Iron Hearts: Book 2 - Ferrous Dominus

by SFaccountant

Diplomacy Check

Iron Hearts: Book 2

Chapter 7

Diplomacy Check

****

Ferrous Dominus - sector 2, brig complex primarus

Serith's armor raised few eyebrows as he strode purposefully into the prison lobby, heading straight for the security gates.

This was mostly due to everyone's eagerness to avoid looking at the Sorcerer at all, but not even the Iron Warrior guards, none of them explicitly afraid of the superhuman psyker, gave much thought to why Serith's armor was so badly scorched and broken. The ways of Sorcerers carried obvious dangers beyond even that faced by a "normal" warrior of Chaos, and it wouldn't have surprised any one of the men or Marines there to hear that one or more of Serith's experiments had blown up in his face.

Serith said nothing as the gates picked up his armor's IFF emitter - thankfully still functional despite the damage - and began the long and melodramatic process of deactivating its locks and grinding open.

Neither of the Iron Warrior guards standing within arm's reach spoke to him as he waited. There were only a few reasons for a Sorcerer to be roaming around the brig, and all of them were distinctly terrible. No Chaos Legion could be described as "merciful", and the Iron Warriors were certainly not an exception, but there were plenty who found the use of witchcraft on their soldiers and prisoners a step too far; embracing the will of the Gods was one thing, but surrendering their military resources to the whims of madmen was the death knell of military order and discipline.

Serith could literally feel their distaste as he finally stepped through the gates, and he found it amusing. Every one of his "brothers" would gladly embrace any weapon of metal and energy with the bare assurance that it functioned within the stunted, limited realm of science, and many of them would take up weapons with a blatantly daemonic nature as well, judging them as gifts from the Gods. But still they arbitrarily shunned the psyker and the use of sorcery wherever they could. Their distrust of such powers ran deep.

But there were some things that only the psyker could accomplish, and there were those among the Company who were more practical as well.

"General Gnoss," Serith said simply as he entered a security station, acknowledging the man hunched over a table covered in charts and notes.

"Lord Serith," General Gnoss said as he straightened, "thank you for coming. I'd heard there were some kind of disturbances around your quarters and-"

"General," Serith interrupted softly, silencing the man instantly, "dispense with your small talk and get to the briefing."

Gnoss pursed his lips briefly. "Very well, Lord." He pointed at a bank of monitors on the wall. "There she is, cell 9-B. Tau female, Fire Caste, rank Fireblade. Her name is Jerriha. She's by far the highest-ranking grayskin we've caught."

"And she may have the information we need?" Serith asked, clasping his hands behind his back.

"It seems likely. Most of the grayskins have been kept deliberately in the dark as to what their strategic goal here is. You know how it is; they're told what they need to know and nothing else. But from what we can tell, she was in charge of the assault on Ferrous Dominus."

Serith gazed at the image in the monitor bank. The Fireblade was seated in a single cell, her head down away from the pict-recorder.

"Her disposition?"

"Well, we haven't done any hard interrogation of her, and I think she's surprised by that. Surely she was expecting to be tortured by now. As you can imagine though, she hasn't been especially grateful for our restraint. She's refused to tell us what we want to know. Up until now, that's been okay, since Lord Sliver has made gathering intelligence a low priority, but now Warsmith Solon has personally requested new data on the enemy to explain their unexpected strength on this planet."

Serith turned to look at Gnoss again. "And what do you want to know?"

"Three things, Lord: where their bases are, how many of them there are, and why they're here," the General explained.

"It is as good as done," Serith said, picking up a note pad and ink pen from the table.

Scarcely a minute later, the heavy door of cell 9-B cracked open, and Jerriha was instantly on alert.

Strategies for a possible escape or perhaps a capture of her visitor vanished at the first sight of a power armor gauntlet pushing the door open. Trying to outwit and overpower a Space Marine was folly under the best of circumstances, and these were not the best of circumstances.

"So now the mighty Astartes do the torture in the human armies too? My, but your kind are good for just about everything, aren't you? Do you do windows?"

Serith took in the weary sarcasm of the alien prisoner, feeling the lingering fear buried under it.

There was a small table and stool in the cell on the opposite wall from the bed, both of them bolted tightly to the floor so that the prisoner couldn't use them as weapons or decent barricades. Serith pointed to the stool.

"Sit down over there," he ordered calmly.

Jerriha cautiously did as ordered, her eyes never leaving the glowing red seam in the Iron Warrior's helmet that marked out his own.

"So, are you finally going to torture me? You've all been such gracious hosts so far, I was beginning to wonder if I was sent to the wrong facility," Jerriha said, trying her best to sound bored while staring down the giant encased in metal.

"You have a point, actually. I believe these cells are slightly larger than the menial rooms," Serith mumbled as he glanced about the interior, "but as to your question: no."

He placed the pad of paper and pen down in front of the Fireblade.

"Allow me to explain how this is going to work. It makes little difference whether you cooperate or not. I am here to extract information from you. I am going to get that information by rifling through your mind, not unlike an adept sorting through dataslate files. There is not a thing you can do to stop me. Do you understand?"

Jerriha was silent for several moments, and then she started chuckling. "Is this your new game now? Trying to scare me into confessing? Does that actually work on some prisoners?"

Serith tilted his helmet to one side. "I know that your kind are not entirely ignorant of the Warp. You at least know of the existence of psykers, do you not?"

Jerriha smirked, leaning forward over the table. "You think to scare me with tales of 'witchcraft'? Yes, I know of psykers. I've even met one or two from our human resident planets. They can't do what you're proposing to do."

"Oh? They must deal in a different sort of psychic mastery," the Sorcerer mused, "you think I'm bluffing?"

"If you can read my mind, don't you already know?" the Tau woman countered.

"No, actually, I've been preoccupied with making you write the information I want while you're distracted."

Jerriha glanced down at her hand.

A terrified scream echoed through the halls of the cell block as the Fireblade flung the pen from her hand that she didn't remember taking up. Then she tore the top page from the note pad - already boasting a roughly sketched map of the region - and frantically tore it to shreds.

Serith chuckled as the alien soldier glared up at him, her eyes filled with equal parts hate, confusion, and naked terror.

"Ah, yes... this is what I was looking for," Serith said reverently, "the moment of realization when the target truly comprehends their helplessness. You cannot trust your body. You cannot trust your senses. You cannot even trust your mind. You are more vulnerable before me than you could have possibly imagined."

Jerriha's heart thundered in her chest as her eyes glanced about her cell.

"Thoughts of suicide, now? Ah, yes. Death can be trusted. Death tells no secrets. That is a realm I have not yet mastered," the Sorcerer admitted, brushing the note pad off the table and onto the floor, "but you will not escape me so easily, xeno worm."

"I will... tell you... NOTHING!" Jerriha snapped even as panic started to overwhelm and paralyze her. Or maybe it wasn't panic, but just more of the Sorcerer's power? It was impossible to tell where her will ended and the Iron Warrior's began, and that was more terrifying than any foe or torture she may have faced.

"You pitiful, wretched creature," Serith said with an utterly false sense of sorrow, "you are little more than a book to one such as I. Books do not speak. They are read."

****

Ferrous Dominus - brig complex Primarus, ten minutes later...

As Serith strode back into the security station, General Gnoss was waiting patiently at the same table as before, although now he had a cup of caf in front of him.

"She seemed to put up quite a fuss," the General remarked as he met the gaze of the Sorcerer, "I had to mute the recorders. The screaming was getting obnoxious."

"The process isn't usually so painful as all that," Serith admitted with a hefty shrug as he stood opposite the pirate veteran.

"Oh? Did it hurt more because she resisted?"

"No, it hurt more because I was feeling spiteful," Serith said bluntly, "first the Tau assault and now even the xeno prisoners are wasting time that I would otherwise be spending on my own projects. I'm actually quite bitter about it."

Gnoss didn't say anything immediately, taking a moment to compose himself and think over what he wanted to say. He hadn't known the Sorcerer was in such a bad mood.

"Ever the cautious one, aren't you, General?" Serith drawled, his visor tilting down to look over the map. He had picked up Gnoss's sudden unease.

"This Legion rewards caution more than courage, Lord," the General noted, "did you succeed in acquiring the data?"

"For the most part," Serith said, raising a hand over the map, "deceptions and resistance are useless defenses to psionic interrogation, but that does not make it easy. The answers are often abstract or incomplete. The simpler the question, the clearer the answer."

A flaring red light appeared over the map, and Gnoss felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as the mysterious mote of energy slowly burned a patch of the parchment laid out in front of them.

"The location of the Tau bases were simple enough to determine."

"Bases? There's more than one?" Gnoss asked, alarmed as another patch of the map began to darken.

"Indeed. This canyon region contains a transport hangar. It's the reason we have not yet found the lander we chased here from the fleet engagement. This spot over here is their main base."

Gnoss glanced at the Sorcerer in askance. The larger spot was a vague blob with the furthest edge about fifty kilometers from the perimeter of Ferrous Dominus. "Here? So close? They're within heavy artillery range!"

"Indeed. It should hardly come as any surprise by now, but this Sept appears to possess and utilize superior stealth technologies to evade detection by our sensors. What's more, the infrastructure to spoil our scanners was most certainly not established in the short time between the Tau transport and the Company making planetfall. The grayskins were on this planet long before we were."

Gnoss wet his lips. "Why? What are they here for?"

Serith emitted a sharp groan. "The answer to that query was more... obtuse. 'Why' is always a more difficult question. I obtained images of combat, mostly. Some far-off campaign that this 'Jerriha' was part of. Victory parades and fleets being launched. Cities ruined. Fields of debris in space. Very abstract."

Gnoss considered this as his eyes fell to the region that contained the Tau base. "You mentioned a campaign? A campaign against what?"

"Orks," Serith said with a shrug.

"ORKS? We haven't seen a single sign of greenskins anywhere in this system!" General Gnoss protested.

"Yes. It may have been a misunderstanding, or perhaps a clever attempt at misdirection on her part. Or perhaps they play some non-obvious role in all of this. The Tau might be looking for a weapon to use against the Orks here amongst the native life-forms, for example. It could be anything. Or it could be nothing; she may have been unclear on her purpose here and simply imagined her role as being part of the larger struggle against the Tau Empire's enemies."

Gnoss nodded slowly, possibilities swimming about his mind. In the end, however, he was reminded of Sliver's quite emphatic disinterest in the Tau's purpose. What did it matter to them if gray and green aliens butchered each other, or if it had some obscure connection to a remote system in the galactic frontier?

"Well then, I suppose that matter is still up in the air. What then concerning their total strength on this world?" Gnoss asked.

"That was quite difficult to piece together, in fact, but I managed to come up with a rough estimate," Serith said as he turned his helmet to look over the monitor bank, "the Tau total force, while ultimately inferior to our own, is quite sizable. In fact, it is my personal opinion that were the Tau to have deployed a greater portion of their total force against Ferrous Dominus during the assault, they would have had an excellent chance at seizing the fortress with the bulk of our forces scouring the forests."

Gnoss crossed his arms over his chest. "Perhaps they were afraid of over-reaching? It's doubtful the grayskins know much more about us than we do them."

"Perhaps. But timidness is not a trait associated with the Fire Caste of the Tau. It is my belief that they chose not to commit to overrunning the fortress because it did not serve their objectives, not because they feared failure."

"But we don't know their objectives, only that it has something to do with Orks."

"Maybe," Serith reminded him.

General Gnoss nodded, and then saluted to the Iron Warrior. "Very well. This intelligence is more than enough to act on. Thank you for taking the time to assist us, Lord Serith."

"Not at all. It was a pleasure to serve," the Sorcerer drawled sarcastically as he moved to exit the room.

****

Ponyville

"All right, fine. I think I understand what happened."

Rarity was walking through the main square of town with Twilight and Spike, listening wearily as the alicorn princess explained the situation to her.

"So if Serith has the Elements, how are we supposed to get them back? I'm still convinced that the only reason we survived our FIRST trip was because the Warsmith turned out to be bizarrely reasonable," Rarity asked, "please tell me you don't want to march back to their fortress and demand a showdown with Serith."

"No. That was my first thought, but I have a better idea," Twilight said, beckoning the unicorn closer.

Rarity leaned in cautiously, and Twilight lowered her voice. "I want to invite Serith here, using the negotiations between Equestria and the 38th Company as an excuse. With Serith away from the fortress, we have a good chance in confronting him."

Rarity quirked an eyebrow. "Uh huh. And... WHY would Serith leave the safety of his mighty fortress to tour the country of the ponies he just ripped off?"

"Because Mister Delgan is going to invite him," Twilight said with a clever smirk, "and he's going to tell Serith that we insist on dealing with the Iron Warriors as well, and with him specifically. All you need to do is convince Mister Delgan!"

Rarity did not look impressed by the scheme. "'All I have to do'? Do you think that's going to be easy?"

"It won't?" Twilight asked.

"Well, it MIGHT have been before you teleported up right in front of him and then shouted our current difficulties to everypony in town," Rarity muttered as her eyes narrowed, "after hearing that Serith stole something of ours, don't you think he might be quite suspicious that we suddenly need Serith to travel here for completely unrelated reasons?"

Twilight winced, and her ears fell flat. "Right. That. Sorry. I kind of didn't notice him before I saw you and blurted that out. But I'm sure you can talk him into it! You seem like really good friends!"

Rarity rolled her eyes and then leaned in next to Twilight close enough that their cheeks almost touched. "Twilight, darling, normally your naïve innocence is quite charming, but this is serious and it's time to put that big fancy brain of yours to work. Me and Norris Delgan are not friends. We are contacts. Associates. We flatter each other and make nice for many reasons, but friendship isn't one of them. He's simply someone who I can stand to be around and share a meal with - in stark contrast to, say, every Iron Warrior I've ever met - and who might provide some advantage to me in the future."

Twilight tilted her head to the side, perplexed. "Some advantage? Like what?"

"I don't know yet. But he's going to be the one representing a population of heavily armed space men who want to explore commercial opportunities with our people. It doesn't take much imagination to see the benefits of knowing a man like that. Likewise, I assume Mister Delgan indulges my empty compliments and small talk because he thinks he might get some benefit from knowing me in the near future. It's typical upper-class politics. I'm just relieved there are humans that play it the same way we do."

It alarmed Twilight somewhat to hear Rarity speak with such cold cynicism about something that she had mistaken for honest friendship, but she had to admit that everything Rarity said made sense. And given how badly she had underestimated Serith, it seemed especially wise to treat the 38th Company more suspiciously from now on.

Besides, the fact remained that Norris Delgan was a part of her plan not because he was a decent person, but because he had connections and influence none of them had. So, really, she was treating him in exactly the same way, except without actually going through the effort of being nice to him.

"Well, okay, so we might have to make a deal with him," Twilight allowed.

"Almost certainly," Rarity griped, "but really, even if Mister Delgan calls on him, wouldn't it be rather foolish of Serith to come?"

Twilight nodded reluctantly. "Well, yes. It would make more sense for him to stay away. But then, most of Serith's actions and behavior haven't made sense to us. Why did Serith take the Elements and then let us leave? Why did he help us get to Solon during the Tau assault? Why did he leave us a magical amulet after taking the Elements of Harmony?"

"Speaking of which, is the amulet any good?" Rarity interrupted.

Spike wordlessly reached into his pack and produced the artifact.

"Well, that answers that," Rarity spat, almost gagging at the sight, "you couldn't get me to wear that thing if my life depended on it. How positively gauche."

"Sure. As I was saying," Twilight continued, "I can't pin down Serith's game, but I'm betting that if Serith is asked to meet and negotiate with Princess Celestia he'll be too interested to turn it down. Once he's in Canterlot we can isolate and subdue him."

Rarity looked skeptical. "You think we can defeat Serith without the Elements of Harmony?"

"Yes," Twilight said with a determined nod, "the Iron Warriors are powerful, but not invincible. And Serith in particular fights using magic, which is a field that we're used to. I'm positive that we can overcome him!"

Rarity was silent for a long moment, touching her chin with her hoof.

"Well, it's not a GOOD plan by any means, but I can't think of a better one. And we certainly have to do SOMETHING." The white unicorn sighed. "All right. I'll get Mister Delgan to help. Although I can only imagine what he'll demand in return."

Spike looked worried about that prospect, but Twilight was relieved. "Thank you, Rarity. I've already sent a letter to my brother for the next phase, but for now it's up to you."

"One more question, though," the unicorn said before Twilight could turn away, "where's Gaela? Wasn't she with you?"

"Oh, she's watching the library," Twilight assured her, "she doesn't really seem bothered by us plotting against one of the Iron Warriors, but I thought it was good as a general rule not to have her around while we're doing it."

****

Ponyville - Twilight's library

Gaela's optics read a sudden surge in local energy patterns as a booming noise came from upstairs, and she looked up from the book she was reading.

"If that isn't Twilight, then the second story is a restricted area. If it is Twilight, your teleports are displacing an unusual amount of atmosphere. You may want to look into that."

Gaela went back to reading.

A few seconds later, a large white alicorn descended the steps. The Dark Acolyte glanced toward the Princess briefly, bringing up the pict file and noting the label.

"You would be the pony sovereign. If you wish to check out a book, Sparkle has briefed me on the process. Assuming you have a library card."

Princess Celestia inevitably focused on the Dark Acolyte, her eyes narrowing. The woman was wearing her power armor, as usual, but her weapons had been put away and her helmet was disengaged. "Where is Twilight Sparkle?"

"Out," Gaela said curtly, still reading her book.

Celestia's brow furrowed behind her crown. "What are you doing here?"

"Reading," Gaela managed to reply with even greater disinterest than before.

Celestia stood silent for several seconds as she stared at the Dark Acolyte's back, thoroughly irritated at her responses.

The ruler of Equestria took a calming breath, and then spoke in a more soothing tone. "I would like you to give me your full attention, please. This is quite important."

"No," Gaela said flatly, startling the Princess, "my current responsibilities are limited to the distribution and administration of books. Beyond that I have no obligation to attend to you. You may peruse the books at your leisure, or borrow them with the proper documentation. If you have no intention of doing so, then you're just wasting both our time."

Celestia's eye twitched. "Do you know who I am?"

Gaela again refused to look up. "Do you imagine that I care?"

Celestia continued to glare at the woman, but it was hard to appreciate the tension between them when the Dark Acolyte wouldn't even make eye contact.

"Why are there still humans on Equestrian soil?" Celestia eventually demanded.

"Because of many reasons, most of which would be meaningless or incomprehensible to you. But in summary, it's the Tau's fault," Gaela responded, managing to give a lengthy answer while providing absolutely no useful information.

Celestia scowled, and a golden glow encompassed her horn. "You realize I can detain and imprison you at will, do you not?"

"I had assumed as much," Gaela muttered as she put away the book she had been reading and removed another right next to it, "but based on initial analysis of your questions upon arriving, you would be acting in almost complete ignorance of the circumstances of my presence here. As such, any punitive actions you take against me for some petty slight could easily undermine your own agents and ultimately the safety of yourself and your nation. It is logical to conclude, then, that you will instead return to your other duties and await contact from Sparkle rather than complicating matters by harassing me further." She started flipping through the new book, again not bothering to check on the alicorn's reaction.

Celestia fumed in silence for several long moments.

Then the glow around her horn faded. "I'm going back to my castle," the Princess mumbled, "when Twilight returns, tell her that I came to speak with her, and that she should contact me right away."

"No," said Gaela.

Princess Celestia paused to glare at the Dark Acolyte again, but was again ignored.

"I'll leave a note," Celestia grumbled, walking back up the stairs.

****

Ponyville - Delgan's Market

"Good, good. I want the servitors to be the first thing our customers see on their approach. Sevaan, get the lumens set up against the Chimera."

"It's not really the best place to set them, though."

"That's okay, they're not likely to be a big seller. A third of the bloody horses can generate light with their thoughts. Glenn! Make sure there's another load of power cells accessible! I'm expecting those things to move!"

Delgan directed his apprentice merchants and assistants in setting up his market, watching as numerous tables were set up, decorated, and then piled with devices.

Most of the items were mundane by human standards: power generators, heaters, auto-cleaners, vox casters, and tools. Among them were more unique techno-artifacts like gravity plates and servitors prominently displayed to attract the most attention, even if most ponies would be hard-pressed to come up with an item worthy of being traded for one.

Conspicuously absent were weapons and Chaos artifacts. Not that such things weren't for sale, but Delgan could read the local culture well enough to put such items in storage to be shown on demand.

The key to dealing with alien markets was novelty dressed with prudence. Alien cultures naturally found each others' good interesting, but would quickly shun anything that clashed too badly with their local norms.

"Hold up, there! We're still setting up. There's no entry right now," Delgan heard one of his guards say.

"Oh, that's okay. I'm here to speak with Mister Delgan," said a familiar voice.

Delgan debated whether or not to turn around and acknowledge Rarity. He felt like he had overestimated her importance when he had first singled her out among the six ponies that had ventured into Ferrous Dominus, and he really did have better things to do at the moment than trade pleasantries and bemoan the interruption of their earlier meal.

More importantly, last he'd heard Rarity and Twilight were involved in some plot of Serith's. He was in no hurry to associate with anyone or anything that had made an enemy of an Iron Warrior.

"Pull back the Chimera on the right! Set up another table and lay out some spare parts or something! You never know what some people will buy if it's from another planet!" he ordered to one of his apprentices.

Then he turned around and inclined his head.

"Ah, Miss Rarity, Princess Twilight," he said, disregarding Spike entirely, "how may I be of assistance today?"

Rarity stepped ahead of the others and passed by the guard, a slightly strained smile on her face. "I was hoping to continue our earlier conversation, actually. We never did get to discuss the particulars of your negotiations here, and I was hoping to join you in your eventual tour of our capital."

Delgan mulled that over. Such a topic was hardly something that needed to be attended to immediately, when he was clearly busy. On the other hand, Twilight was behind her watching with a pensive expression, meaning there was certainly another dimension to their discussion that Rarity hadn't explained.

"Very well, if it cannot wait," Delgan said reluctantly before turning toward his men, "Kerrin! You're in charge! Have Sami appraise all proffered trade items and don't forget receipts this time! If my inventory is low again I'll have the both of you fed to the Harvest!"

"Sir!" "Yes, Master Delgan!"

The Trademaster made a casual gesture to Rarity as he headed for his trailer. "Come. We'll speak inside."

Rarity followed him, heaving a tired sigh as she did so.

Twilight and Spike moved to follow as well, but promptly found a pair of plate-armored legs in the way.

"You stay here," mumbled the guard through his mask, "there's no entry unless Master Delgan says so."

Twilight blinked in surprised, and then aimed a hoof toward Rarity. "Ah, we're with her."

Delgan halted and cleared his throat meaningfully. "My apologies, Princess, but I'll be speaking to Miss Rarity alone. Please follow the instructions of my security personnel at all times, as they are here for your safety."

Twilight didn't like the sound of that, but reluctantly backed away as Rarity followed the man into his trailer. Again she had to reason that this actually reflected quite well upon her plan; it was to be expected that he would negotiate with Rarity above her. That was why she had asked Rarity to help in the first place.

Still, Twilight didn't trust Delgan, and she wasn't going to sit around staring at some soldier's shoes while her friend might be in danger. Spike looked equally concerned, although she had a hunch that his concerns were slightly different than hers.

"Come on, Spike," the alicorn said quietly as she turned away, "let's go find a better spot to wait for her."

****

Ponyville - Delgan's trailer

"Your friends could use some instruction in subtlety," Delgan murmured as he opened a cabinet on the wall.

Rarity chuckled ruefully. "Twilight is such an innocent little thing. It's charming, really."

"There is no such thing as innocence," Delgan intoned grimly as he pulled out a bottle of amasec, "only degrees of guilt."

He removed a pair of liquor glasses and placed them on a counter. "Princess Sparkle traveled into the heart of an Iron Warrior fortress, braved the fury of the Tau assault and faced the Warsmith himself. If she'd possessed any true innocence, by now we've already stripped her of it." He poured a shallow pool of amasec into each glass. "All that's left is naiveté and weakness."

Rarity's grudging and desperate smile faded. "We do what we can, Mister Delgan. But I would appreciate it if you didn't insult my friends."

The Trademaster placed one of the glasses next to the unicorn as he sat down across from her. "Very well, then let's get down to business. What is it you want, exactly?"

"Serith," Rarity said simply.

Delgan paused briefly, and then gulped down his own glass of liquor. "That's quite a tall order," he admitted as he spilled more of the amber liquid into his glass.

"You see, Twilight has insisted that negotiations between our two species involve the Iron Warrior leadership as well. And who better to represent the Company than Serith?"

"Almost anyone," Delgan drawled.

"Well, okay, yes, but most of them we haven't met," Rarity pointed out.

"Miss Rarity, you do yourself a disservice with this utterly transparent deception. If you want Lord Serith brought here, you don't want him because of some political advantage."

Rarity released a melodramatic sigh as she levitated up her glass and sunk back into the chair cushion. "Oh, but I tried my best. You have to give me credit for that."

"I do. I also must admit that it might have worked had Princess Twilight not blurted out in front of me that Lord Serith had taken something of yours."

****

Ponyville - Delgan's trailer exterior

Twilight and Spike quietly teleported into place between Delgan's trailer and one of the Chimera transports parked behind it, fitting neatly into the crack between vehicles that would have proven challenging for a human.

"Spike, you keep watch for any guards," Twilight whispered as she pressed her ear up against the wall of the trailer.

"Do you really think you can hear them like that?" Spike asked uncertainly.

"No. Luckily, I have a spell for that," Twilight said as her horn started to glow.

Twilight's eyes filled with light, and as she stared hard at the trailer the wall seemed to fade away in front of her, revealing the sights and sounds within.

"One does not even go near a Sorcerer if one can help it, Miss Rarity. And opposing one is an act of sheer madness."

"Then consider us mad," Rarity countered, "specifically, we're mad that he made a certain... trade without our knowledge or consent, and we'd like the opportunity to have a stern talk with him." The white unicorn sipped her glass of amasec gingerly, taking the time to savor the rich liquor.

"And by 'stern talk' you mean to destroy him?" Delgan said with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, I don't know. We have a history of resolving dangerous matters with the Iron Warriors without fighting," Rarity pointed out, taking a longer sip of her drink.

"One incident is not a very storied history," Delgan pointed out.

"Three incidents," Rarity corrected, "Twilight confronted the Warsmith, Rainbow Dash SOMEHOW made friends with that Tellis lunatic, and I managed to get Acolyte Gaela into a dress without MUCH manhandling."

"Twilight?" Spike whispered.

"Everything's okay so far," Twilight said, trying to keep her assistant from interfering with the spell, "is there a guard coming?"

"No, it's just... why do you know an eavesdropping spell?" Spike asked uncomfortably.

"Can't talk now! Quiet!"

Delgan was silent for several seconds as he considered her claims. "If this is to be a non-violent encounter, then that leaves me scope to act. Obviously, I will not deliberately deliver my masters into mortal danger for personal gain; there's very little personal gain that can offset a bolter round to the head, as you might understand."

"Splendid!" the unicorn cheered, levitating her glass over to Delgan for a refill. "Our highest leaders will be on hand to welcome him to Canterlot, our capital!" Rarity had no idea if that was true or not, but she certainly hoped that Twilight wasn't planning on ambushing Serith with just the six of them plus Spike. She'd mentioned something about Shining Armor, but she hadn't really asked about the rest of Twilight's plan. She was finding the first part trying enough.

"Of course. I have some substantial pull with the Warsmith, and I can see to it that he is sent here. But I need a guarantee from you that he will survive the trip. I don't really expect the lot of you to be much threat to an Iron Warrior Sorcerer, but I must be sure that I'm not on the hook for the loss of a valuable Company asset." Delgan filled Rarity's glass a little more this time, his eyes thoughtful and calculating.

"Of course," Rarity said simply with a smile, drawing the glass back to herself in the air.

"Then all that remains is to discuss what you're going to do for me in return," Delgan smirked as he took a long, gentle sip from his glass.

Rarity's smile dimmed somewhat. "Of course..."

"All right, now we're getting to the important part," Twilight mumbled, her eyes and horn still glowing with magic.

Spike was almost chewing his nails, although he made a token effort to glance to the side every now and then to see if a guard was peeking in on them.

"Is she okay? What's happening?"

"Nothing yet. Shush!" Twilight hissed, staring at the wall.

"He's not, like, touching her or anything, is he?" Spike asked.

Twilight rolled her eyes, which had the effect of casting magical, coruscating light in an arch over the side of the trailer. "No. They're just talking and having a drink together."

"Having a drink? Is he putting the moves on her?" the young dragon demanded angrily.

"Spike, give it a rest," Twilight snapped, turning toward him and inadvertently blinding her assistant, "nothing's happening that's worth interrupting, yet."

As Spike blinked rapidly to recover his vision, Twilight turned back to the trailer. "Besides, that would just be too weird. They're not even the same specieeeeugh..." Twilight trailed off into a cringing expression as she realized who she was talking to. "Uhm... hush. They're talking again."

"What is Canterlot like?" Delgan asked, rolling the amasec about in his glass as he stared into Rarity's eyes.

"Oh, it's delightful. Beautiful architecture, the finest foods, and ponies of class and taste everywhere you look. A bit hard to get to, though. We'll need to take the train. As will Mister Serith, I suppose."

"It sounds like a considerable market," Delgan remarked, "one I would like to break into."

Rarity quirked an eyebrow as she sipped her amasec.

"You see, as nice as it is to establish a trading post here in your quaint little village, this is hardly the sort of market I'm looking for to distribute my goods, nor does it have much of the sort of products I'm looking for to take back to the fleet. Well, besides apples, I suppose. Everybody likes those."

"They're a classic," Rarity agreed, "apparently even on other planets."

"Anyway. I wish to open another market in your capital, but given the bureaucratic resistance I've encountered here, I doubt that's going to be possible within a short enough time frame to be useful." He paused to take a drink, and then sighed. "I can get my way easily enough dealing with a rural mayor, but I seriously doubt that I'll be able to overcome such obstacles in a proper city full of alien psykers and - I presume - your primary military force."

Rarity snorted and put down her glass. "You desperately overestimate the usefulness of our soldiers."

Delgan put his glass down as well and then laced his fingers together atop his legs. "Yes, well, my point is that humans are unlikely to be welcome to lease property and do business in your capital. As far as I can tell, your civilization has no established xeno business laws, and I don't think we'll be treated favorably. Given that we're a band of space pirates worshiping evil gods and fighting brutal wars on your national territory."

"And then there's the slavery thing," Rarity pointed out.

"Yes, fine. There's that, too," Delgan grumbled, "I could try to eat away at the bureaucracy, do some favors and strong-arm a few clerks, but we have a few months here at most." Then the Trademaster smiled. "You're going to make all that unnecessary."

"Oh? I do hope you're not overestimating my pull with the royal family," Rarity warned, "I can get Twilight to put in a good word, but we don't have any special authority."

"It's not your status that works to my advantage, Miss Rarity, it's your species," Delgan said with a smile, "I need you to work as my agent. I'll provide you with the resources, and you'll provide me with a storefront in Canterlot and all the amenities it needs to sell your new stock of 'alien artifacts'. You'll hire pony employees so as to keep the human presence in the city minimal, and I might even send you to buy something I fancy in the city."

He picked up his glass again, and raised it in front of the unicorn so that it was almost touching her horn. "How does that sound? Guarantee me my shop, and I'll guarantee you our Sorcerer."

"That sounds... far more reasonable than I had expected, actually," Rarity admitted, "I was thinking you would have me flog your goods on the black market or something!"

"That's plan B," Delgan admitted, still holding his glass up, "and believe me, you don't want to know what plan C is."

Droplets of sweat beaded over Rarity's coat as she levitated her glass over to bump against Delgan's. "Then here's to the success of the probably legal scheme!" the unicorn cheered with a forced smile before pulling the glass back and gulping down its contents. "Ugh. This is just going to push my work further into backlog."

Delgan snorted as he drained his glass. "Please. I'll give you a servitor. They can work day and night sewing and cutting on any design you come up with. You'll triple your productivity and work far less."

"Oh?" Rarity leaned forward, extremely interested. "Tell me more."

Twilight ended her spell, and then rubbed at her face with her foreleg. "Gah, that spell is hard on your eyes."

"Why'd you drop it? Is Rarity in trouble?" Spike asked pensively.

"Rarity's fine, and what he wanted for his help wasn't that bad. We're leaving," Twilight said, her horn glowing as she prepared another teleport.

"Wait, we're not taking her with us? But what if he-"

"Spike, like I said, give it a rest. We have work to do and nothing's going on in that trailer that we should be worried about. We're leaving."

And then, in a flash of purple, they were gone.

Five minutes later, the door to Delgan's trailer suddenly burst open, startling the guard on duty as his employer almost tumbled out of the doorway.

"Master Delgan, are you okay?" the guard said immediately, his weapon at the ready. Delgan's face was flushed a bright red, or at least the parts of his face that weren't metal.

"Y-Yes!" he blurted far too loudly. "Yes. Our guest just needs, uhm, a little fresh air."

After a few tense seconds, Rarity came out of the trailer, her gait wobbling and her eyelids hovering uncertainly. She was also bright red in the face, but for a completely different reason.

"Sho shorry dahling. Did I shcare you back there?" Rarity slurred as she stumbled down the two steps separating the trailer from ground level. "Ish okay tho, hun. I wash jusht playing. Yer not really my short of shtallion anyhow."

She giggled as she reached the ground, throwing her head back. "Lishen to me, everypony! I'm Warshmith Shpider Legsh!"

"It's my fault, really," Delgan admitted as he wiped his hand against a wet spot on his cheek, "she's barely half my size; I forgot to cut her portions accordingly."

"Applejack, izzat you? C'mere, dahling, give Rarity a hug!"

"Oh, hey Rares, you here to see the human stuff they got... what in tarnation have you been drinking?! Yer breath smells like turpentine! Hey! Git offa me!"

Delgan grimaced. "Still, I wouldn't have figured her for a horny drunk."

"Aaaaapplejaaaaack... take me to your brother. I have an itch only he can shcratch," the unicorn drawled, her body draped over the earth pony like a pair of saddlebags, "with hish giant, juicy, red-"

"We're goin' back to your boutique, sugarcube. Ah don't have time fer this. And quit droolin' on me!"

Delgan watched his guest depart, and then glanced over at the guard. "I'll double your pay this month to forget everything you just saw."

"Absolutely, Sir!" the guard said enthusiastically, snapping a salute.

"Lovely. I have to get back to work..."

****

Ferrous Dominus - Sliver's quarters

Most Space Marines tended toward a spartan, pragmatic existence. It was perhaps characteristic of the men that sacrificed their human lives to become living weapons to live with as little as possible to do their jobs. This was even more the case for the Iron Warriors, a Legion that prided itself on brutal efficiency and technical excellence.

But there were exceptions allowed where their leadership was concerned. Besides Warsmith Solon himself, who kept an enormous forge full of xeno artifacts and spare parts, the Company's vice commander likewise preferred a more elaborate dwelling.

The difference was stark, however. Solon's ministrations to Nurgle were short and personal. Sliver was a seething cauldron devoted to the plague God, and he fashioned his quarters to reflect his deeper allegiance.

Piles of carcasses and rotting vegetables were arranged with deceptive care around the perimeter of his room, and in the middle a small altar had been brought from his quarters on the Harvest of Steel. Incense burners hung from the ceiling, slowly spewing vile gases into the air, and mad, esoteric writing was smudged onto the walls with a paint devised of dirt, blood, and sewage. Even the floor was damp, warm, and somehow soft, despite ostensibly being made of the same metals as the rest of the building.

It was a lair of filth and rot, utterly inimical to all human life that had not devoted itself to Nurgle. To those that had, it was a work of art, and a veritable zoo of fine microbes and disease.

Sliver was in the midst of adding to the writing on the wall when the sensors on his door informed him of an approaching visitor.

He didn't really need the sensors to tell him; Solon made enough of a racket moving anywhere that you could hear him walking a block away.

"Hello, Warssmith," Sliver drawled, still stooped over in front of the wall as the doors slid open.

"Greetingsh, Shliver!" Solon welcomed brightly as he stomped into the dwelling. His mechanoid legs sunk into the floor with every step, sticking to the slimy surface as if it were gum. The door quickly slid shut behind him, cutting off the flow of contaminants to the rest of the base.

"Good newsh! I jusht got the report from General Gnossh! Sherith hash dragged the information we wanted from the xeno leader! We have them!"

Sliver paused, and then he slowly put down the crumbling clay pot that held his "paint". "I ssee."

"Enemy numbersh are a tad higher than we expected, but the General came up with a good shtrategy that I wanted to run by you. You shee, he wantsh to move the artillery corp out to-"

"I do not approve," Sliver interrupted, his armor gears creaking as he turned toward the Warsmith.

Solon's optics rotated as he paused. "What? No artillery? You haven't even heard the resht of the plan."

"I do not approve of ssending out a sstrike force," Sliver clarified, "tell me, Warssmith, what iss ssuch an attack ssuppossed to accomplish?"

Solon paused again, uncertain. Several of his mechatendrils had curled about and were staring at the Warsmith, as if the semi-sentient tendrils wanted an explanation as well.

"Uh... to... crush the hated foe? Victory for the Company... and the Legion? Or... glory for Chaosh, maybe?" Solon said, sounding less and less sure of himself.

"At the cosst of ssignificant livess and ssupplies. Livess and ssupplies that are needed elssewhere, to fight real threatss. Our brotherss cut deep into the greatesst military power in the galaxy. Lord Honssou sswellss our rankss and forgess new armiess for our cause. Abaddon plotss hiss next bloody drive into the Imperium. All thirsst for bulletss, energy, and armor. And what are we doing in the meantime?"

Solon took a step back. "Uh... fighting... Tau?" he asked, clearly uncertain of his answer.

"Yess. Sskirmishing with upsstart weaklingss on ssome frontier world of no importance to anyone," Sliver answered his own question, "what doess it matter if we sslaughter the Tau here or not?"

"Uh... well... it would make our operationsh on thish planet shafer in general," Solon pointed out, although his voice was faltering.

Sliver took a hefty step forward. "Our operationss conssisst of manufacturing. They all take place within thesse wallss. The Tau cannot touch uss here. They cannot harm our shipss in orbit. All they can do iss ssit, and wait, and hope we venture out of our fortificationss and into the ssightss of their gunss. This planet meanss nothing to uss, and we have no need to vanquish the foe. The only obvious route to failure iss to attack."

Solon took another step back, holding up his hands as if to ward off his vice-commander. "Okay, yesh, that'sh a fair point. What about their landing shilo? It'sh not heavily defended ash far ash we can tell, and we might be able to capture another of their shipsh!"

"Need I remind you what happened the lasst time you jumped at the chance to asssault the graysskin assetss?" Sliver demanded, walking forward as his helmet tilted upward to maintain optics contact. Even in terminator armor, he was utterly dwarfed by the Warsmith, and yet Solon flinched back nervously from his second in command.

"How many brotherss, workerss, Techpriesstss, and mortal gunss were losst due to our hasste to sslay the xeno?"

Solon backed up far enough for the doors to shift open again, startling him to a stop.

Sliver stopped advancing, the single fishbowl lens of his helmet pulsing a bright red as it stared up into the array of optical sensors littering Solon's helmet. "Every fruitlesss attack made againsst the Tau iss another gap in our armor inviting retribution. Every losst brother and wrecked vehicle iss another sstep away from our objective, no matter how many graysskinss they sslay in their passsing. Every needlesss additional cycle we sspend on this revolting, prisstine world iss another misstake that cannot be corrected or redeemed!"

Solon's legs folded inward as his chassis lowered itself as close to the floor as possible in his effort to shrink back. "Okay! Okay! I undershtand! No more shtrike groupsh! You're right!"

Sliver finally turned away, relieving his master of his damning gaze. "Make no misstake, Warssmith. Thiss iss your Company, not mine. But if you choosse to attack, you do so againsst my recommendationss."

"No, no, that'sh okay," Solon said hastily as he walked backwards out of the room, "you make a very convincing cashe, Shliver. I'm going to go back to work now! Farewell!"

Solon's legs pounded a fast rhythm against the metal flooring as he retreated from the "Nurgle wing" of the Astartes barracks.

He knew that Sliver had been sour about being ignored during the initial assault on the Tau camp, and he was certainly displeased as everyone else about the Tau assault, but Solon had expected his vice-commander to be more eager for revenge and bloodletting. Instead, it seems that the Nurglite saw their circumstances as a purely strategic mistake, and in that sense blame for it lay squarely on Solon's shoulders.

"Well, I guess there ishn't much elshe to do than go back to building thingsh, then," the Warsmith mumbled to himself. Considering Sliver's deteriorated mood, he would want to stay as far as possible from his vice-captain until more progress was made on the Warp drives.

Maybe he could help retro-fit the Tau ships? Certainly the Dark Mechanicus could use his help, considering his extensive knowledge of Tau technology and mastery of their language. It would also get him out of Ferrous Dominus long enough to give guard duties a chance to wear down Sliver's temper.

Solon was distracted from his thoughts by a vox signal beaming to his helmet. The encryption key was unique, and he recognized it immediately.

"Why hello Mashter Delgan! How nice to hear from you!" Solon said brightly, glancing about for anyone else in the halls who might hear him. "Do you have newsh to report already?"

"I do, Warsmith," crackled his vox unit into his ear, "I've established a foothold in the xeno settlement and am already collecting local goods in exchange for some of our surplus material. However, tomorrow I'm to meet with their leaders, and I wish to request assistance."

Solon hesitated. "Ashishtance... what kind of ashishtance, exactly? Becaushe if you require troopsh, I'm afraid there'sh a bit of a problem with that." He hoped that wasn't the case. It would be extremely embarrassing to admit that he couldn't send out any more soldiers because he was afraid of making his vice-commander mad.

"Just one, Warsmith," Delgan responded, "you see, the ponies wish to discuss matters of the Company's military presence here as well, and to that end, they've requested the presence of an Iron Warrior of rank to accompany me." A cough came from the other end of the vox connection. "Lord Serith's name came up several times."

Solon tilted his head to the side. "Sherith? That'sh an odd requesht. I didn't think he wash sho popular."

"Well, he certainly has a way with the ponies, my lord. Is this a possible arrangement?"

"Of courshe! It'll be good for him to get out of hish lab for a while. He keepsh blowing it up, shomehow."

"That's... uh... well, in any case, thank you, Warsmith. This is a considerable aid to my cause. And Lord Serith is sure to have an interesting time here as well, I'm sure," Delgan mused from the other end of the vox link.

"Yesh, shplendid! Shend me the coordinatesh and I'll arrange everything right away!" Solon agreed with a level of enthusiasm that honestly surprised the man on the other end.

"Of course, Warsmith. Data upload incoming. I will continue with my tasks here and await his arrival. Farewell."

****

Ponyville - Twilight's library

"All right. Good. I think everything is prepared."

Twilight sounded out of breath as she entered the library, although her exhaustion was more mental than physical.

As much thought as she had put into her plan, she was plagued by constant doubts about what she had done, the ponies she was putting into harm's way, and how likely it was that her unlikely scheme would succeed. Looking at it logically, her position was exceptionally bleak.

But she pushed such thoughts behind her. She had done all she could short of flying back to Ferrous Dominus and blasting the wretched Sorcerer, and it was widely agreed that was a terrible idea.

"Hi, Gaela," Spike said as he walked in behind Twilight and dropped his pack on the floor. The Dark Acolyte was standing against the wall with a book in her hand, and she grunted an acknowledgment as the alicorn and her assistant entered the room.

"Gaela, did anypony stop in while I was out?" Twilight asked.

"Yes," Gaela answered simply. Her servo arm twisted around and pointed at the desk where Twilight kept the administrative and lending records.

Twilight trotted over to the desk, noting that there was a large sheet of parchment that hadn't been there before, and a postcard on top of that.

Twilight levitated the postcard up in front of her.

"You are cordially invited to PARTY HARD at the most METAL celebration on this side of the galaxy," Twilight read aloud, emphasizing the capitalized words appropriately, "come one, come all, and help welcome the human visitors to Equestria as we paint the manufactorum red in Ferrous Dominus itself! Sci-fi dress is encouraged. No Tau allowed. You can dress up as a Tau, but it's not recommended since the humans will probably shoot you."

Twilight finished reading the card, and then stared at the Iron Skull graphic grinning at her from the side of the message.

"I... I don't even know where to begin..." Twilight said, her voice sounding somewhat frantic as she stared at the postcard.

"You should probably start with 'where' and 'when', which are conveniently detailed on the back," Gaela answered as she put down the book she was reading, "if you're wondering 'who', then obviously Pie was behind this. She stopped by nearly ten minutes ago to drop that off, and gave me one as well. 'How' she thinks to manage this is likely a fruitless line of questioning."

Twilight turned away from the desk as she stared hard at the postcard, as if willing it to reveal the secrets behind Pinkie's thought process. "She's throwing a party? In your base?"

"That is what the little paper rectangle suggests, yes," Gaela mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest, "I can confirm nothing."

Gears started turning in Twilight's head. "This is... okay. I might be able to use this."

"It's quite resourceful of you to turn your friend's lunacy to your advantage," Gaela opined.

"You kind of have to, with Pinkie," Spike explained.

"I'm going out," Twilight said, "I need to talk to her. Spike, you stay here with Gaela, all right?"

The purple alicorn didn't wait for an answer before she rushed out the door again, leaving her assistant and temporary roommate behind.

"Well, she seems like she's keeping busy. It must be quite trying to challenge an Iron Warrior, much less a Sorcerer," Gaela mumbled.

Spike cringed, lacing his claws together nervously. "So, uh... are you really... okay with that, by the way?"

Gaela turned to regard the young dragon silently, her emerald green optics rotating in its socket.

"That depends," the Acolyte admitted, "I am devoted to the goals of the Warsmith and the 38th Company, not simply any given member of it." She planted her hands on her hips. "Lord Serith's goals do not seem to align very well with those, and his actions are a petty distraction from our tasks at hand. While I cannot actively side against Lord Serith in this matter, I have no obligation whatsoever to protect him from retribution or aid him in taking your things."

Then she picked up Spike's backpack off the floor.

"That said, I can't imagine any sort of psionic trinket is worth facing an Astartes Sorcerer over."

"The Elements of Harmony are kind of a big deal," Spike pointed out.

"As I gathered while you and Sparkle were away," Gaela noted, taking the Chaos amulet from the pack, "but their status as a glorified superweapon renders them eminently replaceable. Why, exactly, can this artifact not replace them? At least in part?"

"You mean, besides the fact that it came from the same guy who nicked the Elements?" Spike asked.

"Yes, obviously. Besides that."

Spike walked up to her, scratching at his cheek as he stared at the eye in the middle of the Chaos Star. "Well, I dunno. What does it do?"

"From what little I know of Chaos sorcerous artifacts, I would presume it to be a psionic amplifier. Perhaps it also serves as a stable-pattern force emitter," Gaela mumbled, "such items usually perform a specific psionic effect with greater reliability and constancy than a psyker could manage on their own. Generating energy shields is common, for example."

"That sounds kind of neat," Spike said, poking the amulet. It was surprisingly warm to the touch. "Do you need to use magic to use it?"

"I don't know," Gaela admitted, seeing the dragon's growing interest, "do you 'use magic' as you put it?"

"No. Well, kind of?" Spike scratched his head. "I don't think I'm one of those 'psykers' you're always talking about, at any rate."

There was a brief silence.

"Did you want to try it on?" Gaela asked directly, holding the amulet down to him.

"Well, why not?" Spike asked as he took the ebony star. "It couldn't hurt, right?"

"Actually, my experience with such objects implies-okay, never mind, you're putting it on."

Spike braced himself as he dropped the iron loop over his head, but no rush of power or surge of agony hit him as the heavy amulet fell flat against his belly.

"... Well?" Gaela asked, having already activated her pict recorder as she observed the dragon.

"I don't feel any different," Spike admitted, holding his arms out as he stared down at the alien accessory, "how do I look?"

"Only slightly more ridiculous than usual," Gaela admitted. The amulet was large even by human standards, and on the young dragon it dangled almost to the floor.

"Well, I don't see what the big deal is. It's nothing but a fancy-looking hunk of metal," Spike decided after a brief pause, gripping the amulet around the edges.

Definitely harmless. We should probably stick together from now on.

Spike glanced up at Gaela, surprised. "Really? You want to stick around with me?"

The Dark Acolyte quirked her eyebrow. "No. What gave you that idea?"

"You just said we should."

"No I didn't."

Meh. Forget her, then. She seems like a buzzkill anyway.

Spike's forehead furrowed as he heard the voice again, and then he glanced around for the possible source.

Finally, after several seconds, he looked down at the amulet.

Hi!

"AAAAAH! AAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

****

Ponyville - Sugarcube Corner

"Pinkie, is this for real?"

Twilight stood at the front of the line at the Cakes' bakery, holding up the postcard invitation with her magic.

"Of course it's real, silly billy!" Pinkie said brightly. "Can you make it?"

Twilight was silent for several seconds, staring hard at the invitation. "I have... questions," the purple alicorn said reluctantly, "starting with how you got permission for something like this."

"Easier to ask forgiveness than seek permission!" Pinkie quoted brightly.

"Whoever said that clearly wasn't dealing with a military authority," Twilight countered, "also, there are the purely physical logistics of it. How do you plan on bringing the pony guests all the way to Ferrous Dominus and then getting them past the gates?"

Pinkie's smile shifted into a smug smirk. "You just leave the details to aunt Pinkie. When it comes to parties, even those grumpy-metal-pants Space Marines are no match for me!"

"Personally, I think it's a lot of bother for nothing," said Mrs. Cake as she placed a platter of cupcakes on the counter, "why would we want to welcome those awful space soldiers to Equestria?"

Twilight frowned. "Well, that's a good point, although they're not ALL bad..."

"They've still got bunkers and gun turrets lying around Fluttershy's cottage!" Complained Roseluck, who was standing in line behind Twilight. "And their stupid tanks rolled RIGHT over my flower gardens!"

Cheerilee nodded sadly behind her. "Obviously it's very dangerous for them to be fighting their war in our country. Nearly half my class brought in discarded bullet casings for show and tell yesterday! And I don't trust that mechanical thing Apple Bloom is hanging out with nowadays, either!"

Carrot Top snorted. "And that's all aside from the slavery thing. Can you imagine? Slavers in Equestria! That's horrible!"

Twilight winced at the barrage of perfectly legitimate complaints. It was hardly her fault that the humans were in Equestria, but she DID bring them straight to Ponyville.

Pinkie Pie, on the other hand, put her hoof to her chin as she thought over the complaints. "Okay, that's all true," she allowed, "but on the other hoof, they're space pirates."

The other ponies in the bakery fell silent as they considered that, but Twilight looked bemused by the comment. "Pinkie, when you use that expression like that, you're supposed to list something POSITIVE about the subject. Like maybe 'they rebuilt Applejack's farm' or 'they've promised to leave in a few months'."

Pinkie smirked. "Wait for it..."

"Well, I didn't know they were space pirates," Mr. Cake said as his wife nodded, "that's kind of neat, actually."

"I suppose it's their job then, isn't it?" Cheerilee sighed, shrugging. "Oh well. I'll have to warn the children not to play in their minefields, though."

"Ooh! I just thought of a great costume for the party!"

Twilight gaped as the other ponies' moods lifted and they started discussing the expected festivities.

"How do you DO that?!" Twilight demanded of the pink pony.

"Trade secret," Pinkie said with a wink, "now did you want to order something?"

Twilight shook her head. "No, I just needed to confirm this with you. You see, Serith-"

"Yeah, I know," Pinkie interrupted, rolling her eyes, "it's a major plot point by now, so let's not waste more time explaining everything again, all right?"

Twilight gaped some more for several seconds, and then reluctantly suppressed her disbelief.

"Here," the alicorn said, levitating a scroll out of her saddlebag and onto the counter, "your party is taking place at more less the same time as the meeting between Princess Celestia and Serith. I've cast a spell on this scroll so that it will light up when I use a certain trigger spell, no matter how far away I am. If and when it lights up while you're at the party, I need you to read it and follow the instructions. All right?"

Pinkie saluted grimly. "Yes, Cap'n! You can count on me!"

"Thanks, Pinkie. We're going to pull this off, I'm sure of it!" Twilight turned away and trotted out the door, exuding confidence.

Mr. Cake waited until the door closed behind her, and then turned toward Pinkie. "So does this mean you'll need more time off to save the world?"

"Nah, I'm pretty sure I can take care of this on my own time," Pinkie assured her employer, leaning in toward him, "and if I screw up, then I won't need any more time off at all! Or my pension, for that matter! Ha!"

The Cakes looked quite uncomfortable as Pinkie's chuckling trailed off.

"That's horrible," Mrs. Cake noted.

"Yeah, dark humor isn't really my strongest area," Pinkie admitted seriously, "but I'm getting better! I've gotten a lot of practice since the humans showed up!"

"Pinkie? Please go back to serving the customers."

"Okie dokie lokie!"

****

Ferrous Dominus - Trixie's quarters

"So then, of course, Trixie's mortar shot goes off-target. Trixie has never fired such a weapon before, and the man didn't explain how the weapon was aimed at all. The explosive went almost straight up!"

Trixie was currently lounging in her room on top of Suuna's lap, describing her latest show to Serith. The Sorcerer was standing against the wall near the door, chuckling at the tale through his vox grille.

He could have easily viewed one of the numerous recordings of Trixie's show rather than ask her about it personally, of course, but somehow it seemed far more interesting and enjoyable to hear about it from the showpony herself.

"Trixie had only seconds to act, so she reached out with all her greatness and power and pulled Trixie's target up off the ground and toward her, right under the mortar shell!"

Serith's chuckling grew louder as he imagined it. "A brilliant ploy, Lady Trixie."

"Was there ever any doubt?" Trixie preened. "Of course, it would have been even smarter to move out of the blast area while I was moving the target, but Trixie forgot that they explode when they land. If Suuna hadn't tackled Trixie out of the way, Trixie might have needed a few of those 'augmetic' thingies you humans have!"

"I do what I can, Mistress," Suuna said as she ran a brush over Trixie's back, "but perhaps it would be best if you stopped performing with live ordnance?"

"But those are Trixie's most popular events! And after ruling out duels, there isn't much else for the soldiers to challenge Trixie at, anyway," the unicorn mused.

Trixie's self-satisfied expression faded slightly. "Back on the subject of lost limbs though, Trixie couldn't help but notice that your hand is gone, Serith."

Indeed, even as the Sorcerer listened to the unicorn describe her show and occasionally commented on it, his entire left forearm was a burnt, twisted mess that ended at the wrist of the armor sleeve.

"What, this? It's nothing," the Sorcerer assured her.

"Trixie didn't want to say anything, because Trixie knows how embarrassing it is to miscast a spell, but that seems... well... kind of serious."

"As I said, it is a trifle. I'll just get a new hand," Serith said dismissively.

Trixie's expression shifted to one of open concern. "Okay, fair enough, but Trixie is still worried. There's been a lot of accidents coming from your room lately."

A dusty snort came from Serith's helmet. "There's only been six of them in total."

"That's a lot to have in a few days when it comes to magical mishaps," Trixie said as she pushed herself up into a sitting position, "you should slow it down a bit before you really hurt yourself."

Serith took pause at this. He genuinely didn't know how to respond to such an earnest concern for his welfare. It was a completely bizarre feeling.

"I see... very well, then. Perhaps you're right," the Sorcerer mumbled, staring down at the stump of his vambrace, "I've been working with some very... difficult materials. I've gathered a great deal of data already. Perhaps it is enough."

"That's all Trixie's saying. And of course, if you need assistance with your research, you can always rely on Trixie for help!" the blue pony assured him, placing a hoof against her chest.

"A generous offer. But I..." Serith trailed off as a data intercept rune lit up on his visor display. "Just a moment. It seems I have... deployment orders?"

He tilted his helmet back as he read the details. "How odd... it seems I'm to take part in a diplomatic mission."

Suuna cringed, agreeing wholeheartedly that it was extremely odd to ask such a thing of a Chaos Sorcerer.

"Why is that strange?" Trixie asked, much less in tune with the general abhorrence most felt for Serith. "You have more personality than a hundred of the lesser Iron Warriors put together!"

Serith barked another laugh. "Such praise! But I think my inclusion in this mission has... ulterior motivations."

His remaining hand tapped the chin of his helmet, and then he lowered his gaze toward Trixie.

"Lady Trixie, do you know what the most valuable asset in war is?"

"Magic," the unicorn said without hesitation.

"Ha! A close second, I'm sure. But the correct answer is: certainty."

He turned away from the pony, his gaze sweeping over the room interior. Trixie had dressed it up considerably, adding large, dark blue banners on the wall that boasted her cutie mark alongside the Iron Skull of the Legion.

"In a less abstract sense, it's information. If you know your enemy's number, location, and armaments, then you have all but defeated them; it is only a matter of deploying sufficient force with the correct wargear. War as such becomes little more than a bureaucratic chore."

He walked up to the banner and drew his hand across the eyes of the Iron Skull. "But I prefer the term 'certainty'. Warriors know how to act when data is lacking. But rob them of their direction, confuse their sense of friend and foe, and their will evaporates. If you're not certain of what your enemy is after, how can you foil him? If you cannot trust your allies, how can you work together? If your enemy takes no obvious action against you, how can you be sure he is even your foe?"

Trixie snorted. "If that's the case, then Trixie should be invincible! Trixie is certain of everything, even when Trixie knows nothing!"

Another chuckle escaped Serith's vox grille. "Perhaps that's why you have so little fear of me. My power is utterly meaningless before your confidence."

"Oh, don't be too hard on yourself," the blue unicorn said with a smirk, "you're still better at that machine-breaking spell than Trixie is. For now."

"At least I have that," Serith drawled, "in any case, it would seem I'm off to Canterlot upon the morrow. Would you care to come along?"

Trixie rolled over on Suuna's lap so that she was facing the ceiling. "No, thank you. Trixie has another show, after all. Besides, Trixie just KNOWS Sparkle is going to be there, and Trixie doesn't need that right now."

"But of course. Farewell, Lady Trixie," the Sorcerer said, walking out the door.

"Suuna. Belly rub, please," Trixie requested as the door closed, "we'll get supper in an hour or so."

"Of course, Mistress Trixie," the assistant mumbled, her hands going to work automatically.

The blue unicorn smiled as Suuna did her job. "Speaking of which, you're starting to fill out nicely compared to when Trixie rescued you from a lifetime of cruel, unpaid labor. Before long Trixie's going to have to start turning away human suitors clamoring for your attention."

Suuna made a face at that. Her enslavement - to allow for Trixie's insistence that she wasn't a slave any longer - was far too recent for her to contemplate any sort of romantic or sexual relationship with the men who previously would have worked her to death. Had she still been in the pits when the Tau had arrived, she would have jumped at the chance to leave the fortress, even if it meant taking up arms against the Iron Warriors.

"Mistress, may I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why don't you fear Lord Serith?" she asked nervously.

Trixie gave Suuna an odd look. "Why would Trixie fear Serith? Serith is Trixie's friend."

Suuna frowned uneasily. "Do you really believe he thinks of you the same way?"

"Who cares?" Trixie answered.

Suuna recoiled slightly at that sentiment. "You don't care whether a Chaos Sorcerer is just toying with you for his own ends?"

"No, Trixie doesn't," the unicorn answered simply, "Serith acts like he's Trixie's guardian, and Trixie finds him much more amiable than the other Iron Warriors. That's enough for Trixie, so he's Trixie's friend. That's that."

"But... do you know the sorts of things he's up to? The rumors I've heard from some of the menials about him-" Suuna began, only to be interrupted.

"Doesn't matter to Trixie. Even if they're probably true," the unicorn admitted, "also, you're slowing down, Suuna."

Suuna quickly resumed her earlier pace of rubbing as Trixie cleared her throat.

"It's like Trixie said earlier: Trixie is always certain of her decisions and insights."

Suuna's brow furrowed. "And what if you're wrong?"

"Then Trixie will be perfectly certain of her new decisions and insights," the blue unicorn mumbled, "but being suspicious and second-guessing is useless."

Suuna mulled that over for a few minutes as she continued with Trixie's massage. It still didn't seem like a good idea to her to associate with Serith, or any Iron Warrior for that matter, but Trixie had only benefited from the relationship so far. And if she did spurn his presence like the other ponies had, did it make her any less likely of being entangled in his twisted projects?

"Blessed be the mind too small for doubt," the young woman mumbled to herself.

There were several seconds of silence before Trixie craned her neck to look her assistant in the eyes. "Did you just call Trixie stupid?"

"What? No! I was just... Your thoughts on... No!"

****

Ponyville - Twilight's library

"Finally. Only one more thing to take care of, and I'll be as ready as I'll ever be," Twilight said as she entered her treehouse.

Gaela glanced up from where she was studying the Chaos amulet. She was currently beaming a low-intensity laser into the back of the circuit wafer, and she turned her servo tool off as Twilight entered.

As interesting as that was, however, Twilight's attention inevitably focused on Spike, who was crouched in a corner and trembling.

"Spike? Are you okay?" the purple alicorn asked.

"YES!" Spike shouted, leaping to his feet and whirling around. "TOTALLY FINE! HOW ARE YOU?!"

Twilight flinched away from him. "Spike, stop yelling! This is a library, not an opera house!"

Hey man, are you going to take that from her? Why does she get to tell you what to do?

Spike chewed his lip desperately as Gaela stood up.

"He's just-"

"Hungry!" Spike interrupted at slightly lower volume than before. "Do you want me to cook something? I could cook something!" Gaela gave him an unreadable look, but refrained from speaking up again.

Laaaaaaaame. Come on buddy, don't let her walk all over you like that!

Twilight shook her head as she started ascending the stairs to her room. "No thank you, Spike. I had a nutrient ration this morning. They may not taste good, but they really are convenient, filling you up for the whole day."

"Oh, okay," Spike said, sounding somewhat out of breath, "do you need me to do anything else? Like, something outside, maybe?"

"No Spike, stay here. I'm going to be sending a letter to Princess Celestia in a bit," the alicorn princess said as she vanished upstairs.

Spike dashed over to Gaela as soon as she was out of sight. "Please don't tell Twilight I was messing around with the amulet," he whispered, "Celestia was really worried about this 'corruption' thing, and if she finds out I'm hearing voices in my head..."

You know what would solve ALL your problems? A knife and a shovel.

Gaela looked skeptical as the young dragon clung to her robes with his eye twitching. "If you don't wish Sparkle to be informed of your current predicament, I won't volunteer the information. But I'm not going to lie on your behalf."

"Thankyou thankyou thankyou," Spike murmured, his chest heaving as he tried to think clearly through his sense of panic and the snickering echoing within his skull.

Whoa, is that a plasma pistol on her leg? Nick that, dude! Those things are sweet!

Spike quickly snatched up the Chaos amulet and then shoved it back in the box from whence it came. "This thing is dangerous! We've got to get rid of it!"

"That seems like a waste," Gaela admitted, crossing her arms over her chest, "just because you don't want it doesn't suggest that it's useless."

"I didn't say it's useless, I said it's DANGEROUS!" Spike hissed as he shut the box closed.

"So? Dangerous things are almost always useful," the Dark Acolyte reasoned.

Spike groaned and gave up on convincing the cyborg woman to help him. Taking out a magic marker, he started writing "Danger!" "Evil!" and "Do not wear!" on the box in large lettering.

Mmmph! Mmmhrm mmrh!

Spike felt a surge of relief at hearing the telepathic voice muffled, and he quickly stuffed the box in his backpack.

"Spike? The letter's ready!" Twilight said as she descended the stairs again, levitating a scroll in front of her.

Spike walked over to her stiffly, doing a comically bad job of trying to look natural. Luckily for him, Twilight was quite distracted, herself exceptionally worried about the letter she was sending.

"It's so strange that I haven't gotten any responses back from the Princess," the alicorn murmured as she stared at the parchment.

Gaela glanced at the note still laying on the main desk of the library, but said nothing.

"I hope everything's okay. I'm sure there must be a lot to deal with right now, with the 38th Company and the Tau fighting in Equestria. She's probably just too busy to get back to me."

Mmmph! MMMNPH!

Spike mentally willed Twilight to hurry up and give him the letter so that she might leave again. Once she was out of sight, he would bury the Chaos amulet deep and be rid of the blasted voice once and for all.

"Well, I suppose all I can do now is keep moving forward," Twilight decided, floating the scroll over to her assistant. "Here you go, Spike."

HA! Just kidding! We're telepathically linked now! Putting me in a box doesn't help!

"AAAAAAH!!" Spike screamed, causing Twilight to jump back in surprised and Gaela to remain completely unfazed.

"Spike?" Twilight asked uncertainly, backing away.

"Great! I'm so happy to help!" the young dragon said loudly, holding his hands out as he tried to cover up his shouting.

Twilight stopped backing up, but she eyed her assistant suspiciously. "Spike, are you all right? You've been acting weird ever since I got back."

"It's just, you know, stress! These past few days have been hard on everypony!" Spike claimed, his hands still reaching out for the message.

You know what's an AWESOME stress reliever? Torturing those who have slighted you! Let's start with Twit-light here.

"That's... true," Twilight allowed, "and I guess it's not going to get less stressful, either."

She paused, and then stared up at the stairs again. "There's a lot at stake here, Spike. So much depends on the stupid whims of one Iron Warrior, and I don't know what's going to happen. If he decides to fight us... we can win, probably, but then what about the Company? What would they do?"

"Lord Serith is uniquely despised among the 38th Company," Gaela admitted, "but that said, no one would thank you for dispatching him. As soon as your civilization is categorized as a threat to our operations, it ends."

Spike glanced up at her uncertainly. "Our civilization ends, or your operations?"

"Guess," the Dark Acolyte said dryly.

Now see, that chick I like. I could smell the blood on her the moment she picked me up. If you're going to be some chick's whipping boy, you could at least choose the one with lasers on her back.

Twilight sighed. "Right. I'll just have to see that it doesn't come to that. Spike, send the letter." She turned away. "I'm going to go read something. I need to calm down."

"Got it!" Spike said as he plucked the scroll from the air. Then he held it in front of his lips as his cheeks puffed up.

A stream of black fire laced with feathery curls of bright red swallowed the parchment, and within seconds the paper was reduced to a fine white ash that floated down onto the floor.

Gaela raised her eyebrow, and Spike's eyes bulged.

Okay, so, first thing I did when we joined was upgrade your fire breath. That thing before? The teleport breath? Super weak. You'll do way more damage now.

Spike's jaw went slack, and his eyes reflexively glanced over to the stairs in time to see Twilight's tail vanish from sight. Obviously she hadn't seen what had just happened.

Would have told you earlier, but you were still busy freaking out. Try not to be such a wimp, all right bro?

"I am SO dead," the young dragon moaned, hanging his head.

"Well, if you are forsaken by everyone you know due to your inadvertent corruption, you could always come with us," Gaela offered with a shrug.

"Really?" Spike asked, chewing his lower lip. "What would I do with you guys?"

"I'm sure you'd be trained as some sort of Chaos battle beast and let loose on hostile worlds while the fleet pillages the local settlements. You'd eventually die a brutal and painful death on some distant, unknown planet, surrounded by the scorched corpses of your foes," Gaela envisioned aloud.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!

"... I'm going to bed," Spike grumbled, holding his head as he walked away. "Hopefully this will all wear off eventually."

"Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment," the Dark Acolyte said as she started perusing the books again.

Tch! I was gonna say that.

"AARGH!"

****

Ponyville - train station (the next day)

Twilight wasn't surprised to see Rarity waiting for her at the train station as she, Spike, and Gaela made their way onto the platform.

She was slightly surprised to see that the snow-colored unicorn had brought along her boltgun in her customized saddlebag. Such a thing didn't really belong in Canterlot, but she had to reason that they had to be prepared for things to get ugly.

She was very surprised to see that Rarity's mane was in a slight state of disarray. It would have been barely noticeable to someone who wasn't a close friend, but the normally impeccable curl of her hair was much looser and messier than usual.

She also look quite irritable, but that observation belonged back in the "not surprised" category.

"Hello Twilight," Rarity grumbled, "Gaela, Spike."

"Hi Rarity. Is everything all right?" Twilight asked in concern.

"Oh, more or less," the unicorn answered, stepping closer as her head dipped, "just a word of advice, darling: don't drink the humans' liquor. It does awful things to a girl's head."

"I was under the impression that was the entire point," Gaela remarked, "in any case, has Master Delgan arrived yet?"

"Yes, he's over next to the booth, yelling at someone," Rarity explained, pointing a hoof to the side.

Gaela immediately left to speak to the Trademaster without another word.

Rarity glanced back at Spike, noting that the young dragon seemed unusually subdued. He hadn't said anything when he had arrived, and didn't seem to be paying any particular attention to her, which was always unusual.

"Spikey? Your eyes are red," the unicorn noted, tilting her head to the side.

Spike flinched. "Oh, uh... I didn't get enough sleep last night."

"Your eyes are a little red too," Twilight pointed out.

Rarity glared at the other pony for pointing out yet another flaw in her current appearance. "Not in general, Twilight. His pupils. Look."

Spike got a sinking feeling in his stomach as the two ponies stared critically at his eyes, but couldn't really think of anything to say. How could he explain this away?

"Interesting choice," Rarity finally said, "it contrasts with your scales very well. I didn't even know you wore contacts."

Twilight blinked in surprise (unsurprisingly), and Spike laughed nervously.

"Well, I just thought I'd try something new! I'm, uh, glad you like it!"

You know, it'd be way easier and faster to mutate you into a Warp-powered killing machine if you'd just wear me again. There's only so much I can do from way over here.

Spike bit down on his tongue to keep from screaming in frustration and horror.

He was eventually relieved of any extra attention as Gaela and Delgan approached the group again.

"My deepest apologies for the delay," Delgan said, adjusting the collar of his suit, "I was just discussing a matter of some urgency with my staff."

Twilight immediately looked concerned. "Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing that affects the day's schedule, no," the Trademaster assured her, "I was just informed that a few of my transports and some supplies were 'borrowed' by the staff without having gone through the proper channels."

Rarity looked perplexed. "How strange. Why would they steal them?"

"It's unlikely to be blatant theft. Every one of those vehicles can be tracked down, and the staff in question did leave notes explaining when the vehicles would be returned." He shrugged. "The issue is bureaucratic. Still, I can't help but wonder what they plan on doing with my equipment."

****

Ponyville - town perimeter

The Chimera transports rumbled out of Ponyville and then ground to a halt, their multilaser turrets twitching back and forth for targets.

All of the vehicles were hitched to large metal trailers, and one of them was already full, stacked with crates of supplies that had been "borrowed" from Delgan's stocks.

As the transports idled, a large, dark shape in the distance approached up the road, its path marked by a plume of dark smoke.

As the engines of the APCs grumbled loudly, ponies started arriving. Some carried wagons or bags of their own, and these ponies approached the transports cautiously with their bounties as the rear ramps of the APCs fell open.

Masked men and women emerged with their guns holstered, and they greeted the Equines brightly before loading the barrels, boxes, and bags into their own trailers and transport holds.

"Make way, everypony! Party wagon coming through!"

Those ponies that were watching the commotion from the road quickly bolted out of the way as an enormous wagon lumbered through, being pulled by Big Macintosh. It was filled with boxes and barrels to the point that the pile of supplies reached the height of some of the smaller houses, and standing atop it all with a bullhorn was Pinkie Pie.

Opposite the "party wagon", the Gorgon super-heavy transport that had been on approach to Ponyville ground to a halt, its imposing metal frame blasting pressurized air from a dozen vents.

The armored prow of the Gorgon slowly creaked open, lowering the deployment ramp onto the ground as the vehicle's cab opened up.

"Well, I'm actually somewhat impressed," Dest admitted as he landed on the ground, causing the ponies waiting nearby to flinch back, "you arranged this all yourself, Pie?"

Pinkie snickered into the bullhorn, amplifying her self-satisfied laugh. "A Pinkie Party cannot and will not be denied! Right guys?!" She turned toward the parked Chimeras.

Whoops and cheers came from the humans loading up the transports, and some of them stopped to offer firm salutes to the pink equine.

"Good job finding a transport big enough for everypony, Desty! That thing is GINORMOUS!"

The Iron Warrior grunted through his vox grille. "Securing it was no simple feat, either. Luckily it's classified as a 'mercenary' vehicle, so at least I didn't have to argue with any Astartes drivers." He glanced toward the ponies standing nearby. "The Gorgon will be able to handle this many."

"All right everypony, we're heading out!" Pinkie barked into the megaphone, rousing an elated cheer from the various mammals below. "Guests into the big one! Mackie, hitch the wagon up to the back of the Gorgon! Vinyl, put your gear in the first Chimera! Cloudkicker, Flitter, Derpy, Rainbow Dash, you know what to do!"

Rainbow and a handful of other pegasi took off into the air, cans of paint hanging from their necks and paintbrushes clenched in their teeth.

Dest watched in fascination as the pegasi started swiping the brushes against the blank gunmetal walls of the Gorgon's hull. Soon a crude copy of Pinkie's balloon-cluster cutie mark adorned one side of the mighty transport. Rainbow had apparently taken charge of the other side herself, so naturally, the other side had Rainbow Dash's cutie mark instead.

"Well, that's going to prompt a few awkward questions," the driver mumbled to himself as Pinkie's supply wagon lumbered behind him, "bah, whatever."

Dest waited until Big Mac finished attaching the wagon to the Gorgon, and then he upped the volume on his vox emitter. "ALL RIGHT, XENO REVELERS! LOAD UP AND SHIP OUT! TONIGHT THE VERY WALLS OF FERROUS DOMINUS SHALL QUAKE WITH OUR MERRIMENT!!"

A chorus of cheers boomed from within the transport hold, as well as from the humans and ponies closing up the Chimera doors.

"Hey, Mister!" shouted a voice near the Gorgon's entry ramp. "Can we use the gun turrets?"

Dest glanced over at a pair of unicorn colts and then shrugged his heavily armored shoulders. "Sure, why not? Just keep in mind that I'll be turning them off once we reach the security perimeter. No shooting on fortress grounds."

Snips and Snails saluted gleefully and then dashed back inside as Dest climbed up into the cab again.

"Entry ramp disengaged. Magna-locks active. We are clear to move."

Pinkie bounced up on top of the driver's cab. "PARTY BUS IS GOOOOOOO!!"

****

Canterlot - train station

"Gaela, Mister Delgan, I'd like to introduce you to Canterlot! Capital of Equestria and home of my teacher, Princess Celestia!" Twilight said brightly, stepping out of the train and stretching out her wings.

Gaela and Delgan followed her, the former taking some extra time to fit her servo limbs through the doorway.

As Delgan's guards waited to exit in front of Rarity and Spike, the pair of humans scanned their surroundings mutely.

"I don't understand. Is the city in the mountain?" Gaela asked, her bionic eye pulsing as it took in data.

"I believe this IS the city, Acolyte," Delgan said dryly as he stepped aside to let the others exit.

Gaela looked honestly confused. "On what planet does THIS rate as a city? Never mind a capital!" she demanded, waving her biological hand at the city. Her bionic arm hoisted her power axe, as the Dark Acolyte had refused to leave her weapons behind.

"On Centaur III, clearly the cities are smaller than what we're used to," the Trademaster said sharply, "does it really bear arguing about?"

Twilight wilted as Rarity and Spike joined her.

"She doesn't seem very impressed, does she?" Rarity asked. She'd spent most of the ride fixing her hair and nursing her hangover, and her appearance had been restored to its usual glory.

Spike had spent most of the ride wringing his hands and trying to attract as little attention as possible. He too had succeeded.

"This place couldn't hold more than a few thousand citizens!" Gaela pointed out.

"Well, Canterlot is a rather exclusive place," Rarity pointed out, tapping a hoof against Gaela's leg armor, "there simply aren't that many ponies who could afford to live here."

Delgan couldn't suppress a grin. "I like it already."

Before Twilight could think of some way to try to impress the Dark Mechanicus priestess with the city in which she had been raised, she heard a whistle from below the platform. She turned her head to look, and the alicorn lit up immediately. "Shining Armor! You made it!"

Twilight galloped down the platform toward her older brother, almost crashing into the unicorn stallion.

"Hey, whoa! For somepony who has wings now, you sure don't land softly!" Shining Armor said with a chuckle as he hugged his sister.

"Hey you two, don't forget me."

Twilight laughed as she moved past her brother. His wife and her foal-sitter from long ago greeted her with a smile.

"Hi Cadence! You came too?"

"Well, I when I heard that my sister-in-law needed help, what else could I do?" Cadence grinned. "Besides, somepony needs to keep an eye on this big lug." The couple chuckled.

"What exactly reinforces the sub-structure of this population center? You built it onto the side of a mountain. I could demolish this entire 'city' with a handful of melta bombs and a landslide if there were no other structural defenses in place."

Shining and Cadence's smiles died slow and painful deaths, and Twilight's became more nervous.

Shining Armor in particular regarded the hooded, heavily armored woman warily as she approached. "Canterlot has survived for more than a thousand years, Miss. I think you'll find it sturdier than that."

Gaela met the gaze of the white stallion with blue hair, and he made a face as her bionic eye pulsed and rotated. "That's actually rather impressive. I wouldn't have give this place more than four centuries before it crumbled from tectonic and erosion forces alone." Then her eyes returned to the skyline. "Although something else might destroy it, if you're not careful. I don't see a single heavy weapon emplacement among the towers."

"This is Gaela, I presume?" Cadence said dryly, stepping lightly toward the Dark Acolyte. "The one most of your notes are based on?"

Twilight quickly rushed to stand between the human and the pony couple. "Right! Introductions! Gaela, this is my big brother, Shining Armor, and his wife, Cadence! She used to be my foal-sitter when I was a filly."

"Noted," Gaela said flatly, her optics fixed on Shining.

"Shining, Cadence, this is Gaela, a Dark Acolyte of the 38th Company!" Twilight said. She noted that Delgan and Rarity were busy talking on the platform still, and the Trademaster was pointing out various buildings.

"It's very nice to meet you, Miss Gaela," Cadence volunteered, stepping forward and inclining her head slightly. "Twilight has been taking very detailed notes on humans and post-humans during her time with you, and sent a copy of them with her summons. It's an honor to finally meet you!"

Gaela didn't respond, still staring at Shining Armor. It seemed like it was starting to creep him out a little bit.

Cadence waited for several seconds, and then cleared her throat. "Excuse me? Miss Gaela?"

The Dark Acolyte finally turned her head to look at the pink alicorn. "You said you were his wife?"

"Yes. So if you stare much longer, I'll have to charge a fee," Cadence joked.

Gaela's frown tightened, a very small change in expression that Twilight was now able to identify as confusion. "You form monogamous breeding pairs?"

Cadence and Shining both recoiled slightly at this, but then they chuckled.

"Well, that's a pretty... scientific way of putting it! No wonder you and Twily get along!" Shining Armor said.

"To answer your question, yes, we do," Cadence said delicately, "humans don't? Twilight's notes didn't have much to say about human mating practices."

"Sometimes," Gaela mumbled, turning back toward Shining Armor, "but... Shining Armor is precisely the second male pony I've ever met, when I have ID files for twenty-six females thus far." She glanced at Cadence, and her bionic eye pulsed again. "Twenty-seven. I've probably seen a few more stallions in passing, but still... what exactly is the gender ratio among your species?"

Shining and Cadence gave each other silent, unreadable looks, but Twilight chuckled.

"Oh, THAT'S what you were thinking?" It was just like Gaela to get stuck on a statistical detail like that. "It's actually not as badly skewed as it seems. A lot of stallions join the military, which is male-dominated."

"Even if that were the case, it would seem that such apparently heavy conscription would deplete the local male population and you'd have the same problem as if they didn't exist," Gaela pointed out, "so what is the actual ratio?"

"Nation-wide, it's about five-to-one," the purple alicorn explained, holding her head high as she recalled her reading on Equestrian census results, "you can look at me and my friends as a sample group! Between us and our siblings, there are eleven girls, while me and Applejack both have brothers, which makes two boys!"

Gaela didn't say anything immediately, glancing over to Shining Armor and Cadence. They remained absolutely silent with expressions so carefully neutral that she was sure the two had something to add to the conversation but were choosing not to.

"That doesn't really explain how your population remains stable," the cyborg pointed out, "with an imbalance that severe, wouldn't the number of breedable pairs shrink with every generation?"

Twilight shook her head. "Not at all. We... uh..." The alicorn trailed off, looking uncertain. "Wait a minute... how... but then..."

Cadence and Shining shared a brief glance, and then the former cleared her throat. "With the power of love, something like that is irrelevant!"

Gaela looked somewhat bemused. "Really. Love. Your fertility rate must be astronomical."

Cadence laughed as Twilight stared at the ground in thought, and then she leaned to the side to look past the Dark Acolyte. "Oh, look! There's another human! Come introduce me, Twilight!"

"Huh? Oh, sure." The two alicorns stepped away, although Twilight still looked distracted.

Shining Armor waited several seconds, then leaned in toward the human woman.

"Anyway, don't tell Twilight, but the answer to your question is: extramarital affairs," Shining said quietly, "that, and the occasional magic-enabled pregnancy."

"Ah. That would explain it," Gaela said with a nod, "but then why the pretense of marriage?"

"It's a staple of a loving and stable society," the unicorn said as he sat down next to her, "but, you know, sometimes a stallion has to do what a stallion has to do. Not just for Equestria, but for the species."

There was a brief moment of silence.

"That's also why there are so many orphans and single mothers in our loving and stable society, incidentally," Shining added.

"And why you sometimes import males from other species? I've seen how the dragon looks at Rarity," Gaela turned her head toward the others, her optics whirring softly.

Shining made a face. "No, that's pretty... unique. But, you know, whatever makes them happy. If they are happy. I don't really ask about that." Then he looked up at the Dark Acolyte again, tapping a hoof against her thigh plate. "What about you? Married?"

"No. I belong to an order of technological adepts that find such things to be a waste of time and energy. On my planet children are made in factories, like equipment. It's a staple of an efficient and perfectly industrialized society," Gaela said in a perfect deadpan, "incidentally, our efficient and perfectly industrialized society has no single mothers or orphans."

"That's... wow. That's different," Shining said with a grimace, leaning away from the armored woman, "so, what, humans don't ever fall in love?"

Gaela glanced down at the blue-haired unicorn, her bionic eye whirring softly in its socket.

"... It's... complicated," she admitted, leaning on her power axe, "the removal of biological and logical imperatives to reproduce doesn't necessarily eliminate all desire for companionship, emotional support, or sexual fulfillment. But with heavy indoctrination and significant genetic tinkering we can at least minimize such disruptive empathies. Fear of punishment usually removes what's left. Our production standards cannot be endangered by the frailties of flesh."

Shining Armor took almost a full minute to interpret that statement and all its implications.

"You're terrifying," the unicorn stallion said bluntly, his ears falling flat against his head.

"Thank you," Gaela said without a hint of irony.

As the white unicorn took a few nervous steps away from the Acolyte, Twilight walked up to them again with the others behind her.

"Mister Delgan says that Serith should be on his way soon. We have some time still, so why don't we look around the city a little bit?"

Delgan had an eager smile that Gaela found quite off-putting, but she didn't have any particular reason to want to stay near the train station until everyone had arrived. "That's fine."

"Is he arriving by train? I should probably get somepony to 'escort' him," Shining Armor said with an edge to his voice.

"No, not at all. He'll be arriving by gunship transport," Delgan explained, waving a hand, "there are a few balcony gardens and such things around here; one of them will make a decent enough landing pad."

The ponies looked a bit doubtful about that, but none of them contradicted the man as he started walking ahead of them. "Come on now! We have so much to do and so LITTLE time! Hah hah!"

****

Ferrous Dominus

Bright red lumens flared near at the perimeter wall of the Iron Warriors fortress as a heavy gunship lifted off from its launch platform.

A dozen quad guns scanned the skies around its flight path as it built up speed, cresting the palisade and beginning its long run toward the castle embedded in the wall of a distant mountain.

Soon after leaving the effective range of the fort's perimeter guns, the transport activated a series of unique devices attached to the facings of the gunship.

The gold and gunmetal exterior shimmered like a disturbed pool of water, and then slowly faded away to become transparent. Within a minute the gunship was all but invisible, only its exhaust trails visible as it cut across the pristine skies of Equestria.

Such technology was very rare indeed, especially for a Legion that didn't exactly pride itself on stealth. It did have its drawbacks, however, in that it utterly blinded the sensors while the craft was in transit due to the way it bent light and heat around its exterior. It thus relied on pre-programmed flight pathing to reach its destination, and would have to de-cloak in order to land.

The advantages of such a device, however, were obvious. It was almost undetectable to any sensor conventional enough to be mounted on standard weaponry, as well as the naked eye.

As evidenced by the fact that not a single pony or person could find the source of the strange, nearby rocket noises when the gunship roared over the small convoy heading in the other direction. Even the smoke contrails were eventually shrugged off as exhaust from the transports rumbling across the empty plains.

Transports that were now painted a variety of festive colors. One of them had mounted an enormous speaker system above its fuel stores and was blasting techno dubstep loud enough to rattle the hull, while the gorgon super-heavy transport boasted clusters of balloons on all sides and seemed to be spurting bursts of heavy bolter fire into random trees that it rolled past. On the front prow, the most vital armor piece that was the vehicles most unique and distinctive feature, the words "PARTY BUS" were painted in huge pink letters.

The gunship probably would have called that in. But the sensors were inactive, due to the cloak. Thus both transports ran right by each other, each one entirely oblivious to the other vehicle.

"WOOOO!! PARTY ON!!"

Comments

[unknown2]

Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment," the Dark Acolyte said as she started perusing the books again.

How could you not trust Tzeentch? He's the most honest and trustworthy guy in the whole setting!

[SFaccountant]

3968323
What does Tzeentch have to do with anything?
I mean, eventually, he'll have something to do with everything, technically, but specific to this setting what does it have to do with him?

[unknown2]

3968513
Tzeentch is sometimes portrayed as the god of hope.

[SFaccountant]

3968550
That's a new one to me. If Tzeentch is the closest thing there is to a God of hope for Chaos, it's no wonder their sales pitch is "You could become immortal! But seriously though, y'all gonna die."

[Moonreaper666]

Book 3. The Mane Six became mercenaries for the Dark Gods. Apparently, the ponies are 'immune' to Chaos such as the Loxatl aliens but still fight for Chaos.

[SFaccountant]

3984990
Whoa, whoa, not so fast there.
That's more a Book 4 thing.

[Moonreaper666]

3985853 Are you going to make it so that the ponies are immune to the taint of Chaos?

[SFaccountant]

3994761
I was thinking less of an arbitrary immunity and more of a "Magic of Friendship resists Chaos" deal.
The ponies are certainly resistant to Chaos corruption, at the least because they're less likely to be tempted by anything on offer from the Big Four. But that doesn't mean ponies can't fall to the darker powers.

[SFaccountant]

4171031
Surely that doesn't include Graham McNeil's works!

[Murkglow]

Dang it Spike. How many times is it going to take for you to learn that as soon as you say "Don't tell Twilight I did something stupid" you should stop, slap yourself, and tell her? I mean seriously man, in what world did you think this was going to just turn out ok if you tried to hide it (I honestly don't know how it will turn out as I am typing this after just finishing the chapter but it takes no great leap of logic to see this being a problem). Oh and you didn't tell her that her plan didn't get sent, putting everyone involved in danger, if for no other reason than the misunderstanding about to happen. I can maybe see you withholding your own personal troubles (even if they too might put everyone in danger eventually) but this? Spike you are both stupid and selfish and I hate you.

[MerryGold]

calling it now warp spawn spike

[Bugsydor]

Aww. I don't want Spike to turn into a near-mindless psychotic warp-spawned murderbeast.

That voice in his head seems like a cool guy otherwise, though!

[the other sans]

Sliver was a seething cauldron devoted to the plague good, and he fashioned his quarters to reflect his deeper allegiance
Dest wait until Big Mac finished attaching the wagon to the Gorgon

1. God.
2. Waited.

[Troscus]

"The Tau cannot touch uss here."

Sliver, the base is still smoldering from the LAST time the Tau touched you there.

[SFaccountant]

7657089
He meant besides that.

[the other sans]

7485950 All this plus one more:

Guests into the big one! Mackie, hitch the wagon up to the back of the Gorgon! Vinyl, put your gear in the first chimera! Cloudkicker, Flitter, Derpy, Rainbow Dash, you know what to do

1. Forgot to capitalise.

[SFaccountant]

7721383
Geez, how many of these did I actually fix the first time around?

[the other sans]

7723290 I'll give you two easy answers. Serith or the Warp did it

[xoid]

You wrote “Sliver” a whole bunch of times… and “Shliver” at least once. That should be “Silver” or, when Solon’s speaking, “Shilver”.

[SFaccountant]

8137831
???
His name is Sliver, not Silver.
If you see it written anywhere as "Silver" that's the misspelling.

[xoid]

8138367
Huh. And here I was thinking that it was merely a recurring misspelling since you still managed to get it “right” often enough that it was clear you obviously meant Silver. Considering that I’ve read nearly everything you’ve written about the 38th Company in their entirety and I still had this misconception… you might want to go over them all with a fine‐tooth comb. If you do decide to, well, I don’t envy you dude; that’ll be tedious as fuck.

[SFaccountant]

8138592
I'm looking through some of the relevant parts (as you said, there's a lot here), but I'm not seeing it.
If you happen to spot it again, please point it out to me. Thank you!

[Mal Masque]

"You pitiful, wretched creature," Serith said with an utterly false sense of sorrow, "you are little more than a book to one such as I. Books do not speak. They are read."

I am not gonna lie... THAT is a badass line.

[A Wild Magikarp]

A terrified scream echoed through the halls of the cell block as the Fireblade flung the pen from her hand that she didn't remember taking up. Then she tore the top page from the note pad - already boasting a roughly sketched map of the region - and frantically tore it to shreds.

I’ll admit, some deep, dark recess of my mind cackled madly at this scene. How confident she was that he could do nothing to break her, only to realize there was nothing she could do to stop him.

Dest waited until Big Mac finished attaching the wagon to the Gorgon, and then he upped the volume on his vox emitter. "ALL RIGHT, XENO REVELERS! LOAD UP AND SHIP OUT! TONIGHT THE VERY WALLS OF FERROUS DOMINUS SHALL QUAKE WITH OUR MERRIMENT!!"

This will end in purging.

[Nevermore777]

3968550
I kinda always liked that the big four always had some “good” things associated with them. Khorne being honor, Nurgle being love, Tzeentch being hope and pursuit of knowledge, and Slaanesh being “creativity And imagination.” It always made them more terrifying to me, since it’s those “good” parts that draw people to them and the evil parts, the blood, the disease, the lies, and the depravity, that consumed them.

[Animatorsnake]

9235716
I thought Nurgle was life and death basically nature, while Slanesh was joy and despair

[SFaccountant]

9405053
Nurgle is basically life and death, yeah. To observers it's pretty hard to get past the death part, though.

[Daralyn]

Lo and behold...Spike finally got his own Element...
THE ELEMENT OF SNARK

[Seraphimus]

I feel like celestia and twilight failing to communicate at this point is starting to feel forced. Like i feel like the situation has gone beyond the point where i can accept it even in the ridiculous world of mlp and chaos space marines.

[Dragon Turtle]

3968550
3969677
Tzeencth's DOES include Hope in her domain. Sort of like how a sled dog views the guy he's pulling as "the god of steak cuts." And the aforementioned sled dog also has to double as a pit fighter on Tuesdays, Thursdays, weekends, holidays, and every day during leap years.

[Notsae]

So I'm pretty sure Pinkie is a Daemon-Prince of Slaanesh, and I'm becoming increasingly sure this is a Daemon world in disguise.

[Crystonian]

Books do not speak. They are read."

Tell that to audio books

[Wydril]

The common-sense switch is not in the Spike position, I see. He's either outright failed or done a poor job of nearly everything that was expected of him. Heck, when he was on lookout outside Delgan's trailer, he made himself into such a problem that Twilight was swinging her flashlight-effect all over the place to deal with him. I won't be surprised if the next chapters show Delgan or his men noticed that.

[Emperor Draxgaroth]

l have no idea as to why.... but for some reason, to me the voice in Spike's head is the voice of Stewie from Family Guy