Warhammer 40000: Imperial Guardspony

A/N: Five days since an update? Oh well, have some story. -IncoherentOrange

Chapter Eight

The ponies stalked the Marines, and even if they had been noticed, the Marines didn't seem to care. Their quarry was a 'sorceror', probably of the generic Chaos variety, but no ordinary threat would warrant the deployment of a Space Marine squad into an embattled Kasr, the ponies knew that much. But, indeed, what made this particular sorceror so important? Flash and Torch both knew what a sorceror could do to his opponent's mind, these Marines were no exception, while the ponies were such an exception.

Flash nor Torch really understood how they could be immune to the Warp's corrupting nature, while still being able to draw upon energies similar to those of the Warp at a whim, remaining untouched. Spell backfires never caused ponies to lose their minds or pledge allegiance to some crazed god of Chaos, while even some of the most talented of human psykers, were not entirely immune to such influences, or so they'd been told. They also told them that they were special in this regard, and valuable because of that trait, as well as unicorns' inherent psyker abilities that could be made manifest as many lethal energies, which could, in turn, be used to tip the scales in the Imperium's favor in a battle, at least in theory. This was their purpose. While the humans did not like the ponies at all because of how they were aliens and such, they were a valuable fighting force, one that did not require much trouble to aquire. They were powerful and cost-effective. They were expendable, used to cause the most damage with almost no priority placed on their safety or in insuring that they return. Flash now knew why only a few ponies ever came back to Equestria; the others were all dead, because the humans sent them to die.

Bolter fire rang out, and the lead Marine could be heard shouting. "There is our quarry! Strike it down in the name of the Emperor!" Crazed cackling, frenzied shouts, and firearms were heard.

The ponies took it as their que to assist, and took to the rooftops to gain a height advantage. What they saw did not look good for the Marines. Their target sat in the middle of a flat area, surrounded by cultists that were now swarming toward the Marines. While they were holding their own against the tide of cultists, the sorceror had surrounded himself with some sort of shield and teleported to an undetermined location, and a squad of axe-wielding Chaos Space Marines were heading straight for the Marines from behind. Without their help, they didn't stand much of a chance.

"Take them out!" Flash shouted, and the five ponies began their rain of spells upon the approaching crazed warriors, cutting them down with ease. The Marines, meanwhile, had managed to take out every last one of the cultists in the square. The ponies entered the street then. One of the Marines had been killed, and nine Chaos Marines lay around ten meters from the nearest Marine, all dead. The Marine sergeant looked at the ponies, his expression clearly one of distaste.

"Why are you following us, xenos?"

"We did just save you from those guys, didn't we?" Torch pointed a hoof at what remained of the Chaos Marines, "we want to help you. Now, where do you think the sorceror went?"

"Your help is unnecessary, begone."

"No. We're not going to die for no reason, we're not going to just fight random groups of madmen and monsters and go out that way, and you wouldn't want to either. What we're going to do is help you in achieving your goal, to do something that will make a difference. We can help you if you could just get over the fact that we aren't human! Let us fight together, for the good of all!" Flash interjected. The Marine sergeant looked down at him, and smirked.

"Very well, xenos, if a fight worth fighting is what you seek, come, our quarry has likely fled to some other concentration of this cult." The towering armor-clad man led the way through the streets.

It was very reassuring to know that they were on the Marines' good side, as they would be powerful allies to have, and probably their ticket to relative safety in the form of their extraction that they knew was actually coming, unlike theirs. These warriors were some of the most prized and skilled men in the entire Imperium of Man, they didn't deploy them for no reason, no, they were deployed against big targets, big priorities.

"What's so special about this particular sorceror?" Torch asked the lead Marine, who was the only one who spoke, for the most part.

"The 'Lord of Suffering', as this foul creature is known, plans to open stable portals into the Warp through which fearsome Demon Engines can come. Such portals are extremely difficult to create, and this sorceror is known to have done so at least once before. We are not going to allow this to happen again," he answered.

"If we can. He just teleported away last time, what's stopping him from doing so again?" Flash asked.

"Nothing, we will strike when he is vulnerable."

"When is that?"

"When conducting sacrifices to whatever dark power he serves, that is when. We believed to have caught him at such a point at his last appearance, but we were proven wrong. Next time, this traitor shall not escape."

"Why did you let us help you?" Flash prodded, though he immediately regretted asking, until a response came.

"You showed us that you have courage, that you know honor. Those who bear such traits shall become my allies, xenos or not."

The ponies thought of his words carefully, mulling them over in their minds. What was valued by some was not valued by others in the Imperium. This Space Marine valued courage and honor over what species his allies were, while most of the Imperium treated them as tools, implements to be sent against their foes, little else. It did matter to them that the ponies were heathen, non-human creatures with little more purpose than as weapons. So Briggs was not the only one who valued the ponies as allies, who thought they were worthy of being judged on what they had done, as opposed to what they were as a species. The group forged on, minor skirmishes always ending in flawless victory, the combination of Marine and unicorn being nearly unstoppable.