Ajax Urien. The parchment above the tall, steel doors swayed in the artificial breeze that wisped through the corridors of the armoury. It was deathly quiet say for the odd clink of chains or whistle of a breeze. Bellow the parchment stood a figure, a figure that would make any mortal quake where they stood. Standing a full two foot taller than his ancient ancestors, built with iron hard bone and thickly bound muscle, Ajax peered up at the parchment as a small child would at a newly marketed trinket.

A soft grin stretched across his young features, while his bright green eyes remained transfixed above him. His flesh was slightly tanned with freckles lightly spotting below his eyes, his hair a hazelnut brown with a hint of red. His head held no scars, disfigurement or bionics, indicating his youth. He wore a creamy coloured robe and ceremonial tabard over that with the simple decoration of a skull at the centre of his chest surrounded by a golden halo.

Finally soaking in the last of his self-constructed pride, Ajax stepped forth and made his way through the doors that growled throatily and rattled feverishly as they slid apart at the centre. His leather footwear made a rhythmic, slow tempered clopping sound as he strode through the short corridor that led into a large room. The room was a dark grey in colour, lined with gold decor and aesthetic skulls and cherubs. About him, a pair of servo skulls floated dreamily through the cool air, circling the room parallel to one another. Ajax took a knee at the centre of the haloed place.

He now knelt where a dozen others had knelt a thousand times before. All had been one thing Ajax was about to become. A space marine.

All those who had come before Ajax had been heroes, great warriors, livings weapons of war and now rested with the hundreds of others in the vault of heroes. And now what had been their inheritance was now his, their armour, their weapons and their responsibility. The responsibility only mankind had been courageous enough to uphold. To protect the Imperium, to defend against any and all enemies it faced without fear or mercy. To defend its subjects no matter what species or occupation. And to serve the most beneficent immortal God-Emperor.

Ajax was now officially a Halo skull. The chapter was a young one, not yet 200 years old, its seniors and commanding officers drafted strait from the first founding Ultramarines chapter. The Halo skulls had a lot to live up to, for to be a space marine was to be one without fear, and one who was master of all forms of combat, but to be in the shadow of the greatly revered Ultramarines was a whole other story. However the founders of the chapter had taken note of their previous battle methods and added a new agenda to them, one they believed would let them shine bright in their Emperors sight for as long as they existed. To be a Halo skull, was to protect all innocence.

Ajax heard the purring and whining of machinery as servo arms and analysis gear closed on him. Small figures began circling him in a ceremonial stance, while others loomed over his knelt form bearing scripture and icons thousands of years old. Ajax felt a shiver of cold hit the back of his neck and trail down his spine while the tall cloaked figures droned battle rites and hymns of old. The creature that gathered about him were the chapters’ serfs, bio-mechanical servants that were at the space marines’ beck and call. They wore dark grey robes with hoods, hiding their usually distasteful features that were riddled with harsh bionics and mechanical augmentations.

Ajax stood once the initial blessings had been fulfilled and outstretched both his arms while the serfs undressed him from his robes leaving him completely naked for a short while. Not a minute after his undressing the serfs carried with care sections of what looked like black and grey skin. The skin was held in baths of a rich green fluid that had a thick, jelly like quality to it. The creature carefully removed the synthetic skin and placed it on the appropriate points on Ajaxs’ body. Soon enough Ajax wore a second skin that greatly resembled a recreational wetsuit but with circuitry and neuro-fibres criss-crossing its surface.

Next the small pale creatures scurried about the space marine carrying pieces of fine machinery and armour plating. The smooth and glossy plates were coloured a dark and oily blue with parts trimmed a dusty cream colour. The serfs fixed the machines to Ajaxs’ pre-skin with clicks and snaps as various sections locked together. Minutes past and soon Ajax wore a suit of the galaxies finest armour, the Mk VII Aquila pattern power armour. With his nuclear power pack safely fastened to his back Ajax turned on the spot and headed out the door he had arrived through, leaving the serfs and servitors to crawl back to their docking ports once more.

A low but heavy thumping resonated through the tall ornate corridors as Ajax marched forth in his power armour, giving a slither of life to the stale, dusty air around him. A minute walk took him to the armoury were his battle brothers waited for him. More space marines marched in along with him as well as a few soon after. The 8ft giants thundered about the highly decorated armoury adorned with leering skulls and hollow face angels, the walls emitting a calming cyan glow from far corners. The 30 space marine, 3 squads of ten newly promoted, all gathered their war gear. Most were equipped with just a bolt pistol, chainsword and combat knife. A handful had grabbed a couple of grenades, Ajax being one, but 3 marine sergeants were honoured enough to wear more sophisticated weapons such as plasma pistols and power weapons.

Many brothers were chatting, discussing the battle to come, but in a somewhat disappointed fashion.

‘We are built for warfare, for glorious battle amongst thousands of brothers against untold horrors. No, instead we have to make a full orbital insurgence just to quell a pitiful ‘rebellion’. No more than a childish uprising,’ a fire hearted battle brother proclaimed while loading bolt rounds into his heavy bolter. A handful of brothers grunted in approval, none of them wanted to be forced into peacekeeping work, at such a young age, all of them wanted glory.

‘If I were you I’d stop your complaining, starting to sound slightly childish yourself,’ a bald headed sergeant said through a scar riddled mouth. The battle brother simply sneered in response and continued his maintenance on his weapon.

‘Well if you ask me I’d say the galaxy’s running out of fights. The Garisnel campaign was the last real war I remember even hearing of, let alone fighting in,’ Ajax added in his own self-righteous tone.

‘And that’s why no one ask you,’ Dornus, a companion from Ajaxs’ youth added while offering a crooked grin.

Ajax returned it along with a light thump on his pauldron. A beacon went off soon after followed by the monotone droning from the ships onboard computer. In response each marine finished mag-locking his equipment to his armour and secured their helmets. A chorus of luminous green eye lenses blinked to life as each marines armour locked him away from the outside world. Ajax fastened his own with a click and low hiss of pressure release. Through the two triangular visors Ajaxs’ vision was electronically enhanced by thermal enhancements, TAC-COM, targeting relays and various other tactical perks.

Each squad filed in front of their sergeant until the 3 squads formed 3 perfectly formed pillars of men. The sergeants barked a command and the pillars moved out the doors in a quickened march, one by one. Ajax marched as he had in drills hundreds of times before, turning when appropriate and halting when required. Soon enough he noticed in the corner of his vision that other squads of other age and profession had joined the march. Quarter of an hour passed and the squads found themselves in the launch bays. Ajax and his squad diverted from the majority of others towards a supply garage located on the far side of the stadium-sized hangar.

The segmented steel doors withdrew to reveal a room filled with racks of neatly stacked jump packs. The large back harnesses were equipped with twin rocket jets designed to launch a space marine through the air with great speed and power, giving them the capability from striking at the enemy from the skies like a meteor. Ajax and his squad formed up in front of the rack and let the serfs and adepts suit them up. As the packs were aligned and fitted the servant creatures chanted rites and hymns to properly connect the machine spirits of the jump pack and their power armour.

Soon enough the squad was well fitted, nine marines, a sergeant and the equipment for the purpose of tank hunting and crowd control. The squad proceeded to the thunderhawk launch bays ready for war, or more accurately, the closest to war they’ll see for now. The marines had already started their gossip of the coming battle well before, discussing tactics, making premature boasts and most importantly complaining. Soon enough sergeant Verulos straitened their words out and enforced order once again. Marines locked themselves into their safety harnesses as the docking arms moved the thunderhawk in front of the pair of massive hangar doors and the pilot fired up the machines engines. The gunship roared into life, the turbines increasing their high pitched whine as it prepared for takeoff.

Suddenly all went silent. The engines died with a choked coughing and the steady vibration went absent from Ajaxs’ feet.

“Pilot, report!” Verulos barked over the comm link.

“Apologies sergeant, a priority alarm was just given throughout the ship. It seems our departure may be postponed,” The pilot replied.

“Understood,” Verulos returned before turning to the squad, “Don’t get any ideas about causing trouble.”

The squad tried to hold back their grins, even behind their faceless helmets, but most failed. Word spread from vox chatter that there was an anomaly in the system, some kind of immaterial echo, and soon enough the gossip begun again. Rumours of a xeno invasion or demonic incursion spread through the squad.

“Demons? Here? Do you hear yourself? We’re more likely to be part of a some xeno raid,”

“Nonsense, it can only be another fleet arriving in system. I don’t know why we would need reinforcements though,”

“Or perhaps it’s nothing and you should stop this immature rambling,” The sergeant finished. “Now, who feels like taking a step outside? The starboard lock on one of the deployable monasteries is loose and we need one of you to help a techmarine secure it.”

For a minute there was silence, not many thought such a task as favourable, nor did any marine truly enjoy the zero gravity sensation.

“I will assist in the matter sergeant,” Announced Ajax. If there was a task that the machine god needed doing, then he would be happy to help. Such an announcement received unseen rolled eyes.

Sergeant Verulos nodded and opened up the forward access ramp, air rushing out into the already decompressed hangar. Ajax strode out onto the deck in the zero gravity, dust particles and moisture blobs floating ominously through the dead space around. The thunderous footsteps he made now dulled out by the pure nothingness that surrounded him. Ajax headed towards, then out the open hangar doors, tacking a jump out into space. He commanded the jump pack attached to him neutrally and fired its engines. Orange and purple flame leapt from the rockets as Ajax was propelled about the corner of the door.

Only the rushing sound of the rockets at his back accompanied Ajax in the grim hollow of space as he floated along the side of the strike cruiser. Turning into its underbelly he spotted the rows of rectangular shapes he was assigned to. All along the underneath of the cruiser were clusters of large cut outs clamped into place. Each one was a structure, ranging from chapels, barracks and even forges, all deployed from orbit and landing wherever the chapter needed an outpost or fortress. Ajax flew up underneath a monastery his visor highlighted.

“This is Ajax; I’m at the designated deployment dock and awaiting further orders,” Ajax said over his throat vox.

“Ajax, techmarine Domunath here. I’ll need you to hold the loose clamp open so I can work with the inner workings of the machine. That is all,” the techmarine spoke with all the warmth of the space around Ajax and with a deep, guttural growl.

Ajax had hoped his work would be more than just being a prop, but it would have to be enough for now. He located the loose clamp and kicked off its safety latches manually and heaved it upwards. It was heavy duty work even in the weightless environment he was in, but with some effort the clamp rose clear of the structure it once held. Soon enough Ajax heard the rhythmic clank clank sound of the techmarine approaching. Soon after he spotted the marine in his red armour and sporting four mechanical limbs on his back. Ajax propped himself against the clamp and awaited his brother. Suddenly his vox channel exploded into life, voices from all over the ships buzzed through his ears as what seemed like a crisis was afoot.

The voices spoke of systems going offline, decks blacking out and machinery dying. Then chaos ensued. All the clamps unlocked, every last one all along the underneath of the ships either made a snapping sound as they lost power or even flung wide open. The techmarine looked around him in confusion trying to hold down the clamps nearest to him. Ajax furrowed his brow at the site as he even saw the ships underside guns fall from their docks or swing loosely around as there was no power to tell them otherwise. Then Ajax noticed something even odder, the guns, clamps and anything else loose on the ships all started to turn and face the same way like a crowd watching a performance.

Ajax noticed a soft purple glow emanate from his right, the same direction the instruments were all facing, and the direction he started to feel a slight drag of gravity. Ajax looked on to see a strange sight. A purple smear, every shade of purple that can be imagined swirled in the dark of space, its glow stealing away that of the planet in the distance. The smear grew with each second, like a bleed in the universe it weightlessly grew into the space that surrounded it. Ajax spun to face his brother.

“Domunath! Secure yourself, it’s a warp ri-“

Suddenly gravity exploded all around him as a warp rift tore into reality. His feet were dragged out from under him as he garbed the piston if the clamp he had propped up. He hooked his armoured arm around the cylinder as a purple hurricane of unreality swirled behind him. A loud grinding sound was heard as Ajax saw a chapel barrack tear free from its launch bay and spin off into the distant storm. Ajaxs heart raced in his chest as he knew he could suffer the same fate, and most likely, he would along with the entire ship. The gravity doubled and Ajax roared in pain as the ship finally fired its engine and attempted to escape the storm. Ajax felt his gut turn as he saw a frigate spin wildly into the warp storm, disappearing from this reality and entering the ether.

Vox chatter didn’t improve as panic was rife. Orders were shouted from one end of the ship to the next. Another structure tore free from the belly of the cruiser and flew into the eye of the storm, and another, and another. A loud crack came from beneath Ajax. He looked down to see the entire monastery coming loose . Ajax pulled himself up and closer to the clamp, trying his best to get clear of the structure. Ajax heard the grind of metal on metal and hastened to pull himself up. Another loud crack echoed around Ajax as the monastery came loose and knocked him off the clamp piston.

Ajax screamed as his mind defied the possibility of such an end. No battle, no enemies, no honour. Just the howling abyss and a damned dimension awaiting his arrival.

“This is battle brother Ajax, I am headed towards the storm! I came loose-, I need urgent assistance-, by His grace can anyone hear me?!”

Ajax sent distress call one after the other but no reply, just the ever dimming sound of his brothers aboard in utter panic. As he spun in the void he spotted the ships engines fail again, the entire vessel following his fate hundreds of kilometres away. At least another half a dozen ships followed close by, spinning and rolling out of control. Soon enough Ajax was engulfed in the purple flames of non-reality and was swallowed by the gaping maw of hell itself.

Years passed, and not a second flashed before his eyes. In a minute, he experienced all of time. An hour passed by in half a thought and a thought took a millennia. Time was absent, space was absent, and only the howl of a thousand haunted souls accompanied Ajax through the next dimension. Colour beyond imagining flashed before him, yet no colour was seen at all. Then space returned, he could feel himself again. Then time, he had been away not long as far as he could remember. Then thought, where was he, what had happened? The storm, screaming, panic. It all came back in seconds, but it never should have left him in the first place.

Ajax looked around expecting a host of daemons to tear at his very soul, but nothing, just darkness. All was dark say for the stars in his sight, and the quickly shrinking warp rift. Ajax let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank the Emperor. Thank you for watching over me my lord,”

His thanks would go unheard to any mortal though, as nothing was in sight for light-years. He simply floated, floated on to meet whatever found him. He knew what was to be done. He felt his mind slip away from him as he entered his hibernated state of mind, sinking into a willing coma of sorts. He felt himself grow nearly dead inside as the darkness got only darker. Ajax shook his head awake again and shrugged of his sleep. His sight had darkened while going into stasis. More and more he noticed how the darkness was growing less and less dark. Ajax fired his jump pack and turned himself on the spot.

A planet had been right behind him, a whole world at his back. It was beautiful, as beautiful as he could experience. Oceans, land, greenery and most importantly an atmosphere. But Ajax knew the likelihood of ever seeing that world was very slim. Power armour was strong but not designed for atmospheric entry; he would burn up before he got a breath of whatever air the world held. Ajax noticed movement to his left. He looked to see a monastery, the one that had knocked him into the storm, floating past him. He didn’t have much time, but had no other choice. His pack fired up and launched him to the building. Once reached he held on to whatever he could as tightly as he was capable. More structures floated past, Ajax counted three more headed toward the planet.

After half an hour of intense prayer the heat of the atmosphere started to hit him, and the belly of the monastery turned an angry orange. Not long after the whole structure had become a comet, burning through the atmosphere at speed. Luckily the deployable structures were layered in burnout shells designed to peel away when entering a world from orbit. Ajax witnessed this first hand as pieces of debris flew past the sides of the structure. The entry was over and the buildings systems kicked in as it looked for a suitable place to land. Temporary engines mounted at the sides ignited and guided the structure down, the others following the routine. Together they made a synchronised team of earthbound objects, turning and aligning in synch.

Ajax knew it was his queue to leave as buildings landed much heavier than marines and hit the ground painfully hard. He pushed himself away with his powerful legs and made freefall. Ajax checked his equipment, surprisingly finding nothing absent from his inventory. He punched through the cloud line and was greeted by miles of field, forest and distant mountain. The sun was rising on the horizon and the cluster of buildings plummeted towards it, headed apparently towards an open plain a few miles from where he would land himself. Ajax could see tiny patches f civilization, inhabited or desolate he could not tell, but would soon find out. He thought to take the safer routine and aimed his trajectory towards what seemed like a thick forest.

His jump pack roared with life as he glided from side to side, angling up and straightening him out for landing. He closed in n the ground with great speed, now clearly able to make out the trees and terrain below him. Seconds past and Ajax sharpened his senses to get his timing right, letting every moment count. When he was no more than 100 feet from the ground Ajax fired his pack at full blast and straight down, lifting him to a standing position, his legs prepared for the landing shock. He hit the soil like the ton of metal he was, dirt thrown high into the air and any rocks beneath him utterly crushed.

Ajax could only stand there as debris fell about him. He had made it, like a true space marine; he had faced impossible odds and survived. He simply stood there in silent prayer, thanking his beloved deity for watching over him, for guiding him to a clean world. He moved his armoured hand up to his helmets and disengaged the locks around his neck seal. Warm air flooded around his face and sank deep into his lungs as he took a long breath in. His lungs sang with joy to receive clean, unprocessed air, and his flesh soaked in the rays of rising sun like they were his first in decades. His mind once again snapped into action and he replaced his helmet once again.

The tactical readouts were strange at best. Everything seemed perfectly normal, the atmosphere was Terran, gravity 0.9999967 Gs, the terrain smooth and unhindering. Yet even Ajax could see the faint energies that danced around the suns light and at the edge of the horizon. Some magic was afoot here. Perhaps something had made it through the warp gate, maybe an indigenous life form had learnt how to control the energies of the warp, yet Ajax thought the truth could be far stranger. He turned on the spot and faced the direction he had seen the potential settlement from above, then set off with long, heavy strides.

One way or another, he would find answers to where he was, why he was here and what was here with him.

Twilight studied the map she held with a growing confusion. It had been early morning when Princess Celestia had sent her a letter through Spike about a concerning event that had occurred during sunrise. Apparently the princess, along with several other ponies around Canterlot, witnessed stuff falling from the sky. Apparently most of it had landed near or within the Everfree boundaries, but one object in particular had grasped the alicorns’ attention. She said in the letter that something with a great magic resonation had landed around the base of Dragon Mountain, and she wanted Twilight and the Elements of harmony to investigate.

“Oh this is so exciting! We get to be the very first ponies ever in the history of ever to see ALIENS! EVER!” Pinkie Pie squealed as she skipped about the group that had just departed from ponyville library.

“Pinkie, for the last time, it’s not aliens,” Twilight said while rolling her eyes.

“Hey! You don’t know that. Sure, it could be nothing, but then again it could be anything! And out of the choice of anything I choose..........ALIENS!” Pinkie yelled making Fluttershy jump in fright. Fluttershy calmed herself again and fiddled nervously with her hands.

“Oh, I do hope they’re nice aliens, I mean i-if they are aliens. But it would be so nice to learn about a creature from another world,” the yellow pegasus said as softly as ever.

“Well hay, if it isn’t and it’s some big scary green thing with massive teeth, then POW, WHAM! I’ll buck that thing back to where it came from,” Rainbow Dash added with her self-confident inflection, all the while flying about the group, wearing skin tight sport pants and vest.

“Everypony stop talking about aliens! The princess herself said that it could be nothing, we’re just going to make sure everything’s ok,” Twilight repeated while folding away the map she held into her rucksack.

“Either way I hope this won’t take long. I remember our last trip to Dragon Mountain, and it wasn’t the most pleasant of journeys,” Rarity complained. The white unicorn wore her fine outdoor social attire, even though she knew they were going on what was basically a short hike.

Applejack however had suited up much more like a utilitarian, wearing more pockets than clothes, and making sure her clothes were lightweight and protective from the waist down.
“Ah just sure hope this ain’t no fuss over nuthin’. I mean le’s jus’ say, it is an alien, it’d be better than haulin’ our flanks on out here fer nuthin’ at all,” The orange earth pony said while adjusting her signature cowcolt hat.

“Now thaaaAAat’s what I’m talking about! Come on Twilight, try have a little optimism,” Pinkie cheered.

“Ugh, yeh cuz I really hope my afternoon is spent trying to translate whatever ‘Geflar from planet Zirion-X’ is trying to tell us. That or being laser beamed,” This made Fluttershy squeal and cringe away.

“T-t-they wouldn’t, uh, hurt us. Would they?”

“Well who’s to know. All I can say is, he better be packing some serious laser stuff to deal with this pony,” Rainbow exclaimed while flying backwards.

The group walked on through paths and some grassland before reaching the rocky base of Dragon Mountain. They started their steady climb like they had those months ago, only this time less hindered by Fluttershys’ nerves. Applejack walked up alongside Twilight to talk.

“So Twi’, the princess give us any info on what fell from the sky this mornin’?” She asked with slight concern.

“Not much. The most interesting part was what she wrote about when she reached out her own magic to the alie-......uh, thing. She got one word,” Twilight replied. Applejack looked at her in anticipation.

“Valanthyr,”

“Dayim. Is it just me, or does that sound like a........,” Applejack gulped down her worry, “......a name?”

“I don’t know, but we’re about to find out,” Twilight reassured.

An hour passed and the girls had halted their climbing and had circled around to the other side of the mountain base, where the object had landed. Soon enough the girls gave grim looks as a foul smell filled the air around them, along with a slight haze of smoke. A layer of smoke drifted around their knees blinding them from their own hooves.

“Careful girls, we can’t afford to get lost in this smoke,” Twilight announced.

“Whaddayah think it is? A forest fire?” Applejack asked.

“Does this smell like a forest fire? No way, smells like Everypony in ponyville just let it rip here,” Dash said while covering her nose with her hand. She wasn’t wrong either, and evil smell hung in the air and it was affecting all of them.

“Hey guys! Check out what I just found!” Pinkie yelled from a few metres away.

The group found her and huddled around looking at the ground along with the pink pony. Most of the girls reeled back in surprise, Fluttershy squeaking in fright and darting back. There was a symbol on the ground, more accurately burnt into the ground with ten embers still glowing orange. All around the symbol for several metres in every direction was burnt and dying. The symbol itself was a circle as wide as a pony was tall, a circle holding a five pointed star within it. Each point touched the edge of the circle, and outside the circle at each point was a strange glyph of sorts. In fact the entire thing pulsed every few seconds with dozens of glyphs within the circle, making it apparent that this thing was magical.

“Okwefounditletsgo,” Fluttershy squeaked as she started heading back the way they came.

“Hold up there darlin’, we gotta find out what happened here,” Applejack said as she grabbed the pegasus’ pink tail with her gloved hand.

“Applejack’s right, we have to keep searching,” Twilight said in determination. She looked about and could barely make out the outline of a cave entrance through the smoke on the side of the mountain. “Hey, how about there? If anything actually did cause this, maybe they decided to take shelter? After all, I can’t imagine we’d find anything hanging around a place like this,” Twilight said as she looked back on the area of destruction that had been recently made.

The girls made a short climb and came to the cave entrance. The darkness was more than enough to unnerve the ponies, but more than that, they couldn’t help but notice something was whispering inside. The collection of hisses that held words not understood by any of the ponies wove through the air like snakes.

“Well, we can safely say that something did pay a visit here,” Rarity confirmed.

“Uh, w-well should we go talk to....uh.......it?” Twilight asked, sounding as sheepish as Fluttershy, who was hiding behind applejack.

“Don’t worry girls, I’m sure class is a universal language,” Rarity said with a mask of confidence.

“Yeah, cuz that worked sooooo well last time,” Dash added looking unconvinced.

Rarity flicked her mane in defiance and strode into the cave, the group following close behind. At first there was nothing say the unwelcoming darkness, but a couple dozen hoofsteps in and the stone walls were lit up by a strange turquoise glow. Rarity turned a corner and stopped dead in her tracks, face frozen in an emotionless state, soon the group peered round and saw exactly what Pinkie wanted.

The creature was tall, much taller than a pony as rarity could see she come no higher than the base of its neck. Its long arms were wrapped in tight muscle and legs were digigrade like a ponies , only where a ponies legs were nearly absent of any calf segment, the creatures were longer and stronger built. Short quills protruded from its shoulders, forearms and the sides of its thighs while a pair of thick, bony horns swept back from the sides of its head while a smaller set followed them shortly before turning back into themselves. Its face was like a snakes’ only without nostrils and presenting a second set of eyes, all of them dragon-like and glowing an angry fire colour. A pair of large, leathery bat wings spread out from its back and its flesh was a dead grey colour. The creature wore a multi-layered robe of sorts, jet black with blood red lining and glyphs, the same as those on the symbol.

“Atraaas ni orthlasctasar ort mathanas ti rutharkan tiorlathnar......”

The creature spoke with a sinister hissing while it worked away on what appeared to be stone. Before it were five stones floating in place, marked with glowing turquoise glyphs and carved into what looked like skulls like its own, all the stones burnt with a bright turquoise magic as they hung hypnotically in the air. The creature continued its chants as a magic emanated from its clawed, three fingered hands and into the slowly forming stone. The stone floated from one of its claws to the other, each time resembling more like the others than before. The creatures chants increased intensity as it grabbed the stone with both hands and it was set ablaze. The group of ponies could barely watch as the light grew too bright for their eyes.

A loud crack echoed the room and the group saw the light fall dim again. The stone the creature once held was split in two down the middle. It held the two pieces in each hand without moving for a second or two before its arms begun to shake. It hunched over and growled in anger while crushing the stones, then turned to face the wall of the cave.

“EeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

It threw its hands into the cave wall and shattered the stones to pieces in its grasp.

“I’m sorry, is there any way we could help?” Rarity asked while the group looked at her in absolute terror or frustration.

The creatures head moved like lightning and a sharp hiss was given as it turned to look at the attention it had gathered. It slid its hands down the cave wall and back to its sides while straightening its own posture back to something that looked more sophisticated. Its eyes, the eyes none of the group of ponies could deny were terrible to look into, scanned each pony in turn with unnatural precision and speed. Its thin lips dragged up its mouth to reveal the roots of a line of dagger like teeth.

“U-um, a-are you, perhaps...... Valanthyr?” Twilight asked with what little courage she had and hand.

The creatures quills stood up at the mention of the word and bristled with a rhythmic pulsing movement. Its eyes seemed to narrow onto Twilight alone, a sneer building at the side of its mouth.

“I am Valanthyr..........and you are?” The creature spoke.

It spoke with a posh accent, like and upper class waiter. The words were without fault, stutter or slur. It carried the same noise as creaking wood, giving the accent that bit more of a sinister touch. It felt like an icy knife stabbing into Twilights heart.

“I-I am Twilight S-Sparkle, uh, sir,” Twilight replied like a child to a head teacher.

The creature chuckled deeply at the words ‘sir’. It took two steps forward and grinned slightly as the ponies took a step back.

“I-is there anything you, uh, n-need help with? Or should we just leave you alone?” Twilight asked, her ears flat against her head, the shaking of a terrified Fluttershy at her side.

“Of course not, come, please. I could use your assistance,” The creatures tone seemed to warm up tenfold, almost comforting the ponies senses.

The group gave a short sigh of relief and stepped slowly forward as Valanthyr turned and strode back to the glowing stone skulls.

“Um, could I ask what you’re doing here?” Twilight asked with a fraction more confidence.

“I have been attempting to construct a banishment spell since I arrived on your world. However the results so far have been..........unsuccessful, to say the least,” Valanthyr said while he gave his wings a slight stretch, his quills rising along with the muscle movements. The last part of his sentence sounded like he was unsure of himself.

“A-a banishment spell, what for?” Rainbow dash asked, voicing everyponies immediate thought.

“Well, where to start? I came to this world in search for raw magical materials, a substance my race finds particularly interesting. However it seems I was mistaken, and I can sense no such things on this world, however my journey here through a ‘warp gate’, did not go unnoticed. It would seem that a creature followed me through the gate, and has made its own way to the surface of this world,” Valanthyr lectured as he slowly paced from one side of the cave to the other, continuing to study the ponies before him with his baleful eyes.

“A creature? What kinda creature?” Applejack was next to ask.

“A truly terrible thing! A damnable monster from another world, barbaric, hostile and ruthless. My heart bleeds, to know that my curiosity may have brought ruin to this world,” Valanthyr now sounded truly distraught, guilty even.

“Well don’t you worry none sugarcube, I’m sure there’s a way to set everythin’ right,” Applejack took a couple steps forward, fear beginning to leave her thoughts.

Valanthyr looked at Applejack with piercing eyes that made her feel sick to look into, and Twilight could have sworn she detected a hint of malice behind them.

“Quite,” He simply replied before turning to the group and striding close to them. The girls found it hard to ignore the horrid smell they once again experienced, this time it was obviously coming from Valanthyr.
“I am afraid I need one more piece to my spell. I thought I could use six of these sorcery stones you see before you, but it would seem events are making the sixth ones creation out of the question. The creature that threatens you also holds an essence of magic, be it much less potent than mine, but nevertheless it counters my power all the same. I would need a sudden.......foreign source of magic to ignite the spell and send the creature back to whence it came, and allow me safe passage home,” Valanthyr finished with a wide, toothy smile.

Twilight thought for a second. She wanted to help the poor creature, and didn’t want some rampant alien loose in Equestria, but had no idea where she could get magic enough to safely perform a spell she had never heard of before. She would have tried herself, but feared that she may misunderstand the way the spell worked and do more harm than good. Then she had an idea.

“Don’t worry Valanthyr; I know just the pony for the job. I’m sure princess Celestia will be able to help you better than any of us can,” Twilight said while placing a reassuring hand on Valanthyrs’ arm, before quickly pulling back as she felt his flesh to be ice cold to the touch.

“Good! Very, very good. We must arrange a meeting with your matriarch and soon,” Valanthyr cheered as he strode past the ponies and out the cave entrance on long, powerful legs. He carried the stones he had created on his belt around his robe.

The ponies gave cheers and approvals as they all headed off back to ponyville, Rainbow Dash taking off ahead of the group to get Spike to send a letter to the princess. Fluttershy trailed several steps behind, worry plastered to her face more than usual, holding the broken remains of the failed stone.

The group moved on with Valanthyr in the lead with Twilight. All attempts to socialize with Valanthyr had come out with little success, much to the disappointment of Pinkie Pie. Even Rarity, who held herself in a very upper-class state of mind couldn’t bare Valanthyrs’ utter disregard for anything else. It was as if he considered the girls to be lesser creatures, like dogs yapping at his feet. Applejack now saw him in an entirely different light, and Fluttershy wouldn’t even come close to him. Even Twilight could feel what they all felt, like something was wrong, like they shouldn’t be helping this creature, like they were all in grave danger.

And apparently they were, Valanthyr had reminded them every other minute that he could ‘feel’ the other creature closing in on them, something Applejack had labelled as ‘a bunch a’ apple peel’ as nothing had crossed their path once. Even Twilight was beginning to question Valanthyrs’ senses, even his sanity, until the alien grabbed Twilight with one long fingered hand and pulled her down behind a bunch of shrubs.

“Down! All of you!” He said with forced whispering.

Once they were all behind the plants, Twilight looked to Valanthyr. “What is it? What are we hiding from?”

The grey alien pointed a long talon at the edge of a hill about 3 minutes walk from where they were and whispered, “There,”

At first all she saw was the hills, some trees and the forest beyond. Then she spotted movement, a patch of dark blue moving just behind one of the trees. Then Valanthyrs’ story was proven accurate. A massive monster stalked through a cluster of trees with long strides and powerful steps. It was coated head to foot in dark blue armour that must have weighed a ridiculous amount, along with a large mechanical device strapped to its back. Its helmet had bright green eyes that were pulled into a fierce frown and a triangular shaped grill where Twilight assumed its mouth was. It held equipment around its waist on a belt, what looked like a collection of boxes, cans, a sheathed knife and a long sword with a toothed edge. Judging by how far away it was, the monster was enormous, easily the bulk of a manticore and standing much taller than even Valanthyr.

“Um, girls, does anyone notice the direction it’s headed?” Rarity whispered in worry.

She was right; it was headed in the same direction they were headed, towards Ponyville. Although it didn’t seem to be in any hurry, and if they set of quickly they could beat it there.

“Come, further delay is intolerable,” Valanthyr said before heading off in a speedy walk. Twilight wasn’t about to argue and followed, soon along with the rest of the group.

For the first time since their contact with Valanthyr Fluttershy somehow found courage enough to speak.
“He doesn’t look very scary at all. I mean sure, he’s big, but he doesn’t seem to want to hurt anything. Maybe I can go talk to him?” She offered as politely as ever.

“NO!” Valanthyr roared as he spun about and up to Fluttershy, wings spread and a sinister hissing trailing after his roar. Fluttershy was frozen in place, utterly shocked by fear. The other turned to face Valanthyr, Applejack rolling up her sleeves. The alien took a crafty look round, and then looked back into fluttershys’ petrified gaze.
“Aheheh...........no. I assure you that that thing would make its first meal on this planet out of you and then get a scent for your friends. You wouldn’t want them to be the victim of your........concerns?” He said with his honey-like, hypnotic words that did little to comfort any of the group. He turned on the spot and marched off once again.

“Ah swear that...........that.........thing has been nothin’ but trouble,” Applejack said while putting her arms around Fluttershy who started to build tears in her wide eyes.

“Look, let’s just get to Ponyville and get this over with,” Twilight replied. Even she couldn’t argue that. But the sooner they did this spell, the sooner both aliens could leave.

Soon after the group arrived back at ponyville along with their alien guest. To all their relief, Princess Celestia had already arrived and was standing outside the towns’ central hall. Ponies from all over town had gathered and whispers spread across the growing crowd. Rainbow Dash and Spike were also outside town hall and accompanied Celestia. The group walked up and gave a gracious bow to the princess, all say for Valanthyr who studied the alicorn with a narrow eyes and slight grin. The princess walked up to Valanthyr and gave held her hands out in a greeting.

“I am princess Celestia, welcome to my kingdom, Equestria,” She greeted bearing a warm smile.

Valanthyr cocked his head slightly to one side and chuckled soon after.

“Yes, very good of you to join us. It would seem you gather quite the audience,” Valanthyr replied, his chuckle still echoing in his voice.

“Well, I’m happy to say that my subjects have gathered to see you here,” Celestia said with her words soaked in joy.

“Oh I will be sure to put on quite the show,” He said as he withdrew the floating stones from the sheath of his wings. He turned and spread the stones in front of the town hall where there was a large clearing. He finished placing the last stone, all of them forming a circle together, and looked up to see the whispering in the crowd had vanished. Squinting all four of his eyes he saw the crowd beginning to part, making way for a massive armoured figure.

The monster that Twilight and her friends had witnessed earlier walked through the crowd with thunderous, slow steps. Ponies throughout the crowd were stunned at the sight of the creature, not a word to be heard in the entire town.

“There! It’s here, quick cast a summoning enchantment at the centre of the formation!” Valanthyr yelled in fear and desperation.

“I’m sure if we just talk things over we ca-,” Celestia began.

“DO IT FLESHLING!” Valanthyr screamed with madness in his eyes.

Suddenly a lance of violet magic struck the centre of the stone formation, but not cast by Celestia. Twilight, in fear and panic had cast the spell. She didn’t know what to do, it was like being in a nightmare, and she just wanted it to end by doing the only thing she could think of. The formation danced with lightning that turned a strange orange and purple colour, the skulls now alight with a flame the same colour.

“Don’t worry guys, I’ll hold off ‘bigfoot’,” Dash said, thinking to aid in what she thought was a solid plan.

“How heroic,” Valanthyr commented while bearing a wicked smile that stretched his face.

“Yaaaaaaaaaaah!” Dash yelled as she charged the giant, ponies diving out of the way of her attack. She struck the monster with all her might and was rewarded with an enormous armoured hand wrapped around her face, absorbing her speed. She struggled to get free for a second before being released from the vice like grip of the monster. She flew back and darted from left to right with her fists guarding her face.

“Come on tough guy, put ‘em up,” Dash taunted, her friends looking on with worry, oblivious to the pool of technicoloured lights growing from within the stone formation.

The monster stood there for a second, tracing Dashs’ movements with its head but otherwise remaining motionless. Then a deep chuckle began to emanate from within the creatures helmet, growing louder by the second.

“Oh you think I’m funny do yah? I’ll show you what’s funny!” Dash yelled before delivering a punch to the creatures’ armoured face. There was a slight knock sound from the blow, the groans of pain from Dash. She held her hand in the other, clutching it in discomfort. The monsters chuckles now exploded into a deafening laugh, but not one that had one victory, more like one in humour.

“Grrr, c’mon put ‘em up!” Dash shouted while darting about in her fighting stance once more. This time the creature complied with her demands and put its fists up to guard its face, all the while laughing heartily.

Dash threw a couple of punches, only to be softly blocked by the giants’ wrists. Another two blows and a kick with her hoof where given, but the giant intercepted her attacks in an instant. Dash grew furious and screamed as she delivered a volley of lightning fast kicks and punches in an elaborate display of black belt combat, yet each blow met the springy blocks of the monster she faced.

“Good! Again!” The monsters voice was loud and deep, much like that of a dragon.

Everypony looked on in awe as they witnessed one of the fastest ponies in the world meeting her match at the hands of a giant alien. Dash threw another, longer volley of blows and once again was bested at every one, leaving her out of breath and sweating buckets afterwards. Noticing how tired the small creature was before him, the giant put down its arms and chuckled.

“This one, I like her!” He announced with approval.

“I hate to interrupt the bonding of flesh creatures, but I have a performance to begin,”

All looked around to see Valanthyr, who most had clean forgotten was even still here, standing before a pool of multicoloured light and dancing with intense energy. His eyes were locked onto the armoured giant, boiling with a sinister purpose. The giant drew out his toothed sword and carefully moved the floating Rainbow Dash out of his way as he marched forward. Valanthyr flicked his hand out and everpony jumped as a short blade of energy hissed to life around his fist.

“Now please, I will not have this behaviour in the boundaries of my kingdom,” Celestia said with force as she stepped forwards and between the two aliens.

“Get out of my way fleshling scum!” Valanthyr hissed as he lowered his horned head, making the crowd gasp and Celestia frown in anger.

“I know not what position you hold in this world, but I assure you that you and your people need to be as far away from here as possible,” The giant said in its deep tone, but his words held a tint of concern.

“Hahaha! They cannot escape! The powers of the dark forces will wash over this world and corrupt all tha-,” Valanthyr begun, making the residents of Ponyville quake in fear.

“Not while I’m here daemon spawn filth!” The giant boomed.

Suddenly it became clear to Twilight that she had chosen the wrong side from the moment this all began, and that she had made a terrible mistake. She had trusted the creature, she had lead it strait to her home, what was she thinking? She couldn’t believe she didn’t at least take the precaution to get Celestia to meet them half way, or even just stay put at the cave, anything but lead it right to ponyville. Diverting from her bottomless guilt for a few seconds Twilight managed to get a good clear look at the giant in his dark blue armour.

She noticed how bulky the armour was, yet how it moved like it had no weight. She noticed the massive machinery mounted onto its back was shaped like a pair or engines, perhaps some propulsion device? Sigils of winged skulls of his own kind dotted about his armour and a large logo on his left pauldron of a skull with bright rays of light beaming from behind it. Suddenly a noise that shocked every pony to the core and made everypony hit the deck rang through the air. It was the most ferocious roar she had ever heard, screaming through the air with a metallic screech. Twilight was brave enough to unclench an eyelid and peek at what was happening and saw the two creatures duelling with their blades. She saw that the roars were in fact coming from the giants sword, its teeth spinning up to but a blur of terribly hungry metal, it was as if the very weapon was alive and hungry for the taste of blood.

The two clashed blades, smashing at one another with madness and violence unheard of to this world. Valanthyr was much weaker and smaller than the giant, and therefore did his best to duck through the armoured ones swings and slashes, but with only millimetres to spare. The giant was impossibly quick, striking several blows in just half as many seconds, his sword roaring and growling in anticipation. Valanthyr had an unnatural speed though, blurring out of thin air it seemed, only to reform again just a metre or two away. This did little to deter the giant, who anticipated each move and each attack with supercharged reactions yet didn’t seem to use any magical or unnatural methods at all.

Valanthyr leapt back from the fight to catch his breath, after enough action that would have incapacitated a pony long ago. But the giant simply gave a long breath in and raised his sword towards the alien, ready to begin the duel once again. Valanthyr turned to look at his energy pool for a second, then back at the giant still tired and sore. He flicked his hand again and somehow deactivated his wrist blade made of magic.

“Come human, finish this,” Valanthyr said as if he had given up hope of winning this tussle.

Human, Twilight assumed was the giants name, didn’t seem to question the offer and charged at his opponent with a fierce momentum. Human was mere moments away from destroying the alien, but as he came face to face with the creature it opened its large, leathery wings and with one strong push darted straight up into the sky. At first it seemed Human was going to run face first into a wall of magical fire that erupted from the pool of chaotic light, until a hand stopped him. The hand came from within the fire, large and greyed flesh covered by a gauntlet of dark grey metal. It bore long, sharpened claws on its three fingers and thumb which scratched against Humans’ helmet as the hand wrapped around his head.

Human dropped his mechanical sword and clutched at the massive hand with his own, desperately trying to pry it off. Thundering steps could be heard as another creature entered the fray through the pillar of unreal flame. It stood even taller than Human, his head just coming up to the centre of the creatures chest. It walked on thick, goat like legs, also covered in the dark armour, decorated with images of pain and hideous faces. In fact, all of it was covered in plate armour, not as thickly as Human, but definitely enough to protect it from clumsy melee attacks. Its chest was wide and thick with muscle as was its thick arms, one holding a terrifying sword that glowed as though it was fresh from the forge. Its head was held up by masses of thick sinew, bearing two thick yet short, horns just like Valanthyrs’; while its face had the same four eyes it did however have a messy row of clicking and clacking mandibles as opposed to a regular jaw. It bore no wings, just a rack of sharp, bony extrusions that rippled as it moved. It had a long tail that was fully armoured while bearing a wicked spike at its tip. It was hard to make out under all the armour draped with blood red cloth, but its seemed its skin was also grey and leathery, making Twilight assume that it and Valanthyr were of the same species.

Right on queue Valanthyr dropped gracefully from above and landed in front of the newcomer , wings quickly folding back once again. Valanthyr dropped to one knee and put out his hands as he bowed his head.

“Honoured deathdrinker Iftanash, I have done all that you have asked,” Valanthyr said with heaps of sincerity.

“At half the haste you promised, our plans have been set back,” Iftanash growled with a deep, resonating voice that would make a dragon whimper. His mandibles moved hypnotically as the formed the words with his breath.

“My...lord, there were unexpected obstacles that had to be dealt with, as you can see,” Valanthyr replied as he gestured to Human.

“This?” He pulled Human off his feet and up to his own, sunken eyes, his legs kicking and hands desperate, “This is but a youth, a fleshling who has no experience or knowledge. You are just weakened from spending too long wallowing in the sixth circle,” Iftanash growled with distain while dropping Human back to his knees, yet still clutched in his ugly palm.

“This world, deathdrinker, it rejects our ways, the energy of the warp flows to differently on these lands. Perhaps the enslavement of the populace can better turn the ti-,”

“NO! Weakling fallen! This is how your kind became what you are, no more than scribes and schemers. This world will burn to dust in the name of the conquest! And with the legions of hell at the lead, not whimpering worms such as you. I find it outstanding how you have gone so long without even a drop of blood touching your blade. Even these creatures are easy meat, easy sacrifice,” He boomed while looking about the horrified crowds. All say for one.

“HOW DARE YOU!” A female voice called out from the edge of the crowd.

“How dare you speak like that to us, who do you think you are?! You just walk out here and think you’re better than everypony else just because you’re bigger than us, and because you have all your fancy clothes and everything! Why don’t you just go back to wherever you came from if you’re going to act like that here?!” Fluttershy ranted as her wings carried her off the ground and floated her right up to the massive alien creature.

Iftanashs’ face pulled and creased in what Twilight could only guess was utter fury. He raised the sword in his hand over his head and a deafening screeching sound burst from its razor toothed maw. Twilights’ friends, Celestia, everypony in town looked on in utter despair, Twilight herself running forward a few steps screaming in fear for her friend. Fluttershy herself was frozen in fear, eyes wide, wings stopping altogether and dropping her to the ground once more, and for the last time. The horror before them brought the sword down with devastating force, and a terrible fate seemed unstoppable.

A light blue fist crashed into the side of Iftanashs’ un-armoured mandible cluster, warping his face and diverting his blow just inches wide enough to miss Fluttershy, who even after her second shot at life remained completely motionless. Rainbow Dashs’ face was teary eyed and cringing in fear as to what she was doing. Iftanash lost his grip on Human who, once released, dropped to all fours gasping for breath. Iftanash used his now free hand to grab Dash by her wings, clutching them painfully tight in rage. Dash struggled and gasped in pain as she struggled to somehow break free. Iftanash through Dash to the ground with a loud roar, giving her a face full of loose dirt she coughed away unaware of the grazes and cuts on her shoulder.

A deep, thundering boom echoed about the town as Iftanash brought all his weight down on Dashes right wing with his massive hoof. Dash jolted, wide eyed and mouth agape. Bones cracked and muscles split as a ton of concentrated pressure crushed down upon the pegasus’ wing. Dash gasped a gagged in agony while hopelessly flailing her arms and legs in short spasms of pain. The massive alien added insult to the massive injury and scrunched its hoof on the spot and twisted the shattered wing into an unnatural shape. At this Dash screamed like nopony had ever screamed before, the entire town gasping and turning away in terror at the sight of their friend being tortured. Fluttershy began to step forward, tears streaming down her face, in an attempt to help her friend somehow.

Another loud boom echoed about the town as a great mass struck steel on steel, bulk on bulk. Human had rammed himself, shoulder first into Iftanash. Iftanash hurtled to the ground and bounced back onto its feet, sparing little time to turn and charge at his assailant. Human swung his roaring sword which clashed with the aliens own, a terrible screech ripping the air apart as metal teeth ate at the magically aflame blade. Sparks flew for a second before the two broke apart and spun to get their bearings on one another, swinging their blades about shortly after. Human delivered quick, hard hitting blows while Iftanash swung wide and long. Iftanash was receiving gash after gash in both his armour and grey flesh, a strange ember lit ash flying out from his wounds along with dark red blood. This did little to hinder the creature, for it seemed t feel little pain and continued its persistent attacks.

Human was thrown to his knees by a swipe from Iftanash sharp claws, leaving inch deep scratches in his dark blue armoured breastplate. His picked up his sword off the ground and rose to one knee.

“Pathetic hominid! Your kind was always destined to die!” Iftanash shot amongst a massive amount of flying saliva.

“We are........but we always........die standing,” Human replied while catching his breath once more.

Spinning round, Human delivered a devastating blow to his opponents’ midsection, splitting his un-armoured stomach open, spilling out his organs. Iftanashs screams of agony were cut short as Human struck a sharp blow to Iftanashs’ ‘chin’ with his knee. Stumbling back, the giant alien struggled to keep his footing. Another blow was struck as Human booted Iftanash in his bloodied and open gut sending him tumbling towards the fiery portal from where he came from. Just a couple steps away and Iftanash was showing that he was all but spent.

Iftanash almost looked feeble as he raised his sword and screeched in defiance. A loud thunderclap, like a firework going off right in the centre of town, rang through everyponies head. Twilight looked to see Human had now equipped some kind of box-shaped device with more, smaller boxes attached to it. As another thunderclap rung, twilight saw a flare of fire burst from Humans’ device, and watched as a portion of Iftanash that the device was pointed at exploded in a mist of gore. Another explosion, then another and the force of the devices unknown power pushed the alien halfway through the portal, the wall of fire cutting off from the groin to his far shoulder. Human angled his device down and fired once again, striking and ultimately disintegrating one of the magical floating skulls that hovered just outside the portal.

A loud crack seemed to shatter the air as the portal collapsed in the blink of an eye, taking half of Iftanash with it and leaving a smouldering half-corpse behind twitching in its own gore. The corpse then caught fire and the flesh was melted away into a strange purple goo, all that was left was a heap of thick, bleach coloured bones.

Human lowered his device again and seemed to mysteriously clip it to his belt. He looked about before tilting his head to the sky. Everypony mirrored him to see Valanthyr flying off into the atmosphere, assumingly having chickened out after seeing his master bested in combat. Twilight had to say, as much as she was grateful for Humans’ help, he had to stop with the loud noises. A screeching roar sounded as fire burst from the machinery on Humans’ back, giving him a pair of wings that seemed to be made of fire. In the instant that they ignited Human was propelled high into the sky, soon catching up with Valanthyr. It was hard to see from the ground, but it looked like once Human had caught up with Valanthyr he had struck him a blow downwards, soon to be confirmed as a broken Valanthyr soon hit the ground. Human followed him soon after, slamming into the ground with both knees bent.

“Urk.........gurrr.........humans........they think they have all the solutions,” Valanthyr hissed as her turned over onto his broken back, “......but you all have to face your fate one day. This world...............these creatures......are a part of yours, Ajax Urien of the Halo skulls!”

“Fate is what we make daemon, and you have invited yourself for destruction,” The creature Twilight now learnt was named Ajax returned.

“You are a fool, like the rest of your hubris race! Lest it be a hundred years, or a hundred thousand, I will return to this world. And you, and your chapter, will know true loss and suffering!” Valanthyr spat as he crawled away from Ajaxs’ heavy stepped approached.

“And you will know such thing right now,” Ajax said calmly as he stood over Valanthyr. Ajax moved his hand up to his neck and seemed to click something apart, and with a soft hiss, removed his helmet.

His skin was a healthy tanned colour, a handful of freckles dotting just bellow his bright green eyes. His brow was strong, his jaw wide and sharp. He had thin lips, which bore a recently delivered cut that had somehow already scabbed over and showed signs of healing. His mane was a chocolate, almost nutty brown that was short and spiked. The facial structure was much different to that of a ponies, bearing no muzzle his face looked flat, the only shape being a short triangle protruding from the centre of his face that Twilight could only assume was his nose.

Valanthyr seemed to grin at the stern faced Ajax as their eyes met each other in an intense and hate filled stare. Ajax brought his massive boot up and crashed it down onto Valanthyrs’ torso, which became a lot thinner very quickly. A puff of dark red blood and embers exploded into the air, and with no lungs to scream with, Valanthyr could only open his mouth wide and low while his eyes bulged in agony, still locked into Ajaxs’. Valanthyrs’ body went limp, and then proceeded to catch aflame and melt into goo and bone, his robes burning to ash.

For a second Ajax just stood there and seemed to be saying something very quietly, practically under his breath, his foot still within the ex-aliens broken ribcage. Twilight and the others ran to Dashes side, Fluttershy already there holding Dashs weak hand in grief. Dash slipped in and out of consciousness, sobbing heavily on the ground and then into Applejacks lap as her friends arrived at her side. The crowd all cautiously moved toward the group, unsure of what part they should play in this tragedy. Princess Celestia also came to Dashes side, her face in utter worry. Soon the group ceased their chorus of reassurance and comfort that Dash couldn’t except as heavy footsteps approached.

Pinkie and Rarity both stood up and moved out the way as Ajax strolled up to the group. Rarity looked in utter awe as Ajax passed her, her eyes meeting no higher than Ajaxs’ waist. Pinkie was struck with worry, tears building in her eyes, but she couldn’t help but show her amazement at the god-like figure passing her. Ajax halted just in front of Dash and knelt by her, putting his massive hand on Dashes head. Twilight was stunned how a hand that could have easily of wrapped around a ponies head and crushed it with no effort held Dashes with all the care and delicacy of holding a crystal statue. The group jumped as Ajaxs’ loud voice hit the air.

“Medicae!” He yelled.

Everpony just stood there, unsure of what he meant.

“Medicae? Biologis?...............A medic, is there a medic here? A doctor?” He repeated after a moments pause.

“I am! I am a nurse,” Nurse Redheart shouted through the crowds, finally bursting through them soon after.

“Assessment?” Ajax seemed to waste no time with chit-chat.

Redheart looked over Dash once on her knees, lifting her over to see the broken wing. Dash moaned and screamed weakly as she was moved, receiving heaps of comfort from her friends in return.

“I............I haven’t.............I don’t think there is anything I can do,” Redheart said hopelessly.

“You are a medical professional are you not? You must have facilities to deal with these injuries!” Ajax said in his loud voice, much like the old Canterlot style of speaking.

“ I.......I’m sorry, but we have never had to heal such wounds like this. Not in all my medical work, nor any I’ve heard of, have any doctors or nurses had to deal with anything like this,”

This was true. Although injuries were not unheard of, and nurse Redheart could normally help heal a pony after hurting themselves, this was something else. Equestria was not a place that knew pain well, the worst Twilight had faced was having a rubber anvil and some weakly build junk fall on her. On this world, casts were for bruises and the tiniest cut was enough for a whole limb full of bandage. Ajax now looked to Celestia.

“You, I saw some of your kind can harness warp energies. Can you use them to heal your friend?”

“If you mean magic, then I don’t think so. The magic unicorns use is simply to manipulate objects around them. The only unicorn I could think of would be Twilight, but she doesn’t have any medical training that I know of,” Celestia said as she turned to look at Twilight who shook her head in response.

“Wait, what about the Elements of harmony?” Twilight asked as she perked up slightly.

“No, the Elements have always been a defensive tool, they are not made for any healing practises,” Replied Celestia grimly.

Dash weakly turned slightly to look up at her friends, eyes red from crying, tears still leaving tiny rivers on her face.

“M-my wing........please........I can’t.........I need my wings,” She balled and sobbed in pain.

“It’s fine Rainbow, don’t worry, we’ll fix you,” Fluttershy replied as she patted Dashs’ hand.

“N-n-no, my wing.......it’s gone! My-my wings gone!” Dash entered hysterics as her face twisted in despair.

“No sugarcube your wing’s fine, it’s right here see,” Applejack reassured before looking frightfully at the mangled wing that started to ooze thick red blood.

Ajax once again wasted no time talking, his armour making a humming sound as he moved to pick Dash up by the chest and hips. Dash squirmed in pain as gravity pulled down n her broken wing and she squealed in agony. The others would have stopped him, but first, how could they hope to stand up to something so massive, and second, Ajax seemed to know what he was doing. His armour purred and hummed as he turned and started marching off in a random direction.

“Hey! Hey wait! Where are you taking her?” Pinkie was the first to ask what they were all thinking.

“The monastery that arrived with me to this planet has assembled itself two kilometres away. It will have a minimus apothecarion, a facility that may be able to heal your companion,” Ajax replied.

“No! No you wait just one apple buckin’ minute thar mister! I ain’t gonna let you just walk away with my best friend just to shove her in some hocus-pocus place we ain’t never hearda’ before!” Applejacks voice cracked in her anger and emotion as she ran round in front of the giant making him halt in his path.

Ajax looked at Applejack for a second before taking a step towards her, making Applejack more scared than she’d like to be. Ajax then lowered his arms that carried Dash and offered her friend to her.

“You want to take your friend, go ahead, take her. But know this, if you do, you will not save her appendage,” Ajax said plain and simple, something Applejack could easily relate to.

Applejack stood there for several heartbeats, completely unsure of what to do. She then took of her cowcolt hat and held it to her breast as she stepped to one side, sobbing deeply as Ajax marched past her in thundering steps, carrying a broken Rainbow Dash. The whole town gathered to the edge of town to see the figure of the armoured giant disappear over the far away hills. Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, Pinkie pie and Fluttershy all stood a dozen paces in front of the crowd, praying that they would see their friend again.

-Would like to say thank you for making it to the end of this story. I’ve had this bottled up and in a state of constant change in my computer for so long, I thought it was about time I shared it with everyone. As you may have noticed, the space marines in this fic differ greatly from those in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, and as such should be seen in a different light to the ones you know and love.

Thank you for your time, see you in the next chapter.............hopefully-

Space marines, the Imperium of man, the Imperial Aquila and all devices, weapons, characters, vehicles and objects from the Warhammer 40,000 are property of Games Workshop.

(NOTE: The space marine characters in this fic are based physically and technologically on the ones from the Warhammer 40,00 tabletop game, but are from a different universe that is entirely fanon and are highly different psychologically. Also, the pony characters are portrayed in an anthro form as I saw it best helped them fit into the universe this story is set. Thank you.)