Chapters The fourth Aurelian crusade
Plans
“Come....to....your......deaths....traitors...” Davian rasped as he sent a hail of bolterfire at the ranks of the traitors. The air was quickly pierced by screams of the dying and the ones in pain. Waving his men forward, Solomon rushed the chaos space marines and heretics who hid behind a hasty fortification. As the last of the wall was blasted to rubble by grenade launchers, assault terminators began to charge at the traitors. They were accompanied by a rainbow colored blur. When the blur reached the heretics and traitors, some of them began to drop down on their knees, others held their heads, while some made gasping and strangling noises. The weakened forces of chaos was no match for the fury of the blood ravens elite as they turned the entire mob of chaos into mincemeat. No deaths, and no injuries for the blood ravens.
“Impressive.............” Davian said as he saw his men wipe up the remnants of chaos. “The power.... you wield.... against chaos.... is a great..... blessing.....”
“Thanks! But... it’s not like I control it.” Dashie replied. “I had to say, you totally kicked their flanks! Anyways, how’d you get in there?”
“Eh... Rainbow?” Tarkus asked. “That’s Davian. Davian Thule.”
“Oh..........” Dashie said awkwardly. “Were you the guy who fought some alien emperor thing and survived?”
“Yes..... the necron lord..... of Kronus.... but it was Nickolas.... that destroyed.... the necron lord.....”
“And he too also survived against a Tyranid warrior. Though.....” Tarkus said nothing afterwards. Only looked down at the ground as guilt began to poke at his soul.
“Wow! And now you’re a giant... fighting robot! Davian Thule?! You need a cooler name! Like 20% cooler! How.. bout... um... um... no.... Davian Cool?!”
If Davian could show it, he may of smiled at this statement. Nevertheless, he just said nothing and stood there as he waited on what was to happen next.
“Let’s get going. No time to rest and take things lightly.” Solomon said. “We still have to find this artifact. Davian, you coming?”
“Yes........”
“Good! Let’s get a move on brothers!”
Angelos graciously accepted a cup of tea from a unicorn as he continued reading the map, using an awkwardly small brush to draw out areas of interest.
“Judging from what everyone’s saying on the vox, this fight is going our way.” Thaddeus replied. “We’ll have the entire sub-sector cleaned up on no time.”
“That’s easy enough. But something is bothering me.” Angelos said walking over.
“What is it?” Aramus asked looking outside.
“Well, if I recall correctly, the first three attacks on Aurelia were all orchestrated by Kyras. The black legion is now here. This can mean one of two things. A, there here just to wreak havoc again, or..... Kyras perhaps... was part of an even larger plan.”
“An even larger plan? This can’t end well.” Aramus commented.
“But with these equines aiding us, surely fighting chaos will be much easier than before!” Thaddeus said. “Their very being weakens chaos.”
“Nevertheless, that’s hardly a concession if we get another black crusade.” Aramus said.
“Every once in a while, Abaddon, warmaster of chaos comes in, rallies all the traitor legions together, and wages war upon the imperium in a string of several ruthless battles. These battles normally end in major losses for the imperium. We normally rally our best and most fearless to battle chaos. Entire chapters may even arrive to aid in the defense. There are now rumors that Abaddon is readying another one. If it does come to that, I only ask, Celestia of Equestria, will you aid us?”
Celestia nodded.
“I will. If the defeat of chaos means securing harmony up on this weary galaxy, then I will do anything I must. Even if it means shedding the blood of others.”
Angelos nodded and smiled. This was the second time in his personal experience that aliens had agreed to help him. Perhaps the things he’d been brought by maybe... weren’t as true as they turned out to be. It was written in many texts of the atrocities committed by xenos during the 27th millennia, but truly, it may not be too hard in finding those who weren’t out there just to senselessly kill, take or manipulate.”
Hope, a word for fools. But as such, blessed was the mind that was too small for doubt. And right now, Angelos did not doubt those who resided in Equestria one bit.
“Anyone that looks like that their in command?” Cyrus asked as the scout gave his report.
“We got about a few dozen dead guys, but no one looks like he is in charge.” The scout replied.
“No? No sorcerer? No champion?”
“Nope. Either this is just another mob that felt like coming here, or their leader is really good at hiding.”
“Very well. Carry on.” Cyrus said as his brothers moped up any stragglers. Going on the vox, he quickly told Angelos the news.
“This bothers me.” Cyrus said. “Most chaos champions have about as much brains as a bolter round, unless we are facing a coward, then this one seems to be smarter than the rest.”
“Tell me more.” Angelos said interested.
“We’ve slain about a hundred of them already. And yet, I find no potential leaders. Perhaps we do this the regular way?”
“Hmm, I’ll get back to you on that. Continue with your mission.”
“Very well. Cyrus out.”
“So.... I heard space marines spend their entire lives in war?”
“Yes.... and I heard..... you spend....your entire lives.... in peace....” Thule said. “How fortunate.... you are.....”
“And hey! There’s my house!” Dashie said as she flew up and entered her cloudhouse. Due to the fact the majority of the space marines there had never been on Equestria for too long, most of them began to scratch their heads in wonder as they saw that Rainbow Dash’s house was made of clouds.
“Is......”
“Wha......”
“Eh....”
“How....?”
“Things on this planet just shouldn’t be questioned.” Martellus said. “I wonder if we can make use of that later on.”
“Well first, grow a pair of wings!” Rainbow Dash said coming down getting a saddlebag. “Um... shouldn’t we get Twilight if we are going to fi...”
“No need. Solomon is already on it.” Martellus said. “Where to brother?”
“There!” Solomon said pointing northward. “It’s going to take a few hours to trek there. So...”
“Full steam ahead?” Rainbow Dash asked eager to get fast.
“The sooner, the better.” Solomon said. “But why waste time?”
“Huh?”
“I am calling in a Thunderhawk.” Solomon said. “Martellus, how many brothers we got?”
“17 and of course, the entity known as Rainbow Dash.”
“Well, no time to waste, let’s get a move on!”
“Good day, human!” Said a familiar voice as Cyrus walked through the ruined streets in thought. “What’s on your mind today?”
“Didn’t your Princess tell you to go and get to the capital?” Cyrus asked.
“Yeah. But of course, I think my shop and my things are more important. Only got like 14 more lives left. Lucky guys, my kind are. We get a lot of lives, and get reborn like a certain creature. I was human-ish the last 13 times, and I think I like being human the most.”
“What’d you like most?” Cyrus asked.
“Hands.” Hooves replied. “You know, there’s a unicorn called Lyra, she’s obsessed with you guys. She used to bother me 24/7 about humans. Now that they are here, she decided to go annoy them.”
“Hmm, sounds interesting. But later. I have work to do. I am trying to find their leaders. If we can’t do that, I suppose we can try things the old-fashioned way.”
“Ah war, something humans tend to love to do. You know, I studied their history and found that their technology progressed cause of war!”
“Great. Let me tell you. The day I finally get to rest one way or the other will be the happiest day of life. But of course, the Emperor comes first, then myself. It’d be a hideous sin if I did anything for my sake.”
“So... you going to rest actually when whatever you do is done?”
The fourth Aurelian crusade
The enemy of my enemy
“Sweet Emperor! This is worse than Aurelia!” Tarkus said as the blizzard engulfed him. “You cold?”
“Nope. Pegasi have a natural resistance to the elements! So.... any of those guys out here?”
“Negative.” Martellus replied. “No contacts.... yet.”
“Alright. Stay alert.” Solomon said. “This way, everybody. Last thing I need is to have an entire mob of havocs upon us.”
They trekked for a while. In the distance, an object glowed. Judging from the way Solomon was walking, he intended on going there, to where the light was coming from. They approached it, until it grew brighter and brighter.
“I can see the sun.” Tarkus said after a while. “Know how?”
“Eh... yeah. See those clouds? No pony really bothered to move them. See that bright shiny thing?”
Nod.
“Yeah, that’s the crystal empire! Twilight’s brother and sister-in-law are staying there.”
“Tell me about it.” Tarkus said as the band of space marines continued their way.
“Well.... I dunno much. Except for how some evil unicorn took it over like a long time ago and then got defeated, returned and got killed.”
“Remind me never to ask her to explain things.” Tarkus voxed.
“Holy..... Terra......” Solomon said as he gazed at the view that lay in front of him. The massive spires of pure crystal, and a large blue dome that surrounded this massive metropolis of crystal. He began to walk faster to get a closer view, all that happened was him hitting a straight wall of crystal.
And right on cue, a certain white unicorn strolled out. He eyed the band suspiciously until he finally gave a nod. The forcefield came down in a flash.
“Greetings. My name is Shining Armor. Welcome to the crystal empire. If you’re not like any of those brutes that came here in the past few days then we will be glad to have you around.”
“My pleasure.” Solomon said bowing politely. “My name is Solomon, chief librarian of the blood ravens. I seek to obtain a certain artifact of immense power that is located in your empire. Will you permit us to go and seek it out?”
“You have my best wishes.” Shining Armor said. “Why not warm up in here? The bitter cold surely must take it’s toll on all creatures. You too Rainbow Dash, go warm up.”
“Glad to get out of the cold.” Tarkus said. “Well, best start searching.”
The blood ravens all nodded at one another as they continued down the street. Many of the crystal ponies eyed them with mixtures of apprehension and anxiety, but after a while, seeing they weren’t here to bash everything to bloody pulps, the eyeing and the suspicious glances ceased. Some even walked up to greet the astartes.
“Harder than adamantium....... wow.” Martellus breathed doing a scan of a building. “I am not sure you are aware of it yet, but this entire place could potentially be an impenetrable fortress.”
“Tell that to the ones that nearly lost their lives yesterday.” Shining remarked. “That was the first time I used that new spell I learned.”
“Ne..... oh.” Tarkus said. Looking over, he see the dismembered remains of a chaos space marine that was being thrown into a ditch.
“Impressive.” Solomon said. “I recall correctly you are a sort of fighter amongst your people.”
“Indeed. My special talent was defending my friends and family. I’d rather die than see them get hurt.”
“And stop!” Solomon said stopping a few blocks from the crystal palace. “It is here. You five, dig.”
“No need. Even then, I doubt you’d even make a dent in the ground.” Shining Armor said. “I have a feeling I know what you’re looking for. It’s deep down in the vault. A few foals had found it and given to me.”
“One of the elements of harmony?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Yep! And guess what? That one is yours.”
“Nice! Perfect for me to come here.”
“Anyways, Shining, if I recall correctly, how many of the chaos wretches were there?”
“Like eight.”
“Tell me what happened.”
“Well.......”
“Alright, so anyways, I just got another letter from Twilight.” Shining Armor said shaking his head while staring at the ground. “They say that a bunch of human maniacs started attacking Equestria.”
“Yikes..... they weren’t possibly...”
“No.” Shining Armor replied, reading the mind of his wife. “They weren’t part of the Blood Ravens. In fact, the Blood Ravens say that these guys are their worst enemies.”
“Absolutely no doubt about it. They say that the Blood Ravens transformed Canterlot into a fortress in just a few hours and are now deploying their men en masse to hunt these guys. Thank heaven for that. I doubt any of....”
The door opened loudly a messenger came in, panting heavily with a panicked look on his face.
“Sire! There is a family that is in danger! They are being attacked!”
“Oh no....”
When Shining Armor arrived on the scene. He had found Chaos Space Marines trying to force entry into a house. Some were mindlessly hacking at the walls (which were harder than adamantium) and others were just sending bolter rounds at the walls. A family was trapped inside, screaming for help.
Acting quickly, Shining Armor charged up a new offensive spell he had learned. The beam easily tore it’s way through the power armor of the closest chaos space marine. Almost as soon as this had happened, all the other chaos space marines began to start screaming, as if in pain. Some of them fell to their knees, others made strangling noises, one even dropped dead outright. The weakened chaos space marines were no match for Shining Armor’s wrath as he obliterated the group in a fit of rage, scattering body parts and bits of armor everywhere.
At first, Shining Armor had felt happy. He told the family they were safe, and smiled at the fact that he had just absolutely destroyed several of the barbarians, when months ago, he had trouble merely injuring one of their kind.
Then... guilt.. had seized him. He had just committed murder. An absolute atrocity in Equestra. Those brutes clearly meant harm to the family trapped within their home, but... was their truly pride in killing?
There shouldn’t be. But he had to do it anyways. He recalled the first time when he crossed swords with the Blood Ravens. He was scared of them. And that had prompted him to become violent. Like these attackers.
“You know....” Shining Armor said when he finished his story. “How do you manage to sleep at night, knowing that you’ve killed?”
“What we do is righteous.” Tarkus said. “But... I’d never harm anyone that never meant any harm to me....” This was a lie. He that time on Typhon when Kyras had manipulated he and his brothers in killing the seer council. This spelled doom for the planet, and he along with Diomedes and the others, were the ones to blame.
“I had always been brought up that killing was a bad thing to do, and that wars should only be fought with words.”
“You’re right. Winning a war without fighting is far better than winning one with bolters and chainswords. But unfortunately, the universe as we know it offers little choice. Where I come from, it’s kill or be killed. On your planet, that’s not the case. A gift in this harsh universe.” Solomon said. “And we’re here?”
“Welcome to the crystal palace!” Shining Armor said. “Tell Cadence we got guests.” He said to a messenger.
“Here we are again!” Rainbow Dash said happily. “C’mon! You guy’s will love it!”
“Speaking of which, I think I have means to aid you in your quest...” Shining Armor said. “Perhaps it can protect you in your mission against chaos. If the situation becomes as bad as it does... then... I promise, I will fight with you. Hopefully that never becomes necessary.”
“The enemy of my enemy..... is my friend.” Solomon muttered remembering an ancient Terran proverb. “I wonder how long he will be my friend.”
“As long as I draw breath.” Shining Armor said. How he was able to hear him, made Solomon jump.
The fourth Aurelian crusade
Not again
“I still don’t understand. She healed by body, but why don’t I have both my eyes?” Thule asked as he tapped the blue glowing bionic. He had spoken with Gabriel for some time. Angelos apparently wanted to make sure Thule was back in the land of the living. Davian really was just glad to be alive again.
The daemon swung it’s axe. Though the crystal was strong, it was no match for a bloodthirstier as the axe buried itself deep within the ground, cutting the earth open. Even in the face of danger, the space marines didn’t move a muscle and only concentrated their fire on the greater daemon. Even in it’s weakened state, it was still able to cause serious damage to whatever came into the way of it’s wrath.
“Wow.” Thule said. “Probably even puts Solomon to shame.”
“Up there.” Celestia said opening her eyes. “The elements had been scattered. They are in the domain of humanity. At least in this sub-sector as you called it.”
Somewhere in sub-sector Aurelia. A figure in chaos terminator armor watched the unholy ceremony. This ceremony was lead by a hooded.... thing.....
The fourth Aurelian crusade
“So now that we can allow ourselves some time to rest, it is time we discussed matters about.... everything.” Angelos said sitting down. The trip back to Canterlot, he had been planning this whole thing.
“Wow!” Twilight said as she saw the Litany of Fury for the first time from the view of a Thunderhawk. “How...”
Twilight never felt more out of place then she did when she was in the battle barge of Angelos. Looking around, she could see all the stares she was getting from the humans who worked on the ship and was rather creeped out by the servitors. She was called to the bridge later and spent much time admiring the ship the entire way.
“Okay this is getting us nowhere, let’s just get the na....”
She wondered if Celestia's dream of peace in the entire universe could be fulfilled. The average human tended to shoot or stab anything that he or she thought to be "hostile" which probably encompassed at least 99% of all things on the face of the universe.
But no matter, maybe she could teach humanity the magic of friendship and the secrets of harmony. But first, they had to expel chaos. At least humans too seek peace and harmony. In their own special way... which was probably not as good as trying to reason it out... then again, judging the nature of most of their enemies, that probably wasn't an option. Oh well.
The fourth Aurelian crusade
The first element... or actually second.
The first element... or actually second.
“Is this whole planet like this?!” Twilight asked on the top of a sand dune. Nothing but sand, sand and more sand.
“Are you...”
Twilight fired a beam from her horn at the closest chaos space marine. Much to her surprise, she killed him. Just like that. Maybe there was some truth in what Angelos had said after all. After just a few moments of hilariously one sided fighting, the entire mob of chaos heretics lay dead, with Bale absolutely going more berserk than he did with Sindri.
The fourth Aurelian crusade
Two down, four to go
“DUCK!” Solomon roared over the din of bolter fire as bolter rounds strafed the ground around them. Well-known fact. Chaos space marines are terrible shots. Even Lord Eliphas was and still is a terrible shot with the bolter. It took Twilight about ten seconds to figure this all out.
“Are we even in danger?” Twilight asked as she saw a bolter round pretty much go the wrong way.
“Not from those fools. But....”
The doombolts that almost took Thule’s head off was enough evidence to say that the chaos sorceror knew what he was doing. Taking his bolter, he fired rounds back intent on turning the heretic into swiss cheese.
Twilight allowed herself a peek at the action. To her dismay she couldn’t see a thing save for the dust that was kicked up from all the fighting. She wondered how..... oh yeah. Enhanced eyesight.
Unfortunately, she REALLY underestimated how enhanced their eyesight was, because literally three seconds after she poked her head out, a massive wave of fire came her way.
Time came to a standstill. She watched the tidal wave of heat come closer..... and closer... and closer....
After what seemed like an eternity’s passing, the fire was upon her. But to her surprise.... it did not connect and scorch her flesh. Instead, the tongues of the flames stretched out of the way, around Twilight leaving her intact.
“Holy Terra.....” Solomon muttered as he watched the whole thing unfold. “That was amazing! How did you do that?!”
“I didn’t do that.....” Twilight said running over. “I.... think it has something to do with like that magic he’s using!”
“Discuss it later!” Angelos said. “Our ride’s here!”
“Then let’s get out of here!” Thule said as he got on the Thunderhawk.
“Cease your firing..... now.” Sindri said as he stepped into the crowd. “What do you fools presume yourselves to be? It’d be a great shame if someone ruins Lord Eliphas’ plan.”
“I don’t take orders from you!” The aspiring sorcerer replied. “Why are we letting them go?!”
“Because..... that’s merely part of the plan. They have acquired one part of the those artifacts. Why not let them gather them all? Saves us the trouble of having to hunt for them later. But of course..... we can keep things amusing and pretend to go after our good friends.”
“Sounds like a waste of time. Why not kill them now and be done with it?”
“Because... those artifacts hold great power..... and as we all know.... all power demands sacrifice....”
“Sacrificing what? Or are we just taking a needless risk.”
“Forget it.” Sindri said baffled at the stupidity of the sorcerer. How could a psyker like himself be such a short-sighted fool.
“Lord Eliphas has contacted me.” Sindri continued. “We are to join him immediately.”
“Like I said, we don’t take orders from you!”
“Very well then. You, will stay here.”
And with that, Sindri put forth his hand and sent forth a tidal wave of warp fire scorching the aspiring sorcerer to ashes.
“Now then, who else would like to.... stay here?”
Nobody.
“And check. We now have two of the six elements.” Solomon said turning to scout. “Take this to Canterlot.”
“At once!”
“Still alive?” Solomon jested watching Twilight who was still in shock.
“I am fine... it’s..... I was....”
“Seconds from dying? You have no idea how many times I’ve been there before. Only through quick thinking did I manage to survive. Allow me to give you a piece of advice. Never, ever on the battlefield hesitate for a moment. That will be the difference between life and death. If Thule ever talks about it, you may know that he was seconds away from losing his entire face. Only by being quick did he only lose just an eye.”
Twilight said nothing but merely glanced at Davian who was apparently unaware of their conversation. He only looked up, with a triumphant grin on his face.
“Two down, four to go.” Martellus said. “The next location is Typhon. Angelos is going to return here. He says that it’s our turn now. Aramus, You, Cyrus, Solomon, Tarkus and myself are going to Typhon. Twilight will meet us there.”
“We must be cautious.” Cyrus said. “Dead planet as it may be, we can still expect for an ambush of some kind.”
“Got it. Let’s go.”
“What do you think they’re doing?” Rainbow Dash asked from her cloud seat with Fluttershy. Ever since the majority of the invasion force had fled, most Equestrians had chosen to return to their homes to rebuild.
“Maybe they’re helping.” Fluttershy said watching the techmarine take a quick run around the rebuilding of ponyville.
“Doesn’t look like it.” Rainbow Dash said. “You think he’s spying on us?”
“Rainbow Dash!”
“What?!”
“Why would he do anything like that?”
“I dunno. Maybe humans want to secretly take over Equestria!”
“I don’t think so..... maybe he’s just interested in the way ponies build things.”
“What does this remind you of?” The techmarine asked one of his battle brothers.
“Just a random house you’d see on a feudal world.”
“I was thinking of the same thing. But.... oddly familiar.”
“What, excuse someone wrote so that the Inquisition doesn’t burn this planet to the ground?”
“I don’t mind this planet. Why do you?”
“Their bloody xenos dimwit!” That’s why! Who cares about the fact that their souls repel chaos, it’s still the....”
“And then there are those people who say teleportation is a bad idea. Let’s not impede progress here. Ironic how you’re a techmarine.”
Well that set him off. A fist to the face was now in order.
“Ah, look. Dem humans are fighting again.” Applejack said to Rarity.
“I say, are those brutes going to murder each other? Rather unbrotherly like if you ask me.”
“They aren’t ACTUALLY brothers. Or that’d be one large family. I think it has something to do with their beliefs about that Emperor guy.”
“Maybe he’s a super-cool ruler like Celestia!” Scootaloo suggested.
“I dunno..... I mean I’d expect some kind of warlord.” Applebloom said. “Humans do seem awfully violent.”
“I bet he’s good at studying like Twilight.” Sweetie Belle said. “They say he knows more magic than Princess Celestia!”
“They also say he’s a hero AND a god!”
“Maybe he’s also a hero of fashion!”
“And maybe he’s some super cool human that goes off on adventures to fight evil and maybe secure harmony!”
“Does he like cupcakes?” Pinkie asked flying out of nowhere.
“I heard he likes animals....” Fluttershy said coming down. “I also heard he hasn’t left his home in ten thousand years. Shy thing....”
Oh Rainbow Dash. Just you wait. Just you wait.
The fourth Aurelian crusade
What if....
“I have to say..... that was better than any navigator.” Armus said getting off the Thunderhawk.
“Lord Eliphas... tell me... explain to me in greater detail of this scheme of yours.”
Twilight had acted quickly and formed a shield around her and her companions. As the explosion shook the ground harmlessly around them, she could of sworn she heard Solomon mutter to himself about “rules” and “shouldn’t exist”.
“New spell?” Solomon asked Twilight as she regained her ability to move around on her own accord.
“And thanks for helping Angel for me....” Fluttershy said timidly as she cradled her precious bunny. “I thought those horrible chaos people were going to hurt him...”
The fourth Aurelian crusade
Discovery
“And here it is Co.. I mean Captain.” Derosa said handing the element of harmony over to Aramus. “Permit me for asking.... what’s that purple thing that’s following you around?”
Twilight stood by the window and was sketching out her drawing of the hive city. While the smell was absolutely insufferable, the view was majestic to say the least. Even the best metropolis in Equestria didn’t hold a candle to this thing that the humans called a “hive world”.
“Liking the story?” Rainbow Dash asked as she saw Thule sitting down and reading a copy of “Daring Do” outside of Twilight’s new library-house. The space marine really didn’t have much to do, and his only job as of now was to kill time until his brothers recovered the elements. The occasional chaos space marine was found and destroyed with ease.
The fourth Aurelian crusade
To end all wars
“Did you say your people used to live here?!” Twilight asked peering down into the planet from orbit. “That planet looks so broken up!”
Atop a hill outside of Selenon, a chaos space marine made his way back to his commander.
“Thule.... this is a storybook.....” Adrastia said awkwardly after reading “Daring Do”. “Captain, I hate to rain on your parade, but really, this is just made up.”
“You think that the war would ever end?” Luna asked Celestia as they watched an apothecary operate on an injured battle brother.
The fourth Aurelian crusade
Suprise, suprise
“Milord! What has happened to you?!”
“METAL BAWKSES, THE FEWLS! TAKE AWAY THEIR METAL BAWKSES!”
“Pardon?”
“METAL BAWKSES!”
The chaos space marine stood awkwardly in front of his commander, unsure of what to do. Now like the rest of us, this certain chaos space marine knew that a good portion of his comrades were insane..... but this, this was a bit much. Time to slink silently away and perhaps take command himself.......
“WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!” Carron asked seeing the chaos space marine try to slither away.
“Eh... to alert the men milord!”
“Very well, carry on.... we shall take away their metal bawkses!”
“We’re here.” Solomon said as he stepped outside from the rhino.
“Man, it’s cold....” Twilight muttered as the cold air of aurelia whispered to them. They were standing in the massive ruins of a fortress like building.
“Best be cautious. I smell an ambush.” Cyrus said checking the area around him. His comrades did likewise.
“Man... it’s like there already was a battle here....” Twilight said gesturing at a frozen corpse.
“There was. Slightly over ten years ago, there was a massive battle against a mighty daemon, Ulkair the great, unclean one. The black legion desecrated the remains of one of the grandest chapter keeps. We made them pay the price for their impudence. Aramus defeated Ulkair himself.”
“What is a great unclean one?”
“Think the most vile, repulsive being you know, then multiply it about a few thousand times. Those daemons are more foul then....... anything!”
“Well.... what do they exactly do?”
“Spread every disease that is known to the galaxy to everybody. Even their own followers.”
“Why would they do that?”
“Ironically, it makes them stronger. Plague marines are very difficult to kill.... and as you know, war can be seen as a trade. It’s a trade of blows, weapons, tactics, knowledge and.... disease.”
“Yikes..... can you provide me with any sample of these viruses?”
“Why the hell would anyone want any of those things even near them?! That’s just insane!”
“No... maybe I can say.... make a cure? If I can’t... maybe Zecora can... she knows maybe like every cure to probably ever disease!”
“Doubtful....” Cyrus muttered.
“Well, maybe worth a try at least...” Tarkus said.
“I guess so....” Aramus said. “Solomon, how much more?”
“Ah........ so the blood ravens have located the fifth artifact?” Sindri asked.
“If you aren’t aware of it yet, they have methods of finding it!” Araghast said impatiently.
“I understand..... there quick way of working leaves little room for doubt.” The sorcerer stared into the edge of a lava pool for a second... allowing the heat to touch his face and gave a wicked grin.
“I presume this used to be the illustrious Gabriel Angelos’ home? We shall also make it his grave once we have finished, his chapter with it!”
And of course, that certain hooded pony also had her own personal vendettas.......
“So... what do we do with that thing after we’re done?”
“Apparently she’ll be gone before we even realize. Perhaps for the good sport of things, play a good host and ask her to stay?”
“I think not... I prepare to leave after our business with one another is done.” Sindri said. In reality, he planned for a backstabbing.... perhaps a triple backstabbing. Those two insufferable fools Eliphas and Araghast were too busy in their schemes of power to realize that HE, Sindri had his own agenda. And it sure as hell didn’t include two idiotic chaos lords, some simpleton xeno and this entire circus of idiots.
“You like the night?” Luna asked Angelos as she finally stopped flying. She had caught the space marine stargazing moments ago and wondered if he was appreciating the night. Every now and then, Luna always felt a twinge of jealousy at her older sister, as even in this day and age, ponies though not by much, still seemed to like the day better than the night. It seemed to be different however with your average human. Night was solace to him.
“How so?” Luna asked when Angelos had nodded and said he did like the night.
“Many reasons. That’s all I’ll say.” Angelos said as he continued to watch and number the stars.
“What kind of a question is that?!”
“My apologies... but... is murder something..”
“No. I am not a bloodthirsty savage like those who I face off against on a daily basis.” Angelos said almost reading Luna’s mind. “I don’t go and raid every planet I see like some band of pirate orks, or rush and assault some random bastion in the middle of nowhere like a bloothirsty khornate. I may be a fighter, a soldier of the imperium and a servant of the Emperor, but I see reason. I don’t pick fights that are unnecessary, I don’t go off and do things without thinking. Reason, it’s a nice word. Too bad most of my brothers never appreciated it.”
Luna wondered whether or not if this was Cyrus’ guise at appearing to be reasonable, or if he actually meant it. She wondered how good humans were at deception.....
That’s when it hit her. She didn’t know much about humans at all. They had mentioned in the past, regular people among them.
Luna laughed inwardly. Really? Did she honestly think in the past that all humans were nine feet tall bipedals in armor that went around killing everything in sight? The idea felt sillier as she kept on thinking about it. But even then..... humanity had grown stronger in nearly every aspect because of war, not inspite of it. That worried her. They wanted peace and harmony, right? But peace by force shouldn’t be called peace OR harmony. She sat pondering for the rest of the night on whether or not if hu... no, if this entire galaxy could ever be in a state of harmony........
Probably not.... says the average person. But not Luna, not Celestia and certainly never the mane six.
“Are they even trying anymore?!” Cyrus asked as the decapitated head of Carron slumped down. One shot, one kill.
“Hardly. This mob of chaos can’t do anything right.” Tarkus said. “Solomon, you got it yet?!”
“Just a few more moments!”
“Get the word to Angelos. We are headed for Cyrene next.” Aramus said. “Hey Twilight... you think...”
“Already done. But if you want something like sending a long distance message, try Spike. If I recall correctly, there’s no limit to how far he can send stuff.”
“Will keep in mind. Tell Gabriel also that we suspect Cyrene is where Eliphas is hiding out on.”
“Will do. Think after this we’ll be done?”
“Just kill Eliphas and we’ll be done. Cut off the head and the snake will die. Unless it’s the Alpha legion.”
“And it seems the loyalists have recovered the last artifact.” Araghast said walking over to Eliphas.
“Good... let them come.” Eliphas said. “It’s to my understanding we do not have the last artifact?”
“We do not. That alien and Sindri are attempting to locate it.”
“Good... Good.”
“And that’s the last of those insufferable fools....” Sindri said tossing a body into a lava pool.
“You are a credit to those other fools that you work with.” The alien said taking off her hood. She had a light tannish coat, and a yellow and red mane.
“Of course. Now then, I presume you have means to find... this element?”
“Indeed I do.” Sunset said. “Make sure that they don’t interrupt the process.”
“Certainly. I presume my share of this power will be.... adequate?”
“It will be. I promise you. How do you divide infinity?”
The fourth Aurelian crusade
Open the portal
“It seems an old friend has decided to meet me here.” Eliphas said as he watched Thule single-handedly kill entire squads of chaos space marines and daemons alike. After all of these years, Davian seemed to be even more of a dangerous fighter than he was prior to his encounter with the Tyranids.
Aramus stood at the top of the hill facing against the figure in black.
“I presume you are finished now.” Sindri said as he saw the unearthed element of magic. “Is it time we went?”
Shimmer began to conjure up a spell that would open a portal to Equestria but before she could, a certain some pony spotted her.
“Where the hell is Sindri?!” Eliphas voxed as he ducked a blow from Thule. Thule was even more fierce than last he remembered.
“Damn it! That dog escapes my wrath once again!” Thule said punching the ground.
“Well, what in tarnation is Sunset thinking helping those varmints?!” Applejack exclaimed as Twilight told her the news.
“While they do wish for harmony and the common good for others, I do question their methods every now and then.” Luna said sharing some tea with Celestia. “You still believe?”
The fourth Aurelian crusade
Davian Cool!
“Here it is.” Sindri said placing the final element down. The stupid aliens! Even without his psyker abilities, Sindri still could bludgeon them to death with his staff quite expertly. Khorne approved.
“This forest is dense. Beware of an ambush brothers.” Eliphas said as he looked around. “Be cautious, we are in the heart of the enemy.”
Sunset breathed a sigh of relief seeing how the space marines hadn’t found her yet. Relief! She started to cast her spell. This process, lasted about several minutes. By the end of it all, she was rather exhausted. She went to go get a drink at nearby stream submerging her entire head in the cool, refreshing liquid.
“Power.... unlimited power!” Sindri roared out. He felt it. He breathed it. And he felt it surge within him. Power. Today, he would become a god!
Sunset chuckled to herself as she went to retrieve the element. Sindri’s body had been lashed with powerful magic energy and she made sure not to touch him. Even traces of that powerful magic could be very harmful. Taking the elements she decided to find a more secluded area. Unlocking ALL their power, not just SOME of their power was a very tedious process. She needed a good place to hide to do so. She wondered whether or not those other two chaos lords would be easier to dupe, afterall Sindri had been the smartest out their band of idiots. But then again, his own ambition had been his downfall not once, but twice. Eliphas too was ambitious, but would his ambition blind him as well?
“Captain Thule! Eliphas went down this pass!” Thaddeus said as Davian arrived.
“Dash...” Scootaloo said pointing from the cloud. Rainbow Dash had given her a lift to watch the fight. “Do you think Mr. Thule will need help? I mean there’s two of them and he might get hurt!”
The fourth Aurelian crusade
The death of Eliphas and Araghast
The death of Eliphas and Araghast
Araghast snarled in pain as Thule’s blow knocked out most of his teeth. Staggering back, he was received with a blow to the gut sending him down on his back.
Eliphas was having similar troubles, a flurry of blows sent him flying back right into a tree with apples falling down comically on his head.
“Death to the false Emperor!” Eliphas said as he got up to charge Thule again. This time, he was punched back straight into where he had been a moment before.
“Don’t you dare make mockeries out of us!” Araghast said retrieving his power sword. “You’re suffering will be epic!”
“The only thing that is epic is how much you’re glorious leader fails at defeating his enemies, and how much of a failure you BOTH are.” Thule said. “You’re thirteen lose streak is very admirable.”
“You dare?!” Araghast roared attempting to charge Thule. The captain hardly sidestepped before lashing out a blow that shattered bits of Araghast’s armor.
“Weak. Trash, all of you. How the Emperor trusted filth like you is beyond me.” Thule threw his sword away as he pummeled Araghast with bare hands before turning around to ensure Eliphas didn’t get back up again.
“Don’t you dare look down upon me loyalist dog!” Eliphas roared as he rose quickly forcing Thule back who quickly retrieved his sword. The two chaos lords getting their weapons as well.
“What’s the plan?!” Araghast voxed.
“There isn’t one! We just kill this slave of the dead-emperor and be done with it!”
They rushed Thule once again. This time, the majority of Araghast’s chestplate was shattered, and he lay on the ground, groaning in pain.
Eliphas saw his partner go down, and quickly sent a flurry of blows against Davian. Thule however, with the Emperor on his side wasn’t going to be defeated so easily. He dueled with Eliphas for the time being, not seeing that Araghast was slowly rising to his feet.
Araghast groaned. Finding his sword he saw that Davian’s back was turned away from him. Taking a quick glance around him, he saw that most of the blood ravens were occupied with his men. Hoping that no one would see him, he raised his blade right when the time was right.
Davian didn’t notice Araghast behind him. But what he did notice and actually almost jumped at was a loud crackle and a scream of pain. But not wanting to get distracted, he quickly decided play time was over and ran Eliphas threw. As it turned out, he wasn’t trying this entire time.
“Go to hell and burn, heretic.” Thule said. Turning around he saw the scorched corpse of Araghast, and Rainbow Dash poking his corpse, seeing whether or not he truly was dead.
“He was trying to sneak on you...”
“Yeah I get it. Thanks by the way. I didn’t notice.”
“THAT WAS SO COOL!” Scootaloo said not seeming to notice all the death and horror. “YOU WEREN’T EVEN TRYING AND YOU BEAT HIM!’
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Thule said nonchalantly. “The Emperor willed that I was stronger, and I was.”
That last statement held truth in it. But Thule, having his perfect memory recalled that last time he fought, he wasn’t nearly this fast or strong. He wondered if Twilight’s spell had anything to do with his increased fighting skills. If it did, then maybe Angelos could also use a boost. The blood ravens were due for another crusade against chaos, and he wanted his chapter to be at full fighting capacity.
“Almost... almost...!” Sunset said as she watched the space marines approach. The majority of the chaos warband lay dead in the Everfree forest. Just a little bit more!
“Oh my...” Scootaloo said watching the dead Blood Raven. “Is he...”
“He’s dead. No doubt about it.” Thaddeus said. “Apothecary is working on it.”
“With all due respect, shouldn’t you be giving him a burial and not sticking needles in his body?”
“We do that later. You see, there is many things that differentiates a space marine from the normal human. One thing is the gene seed. Without it, we can’t produce any more battle brothers.”
“He lives on, in our memory.” Thule said. “First, burn all these foul traitors. They don’t deserve a resting place like any true loyal man of the Emperor.”
“While his body rests, his spirit goes to join the Emperor.” Thaddeus said as he watched the men did a hole.
“It’s not over yet. We still have a renegade horse on the loose.” Thule replied. “We must hurry. Whatever her intentions maybe, while not serving chaos, still worries me.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” Dashie asked. “I’ll get everyone.”
“Please do.” Thule said. “When did Adrastia say she would be back?”
“Just another day or two. We’ll be done before she get’s back.”
“Good. Because we’re going to southern Equestria, not those dragon infested badlands, but farther south. There is something to be discovered.”
“What is it?”
“Would you believe me if told you Malcador may of been on this planet?”
“No.”
“Let’s change that after we’re done.”
The fourth Aurelian crusade
The end of the Sunset
Eliphas coughed. To his and probably everyone else’s surprise, he was still alive.
“Still alive traitor?” Thule asked turning around. Taking a bolter he aimed it at Eliphas’ head intent on finishing the job.
“You....are....too late.....” Eliphas said. “My defeat here will not change anything lapdog of the false Emperor. You may of defeated me here now.... but I will return.”
“And I will kill you. Again and again every time you rise heretic.” Thule replied.
“No.”
Eliphas gave a painful gasp of surprise to find that it was not Thule, but the Princess of the sun herself that had spoken.
“No.” Celestia said. “Abaddon will not prevail nor will he ever. We will stop him. I will oversee that myself.”
“So.... I see you’ve finally decided to rejoin your brethren.” Eliphas said. “Understand even you and your pathetic other half can’t even stop Abaddon, no one can!”
“I grow tired of this.” Thule said. With a mighty blow, he severed the foul head of Eliphas watching it roll into a ditch.
“What was he talking about?” Scootaloo asked. “Something about..”
“Nothing. Nothing.” Thule said dismissively. “Mad men like him tend to ramble.”
Though in his heart, he knew what Eliphas had spoken had a hint of truth to it. If Abaddon had a means to escape Cadia then that would mean great catastrophe for all beings across the galaxy.
But at the same time, every dark cloud had it’s silver lining, for Eliphas perhaps had just confirmed Davian’s suspicions of Celestia and Luna’s true origins. They were once human. No doubt about it. What else could “rejoining their brethren” mean? Though who they were, and what they were once were remains a mystery, Thule was intent on finding out, if Celestia and Luna truly were who he thought they once were... and if Twilight’s memory/healing spell can be used once again, then he had just devised a means to restore the Emperor back to life.
And that would mean greatness for every being across the galaxy. Not just humanity, not just Equestrians but everyone.
He wondered how THAT would work out.
“Sunset!” Twilight said as she arrived at the site of the unholy ritual. “What have you done?!”
“The only sensible thing, Twilight!” Sunset said. “Consider this my revenge. And guess what? You can’t stop me nor can those imbeciles you befriended!”
The last part had a hint of truth in it. It would be a while before the space marines could find this place.
But the first part did not, Twilight knew she had the means to stop this. She hoped that she wouldn’t have to kill Sunset. Like most others, she believed ANYONE could be redeemed. Though a certain fast approacher didn’t share her views.
“We’re here, Davian!” Dashie said as she arrived with the others. “Now where are we headed?”
“I don’t kn... where’s Celestia?!”
The blast knocked Twilight off her feet, blood foamed at her mouth as she painfully got up battling the shock like no ordinary pony.
Twilight sent another fireball at her, but Sunset raised her shield spell causing the ball of fire to disperse harmlessly. She aimed another bolt at Twilight who this time, got knocked down and didn’t get up.
“Yes... almost.. almost damn you!”
Twilight could only glance up at the explosion of the light. She braced herself expecting a super powered Sunset Shimmer... all she saw however was just the unicorn standing there waiting dumbly for something to happen.
“I say.... I am afraid I can’t let you do that!”
“Discord?!”
“That’s right! And I brought a few friends too!”
Emerging from the tree line, Angelos and another squad of terminators stepped out pointing their bolters at Sunset. Nowhere to run now.
Before any of them could actually open fire, a brilliant white alicorn came and grabbed Sunset and whisked her away much to the surprise of... EVERYONE.
“For the love of...” Angelos began until he heard Thule vox him.
“How you could do this... is beyond me.” Celestia began as she plopped her down sitting down and held her there. “Why?!”
“Because your “faithful student” humiliated me!”
“No. Why did you leave Equestria? Even better yet, why did you come back to destroy it serving the damning powers of chaos?!”
“I left because I could see that you along with everyone else in Equestria were blind fools! But... I never served chaos.. if anything they served me....”
“Power. I was taught by a friend that the universe rewarded those who would spill blood for power.”
Celestia shook her head.
“It’s true. You are lost. Good-bye Sunset, I don’t wish to ever see you again.”
Sunset smiled inwardly as she was thrown into a ditch. Foolish Celestia, she was too quick to give second chances. Another chance for vengeance.
“Do you really think ANYONE would give YOU a second chance?!” Solomon asked from behind her.
Only then did Sunset look up and realize she was surrounded by space marines.
“If I were you, I’d run.” Thule said.
The fourth Aurelian crusade
The calm before the storm
The calm before the storm
“Greetings Celestia and Luna of Equestria. My name is Inquisitor Adrastia on behalf of all of humanity, at least, all the sensible ones. I thank you for kindly receiving me today.” Adrastia said formally meeting Celestia and Luna for the first time. “This is Brother-Captain Arven.” Adrastia gestured at the Grey Knight who nodded in acknowledgement.
“I know. I know. It’s my height and theirs. A space marine and an ordinary human are rather different you see.”
“Got it.”
“Now then. About two days ago, Captain Davian Thule had contacted me telling me about the true nature of this planet and it’s inhabitants. That was all fine and dandy, but what really caught my attention was something he showed me afterwards.”
Adrastia took out the official seal of the inquisition as well as the copy of “Daring Do” and the history book Thule had found with in the crystal empire. She presented this to Celestia.
“I can see why. A man named Eliphas before his death had told me something about... “joining my brethren.” I know not what this means but....”
“Mother of the Emperor....” Arven said. “Do you think you have any connections to humanity? Have you ever known any humans before our arrival?”
“No. No.” Celestia says. “I have not. Perhaps he is implying I will be slain in the days to come along with Luna?”
“Possibly.” Thule said. “I suspect something else though.”
“Me as well.” Arven continued. “Wait... Captain Thule?”
“Yes. That’s my name. Speak your mind brother.”
“If I recall correctly, you were...”
“A dreadnought? Yes I was. I was recently healed by an Equestrian called Twilight Sparkle. She restored my body to as much as she could. Unfortunately, whatever miracles she performed were limited to memory. And as such, the first time we met, I only had a single eye. Angelos is as of now in the process of being restored to his regular self.”
“I see you’ve grown to trust them.” Adrastia said.
“I have. I didn’t at first. But I have. I never should have doubted Angelos, Celestia or anyone that resides here.”
“Celestia, I would like to ask however, may you present to me... the elements of harmony?”
“Of course...”
“Wait! Discord has them!” Thule said.
“Thank you Discord. Your actions back in the Everfree prove to me you have been reformed.”
“As I have! Friends do things for each o... and why are you looking at me like that?”
“You give me bad memories.” Arven said. “I’ll be watching you.”
“Jeez, what’s up with humans? Do they hate like anything with the word “chaos” in it?”
[Yes]
“We are straying off topic.” Adrastia said. “Let’s see, if I recall correctly they are tools of great power?”
“Yes.” Celestia said. “Only six beings currently have access to their power. All six have to be present at the same time to do so. They will be instrumental in dispelling chaos from this plane for good. I pray for the day peace comes to a war weary galaxy.”
“I see. Those fools were wrong about you Celestia.”
“Pardon?”
“You aren’t like other xenos. You truly do mean well. May your good intentions be rewarded with results.”
“Thank you. I do propose that our people may benefit working together.”
“I agree. While a good majority of the monkeys I work with may not, it is my word that goes as of now.”
“Very well.” Celestia said looking at ponyville. In just a mere day, it had all been rebuilt. Such was the industriousness of Equestria.
“Your people work fast...” Thule said wondering what the large building was that used to be Twilight’s library. “I hope you put that to good use.”
“I will. I will.” Celestia said. “But about your quest to find this man known as Malcador. I do intend to join you. I may discover a few things about my origins as well.”
“An extra hand will be nice. We should make plans soon.” Arven said.
“Will be kept in mind. But as of now, we must ready ourselves.” Adrastia said. “Rumor has it the despoiler has found a means to escape Cadia. We must prepare for the coming storm.”
“Just when things got calm too...” Luna said coming down. “Will it ever end?”
“It will. But as of now, remember, this is merely the calm before the storm.”
"Equestria will need to prepare." Celestia said. "I will see to that. Tell everyone to make preparations. Things will get ugly from here on."
"Knowledge is power, guard it well." Thule muttered.
"Perhaps we should keep the elements under guard?" Adrastia suggested.
"I will see to that if necessary." Thule said.
"I have a feeling it will be."
"Good. Get some Grey knights, Librarians and the finest of the chapter on it. No one as much as TOUCHES those artifacts."
Okay, maybe Thule was getting a bit paranoid. Celestia thought. Then again, he had good reason to. He believed that the elements would solve this problem with chaos.
"So is everything good?" Adrastia asked. "We make way to find Malcador soon. I will hand pick a team for that."
"It is good." Celestia said. "Brace yourselves my friends, for we are merely in the calm of the storm."
Author's Note
As one can assume, another sequel is in the works, about the true origins of Celestia and Luna as well as why the seal of Malcador was found on Equestria.
The fourth Aurelian crusade
Gathering the bearers
Twilight ducked down as the bolter rounds began to sail into her tree library. The bolter rounds breaking apart the tree as if they were wet paper. It was actually only a few moments, before nearly the entire structure collapsed and Twilight was left in the open, with about four chaos space marines running right for her with chainswords and bolt pistols.
She had been separated from Spike only moments before the attack had begun. It was solace to know that Spike had been able to get away to safety while her world began to fall apart. She wondered, a prayed if her friends were okay.
She thought for a moment herself, if she was going to die. She was trapped, with no way out, surrounded by heavily armed madman intent on nothing more than tearing her world apart. She allowed herself a final mental goodbye to her friends as she charged up her magic. And sent a large beam at the closest attacker. To no avail, her attack was hardly stopped, as the beam only caused him to lose his balance for a few moments, before he got up again and resumed his attack.
Taking her last few moments and looking back, Twilight wondered exactly how her brother managed to kill one of these fiends. She had seen the body, Shining’s spell had tore a hole in the chest of the chaos marine, and he died within moments. But now, even the most arcane of unicorn spells seemed to do little, if anything against these monsters. Sitting down, she allowed herself another attack, sending it straight at the face of one of her attackers as they closed in. They moved quickly, like all of their kind, and in only a few moments, Twilight could hear the roar of the chainsword.
There was then, an even louder roar. Not from the chainsword, but from a human. A human throat screamed in agony, and pain as one of the chaos space marines was lifted up into the air, and smitted to death by the hands of a librarian. Around him, three other space marines, easily defeated the chaos mad men, whose motions looked unusually sluggish and slow.
“Get up.” Solomon said quickly as he killed a Raptor. “Angelos and Celestia both want to see you.”
“No buts... I went through an entire mob of them just to get here.” Solomon said. “I am not going to take no for an answer. I will take you back, even if I have to drag you back.”
Twilight seeing no alternative decided maybe it was best for her to listen. Nodding reluctantly, she went with Solomon and his men as they made their way through a ruined Ponyville.
“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity shrieked as the filly was attacked by a large hulking brute. “Back you ruffian! Back!” She started to throw various things at the crazed Khornate, which really... did nothing more than just to piss him off more. All the color of the boutique began to remind him of a certain enemy cult, which in turn, made him even more angry, and even more wanting to kill whomever resided in this home.
“KILL! KILL! KILL!” The maniac screamed as he swung his chainaxe wildly, hitting various objects that ranged from fine china to a chair.
“Stop that!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed as the berserker continued his rampage. Quick hilariously the berserker slowed down right as this happened, his movements began to grow slow, clumsy and even more mindless that your average berserker. After only a few seconds, did the Khornate collapse on his knees, hands at his chest as if he was suffering from a heart attack. Only a few moments later did he fall down, making gasping noises.
“Die, heretic.” Aramus said as he brought his foot down upon the traitor, thunderhammer in one hand as well as bolt pistol in the other, he quickly scanned the area for any more hostiles.
“Hurry, we must go to Canterlot at once.”
“You’re hair! It’s messed up!”
“Now’s not the time! We have to go. NOW!” Aramus raised his voice which promptly caused Sweetie Belle and Rarity to pack up and go with him. Quickly, he made his way out with the two ponies following him.
“Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash cried as she quickly swooped up and caught her friend, saving her from the oddly dressed human’s fireball.
“Amusing.........” The sorcerer rasped sending doombolts all over at the duo. Using her natural agility, Rainbow Dash evaded all of them, still clinging on to Fluttershy.
The sorcerer laughed and flicked his wrist. This sent the two careening to the ground. While not outright killed them as it should have, he was able to stun both of them, making them easy targets for him. Raising his power sword high above the head, the sorcerer aimed to cut both of the two in half.
Rainbow tried struggling, but the invisible grip had an iron fist, and she simply couldn’t get loose. She watched in terror as the sword was sent behind the sorcerer's head, so he could have the full momentum of the blade come crashing down.
Squinching her eyes, shut, the rainbow colored pegasus hoped her end would be painless, but instead, she would hear a roar, and a rather loud scream.
A few moments had passed, and considering she wasn’t dead, and neither was Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash opened her eyes. She saw that the power sword had found itself buried into the earth, and that sorcerer had a large chainsword buried rather deeply in one of his shoulderblades. Another lightning fast move, and a knife had found it’s way into the vile head of the traitor, slaying him instantly.
“He didn’t hurt you did he?” Thaddeus asked as he sent the body into a ditch.
“No.”
“No, we’re fine. Thanks I guess.” Rainbow said as she got up and breathed a sigh of relief as Fluttershy was okay.
“Well, no time for chitchat, Celestia wants to see you two.”
Nothing more was said, as the trio quickly made their way to Canterlot castle.
“Well, you boys sure are clumsy!” Pinkie Pie said as she watched the two chaos space marines bump into each other.
“Whoa big guy! Getting cranky there, eat a cupcake!”
“You dare mock me?! ME?! I WILL HAVE YOU SKULL!!!”
Pinkie Pie suddenly jerked to a stop while being chased by the angry marines. For then, she begun to shake and spasm wildly.
“Watch out boys! My Pinkie sense says that things are about to fall!”
“What?”
“It’s a trick! Don’t believe her! Kill her!”
Before any of them could move a muscle, a loud scream cut the air. It was one of their own, who just gotten crunched to dust after Diomedes had jumped on him. Taking his Thunderhammer, Diomedes quickly smashed all his enemies to dust.
“See? I told them!”
“Thanks for distracting them for me.” Diomedes said ignoring the fact that Pinkie was talking to dead bodies. “Now then, let’s...”
“The Princess wants to see us? Well, what are we waiting for? Oh, and Applejack is already there.”
“Took the words right out of my mouth.” Diomedes answered. “Now, let’s go.”
“No need to worry.” Angelos said soothingly. “I sent my best men to go and retrieve these element bearers of yours.”
“I know... I know.” Celestia said pacing back and forth. “But... if just as much as one of them....”
“I understand. I know what it’s like to have every piece on the board to be vital. I’ve been there before.”
It wasn’t like Celestia to be panicking. But to face the truth, the worst that’s ever happened to Equestria was maybe Discord who in the end wasn’t half bad. Now, she was facing against chaos.The true face of chaos. Madmen and daemons who sought nothing more than destroy.
And of course, it wasn’t like Angelos to attempt to calm aliens down. His time spent in Equestria had taught him to be calmer in situations where he normally would of whipped out godsplitter, and more reasonable in situations where the air would of been cut with the a string of insults and threats. Now perhaps, he could teach this alien ruler, that being calm in the face of danger was the way to go.
“Princess Celestia! We’re here!” Twilight said as Solomon opened the door.
“Twilight! I am glad you’re okay! Where are the others?!”
“Ah’m here.” Applejack said. She’d been the first to arrive after all. “Ah think I just saw Rarity.”
A few moments later, and the white unicorn had also arrived, rambling to Aramus about how his hair was a mess and that it was a “crime against fashion” much to Aramus’ dismay. He remembered that ever since he was a normal person, he had spent an awfully long time to make sure his hair looked good.
As Aramus endured getting berated by Rarity about his hair, Thaddeus had arrived with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.
“Angelos, Celestia, we are here.”
“Excellent. Now where’s.....”
“I am right here!” Pinkie said emerging right on top of Angelos which made him almost jump.
“At approximately 0430 hours yesterday” Martellus said. “A large black legion warband descended upon sub-sector Aurelia. Due to the arrival of your planet into the subsector, Aurelia now has 3 habitable planets, all of which are under siege.”
“I have a ques...”
“Not now.” Celestia said. “Listen.”
“Thank you. Anyways, it appears that the black legion are mostly interested in this planet. As a result, they have sent large numbers of their men here. I estimate there is slightly over a thousand of the heretics. Now don’t let their numbers fool you, a single chaos space marine can cause grief to an entire planet if left unchecked. That is why we have deployed our entire chapter to defend this planet.” Much to the dismay of the Inquisition and many others who had kept an eye on the Blood Ravens.
“And of course, we got backlash from it. But I told them that you and your people are worth more than entire chapters of space marines if used against chaos. Something that was first observed merely moments after the first invasion, when we had gotten reports that random chaos space marines who went to attack anything native to this planet seem to have slower reaction times and fight worse than their usual clumsiness. others even claim a few had randomly dropped dead. Whatever the reason is for this, this information alone means your entire race is worth more than perhaps at least a dozen chapters when used against chaos.”
“You... want us to fight?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Do I get one of those things you’re using?!”
“Sure. First, pick it up.” Angelos took a bolter and threw it on the ground. Imagine how surprised he was when the pony managed to pick it up with hooves.
“Um.... alright.” Angelos said a bit amazed with all his officers. “Okay, pull the trigger.”
And not surprisingly, Dashie couldn’t pull the trigger, no matter how hard she tried. Her hooves just didn’t allow it. After a while, she gave up and returned the bolter.
“Anyways, what I wanted to you to do is merely to accompany my men into battle against chaos. All you really have to do is just stand there and don’t get shot.”
“S....s...shot?”
“Yeah. Remember, bolters can tear limbs off with just an indirect hit...... and maybe I shouldn’t of said that.” Angelos watched with a frown as Fluttershy hid behind Celestia.
“Okay.... yeah... so what’s the plan?” Diomedes asked.
“Eliminate their commanders.” Cyrus said. “Any form of organisation will be shattered and chances are, these fools will crawl back into whatever hole they came from or kill each other for us. But first, we must find out who is leading them.”
“Cyrus, I will leave that to you.” Angelos said.
“Very well. I will assemble a team and move out immediately.”
“What will we do then?” Tarkus asked.
“Sit tight. And make sure this city is still standing. I will have teams go out shortly to go and rescue any civilians.”
“Remember, try and find the elements of harmony!” Celestia said holding up a picture of the elements. “They will be essential in defeating chaos again.”
“Will do.” Angelos replied. “Everyone, you know what the drill is. While Cyrus gathers where the black legion’s leaders are, I will send a team to go and search for these artifacts.”
“If I may, I will do that with Tarkus and Martellus.” Solomon suggested.
“Do as you please, old friend.”
“May the spirit of harmony aid you on your quest, and may fortune travel with you on your task!” Celestia said wishing the best for these warriors from the stars.
Fools rely on their luck, while wisemen reply on the Emperor. I wonder if here they reply on their “elements.” Solomon pondered as he went on his scavenger hunt.
“So... now that we seen more than one type of human, you think THAT type will learn the secrets of harmony?” Luna asked. “I still have my doubts about the blood ravens, most of them seem reasonable enough after staying in Equestria for some time now, but it’s like... their entire race is so bloodthirsty! Whether or not they serve chaos or harmony.”
“They may use violence to accomplish their goals, but my understanding is they care for order and strive to accomplish harmony in their own special way.” Celestia replied, through the spyglasses, she and Luna both saw a blood raven beating a heretic to death with his bare hands, the look on his face saw a twisted joy in causing pain to the traitor.
“Hard to imagine their enemies are even more into murdering and are senseless killers.” Celestia commented. “When I saw those humans sit down, and speak to us for the first time, I had realized that they fought and killed for a purpose. A good purpose nevertheless, to banish chaos but who would know that they would enjoy killing so much? And... that’s just horrible how they find it just to torment their foes. Bad creatures they may be, but... it’s just.... I feel...”
“Wrong?” Angelos asked as he walked in on the two, making both the alicorns jump. “My apologies for sneaking up on you. I was able to hear you from literally a mile away. I was merely interested in your conversation of course.”
“I hope harmony is what one day humans are trying to achieve.” Luna said.
“We do. We try. The Emperor commands it.” Angelos said. “His dream was to one day send humanity into a golden age of prosperity.”
“And should this come at the expense of others?”
“If it’s chaos? I will gladly slay them by the billions if they stand in the way of the Emperor’s vision.”
“But... what about... the others?”
“As in.... non-humans? Or xenos as we’d call them?”
“Yes... you mentioned before we are the first race of non-humans that...”
“You know what’s funny?” Angelos asked not letting Luna finish her sentence. “I was born and raised by how every other human was born and raised. I was taught that chaos was the enemy to the Emperor, the imperium, all beings, living or non-living. As even it’s wielders will eventually be harmed by it. Though.... I was never taught that the Emperor had hated aliens. I was only taught that my fellow brethren did.”
Luna and Celestia looked at each other, not knowing what this meant. They thought Angelos a friend, perhaps what he says next will prove one or the other.
“So anyways, of course, I went along with the ideals of my friends and kin. As they had been brought up, most aliens I met were villains, always seeking to do some evil.”
Pausing for a moment, he dug into his memories of the Eldar.
“Then one day, I met a particular alien. She was in command of a group of aliens known as the Eldar. Although when we first met, things ended in blood, she had agreed to help me later on when things got out of hand. That was when I first wondered, was my family and friends really thinking the right thing? And then afterwards, I heard stories of some doing business with outsiders. This practice was frowned upon, but not banned. Which shows.. some subtly in the Emperor’s view. And then of course, that was when I met you and your people. I am glad to see that there are some out there, who truly wish for the good of all beings. Even foolishly wishing that for those that may not deserve it.”
“But.. all the people you’ve killed. Doesn’t that bother you? You are a great fighter after all, after all these centuries, have you learned to hate war?”
“My brothers and I were built to be bloodthirsty.” Angelos replied. “But, deep down, I know something. The greatest warriors are the ones who hate war. Dante, the oldest among us, is living proof of this. No matter how many enemies he has slain, he never seems to feel the joy of battle. I know many others secretly share my opinion, that one day, we can put down our arms after chaos has been defeated, and enjoy life as normal people. Becoming a space marine has granted me the abilities to do what the Emperor wills. When his will is carried out, I can one day rest. But if chaos still breathes, there can be no peace.”
Celestia smiled to see that even something as violent as a human, truly didn’t like war. When Luna saw her sister’s expression, she knew it read.
“I told you so.”
The fourth Aurelian crusade
The return of Captain Thule
The return of Captain Thule
“Oh.... hello.” Cadence said to the space marines as they walked into the throne room of the crystal empire.
“Damn it! Any luck brothers?”
“Alright we got it? Good! Let’s get outside, Davian is waiting for us! Martellus! What are you gawking at?!”
“Angelos! I got bad news!” Thaddeus said as he saw the chapter master peaking into yet another empty room. “Tarkus and the others are in trouble!”
“TAKE COVER!” Tarkus roared at the top of his lungs as a chaos predator fired it’s main cannon at the hasty defense that was erected. When the explosion cleared, he was surprised to find that this “hasty” defense was still standing. Seemed these crystals were made of tough stuff.
“Thule! Our brothers need help! You have to help them!” Martellus said listening to the vox.
“Incoming!” A battle brother yelled loudly as a mob of bloodletters and chaos space marines approached. The space marines quickly began to fire. This thinned the ranks of the mob, but did little to stop their advance as they closed the gap.
Thaddeus grunted with grim satisfaction as he tore off the head of the daemon with his chainsword. He stood in a pile of corpses of daemons and chaos space marines alike.
A group of daemons materialized out of nowhere as soon as Thule had finished throttling a Bloodcrusher, they all leapt upon him, swinging their blades at his dreadnought wildly, destroying it’s “feet” in moments. With the chaos champion approaching, this looked like it was going to be the end of Davian Thule.
For Twilight it looked like the world was in standstill. Every bolter round, every swing of a blade was in slow motion. In her mind, a voice screamed.
The top of the dreadnought from where the champion had gotten on top of got dented. Until a piece of the metal gave way, shot out hitting the champion in the face. His other arm however, was still within the dreadnought. A few moments later and the snapping sound of bones breaking was heard, as something within the ruined armor tore off the arm of the heretic.
When Thule regained consciousness, he found himself lying on his stomach on some comfortable bedding. When he fully regain consciousness, he saw he was without his power armor and his back was bare... though not burning as he last remembered. Then he noticed something else, which probably should of been the first thing he realized. He had his entire body in one piece.
