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Dark Scribe of the 38th Company, Iron Warriors Legion, come to bring the glory of Chaos to the realm of Pony.

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An MLP/Warhammer 40K Crossover

The Iron Warriors 38th Company has landed in Equestria, entrenching themselves like a barbed hook. They hunt the aliens of the Tau Empire, intent on destruction and pillage.
A small squad is dispatched on a reconnaissance mission, only to find that there is intelligent life on this world besides the feuding space-farers.
Will these improbably adorable and friendly equine aliens turn the damned warriors of Chaos from their blood-soaked path, cleansing them of their dark legacy with the magic of friendship and harmony?

No.
No, that isn't happening.
EXPLOSIONS!!

(Dark humor warning; limited grimdark themes)
(Cover art by Nicholas Kay)
(This series now has its own TVtropes page!)
(This story is a contestant in the Tournament of Canterlot, a charity event to raise money for Syrian refugees! Go here for details and donations!)
(Featured on Equestria Daily 8/20/15 :yay: )

Chapters (8)
Comments ( 316 )

A friendly word of advice, you may want to unpublish all but your first chapter, and then publish the rest of them bit by bit. Because no one is going to click on a new story with 100k plus words. That way too, you can bump it to the updated stories box once per day when you do chapter updates.

(Make sure that when you unpublish them, you mark the story as incomplete)

Haven't even read a single word and I'm hyped; its not everyday that you find a gold mine of 100k words!

This is epic, really enjoying this so far :twilightsmile:

Now, onto read more!

Just finished reading, found it well-written, entertaining and I even laughed out loud at some points. Considering this is Book 1, I assume there's more to come? If so, I can't wait!:pinkiehappy:

>>Soulstorm
Yes, that's the plan.
Each book documents a major phase of the conflict. Or so I intend.

This is awesome. :pinkiehappy: My only question is: when do we get to see book 2?

Why ya gotta hate on the Tau so much, man? They are an amazing race and one of the few that can actually match the Tyranids' in inventiveness.

Still, loving the story so far and I am really enjoying the madness that Tellis and the others exhibit. Gaela is definitely an awesome character.

Maybe she will be the Harbinger of Cupcakes to the Dark Mechanicum?!

3535503
Oh, I don't hate the Tau. They're by far my favorite xenos, which is why they get a part at all! But of course, the story is taking place from the Iron Warriors' perspectives. The grayskins will have a better shot of it in the next part.
Sadly, I don't think Gaela will be bringing her new observations on the power of cupcakes to the DarkMech. Human science just isn't ready for the blinding truths of Pinkie Pie's desserts.

3538276 Fair enough! I too love the Tau so it sucks to see them get curb-stomped. That being said, I can see why they are getting butchered right now. They really need to stop Kauyon and get on with Mont'ka!

"I'm sorry Gaela, I can't let you do that."

*Cackles*

Hypothesis: Discord is not a daemon, but a C'tan shard.
Evidence: Too peaceful for a daemon. Does not look like a daemon. Transforms things into candy.
Seems to be able to do anything in the materium (C'tan ability). Limits himself to (mostly) food (C'tan shards are limited to a few tricks).

3596977
The problem with judging anything as "not daemon-like" in appearance and personality is that the full range of daemons in "existence" (insofar as that's a thing for daemons) are just as varied as organisms in the material universe. And they can literally look like anything, since they have no physical form and take one on when they manifest. We're used to the standardized daemon ranks within Khorne, Tzeentch, etc, but that represents only a tiny fraction of daemonhood and those forms are imposed on them by their representative Gods and the thoughts of the mortals that deal with them.
There are almost certainly daemons that represent more benign emotions somewhere in the Warp. We never see or hear of them in 40K lore, because... why would we? These aren't the entities that plot the downfall of empires or get dragged from their home to butcher a squad of Marines, so they really don't have a place in the normal goings-on when there is ONLY WAR.
So really, the biggest argument against Discord being a daemon isn't his appearance or mannerisms, but the fact that if he's a daemon, what's he doing in the Materium, and how is he maintaining a physical form for so long?
I find the idea of C'tan Discord interesting, but I've had a hard time taking the C'tan seriously since Matt Ward rewrote their story.

Crabapple is best OC.
Hardened troops: meet Apple Bloom.
"Wasn't weaponizing cuteness outlawed 10000 years ago?"
"Shut up, you're interrupting the equine-shaped diabetes."

The Iron Warriors are taking this very well. Current favorites: Dest, Daniels, Crabapple.

3605503
Why thank ye! Crabapple holds a special place in my heart as the silliest idea I had for this story: an inexplicably loyal daemonic sentience who ended up taking orders from a random filly thanks to a string of misunderstandings.
Alas, none of the horrors of the Warp could have prepared those poor men for the power of Apple Bloom.

Yes it has, Gaela. Yes it has.

Freaking love this crossover story <33

Poor Gaela xD her sanity can't take any more at this rate lol

I love how non nonchalant and casual they interact with Derpy lol

"Well... uh... yes. There is that. But the there are probably more of them! I doubt that any intelligent species would pack their entire population onto one cramped hunk of metal and take off into space!"

You're mocking the Eldar aren't you? :ajbemused:

3925363
Actually, no. You'll know when I'm mocking the Eldar because I refer to them by name and everyone takes uncharacteristic pleasure in denigrating them, even those characters that have no reason to be unsympathetic.
Although now that you mention it, yes, the craftworlds are a terrible idea, and only feasible under the insanely unlikely prospect that your entire space empire is on the verge of spontaneously evaporating due to your own hubris.

3926384 Okay, was just wondering. Cause even as a Eldar fan I was like
"Ha, I get it! :rainbowlaugh:" But I guess that was me looking into it more than I should. Best wishes!

3926651
You're an Eldar fan?
You must be quite used to seeing people poke fun/abuse at your chosen faction if you're picking up jabs at the species that even I missed.

3926833 Yeah, I normally roll with the punches. I'm a space fairy, I need to, heh.

3927200
It's cool. I'm a big fan of the Space Orks, a species which is literally a joke with machine guns.
Though I play Iron Warriors (obviously).

First, this is one of the best stories ever. Of all time.
Second, I'm not sure Dash has been assigned the right Element. She seems less like the Element of Loyalty and more like the Element of Fly Up and Antagonise the Most Dangerous Thing.

Spectacular story! Now on to part 2!

In more detail, this is easily one of the funniest things I've ever read. The juxtaposition of the Iron Warriors' casual butchery and destruction with the Ponies friendship and tolerance is hilarious. You twist in subtle turns of phrase and plot points that make me guffaw and I really like how some of your 40k characters play totally outside their stereotype, or at least stomp all over the boundaries of it.

4034356
First, thanks! I try my best.
Second, I like to think of it as Dash being loyal to her character's sense of clueless egotism.

4034932
Well thank you very much. The absurd contrast between grimdark violence and light-hearted friendship, and the slow but steady corruption of each one by the other, is the central theme here, and really what attracted me to the idea of an MLP/WH40K crossover in the first place.

Though I only just started reading this, I am liking it so far. However, two minor lore-gripes about the 38th Company that just stuck with me.

Firstly: Iron Warriors are Chaos Undivided of the "fiercely independent" variety. They do not worship the Dark Gods on an individual basis and, indeed, only offer up worship as is necessitated by practicality. An Iron Warrior who devoted himself to a single god with sufficient fervor to warrant that god's Mark would effectively cease to *be* an Iron Warrior, and would instead break away to find more likeminded Chaos Marines and heretics to travel with.

Secondly, Nurgle is a really poor choice for the 38th's Warpsmith. Invention, adaptation, experimentation, and generally messing around to figure out new ways of doing things is *Tzeentch's* divine portfolio; Nurgle is all about stagnation and decay, on every level. Nurglites don't innovate or create, they just stick to "the good old ways/things".

I am enjoying this story so far, but I just had to get those facts off of my chest.

4116916
Those are interesting points, and I welcome the chance to discuss them as background points.
The first, unfortunately, does not measure up to the established canon. You're right in that the Iron Warriors are fiercely independent, and their fealty to the dark gods is usually an afterthought if anything, but Storm of Iron confirmed that the "modern" Iron Warrior Legion contains Chaos Marines that had devoted themselves entirely and openly to Khorne, and were led by a Warsmith devoted to Tzeentch. As such, I think it's reasonable to assume that their suspicion of monotheistic worship (which I totally get and even agree with you on) is more a general descriptor of the Legion's principles and tendencies rather than any sort of rule that would lead to exile.
The second point is harder to explain, but to put it bluntly: you're right. Solon isn't a very good example of a Nurgle worshipper, and frankly struggles against the lethargic and entropic nature of his chosen deity. He has other reasons for worshipping Nurgle, but frankly isn't very good at it, and this is reflected in some of the differences between him and Sliver (who plays the Nurgle worship to the hilt).
Anyway, the important thing is that we all agree that Slaanesh is totally out of the question.

"Well... uh... yes. There is that. But the there are probably more of them! I doubt that any intelligent species would pack their entire population onto one cramped hunk of metal and take off into space!"

BURRRRRN!!! :trollestia:

I really like Gaela... although, the type who scavenge, re-purpose, improve and augment everything in sight appeals to me all the time. Tech-priests / Acolytes like her truly embrace the machine, which is both their blessing and their curse. Their interactions with machinery (especially machine-related language) is very endearing.

I was CACKLING with glee when Trixie lifted 20 Bolters and made them fire ALL AT ONCE. I can just imagine the look of sheer mollification on the face of that poor bastard Myenas. :rainbowlaugh:

4214088
That was certainly not what he had envisioned when he had declared a challenge of "marksmanship".

4215078 Hmm... the Ninth Legion meets Equestria, this will be... interesting.

Then the Tau brainashing resoc camps start. After the ponies learn to hate non-humans, the Imperium arrives, makes them a protectorate and shows them that the Emperor protects. The ponies soon become amongst the first alien followers of the Imperial Cult, lead by Confessor Pinkie Pie.

4219828
Uh huh... And what about, you know, the Iron Warriors? They're kind of playing a central role here.

Mmmm, you came really close to making me call bulllshit on pony fighting prowess multiple times, but you didn't, barely.

Though I am pissed that the Tau seem very incompetent in this with the whole Big Macintosh event, well now, onwards to the next chapter

4304003
Well, I'm glad that your suspension of disbelief survived the trip.
You're correct, of course. I know I'm under-selling the Tau as fighters. But I can assure you that it's for narrative purposes only.

I actually really like this story, I didn't think I would for some reason.

4430437
Angel Exterminatus is why not.
Besides Slaanesh being an extremely unsuitable patron for a Legion of grim, embittered, highly disciplined siege engineers in general, the Emperor's Children kind of tried to use the Iron Warriors' Primarch as a live sacrifice to Slaanesh. They failed, but DID succeed in abandoning the Iron Warriors on planet full of undead (?) Eldar constructs and wraiths and royally pissing them off.

So, yeah. There's that.

4430635
It's totally hypocritical of them, I know, but the Iron Warriors take great offense at being betrayed by their close allies and having their ultimate leader nearly killed.
And although that was more the Emperor's Children's deal specifically rather than Slaanesh, it was a spectacularly bad first impression for the IW's first exposure to a Chaos cult.

Just finished reading this. It’d be nice to be able offer critique without sounding like some gushing fan‐boy, but unfortunately for me you nailed this, so let’s leave it at “this story is awesome, and so are you” and call it a day, alright?

"Still, Ah feel real bad for 'em," Apple Bloom said, glancing at the men in red overcoats, "a bunch o' their friends died."
Rainbow Dash watched as a couple of the human gunmen got up from the corpse of one of their own, their pockets full of ammunition, ration packs, and small amulets with some kind of eight-pointed star on them. "Gotta say, they're taking it really well."

:rainbowlaugh:

Does Celestia understand that there are millions of human worlds and you can't just get rid of them when they already know about your planet? Or is she just ignorant of that fact when she asks twilight to get rid of their influence?

4489671
She doesn't really understand that, but in this case it's actually not an issue; the 38th Company is a Chaos pirate fleet, not an Imperial one, so they aren't going to be sharing knowledge of Equestria's presence with the Imperium (and other Chaos Legions wouldn't care).
In this case it would be the Tau that actually pose the greater threat of taking over, especially since Centaur III technically lies within their ever-expanding borders.

4490392 Ah, that makes sense. I don't really know anything about War Hammer 40K, so all this is new to me. Are the Chaos People a main point of the game, or just a side faction?

4491842
Ah, I see.
Chaos is a primary faction in Warhammer 40K, and arguably the "main" opponent of the Imperium of Man, which is the pre-eminent human power in the galaxy (the Imperium contains several military hierarchies under its command which are considered factions in their own right, including the Imperial Guard/Astra Militarum, Space Marines, Inquisition, and Adeptus Mechanicus).

It would take a long time to explain the whole Chaos thing, but the Iron Warriors are a Legion of Space Marines that turned against the Imperium and joined an ancient rebellion. Chaos forces at large are made up anything willing to work for them, including the Chaos Marines, many daemons, and soldiers and citizens that have turned against the Imperium.
They are generally not happy people.

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