Chapter II : The Deal and Sacrifice

Thought of the Day : Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment.

Location : Equestria, Canterlot Castle
Time : 16:08 PM, 14/05/1003 in the Equestrian Calendar, a few hours after defeating King Sombra

The Royal Sisters stood on the balcony, with an incredibly beautiful landscape just below them. Equestria was bright, even the colors of the peaks in the distance were soothing, calming the Princesses nerves. An even more colorful train had just vanished into the tunnel, shuttling the victorious Bearers of Elements. It reappeared on the other side of the mountain, on the bright green grassland of the Celestial Plain. Celestia and Luna just stood, observing the entire situation. The wind was gently blowing, it was a refreshing, cool breeze, bracing their skin and the feathers of their wings.

King Sombra, forsaken ruler of the Crystal Empire was defeated. Again. The barrier that they created to protect Equestria from the bloodthirsty war above them didn't protect from the war in the midst of their motherland. However, thanks to the Bearers of Harmony, the tyrant was banished again.

"So, can we use Crystal Heart to empower the barrier?" - asked Princess Luna, cutting the long silence.

"No. The power of the Crystal Heart is clearly bound to the capital of the Crystal Empire. We can't drain strength from it, without corrupting, or even completely destroying the Crystal Ponies country." - Celestia answered, now looking at her sister.

"According to my research, if Shining Armor will still help us, the barrier will last three months. - the Princess of the Moon continued. - "We could gather the Mages Council, to gather more power to maintain the spell, but it still only delays the inevitable. It could gives about two more weeks. What about the Elements? - she asked.

"The Elements can't be used for this situation. Their power is focused on the emotions, and what emotions have our clearly loved six friends to our barrier spell? They don't know that it even exist. If we would ask Twilight Sparkle to help empower our spell with her magic, she could give us only about..." - Celestia stopped, quickly analysing the facts - "Three and half weeks. Almost nothing, considering how long we’ve been maintaining this spell.

"So, we are on the edge of destruction, apocalypse, or whatever you will call it, and we can't do anything to stop it. Just great." - Luna said with a pain in her voice.

Celestia didn't have answer for this. She already reconciled with a thought of death. They have been living for too long, and it would be a good time to end this. Still, she won. Because she proved that it's possible to create the paradise, it's possible to create heaven in the grim reality of the violent and deadly universe. She knew, that revealing their nation to rest of the world will result in almost immediately extermination. Orks Waagh! searching for easy target, selfish Craftworld destroying their motherland and then claiming artifacts and magic of their land, forces of Chaos killing and corrupting everything in their sight, Imperium of Mankind anihilating every "alien" race that could dangerous in their opinion... it didn't matter who will destroy them at last.

Suddenly, Princess Luna eyes widened in shock. Usually, it was Luna who was stupidly brave and imprudent, but if it was her sister who was scared, it was something serious for sure.

Realisation struck her with the force of a hurricane. The Minds of the Princess of the Sun immediately started working, generating dozens of strategies, ideas and finally, setting up the plan.

"Sister, I have an idea. - Celestia spoke. - "Shining Armor is in the Crystal Empire, so send the message to the Night Stalker. With this "special list". We will try to communicate with humans.

Luna hesitated for a moment, but finally her horn glowed and after the moment, the Princess of the Moon advisor received special list of orders, to ensure that entire Canterlot castle will be closed and isolated for a full day.

"Well... we’ve got only one chance." - Luna said - "One, single mishap and we won't manage to save our kind. Better, if this one human we will be conservating his energy”.

"Wouldn’t it be nice." - Princess of the Sun admitted in her minds. However, the signs that they were observing earlier really weren’t optimistic either.

The royal Sisters entered the castle again, and headed to Lunas sanctuary. Two ponies from the Night Guard saluted, and allowed them passage. A dark-blue Alicorn was starting a spell already, when her sister stopped her with a hoof-touch.

"Yes, but better to memorize it better. We won’t mention Discord, we won’t mention that there are so many unicorns with possibility of magic use, we will try to not mention that ponies are extremely pacifist, we won’t mention that we are goddesses. We will have possibility of mind-communicate, so stay tuned. Oh, and one thing."

"Whatever price we’ll have to pay for saving our kind, we need to still keep them from the cruel reality. We didn’t build an utopia for ten millenniums only to be destroyed by some random space ship."

Celestia confirmed. They sit down, and after a few seconds, their horns start shining with purely, white light. A moment later, they were already in space, with them sitting in a mighty and overwhelming vessel around the orbit.

Location : Segmentum Pacificus, "Anomaly" Zone, Pride of Solar Battlecruiser from the Imperial Navy
Time : 764.M41

Lord-General Anders, the commander of Mordian 11th Iron Guard regiment was hardly keeping fury at bay. His face was still calm, but behind that mask he was filled with the anger, that could make the Khorne Berserker jealous. Advisors and adiutants of general instinctively felt it, so they were avoiding him all the time. He admitted, that it was the best idea they ever came up for. General was walking around the abandon sections of the ship, slowly and methodical, trying to calm down a bit. Still, the reason why he was in such a rage totally explained this.

It was the biggest piece of nonsense he ever received. His Mordian Iron Guard were fighting in the Sabbat World's Crusade, dealing with the waves of the mad heretics, zealots, deamons, orks, and only the Emperor knows what more. His soldiers earned a glory, that would be compared to the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines ones. They won a lot of battles, which his advisors considered as impossible to win. He was going to help the Warmaster Slaydo in his glorious task of liberating Sabbat Worlds. And then came Inquisitor Toth.

"I need to give you an errand, Lord-General. The Emperor needs your battlecruiser to arrive in the Anomaly Zone, and start a research of a irregularity in this area. Refusing will end in accuse of heresy of yours, and yours regiment."

He received a message from the Ordo Xenos. These incompetent fools ordered him to abandon the Warmaster in his campain on Sabbat Worlds, Futhermore, the rest of Regiments wouldn’t receive orders from him, because of the far distance seperating his flag ship and Mordian forces. Just great. How they even dared to offend him in such way!? How!? Thousands of his soldiers would die, only because of some thoughtless Inquisitor who came up with idea of sending the commander of Regiment to check totally not important, freaking anomaly.

Ordos of the Holy Inquisition were sacred institutions created by Malcador the Sigillite, they were supposed to be the Law, Justice, and Punishment to all the heretics, witches, deamons and other enemies of the God-Emperor of Mankind and his eternal and mighty Imperium. But it didn't change the fact, that sometimes you could meet such fools in their ranks. He knew that offending Inquisition would end in indictment of heresy, but that was a painful truth and he couldn't deny it.

His thought was interrupted by... something. He was centairly feeling, that somebody was in the room. "Ah, the observator feeling" - he recalled. It was extremely annoying, but he was doing well ignoring it. He turned back, to made a way to his office, when he suddenly stopped. Something was totally wrong here. The feeling was much more powerful than he expected. Anders looked around him, searching evidence for this action. He turned again once more, and in this single moment he realised why the feeling was so powerful.

Because, the observators were in this section of ship, just in front of him. General saw two strange, blurred images, in some way it looks like poor quality record. Anders spotted two faces, absolutly not like the humans ones. On the left, skin of this manifestation was white, while on the right dark-blue. Their countenance were smooth and alien. However, the most noticeable things were horns of the top of their foreheads. Faces of these abominations didn't show any emotions.

"Greetings, the representative of the Imperium of Mankind." - they spoke in unison. General Anders spotted, that their mouth didn't move at all. Their voices were soft and warm, something he didn't expect for... these things. Their High-Gothic seemed really good, however their accent was quite strange, it sounded like melody, rather than usual hard voices of humans. - "We are the Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, rulers of the Ponykind and Equestria country. It's a pleasure to meet one of leaders of the Imperial Guard. Who are we talking to?"

The goddesses ghost forms arrived in the gloomy corridor of the humans vessel. Just before them, stood the human, whose uniform highly suggest that his rank in the "Imperial Guard" was high. He was quite old man, with long brown beard, deep wrinkles and piercing look. Royal Sisters also spotted a bolt pistol under the mantle and magnificent power sword in his sheath. The human was astonished. but to Celestia and Luna, they were unfazed. he shook it off really quickly. He stood proud, looking in their eyes with a clear determination.

"I'm Lord-General Anders, commander of the Mordian regiment. How and why have you appeared here? Explain yourselves, before I call the guard." he demanded, glaring at them with suspicion.

"It will be a long story, then" - Princess Celestia spoke " a Long time ago, long even before the events of Horus Heresy we were a race, originating from your well known "ponies" Anders rose eyebrows with astonishment, but the Princess of the Sun didn't stop. "According to the data we collected during the millennium, one of your colonisation ships arrived in this sector and establish a colony on one of the worlds, bringing ponies with them. However, for unknown reasons all the humans died there, and for even more strange reasons, ponies survived.

The speech the Celestia delivered, wasn't truthful at all. She didn't know if they really came from humans worlds, those were only a theory she and her sister created from weak evidences they collected long time ago. It was manipulative statement, giving a bit more chance to convince this human.

"Not only survived, but ponies created a civilisation". Princess Luna continued. "In a few hundred years, ponies developed the entire kingdom, with me and my sister at the top of it. We were idealists, so we created a peaceful, kind and wealthy nation. Next a few hundred years, after we established the Equestrian Kingdom, Horus Heresy began. We were truly frightened by the war, slaughter and all this terrible things, so I and my sister decided to isolate entire planet from this. As I said before, we were truly idealists, seeking only for peace and harmony for our kind.

It was a truth. But the Princess of the Moon didn't mention Discord, the Greater Deamon of the Lord of Change, who almost destroyed the entirety of Equestria in a few years. He almost denied the cloak spell and was responsible for the Ponykind Anarchy. Celestia and Luna defeated him, but using such amount of power and the Elements of Harmony weakened them much. They couldn't rule they country while being so fragile, so they decided to kept their souls tucked into the Sun and the Moon to restore energy and help maintain the barrier.

However, during their absence, the earth, unicorns and pegasus ponies declared a civil war against each other. It was the topic of every Hearth Warming Eve, and Celestia still regreted hiding facts and manipulating history. Before the conversation, Celestia and Luna agreed that they wouldn’t mention him, because it will end in the Ordo Malleus, the appalling Deamonhunters arrive and probably purging entire world.

And now came the hard part. It was almost putting their heads on the executioner stump.

"Anomaly, you can see in this sector is our planet, cloaked by my and my sister spell." the Princess of the Sun spoke. "Observator" feeling was a side effect of our spirit form spell. It allowed us to observe every ship coming near Equestria. We used it to gather knowledge about the universe, what happened after our isolation. However, our spell during the millennium became weak and could fail at any moment.

Again, to the Princesses surprise, General Anders face expression didn't change at all.

"We knew a long time before that isolating our kind was a cowardice." - Luna answered. - "We were foolish, thinking that we could keep our kind away from reality of this universe. However, we agreed that it can't stand any longer. Once upon a time, our ponies fully known how the real world looked like. We can do this again.

"In the name of Ponykind, we, the Princesses of the Sun and Moon, the Rulers and Goddesses of Equestria, want to join the Imperium of Mankind." The Royal Sisters spoke in unison, with a great force, enchanting their voice with a bit of their magic.

The mind of General Anders procided this invasion of totally abnormal and insane informations gradually. This wasn't something he could deal with a swift, fast order. He shut eyes, and start pondering. A few seconds of meditation, and he realised something.

The blur images of the Celestia and Luna didn't show much, but he spotted restlessness on their faces.

"Ehm... the barrier spell we used to isolate Equestria was a really powerful incatation. We had to restore its power every day and every night. To mask it, we said that we were lowering and rising Sun and the Moon. Our loyal subjects believe that we are goddesses." Luna answered nervously with a small smile, which obviously was fake.

"Emperor wouldn't be pleased, if we would tolerate a xenos goddesses just coming back from ten millenniums exile. General Anders spoke. "You are a potential threat to the Imperium. And a potential threat to the Imperium is a real threat to the Imperium. Your skill in manipulating Warp is beyond measure, and this cannot be tolerated.

"Our forces didn't relay on the Warp, our planet is a storage to big amount of the pure power. We use link to Equestria to use our incantations. In that case, we couldn't use it outside of our planet." Celestia explained.

Not so bad, he thought. Wait, what? He was dealing with Xenos!? He should call all the nearby Imperial warships and declare immediately Exterminatus. Holy-Emperor, what was he doing!? However... maybe...

"Okay, let's sum up facts." He spoke cruely. "You are xenos, with extremely powerful magic, who can cloak entire planets for millenniums. Give me a reason, why I shouldn't exterminate you immediately for the sake and glory of the God-Emperor."

"This isn't going well." Celestia thought. Definitely she was the mistress of the obvious statements.

"Better come up with something or we will be all dead." Luna spoke to her in minds.

"We are not xenos." she stated loudly. The Princess of the Sun said it like it was the indisputable rule of the universe.

"Your Imperium of Mankind is quite “agressive" towards the mutants or abhumans." she said diplomaticaly, trying to not mention that humans usually just torture or kill all the proteuses.

"However, you allowed, for example Ogryns and Ratlings to join to the Imperial Guard. They physical appearence is much different than yours, but the most important part, is that think in totally opposite way. Comparing to ours fellow subjects, we have even more different psyhical appearence, but we think in very similar way to you."

It was the obvious manipulation. Of course, their ponies didn't think like humans. They weren't racist, cruel, narrow-minded, blinded in the faith and savage beings. However, ponies could think like humans in similar ways, but only if the Royal Sisters wouldn't isolate Equestria from the rest of the universe.

"You almost convinced me” the General answered, slightly smiling. "Heh, on the other hand... or rather hoof in your way, please say me, how many of your ponies can use magic? I guess, that you use your horns for that?

Oh crap. And what now? Saying that almost one quarter were unicorns who could use magic wouldn't help at all. Anders was definitely too cunning and sharp, considering fact, that they were ten millennium aged goddesses, and this human could have a eighty years max. He was definitely broad-minded, general agreed to talk, instead of immediately calling Inquisition. However, conversation strayed from the path into a deep and really dangerous area.

"One quarter of our population are unicorns, who can use magic. Princess Luna spoke, surprisingly being honest. "However, their magic is really limited. Only about five percent of the unicorns are capable of doing such things like your psyker's can, and still it's much weaker. Rest of them, are limited to the weak levitation spells."

"I guess it's enough I want to know about "Equestria" Anders said, raking his beard. "Maybe later, you will give me all information about your entire land. But let's back to the main point of the discussion. You want to join the Imperium of Mankind. How?" he asked.

"We will turn off our cloak-barrier spell, so the planet will be visible to you." Princess Celestia started. "We want to have a guarantee, that if enemy, like forces of Chaos, Orks or others will attack us, you will defend us."

"We will pay taxes to the Imperium" The Princess of the Sun said, with a kind smile.

"We will allow you to use the space near the Equestria and the Moon" - Luna tried.

They didn't have any, that could outmatched so many milleniums of Adeptus Mechanicus heavy work.

"We will allow you to build bases and stations near our system. - Celestia expanded the offer.

"We will use our magic to disrupt enemies of the Imperium vessels in the space near Equestria."

"Considering fact, that planet will be revealed to all factions of this galaxy war, you would do that anyway." - General answered.

"We will pay more taxes than usual, plus factories from our land will be producing items for the Imperium." - Luna tried again.

"Finally some good point. But it isn't worth it." - Anders admitted "You know, we have a better place which would be protected by the Imperial Navy. I'm sure, that Equestria isn't a Forge World, is it? You can’t product so many items for the Imperium to be worth it. If you don't have better idea, you can kill yourself already."

Princess Luna was thinking. Never, ever, had her mind worked so fast, trying to find something that could convince this human. What price should be paid for this? Did they have anything valuable enough? She tries to come up with something, she had read a big amount of books from human libraries, and she still couldn't do it. Problem was, that even with the destruction of their invocation, they still didn't want their fellow ponies to feel the cruelty of this mindless, accursed universe. She made an agreement between her and her sister, that whatever the price will be paid, it will not throw their ponies into this bloodthristy, real existence. But what price should be paid for such isolation?

She was still thinking, when suddenly realisation came. But it was a terrible realisation.

Life. There were a few billions of planets, with medium two billions human populations in each. In total about ten quintillion people. What would change, if they would give them some...

"We will provide an Imperial Guard Abhuman Regiment, created from ponies." Princess Luna spoke with a clear determination "We will recruit them, train them, equipped them, and then we will give them to your command."

"WHAT!?" - Celestia cried to her in minds, with even more clear fear in her voice.

"Three Regiments, three thousand ponies each and deal." - General Anders said with a strange, suspicious smile on his face. - "And it will be not me, who will be commanding these forces.”

"I will send a message to the Segmentum Command." Said the commander of the Mordian regiment, not realising the telekenitic talk between Royal Sisters. "Your three Regiments need to be ready in four years. Your country will start paying taxes for the Imperium in one year. We will send iterators, investigators, Adeptus Munitorium, Adeptus Arbitres and representatives of the Inquisition. Not related with Ordo Xenos, if you are interested. We will send a special governor to advise you in all tasks. Do you agree?"

"Yes" Answered the Princess of the Moon. Celestia was too shocked to say anything.

"Will you be able to ensure that Equestria will accept the Imperial Law and will provide Imperial Guards Regiments on their own?"

"Farewell then, the princesses of Equestria. My ship will stay on orbit for some time, if you need a guidance." Anders said. "May the Emperor watch over you”.

And with these words, Celestia and Luna disappeared from the vessel. Thousands of people sighed with relief, because of the Observator ( or rather Observators ) dissapearing.

He didn't agree, because "Luna" offered him Regiments. Or maybe, not in it full.

What would he gain by exterminating this world? It would only prove that Inquisitor Toth was right.

"I said there is something General, as always guidance of the sacred Inquisition led to the execution of the God-Emperor holy will." Yea, yea, right. His soldiers were dying in hundreds on the worlds of Sabbat system, only because of this... idiot. Yes, he was mad at the Ordo Xenos. And this would be his revenge. "Did you wanted to exterminate another specie of dangerous xenos? Ups, they are serving in Imperial Guard now!" Old general was imagining face of the Inquisitor Toth when he will received message from him. And if actually this Regiment would serve well... this would be a nail to the coffin for the Ordo Xenos. It would prove, that negotiating with peaceful xenos could serve the Imperium of Mankind. Also, almost ten thousand soldiers for free in the serve of the Warmaster Slaydo and his holy quest.

To reward himself, Lord-General Anders made a way to the canteen. He stopped just before the metal doors to the next section of the ship.

"But who will command these Regiments?" Anders thought. "I cannot give a command to the xeno general, and I can't give it to some random commander...”

With that thought, he made a way to the Astropath's hall. He had to send some messages...

Gaunt entered the warm, sickly atmosphere of the chamber. Locked in a life-prolonging suspension field, surrounded by glowing fire-lamps and burning bowls of incense, Oktar was plainly minutes from death. His mentor, his teacher was slowly dying from the poison, which killed eight people just where they stood. Commissar-general made only one sip. That, and Oktar’s iron constitution, kept him alive for eight days.

“It is past time for this. Well past time. I should never have left it to a finality like this. I’ve kept you waiting too long.”

"Truth is, I couldn’t bear to lose you… not you, Ibram… far too good a soldier to hand away to the ladder of promotion. Who are you?"

"No… from now on you are Commissar Ibram Gaunt, appointed in the extremis of the field to the commissarial office. Fetch a clerk. We must record my authority in this matter, and your oath."

Oktar willed himself to live for seventeen minutes more, as an Administratum clerk was found and the proper oath ceremony observed. He died clutching Commissar Gaunt’s hands in his bony, sweat-oiled claws.

Ibram Gaunt was stunned, empty. Something had been torn out of him, torn out and flung away. When he wandered out into the anteroom, he didn’t even notice the soldiers saluting him.

Equestria First and Only

by Verlax

Chapter II : The Deal and Sacrifice