The Marks of War

by DungeonMiner

Chapter XXX

When the Litany of Fury arrived, they were baffled. True, alliances with Eldar were not unheard of, but they were typically short-lived, and ended with one side betraying the other. Typically the Eldar betraying the Space Marines, or the Space Marines pre-emptively betraying the eldar, for surely they would.

But they were all here, with orks even, and even though they had separated, every side seemed to hold a new respect for the others.

Even the Eldar were being respectful.

They were separated once again. The camps were alone once again, and the ork, Eldar, and Astartes were once more separated in their proper camps, and everything was as it should be, as far as Apple Bloom was concerned.

After destroying the remaining Emperor’s Children, a search did begin for the Alpha Legion, but so far there was no sign of them.

But, Apple Bloom only had three standard days, and not nearly enough time to join the search. Now, she stood here, back in the Temple of the Infinity Gate, with her friends by her side.

Her friends.

The Crusaders, together at last.

Farseer Elahina was with them, as well as Gabriel and Apple Bloom’s squad, along with three, “sneaky” ork that seemed to follow Scootaloo around.

And for once, it didn’t matter.

Apple Bloom stood with her squad, bidding farewell to Lazarus, Coberos, Karlon, Israfiel and even Ramiel.

“Well, Apple Bloom, it is time for you to go, it seems,” Karlon said.

“Off to serve this strange, living Emperor,” Coberos said. “It’s quite the honor.”

“Be sure to let him know we continue to serve!” Karlon said.

“Apple Bloom’s Emperor is female,” Coberos noted.

“As I said.”

Apple Bloom shook her head, before turning to Lazarus.

The Psyker regarded her carefully, a soft smile on his lips. “Well, Apple Bloom, it has been a long time.”

“Thirty-one standard years?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Almost,” he said, nodding, “and now you must return. Return to the world of...what was it? Sweet Apple Acres?”

The name stirred something in her, and images of the endless sea of apple trees appeared in her mind. “Yes, Sweet Apple Acres is correct,” she said.

Lazarus nodded. “Did I ever tell you that I was born on an agri world?” he asked.

Apple Bloom shook her head.

“I was…” he said. “Or, at least I think I was. It’s one of the few things I forgot. The one thing I remember the most, however was the sight of my father’s orchard every morning, that sea of endless trees.” Lazarus sighed, before his armored hand rested on her shoulder. “Perhaps that’s why I brought you to the Chaplain, maybe that is why I let you live.”

Apple Bloom nodded.

“Ah, well…” Lazarus said. “Just be sure to keep it safe for me, will you?”

She nodded again. “Yes, sir,” she said. “I will do that.”

Lazarus nodded, before he patted her armored shoulder to send her off. “Blessings of the Emperor on you, Apple Bloom.”

She nodded, before turning towards the gate.

“Hey, Xeno,” Ramiel said, still holding his bolter.

She turned to him.

“Stay safe,” he said.

She nodded, and turned for the gate.

Sweetie Belle, meanwhile, looked up at the Farseer, the long rifle in her hooves. “I...I suppose I should return this,” she said, staring down at the rifle, with the blue, proud ribbon that declared its name and history. “It belongs with Oraban.”

Elahina looked down at the Spirit Stone in her hands, where Oraban’s soul now resided until they could release him into Alaitoc’s Infinity Circuit. “He did our craftworld a great service, and made many sacrifices for his people,” she said, before her eyes returned to the unicorn before her.

Sweetie looked down at the rifle in her hooves, eyes sad and teary as she remembered her first friend in this world.

“But you have also made sacrifices, Sweetie Belle,” Elahina said, “and at times, sacrifice should be rewarded.”

Sweetie looked up at her.

“Eldar do not own their weapons, Sweetie Belle,” Elahina said with a smile. “The Craftworld delegate their weapons to whoever needs them most, and now, I can think of no one who needs it more than you.”

Slowly, a smile began to spread on the unicorn’s face. “Thank you, Farseer.”

She nodded, before Sweetie Belle turned away from her, and towards the Gate.

Scootaloo’s conversation, however, was far less heartwarming.

“Alright, boyz,” Scootaloo said as she talked with her kommandoz. “So ‘ere’s da plan.”

“But how’s we supposed ta remember da plan?” Hellspitta asked.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Ya ain’t never had a problem before, Hellspitta, ya’ll be fine.”

“But dat ‘cause you’ve always remembered da plan for us, Shootaloota,” Facehacka said.

“What are ya, a grot? Ya can remember da plan, it ain’t complicated.”

“But Shootaloota,” Blooddagga whined.

“No, yous can do it, alls ya gotta do make sure dat Grimthrasha gets back to Nabrot, and make sure he don’t have any problems handin’ over da bosshood, alroight?”

“But boss,” they whined.

“No buts!” she grunted, before she grabbed her shootas and moved over to the Gate. “Yous’ll be fine!”

Gabriel then stepped forward towards the Gate, looking down at the three Crusaders as they were about to embark on their last mission. “Well, it seems the hour of destiny is upon us. It is time at last, for you to return to your Princess and begin your service anew.”

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all looked up to him.

“It’s time for you to take a new flag.”

Apple Bloom spoke up. “My lord,” she said, stepping forward, “it is no new flag. It was one set down many years ago, but it is a familiar one to us all.”

The three ponies looked to each other, they looked at the scars, the wounds, their weapons, armors, and even the glint of violence that still lived in their eyes. And yet, they could look past it all. They saw past these marks that war had left on them, they saw past all the blood, all the weariness, and there, at their core, they could still see it.

“We are the Crusaders.”

---=][=---

Applejack sighed.

The elder Apple sister walked through the crystal halls of Twilight’s castle, shaking her head as she went.

This was going to be her last visit, she had decided. For the past five years she had sat in front of that thrice-cursed mirror, staring into its perfect surface. She sat, she cried, and she blamed herself.

She had to go and open her mouth, she had to ask that dumb question which started it all. “Do Y’all reckon this mirror can go other places? Are you thick in the head, Applejack?” she muttered to herself.

She sighed once more.

No point in getting mad at herself now. After it was all too late.

She finally came to the room, the last place where Apple Bloom and her friends had been. Their last view of Equestria before that was taken away. She walked inside the room, and stared up at the monolithic mirror, that cursed, evil thing that tore her family apart.

It hadn’t changed much in the past five years, though Twilight had run herself ragged trying to fix the thing, and even though its surface had survived intact, the frame needed a lot of help. These days, however the mirror looked every bit like it had before this whole debacle happened.

And Twilight…

The poor mare had spent every waking moment trying to save them. For the first three weeks she didn’t sleep, in fact, it was only because she literally fell asleep on her hooves that she stopped at all. She may have slowed down since then, but this was still the only thing she focused on when she had the time.

Applejack walked past the table where Twilight and her notes sat. The Princess had fallen asleep at her work once again, a common occurrence, if Spike was to be believed.

The farmpony shook her head, before she finally sat down, in front of the mirror. She sat, and stared up at the massive portal, before releasing a shaky breath. “Hey, Apple Bloom,” she said, “Ah...Ah didn’t want ta leave you on...well...Ah didn’t want ya ta see me cryin’, and bawlin’ like Ah was. Ah...Ah wanted this one to be more...well...Ah wanted ta leave ya on a better note.”

The mirror offered nothing.

“‘Cause, well…’casue this is going be the last time, Apple Bloom. We...we’re goin’ hold yer funeral tomorrow. We ain’t...we have ta...we’re...we’re gonna…”

She choked.

“We’re gonna...we’re gonna let ya go,” she said, her eyes becoming wet.

The mirror stayed silent.

“It’s been five years, Apple Bloom, and...and Granny can’t take the thought that ya might come back some day, only for ya to never come…” Applejack shook her head. “Ah’m sorry, Apple Bloom...Ah’m sorry…”

She sniffed, before a small, nervous laugh broke through. “Oh, look at me, here Ah said Ah’d leave a bit more dignified, and here Ah am, bawlin’ all over again.”

The mirror did not answer.

Applejack sighed again, shoulders slumping, before she reached up and grabbed her hat. She pulled it down to cover her eyes, and took a breath to steady herself.

She then looked up, before she spoke one more time. “Ah’m sorry Apple Bloom. Ah just wished Ah could’ve said goodbye.”

The earth pony then stood, and began to walk away, taking her leave, for the very last time.

She stood in front of the door, before taking one last look at the mirror, as though hoping her sister would come running from it.

But there was nothing.

She sighed, having given the mirror its last chance, and opened the door.

Her ear twitched.

She blinked, frozen before the door as a breeze began to flow through the room.

She heard something.

She knew she did.

She turned, blinking, and felt her heart stop as the mirror stared back, its surface swirling with purple energy.

Twilight’s notes began to flutter, flying off the table in a mess as the wind in the room began to pick up.

The gears of the mirror machine began to chug and spin, apparati began to glow, fluids began to bubble, and the entire thing began to shake to life.

“Huh? Wha—?” Twilight said, waking from the sudden sound.

And then her eyes went wide. “Applejack!” she screamed as her notes went wild, the wind becoming a full on gale. “Applejack, what did you do?”

The farmpony opened her mouth to speak, but anything she would have said was drowned out.

Not by a hellish scream, not by the wail of tortured souls, but by a song.

A sweet, simple tune that echoed through the room, and shook the very crystals as the mirror portal opened and swirled.

And then a white unicorn entered the room. Tall and slender, she seemed to command the very air about her, and the off-white growths from her back, though oddly disturbing, were still elegant and beautiful.

Her voice filled the air as she hummed, and the portal’s energy seemed to calm at the sound. She commanded the room with her presence, and it was only after three very long seconds that either of the two ponies noticed the strange insect on her head.

Following her was Frankenmane’s Monster, if the monster was an orange pegasus with a massive metal claw for a hoof and a red, glowing eye. The pegasus blinked as she looked around the room, her single, purple, living eye glancing about in wonder.

And finally came an armored giant. The wall of red metal stepped forward into the room, her own eyes glancing about suspiciously, as though some unseen enemy would leap at her from any shadow. A sword hung buckled to her hind leg, barely a knife to the giant, and a pair of strange tentacles held a strange, metal, rectangular box aloft.

The unicorn stopped singing, and the portal then gently closed, as though nothing had happened at all. “There,” she said, satisfied. “Who knew we just needed some harmonic, psychic resonance to stabilize everything. We might’ve even arrived in the same place had we done so the first time.”

“Sweetie,” the pegasus said, catching the unicorn’s attention.

She blinked as she looked over to the bulky pegasus, before following her gaze to the two ponies on the other side of the room.

“Oh,” the unicorn said, a smile forming on her face. “Princess Twilight!”

Twilight blinked, mouth agape, and stared until some semblance of control returned to her mouth. “S-Sweetie Belle?”

The unicorn nodded, before bowing, her wraithbone growths lowering the long rifle as she flourished.

Twilight then turned to the pegasus, still blinking. “Scootaloo?”

The orange bulk of muscle gave a toothy grin. “Yup! We’s back!”

Twilight then turned to the armored giant, and her breath caught in her throat as she saw Applejack staring up at her, mouth agape, and tears in her eye.

The giant stared down at her, silently.

Sweetie Belle spoke up. “Uh...now...Applejack, y-you should know that Apple Bloom’s been through a lot, she might have a hard time remembering—”

The the giant spoke. “You are the one known as Applejack, yes?”

Applejack nodded.

Apple Bloom nodded as well, before she spoke again. “You are my sister, yes?”

The Farmpony nodded again, tears in her eyes.

“There is not much I remember from my time here,” Apple Bloom said. “Most of my life before is a blur, but there were a few things I do remember, Sister Applejack.”

The farmpony waited.

“I remembered a phrase, a motto, if you will. ‘An Apple ain’t nothing without her family,’” she said, reciting the words from memory. “Is this correct?”

Applejack nodded again.

Apple Bloom knelt down, staring her sister in the face. “Then even when I was gone, I stayed an Apple at heart, and I am something once again.”

Applejack nodded, before she gave her armored sister a hug.

And Apple Bloom returned it for everything she was worth.

---=][=---

Princess Celestia regarded the ponies in her throne room very carefully.

It was midnight now, and Twilight Sparkle had sent her an emergency message not two hours earlier for a meeting. While unusual, it wasn’t an unheard of phenomenon, so she prepared the throne room for an emergency audience.

So far, nothing unusual.

And then a massive mare, almost as tall as she was and twice as thick, covered head to hoof in titanic red armor burst through the doors, swearing fealty, service and a disturbing eagerness to destroy her enemies.

Usual then decided that it had overstayed its welcome, and took its leave.

The armored mare was followed by a slightly smaller pegasus, and a very lithe unicorn, as well as her student and three other of the Bearers of Harmony.

Introductions went around, and the three missing fillies then shared their stories.

Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight all hung on every word, listening intently as they told their tales of these strange creatures from beyond, great ships that sailed the aether, and the forces of an evil so great it sickened the Princess where she sat.

In fact, Rarity seemed permanently attached it her younger...er...now older sister.

That thought still boggled her mind. Thirty years in five…

Anyways, ever since they had entered her throne room, it appeared that the unicorns were attached the hip, the bearer talking constantly as she gushed over her returned sister. In fact, the only time she stopped talking was to let the three returned mares tell their story.

The Crusader had finished telling their tale, a task which was prolonged by the commentary and questions of the ponies around her, and all the while, the Princess had to wonder, “What am I going to do with them?”

“And thus is my story,” Apple Bloom recited from her perfect memory.

“Just as boring as I’d thought it’d be,” Scootaloo grunted.

“Boring?” Rainbow Dash screamed. “They have chainsaw swords! Their cannons shoot tiny rockets that explode! How is any of that boring?” she asked, almost sounding betrayed by her surrogate sister.

“‘Cause we’s got bigga gunz!” Scootaloo roared.

Rainbow found it hard to argue with that logic.

“We have bigger guns,” Sweetie Belle corrected, earning a pleased look from the Princess of Friendship.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes.

“I wouldn’t waste your breath, Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom said.

“Oi! What’s dat mean?” Scootaloo growled, hooves slamming into the table, causing the wood to break and crack.

“It means, good Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom said, smirking, “that spending so long a time with such thick-headed creatures has obviously left its mark on you.”

“Tell dat to my klaw, Space Marine!” she growled, before leaping over the table and tackling Apple Bloom to the ground.

Together they slammed into the floor, and the tiles shattered beneath their force.

“Apple Bloom!” Applejack cried, panicked, before Sweetie Belle rested a wraithbone appendage on the farmpony’s shoulder.

“Their only playing, Applejack,” she told her, “they will be fine.”

“You sure?” Applejack asked, as she looked at the two titans slamming into floor.

Sweetie nodded. “I know their minds, Applejack. It’s innocent enough.”

“Innocent, indeed,” Celestia thought, worriedly. If this was an innocent scuffle between friends, she shuddered at the thought of an actual fight between the two.

“If that worries you Celestia,” Sweetie Belle said suddenly, “then just know we three have seen far, far worse.”

And excuse Celestia for saying so, but that was creepy.

“Telepathy usually is the first time around,” Sweetie said.

Celestia sighed.

Suddenly Apple Bloom shot up from the floor. “Wait! You!” she cried angrily, glaring at Sweetie even as she sat there.

Sweetie Belle turned to her.

“You dare read the Emper—I mean, Princess’ mind? You dare search her thoughts and will, Witch?”

Sweetie looked at her, appearing as calm as a summer day, and said nothing, even as Apple Bloom stomped over to her.

“Uh, Apple Bloom?” Scootaloo called, having remained on the floor.

Sweetie continued to look up at Apple Bloom, even as her eye were turning red in fury. “I assure you, Apple Bloom, I did no such thing.”

“You tried to taint the Holy Princess with your blasphemous magics!” she yelled.

Sweetie said nothing, but an eye did glance over at the Princess. “She’s serious, by the way. You may want to play up your holy empress act.”

The princess blinked at the voice in her head, before she stood. “Apple Bloom,” she said, her voice commanding and powerful.

The Space Marine gave the alicorn her full attention.

“That is enough. Return to your seat.”

“But, Princess,” Apple Bloom said. “The power of a psyker is not to be trusted, I cannot, in good conscience allow such foul taint to approach your magnificence.”

Princess Celestia mentally sighed, before her face went hard. “And am I incapable of defending myself?”

Apple Bloom blinked, before her ears splayed flat against her head. “Y-yes, yes. Forgive me, Princess, I spoke out of turn. If you believed her a danger, you would have dealt with her.”

Celestia nodded, before closing her eyes. “Oh this is going to be worse than Discord.”

“To be fair, Apple Bloom,” Sweetie said, “the dangers of the Warp in the far galaxy were numerous. Here it is far less so.”

The Space Marine looked at her, eyebrow raised.

“The Realm of Souls here is incredibly calm,” Sweetie Belle said. “I’d be surprised if we needed any defenses at all if we made a Warp jump here.”

Apple Bloom gave a snort. “As though I would trust the Warp.”

“E-enough! Enough!” Celestia said suddenly. “I am done with this, today. In fact, today ended four hours ago, and I have been up since seven in the morning. This should be Luna’s problem right now, but this is too big for either of us to do alone. I will come to a decision tomorrow, and not a moment before. Am I understood?”

“Yes, Your Excellency!” Apple Bloom answered, saluting.

“Youz got it, Boss,” Scootaloo grunted.

Sweetie Belle sighed. “We understand, Princess.”

“Good, for now...go home. See your families. I’m sure they’ve missed you.”

There was a nod of assent, and the ponies began filing out of the throne room.

And all the while, the draconequus known as Discord watched.

---=][=---

“Carry the Emperor's will as your torch, with it destroy the shadows.”—Imperial Thought of the Day.

---

Another Chapter done!

“Whee!”

Next time! Soldiers in a time of peace! Plots revealed! Equestria’s new power, and a new, bright future!

“See ya then!”

Bye!

Comments

[Evowizard25]

This story is shaping up nicely. It was both heartwarming to see the reunions and goodbyes. You did a good job capturing the emotions and I really do enjoy the reverence AB shows Celestia. {She deserves some after what she's done.} Good job.

[treegrowth]

WHEEEEE!!! FIRST COMMENT!!!!

Great chapter.

[Crescent Glaive]

DA GIRLZ ARE BACK IN BUSINESS!!!! OOORRRAAAAAHHH!!!!!

[ArchAngelGundam]

Home at last. Now the only concern is, what is Discord up to? Looking forward to more.
Keep up the great work. Deus tecum.

[djthomp]

But they were all here, with orks even, and even though they had separated, every side seemed to hold a new respect for the others.

Even the Eldar were being respectful.

It's an academy record!

Ahh, reunions.

Get used to the headaches, Celestia.

And all the while, the draconequus known as Discord watched.

Well, that's just a little bit suspicious.