Warhammer 40k: The Harmony Crusade

Chapter 6A Beautiful Sunset

The sun was setting over the tree tops now, casting long shadows across the ground where Brother Arazakh of the Thousand Sons stood, his bolter hanging limply by his side. He quietly watched as Sonorious and Mhotep performed autopsies on the alien's bodies, cutting them open and examining their anatomy. Entrails and organs spilled out onto the forest floor next to them

“Yes, it would appear I was correct” said Sonorious, rising to his feet, “These 'ponies' or whatever they are called, have a fairly similar internal anatomy to a human's. The pegasi, I believe you called them?” he asked Mhotep.

“That is what we heard” he replied.

“Very well, the pegasi are able to fly because of small psychic fields generated by their wings when they flap them. These things by themselves could never generate lift” Sonorious continued, lifting a mutilated wing of the dead pegasus, “They also, like other aviary species, have hollow bones and decreased body mass to increase their capabilities. The unicorns here are able to harness low-level psychic powers through use of their horns, simple acts such as levitation”, he indicated where he had carefully cut apart the unicorn's horn down the middle with his power sword, revealing a glowing inside. He waved his hand, forming a small psychic field. The horn glowed and cast a small green aura in response. “And the earth ponies, was it?” he asked again, indicating to the last pony in front of him.

He once again looked to Mhotep for confirmation, who nodded.

“The earth ponies have an increased muscle density in comparison to the unicorn and pegasi, meaning they are stronger and faster. However, they lack any psychic abilities whatsoever. How evolution caused the emergence of three different variants of this species, we will never know and how they were speaking in Low Gothic, I have no idea. But this does open up a very promising way for us. Alone, we do not have the combined psychic power to summon any daemons to our cause, or even contact off-world, but I believe, with enough of these unicorns, we could channel their psychic power to open a rift in the warp, and contact reinforcements” Sonorious finished.

Arazakh and Mhotep stared blankly at him.

“Well have you two got anything better?” snapped the Sorceror.

Two Hours Earlier

Arazakh and Mhotep crept over the hills away from the wreckage of the saviour pod, which was still being examined curiously by the group of unknown xenos. Their bolters raised in a combat stance, they prowled towards the outlying buildings of the massive settlement up ahead. Sonorious had sent them to find out more information about the natives, and capture some for examination.

The buildings up ahead slowly grew in size as they came closer, but there were no signs of any of the equines in the streets.

“I don't see any of them around. It seems suspicious” commented Mhotep as they came up to the side of the nearest building.

“We'll carry on, we need to find out something about these xenos” replied Arazakh, slipping into a nearby alleyway with his bolter raised, his pauldrons scraping against either side of the alley due to his sheer size.

Mhotep followed him through, almost bumping into him when he stopped at the other end.

“You hear that?” Arazakh whispered.

Mhotep inclined his head, his enhanced hearing picking up a faint chatter, “Yeah, I got that. Where's it coming from?”

Arazakh peeked his head out into the street and swivelled around. “I'm moving across to there” he said, indicating another alley opposite him, “It's clear, you stay here. Only comlink from here on”

Mhotep nodded, and Arazakh moved out into the street, pointing his bolter in the direction of the noise. Mhotep took his place at the end of the alley, while his companion stayed at the entrance of the one opposite him. Mhotep noticed Arazakh raise his comlink to his helmet level.

“The noise is coming from that building down there”, he pointed down the street, “The one labelled as 'The Drunk Stallion Bar And Tavern'... Wait, how the fuck can I read that? Why is it written in Low Gothic?”

Mhotep glanced out of his alley, the street still clear. He saw the building, and picked up it was definitely where the noise was coming from. There were also several lights flashing in the window.

He raised the comlink to his mouth, “I've got a visual, that is very peculiar, I don't know how they know our language. Do you reckon that's where they all are?”

“It is the only sign of activity we've seen in this place so far”

“Should we check it out?”

“Negative, hold position. Three contacts just exited the building and are coming our way”

“Engage and capture?”

“Wait until they pass, then slit their necks. It's easier if they're dead. We cannot be heard though, so be silent”

“Very well then” growled Mhotep, holstering his bolter and unsheathing his combat knife as the group of xenos approached. As they got closer, he noticed that one of the aliens had a horn, and it was glowing green. It appeared to be levitating a cup of drink in front of it, which was surrounded by the same green aura.

“You seeing this?” whispered Arazakh incredulously.

“Yeah, the horned one seems to be exhibiting low-level psychic power” replied Mhotep, “Wait for the pass...”

Their voices came into hearing focus as they approached the traitor marines' positions.

“-Do love Friday night at the tavern. Everypony's there, and it's a great way for a pony to unwind” said the one in the middle.

“Pfff, that tavern is nothing. I should take you two to the bars in Cloudsdale, that'll be a night you'll never forget” commented the male winged one on the left.

“You forget we can't fly. Or walk on clouds. We not all pegasi like you” replied the horned one on the right of the trio.

“But at least you unicorns can do magic” retorted the one in the middle towards the horned one, “Us earth ponies got the shitty end of the stick, we can't fly or do magic”

“But you could probably beat us both in a race or a hoof-wrestling competition” said the winged one comfortingly.

“Suppose...” grumbled the earth pony sourly.

Mhotep looked across at Arazakh, who shrugged. “I have no idea what they're talking about, but it's probably all we're gonna get” whispered Arazakh over the comlink, “Anyway, your clear. Grab 'em and we'll head back”

Mhotep surveyed the street a last time before coming out of the alley. He crept up behind the trio of ponies, his massive feet making next to no noise on the cobbled pavement.

He reached and grabbed the three xenos by the muzzles, his gigantic forearm muffling their squeals of surprise. He backed back into the alleyway, and in one deft motion, slit all three of their exposed necks at once with his combat knife. They writhed for a moment, gargling, before they fell still, their blood flowing freely over Mhotep's arm.

He motioned to Arazakh, who crossed the street one final time, and they both started to head back to Sonorious' position.

Present

“I suppose it's the best we've got” sighed Arazakh, “Just how many of these 'unicorns' will we need?”

“I don't know, I still don't have a full measure of their psychic capabilities” replied Sonorious, “However, I would have to guess around...fifty or sixty”

If Arazakh's helmet had been off, and if he had had liquid in his mouth, he would have done a spit-take. “How the fuck are we meant to get that many!?” he exclaimed.

“I don't know, but it's going to take a while, especially if we're not going to get noticed. Come on, we'll make plans properly once we've disposed of these bodies” said Sonorious, picking up the nearest body, stuffing it's entrails and organs back inside before throwing it into a nearby lake.

Vindicare Assassin Levin stood underneath the low hanging branches of a small oak tree, overlooking the town of Ponyville. The sun was setting over the mountains in the distance, bathing the whole valley in a serene golden glow. He sighed. This was what he wanted the Imperium to be, peaceful, prosperous, free of taint...unfortunately, the beautiful valley was filled with xenos, and right now, he'd like to see the whole place pounded into the ground with lance batteries from orbiting cruisers.

“Levin!” Umbra called from the treeline, “The aliens are waking up, let's get this over with!”

Levin grumbled and pulled out his pistol, taking one last hate-filled glance at the valley before heading into forest.

"Where are they?" he asked.

"Over here, through the bushes" replied Umbra, leading Levin through some thick brambles to a small clearing, where the two xenos were propped up against a tree, their legs tied by thick vines they had found deeper in the forest. They were beginning to stir.

"How do you want to do this?" inquired Levin, "I have no interrogation experience"

"Good Arbite, Bad Arbite. You do bad"

"Gah. Fine then" groaned Levin, checking the mag in his pistol, "But we're still gonna kill them afterwards right?"

"Of course" chuckled Umbra.

The green pony on the left opened her eyes first. "Wha- what happened?" she moaned, trying to get her bearings. Her eyes settled on her bound limbs. She started to panic. "What's happening!?" she cried out, struggling with her restraints. Her eyes darted around, eventually focusing on the two figures standing in front of her. Her eyes went wide and her face curled into an expression of shock and terror. Umbra immediately clamped a hand over her mouth. By this time, the cream one had also woken up, and was staring in horror at the monster holding her friend's mouth. Umbra's hand silenced her as well.

All they could do was stare at the assassin, their limbs held limply in front of them, forgotten in their fright. Umbra began to speak.

"Now, we only want to ask you a few questions. You answer well, we will let you go, and will never bother you again, but you cannot tell anybody about this. Understand?"

The two ponies meekly nodded their heads, their mouths still covered.

"Okay then" Umbra continued gently, "If you do not co-operate, or attempt to escape, or speak out of line, my associate here can make life very painful for the two of you. You do believe he can do that, don't you?" she said, indicating Levin, who was standing behind her idly twirling his knife between his fingers. He turned his head and looked down straight into the ponies' gazing eyes. They squeaked in terror and furiously nodded their heads at Umbra.

"Very well then. I'm going to remove my hands from your mouths, and when I do, I want you to tell me your names. Got it?"

They both nodded.

"Okay then", Umbra slowly stood up, removing her hands from their mouths. They both immediately sucked in deep breaths, spluttering and choking. The green one recovered first.

"I- I'm Ly- Lyra Heartstrings" she trembled.

"And you?" asked Umbra, turning to the cream one.

"I'm Sweetie Drops, but- but everypony calls me Bon-Bon" she answered in terror, cowering under the assassin's gaze.

Umbra glanced at Levin, and shrugged her shoulders.

"Alright. I have gathered that your species are called 'ponies'. Is that correct?" asked Umbra.

"Y-yes" squeaked Bon-Bon.

"Oh my gosh are you guys aliens?" Lyra suddenly spouted.

"Silence!" roared Levin, backhanding the green pony across he face. Her head was snapped round and smashed against the tree. Red blood started to trickle down her forehead, and tears fell freely from her eyes. The cream one started to shake in fear.

"Filthy xenos" the marksman spat, "She told you not to speak!"

"I did warn you" commented Umbra casually, "Now then, what is the name of the town you just came from?"

"Ponyville" answered Bon-Bon obediently, still shaking, trying not to get on Levin's bad side.

Umbra nodded in confirmation.

"And the country?"

"Equestria"

"And the planet we are on?"

"Equus"

"What is the name of the city in the mountains overlooking your town?"

"Canterlot, the capital of Equestria and the home of the Princesses"

"Who are the Princesses?"

"Princess Celestia and Princess Luna"

"And their roles are?"

"They rule over Equestria as a diarchy. At every dawn, Princess Celestia raises the Sun, and every dusk, Princess Luna raises the moon"

"What do you mean by 'raising the sun and moon'?

"I- I don't know much about it, but I think they use their magic to bring the sun and moon up over the horizon"

"Is that all you and your friend know on that matter?"

They both nodded.

"Very well. Thank you Bon-Bon. I now have some questions for you" Umbra said, turning to Lyra, "What I am going to ask you is very important. You are a unicorn, correct?"

"Y-yes" sobbed Lyra, still crying from Levin's strike.

"Okay then. And I understand you can do magic, correct? It is called magic, isn't it?" Umbra questioned, trying to confirm her findings from earlier.

"Yes"

Umbra nodded.

"What kind of magic?"

"I-I'm not very strong magically. I can only do simple stuff like levitation"

"There are more powerful unicorns?"

"Yes, unicorns like Twilight Sparkle can do all sorts of spells, like transformations, summonings-"

"Twilight Sparkle, is she the purple one wih the pink star on her flank?" interrupted Umbra.

"Yes" replied the green unicorn, not daring to ask how the alien knew the princesses' student.

"Hmm...okay then" muttered Umbra. The assassin picked up a twig and tossed it in front of Lyra. "Can you give me a demonstration of this 'magic'?"

Lyra's horn began to glow with a green aura, and the twig started glowing with the same colour. I started to levitate off the ground and hung suspended in the air, surrounded by that mystical green glow.

"Curious" Umbra muttered, transfixed by the twig, "I wonder if-"

The twig dropped to the floor.

"I didn't-" started Umbra, looking up in surprise as the green unicorn used her magic to tear apart the vines and rise to her feet in a feat of surprising speed. She started moving in the direction of the forest.

"I'll come back for you!" shouted the mint-coloured mare.

"Lyra wait!" cried Bon-Bon, but it was too late.

Levin brought his pistol up and fired, the assassin's pistol making almost no noise apart from a small phut! as the bullet exited the barrel. Travelling at massive speeds, the gigantic round struck Lyra perfectly in the head, blowing it apart and showering the area with blood and brain matter. The headless corpse struck the floor, blood spurting from the neck like a pressure hose. To the cream mare, it looked like the alien had exploded her best friend's head just from pointing the strange blocky-thing at her.

Bon-Bon screamed and began to wail uncontrollably, tears soaking her fur. "Once again, we did warn you" commented Umbra. "Now, I'm going to-"

"N-No" wailed Bon-Bon

"I'm sorry?" asked Umbra coldly.

"No. I- I won't, I can't. Just- just leave me alone. I don't care what you do, just go, please!" sobbed the cream pony.

Umbra knelt down in front of her. "You saw what we did to your friend. You do understand" whispered the assassin menacingly, "That we can cause you more pain than you have ever experienced. We can make you beg for death. You can spare yourself that fate, if you answer my questions"

Bon-Bon raised her head, tear marks staining her cheeks. "G- go buck yourself" she growled, spitting in the assassins' face.

"Why you filthy little-" started Levin, drawing his knife.

"No" said Umbra, stopping him,"She has a spark of courage, certainly more than I've ever seen most heretics display, I'll give her that. But she doesn't know who she's dealing with. What do you say, should we teach her?"

Levin cracked a smile behind his mask.

"Do it"

Umbra drew her phase sword and activated it, the blade crackling into life. "One learns a lot from a month in the company of the Inquisition's finest fleshsmiths" she snarled, as she began to gently carve the blade down the pony's body.

Birds flew from the trees as Bon-Bon's screams echoed throughout the forest.

Twilight Sparkle made her way down the path to Fluttershy's cottage, with the intention of asking the timid mare about getting her bird choir to sing at the Princesses' visit the next day. She knew she wasn't giving the pegasus much notice, but if she could do it then it would make Celestia's visit that much better.

She stopped to gaze over at Celestia's golden sunset, making a mental note to thank the monarch for such a beautiful sight the next day.

She crossed over the bridge and walked up to the door, rapping on it gently with her hoof. "Fluttershy!" she sang, "It's Twilight!"

No answer.

"Fluttershy, are you home?" asked Twilight loudly.

The door swung open to reveal Angel standing there impatiently, his arms crossed and his foot tapping on the floor.

"Oh- hey Angel" Twilight stammered. She never knew what to do around the bunny. "Is Fluttershy in? I need to talk to her"

Angel shook his head.

"No?"

The bunny nodded in confirmation.

"Oh... well do you know where she is?"

Angel impatiently gestured over in the direction of the Everfree Forest.

"What's she doing in there?"

Angel shrugged and slammed the door. Twilight grumbled under her breath. She could never get much out of that animal, and she couldn't understand for the love of her why Fluttershy kept him as her damn pet.

Well that's bucked she sighed in her head, Maybe the Princess won't mind the complete and utter-

She froze as a loud scream permeated the air, coming from the direction of the Everfree Forest. She swung around. "Fluttershy!?" she yelled, "Fluttershy!?" Her eyes darted from side to side, trying to ascertain where and who the scream had come from.

Moments later, the screaming came again. But it was not of fear, but the strangled, throaty scream of pain. Birds flew from the treetops into the evening air, disturbed by the horrendous noise.

Twilight started to gallop in the direction of the prolonged screams. Tears formed in her eyes in worry for her friend, or whoever it was in there. She had never heard such terrifying noises come from a pony before, especially if it was Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy!" Twilight screamed, "Fluttershy!"

The screaming came to a sudden halt.

Umbra withdrew her phase sword wiped off the blade against the trunk of a nearby tree, cleaning the blood from the cold steel. In front of her, Bon-Bon's body had been all but dismembered, nearly every inch of skin peeled from the flesh and muscles and bones exposed to the cool air.

To the pony's credit, she had refused to give anymore information until the bitter end. The assassin had to admire her for that. It was certainly more than most prisoners of the Inquisition had ever managed. Behind her, Levin was nonchalantly cleaning his pistol.

"What do you reckon? Is it enough to work with?" he asked.

"Perhaps. I trust that we will find out more in time. I am curious to find out what the Inquisitor is planning. For now, I think we should-"

"Fluttershy!" screamed a distance voice out of nowhere, "Fluttershy!"

"What the fuck is that?" swore Umbra.

"With me", Levin motioned with his hand for her to follow him. He led her out of he forest and up onto the crest of the hill overlooking the valley. He took out his Exitus rifle and looked down the scope, scanning the area.

He came to rest on something. "There" he said, pointing at one of the nearby fields, "One of the natives, heading towards us. At current speed, I'd say she's around thirty seconds out"

Umbra looked where he was indicating. "I know her. I spoke to her when I was in that town earlier. Her name is Twilight Sparkle"

Levin nodded, knowing since Umbra had told him everything earlier.

"Come on" the Callidus said, "We have to leave before she finds us, or the bodies. She must've heard the screams"

"Or not" replied Levin, "I think I have a better plan"

"What're you thinking?"

"Isn't it obvious?" stated the marksman.

Umbra thought for a moment, then it dawned on her.

"Where?" she asked.

"Edge of the forest, but not where we left the bodies. Use the trees. Go"

Both assassins departed off the hill, disappearing into the forest like ghosts.

Twilight was galloping towards the forest as fast as her legs could take her when the screaming came to a disturbingly sudden halt. Tears were flowing freely down her cheeks from fright as she slowed down to a trot, approaching the edge of the Everfree Forest.

"Hello? Fluttershy? Anypony? Are you alright?" she called into the darkness.

She trotted deeper into the bushes. "Anypony!?"

She felt a sudden rush of wind behind her and swung around to see a figure standing over her, holding a blade to her neck. She opened her mouth to scream. She never got the chance as something collided with the side of her head, turning the world black.