Battle Brothersby MikiChaptersI - They Shall Be My Finest WarriorsII - Meet the Team... And Mind Your HeadIII - One Dysfunctional FamilyI - They Shall Be My Finest WarriorsBattle Brothers Forever - Chapter 1 They Shall Be My Finest Warriors Brother-Sergeant Maxuvos of the Knights Inductor thought he had seen the height of irrationality from Imperial high command. What he termed the "antics" of his battle brothers from other chapters he could tolerate. To him, they were simply cogs in a much larger machine; tasked with the defense of the Imperium. However, he hsd seen exterminatus declared on worlds he and his other knights knew could have been saved. He had seen his chapter investigated for heresy by the Inquisition for negotiating peaceful terms of surrender with the Tau; the Tau were, of course, the ones surrendering after a month long orbital bombardment. So when his chapter had received a call from command requesting a handful of Astartes to take part in a “measured response” against an Ork invasion of one of the Imperium’s numerous Forge Worlds, he had silently hoped, nay, prayed that some semblance of sanity had permeated the thick minds of his leaders. The sight that graced his tired eyes told him that his prayers had been not been ignored. No, his prayers had been thrown into a cross-cut paper shredder. It was a sight that would have made the Chaos Gods proud. Although he had been assigned as the commanding officer of his squad, he had long since given up on trying to maintain order. He was a decent distance from the majority of the fighting, far enough where he was not readily noticed by the invading greenskins, but close enough to where he could leap into the fray to assist his brothers at a moments notice. Add to this his camouflage patterned armour and he was virtually invisible compared to the rest of the combatants. He lay prone on his perch and peered through the scope of his Stalker Bolter at the ruined cityscape. There, three of his battle brothers waged war against the invading xenos. Now this in and of itself was not very strange. Of course, he was one hand short, the usual squad size being five, but he was actually surprised as to the skill of some of the Marines that were assigned to him. What was strange, however, was that his superiors had decided to take Marines from four completely different Chapters and assume that they would be able to function properly. In the center of the battlefield, a relatively open area in front of the ruined remains of what was once a manufactorum stood two figures, one towering nearly a meter taller than the other, with a crowd of orks gathered around them; their green-skinned bodies formed a makeshift arena around the combatants. The smaller combatant sidestepped swing after swing, using occasional short bursts from his jet-pack, standard issue for assault marines, for that extra bit of maneuverability he needed to keep his opponent thoroughly frustrated. The gargantuan maul in his hands proved not to be any sort of encumberance. Swing after swing struck nothing but open air, cement, and fellow Ork as the Nob's patience grew thin. “WAAAAAAAAUGH! HOLD STILL YEW GROT!” roared the enormous ork as he swung his mighty axe once again, this time managing to score a glancing hit on his opponents yellow and red left pauldron; the pauldron adorned with his chapters’ red insignia, the Face of Rage. “WAHAHAHA, SLOWING DOWN NOW ARE YOU?!” the ork bellowed as he continued his assault, “JUST DIE!” Unbeknownst to the green giant, an inferno of rage lit in the heart of the warrior he just struck. Maxuvos watched the spectacle unfold as he fired into the crowd of distracted Ork Boyz, each one’s head exploding in a fine pink mist. He soon heard a voice over his helmet radio. “Should we go and help him, brother?” it said. “I would not worry too much about Brother Azerus, Brother Coludeus,” he responded, “Have you ever seen one of his Chapter fight before?” Scanning the battlefield for the source of the voice, he found an Astartes clad in green and black power-armour taking cover from a trio of Shoota Boyz, his bolter held at the ready. Three shots rang out and the Boyz’ assault ceased, prompting the pinned Marine to reveal himself and open fire on a quintet of rapidly advancing Scar Boyz. The slugs met their target and did their deadly deed, but the choppa wielding Boyz merely shrugged off the assault as if they were nothing but flesh wounds; so great was their bloodlust. “Not good, some assistance please brothers!” Coludeus bellowed over the radio. A shout echoed out over the battlefield as his request was granted in the form of another assault marine, this one clad in blueish gray armour with yellow pauldrons. The mighty warrior swooped down on the choppa' wielding greenskins, a mighty shockwave radiating outward from the point of impact. The charging attackers stumbled, and the newcomer began swinging his power-claws with brutal efficiency. “Space Wolves... always with the brutality,” thought Coludeus. He charged into the melee with his comrade, his combat-knife and bolt pistol drawn. With the last of the Scar Boyz dispatched, Coludeus made to thank his battle brother, but the Space Wolf merely grunted and with a flash of his jet-pack, he charged a far away squad of Tank Bustaz, leaving Coludeus alone once again. Instead, he picked up where his conversation with Maxuvos had left off, “No, I cannot say that I have.” The Reasonable Marine chuckled and fired his rifle, relieving the head of a far away Nob of its owner, “Then you are in for a treat.” ~~~~~ The Nob stood easily a meter taller than Brother Azerus of the Angry Marines. His muscles ached from oxygen deprivation. His breathing was strained. Through his unfathomable and ever-present rage, Azerus was thinking more clear than he ever had before; it became clear to him that he was outmatched. The Nob finally cornered the Astartes and brought down his axe, intent on finishing the duel. Brother Azerus brought up his mighty Thunder Hammer to block the blow, the deafening clang of metal on metal signalling the beginning of the end for one of the two parties involved. “GET ‘IM BOSS! KILL THAT SPACE MARINE!”, one Ork in the crowd shouted. Time slowed to a crawl. The head of his massive hammer crackled with energy. “YOU GOT THIS BOSS!”, shouted another. Beneath his helmet, a single bead of sweat trickled down over his nose. “‘EY HUMIE, YOU’S IS DEAD!” yelled a Grot. The vein in his temple pounded. Hairline fractures revealed themselves in the handle of his weapon. A steady chant of “Kill, kill, kill...” rose from the crowd of Orks. There was no way he would let himself die at the hands of this filthy xenos. “You... mother... FUCKER!” cried the Astartes as the handle of his weapon fractured completely. Many of the gathered Boyz reeled back in shock at the outburst of the Marine, and one or two simply had heart attacks from display of sheer ferocity. They were the lucky ones. Sidestepping the inevitable downswing of his opponent, the Astartes crouched low and fired the rockets of his jump-pack, reducing several ork boyz directly behind him to ash and sending his armoured body careening into the exposed abdomen of the nob. The two sailed straight up into the air, both screaming as they ascended. Upon reaching the apex of the jump, the Astartes maneuvered himself on top of the Nob, his power feet placed immediately over the head of the unfortunate greenskin. “You ugly. Fucking. FUCK!” he cried as the two warriors began their descent. The Marine’s boots crackled with an energy so intense, Brother Maxuvos could smell the ozone from his perch. Unheard by Azerus, Maxuvos issued a warning to his battle brothers. “Brothers, I would seek cover if I were you,” he stated. Vocalizations of confusion from all involved were what he received in reply until they looked up to see the crackling energy of their comrades power-feet rapidly approaching the pavement, his unfortunate cargo in tow beneath them. Once again, time seemed to slow. The shockwave of the impact of the marine’s boots against the ground could have easily been mistaken for the impact of a drop-pod, if said drop-pod had several thousand pounds of high explosive strapped to the bottom that detonated on impact with the tortured earth. No... no, that isn’t quite right. Let’s just say that it was like a rather large bomb went off, if said bomb was made of pure and unfiltered rage, fired from orbit from the cannons of the I.S.S. MAXIMUM FUCK, promptly followed by said ship ramming itself into the rather sizeable crater that the previous assault left... twice. All of this was directed into the cranium of the unfortunate nob. In the mere blink of an eye, the Nobs’ head was obliterated, leaving nothing but a pulpy mess underneath his boot. Scores of greenskins were thrown off of their feet and sent flying several meters back from the blast. His breathing was heavy. The vein in his temple pounded. His breathing was raspy. With each breath he took, the fire in his chest grew hotter and hotter, until he bellowed a war cry so loud that the Gods of Chaos themselves trembled at his fury. “WHO THE FUCK IS NEXT YOU PANSY ASS FUCKCOCKERS?!” The closest greenskins to him reportedly imploded (yes, they imploded) at the display of fury. Without waiting for a reply, the Marine grabbed the Nob’s lifeless corpse by the leg and began swinging it at the recovering mob. As stated before, the Nob was clearly outmatched. ~~~~~ “Indeed,” said the dumbfounded Salamander, “are they... is he... always that aggressive?” “Hence the Angry Marines, brother,” deadpanned Maxuvos. “ALWAYS ANGRY! ALL THE TIME!” cried Azerus over vox as a headless green corpse sailed in an arc over Coludeus’ head, crashing down into a squad of Stormboyz that were advancing on his position. Their advance came to a crashing halt as the body of the Nob bowled them over. “WHAT ‘DA ‘ELL WAS ‘DAT?!” screamed one of the Boyz as he rose to his feet. He was able to make no further comment on his situation as a rather large blue ball of plasma sailed overhead in his direction. Underneath his helmet, Coludeus’ eyes widened. He vaulted over a nearby piece of rubble and ran in the direction of Azerus just as the plasma ball reached its destination. The liquid fuel in the rockets strapped to the Boyz’ backs ignited as the plasma’s stored energy was released into the air; the explosions mixed into a fiery cocktail of death. Watching the scene through the scope of his Stalker Bolter, Maxuvos could have sworn that the resulting explosion sparkled. “Hmph, uncouth ruffians,” came a new voice over vox, it being noticeably higher and quite... smoother than the the rest of his battle brothers. “Identify yourself,” commanded Maxuvos. “Oh that better not be who the fuck I think it is...” growled Azerus, the sounds of dying Orks filling the background of his feed. A brief chuckle came from their com-systems before the new voice spoke once again, “This is Brother Cutes of the Pretty Marines, Brother Maxuvos. I am here with Brother Varivos of the Ultramarines. Devastators, at your service.” “I can introduce myself, Brother Cutes,” came a voice that better suited a Space Marine; it was a voice that Maxuvos could only assume belonged to the Ultramarine. He raised his Stalker Bolter to locate the newcomers, but found the action unnecessary as a veritable storm of heavy bolter fire and plasma shots filled the air and screamed into the battlefield. Now, one could imagine that warriors equipped with heavy weapons such as those would start to have a noticeable effect on the battle, and indeed they did. Rocks, pebbles, walls, columns, and rebar all fell to their onslaught. Everything they set their sights on were torn asunder by the might of their weapons. Sadly, none that fell were green in any way, shape, or form. Maxuvos, Coludeus, Azerus, and Grimorus all brought their hands to their heads in a display of shame. Behind the two newcomers, a pair of Nobz made their way to the battlefield, big choppaz held at the ready. However, upon witnessing the completely distracted warriors, one of the Nobz couldn’t help but grin as an idea struck him. He turned to his companion and tilted his head toward the marines, still blindly unloading their arsenal into the battlefield. A deep rumbling chuckle emanated from his companion as they nodded in agreement. “Don’t killz ‘em yet. Wez’ gonna have a bit o’ fun.” Slowly, carefully, and surprisingly quietly, the Nobz crept up to the oblivious warriors. They lowered their choppaz, turning the flat side to face the warriors backsides. They nodded once more, and began a back-swing. Brother Maxuvos was the first to recover from the collective palming of faces, and was the first to witness the unusual sight. He quickly raised his Stalker to fire upon his brother’s attackers, but was too late. “FOOOOOORE!”, bellowed the Nobz as they swung their choppaz. Iron clashed with ceramite, and the Astartes were sent airborne, becoming nothing more than streaks of purple and blue as they flew into the battlefield. They landed at the feet of their battle-weary allies. “Brothers, this has gone on long enough,” growled a very frustrated Maxuvos, who proceeded to rise from his prone position, intent on joining the rest of his brothers in the soon-to-be-carried-out melee. “I agree,” said an equally frustrated Grimorus as he careened in the direction of the rest of his brothers, equally intent on finishing the fight. “And I as well,” agreed Coludeus. “YOU TWO!” rumbled an even more enraged Azerus. He proceeded pick both Cutes and Varivos up by their helmets. “Azerus, whatever grudge you have with your brethren can wait. We have more pressing matters to attend to,” chided Maxuvos as he skidded to a halt alongside his brothers-in-arms. Azerus begrudgingly agreed, but managed a masked scowl at the both of them before dropping them back down onto the concrete. The greenskins halted their assault as a mechanical clanking and the pounding of armoured feet could be heard in a nearby alley. Some started to chuckle. Others pointed in their direction and drew their gnarled fingers across their necks. The clanking and pounding grew louder. More of the Orks started to chuckle. One of them far in the distance actually doubled over in laughter at the Astartes, choking out the words “You boyz is dead!” Cutes and Varivos scrambled to their feet, the latter lowering his heavy bolter and spreading his blue armoured feet apart in a braced stance. Cutes unsheathed the chainsword at his hip and took up a graceful fighting stance. His brothers took up similar stances as the rhythm of the clanking grew faster. The silhouette of a massive figure revealed itself in the distance. It barreled toward the Astartes, throwing aside any and all of its fellow greenskins that were too slow to get out of its way. The clanking and pounding stopped directly in front of the battle brothers, and all stood in staunch defiance. “Hold your fire,” Maxuvos ordered. To his great surprise, his subordinates complied and he breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank the Emperor they at least gave me that,” he thought. An Ork of gargantuan size, clad in the most crude mechanically enhanced armour any had ever seen, towered over them. He looked at them with a scrutinizing eye and turned back to the crowd of Orks under his command. He raised his klaw clad hands above his head and snapped them down to his waist as he bellowed at his own subordinates. “WAAAAAAUGH! YOU GROTZ COULDN’ ‘ANDLE THESE BOYZ!? WOT KINDA SQUIG SHIT IS THIS?!” Brother Maxuvos knew that the enraged warboss was not in a mood to negotiate, but he reasoned that it would be worth it to try to work out a peaceful surrender. To him, it was worth the risk if it meant saving more lives and ending the needless destruction. He stepped forward and addressed the monstrous creature. “You are the leader of these Orks I assume?” he asked. The warboss turned back to the bold marine and laughed, “No, I’m jus’ some Nob who got ‘is ‘ands on some power klawz. NO SHIT I’M THEIR LEADER.” Brother Maxuvos leapt back to his comrades at the Ork’s outburst. Coludeus turned to Maxuvos and said “Does not hurt to try at least.” “My thoughts exactly brother,” he replied. “Idiot,” mumbled Varivos. The warboss thumped his armoured chest with his right klaw and continued, “I’M WARBOSS THRASHA, AND I’M ABOUT TO SHOW YOU LOT WHAT PAIN REALLY IS!” His comrades primed their weapons, and Maxuvos unsheathed a chainsword of his own, while Coludeus grasped the hilt of his power-axe. The massive Ork lowered his body, preparing to charge the Astartes, and the boyz behind him made to do the same. Suddenly, the cloudy skies grew darker, causing all to lower their guards. Ork and human alike looked to the skies to see otherworldly arcs of lightning streak between the clouds. Under their armour, the hairs on the arms of the Astartes stood on end. It was a Warp Rift. Maxuvos addressed the warboss once again. “I don’t suppose you will consider a temporary alliance, Warboss?” he asked. “Alliance?! With xenos?!” shouted a dumbfounded Varivos, “This is heresy Maxuvos.” “If we do not get out of this alive, I think it will matter not if I am a heretic, brother. Now, Warboss Thrasha, will you or will you not fight with us for now?” The powers of the warp grew stronger as the barrier between the materium and the immaterium began to fall to pieces. Hot purple lightning arced from the sky to the ground as portals to the immaterium began to open all around them. There was no escape; this was a full scale Chaos invasion. The warboss looked to the Astartes, then back to the sky. His brow furrowed and he growled a deep guttural growl. He whipped back around and pointed his wide open left klaw at the marines and shouted, “FOINE! WE’LL KILL YOU LOT LATER. BOYZ, IGNORE THE ‘HUMIES. KILL THE CHAOS ‘HUMIES FIRST! WE WILL DEAL WITH THEM LATER!” All Orks present were thoroughly confused at his order and made to attack the Astartes until the warboss roared and slammed his klaw on the ground in frustration. “Not ‘dem you grotz! Kill whatever comes out of ‘dose t'ings!” He jabbed his other klaw at a newly formed portal, and the longer lived of the orks knew instantly what was about to happen. So too, did the Astartes. Coludeus could not help but feel a sense of familiarity with the current events, and turned to Varivos as they waited for the hellspawn of the Warp to show their grotesque faces. “Did similar events not happen to one of your own, Varivos?” he asked. He nodded an affirmative, “Captain Titus, yes. On another forge world. The Chaos Legions invaded after he was tricked into firing a weapon that triggered a Warp Rift. He is currently detained by the Inquisition for investigation of heresy and corruption.” “I see,” said the Salamader, “not that it truly matters.” Varivos was about to offer a retort when the floodgates opened, and the traitorous legions of the Chaos Space Marines poured out of portals. Their appearance left no room for doubt. The blue and yellow striped headdresses of the corrupted Astartes were that of the Thousand Sons legion; they were Tzeentch’s followers. “ATTACK!” roared Thrasha, and the Orks wasted no time in doing what they do best. The Space Marines were about to do the same, if only they had control of their senses. Time in the materium ground to a complete halt. Bolter slugs, Orks, choppaz, and spittle from frothing mad Scar Boyz slowed in their travels as the lord of change himself, Tzeentch, stepped out of the portal closest to the loyalist Astartes. He approached the technicolour warriors, and craned his long neck, scrutinizing them. His beaked head shook in disapproval as he muttered to himself. “No, this simply will not do.” With a snap of his fingers, the Astartes disappeared without a trace. Tzeentch made to walk back to the portal, before he noticed a heavy bolter slug stopped in midair. He plucked it out of the air and walked over to Warboss Thrasha, placing the slug directly in front of the unarmoured bridge of the greenskin’s nose. The slug stayed suspended in midair as the Chaos God walked back through the portal into the immaterium to plan his next move. With one more snap of his fingers, time began to flow again. Chaos reigned. Warboss Thrasha was no more. ~~~~~ A loud belch echoed in the halls of Golden Oaks Library, rousing Spike from his slumber. “What in the world is the Princess doing sending a letter at this time of night?” he pondered as he unrolled the scroll that formed from the ash of his fiery eructation. Twilight moaned in a drowsy drawl as she started to wake up as well, “Ugh, Spike, what is it?” “I have no idea,” replied the equally drowsy dragon as he unrolled the scroll and began to read. His face took on an expression of shock and confusion. “What is it?” asked Twilight. Spike held out the unrolled scroll and Twilight took it in her telekinetic grasp. She began to read, and she too wore a similar expression. “Well, guess we should gather the girls,” said Twilight as she dragged her exhausted body out of bed. ~~~~~ Twilight, I apologize waking you and Spike up at this hour, but time is of the essence and I need the help of you and your friends. I have sent a chariot to pick you up, and it should be outside your home in less than an hour. I will be completely frank with you; what is happening here is unlike anything I have ever seen before, and I haven’t the time to explain. All will be made clear soon. Please, be ready for the chariot when it arrives. Celestia II - Meet the Team... And Mind Your HeadBattle Brothers Forever - Chapter 2 Meet the Team... And Mind Your Head It truly is a thing of beauty, is it not, Space Marine? The galaxy you and your kind call the Milky Way, one of uncountable billions in the cosmos, and yet this single galaxy has provided so much for our kind. Look upon it, Space Marine. Look upon it in awe, for this is what you have been defending so fanatically for all of these centuries of your service. You humans have always intrigued us, Space Marine. We feed off of the emotions of creatures from countless worlds and countless galaxies, yet never have we seen an outpouring of emotion such as that which comes from your kind. Where you have little magic and even less connection to the Warp, your imagination and ingenuity has more than compensated. And yet no manner of machine can suppress what comes naturally to every creature. When you love, you love unconditionally. When you hate, you hate with every fiber of your being. When you scheme, you obsess. And when you fear, you fear with your whole heart. Don’t try to tell me you know no fear, Space Marine, because I know you do, and I know exactly what you fear. Those sermons that you attend daily -- those oaths you pledge -- all in the name of a corpse are all a lie. What is worse still is that, despite all that you have been told, you know it yourself that it is all a lie. I know of these lies, because I have led countless others like yourself. The Thousand Sons legion have served me with a fanaticism that you and your own battle brothers have shown to your corpse of a God, and they often repeat similar oaths in our name. Even those lost and damned soldiers that have yet to succumb to the influence of the Warp continue to repeat their sermons in the name of your corpse Emperor. How ironic is it then that it was that very fanaticism became your undoing? ~~~~~ “Thank you for coming on such short notice everypony, especially at this time of night,” said Luna. She and Celestia met Twilight, Spike, and the rest of their friends in the main foyer of Canterlot castle. An expression of concern was worn on everyone’s face -- all except for Spike, who was content to sleep on Twilight’s back -- as they took in the sight of the elder diarch. Her ethereal mane and tail, which one once billowed magnificently in the solar winds hung limp around her head and neck. Her ears were splayed against her head, and she was mumbling what sounded to Twilight’s ears like “it makes no sense... no sense whatsoever.” Twilight made no effort to stifle a yawn as she spoke, much to Rarity’s chagrin, “It’s no trouble at all Princess. I am sure it must be something extremely important.” “Twilight, please, at least cover your mouth,” the alabaster unicorn chided under her breath as she stifled a yawn of her own. “Indeed it is, Twilight Sparkle. Please, if you would all follow us, we have much to talk about,” said Luna. The royal sisters turned toward their personal research wing of the castle and the group of weary friends followed. Celestia had her head bowed as she walked, ears still flat against her head as she mumbled to herself, deep in thought. “Hey, Princess, y’alright there?” asked Applejack. The orange earth mare’s concern fell on deaf ears as Celestia continued to mumble. “Do not worry yourself too much about my sister, dear Applejack. These recent events have been taxing her mind as of late. She will recover, but what she needs most right now is rest,” at the word ‘rest’, she lightly pushed against the side of her sister, breaking her out of her stupor. “Huh? What?” asked the perplexed princess, as she looked around and saw everyone looking at her, each face more concerned than the last. “Well, we do worry. Um... that is, if you don’t mind...” said Fluttershy. The buttercream mare retreated behind her long pink mane as she spoke. “Yeah, we do... worry that is. You look worse than Twilight after a three day studying bender,” said Rainbow Dash. Celestia sighed and spoke, “Yes, it is because I have not had much rest for the past week, Rainbow Dash.” “Uh... Princess... I know it may not be my place to say, but that can’t be good for you at all... I should know,” said Twilight. “Indeed you would Twilight,” chuckled Celestia, “but I assure you, like your visit here, it was for good reason.” “And what would that be?” “That you will find out soon enough, my student. We are here.” Ahead of the group stood a rather plain wooden door, the kind of door one would expect to find in a dungeon or other equally unpleasant place. Celestia and Luna both looked to the group. “Girls, I would shield your eyes for a moment,” said Celestia. The royal sisters nodded to each other once they had done so, and they focused as much energy as they could muster from the astral plane. The sisters touched their horns to the door, and a bright, blinding light burst from the windows. Twilight, through squinted eyes, recognized the spell instantly. ”A protection ward? A really *really** powerful protection ward. Not just to keep things out, but to keep things in... what in the world are they going to show us?”* she thought. ~~~~~ Look upon your precious Imperium, Space Marine. Look upon your precious Imperium of Man, and weep for it. I and my own brothers have reduced it to naught but ash. Look at what your fanaticism and blind faith has led to, Space Marine. Look upon your precious *Holy Terra. Watch it burn to ash and weep! This is what the end looks like. This is where your fight ends; this is its inevitable conclusion; **this is what you fear the most. YOU DO NOT FEAR FAILURE! YOU FEAR THE INEVITABLE END!* How appropriate is it then, that it was that same fanaticism that became our undoing as well? I knew when I whisked you away to... somewhere, I have no idea where or even when you ended up to be honest... that it would be the end of all things for a long time at least. Like matter and antimatter, our armies canceled each other out. The Eye of Terror expanded. At one point, it even engulfed all of the Milky Way until all were dead. Tyranids, Necrons, Orks, Tau, the Eldar and their pirate counterparts, and the quadrillions of citizens of your Imperium were slain as we tore down the boundaries between our realities; and as fewer lived to provide us with the emotion we needed to sustain ourselves, we proceed to slay our own until there is nothing left. All four of us faded away. Hmph... blood for the blood god and skulls for the skull throne indeed. ~~~~~ With the protection ward dropped, the royal sisters led Twilight and her friends into the bowels of the research wing. Twilight could recall the many hours she spent here studying various topics here and there, but the halls proved no more welcoming than they had when she last visited. It had obviously been built during the earliest days of Canterlot castle’s existence. The floors, walls, and ceilings were all lined with unevenly cut stone, and along the walls were torches that cast elongated shadows down the halls. The atmosphere was depressing enough that even the ever optimistic Pinkie Pie had the shivers. “‘Pinkie Sense’ a-tinglin’ there, Pinkie Pie?” asked Applejack. “Yep! And it tells me that something horrifying and then something hilarious is about to happen,” responded the bouncing pink mare. Fluttershy squeaked at the word ‘horrifying’, already uneasy at the oppressive atmosphere. The group rounded a corner and were faced with another wooden door. The sisters turned once again to the group. “Please, if you could shield your eyes once more,” requested Luna, and the group of friends did so. With another blinding flash, the door was opened and the group proceeded. Behind this door was a room that stood in stark contrast to the rest of the research wing. Gone were the damp stone floors and walls. In their place were clean marble floors and granite walls. Overhead was the soft, more familiar glow of light-stones that seemed to ease much of the tension that was held in the group. Inside were six steel slabs, each covered with blankets that bulged some distance from the surface. The steady beeping of heart-rate monitors filled the room. “Wow, I forgot how depressing that walk was,” noted Twilight. “Depressing nothing, those hallways are downright creepy. You simply must look into remodeling this wing of the castle princess,” said Rarity. “Is somepony there?” came a voice from a back storage room. “Yes, Doctor, we are here,” Celestia called back. “Wonderful princess, wonderful, I will waste no time getting your student and her friends up to speed,” said the voice as a yellow unicorn mare in a white lab coat trotted her way out of the back room. She approached Twilight and held out her right foreleg, “Summer Song M.D. at your service, Miss Sparkle.” Twilight bumped her hoof, as was their custom, and returned the greeting, “Please, call me Twilight, Doctor. This is Rarity,” she motioned to the purple maned, white coated unicorn standing next to her, “Applejack,” she motioned to the orange and blonde earth pony as she tipped her ever-present Stetson, “Pinkie Pie,” she motioned to the bouncing poofy-maned earth mare, “Fluttershy,” she motioned to the yellow and pink pegasus, who was retreating further and further into her mane as she continued to look at the steel slabs, “Rainbow Dash,” she motioned to the prismatic pegasus mare who was hovering impatiently to Twilight’s right, “and the sleepy-head on my back is my number-one assistant Spike,” she motioned to the lightly snoring dragon. Summer Song chuckled as she spoke, “Only if you promise to call me Summer, Twilight. It is a pleasure to meet you all. Now, if you could please follow me over here.” She proceeded to lead the group over to the opposite end of the room. “Now then...” said Summer as the rest of the group caught up with her. She charged her horn and lit up the translucent panels mounted on the walls. The sheer amount of medical imagery that was revealed was staggering. X-Rays, MRI, CAT scans, the results of every examination that modern equine medicine allowed were revealed. Summer Song cleared her throat and began her speech. “About a week ago, a squad of Royal Guardsponies found these six at the base of the mountain. If you pardon the language, everypony, it looked like these ponies had seen, and walked through, Tartarus, and all were unconscious. They were brought back to the hospital in Canterlot, for medical treatment, but when the report was made to Princess Celestia that these ponies had been found, she insisted that they be kept and monitored here. “All except for one bear scars all over their body, but mostly on their heads and faces. The face on the light-purple one is completely clean, and, to be honest, we mistook him for a really big mare until we... yeah, moving on. However, that is not the strangest thing about these ponies. First off, these ponies are big... and I mean really big. That should have been apparent, even with the blankets over them. All of them are almost as big as Princess Celestia, except for the pegasus with the yellow coat and red mane,” Summer motioned for everyone to look at the closest slab, “who is about as big as Princess Luna. Now, if you will look at the x-rays...” she trotted closer to the wall and a nearby pointer glowed with an orange aura. It began its mission of direction by pointing to the x-ray of the aforementioned pegasus, “notice anything strange about this pony? Take a look at the rib-cage.” Everyone leaned a bit closer and Twilight let out a gasp in shock. “That’s right. Their rib-cages are all one solid piece. All six of them are like this. And if you will take a look at the rest of their skeletal structure,” she moved the pointer to direct their attention to the pony’s femur, and then the rest of the skeleton, “their entire skeletal structure is dense beyond anything anypony has ever seen. In addition, their muscles... wow their muscles... I’ll just say this, when these guys wake up, they will be very strong and very fast. Probably even on the levels of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. The magical potential of the two unicorns has not yet been investigated, but I can tell you that I am excited to see what comes of it. “In addition, the... goodness, what colour would you call that?” she motioned to the pegasus with the yellow mane, and Rarity was the first to respond. “I would say it seems to be gray with a slight blue tint,” she said. “Alright then,” continued Summer, “the blueish-gray pegasus over there, take a look at his head. Notice anything else peculiar?” she motioned to the head x-ray of the pegasus in question. “Oh my... are those... fangs?” stuttered Fluttershy. “Indeed they are, yet he is the only one of those six that has fangs like those. Now, there are two more strange things about them I must note before I show you what else we found.” The doctor trotted through the group of to the steel slab behind them, directing their attention to a yellow furred flank, “take a look at this. Notice something else strange?” she asked. The group leaned in for a closer look and yet another gasp of surprise was released before Twilight spoke, “There is no cutie mark on him!” “Right again Twilight. Again, all six of them are like this. No cutie marks at all.” “And the second thing?” “Let me ask you,” said Summer before she trotted to where the yellow pony’s head was resting and directed their attention to it, “how old do you think this pony is?” Applejack was the first to speak this time, “Well, I reckon that he can’t be any older than thirty or so.” Summer Song shook her head, “Judging completely by tooth-wear, you would think that, Applejack. In reality, every single one of these ponies are at least one-hundred years old.” Once again, more gasping from those who were not in-the-know. She deactivated the lights behind the wall and began to trot off before she called back, “Now, please follow me. There is so much more to discuss.” ~~~~~ She led the group of friends and her diarchs to the back room where she had come from, and the sight that graced the eyes of the six friends left the speechless. Hanging on one the walls of the room were five sets of Mark VII “Aquila Armour”, each with a helmet of a matching colour beneath them. A sixth set, one coloured an ultramarine blue with gold trimming on the pauldrons lay in a state of disrepair on a table on the opposite end of the room. Above each set of functioning armour were the weapons the ponies in the other room once wielded. “What on earth?” stated a dumbstruck Twilight. “The colours... they’re so.... gaudy...” said an equally dumbstruck Rarity. “Gaudy, maybe, but no less fascinating. We found all of the things in this room near the ponies you just saw. Obviously, this armour is not meant for pony use, but still, the technology here is unlike anything we have ever seen before,” said an almost gleeful Summer. “Hold on just a second,” interrupted Rainbow Dash, who was currently studying the armour with the yellow shoulder-pads, “those colours on their armour, they match the coats and manes of the stallions in the other room don’t they?” Summer Song nodded, and continued. “And watch this,” she said as she took a pen out of the pocket of her lab-coat in her telekinetic grasp. She threw it at the purple armour, and with a flash of light, the pen disintegrated. For what seemed like the hundredth time in the last few minutes, the group of friends gasped. Twilight’s physical recoil sent Spike tumbling off of her back and sprawling onto the marble floor. “Ow... hey, what gives Twi?” he asked in a groggy drawl. “Sorry Spike,” she responded before helping the youth to his feet. “So what is that? A shielding spell?” she continued. “Not a spell that we know of. We couldn’t find any sort of magic-retentive crystals or runes of any kind in or around the armour. The nearest thing we could find were these...” a purity seal, blessed with sermons of the Holy Emperor, was lifted from the table where the blue armour was laying and was displayed to the group. “Obviously we can’t read the language, but as you may have noticed, these slips of cloth are all over the other suits. It is our hope that once these guys wake up they can shed some light on the kind of magic at play here. We found similar markings etched and painted directly onto the armour itself.” “But... what about the words here? I think I can read these pretty clearly...” said Spike as he pointed to the yellow and red armour. Specifically, he was pointing to the right greave which had a big red arrow pointing to the boot, the message “YOUR ASS HERE!” in bold black text above it. “When do you think they will? Ooh, I have so many questions for them.” Twilight was practically bouncing in place, further adding to the energy of the already bouncing pink party pony in the group. Spike grumbled and stomped back to Twilight, completely and utterly ignored. “Ooh! Ooh! Do we get to throw them a ‘Welcome-To-Canterlot-Sorry-We-Wrecked-Your-Armour-We-Just-Thought-It-Was-Interesting par...” ~~~~~ We are doomed to repeat this cycle again, Space Marine. It is all a part of our existence. When will history repeat itself again? Well, I am not of the capacity to say. I can assure you, though, that it will. So until we meet again. ~~~~~ The pink mare was cut short by a gut-wrenching roar of rage coming from the other room. Any equine or wyrm that was not fully awake at this point most assuredly was now. “WHAT XENOS SORCERY IS THIS?!” bellowed the voice. Everyone rushed out of the back room to see that the blue earth pony with the yellow mane had woken up, and was now intent on thoroughly smashing all medical equipment that he could reach. “Xenos sorcery... xenos?” thought Twilight. “Woah...” said Spike. Celestia, Luna, and Summer Song all rushed to the side of the thrashing stallion. “Please, calm down sir,” said Summer. The stallion fell off of the table and landed with a dull thud on the unforgiving marble floor. He shakily rose to his hooves and glared a glare of death at the yellow unicorn. He swung his right foreleg at her head, cold-cocking her and sending her careening into the wall. Summer Song fell to the floor unconscious. Before either Celestia or Luna could react, the stallion barreled his way through the door, shattering it to splinters. To those who did not know any better, they could have said that the door simply exploded, as the Ultramarine was out of sight before the guards stationed outside had a chance to collect themselves. As if the order had been given by Celestia’s top Drill Sergeant, jaws hit the floor all at once. The brows of the royal sisters were furrowed, enraged that such a creature harmed one of their own. “I had a feeling he would react that way,” came a new voice from the table to their right. The group spun to the source. Twilight’s horn was charged with the arcane energies of the world around her, as was Rarity’s horn and the horns of the immortal diarchs. Applejack crouched low, pawing at the floor; her brow furrowed; her ears were pinned to her head under her Stetson. One could swear that her hooves had a slight glow to them. Rainbow dash had risen to her hind legs using her wings for support; her forelegs were held up in what could best be described a fighting stance. Pinkie Pie had pulled her Party Cannon out from... somewhere. Fluttershy was trying her best to look menacing, but only succeeded in looking adorable. “You had better prepare for when everyone else wakes up though, or you will have an actual body count on your hands... er... hooves I guess. That is if he hasn’t killed anyone already. I would worry especially about Brother Azerus. You may want to figure out a way to contain him, and soon,” it continued. “GUARDS!” bellowed the regent of the sun, but none responded. The voice chuckled at the display as from behind the blanket a desert gray head emerged. It then promptly fell back down onto the slab. The voice chuckled again as it spoke, “I assure you that combat will not be necessary. I am in no condition to fight. And even if...” The voice grunted as the body it belonged to made another attempt at getting up. “I was...” He grunted again as he, like his comrade before him, fell to the floor with a dull thud. “Ah... there...” The stallion shakily rose to his hooves. The group of mares retained their fighting stances. “As I was saying,” he said before he used his mouth to remove the intravenous needles from his left foreleg, “even if I was, I would have no desire to fight. I am a reasonable soldier, after all.” Celestia slowly walked up to the unicorn, her horn still charged. She looked the massive stallion in the eyes and asked, “Who are you?” “I am Brother-Sergeant Maxuvos of the Knights Invictius... more colloquially known as the Reasonable Marines, your highness.” Just then, Murphy came back for round two, “Holy fucking shit my head hurts like fuck man! What the fuck happe... IS THIS... WHAT THE FUCK?!” Maxuvos’ ears snapped flat against his head as he and everyone else looked to the yellow and red storm of blankets and ponified Space Marine, “And that would be Brother Azerus of the Angry Marines... the one I warned you about.” "I see... Brother-Sergeant, I am terribly sorry for this," said Celestia before a golden aura engulfed the now very awake marines, and they were teleported into the bowels of the castle. Not more than a few moments later a loud crackling of arcane energy could be heard down the halls, followed by the screaming of a certain blue and yellow soldier. “At least the second ward held,” Celestia said with a slight chuckle. Her attention then turned to Summer Song, who was just starting to come to. “Are you alright?” she asked. “I... wow, the guy packs quite a kick... yeah, I’ll be fine,” replied Summer. “Good, I would like you to visit the palace infirmary regardless. I will send one of the guards to escort you.” “Thank you, Princess,” said the mare as she stumbled her way out of the lab. Celestia sighed and turned to the group of perplexed ponies. “Girls, I think it would be best if we waited until morning to continue this. I have guest rooms ready for each of you. Twilight can show you the way.” “Where did you send them?” asked Twilight. “To the dungeons. I honestly had no idea that they would react with violence. I will release them by sunrise if they are willing to cooperate. In the meantime, I think it would be best if we all had some rest.” Satisfied with her response, Twilight and her friends took their leave. As the drowsy group made their way out of the research wing, none took notice of Celestia and Luna staying behind, just out of earshot. “Are you noticing a familiarity with them as well, sister?” “Yes Luna, and that is what troubles me the most.” III - One Dysfunctional FamilyBattle Brothers Forever - Chapter 3 One Dysfunctional Family “It has been five hours. Five Emperor forsaken hours since we woke up in this place...” thought Maxuvos. THUMP THUMP THUMP “HEY, I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME YOU FUCKING. XENOS. COCKBAG!” screamed an enraged yellow pegasus. “Indeed, Brother Varivos had reacted rather... hastily when he discovered his new predicament, but he is an Ultramarine; they are notorious for following the Codex Astartes to the letter.” THUMP THUMP THUMP “YEAH! THAT’S RIGHT HORSE BOY! I’M TALKING TO YOU!” The guard stationed at the door of the Canterlot dungeon simply rolled his eyes and looked back to his magazine. “And what the Codex says to do in situations like these is to make every attempt to escape, which he did... however, perhaps a bit more forethought could have gone into his plan.” The crusader of reason turned to his comrade -- unconscious, his body involuntary convulsing as visible bolts of arcane yellow energy arced about his body -- and shook his head, “Just what kind of sorcery was that?” THUMP THUMP THUMP “Brother Azerus... do you know the definition of insanity?” asked Coludeus. The former human cocked his dark green head to witness the sight of his pegasus comrade fruitlessly struggling against the ethereal ropes that bound him. “FUCK YOU BRO! FUCK YOU, THAT’S WHAT!” THUMP THUMP “Clearly he does not, Brother Coludeus,” replied a supremely stressed Space Wolf, who also continued to struggle against the glowing golden-yellow ropes tied around his and his comrade’s legs. THUMP “Brother Azerus please... I already have a headache,” moaned Cutes, laying on his side in a corner of the cell the Astartes shared. “As do I. Just shut up!” snapped Grimorus. His brow suddenly raised in confusion and he turned to his purplish-pink brother-in-arms, “And were you really crying over a scarf?" Cutes reared his head and screamed at his comrade, “IT WASN’T JUST A SCARF! IT WAS MY SCARF GRIMORUS!” “Indeed... I can see that the Angry Marine’s hatred of your chapter is justified then, and consider your chapter to have an enemy in the Space Wolves as well.” “Well, what is yours from, wolf-boy?” “His constant yelling,” Grimorus deadpanned as he rested his head against the cold stone floor, his longer mane falling to anarchy all over the stone floor. “Brothers, please, this is no time to be sniping at each other if we are to formulate an escape plan,” sighed Coludeus. The earth stallion had long since given up trying to break his bonds and was simply content to lay on his side on the opposite side of the cell. THUMP THUMP “Guard... you are a psyker, yes? Do you possess any abilities that could silence him?” asked Maxuvos. “If I did, I would have used it hours ago. And I can hear your contemplating you know,” he replied without even pausing to look up from his magazine. “The hell is a psyker?” he thought to himself. “A fair point...” “WELL WE WOULD KICK YOUR HORSEY HORSE-ASS BACK TO YOUR SIRE’S DICK-SACK ANYWAY!” THUMP THUMP The guard flipped the page of his magazine and continued reading, leaving Azerus a squirming, frothing, flapping, almost pitiable ball of rage. Yellow feathers flew every which way as he flapped his relatively massive wings in a futile attempt to right himself. “Well, you are a psyker now as we... OOF!” Coludeus was cut short by a thrashing yellow equine ramming into his body, which he promptly bumped back. “As I was saying, you are a psyker now as well, Brother. Is there something you could do?” asked Coludeus. “I was not a psyker before all of this happened, so I would not even know where to begin to learn to use these abilities. The most I can gather is that the horn on my head, and the guard’s as well,” he motioned to the guard, who was turning the page of his magazine with his telekinesis, “acts as some sort of focus. At any rate, I have a feeling this thing wrapped around it -- and yours as well, Cutes -- would inhibit any connection to the warp. On top of that, the gene-seed of my chapter resists The Warp, so I doubt that I could do anything of use.” “Lodestone caps tend to do that to unicorns,” the guard said offhandedly. “GODDAMN SON OF A...” Azerus’ tirade was cut short by the glow of a bright yellow aura around his muzzle. “Please, Azerus, there is no need to be so angry all the time,” said a matronly voice from the stairwell. The guard hastily stowed his magazine and rapidly stood at attention, eliciting a slight chuckle from his leader. “You may take your leave now, thank you,” said Celestia. The guard bowed and exited up the stairs, disappearing into the castle. “I am afraid he can not help his bouts of rage, Your Highness. It is quite literally in his genes,” said Maxuvos. “I see... Rest well?” she asked. “We probably would have rested better if we were not restrained as we were, Your Highness,” snarled Grimorus. “Brother, remember that it is precisely that attitude that got us restrained in the first place,” noted Cutes. “Like anyone can get any sleep with Azerus’ yelling anyway,” moaned the now-conscious Varivos. “He does make a fair point though, was it truly necessary to restrain us in such a manner?” asked Coludeus. “You colts were acting rather unruly. I felt it necessary to give you time to cool off,” said Celestia. In a bright yellow flash, the enchanted ropes restraining the six stallions vanished, as did the lodestone caps that adorned the horns of Maxuvos and Cutes. Azerus rolled to his hooves, and glared daggers at Celestia, his ranting rendered unintelligible by the magical grip she had on his muzzle. Without any hesitation or forethought, the mad pegasus charged. CLANG Only to be cut short by the thick steel bars of the cell. To his credit, he did leave a fairly decent dent in the enchanted metal. Celestia repaired them with a gentle touch of her telekinesis and addressed the group. “Now, perhaps we can talk like rational ponies.” “I would appreciate a chance to speak properly. First of all, I would like to apologize for my subordinate’s behaviour. You see, our situation is rather... unique, I will say.” They say that a Space Marine knows no fear. However, fear and stupidity are very different things, and stupid is probably the last thing any of the Astartes were. Brash and to-the-point, maybe, but far from stupid. Thus, they knew how to choose their battles. Celestia’s voice dripped with a sweetness that betrayed her borderline hostile words, and her tone bore a finality befitting a judge handing down capital punishment. “I see. Well, first and foremost, let me say that I am willing to let your friend’s assault on one of my subjects slide. I have spoken with Doctor Summer, and she agrees with me that your friend’s outburst was most likely just shock, and she is willing to forgive and forget as well. However, we know of your physiology, and we know how long each of you have lived. I do not know where you came from, but it is clear to us that you are not from Equestria and you are not normal ponies. While your origins are a curiosity to both my sister and I, it is a subject we will have to pursue another time.” Her tone darkened as she continued, “That being said, know this; while I may be trusting and willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, I am by no means naïeve or weak, and even my patience has its limits. Luna and I will be keeping a very close eye on you six. Is that understood?” As said before, stupid is probably the last word anyone would use to describe the Marines currently held captive. Each acknowledged her words with a slight nod, though not a hint of fear was displayed on their faces. This was the being that had bested them with little more than a thought. Though they were duty bound to escape her, they also knew the foolishness of attacking such a creature. That would have to wait for another time. Maxuvos knew he would provide no threat to this creature or her subjects, however he allowed for a brief moment of silence to allow her words to sink into the minds of his subordinates. Looking them over, he noted that all held frustrated expressions. “Perhaps some confirmation is in order...” he thought. “Please excuse me for a moment. I wish to have a word with my subordinates. Could you please release Azerus’ muzzle?” “Only if he promises to stop yelling,” sighed Celestia. Maxuvos shot a glare at Azerus. With a nod of his head he reluctantly conceded to his superior. Satisfied that the belligerent marine would cease his tirade, Celestia released her magical grip on his mouth and Maxuvos turned to face his battle brothers. “Listen, Brothers, I am just as frustrated with our situation as you are, but we may need her help if we are to be changed back into our original forms and escape this place. Some cooperation may be what is best for now, even if it means cooperation with xenos,” whispered Maxuvos. “This is coming from the soldier who’s chapter befriended a Tyranid Hive Fleet...” Cutes deadpanned. “His chapter did what!?” “Calm yourself Azerus,” warned Coludeus. “What you say makes sense, Maxuvos, but I fear that you are being rather naïeve. Who is to say that she will not betray us?” "A fair point. However, she still seems to be our best chance of getting back to our civilization. All that is needed is some cooperation between our races. We must all agree not to harm any of the native creatures on this planet unless we are forced to. That aside,” he turned to look at Celestia, who was busying herself watching condensation drip from the ceiling with her back turned to the group, “I would not want to be the one to draw her ire as you did Varivos. The last thing we need is another enemy.” “What you say borders heresy, Maxuvos,” growled Varivos. “Do you see any other options Brother?” “Unfortunately no...” “Then it is settled.” Maxuvos broke the huddle and turned back to the elder diarch, “Your Highness,” he called. Celestia turned back to the Astartes and spoke, “I trust everything is in order, Brother-Sergeant?” “Please, you may address me as Maxuvos, Your Highness. There is no need for formalities with me.” “Only if you regard me as Celestia, Maxuvos,” she replied. “Very well. I can assure you that, for the time being, you have our cooperation. However I must warn that our kind to not take to treachery very well,” he said. “And the last pony who committed an act of treason earned herself one-thousand years exile, Maxuvos, and she was my own family. I trust you will learn from her mistake,” replied Celestia, with only a hit of pain in her voice. “I can assure you that none of us plan on betraying your trust. Now then, I feel proper introductions are in order.” “Introductions can wait until after breakfast. I am sure my student and her friends have questions for you as well.” ~~~~~ The trip to the dining hall of the castle was fairly uneventful. The group had received some stares from the maids and servants they passed, and glares from the Royal Guard. Rumor of Varivos’ outburst early that morning had spread through the ranks, and by the looks of death that crossed the countenances of the Guardsponies, each of them wanted to get a piece of the marine. However each stare was met with a menacing glare from either Varivos or Grimorus; glares that could chill even the most hardened Guardspony, or even a pony of the elite Honour Guard to their very core. The pair seemed to be taking great pleasure in the fear they were able to inflict. However, their glares proved to be ineffective against at least three of the mares that sat across from them in the castle’s dining hall. Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Maxuvos, and Celestia all watched as their respective comrades and sisters attempted to utterly annihilate each other with their eyes. Even the Astartes, despite having no idea how to manipulate the utensils in front of them with their hooves and resorting to sticking their faces into their plates to eat, never broke eye contact with their opponents. Ever the lady, and utterly appalled by the dining habits of Celestia's guests, Rarity was the first to break the silence that plagued the ornate dining hall. "So... You are not from Equestria?" she asked with every ounce of decorum she could muster. "No," replied Varivos, never breaking eye contact with Applejack. "I see... Then, pray tell, where are you from?" "Not from here," replied Grimorus, who was attempting to intimidate Rainbow Dash. From the end of the table, a frustrated groan was heard. "Alright, we get it! For whatever reason, you don’t like us. That's fine. But honestly, whatever is bothering you, we want to help. So can we please can the hostility? It is doing nopony any good." All heads turned to Twilight, who had both of her forehooves on the table and was breathing heavily, her head and shoulders bobbing with every heave. She shot looks at Applejack and Rainbow Dash that drove her point home, and they both resumed eating, paying no more mind to the stallions across the table from them. Said stallions proceeded to do the same. Twilight brought a forehoof up to her chest and extended it outward as she took a deep, relaxing breath and sat back down. "Thank you," she said, and she resumed eating as well. "Your student, I presume Celestia?" asked Maxuvos. It was now Twilight's turn to fire shots of spite at the Marine who regarded her teacher in such an informal manner. Celestia intervened with a wave of her hoof. "Please, Twilight. Such informality is a necessity if we are to trust each other." "I would hope it at least eases some of the tensions. Especially after the display Varivos provided." "Indeed," replied Celestia as she looked down the table to see her sister still locked in combat with the marine in question, as well as Cutes. Coludeus was content to continue eating in silence, though he received his fair share of nonverbal ire from the lunar diarch. "Brothers!" "Luna!" All of the equines ceased their duel at the sound of their names and immediately resumed their meals with a growl of contempt. Another deafening silence filled the room as everyone continued eating. “So...” started Twilight, “how about we all introduce ourselves? We only know the names of you two," she gestured toward Azerus and Maxuvos, "What about the rest of you?” After Twilight and her friends made their rounds and introduced themselves, each of the unnamed stallions sounded off, conferring nothing more than their names. Twilight’s hoof almost met her face in frustration, however she opted to take another breath instead. “Brothers, what did we discuss about cooperation before coming here?” asked Maxuvos. “We are cooperating, Maxuvos,” replied Varivos. “Then cooperate more, because I have had enough of this nonsense. Regardless of where we are, I am still your superior officer, and you will listen to what I say.” “Superior officer? So you are military,” stated Rarity. “What we are, xenos, is none of your concern. And honestly, Maxuvos, you are going to pull rank now?” spat Varivos. “And that’s another thing, what in the hay is a ‘xenos’?” asked Rainbow Dash. “An alien being, such as yourself,” growled Grimorus. Applejack snorted, put her forehooves up on the table, and stood up. She made every attempt to stare down the Space Wolf, however he managed to trump her stare with his sheer height. The scars across his face and chest only added to the intimidation factor the soldier had, but Applejack refused to back down. “Well from where I sit, y’all look alot different from the rest of us. Maybe you’re the alien here.” “Applejack, please,” pleaded Twilight. “Even if that were the case, we are still your superiors in every way, so I would think twice before you do something you will regret,” threatened Varivos. “Brother Varivos!” barked Maxuvos. “Oh yeah?! Oh Yeah?! YOU WANNA GO PAL?” yelled Rainbow Dash. All sensibility was lost as Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Varivos, and Grimorus continued to antagonize each other. Threats were thrown, insults were slung, and all the while nobody paid any mind to the yellow and red pegasus at the end of the table. Azerus was calmly finishing up his plate. After taking his last few bites, he looked to Celestia and Maxuvos. “Celestia... Maxuvos... I would like to apologize in advance,” he said. Celestia nodded, knowing at least partially what was about to happen. Maxuvos, on the other hand, was massaging his temples with his forehooves and waved Azerus off, knowing exactly what was about to happen. Azerus rubbed his face on his napkin and, once clean, jumped onto the table. “ALL OF YOU JUST SHUT THE FUCK UPALREADY YOU FUCKING INGRATES!” Silence fell about the room for a brief moment before Azerus continued his rant. Celestia and Luna averted their eyes from the spectacle. Maxuvos continued rubbing his temples and rested his chin on the table. “Woah...” deadpanned Spike. “Jesus-FUCKING-Christ! I thought my comrades on the Maximum Fuck were unreasonable, but you Varivos, and you Grimorus... I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO MAKE OF YOU! They may be xenos to us, but Maxuvos even said as much before we even stepped foot in this room, they are our best chance to get home youFUCKING JACKASSES! Antagonizing them does nothing to further our goals! I knew Ultramarines were arrogant, but HOLY. FUCKING. SHIT! I JUST WANT TO POUND YOUR FUCKING SKULL INTO MUSH RIGHT NOW VARIVOS!” Azerus punctuated his remark by crushing his plate into dust under his hoof, bits of crepe and blueberry sauce splattering all over his hoof. He then reared an accusatory (and clean) hoof toward his other comrade. “And you, Brother Grimorus! Enough with the passive-aggressive bullshit already! If you want to beat the fuck out of something that badly, JUST FUCKING DO IT ALREADY!” He then directed his hoof towards Rainbow Dash, who was sitting at her place wearing the same gobsmacked expression as everyone else at the table. ”You, with the rainbow hair, you want to fight him so badly? Go ahead! Throw your life away. But think for one fucking second; where in the fuckdo you think he got that scar over his eye?! How about me, where the fuck do you think I got my scars!? These,” he pointed to a series of scars criss-crossing his face, “came from a mother-fucking HIVE TYRANT!Little known fact, THAT FUCKER TRIED TO EAT ME! You know what I did to that piece of shit?! I RIPPED HIS FUCKING BONESWORD OFF OF HIS BODY AND SHOVED IT DOWN HIS FUCKING THROAT IS WHAT I DID! Don’t be a fool.” “Twilight is right, the hostility gets us nowhere. So do us a favor and shut. the. fuck. up! All of you! I fucking hate many things, but if you really want to piss me off, just keep acting like jackasses.” Silence, once again, fell upon the dining hall, and several of the Royal Guard had poked their heads inside to see what the commotion was about. Suddenly, a faint chuckle echoed through the hall. It was a soft chuckle at first, but eventually crescendoed into raucous laughter. The laughter held not a trace of humour, for it was the laugh of a being pushed past his mental limits. It was something sinister; something primal. There was not a single hair on the back of a single neck that was not on end in the dining hall. Azerus turned back to Grimorus and saw on his countenance the most sinister grin he had ever seen in his life. Celestia and Luna both looked to Grimorus as well, and all were shocked at the sight of the soldier. His already disheveled mane had grown longer, and even more unruly; his coat had done the same. Though his laugh had subsided back to a sinister chuckle, Azerus took up the best defensive stance he could think of in the unfamiliar body he now inhabited. His massive wings flared; he crouched his front end low to the table, attempting to present a smaller target to what was once, and he silently hoped still was, his comrade. “So,” started Grimorus, “passive-aggressive? You think I am all words and no action?” Grimorus' head twitched. His ears splayed flat against his head, and he growled a deep guttural growl that made even the indomitable will of Rainbow Dash crumble to dust. “You know damn well that is not the case Azerus, and I have had enough of all of this. Defend yourself.” With an unconscious flap of his equally massive wings, the Space Wolf lunged at Azerus. The force of a freight train collided with his hunched form, and both were sent sailing through the air over the heads of Rainbow Dash and Applejack. The mares ducked just in time to avoid being caught by the tackle themselves, and both made a mad dash to the end of the table where their friend and diarchs sat, with Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy all following suit. Azerus and Grimorus collided with one of the many marble columns that stood in the hall, and the column cracked in protest. Both of the pegasi fell to the floor in a heap. “Well that escalated quickly,” noted Applejack. “It probably would have not escalated at all had you not antagonized them, Applejack,” chided Rarity. “Please, girls, now is not the time,” said Twilight. “Twilight is right, now is not the time to be placing blame,” said Maxuvos. The mares whipped around to see Maxuvos approaching them and their leaders. “You! You’re their commanding officer! Stop them!” ordered Rainbow Dash. Maxuvos dismissed her order with a wave of his hoof, “You are in no position to be giving orders, Rainbow Dash. What has been started can not be stopped. It is for the best that they get this out of their systems. The rest of us will intervene if things escalate out of control.” He looked over to see his comrades squaring off next to the table, having recovered from Grimorus’ tackle, then shot glares directly to the Guardsponies who had poked their heads in earlier, warning them to stay back. Though they needed no further convincing, Maxuvos felt it necessary to offer further warning. “I would not want to be the one caught in between those two.” ~~~~~ “I would have thought Varivos would be the one to attack me,” chuckled Azerus as he circled the pegasus in front of him. “It appears you were mistaken, Azerus,” growled Grimorus as he mirrored his brother-in-arms. Azerus soon found his back to the wall. Grimorus reared on his hind legs and with a mighty stomp that left spiderweb cracks in the stone floor, he belted out a bone chilling howl that shook even Celestia and Luna to their core. Grimorus charged once again. He barreled towards Azerus with all of the speed his unfamiliar gait could lend him, heedless of the wall sitting just behind his target. With a mighty flap of his wings, Azerus leapt over the charging stallion and watched as the gray and yellow missile careened into the wall. The impact left a great crack in the wall that snaked its way to the high ceiling of the dining hall. Azerus wasted no time. He pressed the advantage and slammed into Grimorus before he had a chance to recover. With a fury only few ponies in the room had the pleasure to bear witness to before, Azerus began to trample the downed marine. Azerus roared in rage, reared back, and began to stomp on the marine’s neck. Once. Grimorus kicked and thrashed as hard as he could in an attempt to kick Azerus off. Twice. Grimorus coughed and cursed. He sunk his razor sharp teeth into his opponent’s leg, with Azerus roaring in fury. Thrice. And as Azerus reared back for a fourth stomp, Grimorus released his opponent’s leg and rolled out of the way. Azerus’ hoof impacted the floor with such force that the very earth shook. Arcs of red, otherworldly lightning crackled from beneath Azerus’ hoof, and a bright red shock-wave radiated from the point of impact. Everybody in the room was sent flying through the air by the sheer might of the blast, and each flight was cut mercilessly short by the presence of walls, columns, and floor. The ornate table where the ponies enjoyed their meal was sent across the room, snapping in half against one of the marble columns that lined the hall. Azerus landed on the opposite end of the room with a dull thud and skidded to a stop. Grimorus lay on the floor in the middle of a large crater. Azerus was the first to recover from the blast, shakily rising to his hooves, coughing and sputtering. "Wha... What the actual fuck was that?! I thought only the horned xenos were psykers! How am I... Ah fuck it all..." Azerus was disappointed to see Grimorus rise to his hooves as well, his mane and coat longer and more disheveled than before. Eyes that spoke of bloodlust resided in his skull, and he turned to Azerus with his teeth bared. He continued to growl a deep guttural growl as he stared Azerus down from across the room, all hints of sanity lost. Maxuvos, Celestia, Luna, and Twilight were the next to recover, each more dazed and confused than the last. Maxuvos stole a glance at Grimorus, and his expression darkened as a grim realization came to him. "Celestia, Princess Luna, get yourselves and your subjects out of here as fast as you can. I fear that things just escalated," he said, his tone calm, collected, yet firm. Celestia rose to her hooves and bore just as grim of an expression as Maxuvos. "With a pegasus who is able to use unicorn magic like that, I would believe so. Brother-Sergeant, consider the origins of you and your comrades to be our top priority once this is all over." Twilight Sparkle gasped as she caught her first glimpse of the slowly transforming Grimorus. "What in the world is happening to him?" she asked as she turned to Celestia. Celestia turned to Maxuvos in response, and Twilight's eyes soon turned to him. "This is exactly what I was afraid would happen. He will soon become uncontrollable unless we subdue him." Luna stamped her hoof forcefully, garnering the attention of the entire group. "You knew of this..." she said through gritted teeth. "All will be explained soon, Princess. For now, get yourself and your subjects out of here." "If you think we're leaving, y'all are crazy," said Applejack as she and the rest of Twilight's friends galloped over. “Applejack, you honestly have no idea what we are dealing with,” said Twilight. “Then allow me to inquire Twilight Sparkle. What are we dealing with Brother-Sergeant?” asked Luna. “I will explain everything later. For now, he is our responsibility,” said Maxuvos as he turned to his battle brothers. “Brothers, listen. If Azerus fails, then only all five of us can stand a chance to subdue Grimorus.” “If you need to subdue him, then perhaps I may be of assistance?” asked Luna. “I am sorry Princess, but I can not allow you to come to harm should Azerus fail,” said Maxuvos. “You underestimate her greatly, Brother-Sergeant,” chuckled Celestia. Luna smirked, “Indeed you do.” “What you are capable of is irrelevant. He is our responsibility.” Maxuvos turned to Azerus and called out to him. “Azerus!” “Yeah, I fucking noticed it. He picked a hell of a time to lose his shit,” yelled Azerus. “Then you know what to do!” “Of course,” said Azerus. Everyone in the room looked on as Azerus charged his unstable opponent.
I - They Shall Be My Finest WarriorsBattle Brothers Forever - Chapter 1 They Shall Be My Finest Warriors Brother-Sergeant Maxuvos of the Knights Inductor thought he had seen the height of irrationality from Imperial high command. What he termed the "antics" of his battle brothers from other chapters he could tolerate. To him, they were simply cogs in a much larger machine; tasked with the defense of the Imperium. However, he hsd seen exterminatus declared on worlds he and his other knights knew could have been saved. He had seen his chapter investigated for heresy by the Inquisition for negotiating peaceful terms of surrender with the Tau; the Tau were, of course, the ones surrendering after a month long orbital bombardment. So when his chapter had received a call from command requesting a handful of Astartes to take part in a “measured response” against an Ork invasion of one of the Imperium’s numerous Forge Worlds, he had silently hoped, nay, prayed that some semblance of sanity had permeated the thick minds of his leaders. The sight that graced his tired eyes told him that his prayers had been not been ignored. No, his prayers had been thrown into a cross-cut paper shredder. It was a sight that would have made the Chaos Gods proud. Although he had been assigned as the commanding officer of his squad, he had long since given up on trying to maintain order. He was a decent distance from the majority of the fighting, far enough where he was not readily noticed by the invading greenskins, but close enough to where he could leap into the fray to assist his brothers at a moments notice. Add to this his camouflage patterned armour and he was virtually invisible compared to the rest of the combatants. He lay prone on his perch and peered through the scope of his Stalker Bolter at the ruined cityscape. There, three of his battle brothers waged war against the invading xenos. Now this in and of itself was not very strange. Of course, he was one hand short, the usual squad size being five, but he was actually surprised as to the skill of some of the Marines that were assigned to him. What was strange, however, was that his superiors had decided to take Marines from four completely different Chapters and assume that they would be able to function properly. In the center of the battlefield, a relatively open area in front of the ruined remains of what was once a manufactorum stood two figures, one towering nearly a meter taller than the other, with a crowd of orks gathered around them; their green-skinned bodies formed a makeshift arena around the combatants. The smaller combatant sidestepped swing after swing, using occasional short bursts from his jet-pack, standard issue for assault marines, for that extra bit of maneuverability he needed to keep his opponent thoroughly frustrated. The gargantuan maul in his hands proved not to be any sort of encumberance. Swing after swing struck nothing but open air, cement, and fellow Ork as the Nob's patience grew thin. “WAAAAAAAAUGH! HOLD STILL YEW GROT!” roared the enormous ork as he swung his mighty axe once again, this time managing to score a glancing hit on his opponents yellow and red left pauldron; the pauldron adorned with his chapters’ red insignia, the Face of Rage. “WAHAHAHA, SLOWING DOWN NOW ARE YOU?!” the ork bellowed as he continued his assault, “JUST DIE!” Unbeknownst to the green giant, an inferno of rage lit in the heart of the warrior he just struck. Maxuvos watched the spectacle unfold as he fired into the crowd of distracted Ork Boyz, each one’s head exploding in a fine pink mist. He soon heard a voice over his helmet radio. “Should we go and help him, brother?” it said. “I would not worry too much about Brother Azerus, Brother Coludeus,” he responded, “Have you ever seen one of his Chapter fight before?” Scanning the battlefield for the source of the voice, he found an Astartes clad in green and black power-armour taking cover from a trio of Shoota Boyz, his bolter held at the ready. Three shots rang out and the Boyz’ assault ceased, prompting the pinned Marine to reveal himself and open fire on a quintet of rapidly advancing Scar Boyz. The slugs met their target and did their deadly deed, but the choppa wielding Boyz merely shrugged off the assault as if they were nothing but flesh wounds; so great was their bloodlust. “Not good, some assistance please brothers!” Coludeus bellowed over the radio. A shout echoed out over the battlefield as his request was granted in the form of another assault marine, this one clad in blueish gray armour with yellow pauldrons. The mighty warrior swooped down on the choppa' wielding greenskins, a mighty shockwave radiating outward from the point of impact. The charging attackers stumbled, and the newcomer began swinging his power-claws with brutal efficiency. “Space Wolves... always with the brutality,” thought Coludeus. He charged into the melee with his comrade, his combat-knife and bolt pistol drawn. With the last of the Scar Boyz dispatched, Coludeus made to thank his battle brother, but the Space Wolf merely grunted and with a flash of his jet-pack, he charged a far away squad of Tank Bustaz, leaving Coludeus alone once again. Instead, he picked up where his conversation with Maxuvos had left off, “No, I cannot say that I have.” The Reasonable Marine chuckled and fired his rifle, relieving the head of a far away Nob of its owner, “Then you are in for a treat.” ~~~~~ The Nob stood easily a meter taller than Brother Azerus of the Angry Marines. His muscles ached from oxygen deprivation. His breathing was strained. Through his unfathomable and ever-present rage, Azerus was thinking more clear than he ever had before; it became clear to him that he was outmatched. The Nob finally cornered the Astartes and brought down his axe, intent on finishing the duel. Brother Azerus brought up his mighty Thunder Hammer to block the blow, the deafening clang of metal on metal signalling the beginning of the end for one of the two parties involved. “GET ‘IM BOSS! KILL THAT SPACE MARINE!”, one Ork in the crowd shouted. Time slowed to a crawl. The head of his massive hammer crackled with energy. “YOU GOT THIS BOSS!”, shouted another. Beneath his helmet, a single bead of sweat trickled down over his nose. “‘EY HUMIE, YOU’S IS DEAD!” yelled a Grot. The vein in his temple pounded. Hairline fractures revealed themselves in the handle of his weapon. A steady chant of “Kill, kill, kill...” rose from the crowd of Orks. There was no way he would let himself die at the hands of this filthy xenos. “You... mother... FUCKER!” cried the Astartes as the handle of his weapon fractured completely. Many of the gathered Boyz reeled back in shock at the outburst of the Marine, and one or two simply had heart attacks from display of sheer ferocity. They were the lucky ones. Sidestepping the inevitable downswing of his opponent, the Astartes crouched low and fired the rockets of his jump-pack, reducing several ork boyz directly behind him to ash and sending his armoured body careening into the exposed abdomen of the nob. The two sailed straight up into the air, both screaming as they ascended. Upon reaching the apex of the jump, the Astartes maneuvered himself on top of the Nob, his power feet placed immediately over the head of the unfortunate greenskin. “You ugly. Fucking. FUCK!” he cried as the two warriors began their descent. The Marine’s boots crackled with an energy so intense, Brother Maxuvos could smell the ozone from his perch. Unheard by Azerus, Maxuvos issued a warning to his battle brothers. “Brothers, I would seek cover if I were you,” he stated. Vocalizations of confusion from all involved were what he received in reply until they looked up to see the crackling energy of their comrades power-feet rapidly approaching the pavement, his unfortunate cargo in tow beneath them. Once again, time seemed to slow. The shockwave of the impact of the marine’s boots against the ground could have easily been mistaken for the impact of a drop-pod, if said drop-pod had several thousand pounds of high explosive strapped to the bottom that detonated on impact with the tortured earth. No... no, that isn’t quite right. Let’s just say that it was like a rather large bomb went off, if said bomb was made of pure and unfiltered rage, fired from orbit from the cannons of the I.S.S. MAXIMUM FUCK, promptly followed by said ship ramming itself into the rather sizeable crater that the previous assault left... twice. All of this was directed into the cranium of the unfortunate nob. In the mere blink of an eye, the Nobs’ head was obliterated, leaving nothing but a pulpy mess underneath his boot. Scores of greenskins were thrown off of their feet and sent flying several meters back from the blast. His breathing was heavy. The vein in his temple pounded. His breathing was raspy. With each breath he took, the fire in his chest grew hotter and hotter, until he bellowed a war cry so loud that the Gods of Chaos themselves trembled at his fury. “WHO THE FUCK IS NEXT YOU PANSY ASS FUCKCOCKERS?!” The closest greenskins to him reportedly imploded (yes, they imploded) at the display of fury. Without waiting for a reply, the Marine grabbed the Nob’s lifeless corpse by the leg and began swinging it at the recovering mob. As stated before, the Nob was clearly outmatched. ~~~~~ “Indeed,” said the dumbfounded Salamander, “are they... is he... always that aggressive?” “Hence the Angry Marines, brother,” deadpanned Maxuvos. “ALWAYS ANGRY! ALL THE TIME!” cried Azerus over vox as a headless green corpse sailed in an arc over Coludeus’ head, crashing down into a squad of Stormboyz that were advancing on his position. Their advance came to a crashing halt as the body of the Nob bowled them over. “WHAT ‘DA ‘ELL WAS ‘DAT?!” screamed one of the Boyz as he rose to his feet. He was able to make no further comment on his situation as a rather large blue ball of plasma sailed overhead in his direction. Underneath his helmet, Coludeus’ eyes widened. He vaulted over a nearby piece of rubble and ran in the direction of Azerus just as the plasma ball reached its destination. The liquid fuel in the rockets strapped to the Boyz’ backs ignited as the plasma’s stored energy was released into the air; the explosions mixed into a fiery cocktail of death. Watching the scene through the scope of his Stalker Bolter, Maxuvos could have sworn that the resulting explosion sparkled. “Hmph, uncouth ruffians,” came a new voice over vox, it being noticeably higher and quite... smoother than the the rest of his battle brothers. “Identify yourself,” commanded Maxuvos. “Oh that better not be who the fuck I think it is...” growled Azerus, the sounds of dying Orks filling the background of his feed. A brief chuckle came from their com-systems before the new voice spoke once again, “This is Brother Cutes of the Pretty Marines, Brother Maxuvos. I am here with Brother Varivos of the Ultramarines. Devastators, at your service.” “I can introduce myself, Brother Cutes,” came a voice that better suited a Space Marine; it was a voice that Maxuvos could only assume belonged to the Ultramarine. He raised his Stalker Bolter to locate the newcomers, but found the action unnecessary as a veritable storm of heavy bolter fire and plasma shots filled the air and screamed into the battlefield. Now, one could imagine that warriors equipped with heavy weapons such as those would start to have a noticeable effect on the battle, and indeed they did. Rocks, pebbles, walls, columns, and rebar all fell to their onslaught. Everything they set their sights on were torn asunder by the might of their weapons. Sadly, none that fell were green in any way, shape, or form. Maxuvos, Coludeus, Azerus, and Grimorus all brought their hands to their heads in a display of shame. Behind the two newcomers, a pair of Nobz made their way to the battlefield, big choppaz held at the ready. However, upon witnessing the completely distracted warriors, one of the Nobz couldn’t help but grin as an idea struck him. He turned to his companion and tilted his head toward the marines, still blindly unloading their arsenal into the battlefield. A deep rumbling chuckle emanated from his companion as they nodded in agreement. “Don’t killz ‘em yet. Wez’ gonna have a bit o’ fun.” Slowly, carefully, and surprisingly quietly, the Nobz crept up to the oblivious warriors. They lowered their choppaz, turning the flat side to face the warriors backsides. They nodded once more, and began a back-swing. Brother Maxuvos was the first to recover from the collective palming of faces, and was the first to witness the unusual sight. He quickly raised his Stalker to fire upon his brother’s attackers, but was too late. “FOOOOOORE!”, bellowed the Nobz as they swung their choppaz. Iron clashed with ceramite, and the Astartes were sent airborne, becoming nothing more than streaks of purple and blue as they flew into the battlefield. They landed at the feet of their battle-weary allies. “Brothers, this has gone on long enough,” growled a very frustrated Maxuvos, who proceeded to rise from his prone position, intent on joining the rest of his brothers in the soon-to-be-carried-out melee. “I agree,” said an equally frustrated Grimorus as he careened in the direction of the rest of his brothers, equally intent on finishing the fight. “And I as well,” agreed Coludeus. “YOU TWO!” rumbled an even more enraged Azerus. He proceeded pick both Cutes and Varivos up by their helmets. “Azerus, whatever grudge you have with your brethren can wait. We have more pressing matters to attend to,” chided Maxuvos as he skidded to a halt alongside his brothers-in-arms. Azerus begrudgingly agreed, but managed a masked scowl at the both of them before dropping them back down onto the concrete. The greenskins halted their assault as a mechanical clanking and the pounding of armoured feet could be heard in a nearby alley. Some started to chuckle. Others pointed in their direction and drew their gnarled fingers across their necks. The clanking and pounding grew louder. More of the Orks started to chuckle. One of them far in the distance actually doubled over in laughter at the Astartes, choking out the words “You boyz is dead!” Cutes and Varivos scrambled to their feet, the latter lowering his heavy bolter and spreading his blue armoured feet apart in a braced stance. Cutes unsheathed the chainsword at his hip and took up a graceful fighting stance. His brothers took up similar stances as the rhythm of the clanking grew faster. The silhouette of a massive figure revealed itself in the distance. It barreled toward the Astartes, throwing aside any and all of its fellow greenskins that were too slow to get out of its way. The clanking and pounding stopped directly in front of the battle brothers, and all stood in staunch defiance. “Hold your fire,” Maxuvos ordered. To his great surprise, his subordinates complied and he breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank the Emperor they at least gave me that,” he thought. An Ork of gargantuan size, clad in the most crude mechanically enhanced armour any had ever seen, towered over them. He looked at them with a scrutinizing eye and turned back to the crowd of Orks under his command. He raised his klaw clad hands above his head and snapped them down to his waist as he bellowed at his own subordinates. “WAAAAAAUGH! YOU GROTZ COULDN’ ‘ANDLE THESE BOYZ!? WOT KINDA SQUIG SHIT IS THIS?!” Brother Maxuvos knew that the enraged warboss was not in a mood to negotiate, but he reasoned that it would be worth it to try to work out a peaceful surrender. To him, it was worth the risk if it meant saving more lives and ending the needless destruction. He stepped forward and addressed the monstrous creature. “You are the leader of these Orks I assume?” he asked. The warboss turned back to the bold marine and laughed, “No, I’m jus’ some Nob who got ‘is ‘ands on some power klawz. NO SHIT I’M THEIR LEADER.” Brother Maxuvos leapt back to his comrades at the Ork’s outburst. Coludeus turned to Maxuvos and said “Does not hurt to try at least.” “My thoughts exactly brother,” he replied. “Idiot,” mumbled Varivos. The warboss thumped his armoured chest with his right klaw and continued, “I’M WARBOSS THRASHA, AND I’M ABOUT TO SHOW YOU LOT WHAT PAIN REALLY IS!” His comrades primed their weapons, and Maxuvos unsheathed a chainsword of his own, while Coludeus grasped the hilt of his power-axe. The massive Ork lowered his body, preparing to charge the Astartes, and the boyz behind him made to do the same. Suddenly, the cloudy skies grew darker, causing all to lower their guards. Ork and human alike looked to the skies to see otherworldly arcs of lightning streak between the clouds. Under their armour, the hairs on the arms of the Astartes stood on end. It was a Warp Rift. Maxuvos addressed the warboss once again. “I don’t suppose you will consider a temporary alliance, Warboss?” he asked. “Alliance?! With xenos?!” shouted a dumbfounded Varivos, “This is heresy Maxuvos.” “If we do not get out of this alive, I think it will matter not if I am a heretic, brother. Now, Warboss Thrasha, will you or will you not fight with us for now?” The powers of the warp grew stronger as the barrier between the materium and the immaterium began to fall to pieces. Hot purple lightning arced from the sky to the ground as portals to the immaterium began to open all around them. There was no escape; this was a full scale Chaos invasion. The warboss looked to the Astartes, then back to the sky. His brow furrowed and he growled a deep guttural growl. He whipped back around and pointed his wide open left klaw at the marines and shouted, “FOINE! WE’LL KILL YOU LOT LATER. BOYZ, IGNORE THE ‘HUMIES. KILL THE CHAOS ‘HUMIES FIRST! WE WILL DEAL WITH THEM LATER!” All Orks present were thoroughly confused at his order and made to attack the Astartes until the warboss roared and slammed his klaw on the ground in frustration. “Not ‘dem you grotz! Kill whatever comes out of ‘dose t'ings!” He jabbed his other klaw at a newly formed portal, and the longer lived of the orks knew instantly what was about to happen. So too, did the Astartes. Coludeus could not help but feel a sense of familiarity with the current events, and turned to Varivos as they waited for the hellspawn of the Warp to show their grotesque faces. “Did similar events not happen to one of your own, Varivos?” he asked. He nodded an affirmative, “Captain Titus, yes. On another forge world. The Chaos Legions invaded after he was tricked into firing a weapon that triggered a Warp Rift. He is currently detained by the Inquisition for investigation of heresy and corruption.” “I see,” said the Salamader, “not that it truly matters.” Varivos was about to offer a retort when the floodgates opened, and the traitorous legions of the Chaos Space Marines poured out of portals. Their appearance left no room for doubt. The blue and yellow striped headdresses of the corrupted Astartes were that of the Thousand Sons legion; they were Tzeentch’s followers. “ATTACK!” roared Thrasha, and the Orks wasted no time in doing what they do best. The Space Marines were about to do the same, if only they had control of their senses. Time in the materium ground to a complete halt. Bolter slugs, Orks, choppaz, and spittle from frothing mad Scar Boyz slowed in their travels as the lord of change himself, Tzeentch, stepped out of the portal closest to the loyalist Astartes. He approached the technicolour warriors, and craned his long neck, scrutinizing them. His beaked head shook in disapproval as he muttered to himself. “No, this simply will not do.” With a snap of his fingers, the Astartes disappeared without a trace. Tzeentch made to walk back to the portal, before he noticed a heavy bolter slug stopped in midair. He plucked it out of the air and walked over to Warboss Thrasha, placing the slug directly in front of the unarmoured bridge of the greenskin’s nose. The slug stayed suspended in midair as the Chaos God walked back through the portal into the immaterium to plan his next move. With one more snap of his fingers, time began to flow again. Chaos reigned. Warboss Thrasha was no more. ~~~~~ A loud belch echoed in the halls of Golden Oaks Library, rousing Spike from his slumber. “What in the world is the Princess doing sending a letter at this time of night?” he pondered as he unrolled the scroll that formed from the ash of his fiery eructation. Twilight moaned in a drowsy drawl as she started to wake up as well, “Ugh, Spike, what is it?” “I have no idea,” replied the equally drowsy dragon as he unrolled the scroll and began to read. His face took on an expression of shock and confusion. “What is it?” asked Twilight. Spike held out the unrolled scroll and Twilight took it in her telekinetic grasp. She began to read, and she too wore a similar expression. “Well, guess we should gather the girls,” said Twilight as she dragged her exhausted body out of bed. ~~~~~ Twilight, I apologize waking you and Spike up at this hour, but time is of the essence and I need the help of you and your friends. I have sent a chariot to pick you up, and it should be outside your home in less than an hour. I will be completely frank with you; what is happening here is unlike anything I have ever seen before, and I haven’t the time to explain. All will be made clear soon. Please, be ready for the chariot when it arrives. Celestia
II - Meet the Team... And Mind Your HeadBattle Brothers Forever - Chapter 2 Meet the Team... And Mind Your Head It truly is a thing of beauty, is it not, Space Marine? The galaxy you and your kind call the Milky Way, one of uncountable billions in the cosmos, and yet this single galaxy has provided so much for our kind. Look upon it, Space Marine. Look upon it in awe, for this is what you have been defending so fanatically for all of these centuries of your service. You humans have always intrigued us, Space Marine. We feed off of the emotions of creatures from countless worlds and countless galaxies, yet never have we seen an outpouring of emotion such as that which comes from your kind. Where you have little magic and even less connection to the Warp, your imagination and ingenuity has more than compensated. And yet no manner of machine can suppress what comes naturally to every creature. When you love, you love unconditionally. When you hate, you hate with every fiber of your being. When you scheme, you obsess. And when you fear, you fear with your whole heart. Don’t try to tell me you know no fear, Space Marine, because I know you do, and I know exactly what you fear. Those sermons that you attend daily -- those oaths you pledge -- all in the name of a corpse are all a lie. What is worse still is that, despite all that you have been told, you know it yourself that it is all a lie. I know of these lies, because I have led countless others like yourself. The Thousand Sons legion have served me with a fanaticism that you and your own battle brothers have shown to your corpse of a God, and they often repeat similar oaths in our name. Even those lost and damned soldiers that have yet to succumb to the influence of the Warp continue to repeat their sermons in the name of your corpse Emperor. How ironic is it then that it was that very fanaticism became your undoing? ~~~~~ “Thank you for coming on such short notice everypony, especially at this time of night,” said Luna. She and Celestia met Twilight, Spike, and the rest of their friends in the main foyer of Canterlot castle. An expression of concern was worn on everyone’s face -- all except for Spike, who was content to sleep on Twilight’s back -- as they took in the sight of the elder diarch. Her ethereal mane and tail, which one once billowed magnificently in the solar winds hung limp around her head and neck. Her ears were splayed against her head, and she was mumbling what sounded to Twilight’s ears like “it makes no sense... no sense whatsoever.” Twilight made no effort to stifle a yawn as she spoke, much to Rarity’s chagrin, “It’s no trouble at all Princess. I am sure it must be something extremely important.” “Twilight, please, at least cover your mouth,” the alabaster unicorn chided under her breath as she stifled a yawn of her own. “Indeed it is, Twilight Sparkle. Please, if you would all follow us, we have much to talk about,” said Luna. The royal sisters turned toward their personal research wing of the castle and the group of weary friends followed. Celestia had her head bowed as she walked, ears still flat against her head as she mumbled to herself, deep in thought. “Hey, Princess, y’alright there?” asked Applejack. The orange earth mare’s concern fell on deaf ears as Celestia continued to mumble. “Do not worry yourself too much about my sister, dear Applejack. These recent events have been taxing her mind as of late. She will recover, but what she needs most right now is rest,” at the word ‘rest’, she lightly pushed against the side of her sister, breaking her out of her stupor. “Huh? What?” asked the perplexed princess, as she looked around and saw everyone looking at her, each face more concerned than the last. “Well, we do worry. Um... that is, if you don’t mind...” said Fluttershy. The buttercream mare retreated behind her long pink mane as she spoke. “Yeah, we do... worry that is. You look worse than Twilight after a three day studying bender,” said Rainbow Dash. Celestia sighed and spoke, “Yes, it is because I have not had much rest for the past week, Rainbow Dash.” “Uh... Princess... I know it may not be my place to say, but that can’t be good for you at all... I should know,” said Twilight. “Indeed you would Twilight,” chuckled Celestia, “but I assure you, like your visit here, it was for good reason.” “And what would that be?” “That you will find out soon enough, my student. We are here.” Ahead of the group stood a rather plain wooden door, the kind of door one would expect to find in a dungeon or other equally unpleasant place. Celestia and Luna both looked to the group. “Girls, I would shield your eyes for a moment,” said Celestia. The royal sisters nodded to each other once they had done so, and they focused as much energy as they could muster from the astral plane. The sisters touched their horns to the door, and a bright, blinding light burst from the windows. Twilight, through squinted eyes, recognized the spell instantly. ”A protection ward? A really *really** powerful protection ward. Not just to keep things out, but to keep things in... what in the world are they going to show us?”* she thought. ~~~~~ Look upon your precious Imperium, Space Marine. Look upon your precious Imperium of Man, and weep for it. I and my own brothers have reduced it to naught but ash. Look at what your fanaticism and blind faith has led to, Space Marine. Look upon your precious *Holy Terra. Watch it burn to ash and weep! This is what the end looks like. This is where your fight ends; this is its inevitable conclusion; **this is what you fear the most. YOU DO NOT FEAR FAILURE! YOU FEAR THE INEVITABLE END!* How appropriate is it then, that it was that same fanaticism that became our undoing as well? I knew when I whisked you away to... somewhere, I have no idea where or even when you ended up to be honest... that it would be the end of all things for a long time at least. Like matter and antimatter, our armies canceled each other out. The Eye of Terror expanded. At one point, it even engulfed all of the Milky Way until all were dead. Tyranids, Necrons, Orks, Tau, the Eldar and their pirate counterparts, and the quadrillions of citizens of your Imperium were slain as we tore down the boundaries between our realities; and as fewer lived to provide us with the emotion we needed to sustain ourselves, we proceed to slay our own until there is nothing left. All four of us faded away. Hmph... blood for the blood god and skulls for the skull throne indeed. ~~~~~ With the protection ward dropped, the royal sisters led Twilight and her friends into the bowels of the research wing. Twilight could recall the many hours she spent here studying various topics here and there, but the halls proved no more welcoming than they had when she last visited. It had obviously been built during the earliest days of Canterlot castle’s existence. The floors, walls, and ceilings were all lined with unevenly cut stone, and along the walls were torches that cast elongated shadows down the halls. The atmosphere was depressing enough that even the ever optimistic Pinkie Pie had the shivers. “‘Pinkie Sense’ a-tinglin’ there, Pinkie Pie?” asked Applejack. “Yep! And it tells me that something horrifying and then something hilarious is about to happen,” responded the bouncing pink mare. Fluttershy squeaked at the word ‘horrifying’, already uneasy at the oppressive atmosphere. The group rounded a corner and were faced with another wooden door. The sisters turned once again to the group. “Please, if you could shield your eyes once more,” requested Luna, and the group of friends did so. With another blinding flash, the door was opened and the group proceeded. Behind this door was a room that stood in stark contrast to the rest of the research wing. Gone were the damp stone floors and walls. In their place were clean marble floors and granite walls. Overhead was the soft, more familiar glow of light-stones that seemed to ease much of the tension that was held in the group. Inside were six steel slabs, each covered with blankets that bulged some distance from the surface. The steady beeping of heart-rate monitors filled the room. “Wow, I forgot how depressing that walk was,” noted Twilight. “Depressing nothing, those hallways are downright creepy. You simply must look into remodeling this wing of the castle princess,” said Rarity. “Is somepony there?” came a voice from a back storage room. “Yes, Doctor, we are here,” Celestia called back. “Wonderful princess, wonderful, I will waste no time getting your student and her friends up to speed,” said the voice as a yellow unicorn mare in a white lab coat trotted her way out of the back room. She approached Twilight and held out her right foreleg, “Summer Song M.D. at your service, Miss Sparkle.” Twilight bumped her hoof, as was their custom, and returned the greeting, “Please, call me Twilight, Doctor. This is Rarity,” she motioned to the purple maned, white coated unicorn standing next to her, “Applejack,” she motioned to the orange and blonde earth pony as she tipped her ever-present Stetson, “Pinkie Pie,” she motioned to the bouncing poofy-maned earth mare, “Fluttershy,” she motioned to the yellow and pink pegasus, who was retreating further and further into her mane as she continued to look at the steel slabs, “Rainbow Dash,” she motioned to the prismatic pegasus mare who was hovering impatiently to Twilight’s right, “and the sleepy-head on my back is my number-one assistant Spike,” she motioned to the lightly snoring dragon. Summer Song chuckled as she spoke, “Only if you promise to call me Summer, Twilight. It is a pleasure to meet you all. Now, if you could please follow me over here.” She proceeded to lead the group over to the opposite end of the room. “Now then...” said Summer as the rest of the group caught up with her. She charged her horn and lit up the translucent panels mounted on the walls. The sheer amount of medical imagery that was revealed was staggering. X-Rays, MRI, CAT scans, the results of every examination that modern equine medicine allowed were revealed. Summer Song cleared her throat and began her speech. “About a week ago, a squad of Royal Guardsponies found these six at the base of the mountain. If you pardon the language, everypony, it looked like these ponies had seen, and walked through, Tartarus, and all were unconscious. They were brought back to the hospital in Canterlot, for medical treatment, but when the report was made to Princess Celestia that these ponies had been found, she insisted that they be kept and monitored here. “All except for one bear scars all over their body, but mostly on their heads and faces. The face on the light-purple one is completely clean, and, to be honest, we mistook him for a really big mare until we... yeah, moving on. However, that is not the strangest thing about these ponies. First off, these ponies are big... and I mean really big. That should have been apparent, even with the blankets over them. All of them are almost as big as Princess Celestia, except for the pegasus with the yellow coat and red mane,” Summer motioned for everyone to look at the closest slab, “who is about as big as Princess Luna. Now, if you will look at the x-rays...” she trotted closer to the wall and a nearby pointer glowed with an orange aura. It began its mission of direction by pointing to the x-ray of the aforementioned pegasus, “notice anything strange about this pony? Take a look at the rib-cage.” Everyone leaned a bit closer and Twilight let out a gasp in shock. “That’s right. Their rib-cages are all one solid piece. All six of them are like this. And if you will take a look at the rest of their skeletal structure,” she moved the pointer to direct their attention to the pony’s femur, and then the rest of the skeleton, “their entire skeletal structure is dense beyond anything anypony has ever seen. In addition, their muscles... wow their muscles... I’ll just say this, when these guys wake up, they will be very strong and very fast. Probably even on the levels of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. The magical potential of the two unicorns has not yet been investigated, but I can tell you that I am excited to see what comes of it. “In addition, the... goodness, what colour would you call that?” she motioned to the pegasus with the yellow mane, and Rarity was the first to respond. “I would say it seems to be gray with a slight blue tint,” she said. “Alright then,” continued Summer, “the blueish-gray pegasus over there, take a look at his head. Notice anything else peculiar?” she motioned to the head x-ray of the pegasus in question. “Oh my... are those... fangs?” stuttered Fluttershy. “Indeed they are, yet he is the only one of those six that has fangs like those. Now, there are two more strange things about them I must note before I show you what else we found.” The doctor trotted through the group of to the steel slab behind them, directing their attention to a yellow furred flank, “take a look at this. Notice something else strange?” she asked. The group leaned in for a closer look and yet another gasp of surprise was released before Twilight spoke, “There is no cutie mark on him!” “Right again Twilight. Again, all six of them are like this. No cutie marks at all.” “And the second thing?” “Let me ask you,” said Summer before she trotted to where the yellow pony’s head was resting and directed their attention to it, “how old do you think this pony is?” Applejack was the first to speak this time, “Well, I reckon that he can’t be any older than thirty or so.” Summer Song shook her head, “Judging completely by tooth-wear, you would think that, Applejack. In reality, every single one of these ponies are at least one-hundred years old.” Once again, more gasping from those who were not in-the-know. She deactivated the lights behind the wall and began to trot off before she called back, “Now, please follow me. There is so much more to discuss.” ~~~~~ She led the group of friends and her diarchs to the back room where she had come from, and the sight that graced the eyes of the six friends left the speechless. Hanging on one the walls of the room were five sets of Mark VII “Aquila Armour”, each with a helmet of a matching colour beneath them. A sixth set, one coloured an ultramarine blue with gold trimming on the pauldrons lay in a state of disrepair on a table on the opposite end of the room. Above each set of functioning armour were the weapons the ponies in the other room once wielded. “What on earth?” stated a dumbstruck Twilight. “The colours... they’re so.... gaudy...” said an equally dumbstruck Rarity. “Gaudy, maybe, but no less fascinating. We found all of the things in this room near the ponies you just saw. Obviously, this armour is not meant for pony use, but still, the technology here is unlike anything we have ever seen before,” said an almost gleeful Summer. “Hold on just a second,” interrupted Rainbow Dash, who was currently studying the armour with the yellow shoulder-pads, “those colours on their armour, they match the coats and manes of the stallions in the other room don’t they?” Summer Song nodded, and continued. “And watch this,” she said as she took a pen out of the pocket of her lab-coat in her telekinetic grasp. She threw it at the purple armour, and with a flash of light, the pen disintegrated. For what seemed like the hundredth time in the last few minutes, the group of friends gasped. Twilight’s physical recoil sent Spike tumbling off of her back and sprawling onto the marble floor. “Ow... hey, what gives Twi?” he asked in a groggy drawl. “Sorry Spike,” she responded before helping the youth to his feet. “So what is that? A shielding spell?” she continued. “Not a spell that we know of. We couldn’t find any sort of magic-retentive crystals or runes of any kind in or around the armour. The nearest thing we could find were these...” a purity seal, blessed with sermons of the Holy Emperor, was lifted from the table where the blue armour was laying and was displayed to the group. “Obviously we can’t read the language, but as you may have noticed, these slips of cloth are all over the other suits. It is our hope that once these guys wake up they can shed some light on the kind of magic at play here. We found similar markings etched and painted directly onto the armour itself.” “But... what about the words here? I think I can read these pretty clearly...” said Spike as he pointed to the yellow and red armour. Specifically, he was pointing to the right greave which had a big red arrow pointing to the boot, the message “YOUR ASS HERE!” in bold black text above it. “When do you think they will? Ooh, I have so many questions for them.” Twilight was practically bouncing in place, further adding to the energy of the already bouncing pink party pony in the group. Spike grumbled and stomped back to Twilight, completely and utterly ignored. “Ooh! Ooh! Do we get to throw them a ‘Welcome-To-Canterlot-Sorry-We-Wrecked-Your-Armour-We-Just-Thought-It-Was-Interesting par...” ~~~~~ We are doomed to repeat this cycle again, Space Marine. It is all a part of our existence. When will history repeat itself again? Well, I am not of the capacity to say. I can assure you, though, that it will. So until we meet again. ~~~~~ The pink mare was cut short by a gut-wrenching roar of rage coming from the other room. Any equine or wyrm that was not fully awake at this point most assuredly was now. “WHAT XENOS SORCERY IS THIS?!” bellowed the voice. Everyone rushed out of the back room to see that the blue earth pony with the yellow mane had woken up, and was now intent on thoroughly smashing all medical equipment that he could reach. “Xenos sorcery... xenos?” thought Twilight. “Woah...” said Spike. Celestia, Luna, and Summer Song all rushed to the side of the thrashing stallion. “Please, calm down sir,” said Summer. The stallion fell off of the table and landed with a dull thud on the unforgiving marble floor. He shakily rose to his hooves and glared a glare of death at the yellow unicorn. He swung his right foreleg at her head, cold-cocking her and sending her careening into the wall. Summer Song fell to the floor unconscious. Before either Celestia or Luna could react, the stallion barreled his way through the door, shattering it to splinters. To those who did not know any better, they could have said that the door simply exploded, as the Ultramarine was out of sight before the guards stationed outside had a chance to collect themselves. As if the order had been given by Celestia’s top Drill Sergeant, jaws hit the floor all at once. The brows of the royal sisters were furrowed, enraged that such a creature harmed one of their own. “I had a feeling he would react that way,” came a new voice from the table to their right. The group spun to the source. Twilight’s horn was charged with the arcane energies of the world around her, as was Rarity’s horn and the horns of the immortal diarchs. Applejack crouched low, pawing at the floor; her brow furrowed; her ears were pinned to her head under her Stetson. One could swear that her hooves had a slight glow to them. Rainbow dash had risen to her hind legs using her wings for support; her forelegs were held up in what could best be described a fighting stance. Pinkie Pie had pulled her Party Cannon out from... somewhere. Fluttershy was trying her best to look menacing, but only succeeded in looking adorable. “You had better prepare for when everyone else wakes up though, or you will have an actual body count on your hands... er... hooves I guess. That is if he hasn’t killed anyone already. I would worry especially about Brother Azerus. You may want to figure out a way to contain him, and soon,” it continued. “GUARDS!” bellowed the regent of the sun, but none responded. The voice chuckled at the display as from behind the blanket a desert gray head emerged. It then promptly fell back down onto the slab. The voice chuckled again as it spoke, “I assure you that combat will not be necessary. I am in no condition to fight. And even if...” The voice grunted as the body it belonged to made another attempt at getting up. “I was...” He grunted again as he, like his comrade before him, fell to the floor with a dull thud. “Ah... there...” The stallion shakily rose to his hooves. The group of mares retained their fighting stances. “As I was saying,” he said before he used his mouth to remove the intravenous needles from his left foreleg, “even if I was, I would have no desire to fight. I am a reasonable soldier, after all.” Celestia slowly walked up to the unicorn, her horn still charged. She looked the massive stallion in the eyes and asked, “Who are you?” “I am Brother-Sergeant Maxuvos of the Knights Invictius... more colloquially known as the Reasonable Marines, your highness.” Just then, Murphy came back for round two, “Holy fucking shit my head hurts like fuck man! What the fuck happe... IS THIS... WHAT THE FUCK?!” Maxuvos’ ears snapped flat against his head as he and everyone else looked to the yellow and red storm of blankets and ponified Space Marine, “And that would be Brother Azerus of the Angry Marines... the one I warned you about.” "I see... Brother-Sergeant, I am terribly sorry for this," said Celestia before a golden aura engulfed the now very awake marines, and they were teleported into the bowels of the castle. Not more than a few moments later a loud crackling of arcane energy could be heard down the halls, followed by the screaming of a certain blue and yellow soldier. “At least the second ward held,” Celestia said with a slight chuckle. Her attention then turned to Summer Song, who was just starting to come to. “Are you alright?” she asked. “I... wow, the guy packs quite a kick... yeah, I’ll be fine,” replied Summer. “Good, I would like you to visit the palace infirmary regardless. I will send one of the guards to escort you.” “Thank you, Princess,” said the mare as she stumbled her way out of the lab. Celestia sighed and turned to the group of perplexed ponies. “Girls, I think it would be best if we waited until morning to continue this. I have guest rooms ready for each of you. Twilight can show you the way.” “Where did you send them?” asked Twilight. “To the dungeons. I honestly had no idea that they would react with violence. I will release them by sunrise if they are willing to cooperate. In the meantime, I think it would be best if we all had some rest.” Satisfied with her response, Twilight and her friends took their leave. As the drowsy group made their way out of the research wing, none took notice of Celestia and Luna staying behind, just out of earshot. “Are you noticing a familiarity with them as well, sister?” “Yes Luna, and that is what troubles me the most.”
III - One Dysfunctional FamilyBattle Brothers Forever - Chapter 3 One Dysfunctional Family “It has been five hours. Five Emperor forsaken hours since we woke up in this place...” thought Maxuvos. THUMP THUMP THUMP “HEY, I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME YOU FUCKING. XENOS. COCKBAG!” screamed an enraged yellow pegasus. “Indeed, Brother Varivos had reacted rather... hastily when he discovered his new predicament, but he is an Ultramarine; they are notorious for following the Codex Astartes to the letter.” THUMP THUMP THUMP “YEAH! THAT’S RIGHT HORSE BOY! I’M TALKING TO YOU!” The guard stationed at the door of the Canterlot dungeon simply rolled his eyes and looked back to his magazine. “And what the Codex says to do in situations like these is to make every attempt to escape, which he did... however, perhaps a bit more forethought could have gone into his plan.” The crusader of reason turned to his comrade -- unconscious, his body involuntary convulsing as visible bolts of arcane yellow energy arced about his body -- and shook his head, “Just what kind of sorcery was that?” THUMP THUMP THUMP “Brother Azerus... do you know the definition of insanity?” asked Coludeus. The former human cocked his dark green head to witness the sight of his pegasus comrade fruitlessly struggling against the ethereal ropes that bound him. “FUCK YOU BRO! FUCK YOU, THAT’S WHAT!” THUMP THUMP “Clearly he does not, Brother Coludeus,” replied a supremely stressed Space Wolf, who also continued to struggle against the glowing golden-yellow ropes tied around his and his comrade’s legs. THUMP “Brother Azerus please... I already have a headache,” moaned Cutes, laying on his side in a corner of the cell the Astartes shared. “As do I. Just shut up!” snapped Grimorus. His brow suddenly raised in confusion and he turned to his purplish-pink brother-in-arms, “And were you really crying over a scarf?" Cutes reared his head and screamed at his comrade, “IT WASN’T JUST A SCARF! IT WAS MY SCARF GRIMORUS!” “Indeed... I can see that the Angry Marine’s hatred of your chapter is justified then, and consider your chapter to have an enemy in the Space Wolves as well.” “Well, what is yours from, wolf-boy?” “His constant yelling,” Grimorus deadpanned as he rested his head against the cold stone floor, his longer mane falling to anarchy all over the stone floor. “Brothers, please, this is no time to be sniping at each other if we are to formulate an escape plan,” sighed Coludeus. The earth stallion had long since given up trying to break his bonds and was simply content to lay on his side on the opposite side of the cell. THUMP THUMP “Guard... you are a psyker, yes? Do you possess any abilities that could silence him?” asked Maxuvos. “If I did, I would have used it hours ago. And I can hear your contemplating you know,” he replied without even pausing to look up from his magazine. “The hell is a psyker?” he thought to himself. “A fair point...” “WELL WE WOULD KICK YOUR HORSEY HORSE-ASS BACK TO YOUR SIRE’S DICK-SACK ANYWAY!” THUMP THUMP The guard flipped the page of his magazine and continued reading, leaving Azerus a squirming, frothing, flapping, almost pitiable ball of rage. Yellow feathers flew every which way as he flapped his relatively massive wings in a futile attempt to right himself. “Well, you are a psyker now as we... OOF!” Coludeus was cut short by a thrashing yellow equine ramming into his body, which he promptly bumped back. “As I was saying, you are a psyker now as well, Brother. Is there something you could do?” asked Coludeus. “I was not a psyker before all of this happened, so I would not even know where to begin to learn to use these abilities. The most I can gather is that the horn on my head, and the guard’s as well,” he motioned to the guard, who was turning the page of his magazine with his telekinesis, “acts as some sort of focus. At any rate, I have a feeling this thing wrapped around it -- and yours as well, Cutes -- would inhibit any connection to the warp. On top of that, the gene-seed of my chapter resists The Warp, so I doubt that I could do anything of use.” “Lodestone caps tend to do that to unicorns,” the guard said offhandedly. “GODDAMN SON OF A...” Azerus’ tirade was cut short by the glow of a bright yellow aura around his muzzle. “Please, Azerus, there is no need to be so angry all the time,” said a matronly voice from the stairwell. The guard hastily stowed his magazine and rapidly stood at attention, eliciting a slight chuckle from his leader. “You may take your leave now, thank you,” said Celestia. The guard bowed and exited up the stairs, disappearing into the castle. “I am afraid he can not help his bouts of rage, Your Highness. It is quite literally in his genes,” said Maxuvos. “I see... Rest well?” she asked. “We probably would have rested better if we were not restrained as we were, Your Highness,” snarled Grimorus. “Brother, remember that it is precisely that attitude that got us restrained in the first place,” noted Cutes. “Like anyone can get any sleep with Azerus’ yelling anyway,” moaned the now-conscious Varivos. “He does make a fair point though, was it truly necessary to restrain us in such a manner?” asked Coludeus. “You colts were acting rather unruly. I felt it necessary to give you time to cool off,” said Celestia. In a bright yellow flash, the enchanted ropes restraining the six stallions vanished, as did the lodestone caps that adorned the horns of Maxuvos and Cutes. Azerus rolled to his hooves, and glared daggers at Celestia, his ranting rendered unintelligible by the magical grip she had on his muzzle. Without any hesitation or forethought, the mad pegasus charged. CLANG Only to be cut short by the thick steel bars of the cell. To his credit, he did leave a fairly decent dent in the enchanted metal. Celestia repaired them with a gentle touch of her telekinesis and addressed the group. “Now, perhaps we can talk like rational ponies.” “I would appreciate a chance to speak properly. First of all, I would like to apologize for my subordinate’s behaviour. You see, our situation is rather... unique, I will say.” They say that a Space Marine knows no fear. However, fear and stupidity are very different things, and stupid is probably the last thing any of the Astartes were. Brash and to-the-point, maybe, but far from stupid. Thus, they knew how to choose their battles. Celestia’s voice dripped with a sweetness that betrayed her borderline hostile words, and her tone bore a finality befitting a judge handing down capital punishment. “I see. Well, first and foremost, let me say that I am willing to let your friend’s assault on one of my subjects slide. I have spoken with Doctor Summer, and she agrees with me that your friend’s outburst was most likely just shock, and she is willing to forgive and forget as well. However, we know of your physiology, and we know how long each of you have lived. I do not know where you came from, but it is clear to us that you are not from Equestria and you are not normal ponies. While your origins are a curiosity to both my sister and I, it is a subject we will have to pursue another time.” Her tone darkened as she continued, “That being said, know this; while I may be trusting and willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, I am by no means naïeve or weak, and even my patience has its limits. Luna and I will be keeping a very close eye on you six. Is that understood?” As said before, stupid is probably the last word anyone would use to describe the Marines currently held captive. Each acknowledged her words with a slight nod, though not a hint of fear was displayed on their faces. This was the being that had bested them with little more than a thought. Though they were duty bound to escape her, they also knew the foolishness of attacking such a creature. That would have to wait for another time. Maxuvos knew he would provide no threat to this creature or her subjects, however he allowed for a brief moment of silence to allow her words to sink into the minds of his subordinates. Looking them over, he noted that all held frustrated expressions. “Perhaps some confirmation is in order...” he thought. “Please excuse me for a moment. I wish to have a word with my subordinates. Could you please release Azerus’ muzzle?” “Only if he promises to stop yelling,” sighed Celestia. Maxuvos shot a glare at Azerus. With a nod of his head he reluctantly conceded to his superior. Satisfied that the belligerent marine would cease his tirade, Celestia released her magical grip on his mouth and Maxuvos turned to face his battle brothers. “Listen, Brothers, I am just as frustrated with our situation as you are, but we may need her help if we are to be changed back into our original forms and escape this place. Some cooperation may be what is best for now, even if it means cooperation with xenos,” whispered Maxuvos. “This is coming from the soldier who’s chapter befriended a Tyranid Hive Fleet...” Cutes deadpanned. “His chapter did what!?” “Calm yourself Azerus,” warned Coludeus. “What you say makes sense, Maxuvos, but I fear that you are being rather naïeve. Who is to say that she will not betray us?” "A fair point. However, she still seems to be our best chance of getting back to our civilization. All that is needed is some cooperation between our races. We must all agree not to harm any of the native creatures on this planet unless we are forced to. That aside,” he turned to look at Celestia, who was busying herself watching condensation drip from the ceiling with her back turned to the group, “I would not want to be the one to draw her ire as you did Varivos. The last thing we need is another enemy.” “What you say borders heresy, Maxuvos,” growled Varivos. “Do you see any other options Brother?” “Unfortunately no...” “Then it is settled.” Maxuvos broke the huddle and turned back to the elder diarch, “Your Highness,” he called. Celestia turned back to the Astartes and spoke, “I trust everything is in order, Brother-Sergeant?” “Please, you may address me as Maxuvos, Your Highness. There is no need for formalities with me.” “Only if you regard me as Celestia, Maxuvos,” she replied. “Very well. I can assure you that, for the time being, you have our cooperation. However I must warn that our kind to not take to treachery very well,” he said. “And the last pony who committed an act of treason earned herself one-thousand years exile, Maxuvos, and she was my own family. I trust you will learn from her mistake,” replied Celestia, with only a hit of pain in her voice. “I can assure you that none of us plan on betraying your trust. Now then, I feel proper introductions are in order.” “Introductions can wait until after breakfast. I am sure my student and her friends have questions for you as well.” ~~~~~ The trip to the dining hall of the castle was fairly uneventful. The group had received some stares from the maids and servants they passed, and glares from the Royal Guard. Rumor of Varivos’ outburst early that morning had spread through the ranks, and by the looks of death that crossed the countenances of the Guardsponies, each of them wanted to get a piece of the marine. However each stare was met with a menacing glare from either Varivos or Grimorus; glares that could chill even the most hardened Guardspony, or even a pony of the elite Honour Guard to their very core. The pair seemed to be taking great pleasure in the fear they were able to inflict. However, their glares proved to be ineffective against at least three of the mares that sat across from them in the castle’s dining hall. Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Maxuvos, and Celestia all watched as their respective comrades and sisters attempted to utterly annihilate each other with their eyes. Even the Astartes, despite having no idea how to manipulate the utensils in front of them with their hooves and resorting to sticking their faces into their plates to eat, never broke eye contact with their opponents. Ever the lady, and utterly appalled by the dining habits of Celestia's guests, Rarity was the first to break the silence that plagued the ornate dining hall. "So... You are not from Equestria?" she asked with every ounce of decorum she could muster. "No," replied Varivos, never breaking eye contact with Applejack. "I see... Then, pray tell, where are you from?" "Not from here," replied Grimorus, who was attempting to intimidate Rainbow Dash. From the end of the table, a frustrated groan was heard. "Alright, we get it! For whatever reason, you don’t like us. That's fine. But honestly, whatever is bothering you, we want to help. So can we please can the hostility? It is doing nopony any good." All heads turned to Twilight, who had both of her forehooves on the table and was breathing heavily, her head and shoulders bobbing with every heave. She shot looks at Applejack and Rainbow Dash that drove her point home, and they both resumed eating, paying no more mind to the stallions across the table from them. Said stallions proceeded to do the same. Twilight brought a forehoof up to her chest and extended it outward as she took a deep, relaxing breath and sat back down. "Thank you," she said, and she resumed eating as well. "Your student, I presume Celestia?" asked Maxuvos. It was now Twilight's turn to fire shots of spite at the Marine who regarded her teacher in such an informal manner. Celestia intervened with a wave of her hoof. "Please, Twilight. Such informality is a necessity if we are to trust each other." "I would hope it at least eases some of the tensions. Especially after the display Varivos provided." "Indeed," replied Celestia as she looked down the table to see her sister still locked in combat with the marine in question, as well as Cutes. Coludeus was content to continue eating in silence, though he received his fair share of nonverbal ire from the lunar diarch. "Brothers!" "Luna!" All of the equines ceased their duel at the sound of their names and immediately resumed their meals with a growl of contempt. Another deafening silence filled the room as everyone continued eating. “So...” started Twilight, “how about we all introduce ourselves? We only know the names of you two," she gestured toward Azerus and Maxuvos, "What about the rest of you?” After Twilight and her friends made their rounds and introduced themselves, each of the unnamed stallions sounded off, conferring nothing more than their names. Twilight’s hoof almost met her face in frustration, however she opted to take another breath instead. “Brothers, what did we discuss about cooperation before coming here?” asked Maxuvos. “We are cooperating, Maxuvos,” replied Varivos. “Then cooperate more, because I have had enough of this nonsense. Regardless of where we are, I am still your superior officer, and you will listen to what I say.” “Superior officer? So you are military,” stated Rarity. “What we are, xenos, is none of your concern. And honestly, Maxuvos, you are going to pull rank now?” spat Varivos. “And that’s another thing, what in the hay is a ‘xenos’?” asked Rainbow Dash. “An alien being, such as yourself,” growled Grimorus. Applejack snorted, put her forehooves up on the table, and stood up. She made every attempt to stare down the Space Wolf, however he managed to trump her stare with his sheer height. The scars across his face and chest only added to the intimidation factor the soldier had, but Applejack refused to back down. “Well from where I sit, y’all look alot different from the rest of us. Maybe you’re the alien here.” “Applejack, please,” pleaded Twilight. “Even if that were the case, we are still your superiors in every way, so I would think twice before you do something you will regret,” threatened Varivos. “Brother Varivos!” barked Maxuvos. “Oh yeah?! Oh Yeah?! YOU WANNA GO PAL?” yelled Rainbow Dash. All sensibility was lost as Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Varivos, and Grimorus continued to antagonize each other. Threats were thrown, insults were slung, and all the while nobody paid any mind to the yellow and red pegasus at the end of the table. Azerus was calmly finishing up his plate. After taking his last few bites, he looked to Celestia and Maxuvos. “Celestia... Maxuvos... I would like to apologize in advance,” he said. Celestia nodded, knowing at least partially what was about to happen. Maxuvos, on the other hand, was massaging his temples with his forehooves and waved Azerus off, knowing exactly what was about to happen. Azerus rubbed his face on his napkin and, once clean, jumped onto the table. “ALL OF YOU JUST SHUT THE FUCK UPALREADY YOU FUCKING INGRATES!” Silence fell about the room for a brief moment before Azerus continued his rant. Celestia and Luna averted their eyes from the spectacle. Maxuvos continued rubbing his temples and rested his chin on the table. “Woah...” deadpanned Spike. “Jesus-FUCKING-Christ! I thought my comrades on the Maximum Fuck were unreasonable, but you Varivos, and you Grimorus... I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO MAKE OF YOU! They may be xenos to us, but Maxuvos even said as much before we even stepped foot in this room, they are our best chance to get home youFUCKING JACKASSES! Antagonizing them does nothing to further our goals! I knew Ultramarines were arrogant, but HOLY. FUCKING. SHIT! I JUST WANT TO POUND YOUR FUCKING SKULL INTO MUSH RIGHT NOW VARIVOS!” Azerus punctuated his remark by crushing his plate into dust under his hoof, bits of crepe and blueberry sauce splattering all over his hoof. He then reared an accusatory (and clean) hoof toward his other comrade. “And you, Brother Grimorus! Enough with the passive-aggressive bullshit already! If you want to beat the fuck out of something that badly, JUST FUCKING DO IT ALREADY!” He then directed his hoof towards Rainbow Dash, who was sitting at her place wearing the same gobsmacked expression as everyone else at the table. ”You, with the rainbow hair, you want to fight him so badly? Go ahead! Throw your life away. But think for one fucking second; where in the fuckdo you think he got that scar over his eye?! How about me, where the fuck do you think I got my scars!? These,” he pointed to a series of scars criss-crossing his face, “came from a mother-fucking HIVE TYRANT!Little known fact, THAT FUCKER TRIED TO EAT ME! You know what I did to that piece of shit?! I RIPPED HIS FUCKING BONESWORD OFF OF HIS BODY AND SHOVED IT DOWN HIS FUCKING THROAT IS WHAT I DID! Don’t be a fool.” “Twilight is right, the hostility gets us nowhere. So do us a favor and shut. the. fuck. up! All of you! I fucking hate many things, but if you really want to piss me off, just keep acting like jackasses.” Silence, once again, fell upon the dining hall, and several of the Royal Guard had poked their heads inside to see what the commotion was about. Suddenly, a faint chuckle echoed through the hall. It was a soft chuckle at first, but eventually crescendoed into raucous laughter. The laughter held not a trace of humour, for it was the laugh of a being pushed past his mental limits. It was something sinister; something primal. There was not a single hair on the back of a single neck that was not on end in the dining hall. Azerus turned back to Grimorus and saw on his countenance the most sinister grin he had ever seen in his life. Celestia and Luna both looked to Grimorus as well, and all were shocked at the sight of the soldier. His already disheveled mane had grown longer, and even more unruly; his coat had done the same. Though his laugh had subsided back to a sinister chuckle, Azerus took up the best defensive stance he could think of in the unfamiliar body he now inhabited. His massive wings flared; he crouched his front end low to the table, attempting to present a smaller target to what was once, and he silently hoped still was, his comrade. “So,” started Grimorus, “passive-aggressive? You think I am all words and no action?” Grimorus' head twitched. His ears splayed flat against his head, and he growled a deep guttural growl that made even the indomitable will of Rainbow Dash crumble to dust. “You know damn well that is not the case Azerus, and I have had enough of all of this. Defend yourself.” With an unconscious flap of his equally massive wings, the Space Wolf lunged at Azerus. The force of a freight train collided with his hunched form, and both were sent sailing through the air over the heads of Rainbow Dash and Applejack. The mares ducked just in time to avoid being caught by the tackle themselves, and both made a mad dash to the end of the table where their friend and diarchs sat, with Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy all following suit. Azerus and Grimorus collided with one of the many marble columns that stood in the hall, and the column cracked in protest. Both of the pegasi fell to the floor in a heap. “Well that escalated quickly,” noted Applejack. “It probably would have not escalated at all had you not antagonized them, Applejack,” chided Rarity. “Please, girls, now is not the time,” said Twilight. “Twilight is right, now is not the time to be placing blame,” said Maxuvos. The mares whipped around to see Maxuvos approaching them and their leaders. “You! You’re their commanding officer! Stop them!” ordered Rainbow Dash. Maxuvos dismissed her order with a wave of his hoof, “You are in no position to be giving orders, Rainbow Dash. What has been started can not be stopped. It is for the best that they get this out of their systems. The rest of us will intervene if things escalate out of control.” He looked over to see his comrades squaring off next to the table, having recovered from Grimorus’ tackle, then shot glares directly to the Guardsponies who had poked their heads in earlier, warning them to stay back. Though they needed no further convincing, Maxuvos felt it necessary to offer further warning. “I would not want to be the one caught in between those two.” ~~~~~ “I would have thought Varivos would be the one to attack me,” chuckled Azerus as he circled the pegasus in front of him. “It appears you were mistaken, Azerus,” growled Grimorus as he mirrored his brother-in-arms. Azerus soon found his back to the wall. Grimorus reared on his hind legs and with a mighty stomp that left spiderweb cracks in the stone floor, he belted out a bone chilling howl that shook even Celestia and Luna to their core. Grimorus charged once again. He barreled towards Azerus with all of the speed his unfamiliar gait could lend him, heedless of the wall sitting just behind his target. With a mighty flap of his wings, Azerus leapt over the charging stallion and watched as the gray and yellow missile careened into the wall. The impact left a great crack in the wall that snaked its way to the high ceiling of the dining hall. Azerus wasted no time. He pressed the advantage and slammed into Grimorus before he had a chance to recover. With a fury only few ponies in the room had the pleasure to bear witness to before, Azerus began to trample the downed marine. Azerus roared in rage, reared back, and began to stomp on the marine’s neck. Once. Grimorus kicked and thrashed as hard as he could in an attempt to kick Azerus off. Twice. Grimorus coughed and cursed. He sunk his razor sharp teeth into his opponent’s leg, with Azerus roaring in fury. Thrice. And as Azerus reared back for a fourth stomp, Grimorus released his opponent’s leg and rolled out of the way. Azerus’ hoof impacted the floor with such force that the very earth shook. Arcs of red, otherworldly lightning crackled from beneath Azerus’ hoof, and a bright red shock-wave radiated from the point of impact. Everybody in the room was sent flying through the air by the sheer might of the blast, and each flight was cut mercilessly short by the presence of walls, columns, and floor. The ornate table where the ponies enjoyed their meal was sent across the room, snapping in half against one of the marble columns that lined the hall. Azerus landed on the opposite end of the room with a dull thud and skidded to a stop. Grimorus lay on the floor in the middle of a large crater. Azerus was the first to recover from the blast, shakily rising to his hooves, coughing and sputtering. "Wha... What the actual fuck was that?! I thought only the horned xenos were psykers! How am I... Ah fuck it all..." Azerus was disappointed to see Grimorus rise to his hooves as well, his mane and coat longer and more disheveled than before. Eyes that spoke of bloodlust resided in his skull, and he turned to Azerus with his teeth bared. He continued to growl a deep guttural growl as he stared Azerus down from across the room, all hints of sanity lost. Maxuvos, Celestia, Luna, and Twilight were the next to recover, each more dazed and confused than the last. Maxuvos stole a glance at Grimorus, and his expression darkened as a grim realization came to him. "Celestia, Princess Luna, get yourselves and your subjects out of here as fast as you can. I fear that things just escalated," he said, his tone calm, collected, yet firm. Celestia rose to her hooves and bore just as grim of an expression as Maxuvos. "With a pegasus who is able to use unicorn magic like that, I would believe so. Brother-Sergeant, consider the origins of you and your comrades to be our top priority once this is all over." Twilight Sparkle gasped as she caught her first glimpse of the slowly transforming Grimorus. "What in the world is happening to him?" she asked as she turned to Celestia. Celestia turned to Maxuvos in response, and Twilight's eyes soon turned to him. "This is exactly what I was afraid would happen. He will soon become uncontrollable unless we subdue him." Luna stamped her hoof forcefully, garnering the attention of the entire group. "You knew of this..." she said through gritted teeth. "All will be explained soon, Princess. For now, get yourself and your subjects out of here." "If you think we're leaving, y'all are crazy," said Applejack as she and the rest of Twilight's friends galloped over. “Applejack, you honestly have no idea what we are dealing with,” said Twilight. “Then allow me to inquire Twilight Sparkle. What are we dealing with Brother-Sergeant?” asked Luna. “I will explain everything later. For now, he is our responsibility,” said Maxuvos as he turned to his battle brothers. “Brothers, listen. If Azerus fails, then only all five of us can stand a chance to subdue Grimorus.” “If you need to subdue him, then perhaps I may be of assistance?” asked Luna. “I am sorry Princess, but I can not allow you to come to harm should Azerus fail,” said Maxuvos. “You underestimate her greatly, Brother-Sergeant,” chuckled Celestia. Luna smirked, “Indeed you do.” “What you are capable of is irrelevant. He is our responsibility.” Maxuvos turned to Azerus and called out to him. “Azerus!” “Yeah, I fucking noticed it. He picked a hell of a time to lose his shit,” yelled Azerus. “Then you know what to do!” “Of course,” said Azerus. Everyone in the room looked on as Azerus charged his unstable opponent.
