> Friendhammer
>  by TheBugWar
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Humanity!

In all the universes, in all realities, nowhere else is such a diverse, lovely, terrifying, wonderful species!

Take this shard of reality: humanity emerges from a war to contact aliens, overcomes terrible adversity and eventually leads a federation of allied races to prosperity! Lovely!

In this one: Humans lead a terrible space empire… but they also lead a rebellion against said empire! And there are magical space monks with laser swords! Marvelous, just marvelous!

So many possibilities! Like frenzied forked lightning their potential pierces the fabric of the multiverse. Is it any wonder that they are my favorite?

But…

There is always a but.

If there are highest highs of peace and prosperity, there must be a low.

The waves and ebbs of balance ensure that there must be a dark to every light.

Look upon one of the worst: The distant dark future of a galaxy burned by fire and salted by blood. A galaxy with no friendly federation, only xenophobia and distrust. Humanity spread to the stars in an uncountable multitude and beat their existence onto planets like a blacksmith at a forge, opposed always by the dark laughter of thirsting gods.

Look closer: A planet whose existence is dedicated to war, dedicated to stand against an insane evil. A planet who now dies: its enemy successful in breaching the weapons and armor built into its very mantle.

Closer still: A fleeing flotilla of half-wrecked transports and warships. Like rats fleeing a sinking ship, they run. Each vessel packed to the tip-top with injured and terrified survivors. They are pursued by the those that killed their planet, a people so full of hate and cruelty that they cannot stand the existence of even a single survivor.

Lets look at a survivor…

This one! Thirteen years old, a little banged up, but look at his mind! Focused! Faithful! Still hopeful after all of this!

I love humanity.

Its to bad he's going to die in a few days when the transport he is on has an engine failure and falls under the guns of the enemy fleet. His last thought will be of his God as fire rushes to consume him.

It'll be quick I suppose…

Ah, we can't have that, can we?

Perfect little mote of a human! A little push and we can slide him up and down the sideways cracks of the universe from here to there, now to then or even from zwang to kwang! That’s not a good choice though, humans don’t take to partial demi-existence that well.

There he goes! He's going up! From the grimmest darkness to…

Wait for it…

Oooh, he's going WAY up there!

Right into…!

This will be exciting!
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His name is Bann Thire.

He is wrapped in the twilight half-sleep where someone knows they should wake up, but they really don’t want to. All the lumps and bumps of his scratchy bunk seemed to have found their way to places that were comfortable, and the warm sun on his closed eyes felt wonderful.

Something was wrong, but it was far away right now.

He tried to scratch his nose and lightning pain shot up his arm.

Hissing, he shot upright, clutching his right arm with his left. Bandaged and wrapped tight against his body, he cursed himself and his arm for forgetting that it had been broken. As the pain subsided, he began to realize the myriad problems with his current situation.

One: He wasn't in his bed.

Two: He was under a clear blue sky with a warm yellow sun shining down upon his face and a gentle breeze brushing his matted hair out of his eyes.

Three: He was sitting on a rough dirt path green grass to his right and left. Carefully spaced trees laden with red fruit lined the path and the rolling hills surrounding it.

Carefully, restraining his panic, he stood, pressing off the warm dirt with his good hand. Eyes wide and unbelieving, he turned in a slow circle, taking in the picturesque surroundings. Considering that when he had gone to sleep, he had been crammed into a dim cargo bay that had been hastily retrofitted to carry a seething mass of thousands of fleeing soldiers and refugees, it was a lot to take in.

Remembering his training, he began to take stock of his assets.

His clothing was dirt stained, but considering that he had been wearing the same uniform for over a week now, it didn’t bear mentioning. His equipment was carefully placed next to his feet where he had left it when settling down into his cot last night: medpack (mostly empty now), flak helmet, knife and rifle with clips. His boots were scuffed but serviceable, and the rest of his kit seemed to be there: grooming kit, ration case and a cluster of other sundries all carefully packed away in pouches.

Fumbling with his left hand, he placed his helmet on his head and clipped it under his chin. Next was the rest: medpack belted, knife sheathed at his waist, two dark green frag grenades, and last, his weapon. A Kantrael pattern M36 lasgun, its boxy casing painted in the same olive drab as his uniform. Capable of sustained automatic fire it was the staple of human guardsmen the galaxy over and was the most important part of his kit. Carefully, with the due reverence it deserved, he slung the weapon strap over his shoulder, letting his uninjured arm rest on its stock. In minutes the rest of his gear was ready to go and he was left with what to do next.

He tried to remember the foreign world contact protocols from his first days in the White Shields, but most of it didn’t apply. He didn’t have a re-breather or mask, he didn’t have instructions from an apothecary to follow or unit directives to obey.

He recalled the scarred twisted face of his education officer as the man went over the protocols years ago, standing ramrod straight with the rest of the boys and girls in his class as the tall adult in his black storm coat had bawled at them:

"Always remember that you are a soldier in His army! If you cannot find a friendly unit to linkup with, if you cannot locate or contact your superiors, it is your duty to find the enemy and engage him! Your life is the coin of the Imperium and it must be spent against the enemy!"

Bann tapped the comm-bead in his helmet, but got no noise. Either it was damaged or it couldn’t find any signals. Working carefully, he adjusted the flak armor protecting his knees, elbows and the large vest protecting his chest and back. Situated and collected, he began to walk, picking a direction at random.

This world, whatever it was, was pleasant enough. Clear sky, cool breeze, normal gravity. Small brightly plumaged birds flitted in the branches of the fruit trees and, after some cautious observation, didn’t seem to be dangerous. The gently rolling hills seemed to go on for some distance, but he didn’t see any workers or machines tending the many trees. In fact, no distant spires or building marred the horizon at all. Wherever he was, it wasn’t a human planet.

The fruit trees were the worst. He studied one carefully, its branches laden with strange red fruit the size of his fist. They smelled wonderful, remining him of the dessert spread they gave with bread during the Feast of the Emperors Ascension. Carefully, he twisted one off of its stem and studied it closely. Red, smooth and enticing.

Mouth watering, his body begged for him to take a bite. He had been on emergency rations for so long he had began to forget what taste tasted like. All his training screamed the opposite, recalling warnings about poisons, sickness and a host of other disasters that could occur from eating alien food.

Sighing, he put the strange red thing into an empty pouch. Trying to assuage his stomach, he unwrapped a protein cube and popped it in his mouth, wrinkling his nose as it sucked the moisture out of his mouth and began to soften. Chewing hard, he worked the flavourless wad as he walked on, letting the slow acting food-replacement dissolve.

For hours he walked, his training allowing his lean form to keep moving. As step followed step and nothing attacked him, he began to take more of the environment in. He noticed more animals: small furry brown things with big bushy tails scampering from branch to branch or along the ground. Larger ground animals with droopy long ears and little ball-tails hopped about. More and more birds, each more colorful than the last, filled the air with musical chirps and trills.

Maybe I am dead.

The thought stopped him in his tracks.

This place… it was more peaceful and calm that anything he could imagine. It did resemble the paradise that the priests and ecclesiarches had said awaited the loyal and dutiful, but it was so quiet. None of his ancestors waited for him. His Emperor wasn’t waiting for him.

Was it because they had lost? Their world destroyed by the Great Enemy? Was he dead and left to wander this place alone?

The thoughts raced. He felt himself panicking. He let out a sudden cry and collapsed against the knotty trunk of a tree. All the stress of the past months and the alien unfamiliarity of his surroundings rendering the young man helpless. He felt his cheeks grow wet as he buried his face in his arm, trying desperately to control himself. His shoulders shook as wracking sobs burst forth. His weapon fell with a quiet clatter to the hand packed dirt path.

He sat there for sometime, remembering the voices of his friends and wondering if he would every hear them again. He knew that many of them were dead, and he had no idea how many of them had made it to the transports. Grief wracked him for a while before he felt empty. Like a wave receding, he began to get control of himself. He felt empty, and was angry at himself.

"Here I am, a Cadian. One of humanities finest, blubbering like a baby in the creche." He thought as he pulled himself to his feet. He murmured an apology to his weapon as he slung it back over his shoulder and stopped dead as his eyes centered on the road.

There was a creature there.

Quadruped, bright red. Large eyes on a long face.

His brain hadn’t even finished processing the alien in front of him before he swung his rifle around in a one handed grip and squeezed the trigger.

Click.

He stepped back, letting the rifle swing loose and drew his knife, bringing it up in a defensive grip.

The thing just stood there, looking confused.

After a moment, Bann let the knife drop to his side. He felt like an idiot. Some random animal wanders up and he tries to shoot it, fails, then challenges it to a knife fight. Genius.

He examined the alien closer. It was covered in a shockingly red coat of thin fur. It did have four legs, but no feet. Only hard nail looking stubs. It had a long body and a thick hairy tail that was flicking slightly from side to side. A long neck was topped by a long square face with two clear green eyes, beneath which were clusters of pale freckles. A mass of hair stretching from the top of its head to the base of its neck topped the strange animal which shared a brilliant orange hue with its tail.

It looked kind of like a horse. The ancient Terran animal representing power and strength that emblazoned the sides of many armored vehicles and regimental banners, but he had never seen an actual live example. This one looked small. From what he understood a horse should tower over him, whereas this one came up to the middle of his chest.
Sheathing his knife, he squatted down to eye level with the red animal. It didn’t look hostile, its feet things, hooves, he remembered they were called, didn’t have claws or anything dangerous he could see. It wasn’t bearing its teeth or hissing or making any kind of hostile gesture.

"How you doing, buddy?" He said in a calm voice. Maybe it could be tamed?

"Uh… good. How 'bout you?" It replied in a surprisingly deep voice, quirking an eyebrow at him.

Bann blinked. Then screamed in surprise.

"Ahhhh!" He yelled, falling onto his backside.

"Ahhhhhh!" Yelled the red mini-horse, jumping back away from him. "What is wrong wit' you, waving a knife around and screaming at people?!" It said angrily, face set in a surprisingly emotive frown.

"You… you can talk!" Bann said accusingly from the dirt.

"Eeeyup, I can. And so can you 'parently." It took a few cautious steps towards him. "Uh… what exactly are you, friend?" It asked, eyes roving over Banns prostrate form.

"I'm… I'm a man. A human man."

"A hue-man-man?" It frowned "Never heard of nothing like that."

Bann stood and brushed the dirt off his bottom, never taking his eyes off of the red horse.

"Well… now you have." Bann didn’t know what to say. He had never spoken with an alien before. Everything he had read and been taught had extolled the nightmarish nature of "The Alien", that every other species existed to challenge humanities right to exist. For a "slavering xenos monster", it was surprisingly calm and well spoken "What are you?"

The alien looked him up and down again before replying "I'm a pony." he said slowly "Names' Mcintosh. Friends call be 'Big Mac'."

It took a slow step forward, still eyeing Bann cautiously. Its afraid of me. He realized. That was odd. He had never considered that before.

Big Mac took another step, bringing him within arms reach of the human. Slowly, he raised a foreleg and pointed it at Bann.

Bann stared at the offered hoof, then at Big Mac. When he didn’t move to respond, Big Mac wiggled his hoof slightly. Bann hesitantly reached out, took the offered hoof and gave it a few quick pumps, trying to shake hands with the pony.
After he let go, Big Mac stared at his hoof then put it back on the ground.

"Eeeeh. Close enough."

He turned to go and Bann followed him. They walked down the path together, both trying to sneak glances at each other.

"So… Hue-man-man… what brings you to Sweet Apple Acres?"

"My name is Bann. My species is human. Just human." he emphasized the word slowly "And I have no idea what brought me here. I just… woke up and walked."

"Whelp, if you walked, you've been on the road a looooong time. Like I said: never seen a human before. You, uh, look kinda like a shaved diamond dog, if you don’t mind me sayin'."

Bann had no idea what that was. They walked in silence for a few minutes more, but it wasn't an uncomfortable one. Checking out the strange creature, Bann noticed it had a tattoo of one of the red fruit, cut into segments, on its rear right flank.

How the hell would hooves work a tattoo gun? He thought to himself. Right. Like that’s the weirdest thing about this… xeno.

"Sweet Apple Acres, huh? You grow these red fruit here?" Bann gestured to a nearby tree.

"Eeyup. Best apples this side of Canterlot." There was a pause "You never seen apples before?" confusion colored the ponies voice.

"Uh. No. I don’t think so."

Big Mac stopped and stared at him in disbelief.

"You must be joking."

"I'm not."

"Well, you hafta' try one then." Big Mac said with hesitation, obviously still not believing him. He backed up towards the nearest tree and gave it a measured kick with his back leg. A pair of apples dropped to the ground with muffled thumps. Big Mac gestures to them with his muzzle.

"Go ahead."

Bann carefully picked up the first. Like the others, it was smooth and bright red, with areas mottled with lighter shades. The smell was amazing. A lifetime of indoctrinated fear of the unknown swam in his head. He tried to choke down the instinctual fear that if he bit into the 'apple' he would die a terrible death.

Big Mac stared at the human in confusion, not understanding the concern on his face. He could see the emotions warring in Bann, but stayed quiet, letting the strange creature work it out for himself.

Bann forced down his fear of the unknown and bit into the offered fruit. Under the red skin was a firm, crisp white flesh. For a moment, he couldn’t place the taste, it was so foreign to him… but quickly a smile broke out. He hurriedly took another bite, then another, the juice dripping down his chin.

"Hits show good!" He exclaimed happily through a mouth of apple, before swallowing. "Its so good!" he clarified.
Good didn’t even begin to cover it. It did taste vaguely like his favorite feast day dessert spread, but in the same way a blown kiss from fifty feet away was similar to a full kiss on the lips from someone you loved. It was, without compare, the best thing he had ever tasted. Barely pausing to breathe, he chewed more and more of the first apple, consuming it down to the core then eating that as well, savouring even the bitterness of the seeds. Before Big Mac's bemused eyes, the human quickly only held a short green stem between his teeth. He looked at the pony, an eyebrow raised, and Big Mac shook his head. Bann spat out the small stem and picked up the other apple. He considered it for a moment, then jammed it into his pouch, adding it to the one he picked up awhile back.

Two for later. He thought.

Big Mac was smiling at him broadly.

"Anypony who eats apples like that has to be a good one."

They walked together for another few minutes, Bann spending most of it licking his lips and hands clean. Over the next hill was a simple, two wheeled wagon parked under a tree with three baskets in its back full of apples. With a surprisingly dextrous move, Big Mac slid under the harness attached to the two guides in the front and settled it over his shoulders. 
He started pulling the wagon effortlessly down the path, glancing again at Bann to make sure he followed.

"We'll get you back to the farm. Figure out what to do with ya, check out your arm and such…"

The red pony had taken a dozen steps before he realized the human wasn’t following him anymore. Turning his neck, he looked quizzically at the human. Bann had stopped and was starting at Big Mac, his face blank and expression unreadable.
Without saying a word, Bann knelt and pulled his langun over his knee. Whispering quietly to his weapon, he said the required words, while, one handed, he ejected the power cell.

"Machine Spirit, forgive my actions. Soon you will be whole again." 

Bringing the cell up to his face, he squinted at the small indicator on the inside: empty. Fumbling, he slid the photo-cell open on the top of the metal case and slid the small metal cell into the slot on the side of his helmet. Moving quickly, his motions practiced despite his bandaged arm, he slid a second energy cell out of a pouch and repeated the steps, sliding the solar charging cell open and sliding it into the other retaining slot on his helmet. He met Big Macs eyes for a moment, face still blank and not reacting to the red ponies concerned stare, before he took one of his remaining grenades and slid it into the band across his chest.

His hands itched to draw his knife and hook it into the bayonet lugs on the front of his rifle, but he doubted that Big Mac would miss the obvious hostility in the action. The friendly ponies face was creased with a frown.

"Everything, uh, okay over there?"

Banns face was set in a cold, blank look. For all the red aliens friendliness and comradery, it was still a xenos. An outsider. He may have been put off his normal human suspicion by his surroundings and by the trauma of the war for Cadia, but Big Mac was taking him to a farm, a group location. There had to be more ponies there. He might be walking into a trap.

Bann gave the pony a smile, the warmth of it never reaching his violet eyes.

"Yeah. Lets go."
> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Like a tired mother falling into her bed, the moon gently fell in the sky.

Pregnant with all the possibilities of night, its soft glow radiated onto all the peoples and animals of the world.

Those who hunted and walked by night were comforted by it. Those who dreamt snuggled closer to blankets or loved ones as it shone through their windows. Its light was as perfect an addition to the world as breath, sound and life itself.

All through the night, it had covered the world, but soon that would end. As always, its luminous silver would be traded for the glorious gold of the sun.

On one of the royal balconies stood a powerful equine form. Her coat of deepest night and radiant purple maneshot through with shimmering stars shone in the fading moonlight, her hooves were as made of silver and her eyes radiated the cold certainty of the ocean. Her feathered wings were currently folded comfortably against her sides. Upon her brow was her horn, long, regal and a greater sign of her power than any crown. Her dominion was the moon, but she also held responsibilities over the health, life and prosperity of the people and animals. Her dominion both as magical force of the moon itself and as half of the regency of the land was trying, but she enjoyed the depth of her responsibility. She had much to prove, both to herself and to others, after her attempt to rule alone as 'The Night Mare'. She was Princess Luna, a royal of Equestria.

"Penny for your thoughts, sister?" Came a melodious voice from behind her.

Princess Luna smiled. The very presence of her sibling chasing away the grim thoughts of her abortive and ill-conceived coup.

"I was just thinking about my attempt to consolidate the monarchy." Luna didn’t apologise for this anymore. In the months after her fall from the heights of her own delusion, any conversation about her attempt to rule alone always lead to Luna apologizing deeply and at great length. After a week where each conversation with her sister would turn into an emotionalmess, she was told that if she kept it up, her sister would seal her away again.

Her sister had been joking, of course, but the point was well made. From then on, Princess Luna swallowed her guilt whenever the topic came up. She had been forgiven. They only guilt that remained was that which she projected on herself.

Princess Celestia walked up beside her, joining the Princess of the Moon on the balcony. She was a bright mirror to Luna. Her white coat and flowing rainbow mane a stark contradiction to her dark younger sister. Her wings were tucked away, but slightly ruffled, in the pegasus version of 'bed head'. A coffee cup, held in the shimmering field of the white alicorns magic, raised itself to her lips and she took a dainty sip.

"Those were sad days. But for the chance to stand beside you, I would endure a thousand more."

The two shared a smile before turning their attention to the sky. The moon had begin to sink below the horizon, and the rising glow of the approaching morning began to color the air.

Princess Luna felt her heart sing. This was her favorite part. Her power would wane, and in the last fleeting moments, she would feel her sisters magic reach out and support her, gently taking the weight of heavenly responsibility. It was an expression of trust and love that allowed them to rule together in the same manner that the celestial bodies of the moon and sun ruled and shared the sky.

She felt the weight of the moon increase as the cycle came to its nadir. The felt the magic of her sister swell as the sun began to rise.

Something was wrong.

A sharp pain stabbed into her heart. She cried out and fell to her knees, distantly hearing her sister do the same.
They were under attack.

Something scrabbled at her magic. The moon froze on the horizon, only the tip of it visible over the mountains. Its light frozen in the sky as she gripped it tight. Whatever was trying to wrest her power from her was strong, but unfocussed, as if it didn’t quite know what it was doing. She increased her defenses, walling away her magic from her unknown attacker. The frenzied flailing faded, but did not decrease in intensity. Whatever it was that struck at her, its power was immense. She felt muttered obscenities and distant screams on the currents of magic as the sinister power struck at the two princesses.

She focussed on her surroundings through eyes leaking tears, and saw here sister similarly afflicted, her jaw clenched in effort. Taking staggered steps towards each other, they leaned against each others necks. Breathing deep, they drew on their paired strength and with a great heave they threw the hostile magic away.

For a moment, they sat there, panting with effort.

"What…" Luna coughed, her voice hoarse with effort. "… what was that?"

Princess Celestia stood, and helped Luna to her hooves.

"Something tried to anchor the sun and moon in place and siphon away the energy for another purpose."

She moved to the end of the balcony and continued the raising the sun, setting its course through the sky. Luna moved up beside her on shaky legs, and let the moon rest, ending the ritual.

"It hit you harder than myself, as you were enthralled in the dimming of the moon. I haven't felt such a mad strength in…" She trailed off, her eyes wide.

"What is it? What do you remember?" Asked Luna, concern coloring her tone.

"I must… I will consult the archives. There are things I must confirm." Celestia smiled at her sister, trying to reassure the midnight colored alicorn. "The danger has passed for now. Rest. You will need your strength after this unexpected development."

Princess Luna hesitated, then nodded. Her eyes were heavy and her horn ached after the brief power-struggle. She rested her head against her sisters for a moment, that simple gesture wordlessly conveying trust and love, before turning to leave the castle balcony.

Princess Celestia stared at the rising sun, her eyes immune to its light. She only saw its beauty, its light warm and nourishing.

But she remembered a different sun, long ago. A bright, piercing yellow light haloing a strange form, ominous and threatening.

She whispered into the morning breeze, where no-one could hear her words.

"Could it be Him?"

Despite the warmth, she shivered.
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On the road to Sweet Apple Acres, Big Mac and Bann were silent as they walked.

Despite the warmth of the day, the tweeting of the birds and the picturesque scenery, a tension now lay between the two.
Bann counted the steps, checked the trees, eyed his companion occasionally, and basically acted like what he was: a soldier on foreign soil, concerned with ambush.

Big Mac didn’t understand what had caused the change in the strange 'human', but couldn’t think of anything to say to address it, so the pair simply walked in silence. Only the occasional squeak of the wagon harnessed to the large pony providing a counter note to the wildlife.

Eventually, cresting another hill, they came into sight of their destination.

The farm was surprisingly large. A brightly painted, three story barn or farmhouse dominated the area. Its red paint and white chasing around the windows and doors signalled its importance. The path the two travellers were walking on led directly to the large central door of this barn. The surrounding area was primarily large farm plots, the earth tilled and planted with small green shoots already poking themselves out of the dark soil. A smaller building stood a short distance from the first, this one without the large central door of the red one, marking it as a likely house, or secondary living area. Since these aliens were similar to the horses of Terra, its possible they lived in the barn.

The place was undoubtedly well cared for. The paint bright and fresh and the white picket fences that enclosed and separated the various areas was whole and intact. As they began their descent down the final hill, another pony figure walked out of the central barn. Even at this distance, Bann could tell it was smaller than Big Mac, its coat a bright yellow with a shockingly red mane and tail. The smaller pony swung the barn door open as it noticed their approach and ran towards them, excitement evident in every bounding step.

As it grew closer, Bann realized it was a great deal smaller than Big Mac. The top of its head would reach just over his knees were it to stand beside him. Its large eyes were wide with curiosity as it stared at the human.

"Wow… what's this thing, Big Mac?" its voice was high and seemed female.

"He ain't a 'thing', he's a 'hue-man' and his name is Bann."

The larger pony continued down the hill, bringing his wagon and loaded apples towards the barn. The small yellow pony stared at Bann from beside Big Mac, peering between his legs or around the front of his chest. She seemed constantly in motion, her eyes wide and innocent.

She was making Bann uncomfortable, but he wasn't sure why. She didn’t seem dangerous.

"Yes, I'm a 'human'. I ran into Big Mac out in the…"

She yellow pony squeaked in surprise, cutting him off.

"You can talk!? That’s awesome! Most creatures have their own language! I guess most around here speak plain pony, but I read in a book I borrowed from Twilight Sparkle - oh you'll have to meet her! She's this cool purple unicorn and she's so smart and she saved us lots of times! But most creatures have their own language! Even dragons! Although Spike speaks pony… oh yeah, Spike is a dragon who lives with Twilight Sparkle, you'll meet him when you meet her!"

The little pony spoke rapid-fire, with little time for breath. She seemed determined to relay the history of the entire world to him, starting somewhere in the middle of the story and plunging headlong into the beginning. He tried to grip the points of her conversation, but without context most of it was meaningless.

Apparently he was speaking "plain pony", which seemed to him to be identical to low gothic, the common tongue of the Imperium of Man. There apparently existed dragons. As the little pony spun on and on, Bann lost what little thread of reason he had to her non-stop stream of consciousness, and concentrated on the farm itself.

He couldn’t see any obvious sign of ambush. As a farm, he had expected field hands and farm workers everywhere, but it seemed relatively deserted. Aside from the two ponies and single man, the only life around were the birds, insects and plants.

He followed Big Macs cart into the shade of the barn. It was open and as well kept as the outside. Bales of hay were stacked against the far wall. In the center of the room lay a dozen or so baskets of apples, laid next to each other, identical to the ones in Big Macs cart.

"… and, oh yeah! I'm Apple Bloom!"

Bann looked at the little pony, realizing that she had stopped talking.

"Sorry? Apple Bloom?"

"Yeah!" She said happily.

Ignoring them both, Big Mac began unloading the trio of baskets from his cart, setting them near the others. Apple Bloom walked over to Bann and extended a leg at him. Same as before, he gently took her hoof and gave it a quick pump, trying to shake her hand. Apple Bloom looked at him confused, then looked at the large red pony.

"He does that." Big Mac explained, setting the last of the baskets down.

"No, you see, I'm giving you a hoof…"

The barn door slammed open, making the human and little pony jump. Another pony had opened the door roughly. Its head was down, bizarrely covered buy a wide-brimmed hat, and was pulling a twin cart to Big Macs. This cart was filled much more than the first, packed to overflowing with apples.

"Hey Mac! 'Ah finished the north fields, and figured we could take the young apples and juice 'em early. Maybe see if we can make a 'cider reserve' or some such. Whad-ya think?"

This new-comer was a pale yellow color, most of her face concealed by her lowered hat. The voice was female as well, but she had an interesting accent. It was somewhat similar to a Vostroyan officer he met once, but this ponies words were much easier on the ears. Maybe she was from off-world?

Apple Bloom ran over to the newcomer, almost vibrating with excitement.

"Applejack! We've got a visitor, and he don’t know how to hoof-bump!"

"Wassat now?"

The other pony looked up, right into Bann's eyes. He saw the surprise there for a minute, then watched then narrow in suspicion.

"Apple Bloom, you git over here right now."

"But sis…"

"Now!"

Sighing angrily, the small pony walked around the second cart, standing near the new pony, who was apparently named "Applejack".

"Big Mac, what in tarnation did you bring home? Who's this?"

Big Mac walked around the baskets, standing next to Bann.

"I found him on the west road, having a rough time. Thought he could use a place to clean up."

Bann frowned at the red pony, he didn’t know that Big Mac had seen him upset on the road. He fought down embarrassment and focused on Applejack. She was reacting with suspicion and light hostility. It was the first time he'd seen one of these ponies act with some sense.

"So you thought you'd bring 'im home? Introduce him to the family?"

She walked around her cart, walking right up to Bann and looking him over.

Big Mac shrugged, seemingly unconcerned.

"He likes apples. Can't be all bad."

"Are you serious right now? Take Apple Bloom into the house, let Granny know there's a stranger in the barn."

Big Mac rolled his eyes, but looked at Apple Bloom and gestured towards the barn door. The little yellow pony looked at Bann and Applejack then slowly moved that way, following Big Mac. She looked like she wanted to say something, but in the end she was silent.

Applejack seemed to relax a bit when they were finally alone. With seeming unconcern, she began unloading the apples, but Bann noticed she never fully turned her back on him and kept him in the corner of her eyes at all time. Bann watched her in return, looking relaxed, but fully prepared for an attack.

"Found on the road, eh?" She said between mouthfuls of basket.

"Apparently."

Applejack scoffed at his terse reply, but didn’t respond immediately. They were silent for a minute, Bann watching the pony deftly unload the cart with her teeth.

"You gotta name?"

Bann sighed and rattled off the pertinent points:

"My name is Bann. I am a human from Cadia." He hesitated at his recently destroyed home world, but he didn’t correct himself. "I've never been to this world, and I've never seen a pony before."

Applejack looked at him, eyes narrowed in disbelief.

"This world? You're from another world? You some kind of alien?"

Bann frowned, angered at the insult. He couldn’t be an alien, a xenos! He was a human!

"I am not an alien. I am a soldier of the Emperor!"

"A soldier in what war?"

"In every war!" Bann realized his voice was rising, anger building at being questioned by this unsanctioned creature.

"Are you at war with me? With us?" 

Applejack was facing him now, a few meters away, her stance as wary as his own.

Bann bit back his first instinct, to spit at the pony: Yes, I am! All humans are at war with all aliens! He took a breath and briefly considered his position. He was alone on an alien world. He didn’t know how many ponies there were or even what kind of weaponry they had. For all he knew, this "Granny" had the barn covered with an autocannon.

"No." He begrudgingly answered after a moment.

Applejack considered him, relaxing slightly.

"Well alright then. Can't rightly say I like how long it took for you to say that, but I'll take you at your word."

"Just like that? I say I'm not your enemy and you believe me?"

"Why wouldn’t I? You haven't given me a reason to not trust ya yet."

This place was insane. These aliens had no self-preservation instinct. Bann was convinced the Imperium could conquer this world with one squad of guardsman and a chimera armored vehicle.

Applejack walked to the barn door, gesturing for Bann to follow.

"Come on then, I'll take ya into Ponyville, get that arm of yours looked at and see what Twilight thinks of ya."

They walked out into the sun, following another branch of the dirt path that brought them here.

Applejack called towards the smaller farmhouse: "Big Mac! I'm taking Bann into town! Finish unloading the apples for me!"

"Eeeeeyup!" Came the response.
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The walk to town was quiet. The apple trees giving way to more leafy trees and the dirt path under their feet turning to packed cobblestone. To Bann, having been raised in the heavily urbanized and devastated ecology on Cadia, it couldn’t be more alien. This world looked like one of the visions of paradise from the sermons of the priesthood, a vision of how Terra used to be, long before the rise of the Imperium.

"So you're a soldier eh? A fighter?" Applejack interrupted his thoughts.

"Yes. All my life."

"So, uh, how old are ya, anyway?"

"Look, Applejack, I'm not playing twenty questions with you. I'm sure when I meet this 'Twilight', I'll have to give it all over again, so I think I'll keep it to myself for now."

Applejack frowned, but remained silent.

The village came into view, looking to Banns military eyes like a complete mess. An open cobblestone road leading into an urban center of wood and stone buildings with yellow thatched roofs. No checkpoints, no obvious guards or security at all. Ponies walked singly or in groups, laughing and talking with each other, a rainbow of coats, manes and tails walking about without a care.

As he followed Applejack through the town, the human got a number of stares, glances and whispers. He examined them in return, trying to get an idea if the colors and flank markings indicated some sort of hierarchy or tribal spread, but all colors of ponies mingled without bias.

"Where are your guards?"

"Wassat?" replied Applejack, startled slightly as he broke the silence between them.

"Your guards. Or police, civitas defenders, arbitrators, whatever you call them."

"Uh, the guards would be in Canterlot guarding the castle. We don’t have police here in Ponyville. Manehattan is a good sight bigger than Ponyville, and it has a fine police force from what I understand. I never heard of those others… isn't an arbitrator some kind of judge?"

"No police force? Who punishes the criminals?"

"What kinda ponies do you think we are? Just rampaging around everyday?"

Bann looked around, and saw a small cart with a pale blue pony behind it. It was festooned with flowers and brightly colored plants. Looking back at Applejack, he gestured to it before moving over to the flower-seller. The hat wearing pony looked hesitant, but she followed.

The selling pony looked a little concerned as the human approached, but she plastered a smile on her face as best she could.

"Good morning! Are you looking for a nice flower for yourself or somepony special?"

Bann ignored her and grabbed a small pot with three bright orange flowers.

"Excellent choice!" She smiled "That one is only two bits."

There was a pregnant pause. Bann looked at the sales-pony then at Applejack.

"I'm taking this and not paying for it."

The sales pony frowned, but then brightened again.

"That’s okay! You can come back and pay me later!"

"No. I'm not going to do that. I'm never coming back." He looked over at Applejack, eyebrow raised. "Now what?"

She shook her head, frowning. "Look, I get what you’re saying, but ponies ain't like that. If somepony had a honest need, we'll help him out. Nopony is nasty enough to just steal."

Bann grinned and put the pot back on the little ponies cart.

"I'm not a pony."

They continued walking, leaving the confused flower seller behind.

"Well, fine, I guess if you did just take something for the joy of stealin', I'd stop ya and make you give it back."

Bann looked down at the much smaller creature, who looked up at him, then away taking his point.

"Well fine, me and a few other brave ponies then."

"So, your justice system is 'be nice or face the mob '?"

"It ain't like that! Why do you think the worst of everypony? If you’re so smart, how do they handle stealing where you come from?"

Bann didn’t look at her when as he casually replied.

"For theft, criminals are usually hung. Or shot if it happens in a combat zone."

"WHAT?!" Applejack yelled. "You just kill 'em?"

Bann stopped and faced the pony. "There must be order. The knowledge of punishment is its own deterrent."

"What if someone was starving? Or needed medicine?"

Bann remembered the sermons of the judges when he was young, the black armored Arbites that taught him and the other children the first points of Imperial Law. He had found their absolutism comforting at the time, and still did today. He remembered when he had asked 'What about circumstance? If a thief just wanted a place to sleep?' He repeated the answer the judge had given him to Applejack:

"In order to be just, our law must be cruel."

She stared at him in shock, her mouth agape, before she collected herself and looked at Bann sadly.

"Ain't no cruelty that’s ever been just."

Bann shrugged, not really caring about her opinion. He knew the truth, that the system he was raised under was harsh, but nessecary. This weird collectivist society the ponies had cobbled together would shatter like glass the first time a mycetic spore or ork dropship landed in their apple fields. They had no idea how dangerous the galaxy really was.

They walked in silence towards the opposite edge of the town. Bann was growing annoyed at the sympathetic glances Applejack was occasionally shooting his way, as if there was something wrong with him. The pair were approaching a large tree that had been hollowed out and turned into a home, complete with windows, doors and even a balcony, but its outer branches were still healthy and growing green leaves.

Upon reaching the door, Applejack turned and gave the door a quick pair of solid knocks with her back leg before pushing open the door.

"Twi? You home?"

The door lead into the main body of the hollow tree. The walls had been carved into bookshelves that were packed with the colored spines of their contents. The floor was mostly bare wood, but a side area was covered with a rug and had a few pillows on the floor, probably for reading. A curtained side area was out of sight and a spiraling staircase led up to an upper level. It smelt wonderful, a pine scent filling the room with layers of flowers and other subtle pleasant undertones.

"Applejack? One second, I'll be right down!" Came another female voice from above.

The cream colored pony wandered over to a lectern where an open book lay, seemingly content to wait. Taking the opportunity to relax for a moment, Bann sat on the floor and crossed his legs. He lay his lasgun across his knees and removed his helmet, wiping a line of sweat from his forehead. Carefully, he slid one of the energy cells out of his helmet and checked the charge: slightly under half.

Not bad. He thought. Probably twenty to thirty shots.

Applejack wandered over to him, looking at his equipment.

"Wassat?" She asked gesturing with her nose at the weapon across his knees.

Bann considered for a moment: How much should he tell her? Should he even reveal that it was a weapon?

"This…" he said, tapping the olive casing with the cell in his hand "Is my lasgun."

He didn’t explain any further, and slid the energy clip into the weapon. As he heard the comforting click, he whispered the second half of the prayer of unloading: "Machine Spirit, accept my gift, swallow the light, and spit out death."

Applejack looked at the rifle, concerned.

"Well, that doesn’t sound good. 'Spittin' out death' huh?"

Bann nodded and stood, leaving his helmet on the floor, and slung the rifle from its strap on his shoulder again. Knowing his weapon was ready again was a reassuring feeling. Applejack, on her part, looked nervously from his weapon to the stairs.

"Twi? Sugarcube? You gonna be much longer?"

"Coming!" Came the voice again, now much closer.

Seconds later, a purple pony made her way down the stairs. Her mane and tail were a darker purple then her coat, and it was shot through with a band of pink. She was unique in that she had a purple horn in the center of her head, and a brown covered book was open and floating in front of her face, gripped in a shimmering violet field.

"Hey Applejack! I thought you'd be busy with the first apples of the year, I didn’t think I'd see you until Sunday."

She came to the bottom of the stairs, her nose still buried in the book, and walked over to the lectern. A similar field gripped the open book on top of it, it closed itself and glided over to an empty space on the shelves. She gently dropped the book she was reading onto the now vacant lectern, its magic field fading.

"Twilight…" said Applejack her voice raising in alarm.

Bann had his weapon gripped tight and pressed to his side with his good hand. The barrel of the lasgun was pointed directly at the purple pony, and his thumb flicked off the safety.

"Sorcery!" He hissed, teeth clenched.

Of course! He thought to himself. Of course! Who knows what idyllic illusions this place is covered in! No wonder I've been so disoriented! His heart pounded at the revelation. A final mind screw from the Unmentionable Powers after Cadia! His mind raced with a thousand thoughts. How much of anything can I trust?

Twilight and Applejack stared at the human, frightened by his intensity and hostile stance. Twilight Sparkle looking at the strange creature in curiosity, while Applejack eyes were wide at the weapon pointed at her friend.

"I…" Twilight began, but never finished.

Her first word, breaking the silence, jumped the room into motion. Bann adjusted his aim, one handed and squeezed the trigger while Applejack leapt, spun and kicked with all her might. Her back hooves connected with Banns left side with a resounding crack, but the blow only caused him to lurch off balance. His first shot went wild, the pencil thin red beam lancing off target into the bookshelf behind Twilight, catching the shelf aflame. Twilight Sparkle jumped in surprise at the report of the weapon, the sound like an iron nail snapping.

Bann caught his balance and stepped back from Applejack, bringing the weapon around to bear on her. His motion was stopped when a purple shimmering field enveloped the end of the gun, holding it tight. He pulled against it, but it might as well have been encased in concrete.

Teeth grit in frustration, he slapped the release strap and let it float. Giving more ground to the advancing Applejack, he backed up to the window and drew his knife, raising fourteen inches of Cadian steel in a reverse grip.

Applejack pleaded with him. "Bann, Stop! Its not sorcery, its just magic!"

"Heresy!" He hissed at her.

Eyes flicking from the slowly approaching Applejack to the purple unicorn swatting at the flaming bookshelf with the rug clenched in her teeth. Glancing over his shoulder at the window, he made his decision.

Slowly, he slid his knife back into its sheath.

Applejack smiled hesitantly. "There we go. No need for anymore of that."

Suddenly, he spun and dove through the window, leading with his uninjured shoulder and arm. The glass shattered around him as he fell the short distance to the grass below.

"What the horse feathers?" Applejack cried, jumping back.

She looked back at Twilight Sparkle and saw the shock on her own face mirrored there, neither one of them knowing what to say.

Something flew back into the room, tossed from outside the window. It was a cylinder of some kind, a dark grey shape. It clattered to the floor and rolled to astop. Applejack had seen this thing hanging from the front of the humans clothes. It had to be dangerous.

"Twi! Get away!"

She ran two steps and dove towards the unicorn.

The room erupted with a terrifying explosion.
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The world swam slowly back into focus. Applejack moaned as she felt the ache in her head and strange tiny pains on her right side, she realized she was prone on a floor. What had happened?

Her eyes flew open, her pain ignored, as she remembered the last few moments.

"Twi! You okay?!" She struggled to her feet, slightly dizzy. She searched the smoke filled room, eyes stinging, and saw the slumped purple form of her friend. Working as fast as she could, she moved to kneel next to the unicorn. Twilight Sparkles eyes were closed, but her sides were moving. A few odd nicks and small cuts were scattered on her body and Applejack realized that the small sharp pains she was feeling were probably from the same types of injuries.

Quickly, she tapped the purple unicorn on the face.

"Twi! Wake up!"

Twilight groaned and her eyes opened slowly.

"Applejack?" she said, quietly.

"Oh thank Celestia, you're okay."

She helped her friend to her feet, both of them looking around the ruined room. A strange acrid smoke filled the air, but it was rapidly dispersing out the shattered window. Where the cylinder had exploded the wood floor was blackened and cracked. Small slivers of dark metal were spread around the room. Applejack winced as she pulled one out of her shoulder.

"Take more than a couple little cuts to take us down, eh Twilight?"

Twilight frowned, moving to examine the blast mark on the floor.

"Actually, I covered the device with an fire supressing spell. I was going to use it on the bookshelf, but when you yelled, I threw it at it. If these metal fragments had been propelled by the full strength of the blast… I don’t think we would have been okay."

"Oh." said Applejack, trying to not to think about how close a call they had just avoided.

Twilight rounded on her friend, her face cross. "Aside from that of course: What the heck was that? What did you bring into my house and why did it try to kill us?" 

Applejack sheepishly laid out the days events: finding Bann in the barn, taking him to Ponyville and then Twilights house. She tried to keep it simple, but had to backtrack a few times to answer Twilights questions.

"So, he's a soldier of some kind? That explains the weapons. I don’t think I've heard of a 'human'… but it sounds familiar."

"It does?"

"I think so… I cant remember…"

Twilight looked at her smoldering bookshelf, and cast her spell again, this time using it to douse the embers. She sighed as she examined the damage.

"I hope we don’t have a southern mantis beetle infestation this spring, cause my first edition of 'Magical Insects Volume One' is toast."

"We'll worry about that later, while we've been jawin' he's been getting away!"

"We can't just tear off after him without a plan!"

"Well we can't let him wander around blowing up the place neither!"

Twilight hesitated, then nodded.

"You're right. He's obviously dangerous. We need to stop him, or at least get him out of Ponyville."

The two of them ran out of the tree house and ran around to the broken window. They could see the figure of Bann heading away into the outskirts of town.

"Applejack, head after him! Try to talk him down. I need to find Spike and get a message to the Princess."

"But I thought you said…"

"I know, but this is important. Besides, I'm pretty sure you can catch up to him." She smiled reassuringly at Applejack.

"I suppose. Alright, just be quick."

The two split off: Applejack after the retreating human and Twilight towards the market.
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Bann sprinted as fast as he could, arms and legs pumping, breath hissing in and out between his teeth.

Idiot! Lost my helmet, lost my lasgun!

Adrenaline was surging, he felt in his element. All his training coming into the fore.

Focus. Okay. I need to find a place to stay out of this town. Food, water and shelter. After that, I'll need to secure weapons. I'll find out what these ponies use and take some, then I'll get to work.

There was some type of forest outside the town. He decided he would make his way there.

"Bann!" a voice yelled.

He glanced behind him, seeing the pursuing figure of Applejack. Ignoring her, he pushed himself harder. The two raced through the backstreets of Ponyville, passing surprised ponies who gawked at the human and pressed themselves against the buildings to avoid him.

"Darn it Bann, stop!"

It seemed like he wasn’t going to lose her. He skidded to a stop and drew his knife, spinning to face the chasing pony. She stopped as well, keeping a wary distance from the armed man.

For a moment, they just stared, both of them panting with exertion.

"It doesn’t have to be like this!"

"I have no words for you xenos. Your sins are twofold: what you are, and what you've done."

"What in tarnation are you talking about?! You said we aint' your enemy!"

Bann slid on the balls of his feet towards her, knife raised. Applejack stepped carefully back, maintaining the distance between them.

"Magic! Sorcery! The foundational corruption of the universe!" He snarled at her.

Applejack had no idea how to respond. He wasn't making sense.

"I don’t think we're talking about the same thing here. Magic aint some evil force ruining everything."

She was going to say more, but Bann lunged in her direction. He didn’t get close enough to strike, but the threat in the movement was obvious. She jumped back, again giving ground to him.

"Bann please! Come with me, let us figure this thing out! You're all alone here."

He didn’t consider the offer for a second.

"A single man can triumph over a legion of the faithless."

"I am getting some sick of all this creepy mumbo-jumbo you keep quoting at me like it means something."

Applejacks eyes widened as she spotted something approaching from behind the human.

"Rainbow! No!"

Bann tried to turn to get away from whatever she was seeing, but he was nowhere near fast enough. Something slammed into the center of his back at high speed, throwing the human forward onto his face. Gasping, he managed to keep the grip on his knife, but he was struggling to stand, the wind having been knocked out of him.

Another pony, blue with a bright rainbow mane and tail, lay sprawled next to him. This one had wings that were stretched out from her prone form. Bann realized it must have flown into him from behind, but the much smaller creature seemed to have come off the worse for the impact.

Applejack was rushing forward, trying to capitalize on the situation. Bann lurched over to the prone winged-pony and pinned it to the cobblestone, pulling her neck back, he drew the knife up in a threatening gesture to its exposed throat.

"Rainbow!" Applejack exclaimed, scared for her friend "You let her go you monster!"

Rainbow stirred, mumbling as her eyes opened: "I feel like a flew into a tree…" She bit off her words as her eyes caught the edge of the knife. She began to struggle, but the human controlled her easily, picking her up off the ground and holding her hostage. He was forced to use his cast covered arm to do so, and he grit his teeth against the pain.

"I'm leaving. You're going to stay here." He said, the threat implicit in his words.

"That’s not going to happen! You let her go now!"

Bann continued as if she had said nothing.

"If you follow me. I will kill your friend."

Applejacks heart dropped in her chest. How could she have misjudged him so badly? He was telling the truth. He would kill Rainbow Dash. If only she had listened to her gut and just locked him in the barn or something. She almost couldn’t believe this was the same creature that had been spending time with her little sister only hours ago.

Bann raised an eyebrow at her, questioningly. Feeling defeated, Applejack nodded, agreeing to his demands. She only hoped with all her might that he wouldn’t hurt Rainbow Dash when he got away.

Backing away from her, Bann rounded a nearby corner and went out of sight. Applejack stood, frozen, and struggled with what to do next.
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Twilight Sparkle ran from her home, hearing Applejack start calling the humans name as she cashed after him.

She ran towards the market, eyes sweeping from stall to stall, searching for her assistant. After a few frantic minutes of searching, she found the purple dragon in front of a dairy farmers stall, picking up eggs.

"Spike!" She called out, rushing towards him.

"Hey Twilight! I thought you wanted me to pick…"

She cut him off. "No time for that!"

Working quickly, she snatched a note pad off the grocers counter. Ignoring the indignant complaints of the paper hat wearing pony manning the stall, she magically etched a message into the yellow page. Tearing it off the pad, she thrust it at Spike insistently.

"Send this to Princess Celestia, now!"

"Sheesh." grumbled the small dragon, before burping and consuming the paper in emerald fire.

"What's going on?" He asked, starting to pick up on Twilights tension.

Turning, the unicorn walked quickly back the way she came, not quite running, allowing the grocery laden dragon to keep up.

"Remember the message I received from the Princess yesterday?"

"Yeah, something about mythical species?"

"Exactly. Well, one of the ones she wanted me to look into was a species called 'man'."

"Okay…. And?"

"And a 'hu-man' attacked me and Applejack about ten minutes ago."

"What!?" He squawked "Are you okay? Is she okay?"

"Just a few cuts and bruises. The important thing is that he is here, and he is dangerous."

"How dangerous?"

"Well… he exploded something in my house."

"What!?" He squawked again.

"We have to find him and make sure he doesn’t hurt anypony else." she said, ignoring Spike's shock.

Moving into a run, she galloped off back towards where she had last seen Bann. Huffing and puffing with the grocery bags, Spike struggled to follow her.

They found Applejack minutes later. She was sitting against a wall, an anguished look on her face.

"Twilight!" She exclaimed when the pair rounded the corner "I caught up to him, but he wouldn’t put down the knife. 
Rainbow Dash tried to help and knocked him down, but he put he held her up with the knife and said…" her breath caught in her throat "… and said he'd kill her if I followed."

"What?!" Spike gasped, winded from the run.

"Spike, enough, catch your breath." Twilight turned back to her troubled friend. "Where did they go?"

"That-a way." Applejack said, gesturing to the next corner ahead.

"Lets go!" Twilight said, starting to move in that direction.

"Wait…" Applejack stepped in her way "What about Rainbow Dash? What if…"

Twilight didn’t let her finish the thought.

"We wont let anything happen to her. Trust me."

Nodding reluctantly, the two moved off.

"Aw man!" Spike said, having not yet caught his breath, before picking up the bags and following the two.

They were heading towards the edge of town. A few times, ponies pointed them in the right direction without prompting, obviously scared of the large knife wielding man. Bursting through the last line of homes, they saw the human already a distance away. He was heading directly towards the outer boundary of the Everfree forest, but in his path was an obstacle: The majestic white form of Princess Celestia.

She was standing directly in front of him, neck raised high and wings spread. She was waring her full regalia as a princess, her hooves and horn clad in gold. The light radiating from her bathed the area in shimmering warm light.
As fast as they could, the pony, unicorn and dragon ran towards them.

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Bann had moved as fast as he could towards the edge of the town, carrying the now struggling pagasus.

"You're never going to get away with this!" She haughtily informed him.

Bann jogged forward, doing his best to ignore the screaming pain in his broken arm as she fought against it.

"Shut up and stop moving."

"Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn’t ya!"

She kicked wildly with her legs, her hooves clacking ineffectively against his armored kneepads.

They passed a pair of young ponies who gasped and pressed themselves against the wall of a nearby house.

"Don’t worry! I got him right where I want 'em!" Rainbow Dash called out as they swept past.

A particularly violent heave caused lightning to shoot down his broken arm from his elbow to his wrist. Pulling her closer, he slowed his run and placed the edge of the knife against her throat, not pressing hard enough to cut. Her struggles ceased.

"I am not kidding with you." He hissed into her ear, close enough for his breath to cause it to flick involuntarily. "If you keep fighting, I'll open you up right now."

He walked carefully, for a few more steps, ensuring that no errant misstep could cause him to slice the Pegasus's neck.

Eventually, he took her lack of movement as agreement and shifted the knife away from her throat, keeping it up and in her field of view.

He cleared the last block of houses and could now see the distant forest. It was kilometers away, but he started towards it, picking up speed.

Suddenly, blindingly, there was a brilliant flash in front of him. Wincing, he stepped back, hearing a similar pained grunt from his captive. When his eyes cleared, he saw a fearsome creature in his path. A large white horse, with widespread wings and capped with a horn, giving off a bright glow. Its mane and tail seemed partially ethereal, colored with the different shades of the day: darker like the sky at sunrise at the edges, with brighter bands nearer to the center. Her mane drifted and flowed in a non-existent breeze. Her eyes shone without pupil or iris, pure white emanations of power, as if her whole body was simply filled with light.

Her voice was mature, matronly, yet backed with steel. The first authoritative voice he had heard on this planet.

"Release the pegasus, son of Terra."

Bann hesitated, frantically considering his options, before finally letting the pegasus drop from his arms. She landed with a "Umph!" but quickly sprang to her hooves.

The glowing alicorn spoke, this time her voice softer.

"Go to your friends, Rainbow Dash."

"Rainbow!" called Twilight, as she, Applejack and Spike approached.

With a final glance at the both, she rose off the ground and darted around the human, leaving him alone against this… daemon.

"You know about Terra."

"I do."

"How?" His voice was flat, unemotional. He was certain he was facing his death.

"In time, perhaps I will tell you, Terran."

They considered each other, Bann feeling like the knife clenched in his uninjured hand was a paltry weapon in the face of this monster. Her own feelings were not evident, her equine face inscrutable.

"Why are you here, Terran?"

"It wasn't my choice. I woke up here, earlier today. I don’t know how I got here."

"And you began immediately terrorizing the local ponies."

"Not immediately." He realized how ridiculous that sounded and rushed to continue "I only attacked when I saw one of your 'local ponies' use magic."

The alicorn raised an eyebrow.

"And?"

"And… that’s it. Your people wield the power of chaos."

Her aura flared bright, eyes flashing white.

"And upon that mistaken impression you justify attacking my people!?" She shouted.

Her light grew, Bann drew his knife up and prepared to lunge at Celestia in a final desperate attack.

Someone cleared their throat, loudly.

Celestia and Bann looked to the side at the interruption. Applejack had slowly approached and now winced under the sudden attention.

"Uh, forgive me Princess, but he didn’t really hurt anypony to badly. Just a few scrapes, nothing worse than you'd get working a rough day on the farm."

Bann stared at the hat-wearing pony. Was she trying to save him? To intercede on his behalf?

"He just went a little crazy when he saw Twilight using magic, that’s all. I figure he and his people probably had some rough times with magic users and got the wrong opinion."

Applejack squared up her courage and said confidently: "I think this has all been a big misunderstanding."

Princess Celestia considered this, then smiled. The radiant glow in her eyes fading to reveal eyes the color of the sky at sunrise.

"There must be good in you to earn the trust of the Bearer of Honesty."

The what of what? He thought.

"I brought this for you to see."

Encased in a shimmering white field, a necklace rose from a pocket in Celestias regalia. Gently, it drifted over to Bann, who hesitated before raising his knife and letting the chain rattle down to the guard. Raising the offering up to his eyes, his breath caught in his throat. Attached to the chain by a golden loop was a pendant in the shape of a twin headed eagle with a lightning bolt gripped in its talons, its wings spread wide.

It was an aquila. The most prominent symbol of the Imperium.

Gesturing with her horn, a portal of light swam into being beside the alicorn, larger than a man, Bann could see a room beyond it, a place with candles and furnishings. Motioning towards it, she gave Bann a gentle smile.

"Come with me, son of Terra. I will tell you how I received this symbol. I will tell you of the day I met the Emperor of Man."
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stepping through the luminous portal, Bann felt none of the dislocation or nausea he had been told to expect when teleporting. It was as easy as stepping through a doorway.

The room he found himself in was dim and intimate. A smallish space with grey stone walls, ceilings and floors. Bookcases of deep red wood were set against every open wall space, their shelves sagging slightly under the weight of the large tomes they contained. The floor was covered with a thick red rug fringed with gold rope and a medium table circled by five plush red chairs that were practically thrones, high backed and over stuffed. One the table were three lit candles, providing the rooms only light. There were no doors or windows visible anywhere, and the corners of the room were draped in shadows.

Princess Celestia had entered before him and was already settling herself into the furthest of the four chairs, legs folded beneath her, eyes glittering in the low light.

Banns examination of the alicorn was interrupted as he was shoved forward. Applejack, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash let out a collected 'umph' as they walked through the portal into him. Trying to maintain his composure, he caught his balance and sat quickly, taking the seat across from Celestia. The seat was well padded, but vaguely uncomfortable, the cushion pushing him in all the wrong places. As the others sat easily into the remaining seats, and settled in, he ruefully realized that the seats must have been made for pony anatomy, not human. Rainbow Dash was glaring at him with undisguised hostility, and Bann stared back for a moment, before looking back at Celestia, dismissing Rainbow Dash as unimportant. He also ignored her angry snort.

With a puff of air, the portal shut. Leaving the four alone in the dark reading room. Glancing at the fading light where the portal was dispersing, Twilight asked "What about Spike?" Her voice was surprisingly loud in the intimate setting. It seemed almost blasphemous.

"He will be fine. I'm sure he'll return to your library." Celestia murmured, her voice soft. "As to you four, I must ask that nothing we speak of will be discussed outside this room. If you do not believe you can keep these secrets, I will allow you to leave without any recrimination."

No one spoke. The human and ponies stole glances at each other, while the alicorn seemed entranced by the candles, almost not seeming to see the others in the room.

After a moment, she continued "Very well. I will now tell you of the founding of Equestria." She paused and took a deep breath, still staring into the candlelight. "Thousands of years ago, there where three tribes of creatures: the earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns. Each had their own skills that helped them survive. The ponies tilled the land and grew ample food, the pegasi roamed the skies and controlled the weather and the unicorns used their magic to shape the land to their whims. Rather than use this abilities in harmony, they quarreled and warred with each other, using their gifts greedily and for their own benefit."

Bann looked to the others. They didn’t seem surprised or taken aback by this story, so he imagined it was known history. In fact, they looked extremely comfortable, settling into their seats and listening to the princess. As he looked, Applejack gave a wide yawn.

Celestia continued, her voice gentle and warm, almost hypnotic. "One season, after winter, the snow didn’t melt, and the weather whipped into a blizzard that never ended. Each of the tribes blamed the other, but none could stop it. The pegasi couldn’t disperse the clouds, the unicorns magic failed against it and the earth ponies crops withered and died. Fearing for their survival, the tribes fled north, attempting to escape the unnatural cold. After travelling for miles, they found themselves outside the blizzard. Briefly they settled, and soon enough the quarreling began again. Old feuds had barely sprouted before the blizzard returned, putting the tired and starving tribes in danger once again."

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were now asleep, or close to it. Twilight wasn't holding up to well either, resting her chin on her forelegs, eyes glassy.

"This time, knowing that the situation was dire, the leaders of the tribes met. Forced to trust each other, they sought out the source of the impossible storm and found the wendigo, spirits who fed on hate and distrust. Allying together, the united tribes threw back the wendigo, their unity starving the nightmarish creatures of the negative emotions they fed upon. Through this conflict, the three tribes learned respect and admiration for each others abilities and swore to work together to make a home for all three breeds of pony."

With a quiet sigh, Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes, joining her friends in a contented nap. Bann felt wide awake. Something was off here. He looked up at Princess Celestia, who had paused in her storytelling. She was looking at the three sleeping ponies, a warm smile on her face. Then her eyes returned to Bann, and her smile faded.

She took a breath and continued her tale. "After this event, the tribes realized that they were ill-prepared for the dangers of the world they lived in. Many had suffered during the unnatural blizzard of the wendigo. They gathered together their greatest wise-ponies: The shaman of the earth ponies, the sky breakers of the pegasi and the arcane masters of the unicorn. Together, they enacted a great ritual to create a protector, guardian and leader of this new pony nation. Binding together the magic of the earth, sky and sun, they created the first alicorn: me."

She settled back, watching Bann closely now, her expression guarded.

"I was young and wild in my early days. I roamed the land, finding problems and solving them directly. I helped the three tribes unite into one through diplomacy and reason." She smiled to herself "And perhaps the occasional vague threat. However, things changed one day. I ventured into a deep cave, its surface fractured by unknown force. Deep within, I found an unnatural circle carved into the rock, its surface rippling with power. Carelessly, I touched it with my magic, confident I could handle any danger. I… was not prepared for what happened next."

She was silent for a time, her eyes distant. Bann waited patiently for her to continue, enthralled by her story. "A figure appeared before me. He walked on two legs and was clad in gilded golden armor. A halo of power crackled around his head as he strode forth."

Bann gaped. "You met… Him? The Emperor himself?" Celestia nodded, her face still guarded. "What did you do? What did you say? What did He say?" Bann was on the edge of his seat.

"I attacked him." Celestia said simply. She raised an eyebrow at Banns shocked expression and continued "What else would I do? In those days, strange glowing creatures were dangerous, andI couldn’t wait for him to make the first move. It was… not the correct decision. We warred for a time, my magic against his, but in the end he threw me back. Exhausted, I was prepared to flee, but he spoke to me, calmly, and addressed me as an equal. He explained that we were both children of our tribes, formed from collective magic, and we had much knowledge we could share with each other. For a time, he resided with us in Equestria."

She paused, seeing if Bann wanted to interject, but he just stared at her, hanging on her every word. "Unfortunately, our magics were too different, they drew on far different sources and were incompatible. Although we learned next to nothing from each others power, we spoke at length about our peoples. I learned of his plan to unite his people, to lead them into a golden age, a plan I of course approved of, having similar goals myself. He taught me the finer points of leadership: when to be proud, when to be distant and when to be warm and open. I taught him how to laugh and leave the crown of leadership behind when necessary. In time, I grew to see him as a kindred spirit, almost as family. We were twin suns, mine one of warmth and his of strength. One day, he left as suddenly as he came, returning to his people. He gave me only a brief goodbye, leaving me only pendant you now hold and a final hug from one regent to another, before returning to the mountain. I took his lessons to heart and formalized my position with the tribes, taking the reins of leadership and beginning the age of Equestria."

She finished her story. There was silence, punctuated only by the gentle snores of Rainbow Dash.

"Why are you telling me this?" He finally asked.

"Because the man you worship saw fit to live amongst us and learn from us. Can you not do the same? I promise I will try to find a way to return you to your home, but until then I must ask you leave violence and prejudice behind."
Bann considered this. She could be lying, could have invented the whole story, but that had its own issues: She obviously knew about the Emperor, and if He had wanted to destroy her and the ponies, He would have done so. Also, the promise of help to return home was enticing as well. Also, there was the obvious: If she really wanted him dead, she could just do it and do away with all this pageantry.

"I'll… consider it." He relented at last "I'll defend myself… but I'll keep my weapons to myself."

Celestia smiled, her approval radiant. She stood from her seat and Bann did the same.

"Of course. Thank you for at least agreeing to try. For now, I think you should stay with Twilight Sparkle. I trust that you and her have a lot to teach each other. However, I must ask that you understand that the magic of this world is not evil, or corrupting, it is simply a force that can be manipulated and controlled like any other."

Bann hesitated, then nodded his agreement. "I'll try to remember that."

"Thank you. I will return the others to their homes."

He looked at the sleeping ponies "You cast some sort of spell on them?"

"Only the slightest touch of magic. The majority of this was caused by something much more mundane: the skills of a mother. I have had an age of learning how to calm little ponies and put them to sleep. Setting the right tone, the atmosphere, the pitch of a warm voice…"

She opened another white portal, this one showing a disorganized room scattered with posters and maps, and gently picked up Rainbow Dash with her magic, floating her through the opening.

"I wasn’t put to sleep at all. Does your magic only work on ponies?"

The portal flexed and shifted, now showing a different dimly lit room. Applejack then drifted through and was deposited gently on the bed on the other side.

"No. You may have resistance, but magic can still affect you." She hesitated a moment before continuing "I expect you were unaffected due to not having a strong bond with your own mother."

The portal flexed a final time, now showing the slightly blackened wooden interior of Twilight Sparkles tree house.

"I loved my mother. She was a grenadier and died serving Cadia."

"And is that all you know of her?"

Bann shrugged, not seeing the point she was trying to make "What else is there to know? I was raised in a creche with a thousand other boys."

Princess Celestia shook her head sadly, but didn’t say anything more. She plucked Twilight from the chair and floated her through the portal. Bann followed her, only stopping when Celestia spoke.

"I will contact you when I have progress on returning you to your world. You may keep the pendant for now and let it be a memory of home."

Bann thanked her, still somewhat stunned by the revelations, and stepped through the portal. Celestia closed it behind him.

Almost instantly, Princess Luna stepped out of the deep shadows, looking at her sister accusingly.

"You didn’t tell him everything. Nothing about the other visitors or the things they left behind."

Celestia looked regally at her younger sister, not apologetic in the least. "I told him what he needed to hear, and what I said I would. The day I met his Emperor. The rest is not for him to know."

"That’s remarkably devious for you, 'Tia. I didn’t think you had it in you."

"I did what I must. Within a day of arriving on our world he attacked three of the Bearers of Harmony. If we weren’t going to imprison or banish him, I had to give him a reason to trust us. It was the truth."

Luna examined her sister, surprised at her duplicity. "The truth… but only up to a point. There is much you didn’t tell him."

Princess Celestia, didn’t react, looking solidly into her sisters eyes. After a moment, Luna bowed slightly and stepped back into the shadows, fading from sight.

Celestia stayed in her personal library for a time after that, watching the candles burn and remembering the past.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bann re-entered the Ponyville library, watching with concern as Twilight floated over to the pillows in the reading nook and settled down into the red cushions. He shook his head and looked around, examining the damage he had caused. He had no idea how Applejack and Twilight had survived, as the flash mark from his grenade was almost dead center of the room and there was no obvious cover. Wincing, he saw his discarded lasgun against the far wall. Picking it up, he saw its casing was covered in white scratches from the fragmentation shards, one handed, he flipped it upside down under his arm and ejected the energy cell. Everything looked okay, but he wouldn’t know until he had it looked at by a tech priest… and he didn’t think there was one nearby. Reloading the weapon, he slung it over his shoulder once again.

Hearing a loud yawn from his new roommate, he turned towards her. Twilight Sparkle was looking around blearily, a frown on her face. "I fell asleep!?" She said angrily to herself "That’s not possible." Noticing, Bann, she jumped to her feet and stared at him accusingly. "Did she put me to sleep?"

Bann shrugged and didn’t answer.

"Of course she did." she muttered to herself "Can't have your 'most faithful student' learn too much about the alien who attacked her."

Bann frowned at being called 'alien'. She was the alien, not him.

"Regardless!" Twilight said loudly, collecting herself "I have many questions for you, Bann, was it? Would you be willing to answer?"

Bann sighed, but nodded. "Fine. I suppose I could answer a few questions." He walked closer to the reading nook as Twilight floated a notebook over to her reading lectern and drew a quill out of the drawer built into its stand.

"Okay! First: human or man? Which is the correct term?"

Bann spent the next hour explaining the fundamentals of human life: simple biology, lifespan, appetites, and other mundanities. Subconsciously, he found himself relaxing at her incessant questions. It felt like an after-action report: the constant questions and clarifications. If he closed his eyes, he could almost imagine a Sister Hospitilar asking the questions.

"Thank you. Lets move on to the Emperor now."

Her words startled him out of his complacency.

"Due to the title, I assume he is your head of state?"

He chuckled "That doesn’t even begin to describe Him. He is the God-Emperor of Mankind. Our physical master and spiritual lord. From Terra upon the Golden Throne he has ruled for ten thousand years and he will rule for a million more." The words came easy to him, rote words drilled into him for as long as he had understood language. Twilight hesitated, her quill hovering over the paper.

"So is he a physical being? You speak like he is a person, but also use deific terms."

"He is both. He strode amongst us as a man, uniting the fractured factions of man that had formed after the Dark Age, creating the Imperium of Man."

"Yes, but he is over ten times your normal lifespan. How is that possible? Is he a sub-species of mankind? Similar to how Princess Celestia is separate from normal ponies?"

Bann grit his teeth. "I'm going to ignore the fact that you just called the Emperor 'sub-human', but I am going to insist that if you want me to stay friendly that you choose your words carefully when discussing my Emperor."

He stared at her hard, the threat implicit in his tone. Twilight gulped and nodded hastily. "Of course. My apologies. If you could perhaps explain how he is so long lived?"

"He is a psychic of prodigious power. He sustains himself with the strength of his will and the efforts of his people."

"Sorry, 'psychic'? Is that a type of psychomancy?"

"I don’t know what that is."

The two stared at each other. This would be difficult. They seemed to speak the same language, but obviously some words didn’t exist between them. For a time, he only spoke of the Imperium itself: explaining that the realm of humanity spread across a million planets and was beset on all sides by hostile alien empires and threatened from within by traitors and heretics. Twilight wrote at a frenzied pace, only occasionally pausing to ask a question or clarify a point.

"It all sounds so strange. Everything you talk about is couched in religious terms. You have a titanic and powerful priesthood, but you also have inscrutable engineers and technicians… that are also a powerful priesthood. Your planets are managed by single individuals, but has to answer to a dozen or more groups of much greater power. How does anything get done?"

Bann smiled at her "It's okay if you don’t understand, it's just…"

Twilight cut him off, half talking to herself now "No, I understand, its just a very broken system. If you eliminated the overlapping responsibility between the separate monolithic organizations and added a few levels of delineation between the 'planetary' and 'sector' levels of governance you could greatly increase the response time for requests to travel up and down the chain. Also, if you consolidated the Ecclesiarchy and the Techpriests so their worship was streamlined you would increase cooperation between the two largest power blocs in your empire."

"No you really don’t understand, the Emperor and the Machine-God of the techpriests are the same being."

Twilight frowned "I don’t think the Techpriests believe that. Why else would they keep their own secret prayers and methods? Why else would they hoard their knowledge so jealously? If you're right and the object of their worship IS the same thing than the interaction between the two groups is grossly inefficient, at best."

Bann held up a hand. "Stop… just stop critiquing the Imperium."

"But…"

"No. That’s enough."

Twilight huffed and turned her notebook to a blank page. "Alright then: psychics. It’s a mental power that someponies can wield?"

"Some people, yes."

"And it is dangerous?"

"Supremely so."

"Is that why you were so afraid of me at first? Is psychic power 'magic', to your people?"

Bann hesitated. The question of psychic power and the dangers therein were extremely taboo subjects to the Imperium. There was spiritual danger in even thinking to hard on such things. "Yes… somewhat. Psychic power draws on the power of the Warp, a nightmarish realm of daemons and madness. Even if a psychic power can be used for good, with every use there is a danger of attracting the attention of a malicious creature. Even worse, many daemons are insidious and will corrupt and change their victims, twisting their thoughts, feelings and even their bodies."

Twilight wrote furiously, filling pages in her book with tiny precise script. "Then I can understand your fear. I can assure you that nopony has ever accidently summoned a daemon while using their magic."

Bann sighed. "No pony that you know of."

Twilight stopped writing, considering that point. "Well, I suppose it is not outside the realm of possibility that someone could be influenced by something called by magic, but such summoning's are always intentional. The time and effort required to perform summoning magic is immense and although things can go wrong, its almost impossible to cast a summoning accidentally."

Setting down her notebook, she moved to one of the bookshelves against the nearby wall. Examining the spines, she continued. "Although, I suppose from a hypothetical standpoint, an abrupt and unprecedented change in morality and action could be caused by an evil outside source, it is much more likely to be something more mundane, such as mental illness or age."

A cracked brown book floated down from the top shelf and drifted down in front of her, its pages flipping open.
"There are some obvious figures in history that suddenly exploded with magical power and obvious evil intent, such as King Sombra, but their sudden descent into oppression and darkness is only unexpected if you ignore the context of their rulership…"

Bann let her ramble on for a while, not really listening as she pointed out population quotas and expansion nodes for something called "the Crystal Empire". He was just about to interrupt her when a knock on the door did it for him.

"Twi?" came the muffled voice of Applejack "You in there?"

"Yes I am! Come on in!" called back Twilight, not looking up from her book.

Applejack swung the door open, and froze when she saw Bann. A torrent of emotions flashed across her face before she plastered a smile on and walked in.

"Did the Princess put the whammy on you guys too?"

"More or less." Twilight absently replied "I was just talking with Bann about the socio-economic structures of the Crystal Empire."

Applejack rolled her eyes and walked over to the purple unicorn. Bann noticed that she gave him a wide birth as she walked around him. "Yeah, riveting stuff, Ah'm sure." Applejack eyed the human up and down "So, where's the big lug going to stay? Not many places in Ponyville with the headroom for 'em."

Twilight looked up from her book at last, sizing Bann up "I suppose he could stay here. We have the spare room."

Bann kept his own counsel. He didn’t see the need to point out that Princess Celestia had already offered to let him stay there.

The door swung open again and Spike walked in, still straining with the grocery bags. Setting them down with an relieved sigh, he started in surprise when he saw the others.

"What? How did you guys get here first?"

"Well…" began Twilight.

"Magic." Bann said, cutting her off.

When he spoke, Spike turned his attention to the human. His eyes narrowed and face twisted into a scowl as he marched up, not intimidated in the least by the fact he came up to Banns shins.

"What kind of crazy jerk are you, anyway? Trying to blow up Applejack and Twilight? Taking Rainbow hostage with a knife?! What makes you think you can get away with that!?"

Bann crouched down, looming over the smaller creature, his eyes cold. "I do what I must. I'm hopefully only here for the short term, little alien, so keep your anger to yourself. I'm getting some tired of having my actions judged by a bunch of pacifist creatures."

Spike didn’t recoil, he stared into the humans eyes without fear.

"Whoa! Whoa there!" Applejack interjected, pushing between the two "Ah think we've all had a very long and very difficult day. Maybe we should try to make nice and retry this tomorrow?"

Bann stood and took a step back. He was tired. His broken arm throbbed and his mind was still abuzz with a thousand questions. He knew himself well enough to realize he wasn't making the best decisions, but still, he wasn't going to apologize to the lizard-thing.

"Fine. Where's the spare bedroom?"

Spike poked him in the boot with an extended claw "Oooooh no, you're not staying here. You can find somewhere else…"

Twilight interjected with a sigh "Actually, Spike…" she let her sentence linger in the air.

"What!?" Spike squawked "You cant be serious!"

Twilight just nodded, looking a little embarrassed. Throwing up his arms in exasperation, Spike walked around the human and stomped up the stairs, not looking at him. "Come on. Its up here."

Bann followed the dragon up the spiral stairs and down the natural wood hallway, passing a few doors before stopping in front of a lime green one. "Its in here. If its too cold… tough." He pointed to two other doors "Those rooms are mine and Twilights. If you go in there I'll torch your feet while you sleep." He gave a large fake smile "Sweet dreams!" He finished with saccharine sweetness before turning around and marching back down the stairs.

Bann watched him go, not sure if he was serious about the torching. Opening the smallish door, he crouched slightly and entered. Like the other rooms, glass lights on the wall glowed to life and bathed the room in their warm illumination. More magic. He figured, fighting down an instinctual shudder. The bed was tiny, like a child's cot, with a dark blue blanket emblazoned with white stars thrown casually over it. A bookshelf was bare and an empty trunk lay open at the food of the bed.

Sitting on the edge of the distressingly low bed, he carefully stripped out of his boots and outer armor, laying them carefully next to the bed with his rifle and other equipment. Next came the olive drab military jumpsuit, a difficult and time consuming task with one arm broken, leaving him in only his grey briefs and undershirt. Giving his jumpsuit a once over, he realized how dirt and sweat stained it really was. He was a mess. If his Commissar could see his condition and the condition of his equipment, he would be in serious trouble. In the dim light, he smiled at the thought of the black-coated slab of a man screaming and ranting at the Ponyville residents over the sorry state of their defences. Any Commissar worth his cap would be purple-faced with apoplectic fury.

The smile faded into a sigh. He would welcome a commissar or any other Imperial authority in this strange place. Aside from being able to provide guidance, it was also prove that he wasn’t dead.

Or crazy.

Or bewitched.

Laying flat on the bed, he pulled the blanket aside and enjoyed the feel of the air on his bare skin. Despite the fact that his knees and shins hung over the end of the tiny bed, he had slept on worse. Letting exhaustion take over, he swiftly fell into a stone dead sleep, his last conscious thought being a hope that maybe he would wakeup back on the rusted ancient transport fleeing the destruction of his home world.

Somewhere, deep inside, he wasn’t sure if that would be better or worse.