Nostalgia
Noon: the easiest hour of work for a Princess. She sat alone, perusing through what forms she had missed or ignored during her earlier hours of work. A small pot of tea sat on a nearby stand, a thin column of steam rising from the spout. The princess eyed the tea for a moment and sighed; it was simple things like this that she seemed to be losing touch with, what with her duties becoming more and more demanding as the days went by.
You’re getting old, Tia, a voice at the back of her mind said. You’ve had to handle much more demanding work in the past, and you think simple paperwork is depriving you of tea? She smirked and continued writing, using her magic to grab the teapot and bring it to her spot on the floor. She fluffed her wings once more and continued working, the sound of her pen scratching across the parchment the only sound she could hear.
She continued for several minutes before something landed on her back. She turned and saw Philomena, the phoenix’s red and gold feathers a welcome sight for the princess. Philomena cawed again and moved closer.
“Hello, my friend,” Celestia said, smiling at Philomena. “Have you been watching the rest of the castle as I asked?” Philomena chirped and bobbed her head. “Thank you. I don’t know what I would do without you.” Philomena chirped again and took off, but instead of heading for her normal perch she landed outside a closet on the far side of the room.
“What do you want, Philomena?” the phoenix chirped and pointed a wing at the door “Oh, you know I can’t do that... I’m not that kind of pony anymore.” the Phoenix squawked in annoyance and pointed back at the door. Celestia sighed and stood, crossing the room to where the bird was standing.
“Listen to me. I could not do that; I may lose myself and... well, remember what happened last time?” Philomena squawked. “Well, yes she had declared war on my throne... but you didn’t see the rest of the guard; they were terrified of me, that their leader could be so... ruthless.” The bird chirped and took off, landing on the knob of the door and allowing her weight to open the door.
“I swear, you’re worse than Luna was...” She moved to close the door, but a small glint of light caught her eye. She hesitated, before sighing once more.
“Well... Five minutes, then we’ll have no more of this.” Philomena chirped in happiness as Celestia pulled open the door. Inside the closet was a suit of armor, scratched from repeated use but still shining as brightly as the day she had forged it in the fires of ancient Equestria. Unlike the armor of her guards, which was more for ceremony, this was designed for war: each plate was more than four inches thick, forged from a material capable of withstanding the concentrated power of a star. Her neck and forelegs were protected beneath two massive shoulder pads, the first adorned by an etching of her cutie mark, while the second held the image of a giant eagle, wings spread and talons extended as if ready to strike. The chest contained the insignia of her old life: a double headed eagle, both heads turned outward towards her shoulders.
Using her magic, she pulled on each individual piece of the armor, the joints clicking into place. As each piece was applied, energy began to flow through the joints and seams of the suit, allowing her freedom of movement that no other living being would be capable of when wearing similar armor. When the armor was assembled, she pulled out the final aspect of her past: a longsword, elegantly crafted and adorned with an apelike skull in the pommel. She used her magic to attach the sword to a clamp on her flank before closing the door and walking towards the balcony.
“I feel silly, dressing up in this.” she muttered, hoping Philomena was still within earshot. The bird paid her no mind, swooping down from her perch and landing on her left shoulder, her talons hooking into a groove in the armor. Philomena chirped again, stroking her head against Celestia’s neck. Celestia smiled.
“Well, maybe not as silly as I think.” Celestia normally kept a rein on her ego, but being as she was alone she allowed a little bit to slip through. She looked out across Equestria, her home and kingdom. She remembered all that had happened since she had been brought here; forming and encouraging life, raising the sentient races from the muck of creation. She remembered forming Equestria, battling against the forces of destruction and chaos. She remembered slaying the last of the windigos, remembering how Her blade had cracked and sparked as the last of the Forces of Nightmare were torn asunder by Her wrath. She remembered her battle with Discord, striking him from the heavens and confronting him on the open plains.
She remembered...
Her mind drifted to another time, another universe. There, she commanded legions against the Ruinous Powers, purging the Galaxy of the unclean. She remembered the Heresy, channeling Her powers to smite Her traitorous son. She remembered being entombed inside the Throne, watching in agony as Her body rotted and Her utopia degraded into the very hell She had fought against.
She remembered being freed, and striking with the full of Her power. Mutants, hellspawn, even the Gods of Chaos themselves, nothing stood to slow Her wrath. Countless fell with each sweep of Her mighty blade, their blood staining the ground black as She purged them from the Galaxy.
I smote the Gods of Chaos. I brought Humanity back from the ashes and set them on the path to an age of prosperity and glory. I forged this world from dust, and I crushed the last traces of Chaos beneath my hooves. I possess more power than any before me, and I have used it to forge the society I would have wished to rule over.
“Princess Celestia, Princess Celestia!” Celestia was pulled from her memories. Some mortal was intruding on her, Her, of all ponies. Keeping her temper at a minimum, she unsheathed her sword and activated it, arcane power flowing down the length of the blade.
"Do you think that you can just intrude upon my presence at will?" she growled. "You are not one of my regular messengers, so I must assume you are some infiltrator hoping to get close to me. Leave now, or I shall destroy you and everything you hold dear in your pathetic life." The only response she got from her threat was... crying. Celestia blinked and turned to see her opponent: a small lavender filly, barely seven years of age, cringing and crying at Celestia's warning.
“I’m sorry, Princess, I’m sorry!” the filly cried. “I-I didn’t mean to! I’m really really sorry! P-Please don’t be mad, I didn’t mean to! Oh, please don’t hurt me! Please!” Celestia deactivated the sword and lowered it. Her mind was pulled back to reality: she was no longer a commander during a time of war, but a teacher who had just threatened to kill her favored student. Oh no, I went too far again...
“T-Twilight?”
“I’m really really sorry, I didn’t... Oh, please, don’t hurt me, I-I only wanted to... to...” Twilight could not hold back before bursting into tears, a small puddle collecting beneath her hooves. Celestia dropped her sword and raced towards the filly, her armored boots causing small tremors as she ran.
“Please, Twilight, don’t cry.” Celestia said, wrapping an armored foreleg around the crying filly. “That was my fault, Twilight; I got carried away for a moment. Don’t cry, I did not mean to harm you.”
“B-But you were shouting, a-and you had that sword...” Twilight said through her sobs.
“Artifacts from an older life, Twilight. I would never do anything to hurt you.” Celestia leaned in and nuzzled Twilight, the filly’s crying dying down to sniffles. “Please, calm down... please.” Twilight sniffled some more before nodding.
“O-okay.” she said, her voice quivering.
“Good. Breathe easy, Twilight. Here,” Celestia grabbed the teapot and poured a cup for the filly. “Drink this; it will make you feel better.” Twilight hesitated for a moment before nodding and taking the cup in her hooves.
“Th-Thanks you, Princess.”
“You’re welcome, Twilight. Now,” Celestia turned the filly around to fully face her. “What is it you wanted to tell me?” There was a pause before Twilight spoke again.
“W-well, I was just reading some things... and, I found something that... that...” Twilight stopped talking. Celestia raised an eyebrow in confusion before tracing the filly’s gaze to her chest.
Celestia sighed and lowered her head, a small smile gracing her lips. “Is my armor distracting you, Twilight?”
“Um, yes?” The filly said, shying away slightly
“You wouldn’t be the first. I normally don’t wear this, as most ponies have a similar reaction. I guess... well, I guess I got nostalgic and decided to wear it. If you’re curious, you can come and get a closer look.”
“B-But you got really mad when-”
“Twilight, that is in the past. I was a much different pony when I first became ruler of Equestria, and I guess I lapsed back into that habit when I put on this thing.”
“Oh.” Twilight stood and crossed the room, stopping once she reached her mentor. She looked closely at every piece of armor the Princess wore, flicking them occasionally to see what they were made of. “Why did you make something so... big?”
“When I first came to this world, I was... lonely, for a lack of a better word. I forged this armor and that sword to remind me of where I came from.”
“‘Where you came from’?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean?”
“Oh Twilight, surely you of all ponies know this story.”
“Um, kind of. My parents always said Equestria didn’t have any shape or life until you showed up and made it all nice and stuff. But...” Twilight paused, shuffling her hooves a little.
“But?”
“But you couldn’t have just shown up from nowhere. There had to be somewhere you came from.”
“Correct, my little filly.” Celestia grabbed Twilight with her magic and placed the filly in front of her. “And where I came from was not a nice place to live. That’s why I needed this armor.”
“Um, can I ask what it was like? Coming to Equestria and all?”
“You can, but let me warn you, it is not a pleasant or short story.” Celestia flared her wings and shuffled around a little to make herself comfortable, no easy task when wearing heavy armor.
“I came from a world known as Earth,” she began. “But most people-”
“What?”
“People. I used to be a human.”
“But humans don’t exist!” Twilight said, defiantly pointing her hoof in the air.
“No they don’t... not here, anyway." Celestia shook her head. That is a thought for another time. "As I said, I came from a world known as Earth, but most called it Holy Terra, the heart of the Imperium of Man. Humans had spread out across the Galaxy, forming a mighty empire that they felt would last for eternity.
“However, the Imperium was everything Equestria is not; humans lived in filth and decay, fearing for their lives as the years went on. Ravaging hordes of monsters and barbarians savaged their borders, wiping out entire planets and untold billions of lives. Legions of corrupt and heretical forces poured out of what was known as the Immaterium, bent on destroying all that could be seen as good and pure.
“I was a leader during the strife; I guided the forces of Humanity against the Chaos spawn and the alien, destroying many in costly wars. The humans venerated me as a mighty king, a ruler of all humans to have ever lived.”
“Wait, ‘king’?" Twilight asked, an eyebrow raised in confusion. “You’re not a stallion, so how can you be a king?” A bad joke from a Chaos Daemon, Celestia thought, bristling with anger for a brief moment before composing herself.
“I was... changed when I came to this realm, but that will come up later. As I was saying, thousands would bow to me, swear in my name, and the mere mention of my power and presence was enough to sunder the forces of Chaos like a wave against a rock.
“The humans called me the God Emperor of Mankind. And I am here because of my sacrifice for them...”
Wow this is the first Celestia is the Reincarnation of the god Emperor(well this is the only one i saw) fic ever seen! Keep it up sir and i shall follow you to the end!
this looks like its going to be awesome
Go on...
fav just because of her lapse into old habits
Well, this one has got my interest
The GEoM was a pretty nasty character but, by necessity, for the WH40K universe was a nasty place. A man had to be a warrior and give up every positive emotion if his trillions of subjects were to live in the face of the Eldar, the Genestealers and the Necrons. Let alone things like Horus's little attempted coup.
I would say one thing though - his spirit has learnt compassion and, I think, wisdom in Equestria.
Well done.
1582877
Are you implying GEoM is a cross dresser?
1582953
Funny; although, speaking seriously, I suspect he is so old and powerful that 'gender' is a cosmetic consideration that doesn't much enter into his mind. That said, I bet he spent the first thousand years or so swearing to all the pantheons in the multiverse after he found he had been reincarnated as a female alicorn.
1582969
With how 40K logic works, it would not surprise me.
1582877
Little? I think it was kind of a big thing, what with the trillions dead, worlds burned, astartes almost wiped out, emperor dead, primarchs dead, Imperium in shambles...
1582953
I had lived my whole life without considering this, but now you have violently hammered it into my mind...impressive.
Well that would explain somethings about Celestia. Like why is hates Discord so much, why she is willing to defend Equestria with her life, why she quickly and decisively ended the War of Eternal Night, why hesitated with with her decision to banish Luna, why she wishes to be simply Celestia and not worshiped.
A very good start, and as someone who hasn't played Warhammer or even read the books I look forwards to see how this will go.
1583074
I was trying to use sarcastic terms to give emphasis. Yes, Horus's actions were a disaster but I always visualised the Emperor describing it as a 'little attempted coup' just to make him feel insignificant and a failure.
Just an additional thought that's just come to my mind: As this is set before Return of Harmony (by several years, it seems), I can see that, when the Mane 6 arrive for the post-victory celebration in Celestia's court, she has them wearing pony versions of terminator armour and inducts them into one of her old Orders from the Imperium to symbolise the incredible nature of their victory over the God of Chaos. After all, it is something that would mean near-deification in the WH40K world. Come to think of it, why else should Celestia order icons made of their victories over Nightmare Moon and Discord?
DAT PICTURE!
Man has She learned compassion - She merely banished/imprisoned Her sister/daughter, rather than slaying her like Horus... which is actually a pretty similar scenario. I mean, other than the known enemy completely corrupting Horus versus Luna's jealousy. But yeah, commenting in the hopes of getting this featured, because damn does this fic deserve it.
Darn.
WOW, I-- this is wonderful
I love Celestia, and for a few seconds, you made me love the GEoM. This is wonderful.
Oh.
My.
GOD!!!
So you basicly took the God Emperor, the most badass human in all of Science-Fiction, pulled a rule 63 on him and turned him into Princess Celestia.
And then I thought this fandom couldnt get anymore epic.
The awsomeness! IT BURNS!
... more please.
The Empress protects, Battle-Brother.
Keep up the awesomness of this!
I NEED TO READ THIS LATER, HOLY SHIT.....
I hope she will be able to bring a little humanity back to the galaxy as well.
EDIT: This lived up to my expectations - only one problem.... I need moar. now.
Also is this headed in Celestia/Emprah staying in equestria territory, orrrrrr, do we see "worlds collide"? I vote that Celestia/Emprah retakes the throne- hilarity ensues (pony on the golden throne ) and that she embraces the "Celestia" side of her character and not totally become re-immersed in her former self.
However, if this story decides to stay within the bounds of Equestria, I still will find it hard to be disappointed.
I'm gonna promote the fuck out of this. BRB GUYS FEATURED BOX OR BUST!
EDIT: done *crosses fingers*
i46.tinypic.com/2wmktgw.jpg
Interesting concept.
This is EPIC. Please more -on my watch and email list
This has my attention.
i.imgur.com/u3yiD.gif
1584132
I'm sorry, but there is NO possible way that the Imperium of Man would accept a heretical Xenos as its leader reborn. There is simply far too much hate and bigotry for anything to happen otherwise. Now given how Alicorns seem to have innate shape shifting powers on the other hand...
1584598
Ummmm, nope
DO WANT MOAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!!!!!1!!!!!!one!!!!!!!!!
Wow, lots of comments. I should reply to some
1584132 yeah... other than the next chapter, no humans will be showing up in this fic
1583450 a lot of it was jealousy, but there's more to Luna's fall that will be revealed
1585165
Oh well.... I can always hold out hope for a sequel though.
In any case, I jumped at the idea largely because of this http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Emprasque and absolutely awesome piece describing the return of the emperor in the body of a giant monstrous creature- it was highly entertaining. The thought of something like this +ponies made my brain break for a few seconds under the sheer colossus of win it could contain. Take the opportunity to read it, set aside about 3 hours for it because once you do you will not want to stop. ever. for any reason.
ya know...you'd think someone would have done this earlier.....
faving to watch for now, I love Celestia and non-grimdark warhammer 40K crossovers I tend to enjoy.
1585282 Glad you like it.
It may get a little darker at point, since The Emperor has to go from being... well, the Emperor and become the Princess we all know and love
The Fall of Horus and the rebellion of Luna would have been painfully similliar to her.
The Emperor tried to save Horus, the only reason Horus managed to nearly kill him was because the GEoM was holding back out of the hope that Horus could still be redeemed, only after he recognized that there was nothing left to redeem he focused his entiere will and destroyed Horus absolutly.
Luna on the other hand was corruptet but could still be redeemed thats why Celestia banished her and didn't destroy her outright.
Also Celestia is best princess and god empress of ponykind!
1585425 darkness is inevitable.
It's when lovable ponies are needlessly slaughtered out of misplaced malice that I start getting pissed.
The Space Marines are brutal, but I sincerely doubt that they're amoral dickheads, specially when source material states that they do, in fact, have honor.
and morals....
And, ya know, COMMON FUCKING SENSE!
1585460 Celestia's not going to be like that. Sure, as the Emperor she is going to be a bit of a jerk, but butchering innocent ponies because She thinks they may have pissed Her off? Not likely
1585469 Yeah, thanks. Way too many badfics involving space marines arriving to save equestria, only to slaughter more ponies than the aliens they're supposedly protecting them from do out of hatred for 'xenos' and not, ya know, considering the possibility that the pones LITERALLY mean no harm.....
I may not be into Warhammer, but you have my attention. This looks pretty good.
Celesta still keeps a photo of her old self on the mantle.
4.bp.blogspot.com/_CoN-0dL6_hY/SQ-MX5oHDhI/AAAAAAAALAA/WURta6KsJ5g/s400/GodEmperorOfMankind.jpg
This is epic, although telling Twilight, or anypony, about the Imperium of man would cause their innocent little minds to impload, explode and melt simultaniusly.
Anyway, does this mean the Emporer has died in the Imperiums universe and been re-encarnated here, or is he still "alive" on the Golden throne on Terra.
Great Job though. Probs one of the better 40K mlp fanfics I've read so far.
Genius Idea!
1587367 he's not dead; he ascended
1587205 ...
Good, Saying the GEOM is dead is HERESY and will result in instant BLAMing!
I hope this story will more than one long flashback as the ending hints.
Well, that would certainly explain every full blown panic attack Twilight has at the very thought of upsetting Celestia...
Tis' good! But I am confused.... so a daemon turned her into a female... or female pony? Or she was a girl in the universe of Warhammer 40k, and a daemon turned her into a guy early on?
1583042
Hate to bring this up 13 weeks later, but I'd like to point out that the God Emperor was born from the joined souls of all the world's mystics. Shaman, medicine men, fortune tellers/soothsayers, etc. That would include women.
So when you look at it, the God-Emperor's soul is already part female anyway.
My issue with this chapter is, "consecrate yourself in my holy name". The God-Emperor was, at that time and to himself only The Emperor. He abolished all religions as divisive, and did not allow himself to be worshipped as a deity despite being as powerful as one.
2124985 Yeah... when I first wrote this I wasn't exactly sure the direction I was going, and I know that that is both OOC of Celestia and the Emperor. I just wanted to get the point across that there's more to Celestia than we have been shown
I have no idea whats going on.. then again i never played warhammer.
2420455 If you wish for information, I would recommend the Lexicanum; it's a big wiki on all things Warhammer
2420455
While the tabletop game just isn't my thing, I have played the computer games for it. (A far cry, I know)
After even a bit of playing and some research, I found out that 40k has some of the most expansive lore out there. You could lose days just learning about a single chapter of space marines.