Chapters Bleak mountains stretched across the horizon, fresh ocean air buffeted the coastline, and vibrant grassy fields coated the land, A rare sight in the Celestial Imperium. In the distance near the coastline were massive concrete and steel hive cities, with grey and brass colored spires forming forests of stone. Massive arches and buttresses held up gold and brass towers. The City was too far away to be seen in detail, but it still shimmered with light.
For a brief moment, less than a second, a burst of arcane light cast violet rays along the plains. From that light appeared a mare in power armor. Underneath an off-white hood the pony had a vibrant cyan mane, that hood extended down the length of her armor. Her fur was a clean white that clashed with the white of her hood and made her purplish red eyes stand out more. The mare, a unicorn, looked around violently, attempting to check every inch of her surroundings.
"Ahhhh, Marecragge, It's been a while... Now let's see if those Ultramares will be nice this time..." The Mare's pauldrons had musical notes painted on in a deep purple, on one side was a standard note, while on the other was a note with wings protruding from either side. The armor its self was black while her pauldrons were painted white, and the trim was deep purple, like the paint used on her shoulders. Held to the pony's waist was a pair of pistols, on her back was a sword, a small purple gem held in its hilt, with several empty slots along its handle. The mare trotted off towards the mountains, fully aware of what watched her.
Chanting echoed through crystalline halls and stained glass as a lone marine trotted along, this marine stood on two legs, In one armored claw he held a helmet, and mounted to his waste were two weapons, a shortsword, and a pistol. The marine's head was nothing like that of a pony, his hide was coated with purple scales and a ridge of green spikes went across his back, disappearing into his power armor. From his back and to either side of the power-pack protruded two power armored wings like those of a pegasus but featherless.
The Marine wore a red cape over his back upon which was a horseshoe with a six-pointed star in the center, the same iconography was covering his armor. One of his pauldrons was made from solid gold, shaped into the wings of an alicorn with a six-pointed star in silver on its' center. The marine arrived at a steel door, with the press of a button it slid open.
A magic table stood in the center of the war room, a holographic map of the galaxy just above. Sitting on crystal pedestals on either side of the table were two marines, both ponies. One, a massive blue and white mare who towered above the black-armored colt opposite to her. Her hooves were the size of fillies, clad in massive powered plates that could crush ceramite without effort, her mane was a swirl of white and blue that blended in with her equally blue eyes. Her armor purplish-blue, trimmed in silver and with violet pauldrons, one of which was brilliant gold, similar to the Dragon's.
The runt beside her was a pale blue colt, his mane shimmering gold. His head was torn, battle-scarred, and what fur he still had clung on in patches to his mauled face. One of his eyes was biotic and glowed with gold magic, while the other glared with a deep hatred. Across his back was a mace, it's head in the shape of an alicorn, while resting on the table just beside its wearer was a helmet in the shape of a unicorn's skull. His armor was pitch black, trimmed with silver one pauldron was purple while the other was in the shape of a skull, on his sides were silver wings, although he wasn't a pegasus, the wings were simply ornamental.
The room was illuminated with a cacophony of colors from the stained glass windows. The windows were decorated with depictions of battle and slaughter. The center window showed a purple unicorn in equally purple armor, violet maned and lavender coated, this unicorn stood over a pile of corpses, all of traitor marines, below were the words "Ultramare" in golden metal, merged into the window.
Next was a far darker window, both literally and figuratively. That same unicorn was locked in combat with another unicorn, this one wore turquoise armor, trimmed in gold. Her pauldron was decorated with a burning lyre, this unicorn's eyes were a burning red and clutched in an equally red field was a mace shaped into an eight-pointed star, a lyre held in its center. From the marine's back was a pair of turquoise bat wings, the two marines frozen in time as a city burned behind them, standing over the corpses of both their legions, below this was "Colth" In golden letters.
The Next was again darker, on this was the Purple Unicorn again, she stood in pain as a blade pierced her neck, this sword held in the telekinetic grasp of what was once a pony. The front half of the abomination's body was that of a pitch black unicorn, her mane swayed in the wind like that of the Empress's, and her pupils shaped like bloody-red diamonds. Bat wings protruded from her back, and the bottom half of her body was a long tendril, like a snake's torso, below this window was "Cressala" in gold letters.
"So... The mutant has arrived," The Chaplain exclaimed.
"Star Tracker, Don't" The Chapter Master replied.
"Are you still calling me that, it's been a century," The Dragon exclaimed in return.
"I have served this chapter for four hundred years, A century to me is nothing!"
"I have served in far more battles than you! I have slain greater foes than you! and you still cannot accept me as your battle brother!"
"I will never accept a mutant such as you into our ranks!"
"Everypony stop this right now!" The Chapter Master yelled.
"I am your Master of Sanctity I will not take orders from a lowly Captain!"
"You dare call the captain of the second company 'Lowly!'"
"Isn't that what all mutants are!"
The Chapter Master simply sat on her crystal throne and watched the two argue. "If it wasn't for Colgate I would have killed that heretical Tech-Priest!"
"Then you would have been deprived of your greatest commander, I Spike Sicarius!"
"You are no greater than any other of the mutant scum!"
There was the thunderous sound of a power-hoof stomping on marble, and a shout that would rupture the ear-drums of any normal pony, "As your Chapter Master I order you two to stop bickering, I have dealt with it for over a century now!"
"Forgive me, my lord," Spike replied, as Star Tracker simply closed his mouth and scoffed.
"I have gathered you here to discuss the galaxy at large, not for you to fight each other to the death... Now then, about Coltia."
"Let me guess, Another Black Crusade..." Spike replied.
"Another Black Crusade...."
"Stygian has tried twelve times to break through Coltia, he will never. I suggest we focus our forces on Armaregeddon and scour the planet of griffons before we assist on Coltia... Armaregeddon is closer to Eques, if the griffons conquer it we will lose one of our more important hive worlds... Not to mention the danger they will pose to our homeworld."
"Both the Blood Mares and Timberwolves have deployed their entire forces to Armaregeddon along with a few companies of Daybreakers, I have fought alongside Zephyr and Party Favor before, I can safely say that Armaregeddon is in safe hooves... This isn't the first time they have been invaded by the Birdbrains."
"If you want my opinion I say be bring the fight to the traitors and push them back into the warp for good! Why wait for the Black Crusade to come to us when we could launch our own crusade against them!"
"Star Tracker... Are you aware of what a crusade into the Eye of Terror would result in..." An annoyed Spike replied.
"I'm aware that we cannot be defeated as long as we have the God Empress on our side! We would fail because we have a filthy mutant in our chapter!"
"You put a bit too much faith in the Ecclesiarchy's teachings..."
"You can never have too much faith! Questioning our Empress like that will lead to your death one day!"
"It's been a century, If I was going to be smote like you always preach about, you would have thought she would have done so by now... Why have I won every single battle I have fought, could it be that the empress actually favors me over you, or is it that I Spike Sicarius 'A lowly dragon' has superior strength, intellect, survivability, and willpower than you ponies!"
"Stop fighting this instant!" Colgate shouted, her voice rattling the stained glass. The two simply sighed and returned to their seats. "Now, the question still stands, do we deploy our chapter to Coltia or not."
"You said it yourself, Armaregeddon is in safe hooves, I trust your judgment," Spike politely replied.
"Very well... Let's go defend against yet another Black Crusade," Star Tracker scoffed.
"Astropath!" The Chapter Master yelled, and in just a few seconds, a frail unicorn in purple robes limped towards the marine who summoned him.
"Minuette Agustus Colgate... You have summoned me..."
"Tell the Coltian Lightbringers that the Ultramares will assist in the defense of Coltia."
"Yes my lord..." The Unicorn replied before trotting out the way he came.
Minuette turned around and stared at the two marines, "Star Tracker, as punishment for starting this mess I am assigning you to the Second Company... Obey the captain or there will be consequences..."
"I am not taking orders from a Dragon!"
"And I will not tolerate any disobedience from a Chaplain who's entire life revolves around a book," Spike interjected.
"You dare call the Codex Astartes a book! It's a holy tome written by our primarch... I would have thought any true Ultramare would know that!"
"I wasn't talking about the Codex... I was referring to the Lectitio Divinitatus."
As the two continued to argue on, Colgate simply sighed and planted her head on the table, groaning with pain at the verbal bombardment going on before her.
"Stairs, and stairs, and more damn stairs!" The white unicorn shouted to herself as she marched up the mountains towards the Fortress of Dusk, "I should have just teleported up here!" "But then you could get caught by some watchful marine!" "I could pretend that I was just a librarian and I messed up a teleport spell," "But then they might think that I'm some daemon impersonating a marine, or that I was corrupted during my spell," "True, luckily this way they won't know why I'm here, they'll think that I'm just a pilgrim coming to see their 'Spiritual Liege' when in actuality I'm here to steal one of their most prized artifacts..."
The white unicorn, hearing the noise of a boltgun being cocked, looked up to see an Ultramare pointing a bolter at her head, "And I should really stop talking to myself." Another Space Marine raised her hooves and stomped down on the White Unicorn's back, sending her to the ground.
"What should we do Caeruleum," Said the female marine, now standing on the mare in black armor.
"I say we kill her and get it over with, she is clearly dangerous!"
"No, we need to know why she's here, I say we give her over to Star Tracker and see what information we can get!"
Stomping through the halls came a very annoyed and very tired Colgate, her power-hooves shaking the entire building with every step, With a power-armored buck to the doors she came barging into the main hall, her hooves crashing down and nearly fell down on the heads of two marines, scrambling to clear a path.
"I received a report about an intruder!"
A small Ultramare earth pony and Ultramare pegasus were holding down the White Unicorn, The stallion's eyes were glowing as he held a boltgun to the unicorn's head. The Unicorn had just been dragged into the Fortress when the Chapter Master came crashing in, now she simply laid there, not too annoyed by the pegasus standing on her back.
"So you must be Minuette Agustus Colgate, chapter master of the Ultramares."
Colgate simply scanned the White Unicorn, she was drawn to the winged note on her pauldron, "An Arcane Angel... Caeruleum, what's the meaning of this... You are aware that they are our allies."
"W-Well, you see, she was mumbling something about the Spiritual Liege and 'Stealing one of our most prized artifacts'... S-So we figured she must be up to something..." An uneasy smile crossed the stallion's face as he finished speaking.
With a heavy sigh, Minuette just said, "I've spent three hours in the war room with Spike and Star Tracker... Just throw her into a cell for now, I'll deal with this in the morning." While trotting off down the halls, she turned to the frail unicorn who has followed the Chapter Master into the hall, observing the mare sprawled out on the floor, now being hoisted up into the air by a few space marine unicorns. After a deep yawn she said, "Astropath! Tell Time Turner that one of his marines appeared at the fortress, she has white fur and cyan hair." The Astropath simply nodded.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the galaxy
Surrounded by the sounds of battle, the shots of energy weapons and the slicing of swords, An alien runs through towards his home, a tan-colored dome. The alien wore a simple robe and a metal disk on his head, not good protection against the hundreds of crystal-shards lacerating his body. One shard tore clean through his leg, and as he fell to the ground, maniacal laughter filled the battlefield.
The cat-like alien forced himself up and looked back to see who shot him. Standing on a small hill were four creatures, two massive bipedal creatures coved in blood-stained fur, they wore black armor and carried strange curvy rifles with blades mounted to their barrels. One of these beasts was laughing at his newly downed foe, his crystal-gun pointing right at the head of the downed cat-alien.
Inbetween her two guards was a unicorn... Or at least what looked like a unicorn, but the Abyssian was part of the Crystal Topaz Caste and unlike the Ruby or Opal Caste knew nothing of the other races. The 'Unicorn's' fur was a deep maroon, with a magenta mane, her entire body, adorning which was very little in the way of armor, was coated in scars. Her horn was shattered yet still glowing with magic, and held in that magic was a gruesome looking short spear, it's blade dripping with yellow blood.
The final creature was an actual pony, a crystal pony. He wore tan-colored armor that had just been cut to ribbons by the Dan'lin with the short spear. With magic energy that crackled like electricity, the Crystal Pony was lifted in the air, with his dying breaths it shouted at the Dan'lin, "F-For the Greater Good!" It tried to lunge its head towards the Dan'lin unicorn just in front, a knife held in his teeth... But the telekinesis was too strong and the Crystal Pony was stopped mere millimeters away from the unicorn's neck.
"Are you done..." The unicorn responded. The Crystal Pony, realizing his own doom dropped the knife and mere moments later was plunged to the ground, his spine snapping from the force of the telekinesis. The Dan'lin raised her spear into the air and plunged it down into the Crystal Pony's torso, then lifting the spear, and the impaled corpse of the Ruby Warrior into the air, bathing in the yellow blood raining down from above.
Just after celebrating her kill, the Dan'lin took notice of the abyssian, frozen in fear and still sprawled out on the ground. She flung the corpse from her spear and pointed it at the paralyzed cat, "Kabalites!" In quick response both of the furry bipedal creatures charged at the abyssian. Ignoring the pain he climbed to his feet and attempted to run, but another burst of crystal sent him down again.
Noticing an abandoned pulse rifle on the ground, the abyssian lifted it and fired at the approaching hulk, a burst of super-heated plasma tore a searing hole in the Kabalite's armor and flesh, leaving an apple-sized hole in its torso. One Kabalite fell to the ground, causing the other to trip and fall over his once-ally, but something far worse was on the other side... The 'Pony' stood atop the fallen Kabalite and stuck her short spear through her partner, killing her own comrade, with a bloody smirk she said, "So, you still have some fight in you... You'll make for nice practice in the arena."
The abyssian fired one last blast from the pulse rifle, but with little effort the Dan'lin dodged it, now with no other choices the abyssian raised his gun to use as a shield but the monomolecular blade of the short spear cut the gun apart with no effort. A small explosion followed as the gun detonated, the Unicorn's weapon was melted, and the abyssian's face was burned, leaving him blinded for a moment, with dazed eyes he looked to the sky as a dark purple hoof filled his vision... Then it went black.
Author's Note
Feedback is more than necessary, please give me as many comments as you can :)
In the distance stars burned, their light traveling hundreds and hundreds of lightyears, flowing through the windows and reaching the brown Earth Pony who stood to look out the window and into space. The room was fashioned from cold stone, every inch carved out over millennia, the statue of an earth pony watched from overhead, its eyes seemed to follow you, yet were frozen in an eternal look of watchful disgust. This stone mare held a sword in her hooves, with the body of a manticore draped over her back and covering her left pauldron, leaving her right exposed... on said pauldron was a winged musical note.
The brown earth pony wore a suit of black armor, trimmed in a deep purple, his pauldrons were the same black as his armor, and draped over his torso was bone white silk. Hanging from his waist was a sheathed power-sword and a silver chain, at the end of which was a small hourglass. All sorts of Purity Seals and Holy Scriptures covered him and his weapon, like the medals on Commissar. That Stallion was still gazing into the void when the sound of a door opening caught his attention.
"Supreme Grand Master Time Turner!"
The Supreme Grand Master turned around to see a mare in full terminator armor, minus the helmet. Her fur was tan and her mane the same purple as the purple trimming her armor and coloring the violet robes across her back and flank, concealing her tail. Her armor was bone white as opposed to the black of her Chapter Master, and stuck to her waist was another sword similar to Time Turner's. her eyes glowed like a unicorn's horn, and with that light she carried a storm bolter.
"Ah, Symphony, it's you."
"My lord, our Astropath has brought news from Marecragge."
"Marecragge? What do the Ultramares want with us..."
"They bring troubling news, A marine in black armor with white pauldrons was seen outside their Fortress Monastery, her armor bore the chapter's insignia," Time Turner's face turned grim, with the change in mood Symphony responded, "And that's not all, they say her coat is white and her mane blue..." At this, Time Turner's face turned to an expression of fear and shock.
"What did they do with her!"
"They say they sealed her in their Monastery for questioning."
Time Turner simply gestured for Symphony to follow and began to gallop through the halls towards the shipyard. "Go to the Astropath and tell the Ultramares to leave her alone until we arrive," Symphony nodded and ran down another hall as Time Turner continued to the shipyard.
A door slid open and unveiled the bleak room inside. The room was truly empty, devoid of any decoration, this was once a Space Marine's private quarters, however this marine had died not too long ago and thus the room was cleared away for the next... In the meantime, it served as a good prison cell.
In walked the shape of two Space Marines. Startracker in his full armor, his face obscured by his helmet, and the Chapter Master Colgate. Inside the room was a naked Vinyl, her horn and legs shackled and chained as she simply sat there in her aura of smugness currently irradiating the room.
"So... Why are you here..." Colgate asked.
"I would love to tell you that, but there are a few problems."
In response Star Tracker's eyes illuminated in gold light, his Crozius lifted off his back in a golden telekinetic field. Raising his weapon to the sky he threatened to crush the unicorn's head.
"Come on... Why waste a perfectly good prisoner when you can interrogate her, get some information out of her, then kill her!"
Enraged by Vinyl's arrogance, he swung his Crozius, only to stop mid-air when its head became enveloped in a blue telekinetic field coming from the Chapter Master. Star Tracker struggled, but his grip wasn't as strong as Minuette's
"Ok... What are these 'Problems'"
"Well, just the fact that if you found out you would kill me, which would be very, very bad for the galaxy at large... Plus, there are some ponies out there who wouldn't hesitate to kill every single one of you if you learned some things you would be better off not knowing.
An awkward silence filled the room as a smug prisoner, a very, very angry chaplain, and a collected yet distrusting chapter master, contemplated what to say next. "Fine then, we'll just leave you here until the Arcane Angels arrive... Then we'll talk" At this Vinyl's eyes went wide and she attempted to struggle out of her chains, "... I'm particularly curious about these 'Ponies who would kill every single one of us'"
The two marines who had interrogated her, poorly, had left, the door closed, and the room became enveloped in blackness again, "Well... I can't stay here for much longer." The room filled back up with light as a purple glow flowed from out the Vinyl Scratch's mouth. Held in her teeth was the purple gem that had once been in the hilt of her sword, it glowed with a light that distorted the space it touched, causing the entire room to seemingly shimmer and warp. Several flashes of light blasted apart the shackles that held her to the wall, breaking the inhibitor on her horn. Finally her entire body flashed and vanished, leaving molten and shattered chains where a pony had once been.
The air inside the armory distorted as an otherworldly weight grew and grew at the center of the room. A flash of purple light exploded outwards from this weight and inside materialized an armorless White Space Marine. Robed ponies around two thirds her size stared in shock and horror, the Ultramare's armory erupted into chaos as Chapter Serfs ran in all directions, screaming as they went.
"That could have gone better, at least-"
A door on the far side of the armory slid open through which walked three fully armored Marines, and upon seeing the white mare standing in the center of the room, they scrambled to grab the nearest heavy weapons they could find, just so happens one of those was a Multi-Melta.
"I should really just stop talking..."
Vinyl ducked behind a pillar and observed her surroundings, with little time to think she ran back out in the hall and jumped, without armor she could jump far higher than the average pony, she managed to grab a hold of the arch above her and clambering on top she ran. The Ultramares took notice and fired, with the Gem still in her mouth her eyes lit up and a magical shield formed, the gem crackling with magic, bolter rounds detonating on contact, each shot causing the shield to flicker.
She panted as searing heat flow in through the shield, she reflected a multi-melta blast and that deflected blast was now tearing apart the crystal ceiling, causing chunks of super-heated crystal to rain down through the armory, killing chapter serfs but doing nothing to the marines themselves. She saw a black, white, and purple suit of power armor on the other side of the room, sitting on one of the pedestals below. As she jumped towards her armor a blast from the multi-melta narrowly missed her, instead it vaporized a Servitor currently doing its job, that being to clean the armory, most of which was searing hot and/or molten quartz at this point.
Within seconds she rammed her hooves into the armor's legs, then levitated the front of the breastplate up, covering her chest. Before she had time to get the back half of her armor equipped, the marine with the multi-melta fired. The shield broke, unable to resist a direct hit, but Vinyl was alive, the shield holding on just long enough to block one last blast. With the melta-gun out of ammunition, the Ultramarine rammed a spare gas-canister in, prepared to fire, within that time Vinyl readied her pistols and took cover behind a nearby pillar, but even with the pillar there was no way she would survive a direct hit.
Vinyl fired her pistol at the marine's weapon, hoping to disable it, that very moment the Ultramarine pulled the trigger with her Celestian. The melta-gun was moments away from burning a hole through the pillar and the marine behind when a ball of super-heated plasma ran straight down the barrel, the resulting explosion tore a massive hole in the center of the armory, the marine carrying the melta was vaporized in an instant as the two next to her were simply flung in either direction, crashing into the walls and causing shards of crystal to fly in all directions. Vinyl remained unharmed, protected by her pillar. Before the Ultramarines could get back to their hooves, Vinyl dawned the last of her armor, and with her sword safely mounted to her back, disappeared down a corridor.
"Death to the xenos!"
"Push these Birdbrains back!"
"Damn griffon scum!"
Cries of battle mixed with the sound of lasgun and lascannon fire, the squawking and screeching of griffons and the sounds of gunfire all blended together. Metal pellets that could be barely described as 'bullets' flew in all directions, peppering the sandbags and the ponies behind, cutting through their uniforms, although they caused more pain than casualties. The ponies wore brownish yellow uniforms and brownish grey helmets and boots, respirators and gas masks over their faces. Lasguns mounted to their saddles fired blast and blast, tearing apart the hoards upon hoards of birdbrains charging their position, yet for every one that fell two more took their place.
One pony out of ammo grabbed a bayonet in her mouth and ran down a griffon, the bird firing randomly in her general direction before getting a knife to the eye. A griffon in rudimentary power armor crafted from scrap metal tore a bloody scar into the pony lines, but his assault was ended when a blast from a lascannon tore a searing hole through its chest. A griffon walker, more resembling a four-legged tin can than anything else ran forward, the numerous gun-holes along its body firing streams of iron, lead, copper, and anything else the griffon's bullets were made from, in some cases wood... The griffons just kept coming, but the Imperial Guard held the line. The battle in the air was just as fierce, birdbrains in mid-flight shot and chopped at pegasi, some hovering in mid-air, while others partook in dogfights leaving the corpses of griffon and pony alike raining down on the carnage below.
A particularly big birdbrain came trotting into the battle, a pair of massive twin-linked cannons on both sides of its body, firing massive slugs through the guardsmare's lines, it's claws erupting in blue electricity and tearing apart the hulls of burned-down tanks, slaughtering the ponies cowering inside. The Warbird continued to tear apart ponies by their hundreds, but it fell when an orange streak flew through the sky, impacting the bird right in its chest... At first, this streek was mistaken to be an artillery shell, but as it raised a bloody griffon's heart to the sky in a steel claw, a claw remarkably similar to the griffon's, the guard erupted in cheers and cries of victory.
The monster's heart was held in a steel and brass claw, that claw mounted to the left foreleg of a pony, her fur a burning yellow and her mane a fiery orange. This pony wore the uniform of a Commissar, but underneath was the best armor anyone in the guard could ask for, tied to her back was one of the best weapons available, a storm bolter. She looked over her Iron Legion, a red cybernetic eye glowing with pride and rage, she raised her wings into the air and took to the skies, descending further into the griffon's hoard.
With their commander came the reinforcements, Manticores rammed their way through the hoard, lasgun fire felling the hoards of birdz, while the big lascannon on top slaughtered hakz with little effort, from out the backs of these armored personnel carriers came guardsmare after guardsmare, as they fought the griffons in close quarters combat, and then came the fire, as guardsmares wielding flamers came to back up their friends and allies. The roaring engines of pinkamenas could be heard over the battlefield, bolters and cannons destroying the griffon's assault, forcing them to fall back, and as they watched, the guard erupted in cheers, the cavalry had come, the griffons were routed.
But there would be no retreat for the griffons today, overhead the sound of aircraft were heard, the screeching of plasma-engines. Suddenly a massive aircraft, more closely resembling a flying brick rather than an actual aircraft, came out of the smoke-filled skies of armaregeddon, all of its weapon systems firing at full auto. It came to a stop just overhead, the griffons fired at it with everything they had, but nothing short of a dedicated anti-air system, nothing could lay a scratch on its ceramite armor.
It landed on the ground and out marched Space Marines, fully armed and armored Space Marines. Their armor was painted exactly like their gunship, pale grey and bright vibrant pink, the head of a very angry mare with the fluffiest mane anypony could ever hope for serving as their insignia. In the lead was a mare, white fur and yellow maned, with wooden planks and logs covering her armor like trophies. "Timberwolves! Tonight we will party over the Birdbrain's broken corpses!" She shouted over the battlefield, as the Guardsmares stared in awe.
Author's Note
Knowing what I have planned next, I feel really sorry for any Space Wolf fan out there, but then again I feed off your suffering...
Through the darkness came a light... A deep, red, eerie, light. The doors of the airship swung open, in the distance the slaves could see massive spires, built from wood, metal, and a deep black chitin that formed the platform the airship was currently landed on.
The slaves were forced out of the ship one by one, when it was the Abyssian's turn, he made the mistake of looking down, into the city below. Miles and miles below were the streets, green flames spread all throughout their labyrinth of alleys and passages, the silhouettes of creatures, all unrecognizable from here, raced around like ants in the green light.
A shout came from up above, "Welcome to Klugetown, We Changelings of the Kabal of the Storm are your new masters!" This was clearly meant to induce fear and obedience into the line of slaves marching out from the airship, but all it did was harden the resolve and fuel the anger welling in the Abyssian's soul.
A Crystal Pony whispered to the Abyssian, "I've fought Changelings before, they don't look like that... These aren't Changelings..."
"Be quiet... Let's listen and wait before we talk more... What's your name Cry'pon."
"Ke'lshan... your's"
"Ca'pan."
Everything was black, a deep darkness, darker even than the depths of space. Within that void the shape of a creature became visible, it's body wreathed in a swirling pattern of light, upon closer inspection it became apparent that this creature was a stallion. Purple, blue, red, black, a swirl of colors seemed to flow around it like a vortex, the stallion's body seemed to melt like liquid, yet was hard as a rock, it gave off the heat of a star, but was cold to the touch. His eyes glowed with a deep purple, a cunning and malevolent grin forming across his gelatinous face, his curved horn, like that of a unicorn but without the groves, glowed red. It stared at a frail mare who lay in the center of this blackness, a cold calculating stare that chilled the frail unicorn's bones, yet gave her hope in a... weird way.
This black stallion screamed, it's ghostly shout collapsing the frail pony standing before it. Upon hearing the stallion's cry, pain flared up throughout the frail unicorn's body, his bones turning to gel, and his skin into stone, the mare attempted to cry out in pain, but she found herself unable to make a noise. The stallion's horn erupted in red and purple magic and out from void appeared a white orb. The orb was mostly with massive swaths of blue and specks of red, it was surrounded by dark magic, assumedly coming from the stallion's horn. Recognizing the orb before her, the mare tried to cry out in shock and dismay, but the moment she did the orb began to crack. Burning lines crawled upon the surface of this snowball, these lines burning a bright green, the lines forming a symbol the mare had recognized in an instant... Eight arrows forming the vague shape of a star.
Awaking from her nightmare the astropath galloped out of bed, running down the hallway in a sweaty panic. A door slid open as she rushed in, screaming "Inquisitor!" The room was made entirely from metal, painted to resemble stone. The lights flickered overhead, casting strange light over the room. standing with his back to the door was a unicorn, both his coat and mane were a burning orange... Over most of his body he wore a black cape, concealing his suit of armor underneath.
Without turning around, the stallion said, "What are your reasons for disturbing me... Mage."
With a gulp, the frail and terrified mare said, "W-Well, I received a vision during my sleep... In this vision, I discovered reason to believe that the planet Lyserea in the Segmentum Unicornus is in danger!"
"Really..." Through the rumbling of the arcane engines, the Astropath heard the sound of something being unbolted from a saddle, "Tell me... What did you see during this 'vision' of yours."
The door to the Crystal Temple of Correction was thrown open, revealing a massive circular chamber, light shone in through the crystal-glass used to construct the temple's dome, causing a cascade of multi-colored light, ranging from royal-blue to magenta, to fill the entire chamber. In the center was a massive throne crafted from marble, atop which was Twilight Sparkle, sitting in stasis in all her glory. Twilight's horn glowed with a soft purple light as the stasis field flickered softly.
Several squads of Ultramares rushed in, ultimately coming to about thirty-one marines in total, led by Star Tracker these marines quickly ran towards their primarch. "Do not let any harm befall our progenitress, if the Arcane Angel is seen I order you to shoot on sight!" Star Tracker shouted.
The civilians who would normally be praying to the Daughter of the Empress were gone, forced out upon word of an intruder, now there were just the thirty marines, and the Primarch herself... A massive unicorn twice the size of Star Tracker, who was now laying in prayer while still just as vigilant as any other guard. Getting to her throne now would be difficult... Although, the marines were expecting this unicorn intruder to enter on the ground, or break through the windows... None were looking up towards the ceiling...
Clinging on to the top of the dome was Vinyl in her black and white armor. She lowered herself carefully downwards along the pillar, just behind the Primarch's Throne, the one holding up the top of the dome, and presumably using magic to cling to its surface... Slowly she sidled down till she was at the top of Twilight's Throne. The top of this throne was a purple crystal, not much bigger than the eye of a regular pony... This crystal glowed with arcane energy, this energy causing the darker purple crystal in Vinyl's possession to glow too, forming a mix of magenta and dark purple. This crystal was in the shape of a Six-Pointed Star, the same as the Primarch's Cutie Mark.
Vinyl attempted to grab this gem, but as she was about to touch it, she noticed what it was connected to... Several tubes and wires held this gem in place, using it's arcane energies to power the stasis field, keeping the Ultramare's Primarch alive... "Well... Look's like I can't do what I came here to do after all..." With a sigh, she leaped from the pillar and landed next to the base of the throne with a thud.
The marines responded instantly, turning around and pointing their guns at the marine who had just fallen from the sky. Star Tracker responded a moment later, looking up as his eyes turned a wrathful gold and his telekinesis raising his crozius from off his back. Seeing one marine preparing to open fire at the Arcane Angel, Star Tracker quickly shouted, "STOP! if you open fire here you might harm our Spiritual Liege!"
With a grin Vinyl's eyes, horn, and sword erupted in purple light, the light grew stronger and stronger. Star Tracker raised his combi-bolter and fired, only for the bolt to detonate as it entered the whirlwind of magic energy that surrounded Vinyl's entire body. A blinding flash of light filled the temple, and Vinyl vanished, leaving only a distortion where a pony once stood.
"Lord Inquisitor Sunburst, I would appreciate it if you disposed of the Heretic in a less... Gruesome manner... These walls are hard to clean..." A pony in red robes responded, he had no visible fur or mane, it was either all concealed under his red and white robes or replaced by extensive cyberonics, his muzzle was nowhere to be found, instead a series of cables, pipes, and what looked like a gas-mask connected to a speaker was taking up the space were his mouth should be... You couldn't even be sure if it was a stallion or mare, the voice was very much mechanical, however it sounded enough like a stallion's. Several mechanical limbs came out of his/her back, and not just the limbs, but a majority of the pony's clothing and mechanical body was decorated with gears, one was acting like a pendant or broach, holding the robes to the pony's body, this gear had inside of it a symbol of a cloud and a bolt of lightning, almost similar to the insignia of the Rainbow Scars, although this was a Mechanicus Symbol, not Space Marine, thus it was brass and steel and circled by a gear.
"Magos, I dare not question you in matters concerning the maintainance of this ship's engines, thus I expect you not to question me on how I purge the heretics..." The Inquisitor replied as the Magos burned the bloody robes of the Astropath who had just made the mistake of mentioning chaos in the presence of a Lord Inquisitor.
"Very well sir," The magos finished before leaving the room, however a shout from the Inquisitor had brought said magos back.
"Ready my Throne of Judgement, I must prepare a speech for the ship crew!"
Author's Note
I wonder how Sunburst will respond when the Empress comes back...
Every single pony aboard the Astra Imperator gathered themselves in the hall. Sisters of the Adepta Sororitas, tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus, Navigators, Astropaths, Inquisitorial Agents, all were rallied to this chamber. Atop his Throne of Judgement, the Lord Inquisitor Sunburst was prepared to give his speech. "Brothers and sisters of the God Empress's Holy Inquisition, I have received word from a clearly heretical astropath, she told me that the planet of Lyserea, Homeworld of the Timberwolves, was under threat from the forces of Chaos... It could have been the Chaos Gods attempting to deceive us, or it could be the Empress warning us of an incoming threat. Either way that astropath wasn't to be trusted... But as untrustworthy the source is, we cannot ignore such a vision, so we are traveling to the world of Lyserea, and once there we will conduct a search of that frozen hell-hole and any trace of chaotic corruption will be purged!"
The deck erupted in applause, the tech-priests in their red and orange robes rushed to maintain the engines, void shields, and warp drives, their mechadendrites and mechanical limbs working at full throttle. Sisters of Battle ran towards their armories and personal quarters, their black armor and pink robes, lined with silver gleaming in the light of the hall, a symbol of a diamond-tipped tiara on their pauldrons. Two-horned, three-eyed mutant unicorns ran toward the bridge, attempting to find the Astronomican, and routing the fastest course to their destination. Astropaths in their robes and wielding their staffs sent word to other parts of the ship and near-by inquisitorial bases. Stormtroopers readied their Hellguns, charging their laser-packs and preparing to face Chaos Marines if need be. Fellow Inquisitors who happened to be aboard the ship at the time stared at the Lord Inquisitor with mixed expressions on their faces.
Sunburst lowered his sword, the Lexmechanic aboard his Throne of Judgement writing down his every word. The Lord Inquisitor trotted off on his four-limbed walking-chair, moving toward the bridge to inspect the predicted route himself, he didn't trust any mage... Let alone any Navigator... He truly believed that the message was merely the lies of a heretic, there was surely no actual danger, but investigating rumors is the job of the Inquisition, and that is what he intended to do.
Upon the bridge, that sliver of doubt grew in the back of the Inquisitor's mind as he stared at the report of Warp Storms around the world shown in his astropath's prophecy... "To that planet! Now! If chaos does intend to invade that world we must arrive before they do!"
"But, my lord... It's in the middle of a Warp Storm!"
"I know that you mutant scum! Go anyway! We must stop this!"
"Lord of the Moonlight, you who were part of unity, now divided into four! Awaken by the will of our master, the Lord of Shadow! Come to my side in battle so we may achieve vengeance unto those who have wronged me, the dogs of the Corpse-Empress. Awaken to the call of the Moon!" Standing in the midst of swirling energy was a pony, levitating on a magic disk, this disk resembling a living creature, and leaving a shadowy trail wherever it flew. This expansive void shimmered with an array of blues and purples, concealing the pony standing atop the shadowy disk... She had a curved horn and a pair of wings, these wings resembled those of a bat's while being covered in feathers, like a pegasi's. Her hooves were ended by bird-like claws, and a pair of fangs protruded from her mouth.
Deep in this swirling abyss appeared another alicorn, this one with two heads, both screaming in pain and sorrow. Her body was translucent, behind could be seen a field of stars and planets, shimmering and warping with each passing second, Two glowing eyes could be seen on each head, beams of arcane light flying forth into the void. The Creature's mouth moved and more incomprehensible screeching could be heard, echoing throughout the void.
In response the bat-alicorn mare said, "Your payment shall be the souls of those we slay and the destruction we bring to the Imperium, my mistress!" The ghostly two-headed alicorn replied with another burst of screeching before vanishing back into the abyss.
"Very Well..."
A lone Space Marine trotted through the astral seas and shifting plains of Latiarius, In the distance the shapes of Tantibusi could be seen on the horizon, and herds of Star-Bears wandered through the volcanic plains. Purple, blue, violet, pink... These colors formed an aurora in the sky that encompassed the entire world, the arcane waves of the Warp could be seen behind, further altering the cascade of color... Overhead a blazing white ring surrounded the world, the screams of souls echoing from above, and if one strained their eyes enough, the shape of a pitch black stallion could be made out in the odd shapes of Warp-Space.
The earth was crystalline, reflecting the lights from overhead to further confuse the mortal eye. This patch of land was rather calm compared to the rest of the world, devoid of rambling Chaos Spawns, or chaotic storms, or volcanic activity... Just a peaceful patch of crystal. Murky black fog coated the surface of the world and small specks of black dust rained down like snowflakes. This lone Marine, wearing blue power armor, trimmed in maroon, and with tan shoulders. Atop her head was a wizard's hat, blending into her silvery mane. The mare carried a staff, a five-pointed star atop its silver rod, held in red magic. Mounted to the breastplate of her armor was a red and black gem, glowing with magic that same magic energy.
The mare had several books tied to her sides, one massive tan tome, a crescent moon on its cover was the most prominent. Her right foreleg had a set of talons protruding from her hoof, mutation brought upon by the warp, and it wasn't her only mutation, her eyes were a bright red, glowing in the darkness. Over her flank was a deep black cape that reflected no light yet shimmered like the night sky.
This mare began to trot off to the north, in the distance, between crystalline spires, moving mountains, and deep fogs of shadow was a city, made from ebony towers, onyx pyramids, and a massive jet-black spire, extending far into the shifting skies, topped with a burning orb of blue magic, resembling the eye of a bat. The mare remembered when the city of Caizca was silvery white, but eons of the warp had changed it.
Flying on wings of shadow, formed from arcane energy, the unicorn mare, robed and armored flew through the skies of Latiarius and through the city Caizca. Black Phoenixes made from shadow and magic filled the air, flying alongside the unicorn. Below mortal slaves were being taken to the ebony towers, having their minds removed of their sanity and having their souls used to create new Rubricae... Skilled mages were sacrificed to the Lord of Shadow within crystal temples... Rubric Marines and their commanding Sorcerers were trotting along bridges made from enchanted shadow, forming passageways connecting the towers and pyramids.
The Tower of the Moon, the great black spire, atop which sat the burning blue eye, was the unicorn's destination. Many smaller towers, fashioned from black and purple crystal surrounded the tower itself, forming what could be mistaken from far away to be a massive cluster of gemstones. A balcony extended out from the towers, forming the only way in and out of the Tower of the Moon. The Unicorn Sorcerer came to land at the tower's balcony, only to be greeted by the Rubrics standing guard. The Rubric Marines wore night-blue armor, trimmed with a dark purplish red, and with tan pauldrons. Behind their helmets were two glowing orbs of green fire that could be mistaken for mutated eyes, from those eye sockets, wisps of purple magic waved in the wind. From every open crack in the power armor, black mutagenic mist flowed, forming a cloud at the Rubrics hooves wherever they stood.
Trixie tried to enter the tower but was greeted by Inferno Bolters, She raised her horn as red magic filled the air around it, but upon a familiar voice resonating from just behind the door, she stopped. "Trixie Lulamoon. Its been a few millennia, I thought you would never have the courage to show yourself here again after what you did."
"Somnambula... Still angry after all this time, I hope you never doubt the courage of the Great and Powerful Trixie again."
"Threatening me? I am the new Chief Librarian, appointed so by our Primarch herself," The Librarian showed herself, she wore the same armor as any other Rubric Marine, with the exception of numerous scrolls and tomes mounted to the armor, across her back was a golden sash, tied to said sash were numerous potions. She wore a gold and silver circlet over her head, a green gem implanted into said arcane crown, that gem acting like a unicorn's horn. "I have been ordered to never let you back into the tower, so I ask you to leave..."
Trixie wasn't amused... She was about to open her mouth to reply, but it seems she didn't have to. "Somnambula! Let her pass! Both of you are to meet me in the Assimularum," A loud mare's voice boomed from deep inside the tower. The two sorcerers stopped their threats.
"Rubrics... Let her pass," An angry Somnambula replied, sending the Rubricae into a more passive stance. Trixie trotted off deep into the tower, a moment later Somnambula trotted after her, keeping an eye on the exiled sorcerer.
Hundreds of sorcerers were arrayed in the tower, even a few Kirin were here, all waiting, watching, listening. In the center of the room was a massive holographic display, depicting a star, and the planets orbiting said star. Levitating on their arcane disks, two sorcerers were inspecting the hologram, planning, debating. Trixie raised her staff, shouting to the crowd, "The Lyserea system burns! The void around the Wolves' homeworld seethes with Shadowflame! We stand now on the precipice of vindication... Vengeance... Justice, at long last!"
Somnambula replied quickly, "Traitor... Do you think we have forgotten your betrayal Lulamoon? Did you believe we would forgive your sins!?"
"Enough!" A shout echoed through the halls, calling all present to its attention. A beige Bat-Alicorn had just appeared on an interior-balcony, blue light flooding in from the door behind her. Her mane was red, striped with purple and lavender. A pair of glasses rested on her face, behind them one eye was fused permanently shut, while the other glowed purple with arcane fury... Leathery bat wings, coated in pegasus feathers, lay outstretched from her body, even without the wings she stood twelve feet tall, with said wings however she would tower over any average pony. She wore an armored breastplate and spinal-plate, however no power-armor. From said spinal-plate a series of horns protruded, forming what resembled a rib-cage. In multicolored purple and red magic, coming from a curved horn atop her head, she held a massive staff, reaching roughly twice its wielder's height, at the end of this staff was a curved blade and an orb of purple magic.
"You are all my daughters, born of my blood," She outstretched a hoof, at its end the hoof turned into a bird's claw, "Some loyal and faithful through the ages... Some wayward and treacherous, walking their own paths. But the crimes of the past mean nothing, all paths have led back here... The blade of fate hangs above Lyserea, together we will drive it deep into the icy earth of that worthless world. These miserable echos of Pinkie Pie will face a legion renewed with arcane might! Conclaves of sorcerers will shatter the fang's battlements! Unending hoards of ashen dead rubricae will harvest every soul within its fallen walls!" Moondancer shouted over the room.
"The wolves my lord... They-" Somnambula cried out.
"-Will break, Lyserea will burn, its seas will boil... And the dogs of Pinkie will howl over the blackened bones of their world's funeral pyre!" The entire crowd grew tense with every word Moondancer said, meanwhile a smile began to form on Trixie's face. "At long last my daughters. We will take vengeance for Arcaero!"
Author's Note
I'll give you one guess at what the next chapter will be:
RIP space corgis :)
