”And who are you, the proud son said, that I must bow so low? An eagle in a coat of gold, that’s all the truth I know. And a bird of gold or a wolf of black, we each have our claws. And mine are long and sharp, father, as long and sharp as yours!”

You take another pull from your drink and Octavia takes the opportunity to do the same. You quickly return your violin to its place at your collar and Octavia rights her cello again and the both of you continue your song.

"And so he spoke, and so he spoke, the chosen of the gods. And though the stars weep for his death, another wears his claws. Yes, though the stars weep for his death, Abbadon wears his claws!”

You and Octavia finish your music and the ponies around you burst into applause.

You hold up your drink. ”GLORY TO THE WARMASTER!”

The ponies all raise their drinks and cheer, likely none of them knowing what you meant but cheering all the same.

”VHAT DOES SONG MEAN?” a red earth pony in the seat next to you loudly asks, a thick accent coloring his voice.

”Ah, it’s an old human tale of a battle ten millennia past where a great man sought to free the galaxy from the rule of a tyrant.”

”IS GOOD SONG.” he replies. He then goes back to guzzling a bottle of vodka.

You sigh and look into your mug. ”Yes. Yes it is.”

Octavia leans over onto your pauldron, trying to steady herself. ”Aw man, that... that was some great music Anon!” she slurrs.

You laugh quietly to yourself at the sight of a drunk Octavia.

Vinyl stumbles over to you next. ”Hey Anon. Wanna get outta here?” she asks, also quite drunk. “I think it might be getting late.”

You check your chrono. It’s been tomorrow for about nine hours. You look back to Octavia, now lightly snoring away on your pauldron. "Yeah. That’d be a good idea.”

---

”Fortifications around the town are complete.” Apophis reports.

”Excellent.” Infernus replies.

”The 501st has been deployed as directed, sir. Are there any further orders?” Shining Armor inquires.

”None at the moment, but-” Infernus cuts off as a loud, obnoxious snoring makes itself known. ”I’m sorry, Anonymous, are we keeping you awake?” he asks, annoyance clear in his voice.

You grumble and pick your head up off the table where you’d been resting it.

”Whassit, wha...?”

”Damnit, Anonymous, we’re trying to plan a war here, a war you instigated, might I add, and you can’t even be bothered to stay awake for it?” Apophis demands.

You rub your eyes with a gauntlet. ”Sorry, had a late night.” you mutter.

Apophis sits back and sighs angrily. “Yes, I heard. We’re all down here trying to clean up after you and you go out and party? Have you any sense of responsibility?”

”Well what would you have me do? I go fast and I blow shit up. That’s what I do. Believe me, when the killing starts you’ll be thankful to have me.”

”The killing shouldn’t have had to start to begin with! If you’d never gone and stirred up that damnable xenos hornets nest with your idiotic plans for heretical redemption this never would have happened!”

”And who are you to speak of heresy?” you demand. “I was there on Nikaea, your kind are the epitome of heresy!”

”I serve the Emperor in my own way!” he retorts.

”Bah!” you scoff. “You used to be a learned man, a scholar beyond compare! Now you’re little more than a starcunning sorcerer!”

Apophis surges to his feet, flipping the table you were all gathered around in the process. You rise to meet him and ready your Blastmaster. Warp lightning flickers dangerously around his hands as he stares you down.

”Come test me then, fallen phoenix, and see how starcunning I am!”

Suddenly a golden aura envelopes you and Apophis and forces you back into your seats, righting the table in the process.

”Honestly, am I really going to have to play foalsitter with you two?” Celestia chides.

You glare at Apophis. You didn’t have to come, you know. You came of your own volition, and no one is forcing you to stay.”

”Anonymous!” Celestia scolds you.

”Hey, if he doesn’t wanna stay that’s fine by me. I can fight this war without him.”

”Maybe you think you can, but we need him!” Infernus says. “He has more than five times my number of marines at his command. We could not even survive this without him, let alone win! The xenos are legion!”

”One or a thousand, I will kill them all!” you declare.

Against your will your jaw clenches shut as Celestia glares at you.

”I care not what you desire, heretic.” Apophis says. “As long as these aliens are allowed to roam unchecked Imperial worlds will suffer. I will break them here whether you desire my aid or not.”

The table is silent for a few moments, no one really sure what to say.

”Shining Armor?” Celestia kindly says. “I think for the moment we’ll call a recess to this meeting. You should go see how your guardsponies are holding up.”

He salutes awkwardly, glancing hesitantly in your direction. “As you command, Your Highness.” As soon as Shining Armor is out of sight Celestia turns to you, anger in her eyes.

”What is wrong with you, Anonymous? Ever since Apophis arrived you’ve been acting like a child!”

As she finishes you feel the force keeping your mouth shut release.

You rub your jaw absently. ”I’ve no problem with him, I’m the one who called him here. He didn’t have to answer if he didn’t want to. He’s the one who’s all in a tiff about me not worshiping his false god.”

Apophis growls. ”The Emperor-”

”Oh by Celestia’s shapely flank I swear you’re worse than a Word Bearer!” you groan. “Please, I beg you, let’s not start this again because it won’t go anywhere! We’ll argue, people and ponies will get annoyed by our bickering, and nothing will change. It’s so dull!”

Infernus sits back and folds his arms. “What happened with you two? I was under the impression that you were friends.”

”We were, back before the Heresy. We met during the Council of Nikaea.”

”Better known as the Trial of Magnus the Red,” Apophis seethes. “We had been fooled into thinking it was to be a learned debate on the nature of our powers. Instead we were lured into a witch hunt perpetrated by ignorant savages.”

“Imbeciles, the lot of them!" you exclaim. "And look at them now, psykers are everywhere in the Imperium. For an empire that claims to detest the psyker, they certainly do rely on them quite a bit. Imagine if every psyker just disappeared like so many of them wish they would, the Imperium would collapse!”

”It is... rather hypocritical.” Apophis agrees. “I do not hate the Emperor for the decision he made, but I feel nothing but contempt for the fools who spoke out against us. The Space Wolves most of all, do you remember the first idiot who took the stage to speak out against us? That blasted fool, Wyrdmake?”

You sigh as you remember the first words spoken against the Thousand Sons at the Council.

”Oh how we in the Phoenix Guard laughed at that first Space Wolf who spoke out against you. We were convinced that his very presence had sealed the doom for any opposition of the Librarius Program.”

Apophis growls. “Such an ignorant fool he was! He was a psyker himself, but his own superstitious idiocy led him to believe that his powers were not Warp-spawned. The Space Wolves are all deluded fools and idiotic spirit worshipers, even back then they were as such.”

”And imagine our horror when everyone there treated his words as the Emperor’s own wisdom! As the council went on we could only watch in despair as the crude and uncultured words of these superstitious witch hunters were treated as undeniable truth. It was agony to watch, it went against everything we knew.”

”And Mortarion, a Primarch and brother to Magnus! How could one so condemn their own brother in such a way? Were not the bonds of brotherhood between them all supposed to be absolute?

“And when the Emperor gave his verdict we felt your pain as though it were our own. Asking you not to use your powers was like asking us to settle for mediocrity. Like asking a Night Lord not to terrorize, or a Space Wolf not to drink, or an Ultramarine not to be a douche bag.”

Apophis nods. “It was unthinkable, but I saw the logic behind it, still. But that did not mean I liked it. He asked us to abandon what made us ourselves. It just could not be done.”

Celestia looks shocked. “Your Emperor asked you to give up magic? Such a thing is impossible! Magic is as much a part of a unicorn as the need to breathe!”

Apophis sighs. “As it was with us, we simply could not give it up.”

”Can we not go back to Nikaea, brother? Back to when we were friends? I hate your god above all else and I despise the Imperium, but I have no brothers left, Apophis. Truth be told I just want to be friends.”

Apophis eyes you. ”You are a traitor, a heretic, a narcissist, and a villain. But... I cannot deny that I too would prefer to simply look past it all and just be brothers again.”

You hold out a hand to him. ”Hate my god as much as you want, it makes little difference to me. Hate Chaos, hate the Warmaster, curse their names and call them tyrants and villains, call them whatever you want. All I ask is that you call me friend.”

Apophis looks at your hand. ”Once I called you brother. Once I thought the chance to be your friend was all I ever wanted.”

You sigh to yourself. “Brother, even now I wish Slaanesh had chose another. Serving as your foe on his behalf is the last that I wanted.”

”No matter what the Imperium thinks of me, it is still my home. I see all the pain and devastation wrought by your actions it tortures me, seeing all the innocents who suffer from your stubbornness and pride.”
“You who I called brother, how could you have come to hate me so? Can you not just let your hatred go?”

Apophis reaches up and undoes the seals of his helmet, and slowly lifts it away. A sad smile frames his face as he reaches his hand out and grasps your own.

”May my heart be hardened and never mind how high the cost may grow, but this will still be so; I’ll be your friend, but I will never let this hatred go.”

You smile as you shake his hand. ”So long as you are my brother. Hate me all you want, call me a traitor so cruel. I don’t care how you curse my name, so long as you remember the truth. That no matter how we are kept separate by different banners we shall always be brothers.”

”Strange is the day a bird would ask a bug to be his brother.”

You grin widely. “Stranger still when the bug would accept.”

The two of you hold that position for a moment, just glad to be friends again.

”So are you two lovebirds done making up? Can we get back to war stuff?” Infernus asks, impatiently.

“Very well, brother. Take a step back and let me amaze you with my tactical genius. I learned from the greatest.”

”Anonymous, I think you might prefer to limit yourself to “going fast and blowing shit up” as you said earlier.”

“Do you doubt my abilities, Infernus?”

”Doubt is a strong word, Anon. I’d prefer to say that I...” He spins his hand idly, trying to think of a word. ”No, actually I think you hit the nail on the head. Doubt is the perfect word. The amount of faith I have in the Emperor is proportional to how little faith I have in your ability to plan a battle.”

You lean back and lace your fingers together and crack them loudly. “Well then step back and prepare to be amazed. I sieged the Imperial Palace and survived, I think I can plan a battle against a few pointy headed freaks.”

---

A few hours later finds the defense plans for the town drawn up and everyone feeling slightly more at ease and trekking back through Ponyville with Apophis and Infernus. Yet even with the considerable firepower presented by the presence of almost four hundred Astartes, you all have a slight nagging feeling that it might not be enough. You only need to hold out for a day before the Imperial fleet arrives, but you still worry.

You might have to resort to calling upon yet more Chaotic allies. Celestia will protest, of course, as you're sure the others will, but it's looking as though you might not have a choice.

You have a list of a few daemons who heed your summons. A few more who you could buy the loyalty of. Lucius, probably. You were never very close, but you and The Scion of Chemos had always had a mutual respect for each other. And your respect for him had only grown since the Heresy. N’Kari was iffy. While he was always up for devouring Eldar souls, you only met briefly during the Siege of Terra. The Masque... she never did like you, that one. Ungoliant... you could probably buy her services, but in all likelihood she’d probably just demand Feanor’s soulstones as payment. A few daemonettes would probably answer your summons, you tend to be held in pretty good regard by them. It should be obvious why.

Gods damnit this is going to be fucking harrowing. Of course... you could try calling outside of Slaanesh’s daemons. Though the only ones you have a chance of summoning were Tzeentchian. As much as you hate Tzeentch for what Kairos did to you, the fact of the matter is that Slaaneshi and Tzeentchians generally get along pretty well. Honestly some of your best friends had been Tzeentch worshipers.

They're the only ones who can really hold your attention. They never do the same thing twice, they always change. It's always something new with them and that’s what you love about them. They never get boring.

Of course they're always scheming, scheming, scheming. It's the one thing about them that's completely predictable. It's also incredibly annoying.

To daemon or not to daemon. Well you're going to have to daemon eventually, it's all a question of picking the one that's going to fuck you over the least.

Though there is one that would never ask for payment. The thrill of battle is the only payment this particular daemon needs. Your eyes light up as you make your decision. Oh yes, the hand of Slaanesh would come upon Feanor’s pathetic warband soon enough.

”Something on your mind, brother?” Infernus asks. Oh that’s right, he’s still there, isn’t he?

"Just... thinking. It will be difficult to weather the xenos assault until your fleet arrives.”

”I share your concerns. It will be quite a trial.”

”You aren’t afraid, are you, Anonymous?” Apophis asks.

“Of course not! We are Astartes, we know no fear for we are fear incarnate.”

”You know you really sound like a loyalist sometimes.” Infernus remarks.

“Well is it not true? Are the Space Marines not the most fearsome beings in the galaxy?”

”We most assuredly are, Anonymous.” he says.

”You’ll have to excuse me, brothers.” Apophis cuts in. “But I must go organize my men. I wish you well.”

With a short wave he wraps himself in Warp energy and teleports away.

”Aye, I have to go organize my own men as well. I’d say you should organize Shining Armor’s legion, but that’s already been taken care of. It would seem as though you once again have nothing to do.”

You sigh in aggravation. “Of course!”

”Well look at the bright side, Anon, now you can go spend some more time with that pony of yours.”

“Not a bad idea. I think I’ll go do just that. See you soon, my friend.”

Infernus raises his hand as you depart.

”Later, heretic.

“Later, dog of the False Emperor.”

Yeah, you guys are good friends.

---

As you make your way to Vinyl and Octavia’s house, you’re joined, once again, by none other than The Doc-

”AH!”

Sorry. Time Turner.

”So, you all ready for the big battle, then?”

“As ready as we can be, I think.”

”Good to hear! So tell me, how’d the date go? Were the flowers a hit?”

“They loved the flowers. And I was able to afford drinks for the whole night with the bits you saved me.”

”Being on good terms with the ladies always did have its benefits,” he chuckles.

“Don’t I know it. I’ve probably got unlimited panty access after last night.”

”After those flowers? You can bet your arse you do!”

“I can’t thank you enough for all that, Turner.”

”Oh, you’re calling me by name now! Splendid! I never thought you’d stop calling me D-”

“AH!” He freezes in surprise for a moment, but then shakes it off and laughs to himself.

”Oh silly me, I almost went and did it myself.”

You laugh too.

“So is there something you needed?” you ask

”Me? Oh no, just wanted to check up on you after your date. I also just wanted to let you know that... well... this is going to be a pretty serious battle, here. And don’t think I doubt you or anything, but... well I think I’m going to take Ditzy and Dinky and just disappear for a while. I don’t want them exposed to those... things.”

“The Dark Eldar?”

He shudders. ”Yeah. They’re monsters, mate. I don’t want my family anywhere near them.”

“You worry too much. The xenos will not survive me, I assure you.”

The brown pony shakes his head.

”You don’t understand, Anon. I’ve... I’ve never had very good luck with loved ones. Anyone that gets close to me usually ends up getting hurt. I thought I would be able to just forget it all here, but with all this happening... mate, it’s just too familiar. I’m gonna take my family and get as far away from here as possible.”

“Well if that’s what you want I won’t stop you. It’s been an honor knowing you, Time Turner.”

”Anon, you talk like you’re never going to see me again! I’m only gone until the danger’s passed.”

You smile at him. “Good. I’d hate to think I’d never get to go on anymore of those crazy adventures with you.”

”Oh you can count on it. But for now I must say goodbye, Anonymous. Hope to see you soon!”

“You will, brother. I’ll make sure to get rid of the xenos as fast as possible so that your family might be safe. You’ll have nothing to fear from them.”

He halts on the road as you keep on walking. ”I’m just worried for my family, don’t think I’m scared of those pointy headed freaks!” he calls with a laugh in his voice.

He watches you go for a while and once you’ve left his sight the smile falls from his face. ”It’s not them I’m afraid of, mate.” he whispers to himself. “It’s you.”

---

Continuing through the town, you’re surprised when you end up running into the very ponies you’d set out to meet. They’re accompanied by a brown earth pony with a guitar slung over his back. Well of course they’d hang out with other musicians. But you can’t help but wonder to yourself how a pony would play a guitar without magic. Another thing you can’t help is the surge of jealousy you feel at the sight of this pony talking with your mares. Is this going to happen every single time you see them with another male? Holy shit this is going to get tiring.

Vinyl sees you and a smile lights up her face. Gods that smile is all you needed.

”Hi Anon!” she yells, waving excitedly.

Octavia looks equally pleased to see you. ”Hello, Anon.” she says, a little more reserved than Vinyl.

“Hey girls.” you greet them, smiling. “Who’s your friend?”

”This is Applejack’s cousin, Memphis.” Vinyl says. “Me, him, and Octavia have been pretty good friends for a while, us all being musicians and whatnot.”

He nods politely and holds out a hoof. ”Howdy, friend. The ladies’ve been tellin’ me quite a bit about you.”

You reach out and shake his hoof. ”Good to meet you, Memphis.”

You nod to his instrument. “So you play the guitar then?” you ask.

”Yessir, I do. And Octavia here tells me you’re pretty good with the violin.”

"That I do. Would y-”

You’re cut off when a weight slams into your back and something wraps around your neck. ”Hi ‘Nony!” a familiar voice chirps.

“Hi Pinkie.” you reply, happily.

”Hi Pinkie!” Vinyl greets her.

”Hello Pinkie Pie.” Octavia says.

Memphis politely nods at her.

You notice the rest of Pinkie’s friends come up from behind. “Hey girls.”

”Hey guys, what’s up? You guys going to go watch the meteor shower too?” Vinyl asks.

“Meteor shower?” you ask.

”Yup!” comes a reply from behind your head. “There’s a meteor shower on this night every year. We never miss it!”

”I even made cookies!” Spike says, proudly.

“Oh nice. You guys mind if I tag along?”

”No, Anon. Your presence would throw everything off and the evening would suck for it.” Vinyl says sarcastically. “Of course you can come, you idiot.”

“Awesome, when is it?”

”It should be happening in about two or so hours.” Twilight explains.

You check your chrono. Wow is it that late already? Shit, you really pissed the day away, didn’t you? Partying till near noon, the long ass trip home from Canterlot, the planning session. There aren’t enough hours in the day. You look up at the sky and sure enough it's starting to get dark.

“Well alright, let’s go.”

---

The girls lead you to a hill where dozens of other ponies have gathered. Even a few Disco Marines are in attendance. You’re able to pick out Interstellar and Remixar among them. They’ve all got their various picnic stuff set up and you’d never think that the worst war in their history was about to take place within a few hours.

Twilight and the girls set up their own blanket and basket and begin passing around food. It’s mostly pony food so you just keep to yourself, staring off at the sky and wondering if perhaps Feanor was staring back somewhere.

”Hey, you alright?” a voice next to you asks.

You look over to see Vinyl and Octavia looking at you worriedly.

“Course I’m okay, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well... you aren’t worried about tomorrow?” Octavia asks.

You smile with a confidence you only half feel. “Of course I’m not! I’ve fought these xenos many times before. They’re a weak bunch with vehicles and armor made from wet cardboard. They’ll be no match to the hundreds of Astartes we have here.”

”You sure?” Vinyl asks.

“Of course I am.”

”... Because we’re worried about you.” Octavia says quietly.

You look at her curiously for a moment. It's... strange to have someone who cared whether you live or die. Someone who you know would be devastated if you don’t come back.

“I’ll be fine, I promise.” you say, a little softer.

”How can you know that?” Vinyl asks. “You said there’s billions of them coming. Billions!”

You sigh. This surely was one of the troubles of having loved ones. The potential for loss. Then an idea comes to you.

“I think a song might calm everyone’s nerves. What do you think?”

Vinyl rubs her chin. “What song?”

You smile and look to Memphis. “Do you mind indulging me for a bit and playing a piece with me?”

He smiles and unslings his guitar from his back.

"I don’t see why not. You know how ta play?”

You nod as you remove the Archangel from your pouch and thumb the activation rune. “There are few instruments I don’t know how to play.” you say as a worn acoustic guitar emerges from the device.

You take a few moments to check that all the strings are properly tuned and Memphis does the same. Somehow.

“The lyrics are fairly easy to pick up, and anyone who wishes to join in may.” you say as you tune the instrument.

”What’re ya gonna play?” Rainbow eagerly asks.

“Just a classic I’ve always loved. I think it rather perfectly describes my time here in Equestria too, funnily enough.”

”Yay a song!” Pinkie cheers.

“You know,” you say, “you all remind me of the medieval minstrels or medieval bards from ancient Terra.” You make a few more adjustments and pluck a few strings and find them to your liking. “So why not sing The Bard Song?”

You begin playing and amazingly Memphis is able to follow right along. Fuck these ponies are good at picking up music. After a few moments you begin to sing.

“Now you all know the bards and their songs. When hours have gone by, I’ll close my eyes. In a world far away we may meet again, but now hear my song about the dawn of the night. Let’s sing the bard’s song.”

You begin the chorus and, amazingly, Pinkie and Vinyl start right along with you.

“Tomorrow will take us away, far from home, no one will ever know our names. But the bard songs will remain.”

You're pretty amazed that they're able to sing with you despite not having heard the song before. You wonder if they spontaneously break into song on a regular basis.

“Tomorrow will take it away, the fear of today, it will be goooooooone! Due to our magic song. There’s only one song left in my mind, tales of a brave man who lived far from here. Now the bard songs are over and it’s time to leave. No one should ask you for the name of the one who tells the story.”

In the skies above streaks of light begin arcing their ways across the sky. The rest of the ponies join in with you, further adding to your amusement.

“Tomorrow will take us away, far from home, no one will ever know our names. But the bard songs will remain. Tomorrow all will be known and you're not alone, so don’t be afraid of the dark and cold! 'Cause the bard songs will remaaaaaaaaaain. They all will remaaaaaaain. In my thoughts and in my dreams, they’re always in my mind. These songs of ponies, unicorns, and pegasi. You can see them tooooooooooo.”

---

Five-hundred kilometers above Equestria.

A crackle of energy appears from nowhere, growing greater and fiercer every second. The energy builds and builds until reality seems to pinch at the center of the energy storm. Space itself bends and warps and begins to break under the assault. Finally with a furious flash reality tears apart and a gaping hole over a kilometer wide rips open.

Beyond the hole in reality the twisting madness of the Warp is visible, but is kept at bay by some unknown, ancient force. Within the twisting corridors myriad shapes appear, hundreds of meters long. A colossal black craft, sleek and wicked, emerges from the portal. Behind it in the Webway dozens more follow.

Deep within the first of the great crafts an ornately armored figure sits at his throne, a gem encrusted goblet of wine clutched in one hand. An unhinged smile that bleeds cruelty comes upon his face as he sees the pristine world ahead. Even at this distance he can hear it. The tortured wailing of countless Eldar souls. They're here. And so is he.

The figure chuckles wickedly and sits back, taking a sip from his cup. ”I’ve arrived.” he says. “Revenge be mine.”

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