It was a beautiful world, Epona, Inquisitor Damien Tyrannis thought as he stared out of his ship’s observatory. It was a world of blue seas and green lands, of glaciers and life. It was a world rare and far between in the void, an easily habitable one. The Imperium had once believed that it had discovered all habitable worlds in the thirty-first millennium, but the newly discovered Subsector Epona conflicted with that belief. It was perfect for man, preliminary auspex scans showing massive amounts of resources. Administratum estimates predicted a planetary ability to support well over thirty billion human beings.

There was one, small hitch. There was already life upon this world. Structures, human like in their composition were quite obviously inhabited by creatures other than human beings. The exploratory vessel had immediately contacted the Administratum, which had consequently contacted the Ordo Xenos. This was their jurisdiction. That was where the Inquisitor came in. It was his duty to uphold the interests of mankind in this affair, and to bring about tolerable outcomes towards this world.

Thunderous footsteps betrayed the presence of one of the Astartes to the Inquisitor. He turned slowly, seeing a black armored figure approaching. The hum of active power armor set the Inquisitor’s teeth vibrating in his jaws. Deathwatch Watch Captain Gaius was originally of the Ultramarines, and had inherited their taciturn methods, as well as utter hatred for anything non-human. Next to him, Colonel Josiah Terros of the Two-Hundred and Third Inquisitorial Storm Trooper Regiment stood proudly in his dress uniform. The Inquisitor already knew what they were there for.

“The Company is ready to deploy, Inquisitor. We merely need the word to unleash the wrath of the Emperor upon them,” Gaius intoned. His voice was neutral, though his eyes betrayed his eagerness to shed the blood of the enemies of man.

“My Lord, the regiment are prepared and ready to launch,” The Colonel added crisply.

“That is indeed good to hear. We deploy within the hour.”

The captain nodded, while the Colonel made the sign of the Aquila. Both vacated the room.

Prior contact had already been established with the xenos when the exploratory vessel had entered the system. To their surprise, they found that the xenos spoke a language remarkably similar to Low Gothic, and were friendly. That in no way influenced the Inquisitor’s methods of dealing with them. He had already forwarded all information that had been gathered by the exploratory party to his superior, who was half a segmentum away.

The races of the world were divided nation states. Each had sent an envoy to a specified location to reap benefits from contact with mankind. Fools. It was for naught. The Imperium would never negotiate with xenos, not even when the stars died and the Galaxy ended. The sound of heavy respiration sounded behind him, mechanical and harsh. He knew who that sound belonged to. Magos Biologis C-52-Alpha had likely come to ensure that he would indeed gather biological samples. Live samples. Knowledge was the life blood of the Mechanicum, after all.

“The vivisectorium is prepared,” the Magos stated as if that explained all things.

The Inquisitor sighed, “You will get your samples, Magos.”

The Magos acknowledged with a burble of binary and left the chamber.

The Inquisitor checked his chronometer. It was now time to leave. His ship, the Emperor’s Torch now lay directly over the meeting place. He strode from the chambers with near nonchalance, making his way down fifteen levels of warship before reaching the hanger. A squad of Death Watch Astartes waited for him, black plate glinting in the cold artificial light of the hangar. A Thunderhawk gunship awaited boarding.

The Captain Gaius was in the midst of a briefing, and it echoed through the vox bead.

"Our enemy this day are craven xenos whelps! They are technologically withdrawn, and will be easily defeated. Remember, only the weak are merciful! We will soon claim this world in the name of the Emperor! We will deploy to the planetary capital by way of drop pod. Our allies in the Imperial Guard will bombard nearby cities into oblivion. We will then expand outward, purging anything within sight. This shall be an easy victory, and will do well for the glory of the Emperor!"

"For the Emperor! For the Emperor!" The Deathwatch exclaimed into their voxes.

The Thunderhawk launched with the massive detonation of a broken sound barrier.

The trip was uneventful, the lack of windows restricting sight to the cold metal decks and the Astartes themselves. Fourty-five minutes passed of nothing other than the roar of the Thunderhawk’s engines.

“Brothers!” A call from the pilot came, “We are now nearing the landing zone!”

The Thunderhawk hit the ground with a thud.

Twilight Sparkle readied herself, admiring her new dress in a mirror. Once again, Rarity had outdone herself. Twilight looked both regal and elegant in her dress, which was nearly blinding in its luminescence, so utterly encrusted with jewels was it. Diplomatic discussions with an alien species! Twilight had never felt so nervous in her life. Although she had already seen the Humans, as they called themselves, this was the first time she had had official diplomatic contact with them. The fact that she was spearheading the discussions for Equestria’s future showed exactly how much trust the Princess had placed in her. She swallowed her nervousness and put on a brave face. For Equestria.

She strode out of the library. The designated meeting place was outside of Ponyville, bordering the Everfree. She did not want to be late. The other diplomats from various other nations had arrived a day prior, and were likely already waiting there. She was not disappointed when she arrived. Behind her, Ponyville watched the skies silently with quiet anticipation.

The roar of an engine and an oppressive wave of heat alerted her to the approach of one of the Humans’ so called “gunships”. It landed hard, gouging holes into the grassy field, disembarkation ramp facing Ponyville. There was a hiss as the hatch depressurized, and slammed into the ground. Ten black armored, hulking forms stomped out of the ship. A tall, slender man in a great coat followed them.

She shared a look with her compatriots before stepping forward, “Sir, we are pleased to welcome you to Equestria. If you would give us your name, we would be glad to begin negotiations.”

The man merely looked at the time piece around his wrist patiently. There was an awkward silence, as Twilight considered her words carefully. She was about to repeat herself when a loud whine drew the attention of all present to the skies. What she saw made her pupils dilate.

Hundreds of black ships roared from the heavens, marked with skulls, double headed eagles, and a strange “I” symbol. As they dived towards the earth, they launched off cylinders with smoking trails. These struck the earth with tremendous force, throwing dirt and fire into the air. Several boxy vehicles hovered in the air, spitting random fire at bystanders, as soldiers rappelled down on cables. In the distance, massive pods struck Canterlot, visibly knocking down buildings with their sheer force.

“What is the mean-“she began, only to be cut off by a fist around her throat.

One of the lumbering forms had seized her and her compatriots. She wheezed against the tremendous force, which was a mere fraction of what the Astartes was capable of. She tried to use her magic, only to find herself too weak to do anything of the sort. She was dragged into the gaping darkness of the gunship. The last Twilight ever saw of her home was Ponyville in flames from incendiary bombing runs, and flooded with Imperial soldiers. The last she ever heard of it was the screaming of her friends, and massive explosions that rocked the earth and seared the skies.

Twilight bowed her head, a solitary tear leaking from her eye, and the darkness embraced her.

Author's Notes:

I am aware that this story is not much good. It is just to demonstrate how the Imperium would act canonically in regards to Equestria.