Warhammer 40000: Imperial Guardspony

A/N: Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of drive to continue this story any farther. The next chapter will be the last. Edit: I mean after this one, sorry. -IncoherentOrange

Chapter Ten

The ship landed, and the squads of ponies and men recieved their orders and positions. The groups passed a large battery of Basilisk self-propelled guns, their massive cannons booming over the din of the fighting taking place less than a kilometer away. The ponies marched until they reached the battlefield. Hordes of demons, clashing with hordes of men and heavily armored vehicles. It was the horrors of war embodied. The demons were largely those of Khorne, by far the most direct and most vicious of the forces of Chaos. The pony groups split up then, each to a different part of the line. They raised their magical shields as bolts of eldritch flame were hurled at them, and returned fire with various spells. It was time for payback.

Torchlight's group found itself moving closer and closer to their opponents, at the commissar's orders. They were getting dangerously close, but the unicorns were just as deadly as their enemies at such a range. The group unleashed torrents of fire and ice as the legions of Bloodletters charged at them. Torch wanted to burn them all, so burn them she did.

Flash's group took a more strategic approach, the commissar ordering them to use their longer-ranged spells to eliminate threats to the Imperial side's tanks. Flash strained his eyes, focussing his light beam on larger demons and possessed war machines, but he soon realized the sheer size of the opposing force. They were outnumbered, badly, and the Imperial line was slowly being pushed back. The commissar soon ordered them, too, to move into the thick of the battle. As they did so, the artillery batteries laid down a creeping barrage on their front, blasting the demons asunder. An all-out charge was ordered, and the two friends soon found themselves side-by-side once more, the heat of combat spells and Chaotic fire singed their manes and coats, even through their shields, as they charged to meet their foes up close.

Then came the Defilers. In the developing swirling storm of fire and lightning, numerous of the monstrous walkers approached the line, firing their battle cannons with little regard for shot placement. They wanted to crush things, nothing more, nothing less. The ponies didn't notice them, even as a battle cannon blast sent several ponies flying, until they were right upon them.

The ponies focussed their spells on the machine-demons, and the Bloodletters managed to close the short distance, their warp-spawned blades breaking through the weaker unicorns' shields, the Defilers swinging and smashing all the while. The Imperial line was crumbling, and at least two dozen of the forty-two ponies in the immediate area were dead. The commissars too had fallen, and some of the remaining ponies tried to fall back, only to be cut down by their own side. They had no allies in this battle. The remainder intensified their shields and redoubled their efforts. Flames, beams, ice and plasma, all energies imaginable were issued from the unicorns' horns, blasting with great efficacy war machines, Bloodletters, Bloodcrushers, all of it. But there were too many. Far too many.

They hadn't heard the drop pods land, but the Assault Marines were a pleasant surprise. The jet-pack-bearing enhanced warriors arced over their heads, landing right in the middle of the line. They got to work. With surprising speed, they attached melta bombs and cleaved at the demons. The now-familiar sound of bolter fire rang out from behind them, and torrents of explosive gyrojet projectiles flew at the abominations before them. The Imperials had regrouped, and pressed a counter-attack, spearheaded by Space Marines and battle tanks and supported by another creeping barrage. The ponies followed the line, already so very weary and tired. Many of them had lost friends, even family, but neither Torch or Flash felt the same. They were too tired of it all. It was difficult to accept, but in this short time as soldiers of the Imperium, they'd lost what many would define as the characteristics of a pony. Instead of helping a noble cause and making allies and friends, they were slaughtering and getting slaughtered by the dozens, and for what? So an evil empire could stop a more evil one? They just wanted to give up. There was no noble cause to uphold here. No underlying good side. The Imperium would toss them aside when they needed them no longer, and Chaos would do the same. There was no hope. Still, they trudged on. The demonic forces soon regrouped and pushed back again. The ponies, leaderless, followed just behind the front line, slinging what magic they could manage. They were just too worn out when the lines were pushed back past them, and more ponies fell before the endless horde. The rest, numbered no more than ten. The Space Marines and tanks were gone, and, mixed with the infantry, they retreated.

"I'm sorry!" Torch shouted over the perpetual din of warfare as they fell back. "I should never have done this!"

"I know," Flash replied. It was all he could say to his dear friend, who, even after all of this, could not be charged to bear the blame. "I know."

As they looked back at the charging horde, what looked like five thunder bolts struck the ground, leaving behind five monstrous Chaos Space Marines. No ordinary ones. They wore larger armor than the ones they'd seen before. Chaos Terminators. Each one, armed with grisly, spiked weaponry, fired into the fleeing guardsmen, downing many. The remaining unicorns raised their shields, deflecting many of the attacks. Flash had an idea. He charged his flash spell. He'd blind them to buy them time to escape. He poured all of his effort into the spell. He had to make it last long enough. He inadvertently paused as he concentrated. Torch stopped as well, and summoned a swirling inferno around her friend, to keep their assailants at bay. The spell was completed, and in a massive blaze of directional white light was sent in a one hundred and eighty degree arc in front of him. The demons, blinded in every way from both the light and Equestrian energies, went into frenzies, slicing at each other and anything else within reach. Flash passed out from exhaustion. Torch acted quickly, taking the fallen stallion with her telekinesis back toward allied lines, her mind taxed greatly as she kept her shield activated and extended around her friend as well. She stopped when she could discern what remained of their forces in the distance.

The Imperium's remaining forces were in terrible condition. A mere few, damaged battle tanks, only a few Basilisk pieces, and one massive vehicle with what looked to be a gigantic rocket strapped on top of it remained amongst the scattered infantrymen. Upon completing this evaluation, she collapsed. They had lost this battle, there was no hope in fleeing further. They were going to die. There was nothing more to it. Her vision faded in and out, as did her sense of hearing. One moment she could see the gigantic rocket-wielding vehicle raising its huge weapon, and could hear shouts as the demonic army continued toward them.

Another moment later, the missile could be seen activating its massive engines, and rocketing into the sky. Torch knew what it was going to do. She raised her shield once more in a final effort to survive, finding one to already be in place. She looked at Flash, whose horn was glowing dimly. He smiled weakly at her. The missile streaked toward the surface. The demons were mere meters away now. This was to be their final moments. It was time to make them count. Both ponies, with renewed vigor, rose from the cratered ground upon which they had been laying, and took a battle-ready stance for what they thought would be the final time.