’t ya stop?”
“I couldn’t!  We had too much uh… inner-shuh?  Is that what it’s called?”
“Inertia is a property of matter.”
“What are you, a dictionary?”
The brewing argument was ended by a deep growl from Sergeant Marcellus, who did not take kindly to the three fillies sitting against his boot.
“What are you doing?” he barked.  “Answer me!”
“We…we were jus’ gettin’ our ball…”
“No,” Marcellus snapped.  “None of you are permitted outside our perimeter.”
“Why not?”  Scootaloo looked up in defiance.  “There’s no bug-aliens here!  We go on this road all the time!  What’s the big deal?”
“Silence!”  The trio cowered in fear.  “You will not defy me.  Get back where you belong.”
“Oh, uh, um… Mister Marcellus?”  The Sergeant spun to see Fluttershy hovering close by.  “I’m so sorry to bother you, but these three are very sorry for breaking the rules.  They didn’t even know!  So, um… could you please, just let them leave?”
He was about to respond when he felt something beneath his boot.  Lifting his foot up, he saw the flattened shape of the tennis ball wobbled slightly, then disappear into the shaking dirt.
“Brothers!  To arms!”
As the words left his mouth, the dirt road beneath his feet split open, sending a fountain of mud into the air.  Squeals of fear and surprise from the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Fluttershy were drowned out by an inhuman, hair-rising hiss.
Emerging from the depths of the earth was a Tyranid Ravener, its thick, sinuous coils whipping into motion as it shot forward, razor blades outstretched.
Finally, something to kill!  Igniting his powerfist, Marcellus smashed its thorax in a head-on charge.
All around him, plumes of earth blasted into the air as more Raveners burst forth.  The Terminators responded quickly, bringing bolter and hammer to the invaders.  Tychus leapt upward and brought his hammer down in a two-handed smash upon a Ravener, driving it straight back down into its pit.
“Everypony, get inside the schoolhouse!” Cheerilee yelled, herding the children back indoors.  “Apple Bloom!  Sweetie Belle!  Scootaloo!  Where are you?”
The three fillies in question scattered across the road, screaming all the while, as Fluttershy shot by overhead, trying to locate them.
“Girls!” she called.  “Where are you?”  Her voice was lost among the staccato rattling of the Terminators’ bolters and the howls of the Tyranids.  Abruptly she caught a glimpse of lilac hair zipping around, trying to avoid the tunneling horrors.
Sweetie Belle shot towards the school gates, barely dodging Lucius’s boot.  A spontaneous explosion of dirt blew her onto her back, giving her a dazzling view of the sky.  It was very pretty, until a volley of deathspitter grubs whizzed through the picture and a Terminator stomped by on the left.
She clambered to her hooves, only to be faced by a small Tyranid that had emerged from the tunnel created by its larger comrade.  Her eyes went wide as it pounced, almost like Opalescence attacking a defenseless mouse.  Scrambling backward, her rear hooves struck something and she tipped backward, falling into a small pit.  The Tyranid flashed by overhead.
“Phew,” she managed.  “Lucky this pit was here.  I wonder where it came…from.”  She looked down into the depths of the all-too-convenient pit, where dozens of beady, soulless eyes glinted in the darkness.  “HELP!”
In a pink and yellow flash, Fluttershy shot down into the pit, scooped up Sweetie Belle, and flew out, leaping Hormagaunts slashing at her tail.
Behind Alcaeus’s armoured legs, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo watched the battle raging.  The Terminator’s huge claws ripped through a pair of scything Hormagaunts while his foot punted one several dozen metres into the air.
“Get ‘im!”
“Left!  No, right!”
“Duck!”
Stop trying to help me! Alcaeus thought furiously, severing the spine of a Ravener.
Big Macintosh galloped through the gates and straight into the melee.  Time ta show these aliens how we do it on the farm!  Spinning around with surprising agility, he launched his rear hooves out in a tree-splitting buck.  The Tyranid made a satisfying crunch as his hooves crunched its exoskeleton.
A series of badly timed combat tips drew his attention to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, who stood behind one of the Terminators, shouting words of encouragement
“Big ‘un on the left!”
“Watch out for the little guys!”
“Stop helping me!” Alcaeus yelled in exasperation, parrying a bonesword with his left claw and severing the arm with his right.  A Hormagaunt landed upon his chestplate and scrabbled at his helmet, but he seized it by the tail and swung it around before smacking the crippled Ravener across the face with it.  Spinning left, he was bemused to see several more gaunts lying dead on the ground.
“Look out!” a deeper, baritone voice called.  Spinning back, he backhanded another Hormagaunt across the head.
Standing at his side in an aggressive, powerful stance was a large red stallion, who, to Alcaeus’s relief, looked utterly unafraid of him.
Brief eye contact passed between the two, and both felt a moment of understanding.
“Think you can keep up?” the Terminator smirked.
Big Mac snorted and pawed at the ground.  “Eeyup.”
“Oh…my…gosh.  This is gonna be awesome.”  Scootaloo grinned and steeled herself for an epic battle.
Alcaeus retracted his lightning claws and extended them with a metallic sliding sound.  Big Mac cracked his neck and legs.
A pack of Hormagaunts surrounded them, eyes shining with hunger.  With a chorus of screeching, the net closed.
The Terminator and workhorse sprang into action simultaneously.  Alcaeus delivered thunderous punches to the first two Tyranids, impaling them upon his claws.  Shaking the corpses off, he slashed another into ribbons with a sideways swipe.  Big Mac put his legs to work sending another pair flying before sidestepping a third.  Grabbing its tail in his mouth, he whirled it around and flung it away.
“Feel the blade of retribution!” Alcaeus roared, pulping an opponent under his boot.  “For Macragge!  For glory!  For the Emperor!”
Please shut up, Big Mac thought with a roll of his eyes.  He backpedalled, allowing a gaunt to land right were he had been.  With an angry whinny, he brought both forehooves down on its head.
“Aw, horseapples,” he muttered as the sticky black Tyranid blood splattered on his red coat.  Shaking the gore off his hooves, he spotted a blur of yellow zip by.  Fluttershy landed behind Alcaeus, depositing a terrified-looking Sweetie Belle next to her friends.
“Sweetie Belle, stay here!” she urged.
“Fluttershy,” the pale grey filly whimpered.  “I’m scared.”
“Shhhhh,” Fluttershy cooed, cuddling Sweetie Belle to her chest.  “It’s going to be alright.”
Big Mac felt his heart twinge at the adorably sweet scene.  For a moment, all he could see was Fluttershy, a sweet, comforting smile on her face.
“DIE SCUM!” Alcaeus roared as he tore a Ravener in half, shattering the mood beautifully.
Annoyed, Big Mac bucked another Hormagaunt into the air.  As he spun, he let his eyes linger on Fluttershy for a moment.  To his horror, another Ravener had managed to flank the group and was approaching the pegasus, claws outstretched.
Cold, icy fear trickled down his spine, but a burning upwelling of anger replaced it.  With a furious whinny, he charged at the serpentine alien.
“FLUTTERSHY LOOK OUT!”
Hearing Big Mac’s yell, Fluttershy whirled around to see the Ravener strike like a massive cobra.  She flapped her wings madly, but she knew it was in vain.
Big Mac landed between the two and bucked harder than he had ever bucked before.  His hooves, which would have split a tree trunk in two and caused all other trees within a mile to crack in half out of sympathy, impacted it squarely in the centre of its chest.
Panting heavily, Big Mac set his hooves back down and turned to see empty space where the Ravener had stood moments ago.
“Impressive,” Alcaeus complimented, crushing the last remaining gaunt underfoot before stomping off to join his squad.  Big Mac watched the Terminator's retreating form for a moment before a nudge from his sister drew his gaze downward. 
“Um, Big Macintosh?” Apple Bloom asked.  “Ah think Fluttershy stopped breathin’.”
True enough, the yellow pegasus stood stock-still, pupils the size of pinheads.  She remained utterly motionless, even when Scootaloo nudged her leg.
Big Mac looked her up and down.  Apart from some dirt, a disheveled mane, and droplets of Tyranid blood, she looked perfectly unharmed.  “She’ll be fine.  Ah’ll carry her back ta-”
“Alert.”  Maxilos’s voice rang out over the battlefield, amplified over the chaos.  “Tarantula Sentry Guns are online.  Commencing containment protocol in fifteen seconds.”
“Contain-mint photo-hall?”  Apple Bloom scratched her head.  “What the hay does that mean?”
“Containment means keeping something within a limit,” Sweetie Belle said proudly.  “And protocol is the plan for something.”
“So… a plan for keeping something inside something?”
“Recommendation: vacate the target zone immediately.”
“Oh, manure!”  The three fillies jumped a Big Mac’s sudden outburst.  He heaved Fluttershy onto his back.  “RUN!”
The three fillies looked at each other confusedly.
“NOW!”
Big Macintosh never yelled, so when he did, it was a very good idea to pay attention.  Galvanized into action, the Crusaders shot off behind him.
Twenty metres of ground separated the five ponies from the row of turrets.  Unless all five of them decided to spontaneously become pegasi, there was no hope of reaching the safety of the schoolyard.
Gotta be a way out!  Big Mac's eyes shot back and forth, searching for something, anything, to shield them.  With a burst of adrenaline, he spotted a shallow, muddy ditch to the side of the road.  “Run fer the ditch!” he yelled and dove for the side of the road, the Crusaders following suit.
“Opening fire.”
With a thunder like Ditzy Doo bouncing on the world’s largest cloud, the four Tarantula heavy bolter turrets fired eight near-constant streams of explosive shells into the oncoming Tyranid swarm.
“Why are they shooting at us?” Sweetie Belle wailed over the roaring explosions.
“Jus’ stay down!”  Big Mac rolled Fluttershy off his back and placed himself over her and the Crusaders to protect them from stray shots.  “Don’t move!”
Cheerilee stood at the Ultramarine gunline, staring at the carnage that the sentry guns unleashed.  “What are you doing?” she screamed at Maxilos.  “You’re going to kill them!”
“And?” Marcellus remarked wryly.
“Probability off death is lower than thirteen percent,” Maxilos droned.  “Well within acceptable safety parameters.”
“No!  It is NOT acceptable!  It’s never acceptable!”
“When fighting Tyranids, one must be prepared to accept losses that would otherwise be considered untenable.  They will not hesitate, and neither should you.”
Losses.  Not ponies.  Just losses.  An empty statistic, like the innumerable ones that Cheerilee read in textbooks.  How simple death seemed when it was merely a number.
We’re just numbers to them, she thought.  Extra credit.  Any of us surviving is just a bonus.
Carnage reigned across the dusty road.  Caught out in the open, dozens of Raveners and gaunts became a gory mist as crisscrossing streams of glowing bolter shells tore them apart.
After what seemed like an eternity of deafening thunder, the sentry guns finally fell silent, wisps of smoke curling from their muzzles.
“Auspex shows no further subterranean activity in this vicinity.  Conjecture: Tyranids will attempt to assault the town via alternate paths.  Recommend mobilising Terminators to the town center.”  The Reavers turned and jogged off without a word.
“Big Macintosh!” Cheerilee called, searching among the layer of dead Tyranids.  “Where are you?  Are you alright?”
“Ah’ll be fine.”  Cheerilee spun to see Big Mac climbing out of a ditch by the road, accompanied by the shaken Cutie Mark Crusaders.  He indicated the unconscious form of Fluttershy draped across his back.  “She jus’ fainted.”  His eyes narrowed into a glare that would have killed Maxilos outright if looks could kill.  “Ah should give that guy a piece o’ mah mind!”
“Macintosh, please relax,” Cheerilee pleaded.  “You’re all alive, and that’s what matters right now.”
“What also matters is that ah let that lousy, backstabbin’ robot know who he’s dealin’ with!”  He stormed past her, Maxilos firmly in his sights.  “What in Tartarus were ya thinkin’?” he roared.
“I am in the middle of some calibrations,” the Techmarine responded, hunched over a sentry gun.  “If you have come to belabor Cheerilee’s argument, then you are wasting your time.”
“Don’t go usin’ yer fancy words on me!” Big Mac said, fire leaping from his eyes.  “Ya’ll can kill all that bugs ya want, but nobody puts mah family, or mah friends, in danger!”
“The probability of your death was less-”
“Ah don’t give a damn ‘bout probability!  Ya almost killed me, mah sister an’ her friends, an’ Miss Fluttershy!  What if it been yer friends out there?”
“My decision would have been unchanged.”  Before Big Mac or Cheerilee could voice their shock, he continued.  “They would have understood the risks and accepted them.  Had they died, they would have died knowing that they served the Chapter, and the Imperium.  All of us would be proud to die with honour.”
Inspirational words, but chilling all the same.  Big Mac was speechless.
“If you wish to debate the morality of war, feel free to speak with Captain Sicarius upon his return.”  Maxilos snapped the Tarantula’s access panel shut and strode away.
“Aliens,” Big Mac snorted.  “Come on, girls.”

M41.996 17:29 (Equestria time) Appleloosa, Equestria
Ah wonder what Rainbow Dash is up to now, Applejack thought with a yawn.  Sitting for almost an hour at the sheriff’s office listening to ponies repeatedly ask Sergeant Strabo at least six variations of the same questions was not her idea of a productive afternoon.  Still, it had ended, leaving the floor open for Sheriff Silverstar and almost everypony in town to debate what to do next.
At least Braeburn had fun, she thought, glancing at her jovial cousin, currently embroiled in a discussion with Ionius.  When the gunshots started echoing across the town, virtually everypony had flocked to the shooting range in fear, only to find Braeburn and Ionius engaged in an intense bottle-shooting contest.
“Ah’m tellin’ ya that green bottle was mine,” he said, smiling as always.  “Ah blew the neck clean off.  Yer gun shoots big bullets.  If you’d hit it, there’d be nothin’ left.”
“Bolter shells take a split second to arm themselves before detonating,” Ionius explained.  “It could have just as easily been mine.”
Both marksponies… person… sharpshooters continued their good-natured argument.  Applejack turned her attention to more serious matters.
“Even if these ‘Tyranids’ are here, how do we know if they’ll even come lookin’ fer us?”
“It’s not a question of ‘if,’ it’s a question of ‘when,’” Strabo explained.  “A bio-ship landed in this desert somewhere, and your town is in danger.  You must evacuate as quickly as possible.”
“Abandon Appleloosa?  Ya’ll crazy?”
“This town’s our livelihood.  We ain’t got anything else.”
“If there’s jus’ one load o’ aliens, we could handle ‘em.”
Applejack snapped to full alertness.  “Ya’ll are the ones who’re crazy!”  Her words drew the attention of dozens of eyes.  “There’s no way in the world ya’ll can hope ta fight off the Tyranids!  Why don’t ya believe us?”
“Applejack,” the Sheriff began.  “It’s not that we don’t believe ya, it’s jus’… well, why should we worry if there ain’t no reason ta worry?”
This is how it always begins, Strabo thought.  They will not move, and they shall pay the price for their stubbornness.  “I will not force you to relocate.  But you are making a fatal mistake.”  Striding through the crowd, he spotted Ionius.  “Brother.  It is time that we left.”
“Let’s hope the Avengers saved some kills for us.”  Ionius holstered his pistol and followed his Sergeant.
“Folks, what are ya thinkin’?”  Braeburn hopped up, his smile replaced by a worried frown.  “These guys know what they’re talkin’ ‘bout; ya’ll need ta hitch up yer pride and take some advice!”  His words were met only with blank stares.
With a sigh, he trotted behind the Ultramarines.  As Strabo led Applejack and Caramel back to the Typhoons, Ionius stopped him.
“Braeburn,” he said, crouching down.  “These ponies are condemning themselves to death, but we cannot force them to evacuate.”
“They’re all bein’ a buncha stubborn mules,” the stallion replied.  “And ah have no idea what ta do ‘bout it.”
“I do.”  Ionius withdrew a small metal gadget from his belt.
“What kinda fancy contraption is that?”
“A vox-unit.  Used for communication over long distances.”
“Like a telegraph?”
“It allows the user to speak with someone else across great distances,” Ionius explained.  “Maxilos would berate me for it, but I pulled this spare from one of the Typhoons.”  He held the device up to Braeburn, pointing at a switch on the side.  “This switch activates it.  Turn it on, and you can talk to me almost anywhere.”
“That’s downright amazin’!”  Braeburn held the vox reverently.  “Ya want me ta call fer help if things go bad?”
“Exactly.  If there is the slightest chance that the Tyranids have discovered Appleloosa, contact me.  If you are in danger, the button on the bottom activates the emergency beacon.  I will find you.”
Braeburn smiled in thanks.  “Why are ya doin’ this?  Ah mean, why are ya’ll protectin’ us ponies?”
The question gave Ionius pause, but he had a good idea of the answer.
“Why do you think?”  He reached into an ammo pouch on his belt and withdrew a small object, which he placed in Braeburn’s hoof.
Leaving those words hanging, Ionius hopped into his Typhoon.  The hovering craft kicked up a small dust storm as it sped off, eventually melting into the horizon.
Braeburn looked at the object.  It was the end of a sarsaparilla bottle.  A green sarsaparilla bottle.
“Ah think ah know.”

M41.996 17:33 (Equestria time) Canterlot, Equestria
Shrieking in pain, five Gargoyles spiraled down to the streets of Canterlot.  Flapping furiously, the rest of the brood broke off their attack run and scattered.  Bolter shells found them and blew them out of the sky to smash against buildings.
“Lions roar!”  The Lions of Macragge echoed their Captain’s battle-cry as they charged down the wide boulevard.  Gargoyles fired fleshborers from perches atop roofs and balconies, but they died as quickly as they appeared.
Lacking the longer-ranged weaponry of his command squad, Sicarius allowed his battle-brothers to handle the Gargoyle flocks while he observed the battlefield.  The majestic streets of Canterlot were a far cry from the choked alleyways of Ichar IV.  Grand archways and spires framed the blue and orange afternoon sky.  And at their backs, the majestic form of the Royal Palace towered over the city.
Tactically, urban battlefields were a nightmare.  Dozens of buildings to hide inside.  Hundreds of different vantage points, each capable of hiding a sniper.  Wide-open streets devoid of cover, just waiting for a tank to come rumbling along.
Chronus would enjoy this, he thought, imagining the tank commander’s gleeful expression as his Vindicator leveled half a city block.  Unfortunately, he lacked one of the mighty siege tanks, so he would make do with one squad.
One of the Stormtalons hovered overhead, blowing Gargoyles off a tall building to the north.  Its targets dead, the gunship shot upward and returned to the dogfights above the city.
“Thanks you, brother,” Sicarius said to Dannelos, the pilot of Talon One.  “We are advancing along the street.”
“Copy that.”  After a moment his voice sounded in Sicarius’s vox-bead again.  “Captain, larger Tyranid flyers incoming.  Profiles match those of Harpies.”
A pair of serpentine shapes swooped down the street, the tips of their leathery wings rubbing buildings.  Massive weapon-symbiotes beside their heads angled downward and hissed, spewing their crystalline payloads at the Ultramarines.
“Cover!”  The Lions each dove aside as the toxic shards embedded themselves in the pavement.  The two Harpies zoomed overhead and flew up into the skies.
“Captain!  Mines!”
Drifting lazily downward were dozens of Spore Mines, released from cysts on the Harpies’ underbellies.  More than enough to blanket the entire block in acid, toxins, or both.  There was nowhere to dodge to, and shooting the deadly dirigibles would only release their payloads early.
Suddenly, as if caught in a strong wind, the mines all blew down the street to detonate safely.  Grateful, Sicarius looked towards the palace.
Hovering in midair was a squadron of pegasus guards, accompanied by their ground-bound comrades.  Wearing a fresh helmet, Shining Armour cantered at the head of the platoon.
“Captain, my troops are ready to move.”  Using his magic, he loaded the crossbow affixed to his foreleg.
“Your ‘troops’ will not last five minutes, pony,” Champion Prabian said coldly.
“That doesn’t mean we can’t help!”  Immediately recognizable from her mulitcoloured mane and tail, Rainbow Dash hovered above the guardsponies.
“We can evacuate civilians while your squad deals with the Tyranids,” Shining offered.
“That will do,” Sicarius said.  “Slay two Gargoyles with one blow.”
Shining produced a map of Canterlot’s streets.  “When the Tyranids attacked, my troops tried to evacuate civilians to the palace, but most of them were cut off.  Last I heard, most of them holed up in this hotel.”
“The Chateau des Montagnes?” Rarity said excitedly.  “The Chateau des Montagnes?  The classiest hotel in Canterlot?  Rated the best-”
“Yes,” Shining cut her off.  “A platoon of guards retreated into the hotel and got a messenger out.  With luck, they’ll still be alive.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” Rainbow asked.
“Lead us there, pony.”  Doing a quick loop-de-loop, Rainbow zoomed off down a side street, the Ultramarines and guardsponies following behind.

The chin-mounted assault cannon on Dannelos’s Stormtalon whined and spat twin streams of hot lead into the swarm of Gargoyles, sending them shrieking to the streets of Canterlot.  Fleshborer beetles rattled against the gunship’s armour harmlessly.
“Contacts neutralized,” Dannelos announced, swinging his Stormtalon around.  “Talon Two, Shrikes coming in low.”
“Not for long,” Brother Meldius, the pilot of Talon Two, said.  “Glory to Ultramar!”  Missiles streaked from his gunship, striking two of the leathery-winged attackers and blasting them apart.  The remaining Shrike tucked its wings and rolled, but a hail of assault cannon rounds tore it apart.
“This is too easy,” Dannelos chuckled.
Below, he spotted Sicarius moving alongside his squad and around fifty Canterlot Royal Guards.  A few Gargoyles strafed them, but a hail of crossbow bolts brought them crashing down.
Dannelos had to admire the ponies’ fighting spirit.  It was no great secret that without the Ultramarines, the Tyranids would be picking pony bits out of their teeth.  Despite an overwhelmingly superior opponent, the ponies fought hard to defend their home.
Much like our brothers at the Battle of Macragge, Dannelos thought.  Though he hated xenos as much as the next Space Marine, he had quickly agreed with himself to not let his hate dictate his actions.  For the time being, the ponies were allies.
“Talon One, there’s a large building at the end of this street.  What do you see?”
Nudging his gunship forward, Dannelos enhanced the image.  “Large building, hab-structure of some type.  Large concentrations of Tyranids all around it.  Whatever’s in there, they want it.”
“Let’s disappoint them, then.”
With a high-pitched whir, Dannelos’s assault cannon spun up and fired again, sending twin streams of flame and metal into the Gargoyles and Shrikes clustering around the building’s doors and windows.  The xenos danced, spun, and died as the high-velocity shells ripped them ragged.
“Talon One!  Two large contacts incoming!”
Dannelos swung his Stormtalon around and scanned the city street.  Two huge Tyranids, like winged snakes, hurtled towards them.
“Captain those Harpies are back!  We’ll keep them busy.”
Closing the vox-channel, Dannelos strafed between two buildings, evading shots from a heavy venom cannon.
Meldius’s Stormtalon leapt upward as if kicked by a giant boot and shot down another street.  “Tight quarters.  Their maneuverability will be restricted.”
Proving his point, one of the Harpies turned to pursue him, only to scrabble along a building in order to make the turn.
“We’ll lead them on a merry chase,” Dannelos said, swooping low under a bridge and almost trading paint with it in the process.
“Is this your idea of fun, Brother?”  Meldius’s gunship shot by pursued by a Harpy and several Shrikes.
Dannelos slung off a volley of missiles into Meldius’s assailants, blowing two Shrikes apart.
“Yes,” he deadpanned, just as a collision alarm flashed on his auspex.  “That’s my exit.”  He swung a hard left down another street and watched as the other Harpy hurtled by right where he had been.

Double doors flew off their hinges as Sergeant Daceus smashed them open with his powerfist.  Inside was a lavishly furnished lobby, complete with an elaborate fresco on the ceiling.
Corpses littered the plush carpeting, mainly guardsponies but a few Tyranids as well, nailed to walls by crossbow bolts.  A deceased ponies few wore tuxedoes or bellhop uniforms, either guests or employees of the hotel.
“Damn.”  Stormcaller rolled one of the fallen over and recoiled at the sight of exposed innards.  “Poor sods.”
Rarity stared at the mess blankly.  “I went to a ball here,” she murmured, memories of a happier time clashing painfully with the present horror.
“The ballroom!” Shining exclaimed.  “Big, heavy doors, plenty of space.  If anypony is still alive, they’ll be there.”
“Miss Rarity?”  The white unicorn jumped at Sicarius’s voice.  “You’ve been here before.  Lead us to the ballroom.”
“I… yes,” she said, walking down a hallway.  “It’s just this way.”
Twilight shook her head sadly.  “She shouldn’t have to see this.  She probably knew some of these ponies.”
The hallway quickly became badly cramped, Sicarius and Vandius in particular having difficulty thanks to their banners.  Eventually the Ultramarines were forced to move single file, guardsponies filtering around their knees.
“Captain!” Axilon barked, holding the squad’s auspex.  “Contacts around the next corner!”
Spike yelped as a huge boot shoved him forward.  Scrambling, he was unable to halt his progress and ended up dead front and center of the mob.  Facing straight into the eyes of a Shrike.  Easily ten times his size, the Tyranid roared at him, trying to bring its weapon to bear in the tight confines of the hallway.
“Fire and fury!” roared a voice behind him.  Looking up, he the Ultramarine that had shoved him forward, holding a huge, cylindrical gun.
Wait, fire?  Oh right!  Fire!  Taking a deep breath, Spike blew a blazing flame into the face of the Shrike, catching it completely by surprise.  It leapt back, clogging up the hallway behind it.
A whooshing, hissing sound filled the air, and a blinding white flash filled every inch of his vision.  Blinking sight back into his eyes, he stared down the empty hallway.
Wait, weren’t there Tyranids there?  And what’s this sticky stuff all over the walls?
"Xenos neutralized," Brother Malcian reported, the muzzle of his meltagun still glowing.
“Ballroom just ahead.”  Sicarius pushed his way to the front to the huge doors, which he flung open with a mighty shove, sending several luggage racks, tables, and guardsponies flying.
The ballroom was fantastically opulent, with crystal chandeliers every few feet of ceiling, masterful works of art lining the walls, and rich red drapes framing every window.  A marble-white statue of an alicorn dominated the centre of the room, hiding at least a dozen members of Canterlot's elite.
Several dozen guardsponies stood or hovered all throughout the room, crossbows leveled at the doors.  Expressions of shock greeted the Ultramarines, who fanned out, sweeping the room for danger.
“Captain?”  Shining stepped between two Ultramarines.  “Order your troops to stand down.”
The pegasus captain looked like he was about to have several heart attacks, but he lowered his weapon.  His troops hesitantly followed suit.
“General?” he asked shakily.  “Are you a prisoner?”
“No, Captain.”  Shining waved his platoon forward.  “As much as I’d love to continue this conversation, we need to get the civilians out of here.”
“Sir, what in Tartarus are these things?”
“We are the Ultramarines, pony,” Sicarius said.  “Further introductions will have to wait.  We have cleared the streets from here to the palace.  Evacuate your civilians.”
Nodding shakily, the pegasus ordered several of his troops to round up the refugees, most of whom appeared either about to faint, or already had.
Shining trotted up to him.  “What’s your name, soldier?”
The pegasus jumped and snapped to attention.  “Captain Skyward Flash, sir.”
“How many did you lose?” Shining asked.
“We lost about fifteen outside when the attack started.  Eleven more just getting here.  Not sure how many civilians.”
“The palace is secure for the moment.  The Princesses-”
“Captain!”  Both officers looked up to one of the balconies, where a panicked guardspony leaned over the railing.  “They broke through the windows!  They’re every-” He was cut off by a Shrike that streaked over his head and slashed him apart.  Several well-dressed ponies screamed as his blood showered down on them.  More screams could be heard from the room past the balcony.
“There’s still ponies up there!” Twilight cried in horror.
“Lions, move!”  Sicarius charged up a stairwell leading to the second floor.
Upstairs was chaos.  Beyond the balcony was an elegant gallery and dining room with huge windows offering a sweeping view of Equestria’s landscape.  Those windows were shattered, allowing Tyranids to pour through and massacre several hard-pressed guardsponies.  The panicked civilians screaming and galloping back and forth did not make things any easier.
“Courage and honour!”  Sicarius flung himself forward, firing plasma bolts into the swarming Tyranids.  Instantaneously he was among them, the Tempest Blade reaping a bloody tally.
Sidewinder snapped off crossbow bolts, picking a off a few Gargoyles.  “Get out of here!” he yelled to the crazed mob of ponies, which consisted mainly of kitchen staff.
Twilight ducked under a table and appeared beside several terrified ponies.  “The stairway’s clear.  Run for it!”  In twos and threes, they dashed for the stairs, encouraged by Twilight and Spike.
Sicarius and Prabian stood back-to-back, fighting as if they were of one mind.  The Captain blew a wing off a Shrike, causing it to skew sideways straight into Gaius’s blade.  Gaius snapped up his combat shield, intercepting a venom cannon blast intended for Sicarius.
“Enjoying yourself, Cato?”
“Starting to, Gaius.  Starting to,” Sicarius replied, splitting a Shrike’s head in two.
A voice crackled in his ear.  “Captain, there’s too many of them!  We’re getting swamped here!”
Sicarius swept his blade in a wide arc, forcing an opening in the thick mass of Tyranid.  Even as he brought the sword back for another blow, the gap filled with several Gargoyles.
“Damn,” he muttered.  Bolter fire still thundered across the gallery, showing that the Lions still lived, but he had no way of telling whether any ponies were still fighting.  “Dannelos!  Where are you?
“Approximately six hundred metres east of your position, Captain,” Dannelos replied.  “Keeping the Harpies busy.”
“Large windows, northwest side of the building.”  Sicarius paused to pistol-whip a Gargoyle into the floor.  “We need some firepower.”

“On my way.  I cannot stay long.  This bloody Harpy isn’t keen on letting me go.”
“Emperor guide you, brother.”
Dannelos spun his Stormtalon around and fired a salvo of Skyhammer missiles at his pursuer.  With no room to evade, the Harpy took all three shots dead-on, blowing bloody chunks out of its carapace.  It quickly regained control and pumped its wings faster, howling at the prey that had decided to fight back.
“Meldius, I’m heading back.  Sicarius needs some air support.”  Spinning his gunship like a top, he slammed the throttle and rocketed down the wide avenue.  With an infuriated roar, the Harpy pursued him, blood still trailing from its wounds.
“I see you, One.”  Talon Two shot over Dannelos, a flock of Gargoyles chasing him.  “Still hot on your tail.  I assume you have a plan?”
“Yes… no… sort of… it’s a work in progress.”
Inside his cockpit, Meldius groaned.  He’s a daredevil.  And he’s good at it.  “Involving?”
“I’ll hit the brakes, he’ll fly right by.”
“What?”
No time to think about it.  Several dozen metres from the Chateau des Montagnes he reversed the thrusters, bringing the Stormtalon to an almost complete stop.  With a squawk of anger, the Harpy flared its wings, but it had no room to stop in time and was forced to fly straight down the street.
Tyranids swarmed all across the walls, flowing through the shattered windows like water down a drain.  Inside, Dannelos could see the bright flashing of the Tempest Blade, so Sicarius was still alive.
“Captain!  Get clear!”

While the Ultramarines stood against the tide of winged monstrosities, Twilight telekinetically extricated a waiter from beneath a fallen statue.  With a grateful look, he galloped for the exit.
“Anypony else?” she called over the din of the battle.
“Nopony here!” Rainbow yelled from atop a chandelier.  “Whoa!” she yelped as a Gargoyle spotted her and shot after her.
“Found somepony!” Sidewinder shouted.  Twilight galloped towards the cocktail bar.  The pegasus was trying to pull somepony from beneath the counter.
“Madam, you need to get out of here, now!”
“Ah!  Watch where you’re putting your hooves!”
Spike froze for a second.  “Wait, I recognize that voice…”
“Stop it!” the mare’s voice continued.  “The Great and Power-”
“TRIXIE?”  Twilight, Spike, and Rarity could not believe their ears.
“That’s the Great and Powerful Trixie to…” the blue unicorn broke off as she saw the three ponies and dragon.  “…you.”
“What are you doing here?” Everypony asked at once.
Sidewinder looked back and forth between the two parties.  “Oh good!  You know each other!"  He gave a self-satisfied smile.  "That’ll make things easier.”
“Ponies!”  Sicarius charged past the group, flyers slashing at his cape.  “Get out of here!”
A loud roaring noise filled the gallery, rattling wineglasses, tables, and ponies about.  Twilight scanned for its source and spotted one of the Stormtalons hovering outside.  The two-barreled weapon mounted below its nose was making a loud whining sound.
“Everypony run!” she screamed, realizing what was about to happen.  Trixie immediately leapt out from behind the bar and galloped for the stairway.
With a roar like a thousand ponies cheering, the assault cannon sprayed a storm of rounds into the building.  Tables burst into splinters.  Statues became clouds of dust.  The bar, which had seemed perfectly solid moments before, flew into a stinging swarm of marble shards that cut like razors.
The Tyranids died in droves, reduced to flaps of wing and bits of chitin.  A few tried to escape via the stairs, only to be cut down by the Lions of Macragge, standing boldly in front of the exit.
With every step she ran, Rarity was sure that a glowing yellow round would rip into her.  But it did not.  Finally opening her eyes, she found herself standing just behind Prabian.  With a woozy sigh, she collapsed onto the blissfully cool marble floor.
Ignoring her old adversary for a moment, Twilight furiously scanned the room.  “Rainbow!  Where are you?”
Nonononononono, Rainbow thought as she twisted, contorted, and rolled out of the path of the assault cannon.  The Tyranids snapping at her tail danced jerkily under the metal hail.  Abruptly the gun stopped firing, smoke billowing from both barrels.
Swarms of Tyranids separated her from the door.  The only other exit was a gauntlet of even more Tyranids.
“Let’s do this!” she yelled to herself and shot for the window.  Outside, the twin barrels of the assault cannon began spinning up.
Time slowed down.  The Tyranids flowed around her like a tidal wave of mud.  The assault cannon’s barrels spun lazily.
Just… a few… seconds… She ducked a lethargic claw and weaved between two Gargoyles.  Ducking her head, she smashed through what was left of the window and angled her body sharply upward.
Dannelos saw the bright blue streak pass inches from his windshield, leaving a rainbow contrail in its wake.  Unconsciously, he tracked its progress as it arced smoothly to his left and down the street.
Coming down the street at frightening speed was another, much larger shape, hurtling straight towards him.
“Throne!” he yelled and slammed the ventral thrusters, launching the Stormtalon skyward.  The enraged Harpy passed under him by inches.

“Captain, I’ve got a problem out here!  You’re on your own.”
“Acknowledged.”  Sicarius fired his pistol in to the heaving mass of Tyranids.  “Brothers!  Fall back!”  Backpedalling, the Lions fired their bolters, slowing the Tyranid pursuit, but not by much.
Twilight galloped down the stairs along with her friends… and Trixie.  “Alright, Trixie.  You’ve got some explaining to do.”
The magician panted heavily.  “Trixie was about to say the same to you!”
“Uh, girls?”  Both unicorns looked at Spike.  “Can this wait?”  A fiery explosion rang out, followed by a cacophony of alien screeches.
“I suppose it’ll have to,” Rarity grumbled.
“This way!” Shining yelled from the ballroom doors.  The three unicorns and dragon ran for it, followed by the Ultramarines.  “Get that door shut!”  As soon as the last Marine was through, Shining and Sidewinder threw themselves against the huge doors, forcing them shut.
“That’ll keep ‘em busy for a while,” Sidewinder said.  “Let’s get out of here.”  Noticing the Ultramarines staying put, he approached Sicarius.  “What are you waiting for?”
“Melta charges,” Daceus said, placing a box-like device against the wall.  “We’re leveling this building.”
“What?”  Everypony jumped at Trixie’s outburst.  “You can’t do that!”
“We can, and we are,” Daceus growled.  “Bring it down, and we crush the entire swarm.”
“Where is Trixie supposed to stay?”
Daceus ignored her protests and set several more bombs.  “Captain, charges are in place.  We’ll only need a few more outside to bring this place down.”
“Then we should hurry,” Sicarius said.  “Lions, combat squads.  Place your charges and head for the main exit.”  The eight Ultramarines split up, Daceus leading half down another hallway.
“Ponies, follow me and keep close.  We will not slow down for you.”

M41.996 17:34 (Equestria time) Ponyville, Equestria
Argus ducked a slashing bonesword and responded with a sweep of his force axe, spilling the Ravener’s guts and neatly cutting it in half.  His opponent dead, he yanked a frag grenade from his belt and tossed it into the tunnel that the Tyranid had left, collapsing it.  Ducking another blade, he called upon the warp and flung a Ravener into the sky.
Ponyville was chaos.  Raveners exploded from the ground, opening tunnels through which gaunts swarmed out.  The Ultramarines had been closing these with grenades, but there were simply too many attackers.  If not for Maccabeus, the town might have fallen already.  The hulking Dreadnought had exchanged his multi-melta for a plasma cannon, which reduced dozens of gaunts to dust with each shot.  Those that escaped the cannon’s incandescent wrath fell to his heavy flamer.  Those that had the audacity to evade even that he crushed into a bloody pulp with his fist and feet.
“Burn!” he thundered, shaking the very ground with his voice.  He sent a stream of flames into one of the Ravener tunnels, turning countless more Tyranids into charcoal.
While Maccabeus smashed and incinerated Tyranids, Argus scanned the warp, searching for a distinctive shadow identifying a synapse organism.  Slay it, and the remaining Tyranids would be so much hapless cattle.  The creature had yet to show itself, so Argus contented himself with unleashing his psychic mastery on the enemy.  The shadow in the warp still rubbed at his mind, but not enough to cause major problems.
Rather cathartic, he thought cheerfully as flames leapt from his eyes, immolating a Ravener.  Its very mind ablaze, it thrashed wildly before a quick bolt turned its head inside out.
“You guys can shoot fire, too?”
Surprised, Argus spun to see a mint-green unicorn staring up at him, seemingly oblivious to the carnage all around her.  He recognized her as Lyra.
“What in the name of the Emperor are you doing here?” he yelled, snapping off shots into a newly emerged brood of gaunts.
“I wanted to help!” Lyra yelled back.
“Are you insane?” a new voice asked.  A cream-coloured earth pony with a pink and blue mane galloped up to Lyra, a panicked look on her face.
“Kind of!” Lyra replied.  “Bon Bon, I want to help!”
“What can you do that they can’t?”
Lyra’s horn lit up and some pebbles levitated around her.  “Magic!”
Behind her, Argus’s hand shimmered, and chunks of cobblestone ripped themselves from the ground and hurtled into a pack of Raveners.
Bon Bon gave Lyra a look that clearly said: “Not amused.”
Suddenly, the ground burst open beside them, causing Bon Bon to shriek in fear.  A Ravener clawed its way to the surface and set its sights dead on her.  Its deathspitter hissed and fired.
The grubs stopped inches away from her face, allowing her to see the tiny organisms squirm and die.  With a faint moan, she teetered, on the verge of fainting.
A massive hand grabbed her by the withers, yanking her back to full consciousness instantly.  The Ravener snapped at her but met some invisible wall.
“What was that?” she gasped once she stopped hyperventilating.
Lyra trotted up beside her, her horn glowing.  “It’s some kind of barrier of psychic energy.”
“I’m serious.”
Lyra grinned and shrugged.  “All right, it was me.”  She glanced over her shoulder.  “I can’t hold this guy forever!  Could you give me a hand?”  She giggled.  “I’ve always wanted to say that.”
Argus, who had pulled Bon Bon to safety, hurled his axe into the Ravener’s face, splitting its head in half.  Its work done, it zipped back into his hand.
“An excellent trick, pony,” he complimented.  “I think I have job for you.”
Bon Bon rolled her eyes.  “Why do I get the feeling…”

“…that we’re going to be doing something totally insane?”
“Oh shut up and throw the grenade.”
With a long-suffering sigh, Bon Bon reached into her saddlebags and tossed a frag grenade into the tunnel.  With experience and training born of less than twenty seconds of instruction, both ponies dove away as the tunnel caved in.
“Two down, six to go!” Lyra said happily.  “Let’s go!”
Groaning, Bon Bon galloped after her friend.  Being Lyra’s roommate, she was used to the unicorn’s eccentricities, but this took the cake faster than Princess Celestia when she thought she was alone.
“Have I mentioned that this is crazy?”
“Eleven times and counting!”
Argus ran alongside the ponies, his pistol blazing.  While he tackled the xenos, the two mares galloped about with his stock of grenades, sealing tunnels wherever possible.
Sergeant Manorian’s Shieldbearers and Maccabeus had joined the group, adding their tremendous firepower.  Tyranids emerged from their tunnels only to take a barrage of shots, forcing them back and allowing the two ponies to drop grenades.
She’s actually enjoying herself! Bon Bon thought incredulously as Lyra flung a Hormagaunt aside with her magic.  Though she was no Twilight Sparkle, she turned out to have a startling affinity for magical shields, which had saved both of their tails more times than either could count.
Suddenly, Lyra yelped in pain and dropped flat, clasping both hooves to her head.  “Lyra!”  Bon Bon rushed to her side.  “What’s going on?”
“So dark… I can’t see!  I’m lost!”
Finally, Argus though, flourishing his axe.  Come out and play.
The ground rumbled.  The Shieldbearers aimed at the ground, waiting for the telltale cracks in the road to appear.
With the thunder of breaking stone, a huge, serpentine Tyranid bust from the ground, even taller than Maccabeus.  Multiple sets of claws lined its upper body, which was covered with a thick shell.  Its long tail coiled along behind it, lifting it above all.
“Finally, a challenge!” Maccabeus roared heartily.  “Feel the Emperor’s wrath!”
But as he charged, the ground quaked again.  Lyra screamed, the pain in her mind much greater than before.
Abruptly, the Shieldbearers were thrown into the air as a second tunnel exploded into being.  Argus spun to see a second coiling shape emerging from the earth.
Not one, but two Trygon Primes stood over the Ultramarines.
“Bring it down!” Manorian shouted.  “Victoris Ultra!”  The Shieldbearers fired full-auto into the closer Tyranid, their bolters etching explosions across its carapace.
A blue corona of lightning crackled around the Trygon.  Flexing its blades, it released blazing bolts of electricity into the Ultramarines, forcing them to their knees.
“Yaah!” Bon Bon yelped, every hair of her mane standing straight up.
Maccabeus swung his fist at the other Trygon, but it slipped back and slashed his shoulder armour.  Fumes belching from his exhaust pipes, he charged headlong into it, wrestling it back.  It scrabbled at his body, digging furrows into the blue plates.
Confident in the Ancient’s abilities, Argus joined the Shieldbearers against the other Trygon.  Ducking its thrashing tail, he lopped off its end with his axe.
With a roar of pain, it whirled around, knocking Space Marines off their feet with its bloody tail.  Darting in low, it lashed out with its talons, tearing through the armour of one of the Tacticals.
“Brother!” Manorian yelled and drove his power sword into the Trygon’s underbelly.  It roared again and drove a claw downward, trying to skewer the Sergeant from above.  He evaded, causing the claw to embed itself into the road.
Its upper body close to the ground and vulnerable, Argus leapt onto its thorax just as it pulled free, riding it straight up.  Climbing onto its face, he swung his axe back for a killing blow.  Before he could strike, a second bioelectric pulse blasted out, sending the axe flying from his grip.  Now unarmed, he clung on helplessly as it tried to shake him off.
Lyra twitched on the ground, her splitting headache finally receding.  “Phew,” she said, getting to her hooves.  “That was close.”  Without warning, a flying axe landed inches from her, sticking in the ground.
Tracing its path, she spotted Argus riding the Trygon like a crazed bull.  “I’m about to do something crazy,” she said with a grin.
“You’ve already done that!” Bon Bon screeched.  “Twice!”
“Then I’m about to do something stupid.”
Argus gripped the spines on the Trygon, smacking painfully against its armoured shell.  Finally his grip slipped, tossing him airborne.  Flailing his arms wantonly, his hand caught the edge of something.  He heaved himself upward, only to find himself staring down the gullet of the hissing Trygon.  The crab-like claws on the sides of its head grabbed him and began to squeeze.
“Argus!”  The Librarian spun to see Lyra holding his axe in her forehooves.  “Catch!”  She flung the axe, which pinwheeled through the air.
Ignoring the fact that the unicorn had gripped and thrown an object without hands, Argus reached back to feel the familiar weight of the force axe slapping into his palm.
“Die, abomination!”  Channeling his psychic fury through the blade, he swung it straight down, splitting the Trygon’s skull in half and sending warp-energy coursing through its body.  Thrashing in pain, the Trygon collapsed to the ground with a crash, where its spasms subsided into feeble twitches as Argus' psychic might burned its mind out.
Maccabeus forced the other Trygon back, covering it in burning fuel from his flamer while the remaining eight Shieldbearers pounded bolter fire and plasma fire into it, blowing a claw off.
Sweeping his fist low, Maccabeus tore a bloody chunk from its underbelly, causing it to lose its balance and plunge downward, where it attempted to slither away.
“No escape for you!” he roared, swinging his fist downward onto the Trygon’s head, smashing it like a watermelon against the ground.  All around Ponyville, Tyranids stopped dead, their connection with the driving intelligence of the Hive Mind severed.
Lyra felt as if a sheet had been pulled from her eyes, allowing light, glorious light to shine through her mind.  The shadow was gone.
Without the direction of the two Trygon Primes, the hordes of gaunts and Raveners lost their coordination and were cut down by the Ultramarines and guardsponies.
Bon Bon poked her head out from behind a bush to see Lyra looking particularly pleased with herself.  “That was absolutely, undeniably insane.”
“Yep,” Lyra said cheerfully.
“And you’re not going to try it again?”
“Yep.”
“You’re not listening to a word I’m saying, right?
“Yep.”

M41.9976 17:47 (Equestria time) Canterlot, Equestria
With a fiery roar, the melta charges detonated, destroying the Chateau des Montagnes.  The upper floors of the building collapsed straight down, crushing every floor below.
Rarity sniffled, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief supplied by Spike.  Trixie was livid, but too frightened to approach the Ultramarines.
Twilight felt a pang of sympathy for her former rival.  “Trixie, the important thing is that you got out alive.”
"Everything Trixie owned was in there," she muttered.  "Ever since Ponyville her life has just been a downward spiral!"
“Trixie..."
“... bad enough that Trixie can barely get a job at a rock farm."  She stared at the ground, her lip trembling.  "And just when things finally start looking up, aliens invade!  What else could possibly go wrong?"
Spike facepalmed.  When will everypony learn to stop tempting fate?
“Uh, I hate to interrupt this heartfelt reunion," Sidewinder interjected, just as Trixie looked about to burst into tears.  “But we need to move.”
Sicarius scanned the rooftops, watching for any more Tyranids.  “Talons, respond.”
“Talon Two here, Captain.  One of the Harpies has been dealt with.”
“Meldius, where is Dannelos?”
“Still trying to get rid of his Harpy.”
“Lend him some assistance.”  Sicarius switched channels.  “Dannelos, if you can hear me, disengage and head for the hab-structure.”

“Copy that, Captain,” Dannelos switched the vox off.  “I’d love to stay and chat,” he said, glancing at the Harpy.  “But I’ve got to be somewhere.”
The Harpy had stretched his piloting skills to their limits.  While its maneuverability was hampered in the tight confines between the buildings of Canterlot, it made up for in durability and dogged determination.  Its claws had come close to slicing through its thin armour more times than Dannelos cared to count.  Dodging yet another volley of crystalline toxin, he slammed the throttle and shot off down the street.
Unbeknownst to him, Rainbow Dash followed close behind along the rooftops.  The huge dragon-Tyranid had been more interested in the boxy gunship than a single pegasus and had thankfully left her alone.
An idea crept through her head as the Harpy shot by.  What are you thinking? the rational part of her mind admonished.  This is crazy!
That’s exactly why it might work! the rest of her mind replied.
Her rational mind groaned in frustration.  Just because Pinkie Pie isn’t here doesn’t mean that you’ve got to make up for the lack of utter insanity!
Ignoring her brain’s arguments, Rainbow hopped off the building into a steep dive and zoomed low over the ground, strafing between benches, carriages, and lampposts.  The Harpy loomed ahead, its massive wings whooshing as it flapped down the street.
I can’t stay ahead forever, Dannelos thought, evading more venom rounds.  “Blast it Meldius, where are you?”
“One, I’m coming over the buildings.”
Looking up, Dannelos spotted Talon Two screaming towards the Harpy.  “Courage and honour!” Meldius roared, releasing two krak missiles.
The armour-piercing missiles streaked outward, trailing plumes of exhaust.  One missed narrowly but the other blew a considerable length from the Harpy’s tail.  Forgetting Dannelos, it wheeled around and shot after Meldius.
Rainbow spotted the Harpy changing its target.  “Time to show these guys that we’re not useless!” she said and shot upwards, aiming for the Northern Tower of the palace.  Perching atop the looming spire gave her a fantastic view of all of Canterlot and more importantly, of the layout of every street.
Leaping from the tower, she screamed downward at a steep angle straight towards an intersection.  As she pumped her wings, she felt the air thickening around her.
I feel the need… she thought, a determined grin breaking out on her face.  “THE NEED FOR SPEED!”
With those words, she felt the thick blanket of air around her give way and she shot forward even faster.  A ring of rainbow exploded out from behind her, illuminating the entire city with the entire spectrum of light.  Faces turned in shock, their owners staring and pointing at one of the rarest phenomena in Equestria.
"What sorcery is this?" Sergeant Tirian shouted, his signum going wild with contradictory data.
“Sonic Rainboom!” Sergeant Trail Blazer yelled, throwing his helmet up in excitement.
Rainbow rocketed downward at a ridiculous speed, her tail flowing into a shimmering contrail behind her.  Arcing her body upward slightly, she shot straight toward the city streets...
…and intersected perfectly with the Harpy’s shoulder.  Her tremendous velocity nearly snapped its wing clean off and sent it into an uncontrollable spiral that took it spinning into the sky.
Ignoring the fact that the Harpy had just been struck by a giant beam of rainbows that rivaled the lance batteries on an Imperial battleship, Dannelos accelerated upward in pursuit.  His target out of control, he closed the distance almost instantly.
“Too close for missiles,” he said over the vox.  “I’m switching to guns.”  He squeezed the firing stud, unleashing a storm of assault cannon rounds into the Harpy.  The shells tore into it, shredding clean through its carapace and ripping its body apart.  A pair of missiles from Meldius streaked in from below, setting off the Spore Mines carried on its belly.  They detonated within its body, blowing it apart from within.  The mutilated remains of the Harpy trailed a cloud of blackish blood as it plummeted and smashed against the ground.
Her head spinning from the impact, Rainbow twisted out of control and smacked into the ground.  Bouncing several times, she hit a garbage can, a rosebush, and Sidewinder before sending the pair of them flying into a fountain.
Groggy, she opened her eyes to see Sidewinder tangled with her, both of them sopping wet.  “I knew it.  I died and went to Tartarus.”
“Somepony get the license number of that cart?” Sidewinder said with a dazed grin before flopped facedown into the water.
Stormcaller and Shining reached in and pulled the two pegasi from the fountain.
Shining nodded approvingly.  “Okay, that was pretty awesome.”
“Gutsiest move I ever saw,” Stormcaller said, beaming down at Rainbow.
Sicarius was awestruck.  Praise the Emperor for sealed helmets, he thought, grateful that the ponies did not see his shocked expression when the rainbow exploded across the sky.
“Well.”  Sicarius turned to see Prabian standing beside him.
Both Sicarius and Prabian spoke simultaneously.
“That was rather unexpected.”