From Dust

by Vermillion Prose

The End

Consciousness. It had returned.

Surprised, he observed the world around him.

First, his armored body was restored. It now shown a resplendent crimson, edged in ivory. Upon his pauldron was the stylized sun of his Legion, and in the center of it a six pointed star.

He was in a study, the walls lined with books, covering subjects ranging from equine anatomy to astronomy to psychology. There were now several tomes about warpcraft and the dangers therein.

He stood in a faintly smoking circle, with runes of power etched into them at precise intervals and angles around the circle.

And in front of him stood a teary-eyed alicorn princess, exhausted after casting a modified warp spell fused with Equestrian magic. One used for millennia by a select few sorcerers to recover the souls of the Rubricae adrift in the warp.

He did not even employ the faintly glowing stone worked into his helm crest to protest the sudden hug of said alicorn, instead kneeling and returning the gesture.

Author's Note:

And that's that! I do hope you thoroughly enjoyed this diversion from my main story. One day, I shall find a weapon that can slay writer's block without fail.

I initially intended this as a one-shot about the length of "Blooms in the Dust," but I just had to go and write more, didn't I? It's honestly been a pleasant distraction as I keep working on chapter 4 of "Wardens." The current chapter is a bit of a lull in the story arc so it's been a bit of a challenge to write to my satisfaction. This provided an excellent outlet for my writing desires and current 40k kick I've been in.

In the mean time, I'd love to see some discussion about this story, and see what impressions it's left with all of you. I'm definitely looking forward to some comments on the writing style. I'm also curious if anyone would enjoy working on a story with me, or would like my input on one of your projects. Just drop me a message! I can promise I'll answer those.

Comments

[89ingenting]

Wow... for a diversion, this was a very satisfying read. Not really all that great at critizising in English myself, but even though the story is marked as finished I definitively wouldn't mind seeing more of this. Well, the best way to summarize would be short but sweet.

[Vermillion Prose]

4705743 Thanks! I definitely appreciate the support. I can't make any promises, but if it strikes me, I might find it amusing to see how the battle-hardened Rubricae handles the day-to-day of Equestria, or how he gets along with the Royal Guard, etc.

[89ingenting]

4705764 Well, if inspiration strikes I suggest go for it! Keyword being "if", forcing inspiration is never a good idea. But I would be interested!

[snowblind]

Rubricae in fics are super rare so i had to take a peek and i read all of this wonderful fic.

[Vermillion Prose]

4706016 Why, thank you! I've always had a thing for the sons of Magnus, and it seemed like a good idea, and now here we are

[012689]

This was a short but amazing fic, this really needs a sequel or at least turned into a full epic.

[JT]

I demand a sequel

[Vermillion Prose]

4706228, 4706773, Haha I appreciate the enthusiasm! I can't promise anything but I have a few ideas floating around I might give a shot some time.

[JT]

4707755

Thank you. I loved the premise of the story.

Keep up the awesome work!

[FleetlordAvatar]

This was one of the best warhammer fics I've read, the Rubicae aspect was unique and made for an interesting character. But now that Twilight has tapped the warp, will chaos soon follow? Great job.

[Heitomos]

So! This is now among the few Warhammer 40K stories that I've finished and enjoyed to the end! Good stuff! :) I would like to see more of this little world...

[012689]

4707755 Take your time pal, greatness can't be rushed.

[Schroedingers_Katze]

Bravo. Three times Bravo to you good autor.
You gave us a highly enjoyable story with an, might I say, unique main character that was worth every god damn minute of reading it! And the end did an absolute number on my feels, yet it left me smilling.

[Evowizard25]

THIS! WAS! AWESOME!

I'm honestly glad Twilight was able to best the daemon. Quite a few fics usually have the Equestrians completely useless against crossover threats.

A great end. (Yeah, I could see Twilight having such a spell to save his life. He was pretty much a construct of sorts.)

[JawsOnYou67]

Slice of Life Sequel. Something simple, nothing too heavy handed or violent, cause there will be some other daemons cropping up I suspect. What i would love to see is how the other Mane 6 and the Princess'es react to all this, what they were doing, and how they would feel about the Soul Bound Automaton that has become Twilight's new Companion. So many ideas could come of this, perhaps dealing with some Space Wolfs later on, to see how they react to finding one of their sworn Enemies in Equestria, as well as dealing with Equestria. But either way, fucking loved this story, this is my third time re-reading it so far and I just can't stop.

[Spencer Lightning Write]

Oh… he survived. I thought this would be a funeral.
Disregard my last comment!

-Lightning \[T]/

[Vermillion Prose]

4724139 Haha wow, glad you enjoyed it And that's pretty much what I have in mind. I'm not sure when I'll get around to writing more on this, but the response has been so positive, with requests for more, that I'm kind of excited at the thought of delivering

[Vermillion Prose]

4826039 Honestly, I have a few explanations I could be giving, but I'm going to go with the two most direct and honest.
One, measured from the tip of the horn, and maybe accounting for alicorn growth. The amount of time passed since the battle against Tirek is not specified.
Two, author's preference/error. Because I was more focused on character interaction than technical aspects like measuring height in exactitude.

[An everfree rat]

Well...I'd like to say I enjoyed it, but this felt more like a blueprint to a fic in the works. It didn't feel whole, missing a lot of moments to get me attached, it was more like "here's how this story will go. Now to add the details."

So with that, I will say good idea, I hope it gets fleshed out.

[Vermillion Prose]

4828159 This was intended to follow in the spirit of its inspiration, conveying depth with brevity. I've tried the long-winded approach to exposition, but I've found my skills well suited to providing the fuel for the reader's imagination, much like the inspiration.

Also, I looked back at the 2 meters issues, and I'd like to point out two details:

One, there was no "just." The exact phrasing was "Equine, shy of two meters tall." It was not specified how shy of two meters, and his instinct and upbringing would demand he compare anything to a rough analogue to human height, two meters.

Two, the conversation occurred within a mental construct equivalent to the dreamscape and his perception was purely psychic. As such, her level of magical power/aptitude may have colored his perception of her in the ether.

[An everfree rat]

4833897
Huh, noted. Thanks for the response.

[dadab22]

A very good read. I am hoping of a sequel.

[Rakaziel]

Wow! This was really good, thoughtful, and really well written! The demon could have used a bit more character development -I would have loved to see him meet Discord- but I really like how you wrote and developed the two main characters (mainly the Rubicae).

[Krysnha]

Very good storie thanksfor sharing it

[Archangel2401]

Greatly enjoyed the story, excellent work!

[Vermillion Prose]

7129214 Someone needs to start reading the sequel in the works

[Wing]

I'm not familiar with Warhammer 40K, but that was quite a good read, VP. :)

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Very well done sir!

[darklight731]

Out of all the legions, the Thousand sons would be the ones to appreciate aliens and their value the most. Seeing this man, this son of Magnus, reform and repent for his betrayal through combat, only to be rewarded with new life... it is incredible.
Thank you, word-smith.