//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 Protecting the Innocent...Ponies? // Story: Abaddon the Redeemer in Equestria // by CC12-06 //------------------------------// First Captain Ezekyle Abaddon and his four Battle-Brothers, entered the dense forest, crushing any vegetation in their path beneath tons of ceramite and plasteel. So far, they had not encountered any hostile life, but they remained vigilant of their surroundings, auspex scanners placed on high sensitivity and storm bolters in hand.  After some time of walking and not finding anything noteworthy, some in the demi-squad began to exchange jokes over their vox link.  Battle-Brother Aellius: Ciprian, doesn't this forest remind you of the world, where we battled those bat winged Khrave.  Battle-Brother Ciprian: This world? Hah! This world is a paradise Aellius, your senses must be failing you!  Battle-Brother Derisos: You two, how can you joke when we are stranded from our father?  Battle-Brother Septimius: Ah Derisos, let them be, it is better to laugh than to worry.  Ezekyle chuckled as his brothers conversed merrily, but then his transhuman hearing, sharper than even those of his brothers because of his gene-syncing with his Primarch, picked up a sound he hadn't perceived yet on this world.  (Author's note: gene-syncing in Imperium Ascendent, is when a Space Marine integrates with the geneseed on a level that makes them more like a mini-primarch than ordinary astartes.) He raised a fist, and the demi-squad instantly became silent, training their weapons on the area around them. Straining his augmented ears, he could make out a high-pitched noise that sounded like...voices?  Ezekyle Abaddon: Do any of you hear that, Brothers?  Tuning up their helmet autosenses, the rest of his brethren began to make out the commotion as well.  Battle-Brother Derisos: Indeed, it sounds like-  ???: Somepony, anypony, HELP!  Ezekyle Abaddon: Children!  Without another word, he charged ahead of his brothers towards the direction of the cries. Centuries ago, he had sworn to protect all those who were a part of his gang, and as long as those he met were not found guilty of heresy, then they were a part of his gang.  (Authors note: A heretic in Imperium Ascendent is defined as a being whose actions are detrimental to the survival of humanity and its domination over the galaxy.)  Quickly racing to where the screams had come from, he saw three small...pastel-colored ponies? Were they the pets of the children he heard? Such thoughts were soon made irrelevant as the threats appeared.  Leaping out of the foliage, came three abominations that eerily reminded him of chaos corrupted beasts he had fought on planets saturated by the warp. They were not made of flesh though, but wood, shaped like the old lupine animals that once walked on Ancient Terra. Their forms glowed a sickly green color, especially their eyes. No symbols of the archenemy could be seen upon them, but they clearly smelt of foul sorcery.  Recognizing an enemy when he saw one, the most favored son of the Warmaster drew his power sword and activated his lightning claw, the Talon of Horus. Bellowing for all to hear he pronounced the battle-cry of the Lunar Templars.  Ezekyle Abaddon: No Better Friend! No Fiercer Foe! Come and face me abominations!  In response to his challenge, the things howled, and all attacked as one. Three mindless creatures against the leader of the 16th Legion's elite Justaerin, not even a fight worth mentioning for the Redeemer.  He rammed into the first of the trio, turning the sorcerous construct into a scattering of timber against his Terminator armor. He decapitated the one on the right with a swing of his blade and impaled the one on his left in the chest on his claw at the same time an instant later. He lifted the beast to look into its eyes and although it possessed no pupils it was evidently afraid. Dropping the creature, he turned its head into a burst of splinters under his power armored boot.  Scanning the terrain with his enhanced vision, he searched for the people who had called for aid but could not find a single human. Suddenly, behind him, he heard a voice.  ???: Wow.  Turning around, he saw the three equines looking at him in awe and amazement. Then, they opened their mouths and exclaimed.  ???: That was AWESOME!  Ezekyle Abaddon raised his brow and for the first time since he became a Space Marine, was genuinely dumbfounded.  At that very moment, his four brothers came rushing to the scene. Seeing their Captain with his weapons drawn, they aimed their own at the trees around them.  Battle-Brother Aellius: Captain, what happened, what are your orders?  Before he could think of a reply, one of the tiny talking ponies, this one with wings, spoke again.  ???: Cooool, there's even more of you.  Just like he had, his brother turned to face the ponies and despite the fact he could not see their faces due to their helmets, he was certain they had the expression he did.  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Cutie Mark Crusaders POV Today had definitely not been their best. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had tried getting their cutie marks by going into the Everfree Forest. Their sisters had, obviously, said no, so they had snuck out without permission.  In hindsight, it had probably been a bad idea after they had been told over and over again about how dangerous the forest was. It was a bit too late to think about that now though as the three little ponies were being chased by Timberwolves.  Scootaloo: It can't end like this, we haven't gotten our cutie marks yet and Rainbow Dash was going to show me her new trick tomorrow!  Applebloom: We'all shoulda listened to our sisters!  Sweetie Bell: Somepony, anypony, HELP!  Then, out of the trees...IT arrived. The thing was a giant, fully ten feet tall, standing on two legs. It wore what was by far the thickest suit of armor they had ever seen, making those worn by the royal guard look like tin cans. One of its two arms ended in what seemed to be a paw of some kind and the other a gnarly looking claw.  At first the CMCs thought it was a minotaur, but then they saw its face. The giant had white skin and black hair with no visible fur. It had two eyes, one of which was covered with an eyepatch.   The whatever it was, stood there for a second looking at them before the Timberwolves leapt out of the nearby shrubbery. Then he, it had to be a he judging by the voice it had, turned his attention to the monsters and lifted what must have been the biggest sword in all of Equestria from his belt. Both of the sword and his claw glowed blue, and it shouted at the Timberwolves like a hero from an action comic. "No Better Friend! No Fiercer Foe! Come and face me abomination!".  The thing defeated the Timberwolves in no time, finishing the fight by stomping on the last one's head, ending the move with a pose that made the young fillies feel like they were seeing a knight in shining armor from a fairy tale.  Scootaloo: Wow.  Hearing the amazed Scootaloo, the giant turned to the Crusaders.  CMCs: That was AWESOME!  Then as if the day couldn't get any cooler, four more of them appeared, forming a circle and striking intimidating battle stances.  Scootaloo: Cooool, there's even more of you.  And so, did first contact between forces of the Imperium and the inhabitants of this world be made as the Space Marines had hoped, and not.  Comments would be appreciated