//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: The Blood Ravens Last Flight // by Nobodyslament //------------------------------// I managed to get back to my ship without running into anyone else. The book had given me the xenos name. They appear to be called ponies. The quiet of night allowed me a chance to run a diagnostic on The Pursuit. All my servitors were scrapped as soon as I hooked up the Chaos ship. My navigation systems were only set to short-range with no hope of repair. The only way off of this planet was if the Imperium conquered all the way here. I looked at the moon through one of my windows. I then remembered the reason I was still set up for combat. I remembered the book I read said that the princess’s controlled the sun and moon. I quickly decided to try and talk to them when the sun rose tomorrow. I started to meditate on what would happen if the Imperium actually got here. I decided I would need to do some good negotiating to save this world. I started making my case.  My meditation was interrupted by a loud noise. “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS MYSTERY SOLVERS!” I stood up and turned on exterior microphones. A small "hoof" started poking my ship causing annoyingly loud feedback. I figured they were young, and harmless enough. I opened up my ship to find three very young ponies. I believe they are called foals. They all stared at me wide-eyed. A small yellow foal looked me up and down. “Ah thought sis was tellin’ stories when she talked about you.” The small orange foal looked at me and started blubbering. “ohmygosh you look almost as cool as rainbow. Can you teach me to look like you? Or maybe just let me see inside your house?” The foal seemed to hover for a second before the third foal spoke up. "I think he just got here. He doesn’t even know us yet!” The very thought seemed to disgust her. “I’m Sweetie Belle.” The orange foal spoke up next “I’m Scootaloo.” The yellow foal spoke last and seemed to be trying to figure out how my armor worked. “Ah’m Applebloom. We’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders.” I sat there for a minute, trying to figure out what a cutie mark was. I decided to find a book on it when I went to the library today. Scootaloo then shot down all plans I was making for the day. “I bet he should meet the princess’s.” I stopped thinking of the library. The princesses were said to move the sun and moon. If there was something had the power to move stars it demanded some attention.         I asked the only question that I could. “Where can I find the princess’s?” All three of the “Crusaders” looked at me like I was stupid. Slowly, Scootaloo raised a hoof and pointed to a city in the mountain about a half-days march away. Scootaloo started to speak. “I wish I could visit there again, but I live alone so I couldn't make the trip on my own.” I looked at the orange foal, she was near-tears. I smiled under my armor and picked her up. “Well my small friend, If no one would mind I could take you there.” She perked up almost instantly. “Really? YES YES YES YES YES!!” the other two started to jump up and down. They simultaneously started asking. “Can we come to? Can we come to? Please?” I smiled and guessed they both had families. “Go ask if you can, if your families say yes I’ll take you along.” They both bounded of while scootaloo stayed with me. I called out before they got out of earshot. “We shall meet at the Ponyville library in an hour. I’ll expect you then.” Both of them started galloping backwards and nodded at me. Scootaloo started trying to climb up my armor. I looked down at her. “Hey Mr.Marx, how can you eat with your silly mouth?” I was hit with a sudden feeling of warmth. It was like when you went to a planet with small children everywhere. I liked this foal, she was like the rookie in a squad, she was like a little sister, at least, I imagine so. I smiled and took off my helmet. She opened her mouth wide and stared at the helmet, then back at my head. “You have two heads?!” I laughed at the absurdity of it. “No, no my friend. that’s a helmet, like what you ride on a bike.” “Or a scooter!” “Yes, or a scooter.” I started to put my helmet back on, then stopped. Deciding any more confusion over my having two heads should be avoided and simply mag-locked it to my waist. I looked over my ship, still scanning the planet. “Well my little friend, let’s go visit Ms. Sparkle.” “Yay, I get to go to Canterlot.” My smile almost faltered. Why would one so young live alone? I put off my questions. After all, I had a princess or two to meet.         I went to the library with Scootaloo attached to my leg. He was gripping tighter than my armor could take, I could feel it’s spirit slowly liking the foal though. When I got within easy seeing distance I noticed a white pony with a horn with Sweetie belle lying on her back. She was knocking on the door with just the slightest hint of urgency. “Twilight dear, I think Sweetie went crazy. She says she met some big metal thing today. I asked who it was and she said AppleJack said it was named Marx. Can you come here please?” I decided it best I introduce myself subtly. “Ma’am if I may? I don’t think she was lying.” She scoffed. Not a high and mighty sound as if I was under her notice. More a sound of disbelief. She turned around to respond. She saw me and stopped dead. “Twilight, darling, I need help now.” Scootaloo chose that moment to crawl in my helmet and poke his head out. “Hi miss Rarity, this is Mr.Marx. He said he would let us go to Canterlot with him.” Rarity stood there confused for a moment, but recovered with the grace of a Primarch. “Well, if Twilight will vouch for him, then why not.” Ms.Sparkle decided that, since the problem was gone, now she should exit her house. “Sorry Rarity, I was busy fixing up a shelf. What’s up? All I heard was Sweetie might have gone crazy.” Rarity looked at me a bit sheepishly. “Well darling I thought she was imagining a ten-foot metal pony who was named Marx." I reacted completely on impulse. “Well that is a problem. I’m not a pony, and if someone see’s me as such they must be crazy.” A small bout of laughter echoed out of my now orange filled helmet. Rarity and Ms.Sparkle looked me up and down before cracking smiles of their own. Twilight was the first to recover enough to respond. “Well Marx, you seem to have met our most rambunctious group of fillies. So come on in and explain everything so I know if I should seek mental help for them.” I crouched into the doorway and walked in. `A half-hour later Applebloom jumped through the door. I was explaining how I felt I should visit the princess when the excitable filly (I learned this word from Ms.Sparkle.) landed squarely beside the still napping Sweetie Belle. Rarity apparently drugged Sweetie Belle with some cold medicine so she would sleep until Ms.Sparkle could help her insanity. I looked at Applebloom with my actual eyes and I thought she would faint. “What happened to yah head Marx?!” I laughed and reluctantly pushed Scootaloo out of my helmet. I was still chuckling when I replied. “Do you mean my helmet?” I put my helmet beside my head and then put it on the table. Appleboom stared at my helmet before remembering why she arrived in the first place. “Sis said that Big Mac had ta go anyhow so I could tag along with you if Big Mac didn't mind staying close.” As if on cue a large stallion entered the room and looked around. “Eeyup” He said slowly putting a piece of straw between his teeth. “That sounds about right.” I nodded in his direction and got a return nod. I liked him, if only for his seemingly rare ability to not assault me with questions. I went back to the matter at hand. “So Miss Rarity-” “Darling, enough with formalities. Just Rarity, please.” Ms.Sparkle seemed to catch up on that. “Yeah and no more Ms.Sparkle. I’m just Twilight.” I looked at them both before shrugging. “I find this acceptable. As I was saying. Rarity would you mind if your daughter accompanied me to Canterlot? They all seemed rather taken with the idea.” She looked at me in confusion. “No dear I wouldn’t. However, I’m not her mother. I’m her sister, and before you ask our parents don’t mind if she’s with her friends.” It was my turn to look a bit confused. “Well then, I need to leave soon. It’s at least half a day away.” All the ponies in the room stared at me. Rarity was the fastest to realize what I had said. “Dearie, you can’t walk to Canterlot. You should take the train. It’s a free service if you can prove you’re going to Celestia or Luna.” I looked at her and arched an eyebrow. “They don’t exactly know I’m visiting them.” Now It was Twilight who responded. “Well I can tell them. Give me a minute.” She looked around before hitting her head with her hoof. “Still asleep as always. SPIKE!” I looked over to a stairwell, which was now curiously mumbling. A small part of the wall fell out, and out of the wall fell a small dragon. “Geez Twi, could I sleep in a hiding place without you screaming to get me?” “No, Spike you couldn't, now I need to send a letter to Celestia quickly. And there's somepony new in town who you should meet. Spike meet Marx, Marx meet Spike.” Spike continued grumbling as he hauled himself up and looked at me. He looked around the room for a bit and then back to me. “Either I’m dreaming, or a giant metal thing is crouched in the middle of the library waving at me. I think I’m gonna go scream for a bit. I’ll send the letter when I get back. You good with that Twi?” Twilight nodded before Spike waved back at me and walked up the stairs. I heard muffled screaming and a couple of loud bangs. I think I still made the right choice in ignoring them.         After a little while Twilight had finished writing a letter explaining the situation to the princess. After a minute of waiting she just sighed and yelled again. “Spike I need to send the letter soon, mind coming back down?” The screaming abruptly stopped and a very calm Spike descended the stairs. “Sure thing Twi.” I looked at him and just pushed my luck and attempt conversation. “Well, at least I know your lungs work correctly.” He laughed a bit at that before taking the letter from Twi. This is where my scientist lost it. Spike lit the letter on fire, the ashes burning out of the window. I was about to comment when spike started choking. “Oh great.” Spike coughed out a small envelope coming from his mouth in a spurt of flame. “I hate it when she sends a responds as soon as I send it.” Twilight picked up the letter and withdrew five blue slips of paper and a new letter. I was sitting there, trying to figure out what just happened. I shut down any thoughts of the letter by thinking of it as a primitive vox network. Twilight looked up. “Well aren't you in luck Marx. The princess wants to meet you too. She sent enough tickets for the crusaders and Big Mac to tag along.” The commotion roused Sweetie Belle who looked around and saw her sister whistling nonchalantly. “You gave medicine in my hot chocolate again didn't you?” Sweetie Belle roared glaring at her sister. I leaned over to defuse the situation. I put my helmet on Sweetie belle. It covered her pretty well and she screamed in surprise. “What’s going on now?” I laughed before removing my helmet and mag-locking it back on my hip. Before Sweetie Belle could respond Scootaloo jumped back in her makeshift seat. I had to wonder for moment why she thought my helmet was so comfortable. Then Sweetie Belle’s voice brought me back to reality. “You wear a hat that covers your whole head? Cooool.” I decided to skip the helmet discussion and grab the Train tickets. “I think it’s time to meet the princess." With those simple words the fillies instantly crowded me. We were apparently ready to leave. The train station was almost empty. We showed up and scared the ponies on duty. To their credit, when they saw I wasn't an animal they all pretty much stopped caring, except for staring at me occasionally. We entered the train car at around nine o’ clock in the morning. It was a two hour ride so I used the time as wisely as I could. I tried  to find out how to calm the “crusaders”. In the end the only thing that worked was stories from where I was from. I censored them heavily, but they still were awed by humanity’s saviors. The were scared of Horus and his heretical armies. In the end I think I kept them rather entertained. “When we arrived planetside the colony was turned multi-color and the Slaaneshi had thrown puppies at us!” The fillies all bellowed with laughter and even Big Mac chuckled at the insanity of the Slaaneshi. I decided to remove the part about the puppies being strapped to grenades. Then Applebloom caught something I wish she hadn't “Weren’t these the same folks you had to stop from destroying an entire city.” I grimaced a bit but the truth is the only way to save people. Even if we stopped the great imperial truth. “Yes, you see. Slaaneshi follow one of the chaos gods called Slaanesh. He is the god of doing whatever you want. So they wanted to destroy that city, and they wanted to throw puppies at us. They’re unpredictable, though their heretical parties are still the best thing to ever happen on that planet.” They all let that sink in. Big Mac was the first to respond. “Now, before we keep goin’, I gotta know. You ain’t gonna do that kinda thing here are ya’? We don’t need to have to deal with this “war” thing ya’ll do.” I smiled at him. “My friend, If I wanted to fight, I would’ve been a space wolf.” None of them got the joke, but the train stopped before anymore questions were asked. Thinking I should look official I tried to put on my helmet. I stopped when I looked in it to see a sleeping Scootaloo in it. My lips twitched and I sighed. I slowly turned my helmet upside down until an orange filly fell out. “ "Huh-what?” Scootaloo grumbled. She caught a glimpse of Canterlot through the window and jumped towards it. “Hay yeah, I’m in Canterlot.” She turned around to face a disapproving glare from Big mac. His low voice had a steel edge in it. “Language Scootaloo. I don’t need tah hear that while we’re visitin’ the princess. Yah hear me?" Scootaloo shuffled nervously. “Yes sir.” She said, putting up a feeble salute. I broke the tension with the subtlety of a chain-sword. “Come on, my friends. We get to meet royalty.” I waved them out like I was getting my squad out of a Rhino. We reached the castle rather quickly. Granted, I made crowds of ponies disperse with my presence. Then we had our first problem. The door guards. “The palace is off limits to non-pony personnel unless there is a note from a royal member allowing them in.” The guards demeanor was rigid, scared, but most important, brave. I was impatient however, and simply used my observations to further my own goals. “Well sir, if I am not allowed entrance I guess I’ll hang around here all day.” The guards eyes widened but he held fast. “Me and the fillies here will play poker and try and scare away anyone who tries to get inside the palace.” The guard didn’t buckle under pressure and gained some strength when I mentioned the fillies. He responded before I could finish my rant. “Speaking of the fillies who’s are they? I know they aren’t yours.” “How astute of you." The sarcasm was unneeded, but it calmed me down. "This orange one is Scootaloo.” Scootaloo raised her hoof to show I meant her. “She lives alone, and I’m taking her to see Canterlot, since I’m here anyways. This yellow one is Applebloom. She is AppleJacks sister.” The mention of AppleJack gave the guard some alarm and he switched stances to something more defensive. “And this last one here is named Sweetie Belle. She’s Rarity’s sister. All of them are from ponyville, with Big Mac here as our guide of sorts.” I motioned to Big Mac who nodded at the guard before chewing on the straw that was still in his mouth. The guard looked at us all with no small amount of confusion. He started muttering. “I swear, if you’re lying Cpt. Armor's gonna have my hide on his wall. I’ll let you on through, but please don’t do anything to get me in trouble.” I walked into the castle with a chorus of oohs coming from behind me. It was nothing compared to some of the work by the adeptus mechanicus, but it was still beautiful. I allowed myself a brief moment to take it all in. I then followed the main hallway hoping it led to the throne room. I then ever so conveniently remembered I still had Celestia's letter in my armors straps. I crumpled it up and threw it away, It was of little use now. The throne room was a sight to behold. It was what the mechanicus made for main Imperial cathedrals. This time I felt the “oohs” behind me were very well deserved. I stopped, unwillingly, to absorb the tapestries and windows. It was all close to perfect. The throne itself was simple. There was a problem with it though. It was empty. I searched the room for a place the princess would be until a loud voice rang out. “Welcome to Equestria stranger. I am Celestia, the princess of this kingdom. Who are you and why are you here?” My inner marine butted in, guiding my words. “I do not tell my reasoning to shadows and ghosts. If you really wish to speak to me then come out and let me see your face!” The whole room glowed brightly for a few seconds. My eyes adjusted just in time for the light to die down. In the middle of the room sat a solid white horse, not a pony, a horse. It had both wings and a horn. My helmet beeped telling me she had enormous warp power. I knew that already, now it was question time. I felt my marine die down and allow my more diplomatic side to speak. “Since I can now see you I think I’ll answer your question. I am Crucius Marx of the Emperors Blood Ravens. I am stranded here and have decided to stay here until my welcome has been worn, or my brothers come to save me. So I am here for two reasons. One is to ask your permission for my stay here. The second is to ask you a private question.” Celestia looked at me for a moment, her one visible eye judging me. “Well Mr.Marx you certainly cut to the heart of things the first request is simple, of course you have my permission. Why would I say no? However, any question you can ask me, you can ask me in front of my guards.” I saw wisdom in this. I signaled for Big Mac to take the crusaders out. “Hey girls, why don’t we let them two talk while we tour the night garden. They never really show it that much so it’ll all be new.” The fillies all followed Big Mac while I started making small talk. “I must admit Princess, your kingdom is perhaps the most peaceful I've ever seen.” I felt the flattery would get me nowhere, but it seemed to affect her mood positively. “Well sir, This land only ever has wild animal attacks. The guards are purely for show, and to keep out the odd pony who wants to fight.” I smirked at this and thought that the crusaders would be out of earshot by now. “Okay princess let me cut straight to the the matter at hand. This planet is tapped into the most chaotic and powerful energy in the world. We in the Imperium call it Chaos or the Warp. I need to make sure. Has anyone suffered a great fall or rise before?” Celestia looked taken aback by the comment. She looked offended, or maybe just angry. “I’ll have you know the only fall anyone has experienced was my sister, and she got cured by the most powerful forces in the land.” That surprised me, as far as I knew there was no cure for the taint of chaos. I went back to diplomacy “Well ma’am I would like to speak to her very much. I need to see the effects of this cure." It was a solid case, one I made up, but a believable one. “Well, There’s no harm in that. Luna if you wouldn't mind.” I thought I saw a shadow shift. Then as if it were alive it opened up and another of the princess’s stepped out. Their physical makeup was very similar. The main difference was simply their colors. However on my cursory examination I noticed something for the first time. A mark on the rear of the princess. I flipped back my memory to every other pony I’d seen. AppleJack had one, along with Rainbow dash. The more I thought of it the more it clicked together. The only ponies I met without those marks were the cutie mark crusader. Therefore, they must be these "cutie marks" the young ones are crusading for. Feeling temporary pride at solving this riddle early I sat down on the floor. The purple princess looked at me in surprise. “What have you brought home now Celestia.” I laughed a bit but was silenced by a glare from Celestia. “Sister he wished to speak with you, he supposedly know what caused your fall into Nightmare Moon.” Luna looked at me with a different glint now. It was more judging. I could feel that, despite Celestia being the more popular princess Luna was the one who could learn and change something without it messing everyone up. I went through the book on Equestria mentally and remembered that there had been little change in the last thousand years, while before that there was constant improvement on the standard of living. Now I saw why. “He says he knows does he. The warrior from a faraway land has learned more about our planet in, what two days, then we have gathered in centuries?" I was surprised by her correct deductions. I had told no one I was a warrior. I could tell her annoyance, but I liked her. She was the mind of the two meanwhile Celestia was the face allowing the subjects to come to the one who didn't need time to think. I then decided to correct her. “No humanity has learned more in two thousand years, and I am well educated.” This response seemed to calm her down. Luna regained some composure. “Very well then, what caused my fall to darkness.” I started what I assumed would be the short version. If I wanted to, I could not scribe that conversation. There was only one problem that led to this. Luna’s curiosity. I referred to the warp which led to a conversation about the warp, and thus branched off until she talked about another, possibly fallen being. I shall scribe what happened there. “You see Luna” I said slowly pacing across the hall. Celestia had long since retired and left us to our talks. “The Warp is a powerful thing. Normally when one falls they transform. You simply changed color and grew armor, but some who fall mutate horribly, but gain unspeakable powers.” A little voice in my head spoke up, “Like me”  I dismissed it. Luna seemed to think a moment. "Now that you've said that I can think of another being who could have fallen. A spirit very ancient who has unspeakable powers. He is the king of chaos, Discord.” I tensed and put a hand on my bolter. “Where is he now?” Luna smirked “Oh he’s quite well contained. Follow me.” The little voice in my head spoke up. “Oh thats a riot. HAHAHAHA oh yeah contained physically, but not mentally.” I winced at the thought. I realized a chaotic being was in my head, chatting with me. I started bantering with Discord as we walked. “If you’re a being of Chaos why is this land not a wasteland?” I thought I heard more laughter "Simple, this world is fun. They imprisoned me for classic chaos. You know, baby stuff. Raining chocolate, twenty foot rabbits, warping them from being friends, really anything harmless and funny.” I stopped for the briefest of moments before looking at the statutory. They were worth being in any Imperial museum. The centerpiece was a master sculpture of a terrified patchwork monster. Luna spoke loudly “There is the fallen one now.” I looked at her and nodded before racking the slide on my bolter. Discord chimed in again. “Oh come now, I still have some chaotic ability. If you shoot your gun will jam. Now think for a moment. I used to rule this world. I was a demon prince back then. Oh, but this world changes you, you’ll see. You lose the will to hurt things permanently. In the end I just wanted to have fun. If you need to talk to someone, I am always here. After all, we remnants from humanity have to stick together.” I ignored his last comment. If he was once human he wasn't anymore. I mag-locked my bolter and disengaged the chambered round. “I think he’s fine where he is.” Luna turned to me with a raised eyebrow, but said nothing. We turned back towards the castle, at least until I couldn’t see from an orange blur wrapped around my head. Scootaloo’s voice rang out beside my ear. “Mr. Marx we found you! We went back to the throne room but the guard said you walked off with Luna towards the garden, and I got worried ‘cause I didn’t know where you were, But then I remembered where the garden was from a school field trip and I found you.” Her excitement caught me off guard as I tried to pry her off my head. Luna looked at our party of five. “Well then, the night is young and it is a long way back to Ponyville. Though before you go you might want this.” Her hoof disappeared into a nearby shadow and withdrew a book. She passed it to me before disappearing into the shadow herself. I looked at the book. It’s lettering was new and glossy, a decal of a crown was printed under the title. It was called “The Elements of Harmony: A Study” I put it in my helmet before gathering everyone. I only managed to get Scootaloo of my head and onto my shoulder plate, but everyone else seemed dead on their feet. I picked up Sweetie Belle and put her beside Scootaloo as Big Mac put Applebloom on his back. Together, we made the short walk back to the train.