//------------------------------//
// 5 - Warp Translation 
// Story: My Little Rogue Trader 
// by Tyrannosaurus_Tux 
//------------------------------//

I sat on the Lord Captain's throne on the bridge, surrounded by ponies, men, and guns. I was no exception, with a short-barreled bolt-action rifle... pistol thing that itched my brain sitting on my lap. It was made with wooden furniture, but it clearly teemed with magic. For one, many components on it glowed pink, and there were a great many engravings on it, with runes and even a pentagram or two. This even included the bayonet on a lug at the end of the rifle. This was clearly a weapon for a Rogue Trader. I would've liked to at least re-acquainted myself with it before we set off, however. Too late for that, though. If daemons did attack again, I probably could pull the trigger at least once at some dumb creature before using the long blade of the bayonet.

Or maybe I should just drop this weird stubby gun and use my sword.  

I wore my helmet/hat and stared into the void. The stars themselves seemed to invite, but also to threaten.

"Lord Captain," reminded Princess Twilight. "You need to give the order."

I took a deep breath, ready for whatever plunge was to come. "Commence warp translation," I commanded. Immediately after, klaxons sounded, and red lights twirled. I saw heavy metal shutters begin to close on all the windows, as a hole in space suddenly ruptured in front of the vessel. Hellish purple energies surrounded this hole in space, and then I could see inside. I closed my eyes, cutting off the sensation of tendrils reaching through my eyes and into my brain. Tendrils... were everywhere, here in the Warp. Fingers tried to grasp our ship, our Mercy of the Stars. An endless storm of colors and thoughts. All of them hated me. No. Away with you all.

When I opened my eyes again, the shutters had thankfully cut off the sight, entirely blocking off the view to the outside. I felt and heard the ship's engines light, giving a slight feeling of acceleration. I counted the moments, then realized I didn't need to. One of the displays counted for me.

Translation in 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1. 

I set my stubby rifle aside and put my sword on my lap. I shivered at a new sensation, one that came with its whispers and the occasional flash of light over my senses. 

You dare yet live, Anathema-Kin?

I shook my head. I looked around, everyone expecting... something. I don't think anyone said that, but I dare not ask. I swallowed. The bridge was abuzz with activity. Finally, a voice from the throne. It was Ameliki. 

"Translation successful, Lord Captain. I see our path." 

I nodded, and said, "Thank you, Ameliki."

I turned to Spike and Polarscale to my right. "How is the Gellar field?" I asked.

Spike turned to Polarscale, who reported, without glancing in my direction, "The immaterial world is... attempting to breach, but the generators hold. The Omnissiah blesses our journey." 

I nodded. "Do we stay like this until we get out again?" I wondered aloud, afraid that I'd have to stand at basically combat readiness forever. A pause. "No," Twilight Sparkle said, nuzzling my neck. "The worst of it is already over."

I should probably tell her. "I... heard something," I admitted. 

Twilight nodded. "We usually do. Utter nonsense, though."

"No... there was something I heard," I insisted. I looked to see Twilight's eyes. "I heard..." I tried to sound as rough and gravelly as I could, "...' You dare yet live, Anathema-Kin?'" I sighed. "Any idea what 'Anathema-Kin' is?" 

Twilight grimaced. Suddenly, a bubble of pink surrounded just the two of us. I stiffened, then relaxed as I understood that it was Twilight who cast this new shield, yet another layer of protection. I heard her whisper. I leaned in. 

"You won't get him. You won't." I set all my weapons to the side and hugged my little princess. 

"Twilight?" I asked. I felt eyes on us. I'm not sure if they're from the people around us. 

"Just a nickname," Twilight explained. She rolled her eyes. "They love their nicknames."

The alarms stopped. Normal lights flicked back on. The pink shield dissipated. Twilight and I sighed. "Alright," she said. "Let's get you to the Captain's Quarters." 

I nod, still staring into the plating covering the windows.





It had been some days since we entered the Warp. I had spent them rehabilitating. I still did not know the extent of the damage I sustained... something that would likely horrify me to know. But for my friends... for them to have gone out of their way to help me, to save me, to keep me safe... I can't let them down. 

I did one more push-up. My arms finally gave out, too weak. But I had done 50 burpees today. Let's say it was 50. I lost track. Breathing, I pushed myself off the floor. I was in the third room of the Quarters. The... trophy room, I guess. There was quite a collection of knickknacks, alien weapons, and even a few trophy mounts of things I... think I've killed. It itched my brain to look at every single one of them, but nothing really revealed itself, so I didn't remain. Instead, I walked back to the living/table room. There, I met Twilight Sparkle, holding some of my gear aloft in her telekinesis. 

"Restless, huh?" She quizzed. I nodded. I flexed, feeling... something. I wasn't sure what, yet. 

I twisted my head, feeling my neck pop. "I need to be ready," I reasoned. "Whatever this life has to offer, I want to be more than ready."

Smiling, Twilight replied, "Good. Good, Edo. I think today you should try some combat training."

I looked at Twilight as I placed my sword on my hip and the strap of my stubby rifle over my shoulder. Twilight had also fetched a holster and a sidearm resting in it. I put that on, as well. I hope she didn't have anything else for me to put on. Right, the refractor field. I flicked it on.

"Now you're getting it," said Twilight, encouragingly. 

I held a hand to the elevator. "Shall we?" I invited. Nodding, Twilight led the way. 





When I entered the... Psykhanium, I really didn't know what I was expecting. When Twilight told me that I would be subjected to psychic training, I had thought, imagined, that perhaps that meant I would be going into a dojo where the psykers would throw things at me, or something. Instead, it looked like a massive amphitheater crossed with a lounge. Many circular levels surrounded a lowered platform, accessed through gradual ramps and stairs. Instead of regular chairs, however, the platform was surrounded by a series of reclining seats, almost beds. Each was accompanied by machinery... cogitators, as well as a clear crystal bowl suspended by an articulated arm that looked to lower over the faces of whoever lay on the seats. They look plush enough, but what really caught my attention was what occupied the platform in the middle. There, in the middle, sat a recliner, and the... brain itch. Female deer, with fur like snow, that sat upon it was... I shut my eyes to a whole new sensation now. Cloven hooves, massaging my squishy, squishy brain. It feels... nice? All sorts of wrong, but... nice?

The deer was also hooked up by her head to a series of cables and wires to a great machine suspended above, fixed to the tall ceiling. I saw murals of weapons, diagrams of fencing techniques, and even a few chessboard pieces as decoration. I put my hands on my head, but all that felt like was placing my hands on the hooves that were currently giving my brain a once-over. This, however, seemed to pause the sensation. 

Lord Captain, it is good to see you again. A soft voice in my head, like the falling of snow. I looked at the deer, at Snow Fall, who didn't move even as her voice sounded in my head. My, my, you are a damaged one. You have a lot of catching up to do, don't you? I shook my head, and Snow finally got the hint, the sensation finally dissipating, something Twilight finally noticed, and stared lasers at Snow, who only stuck her tongue out at her. Twilight sighed, then said, "C'mon." 

I walked up to the closest chair, and sat myself down, minding my hat and weapons. I took off the stupid hat/helmet with a sigh and set it down on a piece of machinery. I leaned back against the chair, and Twilight, fiddling with something, said, reassuringly, "Relax. This won't hurt a bit."

But it did hurt. I grit my teeth as I saw the crystal bowl descend, and I blacked out.

When I came to again, my eyes stopped hurting. I was standing in a field. A grassy meadow, surrounded by snow-capped pine trees and mountains beyond. The blue sky was full of white clouds. I picked this for you, Rogue Trader. You don't remember this place, but you will. Twilight Sparkle will remind you, just as soon as she emerges into my world. I heard nothing, but the words sounded in my mind all the same as if they were my own, but they weren't.

Nothing like the deep end to get you started, hmm? 

I drew my sword as a green-skinned brutish bipedal thing charged at me, screaming and waving a large axe. Yellow teeth flashed and black eyes bore down on me, but I had already committed to a stab. The tip of my sword, Pagtum, sank deep into the beast's armpit. It now screamed in pain, which sounded an awful lot like it was screaming before, but I digress. Letting go of the sword with my left hand, I grabbed the sidearm and steadied myself. My brain itched, and the ork kept swinging its tree trunk arms, cursing in some alien tongue. I placed the muzzle of my weapon against its torso and pulled the trigger three times. The sound of the gunshots made me wince, echoing off of distant trees. The ork fell, almost taking my sword with it. I leaned back and let Pagtum slide out with a metallic musical note, now shining with blood. 

I didn't get the chance to marvel at my blade's odd properties when another scream sounded. Another ork. It was wearing a stupid sleeveless shirt, as well. It raised an axe high, ready to cleave me in two. I intercepted the attack with a precise defensive blow; that is to say, I parried at the elbow. It fell to its knees and clutched at what remained of its arm until I shot it in the head. 

Another ork charged, spinning its weapon in a circle. I shot it in the head. Another one. I pointed and pulled the trigger. Click. I holstered the five-shooter and focused. My blade is in both my hands, angled not to catch the ork's axe, but to deflect. As it came down, I ducked, catching the force of the blow but a little, but allowing me within the brute's guard. With a swing, I lopped off a leg. Just as the beast hit the ground, I plunged Pagtum into the ork. Another scream. 

I looked to see the next attacker. Time to give the stubby rifle a try. Sheathing Pagtum, I grasped my sawn-off rifle in both my hands and lined up the bayonet with the guts of the incoming creature. Close enough. I fired, a beam of prismatic light striking the ork in the belly, resulting in an explosion of red steam that bisected the thing. I was stupefied until I realized it was still crawling towards me, so I stabbed it in the head with the bayonet. 

Maybe 'Lil Stubby was a good weapon after all. I racked the bolt, keeping my hand away from the crystal that stuck out the back of the bolt. I noted the crystal that stuck out the barrel. Another scream. I turned and fired into the upper torso of another ork. I hollered as I cycled the bolt again. The orc had toppled over, mostly a pile of steaming limbs now. 

"Pew, pew, barbarian!" 

Not bad, Rogue Trader. Amnesia hasn't slowed you down one bit. 

Thanks, I guess?

It was then I noticed Twilight lounging atop one of the trees, bending the top of the tree under her weight. She beamed at me and waved with a hoof. I bowed cordially, and ducked under another axe, firing into the ork's abdomen. The light projectile caused its head to explode. I grinned wickedly. I dropped 'Lil Stubby, letting it rest against my belly on its strap, and drew Pagtum again. I charged the next ork, and leaped. I saw a golden light.

Twilight, what's happening?

I... don't know.

I cleaved the ork in twain with but a shout and a swing. Even its primitive axe was cleaved. Feeling great. Feeling... even better than great! I roared. The sky turned golden. A bigger ork, covered in metal, approached. I would need more power. I set my blade alight. 

"I'm ending this."





I choked awake, shoving the bowl away from my face, muscles on fire. I needed to fight more. To work more. To become stronger. Voices sounded in my head, and all around. They're chanting my name. Praying. Urging me onward. 

One, however, won out.

"Edo?" Asked an increasingly nervous Twilight. Her posture was low. Shouldn't she be proud of me, though? I had done so much in a couple of days! Who knows what else I can do? I was no longer a wheelchair-bound corpse!

I growled, "I feel really good, Princess. Like I could leap over a mountain!" I then laughed. "Or slay an entire army!"

Twilight explained, slowly, "We don't exactly have a mountain in here. The only army here is yours, Edo. Just breathe. Do you know what's happened?"

I breathed. The air tasted electric. That... was a good question. "I... was in the Psykhanium," I recalled. "I was slaying orks. But then I... found something. Deep inside me."

Twilight asked, as if she already knew the answer, "What is it? What did you find?"

I closed my eyes and looked inward. "Light," I commented. "A great light within me, almost as great as... the light."

Twilight stood still. I felt the light gradually leave me. Weariness and weakness filled my limbs, almost as bad as when I first awakened, but I ignored it. I stood. "When I first awoke, Twilight," I confessed, "I felt confused. Scared. I was on the verge of death." Twilight walked around the edge of the bed-seat thing and looked me in the eyes. "When I slept after, I saw... clouds in the darkness, but also... lights. There were a bunch of lights, but there was a greater light in the distance." 

I saw Twilight's eyes slightly twitch as her mind digested what I had to say. She nodded. "I have... a few ideas about what that might be, but you must rest now. You gave people aboard a scare when you experienced your... light."

"Why?" I asked, wiping sweat from my brow. "All I was doing was..." I saw the back of my hand, smeared with blood. I breathed, noticing that I was sweaty all over and liquid coming out of my nose onto my mouth. "Oh," I realized as I fell back, losing consciousness.





"Ugh," I groaned awake. "I've got to stop doing that." It had been a dreamless sleep. No clouds or lights this time. It did really feel like I had leapt over a mountain or fought an entire army. I looked at my hands. No blood. Good enough. I threw off the covers and walked, painfully, to the living room, where I saw not Princess Twilight, but Princess Silver, who was fretting with something on a cart. 

She saw me, and trotted up, saying nothing but using her wings to hug me around my neck. I returned the gesture, holding my little Princess as I smelled what was on the cart, under the dish. A pot of... something that smelled like spices, potatoes, spinach, and sausage. My brain itched, and so the soup smelled... nostalgic. I looked down at the Princess in my arms, and I sighed. I could see her cutie mark, a rapier surrounded by points of color superimposed over a snowflake. There was a story here. 

I let Silver down, who said, "Twilight and the others are in a meeting. They want to discuss what just happened in the Psykhanium. I wanted to stay behind and make sure you were doing okay. I never was that much better at magic stuff than the next pony." I smiled and ran a hand through her hair. She hummed and waved me to the couches next to the fireplace. She poured a bowl for me and hovered it over. I took a spoonful. It was hot, and soft. I breathed, allowing the spices to heat my mouth up. Another spoonful. 

I cleared my throat. "Thank you for the soup. It's very good," I told Silver, who had gotten some soup for herself. She nodded. 

"It is your favorite, after all," she commented. My eyes twitched, and my brain itched.

I ate another spoonful. I asked, "Is it?" It did taste really good. "My... compliments to the chef, then," I offered. The bowl warmed my cold hands. 

Silver giggled, and blushed. "Why, thank you, Lord Captain," she said, with a swish of her tail. I watched as she ate another spoonful, one with sausages on it. I narrowed my eyes. Silver noticed, and explained, "Ponies can be omnivorous, too."

Food for thought, I mused while eating another spoonful. I coughed. My eyes misted up. Another spoonful, a bit of spinach hanging off the spoon. I scratched an eyebrow. I sighed. "Princess Silver Sword?" I asked. 

She looked at me, spoon in mouth. She took it out, and asked, "Yeah?"

I worked up the thought. How do I put this? "Tell me a story," I decided to say. "I'd like to hear about how you and I first met, Princess."

She smiled. "That happens to be one of my favorite stories," she remarked. She looked over to the bookshelves. A tome dutifully floated out on blue magic. It was carried by invisible currents over to Silver, who set aside her bowl and showed me the book. 

"Rogue Trader Edo von Hassia and the Silver Princess", it read. I ate another spoonful, growing more regretful that I didn't take my time with my bowl. This time, my face and hers took up most of the artwork, but it did showcase my ship, as well as a moon that seemed to be shattered, like a broken orb of glass.

With a bashful smile, Silver admitted, "It's a bit of a copout, but this book does a much better job of telling the story than anything I can come up with on the spot." I nodded and set my bowl down, graciously accepting a canteen from Silver. 

I sipped and widened my eyes. Sparkling water? It tastes... like cherries. Silver smiled. 

She opened the book, and read from the beginning. "Once upon a time, on the shattered world of Residuum..."