My Little Warhammer 40,000: Penitence

My Little Warhammer 40,000: Penitence

Chapter 1: Fallen Angel

Zecora looked out of the window of her treehouse and shuddered as she witnessed the malign energies playing across the sky. The blue-eyed zebra’s golden neck rings, earrings, and leg rings jingled in sympathy with her discomfort. She had felt this uneasy feeling on occasion in Zebrabwe, but never before had she ever been in a place where this feeling of wrongness was so concentrated in one place. She had been out picking herbs when day had suddenly turned to night and pink clouds rained what seemed to be chocolate milk down upon the Everfree Forest. Upon looking up at the clouds and witnessing the subtle array of impossible colors that writhed within them, Zecora had quickly galloped home and shut herself in.

In a matter of minutes, the storm had broken and full daylight was restored, only for it to be replaced with a full moon shining down upon midnight darkness and switch back again to high noon. This was but the backdrop, however, to the even stranger sights that would greet her eyes. Rabbits with long, stilt-like legs ran past her home in a herd, trampling anything that got in their way. Bison dressed up in tutus tip-toed through the forest, balancing on the ends of their hooves as if they didn’t weigh the better part of a ton. Trees ripped their roots from the ground and floated up into the sky. What Zecora noticed most of all, however, were the roars, cries, and strange calls that resounded throughout the forest. It seemed that this strange series of events had provoked a reaction in the creatures that lived in the area. They were… angry? Fearful? Excited? Confused? She couldn’t tell, and she certainly of any mind to go out and ask them.

The zebra looked up nervously at some of the masks that were mounted on the wall of her dwelling. While it was true that some of them were intended to welcome visitors, as she had told the ponies who visited, there were masks whose specific purpose was to frighten off evil spirits. She faintly remembered a village elder telling her it was something about the eyes that protected a place or a pony from dark powers. The herbalist hoped that tonight that that old story proved true.

Maybe tonight would have been a good night for me to be an evil enchantress. Despite her current situation and the unpleasant memories associated with that title, the thought could not help but bring a smile to her face as she thought about the new friends she had made when she had come here. I hope they are safe inside tonight. She looked up at the sky, which was now a full riot of colors and convoluted patterns. Here and there a scattered pink cloud had started raining chocolate milk again. No good can come of chaos like this.

No sooner had her thought been finished than three things happened.

First, a gigantic rainbow appeared over the forest canopy. From its distance, it seemed to originate and end in the vicinity of where Ponyville was beyond the forest. Then, immediately afterwards, the strange, otherworldly light show in the sky disappeared completely as a blinding white light shone in from the horizon. Finally, the flash of light dissipated and she beheld as the forest was completely returned to normal… except for a large, dark object that appeared in the sky where before there was nothing. It fell, crashing through the canopy in a deeper part of the forest.

Zecora stood by the window, hesitating. She was loathe to go investigate anything that was related to the madness that had just been dispelled, but disliked the idea of pretending that she didn’t see it even more. If nopony found out just what had just been conjured from thin air right over the Everfree Forest, it would mean disaster if it was something dangerous. With a sigh of reluctance, the zebra opened the door and headed in the direction she had seen the object fall. I feel like I’m going hunting for a lion, she thought as she mentally berated herself. The fool that I am, it might be something that would put me into a stew.

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As she came near where she thought the mysterious thing had landed, she forced herself to stop and calm herself. Her pace had increased as she had set out until she had almost been at a full gallop. Whatever it was she found, she needed to be calm and clear-headed when she came across it. After collecting and focusing her thoughts, she pushed through the last of the bushes separating her from the unknown.

The first things she noticed were all the broken branches scattered around the area beneath the trees. Looking up, she saw a large hole reaching up through the branches all the way to the sky. It must have hit the branches and broken them on its way down, she mused. Some of the broken branches were as thick as her torso. They were snapped clean in half. Whatever it is, it must be really heavy…

Scanning the ground in front of her, she nearly jumped out of her black-and-white striped hide when she finally saw just what had been delivered to this part of Equestria. A large, imposing creature was lying prone, face-down, on the forest floor. How did I not notice that first?! By taking a second look, however, Zecora saw that the creature was partially covered by some of the branches that it had broken on the way down. Its shell was pitch black and a dull white hood covered its head, continuing into a cloak that enveloped its back. Its back legs seemed to end in something like a hoof, but the front limbs ended in hands with five fingers each. It showed no sign of moving.

Moving a little closer, Zecora examined the visitor’s huge shoulders. Its left shoulder had been painted forest green and bore an image of a white sword framed by feathered wings. Looking to her own left, she saw the right shoulder had been painted white surrounding a dark, hooded figure with black wings. It’s not moving… I wonder if it’s dead? Tentatively, she took another step forward and sniffed the white cloth.

Her heart leapt up into her throat as the creature twitched and clenched its fingers. Scrambling backwards, she watched in terrified fascination as the intruder pounded its fists into the ground and levered itself up. It rose to its feet, letting out a moan that sounded like the wind going through a cave on a dark, cold night. Her eyes took in more details as their analysis was sped up by adrenaline. A stylized metal double-headed eagle was imprinted on the monster’s chest. The eagle’s left head held a single eye, while the right head had no eye. She had to look up to see it as the being towered over her.

The hood around the invader’s head had a green trim at the edges, somehow giving the impression of a semicircle. Resting underneath the hood, the creature’s head held neither nose nor mouth. Zecora stood, paralyzed, as pupiless, dark red eyes glared right at her…