Iron Hearts: Book 5 - Suffer Not the Alien to Live

by SFaccountant

Epilogue

Ponyville

Fireworks blossomed in the air over Ponyville, exploding over the shroud of late evening with bursts of sparkling color.
The village was alive with the sounds of raucous celebration, and pegasi flew wild loops overhead while grounded ponies milled about and danced in the streets. Cultists and mercenaries were everywhere, some of them gathered onto rooftops and balconies and cheering on the flying ponies while laughing and drinking.
Bonfires had been started within the town, and a constant line of servitors and menials carried Ork corpses from outside the village and threw them into the towering pyres.
Surprisingly, the Dark Mechanicus were enthusiastic participants in the festivities, uplinking to a common noosphere channel being fed by DJ-P0N3's turntable. The Techpriests and Scavurel formed a long conga line through the village, twisting and twitching with a level of synchronization that would have seemed positively terrifying in any other context.
Even the Iron Warriors and Fire Warriors were among the revelers, although their participation was more subtle. The Iron Warriors simply didn't take easily to wild celebration, and mostly told stories of their missions to small groups of fascinated equines. The Fire Warriors of the Tau weren't so stand-offish by nature, but still weren't ENTIRELY welcomed by their pony hosts.

"Hey, grays! What're you all doing moping around here?" Daniels said with a laugh as he hopped over a hedge.
*Oh, Tau'va, not this idiot again,* Jerriha groused. She had been speaking with her uncle and a few other Fireblades behind a data station strung up with lights. They all stopped talking immediately as the human approached, fixing him with generally impatient and bemused stares.
Wraithstar, ever more receptive to their human allies/masters, turned and nodded to the man. "We're just having a discussion about the fate of our battlecruiser still in orbit, that's all."
"That's incredibly depressing," Daniels said. He had a bottle in one hand and a blue apple in the other. "It's a party! Get yourself a drink and sing something!"
Wraithstar sighed. "I would, but this one pony keeps spitting in every beverage someone serves me."
Daniels laughed and raised the bottle in his hand. "Well, I've gotcha covered! Have a dri-"
The bottle was suddenly pulled from his grip by a bright green aura, and it floated up to a unicorn mare standing behind him.
"Hhhhngk! Pthoo!" She spat into the synthehol, and then smiled pleasantly before floating it back to Daniels' hand. Then she turned away and trotted off.
"... Huh. That's actually a lot of effort to put into antagonizing someone," Daniels admitted, putting the bottle aside, "I'm impressed."
"Did you want something?" Jerriha sighed.
"Yeah, I want you to stop acting like the world's ending. We won, y'know."
"YOU won. WE have surrendered," the Fireblade retorted.
"If you let a little thing like that ruin your evening then you may as well have let the greenskins off you," the mercenary insisted, pointing over to another house. "Look, that Earth Caste wanker's having fun!"

"HEY, FENNIN! YOU SUCK!!" Rainbow Dash shouted down as she flew over a group of Scavurel speaking to the Fio'El.
"Bite me, you prismatic turkey!" Fennin shouted, shaking a fist with one hand while he gripped a synthehol bottle with the other. "You'd be dead if it weren't for me!"
"We wouldn't have been in any danger AT ALL if it weren't for you!" Rainbow retorted.
"Don't you lecture me about the Project! My mother was killed by an Ork!"
"My parents in Cloudsdale would have been killed by Orks too if they weren't so stupid! And that's your fault!"
"I regret nothing!"
"DWEEB!!"
"MORON!!"

"Riveting," Jerriha deadpanned, "so I'm supposed to spend the celebration shouting at the orange one?"
"Oh, no. No way. AJ would break your neck," Daniels scoffed, "I'm just saying, you could stand to try and enjoy yourselves instead of just crouching in a dark corner and avoiding every other species. The pones already think you're losers; no need to prove them right."
Wraithstar arched an eyebrow. "Do you have a recommendation, Mister...?"
"Call me Daniels," the mercenary said with a grin. Then he tossed the apple in his hand to the Shas'el, who caught it in his hands. "Try the blue moons! They're outta this world!"
The Tau stared at him.
"... That was AJ's marketing line," Daniels' explained. It did not end the awkward silence from the aliens. "Because they're not from this planet." After another few seconds, he tried again. "See, it's novel to the equines, since they're not used to interplanetary-"
"WE GET IT," Jerriha snapped, massaging her forehead, "PLEASE, SHUT UP."
"Oh, good! Wanna dance?"

****

"Oh, aren't you just ADORABLE?!" Poison Kiss squealed.
Phage Squadron was standing near Crabapple, who in turn had Apple Bloom perched upon a leg. The three mares weren't wearing their armor, for once, and as a result many of the other party-goers were giving them a wide berth. Not that the ponies were visibly disfigured or diseased as many of Nurgle's warriors were, but the cutie marks spoke volumes on their own.
Apple Bloom already had a Nurgle Mark, and she didn't really have the best sense for danger in the first place (as evidenced by her having a Nurgle Mark). So she giggled cutely as the other cultists ponies fawned over her.
"To think there was another pony who found their destiny with Nurgle before us! I had no idea!" Kiss said brightly. She raised a hoof to pet the red-headed filly, but a sudden hiss of gears came from Crabapple's leg before it lifted Apple Bloom up and out of reach.
The filly seemed oblivious to the defensive motion. "Yeah, me an' mah friends have been tryin' FOREVER to get our cutie marks!"
"That isn't really a cutie mark," Rot Blossom pointed out, "Chaos Marks are... well... different."
"Aw, close enough," Apple Bloom said as she grinned and looked back at her leg.
"I hear that!" Breezy said with a weak chuckle. "Uh... so, was the gigantic daemonic war machine part of that deal, somehow?" the gray pegasus pointed a hoof up at the towering Defiler. The heavy walker released a keening noise as its golden mask turned to glower at Phage Squadron.
"Naw, Ah met Crabapple way before that," the filly said with a wave of her hoof, "that's a long story, though. An' Ah don't actually know all of the long story. Crabapple just shows up sometimes in a bigger body."
"Hmmm..." Kiss looked over the extensive pistons and heavy armor of the war machine, and then turned a smile back to Apple Bloom. "Not bad, but I can't help but notice you're in rather... rude health, lass."
Apple Bloom looked confused, and somewhat chastised.
"She means you're healthy," Blossom explained.
"She's from Trottingham," Breezy explained further, "you kind of get used to the weird foreign lingo eventually."
Kiss cleared her throat loudly. "Anyway. You're still young, obviously, but you haven't even begun to explore your true potential. There's so MUCH that Grandfather could do for you!"
Apple Bloom's ears flipped down. "Yeah, Ah know. But mah big sis says Ah ain't allowed to get sick on purpose, 'cuz then Ah can't do mah farm chores."
"Ah, yes. Applejack, right?" Kiss smirked. "That mare's right blinkered. Not her fault, really. But there are ways to embrace Nurgle that are less... obvious and generally harmful than you might expect."
Apple Bloom stepped further down Crabapple's leg, extremely interested. Crabapple releasing another small screech, as if in warning, but the filly ignored it.
"Yeah? What do I do?" the redheaded filly asked eagerly.
Kiss fluttered her eyelashes. "Well, if I'm going to help you, then I can ask for something in return, right? A favor for a favor?"
Apple Bloom blinked. "Uh... Ah guess? What do ya want from me?"
All three of the older ponies grinned.
"You're 'Ironside' Macintosh's little sister, right?" Kiss asked. "I think we can work something out..."
"All right, Ah've heard enough."

The mares jumped slightly at the new voice from right behind them, and then quickly whirled around.
"Ah! Miss Applejack! Hi!" Poison Kiss said with only a slightly nervous edge. "Enjoying the celebration?"
The blonde farmer wasn't wearing her armor, and had bandages wrapped around her chest and barrel. She also looked very annoyed for reasons that had nothing to do with her injuries.
"Ah don't like playin' coy, Poison, so let's get straight to the point," Applejack said firmly as she approached.
"Please don't call me Poi-" Kiss's plea was interrupted as Applejack was suddenly nose-to-nose with the unicorn.
"Ah don't got nothin' against you or yer religion," Applejack said firmly, "but y'all are DANGEROUS, so y'all are gonna stay AWAY from mah family! That includes Apple Bloom AND Big Mac!"
Apple Bloom gulped, but the ponies of Phage Squadron shared an irritated glance.
"And what, exactly, would be the consequences were we to... decline?" Kiss asked, her voice unusually cool.
Applejack's eyes narrowed. "Y'all are gonna regret it RIGHT quick, believe you me."
The older Nurgle cultists started snickering, but Apple Bloom whimpered slightly. "Now S-Sis, there ain't no need fer-"
"Wow, you have guts!" Breezy Blight said as a small puff of green fumes wafted from her nostrils. "You're really going to try to threaten us, one on three, when you don't even have your armor?"
"You know that we don't rely on our armor for weapons, right?" Blossom asked, tilting her head to the side. A shiny black insect emerged from her bushy mane and buzzed its wings while clinging to her hair.
"Naturally, I abhor the thought of violence against fellow ponies," Kiss said dramatically as she stared down her nose at Applejack, "but if another equine is to try to HARM me and my friends, what else am I to do?" Her horn flickered dangerously.
Applejack looked entirely unmoved. "Like Ah said, Ah prefer gettin' straight to the point. Are y'all gonna skee-daddle or not?"
"Mmmmmmm..." Kiss pretended to think about it, and then she grinned. "Bugger off."
"Thought so," Applejack huffed, "Crabapple, not too hard, now."
Breezy's head snapped up. "Wait, wha-"
The massive claw of the Defiler smashed Phage Squadron aside with a single swing, sending them flailing through the air like a trio of screaming bowling pins.

Applejack didn't bother to watch where the mares landed, giving a stern look to Apple Bloom as she walked past Crabapple.
"Awww... ya didn't need to do that, Sis," Apple Bloom moaned as Crabapple shifted about to follow the older Apple.
"Naw, Ah pro'lly didn't," Applejack admitted, "but Ah ain't takin' no chance with them crazy Chaos ponies. 'Sides. They can't feel pain anyway, right? They'll be fine."

****

"Hm? That's odd," Rarity mumbled suddenly.
Delgan glanced up from his dataslate. "What is?"
Rarity was laying on a plush velvet pillow and rolling a glass of apple wine about in the air with her telekinesis as she watched the other partygoers pass by. "That's Phage Squadron. They look rather out of sorts. Which is odd, because I don't believe any of them were injured on-mission."

The three Nurgle cultists walked - or, more accurately, limped - past the tent that Delgan and Rarity were sitting under, not paying any particular attention to them.
"Well, she was right. I definitely regretted that decision," Breezy Blight said weakly, "I don't even want to KNOW what my wings look like right now."
"This is so unfair," Rot Blossom grumbled, "all we want to do is bang her brother! Why does she have to be so hostile?"
"Bloody hick," Poison Kiss grumbled.

"Another three casualties in the mare's long struggle to secure a decent stallion," Rarity sighed once the other ponies were out of earshot. Then she raised her wine glass toward Delgan. "Shall we have a toast for their future endeavors?"
"I'd rather not," Delgan said with a slight frown, "the idea of Nurgle cultists coupling is actually quite horrifying."
"Oh, fair enough," Rarity shrugged before sipping her wine daintily, "but really, are you going to work during the entire party?"
"Are you going to lay about during the entire work shift?" Delgan countered.
"Mister Delgan, I recently assisted very closely in the destruction of a Space Hulk," the unicorn countered, "I have been led to believe that, among your people, that is kind of a big deal. And as such I would like to leverage that success so that I might spend this fine evening enjoying the victory celebrations rather than working out how much surviving has COST us."
"Actually, the merchant corp may have made money," Delgan replied as he lifted a different dataslate, "the big losses were the ships that the Orks destroyed, but many of the lost materials go directly to the Iron Warrior war effort and aren't part of my inventory calculations. What worries me is that the leadership will almost certainly ask for compensatory transfers, and the quotas are..." he trailed off as he saw Rarity staring at him with narrowed eyes. "What?"
She sighed and looked away. "I need to find you a man."
"I do not NEED a lover, I NEED to find a deceptively stingy tithe formula!" Delgan snapped.
"Sounds like you could use... A HAND!!"
Before Rarity or Delgan knew what was happening, a metal gauntlet and vambrace was tossed onto the ground between them.
They looked down at the dismembered arm. Then they looked up at Tellis, who was standing nearby and giving them a thumbs-up.
"... Get it?" the Chaos Lord asked after a few silent seconds.
"Yes," Rarity replied, filling the single affirmation with a surprising amount of loathing and contempt.
"... You don't look like you get it," Tellis said.
"This is why I prefer work to play," Delgan grumbled as he picked up another dataslate, "if you want to celebrate with these lunatics, you have fun with that."
Fluttershy came up behind Tellis, panting lightly from finally catching up. She had gauze patches and medical tape covering several spots on her head and side, and was definitely in bad enough condition that she shouldn't have been chasing after someone faster than her.
"Tellis - huff - I think - huff - Mister Serith wants - huff - his arm back."
"Well, if he wants it so bad he can come over and get it," Tellis said as he approached Rarity and picked up the arm again.
Fluttershy caught her breath and looked nervously over her shoulder. "Well, uhm, actually, I don't think he can, because you keep flying away whenever-"
Fluttershy cringed as Tellis blasted off, and then her head drooped as she sighed.
"Really, darling, why do you even BOTHER?" Rarity asked. "Let Rainbow Dash wrangle that loon. You're far too sweet to have to restrain the idiot yourself."
Fluttershy flushed. "Oh, uh, thank you, Rarity. But I really think that I should do my best to stop Tellis."
"Why?" Delgan asked. "Let the Astartes bicker with each other. It's not our problem."
"Well, Serith blames me and my friends for this, and more than once has alluded to murdering us in our sleep for his constant humiliation," the yellow pegasus admitted as she started trotting after Tellis again, "so I really think I should try to help. Goodbye!"
Rarity and Delgan watched her go, and then the former refilled her wine glass. "A toast to Fluttershy?"
"I'll drink to that," the Trademaster mumbled as he reached for some amasec. "Poor lass."

****

Trixie reared up and beckoned to the sky with her hoof as she stood in the middle of a raised stage, laughing brightly.
"And now, watch in awe and wonder as the Great and Powerful Trixie saws this hapless Tau in half..."
She gestured to a long wooden box behind her, which had the head of a worried-looking Tau sticking out of the end. The audience, which was a mix of ponies, humans, and a surprising number of Kroot Carnivores, started applauding wildly.
"... Without inflicting so much as a scratch upon the volunteer!" Trixie finished with a smirk.
The clapping became somewhat less enthusiastic.
Undeterred, Trixie trotted up to the box and then nodded to the side. "Suuna?"
Trixie's assistant walked forward, carrying a heavy chainsword in both hands. Trixie's horn flashed, and the weapon was taken up in her levitation magic.
"Now, observe the mystifying magical prowess of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" the unicorn cheered as she gunned the chainsword and brought it down into the center of the box.
The Tau "volunteer" cringed as the sound of grinding wood overcame the cheering of the crowd and the booming of fireworks overhead.
After a few seconds it was over, and Trixie floated the chainsword back over to Suuna.
"And the deed is done! Observe!" Trixie said as she pushed the two halves of the box together. Suuna walked over to the middle of the stage, hesitated for dramatic effect, and then lifted the top off of the box.
The Tau stood up and hopped out, looking quite relieved and entirely in one piece.
"Awwww..." several audience members looked disappointed, while some others seemed to be clapping out of politeness. The Kroot were easily the most pleased by the feat, laughing and pointing at the stage.
"If you want to see someone horribly mutilated via chainsword, sign up for a combat patrol!" Trixie griped at some of the whining ponies. "This is a magic show!"

She cleared her throat as Suuna pushed the box aside and the Tau rushed off the stage. For all the complaining, her crowd was still very receptive, and she had a whole host of new acts if they really started demanding something more dangerous.
"Now! For Trixie's next wonder, she'll need a hand from the audience!"
A metal gauntlet and vambrace flew up onto the stage, bouncing to a stop at Trixie's feet.
Her eyebrow twitched. "Lord Tellis. STOP THAT."
The audience parted and turned to see the Raptor Lord standing near the back and giggling to himself like an idiot. "Oh, come on! That was PERFECT comedic timing! As an entertainer, you should respect that!"
Fluttershy caught to the Raptor Lord again, nervously glancing around at all the ponies and aliens staring at them. "Um, I think she means that you should stop dismembering Mister Serith specifically, Tellis."
Tellis glanced down at Fluttershy. "Why?"
"Because harassing and humiliating others for your petty amusement is wrong!" Trixie declared, jabbing a hoof at the Iron Warrior.
She could literally FEEL the incredulous stares from some of the others in the audience. And Suuna, for that matter. Even Fluttershy quirked an eyebrow.
"Well, obviously it isn't wrong when TRIXIE does it," she amended quickly, "because Trixie does it for the petty amusement of others, not herself! That makes it okay."
The confrontation was interrupted by a lash of black lightning, which cracked through the air to blast into Tellis. The energy burst seemed to dissipate against the Chaos Lord's armor without much effect, although the rest of the crowd quickly scattered away from him. Fluttershy yelped and scurried back, feeling her fur stand on end from the discharge.
"Oh, hey, the old rustbucket caught up," Tellis said as he turned around. Serith was standing several meters away, his left arm missing and his right swirling with dark power.
"You worthless cretin," Serith hissed as Warp energy pulsed around his fingers, "you may be resistant to my power, but the blessings of Khorne can only protect you for so lon-"
Tellis blasted past the Sorcerer, and then his head was gone.
"Gosh, Tellis!" Tellis said in a high-pitched voice as he held up Serith's helmet next to his. "I sure do regret investing all of my time in that lame sorcery crap instead of dedicating myself to stabbing people like a real warrior!" Tellis nodded solemnly before continuing in his usual voice. "Yes, true. You DO suck. But hey, at least that Dark Portal thing worked out, right? So you're not TOTALLY useless, even though you could easily be replaced by a handful of unicorns if you ever let them read your stupid magic book."
"The sheer hatred I have for you would dissolve your very mind if you didn't hide behind the Blood God's shield," Serith's disembodied head growled.
"But I DO!" Tellis laughed, tossing the Sorcerer's helmet up over his head and catching it in his other hand. "Isn't it GREAT?!"
He stopped laughing as he heard Fluttershy squeak in terror. He had heard her do that so many times by now that he had worked out how the differences in pitch and volume corresponded to the seriousness of a threat, and this one actually sounded rather bad.
Tellis turned his head around, and was genuinely surprised to see twenty boltguns floating around Trixie's stage, all surrounded by a pink aura and aimed at him.
"Trixie wonders if your 'magic resistance' extends to firearms being controlled with magic," she said coldly as her eyes narrowed and her horn flared, "let's find out." Suuna was huddled in a corner of the stage, with Fluttershy clinging to her leg and squeezing her eyes shut.
Tellis glanced over at Serith's body, which was quickly backing away from him, and then turned back to Trixie.
"You're seriously going to attack me for making fun of this loser?"
"Yes," Trixie groused as the slides on the bolters clicked back.
"I LIKE that in a pony," Tellis said approvingly right before the boltguns opened fire.

****

"What? Gunfire?!" Dusk Blade shouted, his head jerking up.
After a moment, he heard shouting rising over the gunshots.
"HA! YOU COULDN'T HIT THE BROAD SIDE OF A BROADSIDE!! HEH! SEE WHAT I DID THE-OW!!"
"GIVE SERITH BACK HIS HEAD BEFORE TRIXIE GETS TO THE HEAVY WEAPONS, YOU IRON MULE!!"
"P-Please, don't fight! Or if you are going to f-fight, use more precise and discriminating methods! Miss Trixie's aim really isn't very good!"

Dusk shook his head, dismissing the ruckus as being Tellis-related. Not his problem. He had more important things to do.
The batpony was laying on the edge of a roof, his attention locked on Twilight, as expected. The alicorn Princess had one leg in a cast and a thick wrapping of bandages over her head, parted around her horn, and like the others had not worn her armor to the victory party. She was looking over Gaela's new augmetics and comparing them to some dataslate image, commenting on the inner workings, and generally being a complete nerd.
Which he found super hot.
"Okay, Dusk. Easy, Dusk," the Lieutenant said to himself, "you've got this. You're going to go down there, you're going to greet everyone, and you're going to ask Twilight Sparkle what she's up to and engage in simple, respectful conversation. You will be charming and mature, and you will NOT be evil. Zero evil. Complete ethical neutrality. You can do this. It is NOT hard."
Dusk Blade sucked in a deep breath and slowly spread his wings.
Then his breath caught in his throat as he saw another stallion approaching the Princess, walking with the telltale gait of somepony trying to look calm and casual and completely failing at it.

"Ah, hello! Princess Twilight Sparkle?"
Twilight glanced up at hearing her name, and saw that there was an unfamiliar pegasus stallion standing behind Gaela. He was a ruddy orange in color, with dark blue mane and tail, and he stood with a practiced and exaggerated posture that immediately marked him out as a Royal Guard.
"Yes, that's me. Can I help you, Sir?" Twilight put down the dataslate, and Gaela turned slightly to present her arm to Spike. The dragon had a dataspike in his hand that was connected to a Tau drone floating nearby, and he started feeding the metal needle into the Dark Techpriest's bionics.
The stallion cast a pensive glance at the cyborg, but seemed to dismiss her after a moment before focusing completely on Twilight. "I'm sure you haven't heard of me, but my name is Flash Sentry. I'm a guard at Canterlot Castle." He stopped to chuckle. "So that means I'll probably be on leave for several weeks, at the least."
Twilight chuckled herself, although hers was distinctly nervous. "Yeah, uh... sorry. We tried to-"
"Please, don't apologize!" Flash interrupted, his gaze hardening. "I was there, in the castle, when the Orks attacked. And I was helping to hold the door closed when the Orks tried to get downstairs to murder all the wounded and non-combatants, right before you purged the city. I owe you my LIFE."
"As does every other equine on this world," Gaela interjected, "and at least a substantial portion of the humans."
Flash looked annoyed by the interruption. "Okay, sure, but it feels more personal when I was maybe four seconds from getting my head cleaved open." He bowed his head deeply, and Twilight looked slightly alarmed at the gesture. "I would hardly consider it repayment on the debt that I - and surely all of Equestria - owes to you, but if you would have me, I would love to escort-"
"Gah! Hey! Quit it!" Spike suddenly shouted.
Twilight whirled to face her assistant, and was quite surprised and confused to see that there was a trio of bats fluttering and screeching in her assistant's face.
Spike ducked his head and started swiping the dataspike at the flying mammals to try to ward them off, but this didn't dissuade the creatures from beating at him with their wings and screaming. Gaela looked quite bemused at the encounter, and she casually plucked one of the bats out of the air with her smaller, more dexterous bionic arm.
"Odd. I would have assumed that harassing dragons would be a behavior extremely uncommon among small mammals," the captured bat let out a sharp squeak as Gaela crushed it in her hand, "natural selection has clearly failed this species."
Twilight frowned as she nabbed the other two with her telekinesis and pulled them away so that Gaela wouldn't feel the need to kill them, too. "That IS odd. These are clearly fruit bats, from the nearby conservatory. Not that any other kind of bat would have a reason to bother a dragon, even a baby dragon." She gave the squealing animals a light toss with her telekinesis, and they quickly flapped away into the late evening gloom.

Twilight turned back around, and then did a double-take. Where before there had been an orange pegasus stallion, now there was an ash-colored batpony stallion. And unlike the previous equine, she was quite familiar with this one.
"Hi!" Dusk Blade said happily. "Were those bats bothering you? Sorry about that. The little guys get all worked up by the fireworks. It's uncanny, really."
"Lieutenant Blade. Hello," Twilight said with as little enthusiasm as was equinely possible, "did you see another stallion here a minute ago? I think he wanted to ask me something."
"You mean the orange guy? He took off. Probably figured you were busy and didn't want to bother you," Dusk said, pointing a hoof off toward the town center.
Twilight's eyes narrowed as she stared at his leg. "Is that... blood on your hoof?"
Dusk put his leg down quickly. "Princess Sparkle, just a few days ago you destroyed a space vessel that contained MILLIONS of living, breathing, sentient creatures," the Lunar Lieutenant said with a gruff chuckle, "don't we ALL have blood on our hooves?"
His question was met with raised eyebrows. From Twilight, and also from Gaela and Spike, who were watching the exchange.
"Really? That's what you're going with?" Twilight deadpanned.
Dusk broke out into a sweat, but kept his expression calm and confident. "Well, if you're not interested in discussing philosophy, may I ask what you were observing? Something wrong with the Dark Techpriest's arm, perhaps?"
Twilight frowned. "We were discussing Tau engineering methods for creating super-conducting conduits at room temperature," the lavender mare said with a dismissive sniff, "it's not the sort of thing you'd be interested in."
"Although if you wanted to talk about something else, I would be SO cool with that," Spike added wearily.
"Actually, I find the topic of xeno engineering absolutely fascinating," Dusk replied, his wings spreading slightly as he leaned forward and smiled, "is it a metallurgical technique, or something more complex?"
Twilight actually seemed briefly stunned by the question, so Gaela replied instead. "The latter. They actually use energy-waveform channels. In the larger devices, this apparently comprises a tachyon pulse that oscillates between two receptor points, guiding energy flow between them."
"I don't suppose you'd be willing to go into lengthy detail about what a 'tachyon pulse' is, would you?" Dusk asked, sitting down.
This time even Gaela seemed slightly taken aback, and Twilight replied to the Lieutenant instead.
"It would probably take a few hours to explain properly. Equestrian particle physics theory hasn't advanced far enough to predict the existence of tachyon particles." The alicorn's voice had lost the tone of irritation and contempt from before, Dusk noted.
"I can't think of anything I'd rather spend my night doing than listening to you explain it," he said.
"R-Really?" Twilight asked, her face flushing. Spike groaned.
The young dragon was briefly saved from the extensive lecture when an Iron Warrior approached them.
"I have brought your refreshments," Dest rumbled. He looked as ridiculous as ever in an apron and carrying platters of food now that he was possessed, but the Marine clearly paid his appearance no mind.
Twilight glanced over to the new arrival, and her eyes widened.
"Water for the Dark Techpriest," Dest plucked a bottle from the platter with his servo talons and gave it to Gaela, "a ruby for the lizard," Dest's claw flicked a gemstone over to Spike, who caught it eagerly, "and warmed cider and velvet cake for Sparkle."
Dest held out the platter for Twilight to take, but rather than retrieving her snacks she pointed a trembling hoof toward him. "Wh-What HAPPENED?!"
In Dest's other hand, opposite the food platter, he carried Flash Sentry's unconscious body by a rear leg. The pegasus seemed to be wounded, too, and blood was leaking from his head and flank.
Dusk Blade was doing an excellent job of looking shocked and horrified as well - he certainly looked more concerned than Gaela or Spike - but his efforts were spoiled when Dest dumped the other stallion at his hooves.
"Here. Don't leave your fallen enemies just lying around where anyone can find them," the Iron Warrior grunted.
Dusk gasped. "What? What makes you think I did this?!" he demanded.
"Because the fool wrote out your name in his blood before he lost consciousness," Dest explained curtly.
"GUANO!" the Lunar Guard cursed, slamming a hoof into the ground. "I can't believe I forgot to make sure he was really unconscious! I'm a covert operations specialist, there is NO EXCUSE for that!"
"Agreed," Dest said before glancing over to Twilight again. "Sparkle, do you want your cake or not?"
Twilight's horn started glowing purple as she trembled in anger. "You... You... how could you DO something like this?! WHY did you do something like this?!"
Dusk cringed. "If I said 'love and friendship', would you let me stay and talk about particle physics?"
As he dodged away from the first volley of magic beams, he was forced to conclude that the answer was "no".

Gaela snorted as Twilight sprinted after the fleeing batpony. "You see this? This is why reproduction should be relegated to industry. This 'romance' nonsense is utterly asinine."
"I dunno, I think this part is kinda fun," Spike chuckled as he watched Twilight attack her suitor.
Bro, you totally cockblocked that bat horse. Not cool, dude. Vel chastised Dest as the Iron Warrior put down the platter on a table.
"I'll just leave this here. I have many other orders to manage," the driver said.
"I'm somewhat surprised the Cakes wanted you to assist, Lord," Gaela admitted as she snapped her augmetic shut, "since your possession and modification your appearance is far more intimidating and disturbing than it used to be. There's no shortage of menial workers or servitors to assist."
"As usual, our equine allies are surprisingly unconcerned with such things," Dest mumbled as he turned around, "additionally, Pie had other things to do and was unable to help. Which is also increasingly common."
"Hey, yeah, where IS Pinkie, anyhow?" Spike asked. "She hasn't been around to bug Gaela and Twilight about not having fun yet."
"Thank the Gods for small favors," Gaela grumbled.
Dest simply shrugged his massive, spine-covered shoulders as he walked off. "She said she had 'things to do'. And then she winked."

****

Ferrous Dominus - Dreadnought holding station primarus

Sirius tromped back and forth in the vast open space around his resting cell, muttering to himself.
"I can't rest, Pinkie Pie will kill me. That's what she's waiting for. I'm sure of it. I'll just slide into my cell, and when I'm next called upon to serve, my Dreadnought will be gone!"
Sirius suddenly swung around, his heavy flamer hissing as its pilot flame came on. "WHAT WAS THAT?!"
His head lurched back and forth. "I'm onto you, you damned horse! You won't catch me off-guard! You have destroyed my brothers and worn their shells like common armor, but I will NOT submit! You hear me?!"
Sirius whirled around again. "I know you're coming! You're out to kill us all! You start with the Dreadnoughts, but what about when there are none of us left?! Then you move on to Terminators! Or tanks! Although we do actually have more tanks than pilots, right now. So I guess tanks are fine. BUT NOT DREADNOUGHTS!"
Sirius suddenly whirled around again, and his autoloaders primed his butcher cannon. "SHUT UP! I'm not crazy! YOU'RE the crazy one!"
Sirius trailed off after his accusation. His vox system had been forcibly disabled long ago, as the Techpriests had tired of hearing him ranting at them, but he had "dissuaded" them from disarming him, at least. He was fully armed and - putting aside his slipping sanity - completely operational. Sirius had his autosenses tuned to listen for any sound within the otherwise empty room, his lethal reflexes on a hair trigger.
The sound of something metal hitting the floor came from right next to him.
"YAAAAAARGH!!" Sirius opened fire, spinning in a circle as his butcher cannon emptied itself into the walls. Thick shells like railroad spikes flew through the room, trailing sparks of angry crimson.
"DIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIE..." Sirius howled his panicked mantra as he kept spinning, ignoring the rising heat indicators for his main gun. After a few seconds he remembered that he had a second ranged weapon as well, and loosed his heavy flamer across the floor at the largely empty room. Unsurprisingly, this didn't help the heat buildup much.
The butcher cannon ripped apart the walls relentlessly, shattering lumens and tearing apart power conduits beneath the outer layer of metal. By the time the weapon finally overheated and jammed decisively, most of the light sources in the room had been smashed, as well as all the automated sensors that had been placed in the room to feed vid-capture to the security cogitators.
Sirius scanned left and right as his butcher cannon hissed and leaked smoke from its barrel.
His visor happened to glimpse something lying on the floor nearby amongst the dying flames. He zoomed in on it. It was a small metal plate with a grill cut into it. An air duct cover.
Like the ones on the ceiling.
Another light thumping noise came from above, except that this time it came from the top of the Contemptor's hull. A long, trembling whimper came from his vox caster.
"Why... so... SIRIUS?" giggled a voice from above. "Let's put a smile on that Dread!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

****

Ferrous Dominus - sector 20, Nightwatch
Princess Luna's quarters

Princess Luna scowled as she laid on her balcony, watching the colorful bursts of distant fireworks.
The explosions weren't from Ponyville; the fortress was too far away from the village for her to see their celebrations, even from the top of Nightwatch. But Ponyville was far from the only equine settlement celebrating the end of the Ork invasion.
In a dour irony that surprised exactly no one, Ferrous Dominus, the base of the army most responsible for their success, was quiet. All those who sought to revel in their victory had left for some other town's party, but the mighty fortress-factory was still in the midst of repairs. The campaign had been costly, and the taskmasters of the 38th as relentless as ever.
Luna didn't begrudge any of her ponies their celebrations, much less the space pirates. But at the moment the dreary, joyless atmosphere of the factory resonated much more deeply with her than the song and dance of ponies overjoyed that they might yet live to see her sister's next sunrise.

A familiar tread came from behind, and Luna craned her head around as Big Macintosh trotted into the room.
"Art thou really going to forgo thy hometown's revelry this night?" Luna asked irritably. "We did not request thee stay with us."
"Eeyup," Big Mac said around the plate in his mouth. It had several fresh apple tarts sitting on it, still warm from the oven.
The stallion placed it in front of Luna, and then quietly laid down next to her.
For more than a full minute, neither pony spoke. Luna's mind raced the entire time, her emotions stewing until they finally boiled over. She wanted to speak her mind, and Big Mac's unassuming silence left a conversational void that demanded to be filled. The words came before she could think better of it.
"We hast failed," the blue alicorn said finally. "Sparkle succeeded, and well she did. She and all of the Elements art most worthy of the celebrations held across the nation." She grimaced. "Likewise, this place 'tis a fitting tribute to our own performance. Left behind in the gloom and ruins of war to pick up the pieces of the conflict. On the winning side, and alive, but only thanks to the efforts of those more capable. Bah!"
Luna levitated an apple tart up into her mouth, and briefly allowed the wonderful baked treat to cut through her ennui.
Big Mac remained silent, which mildly surprised Luna. Most ponies she knew would have started bombarding her with assurances that she was wrong, that she was valuable, and desperately tried to bolster her self-esteem. The farmer simply watched her, waiting attentively for her to continue.
Luna swallowed the tart and then lifted another from the tray. "We cannot even excuse our performance with the overwhelming might of the foe, despite the odds arrayed against us. We were alone with our opponent, and he was poorly armed. We could hath slain him! But in our hubris, We erred, and the green savage took the upper hoof."
She paused to eat the next apple tart, and felt a smile start to threaten her current mood. She quickly gulped it down and got back to brooding.
"The Warsmith saved us. Dragged our insensate body from that wretch's workshop after slaying the alien with ease. And then Princess Sparkle saved us after, by finishing the task that We had been unable to assist. Pathetic."
Another apple tart vanished into her mouth.
"The others cast no blame upon us. Even Lord Sliver seems to hold our failure as an irrelevance. But Sparkle..."
Luna's face scrunched up for a moment. "Perhaps it is mere jealousy. That Sister's student, with a fraction of our experience and power, cleansed Canterlot of the greenskins and destroyed the Space Hulk. There are those who wish us accolades as well, surely, but they seem like... hollow platitudes, almost, in comparison. Twilight Sparkle is a hero, and Equestria is once again in her debt. We, meanwhile, continue to trouble the Warsmith. One must wonder why Father endures us, when We art such a burden sometimes."
Luna ate the last of the tarts, and then licked her lips happily. After wiping her mouth, she finally turned to her companion.
"We hast expressed this before, but thou art quite easy to talk to, Macintosh. We did not mean to burden thee with our trifles."
The apple farmer smiled back at her. "Nnope. Not a problem, Highness."
Luna sighed, and then the alicorn slumped over to lean against the stallion. Big Mac started, and suddenly felt anxious. Not because of the sudden physical contact, but mostly because Luna was leaning against the side with all his augmetic limbs. He worried he might cut her if he didn't remain perfectly still.
"And what of thee, Macintosh?" Luna asked, finally demanding a reply from the workpony. "What dost thou think of our efforts? Our prowess in battle certainly hath not spared thy farm from ruin. We would not think ill of thee if thou were disappointed in us."
Big Mac raised an eyebrow at the Princess, then looked up and paused at length in that way he did whenever he was working out a complex reply. Luna found it endearing, somehow.
"Well, Ah wasn't up there in the Space Hulk, so it's hard fer me to say," Big Mac said finally, twisting his head back down to face the lunar Princess, "and the reason Ah wasn't there is 'cuz Ah nearly got put down fer good in Canterlot. Ah only lived through that 'cuz ya were with me down there. Ya saved mah life. And Ah'm not tryin' to brag, but Ah'm a little harder to replace than a grove of apple trees." He smiled broadly. "So if'n ya ask me if yer a failure, that ain't really fair; Ah'm pretty biased about the matter."
Luna laughed, and she shifted against the other pony so that she could lift a wing and drape it over his back.
"... Thank thee," she whispered after a long moment, "shalt we attend the celebration after all? We could teleport us there."
"If ya want," Big Mac said, nuzzling her neck, "Ah'm fine just like this."
Luna gave a contented sigh, and she smiled softly as she gazed up at the few stars visible through the ash-stained skies of Ferrous Dominus.
"...... Dost We really refer to the Warsmith as 'Father' at times without even realizing it?"
"Eeyup," Mac nodded.
"Ugh. Embarrassing."

****

Canterlot - main statue garden

Princess Celestia walked through the paths through the statue garden, making note of the damage and debris.
The gardens hadn't fared much worse than anything else in Canterlot, as the Orks hadn't shown any great haste in looting or destroying a bunch of statues. Several monuments had been ruined by chance, and they were STILL finding the odd rotting Gretchin corpse hidden in one corner or another, but the damage was significantly less than that endured during the Tau invasion. The castle was the big exception to that, having most of its towers collapsed and many walls demolished, but Celestia considered it a trifle compared to the survival of her city and its citizens. Blowing up the castle HAD been part of her original defense plan, after all.
The white alicorn wasn't out to muse about property damage or take stock of the needed repairs, however. She was following a trail of shattered flagstones on the ground, lined up in a repeating pattern that had become grudgingly familiar to her.

It didn't take long before she found the source of the damage. Warsmith Solon stood before the statue of Shas'o Voidsong, gazing up at the petrified Tau. Celestia was reasonably surprised to see that Sliver was there as well, mumbling to his superior under the dim glow of the magical lamps.
"Ah, Princesh. Come to join ush?" Solon said before she could call out. Sliver glanced over at her, but said nothing before returning his gaze to the statue.
"Warsmith Solon. Lord Sliver. Welcome to Canterlot," Celestia greeted as she approached, trying hard not to sound sarcastic, "I must apologize for the current state of my capital; it didn't weather the last war quite as well as yours did."
"Oh, but you did jusht fine, sho I hear. With a little help, anyway," Solon swiveled around to face the pony, "me and Shliver were jusht dishcushing the monumentsh. I wash wondering if it might be worthwhile to have shome of our own shet up."
"And as I wass ssaying, that iss an irrelevance before the tasskss we face now," Sliver rumbled, "we musst conssolidate our possition on thiss world sso that we may deliver our ssuppliess!"
"Ah, yes. You deliver material for your armies throughout the galaxy, don't you?" Celestia said as she stepped up next to the Terminator Lord. A flicker of her horn kept the vile fumes radiating from the Iron Warriors at bay, shielding her from their stench.
Sliver grunted irritably. "The Orkss have cosst uss dearly. We will return to our dutiess under sstrength, under quota, and behind sschedule."
A brief pause followed his assessment.
"It's nice that he's blaming the Orks now rather than us," Celestia said to Solon.
"He'sh really come around, hashn't he?" the Warsmith said happily.
Sliver started growling something else, but a peal of laughter interrupted their conversation.
"Ooh, look! All the grown-ups are having a little meeting!" Discord swooped in from nowhere, grinning like a loon before roosting on Solon's servo claw. "Room for one more?"
"Ugh. Permisssion to depart, Warssmith?" Sliver hissed, turning away from the Archdaemon. "There are many usseful thingss I could be doing rather than participating in Disscord'ss idiot gamess."
"Enthushiashtically granted."

Discord looked offended as Sliver's armor released a high-pitched whine and flashed away. "That one is just NO fun. I swear."
"Yesh, indeed. That'sh why he actually annoysh you rather than the revershe," Solon mused, "we could all learn a thing or two."
Discord stuck out his tongue, and Celestia regarded her old foe with a suspicious look. "Is there a REASON you're here right now, Discord? With so many parties going on around the country, I can't imagine there's any shortage of 'fun' you could be having."
"Oh, how you wound me!" Discord said melodramatically. "How could I truly enjoy myself, knowing that my two favorite villains were moping around a war-torn city while everyone else was enjoying themselves?" He hopped up to the Voidsong statue, giving it a tight hug.
Solon tilted his head to the side. "I'm not moping."
"I wasn't talking about you," Discord said, stretching his arm over to Celestia to pinch her cheek. She quickly zapped his hand with a small lightning shock, warding him off as she glared.
"Anyway, I do like to visit this place from time to time. So many memories!" Discord gushed, clasping his hands together.
"It could ushe shome shprucing up at thish point, though," Solon admitted as he glanced around, "now that we have the Orksh under control, would you like to have a few? They could fill out the gallery here."
"Ooh! You can put them all in funny poses before you petrify them, like they're having a mid-battle brawl!" Discord said, pointing at Celestia.
"... Do you two think that ALL of these statues are my personal opponents?" the alicorn asked as her brow furrowed. "I don't just go on a crusade and start petrifying people whenever I want to add some new art to the city parks."
"Oh. Really?" Solon asked. "That'sh what I'd do."
Discord looked alarmed at the revelation. "What about Jean Luc?" he asked desperately, pointing to a stylized dragon sculpture in a corner. "You're not telling me he isn't real?! He was my sole confidant for over four hundred years! He was like a BROTHER to me!"
"That dragon is marble, not flesh made stone," Celestia deadpanned.
"JEAN!! NO!!" the draconequus screamed, diving toward the statue and hugging its tail while bawling.
Celestia sighed, planting a hoof against her face. "And THESE are my most powerful allies as Equestria heads into an age of intergalactic strife. How did things come to this?"
"It'sh moshtly her fault," Solon said, pointing to the statue next to him.

Celestia forced several unpleasant comments from her thoughts as she sat down next to the Warsmith. The time for paranoia and prejudice were long past, now. Equestria was victorious, and had to look to the future rather than fighting it. And that future involved Chaos.
"So, what now, Warsmith? With the Orks broken and our people safe, what is next for your army?" the Sun Princess asked.
"Ooh! Is it Necrons? I hope it's Necrons!" Discord shouted, jumping back into the conversation.
Solon chuckled, raising a hand to the face of Voidsong's statue and drawing his fingers across its cheek. "Shafe? My dear pony, we are not shafe. We are never shafe, and never will be. Thish planet ish mine now, and like all bashtionsh of Chaosh, it ish to be a place of war." He lowered his hand as a blast of dark poison gushed from the smokestacks on his chassis. "For there ish no peace among the shtarsh. Only an eternity of carnage and shlaughter, and the laughter of thirshting godsh."
"Pfff!"
Solon turned around toward Celestia and Discord. Both of them had their cheeks puffed up as they held their breath, trying to restrain laughter.
Surprisingly, it was Celestia who broke first, and the alicorn chuckled through her teeth as tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. "Snrk! I'm - pfft! - I'm sorry! R-Really! But... hah hah hah!" she burst out laughing openly, and Discord was soon bellowing along with her.
"Wasn't it great the way he tried to sound all grim and serious with that voice?!" the draconequus howled. "'Carnage and shlaughter! Grrr! I'm very shcary!' Oh Tzeentch, I'm dying over here!"
Solon grumbled several pejoratives in Binaric Cant as he swiveled his chassis away and stalked away from the others. "You two can go shtraight to Hell."

****

The Age of Iron has begun...