Author's Note

hmm... not enough content.

*suddenly writes a full chapter the day I post the last one*

oh my, how unexpected.

in other news, I decided to take some interesting liberties with Scorpan and Tirek's backstory, tell me what you think!

Chapter 9: Omens of Doom.

{Scorpan, The Wild Barrens}

I gave a soft sigh as I sat in a tent out on The Scorching Plains, just north of The Ruthless Wastes where the capital of my old kingdom, the Kingdom of Beasts, resided. Despite the threatening name, the City of Chimera was a shining jewel in the hard and relentless wilderness… and that was the point, it was. Up until one hundred years ago, the lands were bountiful and the people were as full of life as the fields, but then began the Decline.

It began with an end, the end to a horrid and bloody war with the monsters, the Titans, that we waged. Our grandfather had grown mad and paranoid, demanding they all be wiped out lest they become a threat to him. When it was over, every single one of the Titans lay dead from our weapons, even with how valiant they fought in self-defence. The moment the last of the beautiful giants had fallen, the event known as the Decline began.

It wasn’t obvious at first, the fields became a little harder to plough, the crops took a day longer to grow for harvesting, but it was nothing! We’ve always had to put more power into tending our soil, it was no trouble… but then one year an entire field of vegetables died, it rotted in front of the farmer’s eyes. It started with the crops that were at the farthest edges of the kingdom, before it became a far more noticeable pattern, a traceable famine. It did not take long for scholars to match the path of rot with the trails the titans migrated through and grazed, we had wiped out the beings that fed life into the earth, we had slaughtered the only reason we could even survive in this region.

It was ironic that when the truth came out, the titans were indeed why my grandfather died, but it was my father who slit his throat.

Then my father, the old king, moved to try and alleviate the Decline. He set about ideas of irrigation, crop rotation, harvesting the waste of wild monsters and fertiliser. The Decline slowed, but it sadly didn’t stop, and even though he made these policies, the people grew suspicious of how his weekly announcements to the people showed him seemingly happy and full.

Talk of possible revolt began and died all in one day when Father collapsed on the balcony, and the ring of glamour fell from his finger. The entire kingdom mourned the loss of their greatest leader, he had died starving just so his children could have one plate more.

Then ten years ago, the last field gave up, and Chimera was the only city that stood. That was when my brother Tirek and I left on one last desperate gamble. The land of Equestria that The Wild Barrens neighboured, they had magic that fed the earth, magic that could revitalise the kingdom. They couldn’t bring back the prosperous nation they had, but maybe they could ensure who was left didn’t suffer a painful end.

We couldn’t ask for the magic, the ponies there were known to fear that which was different, and we didn’t have time to convince them, so we took the forbidden techniques, the ones that had let us steal the power of the Titans to wield against them, and we would in turn steal the magic, and instead of wasting it in war, we’d give it all to our homeland.

I was lucky, I had met an old stallion who was too strong for me to drain, and he talked to me. I was able to explain our people’s plight. That old wizard granted me the key to my people’s salvation, a small seed, but one that would feed on unity instead of fertile soil, and in turn give magic to the land it was rooted in. He called it a prototype of a grander project.

I called it a tiny miracle, and I called him my friend.

Instantly I rushed to find Tirek, this was it, this was what we were looking for!

“You conspire with the enemy, Scorpan?! You put the hopes of our people on a tiny bead?!”

I drew a shaky breath as the memory of that day came about. Taking out the seed from my pocket, the events of my encounter with my brother, and what followed, burned in an all too clear image.

I tried to tell Tirek of the seed I had gotten from the wizard, of our salvation, that we would no longer need to cause suffering for the sake of our people.

And he turned his back to me. He spoke of our duty and keeping with the original mission, that we had no way of knowing that it was truly a seed and not just some bauble. I wish that he was truly thinking of our people when he said that, but I knew better. I could hear it in his tone, see it in his eyes, feel it in the air, he was not thinking of our home.

No, he had gotten drunk off the magic he had stolen from the ponies, been enthralled by the power it granted, and refused to cease in his addiction for more. I knew his arguments were lies once I saw that, even if I had let him continue, there was no way he would give the magic to the land, he wanted it all for himself.

Brother… Why did you make me do it?

I had to stop him, save him from himself, and so I acted against him. I met with the Rulers of the land, and they stopped Tirek. I grieve for the day I lost my brother, his madness demanding he be sealed away in Tartarus so he would not harm anyone else. I believed even then I could redeem myself and him, that after I returned home, I could come to my people and save them. Then in a few years when the lands were filled with life and our people feasted on the bounty of the earth, I could return and show Tirek the kingdom we both had dreamed of as children.

Fat lot of good dreaming did now. Now I was exiled from the kingdom, denied from saving my own people, and having to watch from this tent as my kind walk off the cliff to become lost to history.

My gaze slowly turned to the pillar of crystal I had polished into a makeshift mirror, and all I saw was a Gargoyle who had all the hope and joy drained from him. Not even the changelings of myth would be capable of garnering a morsel of sustenance from this husk of a being.

“Quite the sad state you find yourself in, warrior,” A being clad in armour spoke as he appeared behind my reflection. Instinctively I looked over my shoulder, snapping back to the mirror in shock as I found no creature behind me. “No, I am not physically here, and no, you are not going insane… well, maybe you are from this isolation, but I assure you I am not part of your madness.”

“Who… no, what are you.”

“I am Caliburn, a servant of the Chaos God Khorne, of Honour and Loyalty.”

“Hmmph, Honour and Loyalty are not things I would ascribe to a being of Chaos.” I responded, knowing full well the terror of the entity known as Discord.

“That is fair, however please trust that my General means no harm. Take my presence as proof, as he created me just to speak to you, as his own power renders him unable to speak to mortals. I’m sure you sensed his initial attempt earlier?”

My eyes widened in recognition, it was only this morning, I woke up to the feeling akin to my entire body set aflame. It left as briefly as it arrived, but if it hadn’t stopped… that was the result of this ‘Khorne’ attempting to merely speak with me?!

“...Very well, I will humour you. Well met, Caliburn, I am Scorpan, Exiled Prince of the Kingdom of Beasts.”

The being’s eyes widened behind his helmet. “Wait a moment.”

I admit to a little confusion as the armoured creature suddenly disappeared from the mirror. I had waited for a few minutes, and just when I had believed it to be a mere hallucination brought about from loneliness, Caliburn returned.

“Apologies. Khorne knows part of your story, Scorpan, of your… ‘visit’, to Equestria. But due to his difficulty connecting to the world, that is all he knows.”

That came as a surprise to know that this Khorne even knew that much, unless of course this was the madness talking… but then again if it was, then this god would know even more than that, the reason why we went to Equestria. “Well then, what could your god want with me? I am an exile to my own kingdom, I have betrayed my own brother for the sake of helping another nation, and I am a shell of my former self.”

The entity chuckled softly. “Well… he wants to hear your story.”

That surprised me, I hadn’t expected to tell anyone my tale… but then again, I had been telling it to myself every day now.

So I told him everything, of the Titans, the decline, the deaths of the last two kings, and the events of our quest to Equestria. I also told him of my return to my home, ‘the welcome’ I had received, and the reason for my banishment.

The response I had received from the latter half of my story was shocking to say the least, not from Caliburn, but something else. It felt like the entire inside of the tent was filled with a sudden pressure, an overwhelming sensation of horror and disgust that I was almost lost in before the haze lifted.

Caliburn looked surprised at my doubled-over form, looking away from me for a brief moment before finally saying, “Khorne is… greatly displeased with the events happening to your people.”

No kidding. I muttered internally before I recomposed myself. “I am grateful to your General's distaste for my sake, but it’s not like we can do anything about it now.”

“Is that so?” Caliburn spoke before my limbs burned again, like this morning but less. I almost panicked before I felt the change. Suddenly my weakened and malnourished limbs bulged with muscle, familiar muscle. While I was still hungry, the strength I once had at the start of my journey had been restored. “We are willing to sponsor your saving of your people, all we ask is for you to pledge your new kingdom’s worship to the four Gods of The Warp. Which god a person chooses to offer their faith to will be up to them.”

The words given, the talk of a deal right after showing the potential benefits, this game was something I could see a mile away. “And this power you’ve granted me is supposed to be a taste? A sample of the power you could give me so I can’t refuse in fear you’ll take this away?”

“No, the restoration of your strength was to grant you a chance should you refuse our help anyway.” The response stopped whatever animosity I had short. “We can’t help anymore than this without something in return, it is not how Khorne is. He is a god of strength, courage and honour, he can’t freely give away power. We can bring back the strength you lost as it was wrongly taken from you, but anything extra must be earned.”

Khorne only grants power to those who earn it, not demand…

That thought already gave me a level of respect for the supposed ‘Chaos’ god, the fact he gave me back what I had lost only adding to it. With this alone, I had a fighting chance, I could maybe save a few people…

But then what?

Even if I freed them and escaped that tyrant, our only choices would be to flee and seek mercy from another nation, or starve out in this wasteland. Because… because Chimera, my home, was defiled so long as he ruled.

I still burn with a righteous fury as I look back to what he, my Uncle, had done to his own brother’s kingdom, a kingdom he died for. I remember how he welcomed me with open arms, the people around him submissive and fearful, as he declared a feast in honour of my return.

I recall the trepidation and suspicion I felt at the word ‘feast’, as my entire purpose of leaving was to resolve our food crisis. I should’ve caught on quicker, how the members of my uncle’s despicable inner circle grinned while the commoners cowered at the word. It should’ve clicked when the castle chefs brought plate after plate of meat.

…I can still feel the bile that rose in my throat as the lid on my platter lifted and I saw it to be the whole roasted corpse of a Kid Satyr, likely no older than 8 before he was…

I still ache with the pain from when I was beaten for calling out my Uncle’s cruelty before the guard threw me out the gate, as if I was being petulant and entitled for arguing against the king’s decision to enact cannibalism. How my people, innocent yet desperate, agreed to the new law for the sake of survival, offering up their own bodies on a plate before learning too late that their children were also on the menu.

… the choice couldn’t be easier.

“Caliburn, in the name of Khorne, I will earn my people’s freedom.”

{Back to 1 week ALI, it’s a bird! It’s a Tzeentch! No! It’s… no wait I was right the second time.}

“That… that doesn’t sound like you accidentally a rebellion.” I say suspiciously.

“It does when you consider I was intending for him to simply grab a bunch of the innocent people and flee, then I’d call in Nurgle for a favour to bless one of them so they can kick-start the patch of land they stop on so they can last long enough for that seed to work. I’d be a bit miffed about my whole plan going out the window if I didn’t understand why he did it.”

“Oh yeah, and what’s that?”

“Simple, he’s loyal to his father’s vision, he wants to honour the man’s memory by ensuring the kingdom he tried to save returns to the shining beacon it was rather than have it die the horrific self-mutilated husk it currently is.”

I blinked slowly. “That… that is a noble goal indeed.” I then shook my head and I quickly recalled the reason he told me this story. “Wait a minute, why do you have a problem with this? From what I gather, those assholes deserve everything they’re gonna get, and it’s not like he’ll have to try to get anyone on board.”

“Yes, he’s already got a few followers from those who had fled the walls of the mad king, and I want to add in more of my own support, so I need you to do that information download thing you did with Shaker.”

“Khorne, I could only do that because she is our reborn follower and her body was rebuilt with a more stable connection to the Warp, I didn’t have a special trick for that.”

“Ah, fuck.”

“Besides, what would he do with that spell? Have Scorpan Warp Travel into the castle to stab the king before the guards were any the wiser?”

“I was… thinking of a different ritual, like the portal but a bit more stable and… half-way?”

I stared at him for a second before it clicked, and I sighed. “Khorne, are you seriously trying to get people to make a Daemon Gate? Brother, this section of Empyrean is contained but that doesn’t make it any less unpredictable! Our own domains don’t even fill the space, and that leaves a bunch of uncharted areas. My portal ritual was short-lived to ensure nothing in that neutral space could exploit it! What if this gate you make becomes a perfect way out into the Materium for an Enslaver or Ebon Geist before you can use it for whatever you—wait a minute… Khorne, you said this was about a week ago, how many Daemons did you forge before coming to me?”

“Well, I won’t bore you with exact numbers but—”

“KHORNE…” if he was intending to side-step with the excuse of numbers he needed to make sure he wasn’t talking to the fucking God of Knowledge.

“...roughly two-thousand lesser Daemons with three more Honour Guards, all four taking control of a contingent of five-hundred each.”

“For fuck’s sake Khorne!”

“I know, I know. I shouldn’t be spawning Daemons all willy-nilly! But look! I made a little squire!” He spoke quickly, revealing what appeared to be a small (by human standards) shade in a suit of shimmering red armour, with big yellow dots for eyes and holding a short-sword and buckler. “Isn’t he precious?”

“Fight for your family!” it cheered out in a squeaky voice.

I stare at the little armoured mass of shadowy energy with a clearly noble spirit and can-do attitude. And I only had one real answer for my brother.

“...okay yeah he’s pretty cute,” I admitted, before tearing my eyes away from the adorable little protector. “Alright, I’ll forgive you for making use of an ability without telling us first if you tell me how you did it. I’ll pass it off to the others.”

“Wait, you aren’t mad I made two battalions of Daemons so suddenly?”

“Khorne, it’s going to take a lot of work before we can even hope to interact with mortals safely. I’m letting you make an army of Daemons for the same reason I’m letting Nurgle grow that little flower garden in his domain or not stopping Slaanesh attempting to make Clairvoyance windows to watch the mortals fucking for fap material, it’s the same reason why I’ve been trying to take the initiative to enter the Dreamscape.

Because it’s better than sock puppets and basketballs.”

{Nut! Nut! Slaanesh! Nut! Wait, I think my echo’s broken}

“Mmm~, yeah baby… take it off~.”

*fap* *fap* *fap*

“SLAANESH!”

“EEP!” *Squeeze* “OW! Knee-jerk hand clamp!”

Quickly I cheated soothing my pain by just dispelling and reforming my shaft, and then turning to see the approaching Nature God. I didn’t even bother hiding it, we all know what I’m about anyway.

“I fucked up! I fucked up so… are… are you masturbating to a pony eating a banana?”

“Wait what?” I snapped back to the window to see the mare already half-way down the fruit. “Dammit I missed the striptease!”

…

“I don’t think we’ve been here long enough to get that desperate, Sister.”

“Sh-shut up! Luna and that Soul-Job I gave to Silk Striker left me pent up!”

“Okay, now that’s understandable.” he said calmly, the fact he didn’t even question what a Soul-Job was ended up making me feel more embarrassed than what he had walked in on.

“What the hell do you want, Nurgle? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m kind of—” And then I screamed in terror, any arousal I would’ve had dying right quick as I saw something begin to emerge in the warp some distance behind Nurgle.

And when he turned and saw it, he screamed too. With both of us on the same page we rushed over to find Tzeentch and Khorne, currently standing near the door Luna left to the Dreamscape.

“Oh hey guys.” Tzeentch began. “Khorne just—”

“FORGET THAT! The Anathema is here!” I cried out.

“He’s WHAT?!” Khorne yelled back.

“That’s impossible! Even if he managed to acquire his soul fragments in our absence, the Web-wall is a complete seal around this system, he can’t come in without making a hole, and if he made a hole, we’d notice!”

“Would you stop making up fucking words?!” the God of Courage snapped.

“JUST LOOK!” Nurgle interjected quickly, pointing to the thing we saw, a shining golden star amidst the shifting tides, a single, burning constant, a shining beacon…

An Astronomicon.

“That… that isn’t his.” Tzeentch said.

“...what?”

“It’s too small, Sister, his Astronomicon is big enough to be seen at all edges of the galaxy, even through the Shadow the Tyranid swarm casts upon the Immaterium,” he explained. “This one isn’t big enough for even the star system we’re in, only big enough for reliable transport across the planet, and even then it’s still fluctuating, it’s not anchored in the Warp firm enough.”

“I thought the fluctuations were because it wasn’t connected to the Golden Throne and was a moving entity.”

“Fair, but only a fully restored Emperor could reach us here, and as a fully developed Psychic Being of Godlike Power, his presence would still be enough to outshine the little spark we have here a million times over.”

“Then…” Nurgle hesitated before continuing the horrific question. “Then whose is it?”

We all looked at the shining beacon in the warp, the implications of such a familiar icon not lost on us. We all had the same thought as we gazed upon what could only be a new fledgeling Empress of Ponykind, as so far only one mare was both powerful enough and antagonistic to our presence if Luna’s story to Citric Slide was to be believed.

We need to prepare.

{Ethereal Comments}

Khorne: even from an outside perspective, that was terrifying. It’s like watching a horror movie.
Tzeentch: What, like the one we watched about that ooze that made people experience their worst fears to feed off of?
Khorne: no, like a good one like Friday the 13th or that FNAF movie… Discord, you good?
Discord: You made something small and adorable… you really have changed.
All 4, Mental: ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!