Forging
Forging
Already, the second planet was looming large in the sky, like the great roks orks used to invade planets. The Empress paid it no mind, turning Her attention back to the river of lava before Her. Reaching out with Her powers, She began to sift through the molten rock, searching for any elements that could be of use.
She felt a presence on Her back as Philomena returned from her daily flight. The bird preened herself for a minute before chirping. “I am searching for metals, if you must know.” more chirping. “Well, I was hoping for adamantium and possibly gold, but adamantium seems to be in small quantities here; I'll have to make due with some other material. Perhaps once the planets collide there will be more for my next project.” a squawk. “A genetics lab; there’s only so much I can pull from the Warp, and working genes is not one of them. I don’t suppose you have any ideas on what I should create first.” a chirp. “... No, a mate for you shall have to wait.” She continued to sift through the magma before Philomena chirped again.
“... No, a mate for me is even lower on my list of priorities. Why is it that you think I’m lonely?” a chirp. “The feather told you all that?” the bird nodded. “Well, it was probably carrying some of my DNA, so it is very likely that you have gleaned some of my memories.” there was a chirp. “Recreate the Primarchs? That’s ridiculous, and more trouble than it’s worth... although, thinking back they were not as troublesome as I thought.” an image of a young man in silver armor flared in Her memory. She shook Her head and continued Her search. “No, no more sons, no more children. It shall be me and you, Empress and Her phoenix.” Philomena chirped again. “I can manage this world quite well. I ruled the Imperium for millennia; I can repeat my success here.” Finally, the Empress found a nice deposit of metal. She pulled the metal from the river before Her, inspecting the glowing liquid before smiling.
“Yes, there is enough here for my armor.” Philomena chirped once more. “Yes, I do care more for a suit of armor than another pony. Stop asking me these questions.” She separated the metal into two even clumps and pulled the first clump into a pony shape, using the powers of the Warp to make sure it did not cool. Once She had the general shape of the plates, She reversed Her input on the Warp energy and flash cooled the metal, leaving an array of grey plates hanging in the air. It was a crude method of forging, but it was certainly quicker and less exhausting than classical blacksmithing.
If I had a plasma forge this would be easier. She took the second clump and spread it out into strips, weaving them together before laying them over the base metal. The process took over three hours, but She had her armor.
“The neck seems exposed, and infusing it with Warp energy could increase its strength, don’t you agree?” She asked Philomena. There was a chirp. “Oh, of course, you didn’t gain any of my knowledge regarding craftsmanship. Vulkan or Ferrus would have given some kind of input.” She began to mold the shoulder pauldrons when Philomena squawked again and stroked Her neck. “Just because I mention their names does not mean I miss them. They may have been my sons, but any relation between me and them was as a commander to his soldiers.” Another chirp, and the Empress almost dropped the pauldrons. She turned and glared at Philomena.
“Don’t you dare say that was why Horus fell. He was drawn in by the powers of Chaos, nothing more. Thinking that he fell because I mistreated him is absurd.” Philomena returned Her glare and chirped her response. “I had the utmost respect for Horus; he was my finest general and one of my greatest statesmen.” Philomena chirped once more, causing the Empress’ gaze to soften. “Did I... love him? Well of course I did; remember what I just said-” the bird interrupted Her with another chirp. “... No, not that kind of love. You may be right, but that still does not change my opinion on the subject.” Philomena did the nearest thing to a smile she could manage while the Empress finished Her pauldrons. “Make yourself useful and find me some gold.” Philomena nodded and took off, disappearing behind a nearby mountain. The Empress attached the pauldrons to the rest of Her armor and began inspecting it piece by piece.
She does have a point, though; I never actually raised my sons myself, so it was inevitable that some problems could arise. Maybe... She shook Her head. No, that’s just the changes in my body speaking; I am the Empress, not some housewife... but maybe, just maybe, I could raise a child on my own, a true and proper heir free from the taint of Chaos. She shook Her head once more.
“No, I will not have another son or daughter..." As She tried to return to Her work, her imagination started to wander. "Perhaps a sibling then... No, I must finish my work.” She continued Her inspection when there was a shriek from above. She looked up and saw Philomena returning, her feathers covered in dust and two small nuggets of gold in her talons.
“Good work; this should be enough to provide a solid layer.” She took the nuggets from Philomena and began to flatten them, laying them against the armor and fusing the two metals together for better structure. Satisfied, She used up the last amounts of Her Warp energy to mold and indent several parts of the armor, crafting icons and images to better suit Her position as Empress.
“First, the mark of my new reign,” She said, caving in part of the right pauldron into the shape of the mark on Her flanks. “Then, an honor to your help and status as my companion.” She etched the image of a bird of prey into the left pauldron, occasionally looking over Her shoulder at Philomena to make sure She was getting everything correct.
“And finally, in remembrance of the old Imperium, the mighty Aquila.” The chest plate warped until the image of a two-headed eagle formed, wings spread wide and crossing the entire piece. Satisfied, She took each piece of the armor and strapped it on, pushing Philomena out of the way so She could finish.
Standing next to a river of fire, clad in golden armor and with Her companion at Her side, the Empress was ready for forging a new world.
...
“Oh stop complaining, it’s only a vacuum.” the Empress said as Philomena squawked in fear. “I could have built a homeostasis suit for you if I had a little more time, but you’ll have to trust that my powers can protect you.” A chirp. “I can manage; I’ve had to survive in much worse conditions.” another squawk. “Sanguinius survived Baal, you can survive the vacuum.” yet another squawk. “I thought we settled this matter. Now hold on, I’m about to break through the atmosphere!” the Empress and Philomena flew on into space, a small bubble forming around them as they exited what atmosphere the planet had. A thin sheet of ice formed over Her armor, slowing Her progress and startling Philomena. The phoenix squawked as they continued on.
“No, ice build-up cannot compromise the structural integrity of this armor.” a concerned chirp. “Yes, I’m sure. I tested this style of armor thoroughly in as many hostile environments as I could think of.” Finding a suitable spot from which to view the collision, the Empress turned and began to hover, Her wings flapping slowly to provide stability.
Contrary to what Her followers had said over the years, planetary collisions actually appeared to happen very slowly. The two planets seemed to inch closer and closer to each other at almost glacial speed, crust and bedrock cracking as the two neared. Again the comparison to a rok came to Her mind, but then orks were nowhere near as patient as She was. Neither was Philomena, apparently.
“No, I can’t rush this process.” The Empress replied to a chirp. There was another series of chirps, followed by a squawk. “If I did, the impact might scatter more debris over a large area, and then the planet would be too small for my plan. For someone who has parts of my memories, you don’t seem to use them very much.” another squawk, causing the Empress to smirk. “I have made myself productive while you have gone on about mates and children; who do you think is the more industrious?” A chirp, this one removing the smirk from the Empress’ face. “No, I’m still against it.” Yet another chirp. “... Yes, I have thought about it...” She shook Her head and turned Her attention back to the collision before Her.
Once the planets fully collided, their sheer size and speed meant that the two ground together for what seemed like a few minutes before both planets were shattered into chunks, some no bigger than Her smallest feathers. Tapping into the Immaterium, She began to swirl the chunks together, using one of the largest chunks as a focal point and using the Warp to fuse the chunks together. Once She had a suitable sized chunk of rock, She released Her energy and allowed gravity to finish the task.
“I’d like to see the Eldar try this with their powers.” She muttered, smiling slightly.
...
Time passed by, and soon shallow seas had formed. The air was still unbreathable to mortal life, but it was slowly getting cleaner. A quick manipulation of the Warp had allowed Her to engineer primitive algae and some small amoebas to inhabit the seas, turning them a general shade of green.
But algae was not good enough; more complex creations would be needed. Thus, a genetics lab was under construction on a cliff near the largest of the seas. It was thrown together from whatever pieces of metal She could find from a small mine dug into a mountain, and from the outside it would have made any ork cry in glee. Still it was functional, and She set to work on Her first project.
“There should be enough calcium carbonate in this limestone,” She lifted a small white rock and placed it next to the first genetic manipulator “To create a simple carapace. I just need to manipulate the genetic structure of a few amoebas to accept the carapace. Philomena,” She pulled a small vial from a pouch in Her armor and handed it to the phoenix “Draw some water, and try to burn as much of the algae away without killing any other organisms.” Philomena took the vial and flew out over the ocean, swooping down once she found a nice patch of seawater. There was a flash and Philomena returned, a thin column of steam rising from the vial. The Empress took the vial and examined it.
“Well, there’s not much here, but it should be enough.” She poured the contents of the vial into the manipulator, a small screen producing an image of several single-cell organisms swimming about. “Philomena, I would like it if you do not disturb me while I’m working; this is a delicate procedure and I do not want to accidentally recreate the Hive Mind.” the bird chirped and flew off, leaving the Empress alone.
This won’t be as simple as making the Primarchs, She thought, pulling up a scan of the genetic structure of the amoebas. This is an entire new species; no backdrops, no previous structure, nothing. This shall be a challenge worthy of an Empress, to give an entire planet life. She smiled and began Her manipulation, deleting and altering any genes She deemed unnecessary. Time continued on as the Empress worked, and due to the limitations of the equipment she had, by the time She finished the sun was only a thin line across the horizon. Philomena returned to her usual perch, the Empress’ left pauldron.
“Impressive, isn’t it?” She said, lifting her creation out of the manipulator. It was small, about the size of a bolter shell, and colored a weathered brown. It had eight claw-like legs and two small pincers, and a thin tail protruded from the rear of its carapace. “I call it the Scorpia. What do you think?” Philomena looked at the crustacean and squawked. “No, it’s nothing like a foal... but it’s still a whole new species! Imagine what else I could do.” a chirp. “... Yes, growing a pony is perfectly within my grasp, but I said I don’t want to deal with that again.” the Empress spread Her wings and flew out over the ocean, Her creation grasped in a telekinetic aura. She found a shallow part of the sea, one ripe with algae, and placed the Scorpia into the water.
“I grant you access to the oceans and their splendor. Feed and multiply, as I have commanded it.” Philomena chirped and flew off, heading back to the genetics lab.
She’ll stop eventually. Once she realizes I don’t need a mate or child, she’ll stop.
...
The Scorpias were successful. Too successful, actually; when She went back to check on Her creation a few months later, the Empress found the seabed thick with Scorpias. They clambered over each other in their search for food, often crushing smaller comrades under their weight. Dead and dying Scorpias littered the sea and washed up on shore, the smell of rotting shellfish reaching to the higher levels of the planet’s still thin atmosphere.
“I’m an idiot.” the Empress said, smacking Herself in the head with an armored hoof. “I produced a race of herbivores without looking for a way to stabilize their population and clean up after waste. Why didn’t I think of this problem sooner?” She paused and looked down at Herself. “I suppose that comes from inhabiting the body of a prey animal. I shall have to remedy the situation.” She concentrated for a moment, and then six Scorpias broke the surface of the water and levitated in front of Her. She placed them back in the genetic manipulator and started over, shifting through the genetic codes in search for the right combinations. Philomena returned from her daily flight and circled the Empress while She worked.
“You still think I’m lonely, don’t you?” the bird nodded and landed. “So what If I am? How is making another pony going to help?” The bird chirped. “No, there’s too much pain with raising a child... or foal, as the case may be.” a chirp. “... Rule together? My status as Empress means I must be supreme ruler. You can’t have two Empresses ruling a country together.” another chirp and a few squawks. “...Second in command could work, and if she was of my own flesh and blood and brought up with loyalty to me, then she could be less likely to commit heresy than Horus...” She sighed and returned to Her work. “Before I can think of anything like that, I need to stabilize the ecosystem.” She finished the first of Her new creations and pulled it from the manipulator. It was three times the size of a normal Scorpia, and its front pair of legs had been replaced by two scythe-like talons. Its back was arched and covered in small spines, and a small club had been added to its tail.
“Behold, the Scorpia Carnifex. This should be able to stabilize the ecosystem and kill off some of the Scorpias.” She set the Scorpia Carnifex aside and began working on the second creature. She made the next one smaller than the normal Scorpia, and less aggressive, but increased the size of its claws for breaking open discarded carapaces. “A scavenger should also be able to clean up the dead.” Philomena rolled her eyes and chirped.
“Okay fine, you win. Once I finish building a stable ecosystem, I'll create someone to keep me company so you'll stop annoying me. Go and gloat somewhere else if it will make you happier.”
...
Two years in, and already the sea was teeming with life. The original Scorpias had not been able to withstand the onslaught of the Carnifex, so they were modified for schooling behaviors and allowed to breed a little faster. Inspired, the Empress had created several more creatures to inhabit the oceans, some based on the original Scorpia while others were completely new designs. Small plants and moss had begun to grow on land, and the Empress had expanded Her genetics lab for further projects.
But now, egged on by Philomena, She was about to embark on a new project. Before Her was a modified genetic manipulator, designed to take in massive amounts of Warp Energy without exploding (which had happened to Her first attempt; at least She now had tide pools to monitor). Connected to the manipulator was an artificial womb, designed to give all the necessary nutrients to a growing organism without inhibiting the Empress’ ability to work. Syringes and test tubes lay on a table next to the manipulator, and the Empress had removed Her armor for better mobility.
“I still have my reservations about this.” She said to Philomena. “I could end up creating a second Angron... But I have equal chance for creating a second Sanguinius. If I should fail, both of us shall share the blame.” Philomena nodded while the Empress brought forth the first syringe.
“She shall be of my own flesh and blood, but she shall not be my daughter.” there was a flash of pain as She pressed the syringe into Her leg, crimson liquid filling the syringe as She drew Her blood. “All of my strengths, my powers, my capacity of knowledge; all these I give unto her.” She injected the blood into the manipulator, scanning the DNA strands that appeared. “As I am ruler of the day, she shall rule the night; the darkness shall be subdued and she shall be its master.” Manipulation and alteration began, the Empress working as fast as possible to make sure everything was ready. Impurities were erased, flaws ironed out, and changes in potential power sets were made to make sure the new pony was as different as possible.
“And above all, she shall have a capacity for love; I may not show it very often, but she shall. Her subjects will be her most prized possessions; her loyalty to them shall never waver. Their safety and well being shall come before her own, and she will defend them to the utmost of her abilities.” Finally, the manipulation was finished. Before the Empress was a single cell, not yet ready for growth. Smiling, She leaned down and touched Her horn to the manipulator, letting off a pulse of Warp Energy. The cell stirred for a moment before it began to divide, growing faster with every passing second.
“She shall be named Luna, and she shall be my sister.”
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You made the Empress so cold, it conflicts a lot with the thought process before the Horus heresy.
The Emperor did love humanity, he nurtured it from the time He came to be till the time that He revealed himself. He could have destroy Horus the instant they meet in combat but He held back. He still thought Horus could be saved and He didn't want to kill His most beloved son. He took on the burden of keeping humanity safe even during His incarceration in the golden throne. Actually that's probably just my head canon getting mixed up there but you get the gist of it.
-Sturrn
1606197 He's had to put up with a lot of crap over the years He's been on the Throne; utopia turned into opressive theocracy, your worse enemies trying to kill you every day, all your subjects getting enslaved, butchered, eaten or any combination of the three, He has a lot of reasons to be pissed
BABY LUNA!!! I love you!!
Funny thing is I keep thinking that She is talking to herself instead of talking to Phliomina, 'course after so many millennia anyone is bound to go a bit nutbars.So now he have Luna....baby Luna at that... did the Emperor raise his sons from infants or where they born full grown? Right now I'm thinking he/she hasn't had much experience with babies.
The end of the chapter seems familiar. Where have I seen something like that before?
Oh, right.
I am looking forward to baby Luna, and I am looking forward to
twentypercentcooler.net/data/7c/ea/7ceab9d611e3cb5f4bf7f5c4c456cae0.png?1313055255
I wonder what The Empress of Scorpia kind will create next.
I also foresee Twilight asking a lot of questions about Luna and learning about the tale of Nightmare Moon quite a bit earlier than in canon.
On a completely different note, are Twilight and the other bearers of Harmony genetically engineered to exemplify their Elements and part of an elaborate plot made by Celestia to redeem Luna?
1606305 S/He hasn't, makes it more fun
the whole story is that when they were infants, the 20 Primarchs were kidnapped by the Chaos Gods and scattered around the Galaxy. The Emperor found them during his campaigns and put them in charge of the Space Marine Legions
1606323 Twilight & friends are not genetically altered. However, the Empress did impress the Elements upon... wait, spoilers, you'll have to be patient
1606335
Ah... so he didn't raise them to adulthood then.
You evil, evil bastard.
1606345
40k canon is not a nice place. There's a reason it's considered the inspiration for the term 'grimdark' after all.
Cute or weird, take your pick.
pinkie.ponychan.net/chan/files/src/134254285034.png
1606600 excuse me, my heart just exploded
1606543
I knew that, one of the reasons why that despite my love of far-future science fiction I really don't want to read the books. That and I've done a crossuniverse RP... and well I got my ship blown up our from under me, I still say they cheated... no way in hell that disintegrator /disruptor beam should've been able to get through my drive bands...
I'll stick with my Honorverse thank you.
This is brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
1606607 Mine didn't. I've always found the infant ponies to just look freaking weird to me. First time I saw one in the show I was like, "Sweet Jesus on a pogostick! An alien!"
Nah to me this is cute.
3.bp.blogspot.com/-UiDhmlLQXyc/T45dRpxAqwI/AAAAAAAAE1M/7694KOAH8mo/s1600/115818+-+artist+Egophiliac+luna+science+woona.png
or this.
i.imgur.com/iW2my.png
But if I really wanted your heart to explode, I'd just jump to this.
static.fimfiction.net/images/story_images/31512.png?1339363967
1606662 I... I... D'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW
Also when you posted on my user page, did you happen to see what I had put up as a blog post? Apparently ponies scale in cuteness in negative proportions in size. The accepted whither = waist height size pony is the lower limit for cuteness. the smaller they get while still adults just makes them cuter. Fluttershy goes from being very cute to I-just-contracted-diabeetus-looking-at-her.
1606636
Try the Ciaphas Cain books by Sandy Mitchell if you want some 40k fluff with minimal grimdark. They're way lighter than you'd expect for the setting.
1606735 refrences to everyone's favorite Hero of the Imperium may be forthcoming
1606662
So...much... SQUEEE!!! *cough... hack* God that is bad for my throat. By the way were did you find that picture with the Sisters in the tea cups?
1606735
I'll look into it if I can find a copy.
1606750 Everyone's favorite Hero of the Imperium? Sweet! I look forward to seeing Commissar Fuklaw.
1606776 It was provided by the group troll from the ELPMC forums (Eridani Light Pony Mercernary Corporation)
I WANT BABY WOONA!
1606792
Crap... so not on Deviantart then
1606662
That last pic!
1606807 I can always ask.
1607126
Please do, the sheer amount of adorableness would go perfectly in on the groups I'm part of
1606750
I'm actually a Ibram Gaunt fan, myself.
1607574 I'm not as familiar with Gaunt as Cain... Maybe I should do some research and both will be mentioned
1607584
Given the tie-in to an ongoing crusade (and one in the homeworlds of an Imperial Saint, nonetheless), Gaunt's probably the more likely of the two to have come to the GEoM's attention, Cain's dalliances with the Inquisition not withstanding.
1607584
Cain and Jurgen are the greatest team in the Imperium. I love their books and I can't wait to see any references you put in this story.
Scorpio = proto-changeling? Scorpio carnifax = proto-manticore?
only one thing wrong with this story so far: the chaos gods are eternal unkillabal unless they make themselves so
but they have a flaw, they feed off the souls of their worshipers, blood feeds korn, desese feeds nergul, sensations feed slaneesh, and magic feeds tzeench, so in order to make them week enuf to kill you have to remove their worshipers a rather hard task when your in the 41 millennium
Hmm, the Scorpio reminded me of trilobites, and the Scorpio Carnifex of the ancient sea scorpions (earth's first super predators) of the Ordovician period. Was that intentional, or just a coincidence?
So now we know why Nightmare Moon hurt so much. It must have been very, very like looking at Horus all over again. Worse still, Philomina's prophecy had been fulfilled - failure to care for Luna and give her the attention she needs had turned her as certainly it had the GEoM's sons.
Interesting point that I seem to have missed from an earlier chapter - Celestia (although she hasn't adopted that name yet - Luna may give it to her) already has her Cutie Mark (and associating that with the GEoM even tangentially makes my brain explode). It should be interesting to see how she reacts when Luna's appears and what explanation she'll determine for it. Is it a reflection of the soul or of the purpose that soul has set for itself?
Building a working and stable ecosystem is a long and difficult process; good thing she's immortal!
1608759 I did it on purpose (She's got to start small, after all)
"Vulkan or Manus would have given some kind of input."
First it is Magnus and second i would rather say Vulkan and Ferrus because they where the craftsmen out of the Primarchs.
Magnus was a sorcerer and scholar in the truest sense he did not concern himself with such silly things as augmeting armor with warpstuff if he could protect himself more efficent with the warpstuff itself.
1609999 Ferrus' last name was Manus, but for sake of clarity I will change it
1610887
one cannot truly know the ways of the Empyrean.
Oh i thought you meant Magnus because of the warpstuff that Clestia infused the armor with.
So far this is one of the best Equestrian origin storys i have read even if chaos has nothing to say in it.
Or does it
May the ruinous powers grant you the knowledge to continue mortal!
She was playing... Wait for it... Spore.
1610887 I dont mean to nitpick, but he DID treat the primarchs as his sons, and horus was raised by his side since he was little. Chibi horus FTW!
i wonder how queen chrysalis and her changelings came to be
1606662 The last one all I see is a Red X the second one I want one
I came back to this story to re-read the whole fight scene in the beginning and now I notice i'm re-reading the whole story...
damn... oh well keep reading
I thought that mention of adamantium was pretty clever, although I don't see how it could form on its own in a lava flow, I thought it was a man-made attempt at recreating vibranium?
The capital letters everytime you write She is very distracting..
3301679 I see...
As a fan of both 40k and MLP, I'm loving this story so far.
Philomena managed to actually get Celestia to realize one of the reasons why, as the male human who became Emperor and created the Primarchs, He fell somewhere between Rusty Venture and Gendo Ikari for "Worst Dad EVER".
Seriously, the Primarchs who ended up good people did so in spite of the Emperor, and His actions directly led to several of them rebelling. Though, with several of those cases (specifically Angron, Lorgar, and Magnus), the things He did pushed their buttons so effectively that they look tailor made to shove them toward disaster.
Taking the proud, angry warrior away from the only people who ever meant anything to him and leaving said people to die? Letting the priest raise up dozens of worlds to worship Him, then glassing the most magnificent of them, forcing his legion to kneel in its ashes, and telling him he was a failure? Demanding that the curious mage not only not investigate the Warp, but not even use the powers and skills he was literally designed to have, without telling him why?
Those all look outright calculated to lead directly to what ended up happening. And the real question is... What terrible thing did the Emperor foresee that was WORSE than a millennia-long civil war, the degradation of the empire He built, and Him being worshipped fanatically when He had spent so long trying to wipe out religion?
3215613 sorry for getting back so late, but adamantium (or adamantine, the lore isn't very clear) does exist in the 40K universe. The Imperium uses it for tank armor
1654122 yep on a much bigger scale.
Geez to make a Ork crying in glee that must be a beautiful sight to a ork.
So the Scorpia are practically Equestria's version of sea scorpions from the Paleozoic era back on Terra
At least nothing can go wrong now, right?
Scorpia Carnifex? I see 'Ol Emps is taking a page from the Hive Mind's book.