//------------------------------// // II - Meet the Team... And Mind Your Head // Story: Battle Brothers // by Miki //------------------------------// Battle Brothers Forever - Chapter 2 Meet the Team... And Mind Your Head It truly is a thing of beauty, is it not, Space Marine? The galaxy you and your kind call the Milky Way, one of uncountable billions in the cosmos, and yet this single galaxy has provided so much for our kind. Look upon it, Space Marine. Look upon it in awe, for this is what you have been defending so fanatically for all of these centuries of your service. You humans have always intrigued us, Space Marine. We feed off of the emotions of creatures from countless worlds and countless galaxies, yet never have we seen an outpouring of emotion such as that which comes from your kind. Where you have little magic and even less connection to the Warp, your imagination and ingenuity has more than compensated. And yet no manner of machine can suppress what comes naturally to every creature. When you love, you love unconditionally. When you hate, you hate with every fiber of your being. When you scheme, you obsess. And when you fear, you fear with your whole heart. Don’t try to tell me you know no fear, Space Marine, because I know you do, and I know exactly what you fear. Those sermons that you attend daily -- those oaths you pledge -- all in the name of a corpse are all a lie. What is worse still is that, despite all that you have been told, you know it yourself that it is all a lie. I know of these lies, because I have led countless others like yourself. The Thousand Sons legion have served me with a fanaticism that you and your own battle brothers have shown to your corpse of a God, and they often repeat similar oaths in our name. Even those lost and damned soldiers that have yet to succumb to the influence of the Warp continue to repeat their sermons in the name of your corpse Emperor. How ironic is it then that it was that very fanaticism became your undoing? ~~~~~ “Thank you for coming on such short notice everypony, especially at this time of night,” said Luna. She and Celestia met Twilight, Spike, and the rest of their friends in the main foyer of Canterlot castle. An expression of concern was worn on everyone’s face -- all except for Spike, who was content to sleep on Twilight’s back -- as they took in the sight of the elder diarch. Her ethereal mane and tail, which one once billowed magnificently in the solar winds hung limp around her head and neck. Her ears were splayed against her head, and she was mumbling what sounded to Twilight’s ears like “it makes no sense... no sense whatsoever.” Twilight made no effort to stifle a yawn as she spoke, much to Rarity’s chagrin, “It’s no trouble at all Princess. I am sure it must be something extremely important.” “Twilight, please, at least cover your mouth,” the alabaster unicorn chided under her breath as she stifled a yawn of her own. “Indeed it is, Twilight Sparkle. Please, if you would all follow us, we have much to talk about,” said Luna. The royal sisters turned toward their personal research wing of the castle and the group of weary friends followed. Celestia had her head bowed as she walked, ears still flat against her head as she mumbled to herself, deep in thought. “Hey, Princess, y’alright there?” asked Applejack. The orange earth mare’s concern fell on deaf ears as Celestia continued to mumble. “Do not worry yourself too much about my sister, dear Applejack. These recent events have been taxing her mind as of late. She will recover, but what she needs most right now is rest,” at the word ‘rest’, she lightly pushed against the side of her sister, breaking her out of her stupor. “Huh? What?” asked the perplexed princess, as she looked around and saw everyone looking at her, each face more concerned than the last. “Well, we do worry. Um... that is, if you don’t mind...” said Fluttershy. The buttercream mare retreated behind her long pink mane as she spoke. “Yeah, we do... worry that is. You look worse than Twilight after a three day studying bender,” said Rainbow Dash. Celestia sighed and spoke, “Yes, it is because I have not had much rest for the past week, Rainbow Dash.” “Uh... Princess... I know it may not be my place to say, but that can’t be good for you at all... I should know,” said Twilight. “Indeed you would Twilight,” chuckled Celestia, “but I assure you, like your visit here, it was for good reason.” “And what would that be?” “That you will find out soon enough, my student. We are here.” Ahead of the group stood a rather plain wooden door, the kind of door one would expect to find in a dungeon or other equally unpleasant place. Celestia and Luna both looked to the group. “Girls, I would shield your eyes for a moment,” said Celestia. The royal sisters nodded to each other once they had done so, and they focused as much energy as they could muster from the astral plane. The sisters touched their horns to the door, and a bright, blinding light burst from the windows. Twilight, through squinted eyes, recognized the spell instantly. ”A protection ward? A really really powerful protection ward. Not just to keep things out, but to keep things in... what in the world are they going to show us?” she thought. ~~~~~ Look upon your precious Imperium, Space Marine. Look upon your precious Imperium of Man, and weep for it. I and my own brothers have reduced it to naught but ash. Look at what your fanaticism and blind faith has led to, Space Marine. Look upon your precious Holy Terra. Watch it burn to ash and weep! This is what the end looks like. This is where your fight ends; this is its inevitable conclusion; this is what you fear the most. YOU DO NOT FEAR FAILURE! YOU FEAR THE INEVITABLE END! How appropriate is it then, that it was that same fanaticism that became our undoing as well? I knew when I whisked you away to... somewhere, I have no idea where or even when you ended up to be honest... that it would be the end of all things for a long time at least. Like matter and antimatter, our armies canceled each other out. The Eye of Terror expanded. At one point, it even engulfed all of the Milky Way until all were dead. Tyranids, Necrons, Orks, Tau, the Eldar and their pirate counterparts, and the quadrillions of citizens of your Imperium were slain as we tore down the boundaries between our realities; and as fewer lived to provide us with the emotion we needed to sustain ourselves, we proceed to slay our own until there is nothing left. All four of us faded away. Hmph... blood for the blood god and skulls for the skull throne indeed. ~~~~~ With the protection ward dropped, the royal sisters led Twilight and her friends into the bowels of the research wing. Twilight could recall the many hours she spent here studying various topics here and there, but the halls proved no more welcoming than they had when she last visited. It had obviously been built during the earliest days of Canterlot castle’s existence. The floors, walls, and ceilings were all lined with unevenly cut stone, and along the walls were torches that cast elongated shadows down the halls. The atmosphere was depressing enough that even the ever optimistic Pinkie Pie had the shivers. “‘Pinkie Sense’ a-tinglin’ there, Pinkie Pie?” asked Applejack. “Yep! And it tells me that something horrifying and then something hilarious is about to happen,” responded the bouncing pink mare. Fluttershy squeaked at the word ‘horrifying’, already uneasy at the oppressive atmosphere. The group rounded a corner and were faced with another wooden door. The sisters turned once again to the group. “Please, if you could shield your eyes once more,” requested Luna, and the group of friends did so. With another blinding flash, the door was opened and the group proceeded. Behind this door was a room that stood in stark contrast to the rest of the research wing. Gone were the damp stone floors and walls. In their place were clean marble floors and granite walls. Overhead was the soft, more familiar glow of light-stones that seemed to ease much of the tension that was held in the group. Inside were six steel slabs, each covered with blankets that bulged some distance from the surface. The steady beeping of heart-rate monitors filled the room. “Wow, I forgot how depressing that walk was,” noted Twilight. “Depressing nothing, those hallways are downright creepy. You simply must look into remodeling this wing of the castle princess,” said Rarity. “Is somepony there?” came a voice from a back storage room. “Yes, Doctor, we are here,” Celestia called back. “Wonderful princess, wonderful, I will waste no time getting your student and her friends up to speed,” said the voice as a yellow unicorn mare in a white lab coat trotted her way out of the back room. She approached Twilight and held out her right foreleg, “Summer Song M.D. at your service, Miss Sparkle.” Twilight bumped her hoof, as was their custom, and returned the greeting, “Please, call me Twilight, Doctor. This is Rarity,” she motioned to the purple maned, white coated unicorn standing next to her, “Applejack,” she motioned to the orange and blonde earth pony as she tipped her ever-present Stetson, “Pinkie Pie,” she motioned to the bouncing poofy-maned earth mare, “Fluttershy,” she motioned to the yellow and pink pegasus, who was retreating further and further into her mane as she continued to look at the steel slabs, “Rainbow Dash,” she motioned to the prismatic pegasus mare who was hovering impatiently to Twilight’s right, “and the sleepy-head on my back is my number-one assistant Spike,” she motioned to the lightly snoring dragon. Summer Song chuckled as she spoke, “Only if you promise to call me Summer, Twilight. It is a pleasure to meet you all. Now, if you could please follow me over here.” She proceeded to lead the group over to the opposite end of the room. “Now then...” said Summer as the rest of the group caught up with her. She charged her horn and lit up the translucent panels mounted on the walls. The sheer amount of medical imagery that was revealed was staggering. X-Rays, MRI, CAT scans, the results of every examination that modern equine medicine allowed were revealed. Summer Song cleared her throat and began her speech. “About a week ago, a squad of Royal Guardsponies found these six at the base of the mountain. If you pardon the language, everypony, it looked like these ponies had seen, and walked through, Tartarus, and all were unconscious. They were brought back to the hospital in Canterlot, for medical treatment, but when the report was made to Princess Celestia that these ponies had been found, she insisted that they be kept and monitored here. “All except for one bear scars all over their body, but mostly on their heads and faces. The face on the light-purple one is completely clean, and, to be honest, we mistook him for a really big mare until we... yeah, moving on. However, that is not the strangest thing about these ponies. First off, these ponies are big... and I mean really big. That should have been apparent, even with the blankets over them. All of them are almost as big as Princess Celestia, except for the pegasus with the yellow coat and red mane,” Summer motioned for everyone to look at the closest slab, “who is about as big as Princess Luna. Now, if you will look at the x-rays...” she trotted closer to the wall and a nearby pointer glowed with an orange aura. It began its mission of direction by pointing to the x-ray of the aforementioned pegasus, “notice anything strange about this pony? Take a look at the rib-cage.” Everyone leaned a bit closer and Twilight let out a gasp in shock. “That’s right. Their rib-cages are all one solid piece. All six of them are like this. And if you will take a look at the rest of their skeletal structure,” she moved the pointer to direct their attention to the pony’s femur, and then the rest of the skeleton, “their entire skeletal structure is dense beyond anything anypony has ever seen. In addition, their muscles... wow their muscles... I’ll just say this, when these guys wake up, they will be very strong and very fast. Probably even on the levels of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. The magical potential of the two unicorns has not yet been investigated, but I can tell you that I am excited to see what comes of it. “In addition, the... goodness, what colour would you call that?” she motioned to the pegasus with the yellow mane, and Rarity was the first to respond. “I would say it seems to be gray with a slight blue tint,” she said. “Alright then,” continued Summer, “the blueish-gray pegasus over there, take a look at his head. Notice anything else peculiar?” she motioned to the head x-ray of the pegasus in question. “Oh my... are those... fangs?” stuttered Fluttershy. “Indeed they are, yet he is the only one of those six that has fangs like those. Now, there are two more strange things about them I must note before I show you what else we found.” The doctor trotted through the group of to the steel slab behind them, directing their attention to a yellow furred flank, “take a look at this. Notice something else strange?” she asked. The group leaned in for a closer look and yet another gasp of surprise was released before Twilight spoke, “There is no cutie mark on him!” “Right again Twilight. Again, all six of them are like this. No cutie marks at all.” “And the second thing?” “Let me ask you,” said Summer before she trotted to where the yellow pony’s head was resting and directed their attention to it, “how old do you think this pony is?” Applejack was the first to speak this time, “Well, I reckon that he can’t be any older than thirty or so.” Summer Song shook her head, “Judging completely by tooth-wear, you would think that, Applejack. In reality, every single one of these ponies are at least one-hundred years old.” Once again, more gasping from those who were not in-the-know. She deactivated the lights behind the wall and began to trot off before she called back, “Now, please follow me. There is so much more to discuss.” ~~~~~ She led the group of friends and her diarchs to the back room where she had come from, and the sight that graced the eyes of the six friends left the speechless. Hanging on one the walls of the room were five sets of Mark VII “Aquila Armour”, each with a helmet of a matching colour beneath them. A sixth set, one coloured an ultramarine blue with gold trimming on the pauldrons lay in a state of disrepair on a table on the opposite end of the room. Above each set of functioning armour were the weapons the ponies in the other room once wielded. “What on earth?” stated a dumbstruck Twilight. “The colours... they’re so.... gaudy...” said an equally dumbstruck Rarity. “Gaudy, maybe, but no less fascinating. We found all of the things in this room near the ponies you just saw. Obviously, this armour is not meant for pony use, but still, the technology here is unlike anything we have ever seen before,” said an almost gleeful Summer. “Hold on just a second,” interrupted Rainbow Dash, who was currently studying the armour with the yellow shoulder-pads, “those colours on their armour, they match the coats and manes of the stallions in the other room don’t they?” Summer Song nodded, and continued. “And watch this,” she said as she took a pen out of the pocket of her lab-coat in her telekinetic grasp. She threw it at the purple armour, and with a flash of light, the pen disintegrated. For what seemed like the hundredth time in the last few minutes, the group of friends gasped. Twilight’s physical recoil sent Spike tumbling off of her back and sprawling onto the marble floor. “Ow... hey, what gives Twi?” he asked in a groggy drawl. “Sorry Spike,” she responded before helping the youth to his feet. “So what is that? A shielding spell?” she continued. “Not a spell that we know of. We couldn’t find any sort of magic-retentive crystals or runes of any kind in or around the armour. The nearest thing we could find were these...” a purity seal, blessed with sermons of the Holy Emperor, was lifted from the table where the blue armour was laying and was displayed to the group. “Obviously we can’t read the language, but as you may have noticed, these slips of cloth are all over the other suits. It is our hope that once these guys wake up they can shed some light on the kind of magic at play here. We found similar markings etched and painted directly onto the armour itself.” “But... what about the words here? I think I can read these pretty clearly...” said Spike as he pointed to the yellow and red armour. Specifically, he was pointing to the right greave which had a big red arrow pointing to the boot, the message “YOUR ASS HERE!” in bold black text above it. “When do you think they will? Ooh, I have so many questions for them.” Twilight was practically bouncing in place, further adding to the energy of the already bouncing pink party pony in the group. Spike grumbled and stomped back to Twilight, completely and utterly ignored. “Ooh! Ooh! Do we get to throw them a ‘Welcome-To-Canterlot-Sorry-We-Wrecked-Your-Armour-We-Just-Thought-It-Was-Interesting par...” ~~~~~ We are doomed to repeat this cycle again, Space Marine. It is all a part of our existence. When will history repeat itself again? Well, I am not of the capacity to say. I can assure you, though, that it will. So until we meet again. ~~~~~ The pink mare was cut short by a gut-wrenching roar of rage coming from the other room. Any equine or wyrm that was not fully awake at this point most assuredly was now. “WHAT XENOS SORCERY IS THIS?!” bellowed the voice. Everyone rushed out of the back room to see that the blue earth pony with the yellow mane had woken up, and was now intent on thoroughly smashing all medical equipment that he could reach. “Xenos sorcery... xenos?” thought Twilight. “Woah...” said Spike. Celestia, Luna, and Summer Song all rushed to the side of the thrashing stallion. “Please, calm down sir,” said Summer. The stallion fell off of the table and landed with a dull thud on the unforgiving marble floor. He shakily rose to his hooves and glared a glare of death at the yellow unicorn. He swung his right foreleg at her head, cold-cocking her and sending her careening into the wall. Summer Song fell to the floor unconscious. Before either Celestia or Luna could react, the stallion barreled his way through the door, shattering it to splinters. To those who did not know any better, they could have said that the door simply exploded, as the Ultramarine was out of sight before the guards stationed outside had a chance to collect themselves. As if the order had been given by Celestia’s top Drill Sergeant, jaws hit the floor all at once. The brows of the royal sisters were furrowed, enraged that such a creature harmed one of their own. “I had a feeling he would react that way,” came a new voice from the table to their right. The group spun to the source. Twilight’s horn was charged with the arcane energies of the world around her, as was Rarity’s horn and the horns of the immortal diarchs. Applejack crouched low, pawing at the floor; her brow furrowed; her ears were pinned to her head under her Stetson. One could swear that her hooves had a slight glow to them. Rainbow dash had risen to her hind legs using her wings for support; her forelegs were held up in what could best be described a fighting stance. Pinkie Pie had pulled her Party Cannon out from... somewhere. Fluttershy was trying her best to look menacing, but only succeeded in looking adorable. “You had better prepare for when everyone else wakes up though, or you will have an actual body count on your hands... er... hooves I guess. That is if he hasn’t killed anyone already. I would worry especially about Brother Azerus. You may want to figure out a way to contain him, and soon,” it continued. “GUARDS!” bellowed the regent of the sun, but none responded. The voice chuckled at the display as from behind the blanket a desert gray head emerged. It then promptly fell back down onto the slab. The voice chuckled again as it spoke, “I assure you that combat will not be necessary. I am in no condition to fight. And even if...” The voice grunted as the body it belonged to made another attempt at getting up. “I was...” He grunted again as he, like his comrade before him, fell to the floor with a dull thud. “Ah... there...” The stallion shakily rose to his hooves. The group of mares retained their fighting stances. “As I was saying,” he said before he used his mouth to remove the intravenous needles from his left foreleg, “even if I was, I would have no desire to fight. I am a reasonable soldier, after all.” Celestia slowly walked up to the unicorn, her horn still charged. She looked the massive stallion in the eyes and asked, “Who are you?” “I am Brother-Sergeant Maxuvos of the Knights Invictius... more colloquially known as the Reasonable Marines, your highness.” Just then, Murphy came back for round two, “Holy fucking shit my head hurts like fuck man! What the fuck happe... IS THIS... WHAT THE FUCK?!” Maxuvos’ ears snapped flat against his head as he and everyone else looked to the yellow and red storm of blankets and ponified Space Marine, “And that would be Brother Azerus of the Angry Marines... the one I warned you about.” "I see... Brother-Sergeant, I am terribly sorry for this," said Celestia before a golden aura engulfed the now very awake marines, and they were teleported into the bowels of the castle. Not more than a few moments later a loud crackling of arcane energy could be heard down the halls, followed by the screaming of a certain blue and yellow soldier. “At least the second ward held,” Celestia said with a slight chuckle. Her attention then turned to Summer Song, who was just starting to come to. “Are you alright?” she asked. “I... wow, the guy packs quite a kick... yeah, I’ll be fine,” replied Summer. “Good, I would like you to visit the palace infirmary regardless. I will send one of the guards to escort you.” “Thank you, Princess,” said the mare as she stumbled her way out of the lab. Celestia sighed and turned to the group of perplexed ponies. “Girls, I think it would be best if we waited until morning to continue this. I have guest rooms ready for each of you. Twilight can show you the way.” “Where did you send them?” asked Twilight. “To the dungeons. I honestly had no idea that they would react with violence. I will release them by sunrise if they are willing to cooperate. In the meantime, I think it would be best if we all had some rest.” Satisfied with her response, Twilight and her friends took their leave. As the drowsy group made their way out of the research wing, none took notice of Celestia and Luna staying behind, just out of earshot. “Are you noticing a familiarity with them as well, sister?” “Yes Luna, and that is what troubles me the most.”