A Light in the Grim Darkness

When Ian stepped off of the Valkyrie, he was greeted

by Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, along with

Corporal Vrens. The princesses’ guard pony escorts were

in complete awe of Ian in a full suit of artificer forged power

armor, the likes of which had not been seen in Equestria

for over 10,000 years.

“Report Corporal.” said Ian walking past the Kasrkin.

"Techpriest Makuroe has the door back online. He says he will

have the security system down in the next few minutes milord.”

said Vrens.

“Excellent, now we just need to take a peek inside." replied Ian

checking his gear.Outside of the dig site, the storm troopers had

assembled and stood at attention as Ian approached; weapons

held out in front of them, barrels to the sky. With their masks on,

the troopers were barely distinguishable from one another; the

only differences being the special weapons troopers, vox caster

operators and the squad sergeants. Ian’s retinue, minus

Techpriest Makuroe, approached and saluted. Emil had on

a full suit of power armor; he had replaced the inquisitorial banner

with an Arbites Pattern III Law bringer shotgun loaded with slugs.

Corporal Vrens had on his ever present Vox Caster and a suit of

power armor that matched Emil’s.

When it came to the safety of his retinue, Ian spared no expense;

his father and mother had multiple, large, bank accounts that he

inherited upon their deaths and used this money to make sure that

the men and women following him into the thick of a melee or a

firefight were adequately protected. Each of the warriors in Ian’s

retinue were also equipped with a terrifying adamantine toothed

chainsword, while Vrens, who’s knowledge of Melta Weapons

and vox casters made him exceptionally valuable to Ian; toted

around his melta gun. Sister Irina had already set up a tent in case

there were injuries, and Father Potalov was blessing the soldiers

before they began their work of securing whatever was behind the door.

Just as the old priest finished, Techpriest Makuroe walked out of the

cave and approached Ian.

“The security systems are down milord.” said the techpriest calmly.

“Excellent, prepare to open the door.” replied Ian.

“Of course.” said Makuroe with a small bow of his head before turning

and walking back towards the cave. Ian turned back to the storm

troopers just as Father Potalov finished his blessing.

“Alright, we are going in boys; I have no idea what we will find in there,

and for that reason I want special weapons up front, and I want the

squads together at all times. The techpriests may have the security

systems down but goodness knows if any animals have taken up

residence in there, and from what I have read on the wild life

around here I don’t want to take any chances.” said Ian before

turning and walking towards the cave, followed closely by Corporal

Vrens. Emil then walked up to the Storm Troopers and took over

where Ian had left off.

“Alright ladies, you heard the Inquisitor and you know the drill!

Assholes and elbows let’s move!” barked the salty old Kasrkin.

The troopers didn’t need to be told a second time and jogged

off swiftly after the Inquisitor.Luna and Celestia made to follow

Ian but he stopped them.

“Sorry your majesties, I cannot allow you to come in until we

have cleared the area of any potential threats; please stay back

until we know it is going to be safe.” said Ian. Both princesses

nodded their heads and stood a good fifty yards away from the

cave as Ian and his troopers entered.

******************************************************************

Ian took point with his combi weapon with Corporal Vrens just

behind him, while Emil led the other squad.

“Go to low light: squad alpha, stack on the right side of the door;

squad bravo, stack up on the left side, stay frosty boys.” said Ian

into the vox.

“Yes sir.” came the unanimous reply. Ian then switched the Vox

channel to Makuroe’s frequency.

“We’re ready Jakob, open the door.”

“Of course.” came the Techpriest’s reply.

There was a heavy clicking noise followed by the clanking of gears as

the heavy door opened. The 2 sides split, giving off a cloud of rust

colored dust that would have caused the storm troopers and their

inquisitorial handlers hacking and gagging without their protective masks.

The doors stopped and the dust settled: the eye slits of the helmets

glowed with an eerie red light.

“Squads move in.” ordered Ian. As one the troopers moved in with their

hell guns at the ready, Ian had his combi bolter raised; Emil had his shot

gun at the ready; while Vrens had his melta ready to release a

superheated bolt of death. The inside of the vault was massive; the huge

arches and flying buttresses were clearly of Imperial origin, and every

column and support was carved from granite and decorated with Imperial

Aquilas. The massive chamber took the troopers about ten full minutes to

search before the all clear was given. Ian could tell that this place was no

weapons depot or motor pool; no, it was obvious by the massive, cylindrical,

numbered growth tanks and scientific equipment present that this was a lab;

a big one. Each tank was large enough to comfortably fit Princess Celestia.

As Ian approached the tanks, he saw that all of them had numbers, except

for a certain two. Both were smaller than the others; and one was marked

with a blazing sun while  the other was marked with a crescent moon.

A quick count revealed that there were a thousand of them.

“And the Emperor created a thousand nobles to rule them and keep the

peace, while two he made to raise the world’s sun and moon and bring

the war and famine to an end: to bring the kind creatures peace before

he did ascend.” said Ian remembering the passage of the fairy tale.

Ian’s heart was now racing: if the fairy tales were correct; he was

standing in one of the Emperor’s personal laboratories.  Ian looked

over to his left and saw a large desk. What was peculiar about this desk

was that it was empty; save for a large book that sat on it. Ian walked

over and picked up the heavy tome: it was an ancient journal;

covered completely in dust.

“Inquisitor, you may want to take a look at this.” came Emil’s voice

over the vox.

“On my way Emil.” replied Ian.

Ian walked to the chamber where Emil was and upon entering, it was very

clear what his old friend had wanted him to see. In the center of the room

was a huge dais, above which attached to the ceiling was a large dome.

“What do you suppose that is Ian?” asked Emil.

“No idea Emil, but maybe this will shed light on it more.” said Ian

holding up the massive tome.

“What is that sir?” asked Emil.

“Well in some circles it is known as a book sarge!” exclaimed Corporal

Vrens, earning him a deadly glare from the old Gunnery Sergeant and

a swift pop on the back of the head from Ian.

“Ow!”

“For the love of the Emperor Vrens, this is serious! This book is a journal,

possibly written by the God-Emperor himself; it may be the proof I need to

finish my report to the High Lords.” said Ian.

“Sorry sir!” said Vrens.

“Forgiven.” replied Ian. Vrens could be terribly obnoxious at times but the

man usually had a good sense of humor and was only trying to ease the

tension.  Not to mention he knew a melta gun like the back of his hand

and was always calm on the vox caster. He could not stay mad at a man

who had yet to let him down.Ian opened the old tome and began flipping

through the pages. The ancient tome went into great detail about the

creation of the Alicorns; in particular Princesses Celestia and Luna.

“Interesting, it says here that while the other Alicorns were grown and

matured in the growth tanks and were implanted with the knowledge

they would need to act as the nobility; their majesties. He raised them

as if they were his own daughters.” said Ian.

“So then, what happened to the other Alicorns?” asked Emil.

“Yes, I was noticing there is a distinct lack of them.” added Vrens.

“Let me see.” said Ian flipping through a few more pages. “Ah here it is.”

Everyone listened carefully as Ian cleared his throat and began to read.

****************************************************************************

“I arrived on Equis three weeks ago after receiving a call for help

from my little Tia, only to discover that a warp breach had opened in the

capital city of Alicornople. Daemons had poured into the city, slaughtering

everypony they could lay a wretched claw on. They were in the process of

besieging the main gates of the palace when I arrived with my Custodes.

There were so many of the foul creatures: they were beyond count.

Nevertheless, we cut them down and I personally sealed the rupture;

unfortunately the damage is done. The only surviving Alicorns are my

Celestia and Luna, for which I am thankful, as they are the only two

powerful enough to control the rather unpredictable cycles of this planet’s

sun and moon. Without my daughters; famine would return and ravage the

land as it had in the past."

"I fear however that they have been emotionally scarred by the events that

have transpired and I erased their memories of the horrors that they have

witnessed and have done the same with the surviving citizenry: seeing that

the city has been all but leveled and none of the citizens outside the palace

survived the daemons’ onslaught; I have encouraged the ponies and my

daughters to start anew. The new city will be built on the side of the mountain

in which my laboratory is hidden. I have in addition begun work on a weapon

with which my little ponies may better defend themselves against the horrors

of the warp; which I will explain in a later entry."

That explained why the Princesses had no idea that this place existed, clearing

up one question that he had intended upon asking. Ian flipped a few pages and

found what he was looking for under the page labeled Project Harmony in big

bold letters; and dated about a week after the previous entry.

"I have finally done it! I have contained the psychic essence of six of the most

positive emotions into the same material of which my armor is made. Kindness;

laughter; loyalty; generosity; honesty; and the ‘magic’ friendship as the ponies

call it. I have dubbed these objects The Elements of Harmony, as they shall keep

the world in harmony. The energy within these amulets is anathema to the dark

forces of the warp: they have been field tested and can either turn a malign entity

to stone or send an entire army daemons screaming back to the warp from

whence they came whilst simultaneously sealing a warp rift. They can do much

more than that as well. They can heal fatal wounds and even revive those who

are in a comatose state as I have observed. I do worry about the rest of the

creatures on this world and how they will react if they find out about the elements;

no matter: should they invade; the elements can turn their armies to stone."

"I did not even anticipate this and as a scientist am very proud of this achievement.

I am also having my engineers modify the teleporter off the main chamber to

connect directly to the palace back on Terra itself, with the other teleporter being

just outside of the throne room. It will enable me to watch over my little ponies

easier, I do not believe I have anything to fear by doing this. No one knows

about this planet and with the elements at their disposal; there should be no

complications.”

*****************************************************************************

Upon reading the last line, Ian closed the book and looked up at the doorway

where a dust covered plaque was attached to the thick wall. The young

inquisitor walked over to it, handing the tome to one of the troopers, he took

a gauntleted hand and brushed the dust off to reveal the word ‘Teleporter’ in

big, bold letters.   The color drained from Ian’s face. Not because he was

reading notes written by the God-Emperor himself only half a year before

the Istavaan Drop Site Massacres; not because he had just hit the jackpot

for the knowledge he needed: but because of where the teleporter relay led.

“Get Makuroe in here. NOW!” stressed Ian. A trooper saluted and ran out to

find the Techpriest.

“Throne. On. Terra.” said Emil joining several other troopers in making the

sign of Aquilla.

“Well; this has escalated quickly.” said Vrens with a chuckle in an attempt to

break the tension.

“Emil.”

“Yes Ian?”

“Would you be so kind as to give the Corporal a brain dusting?”

*Smack!*

“Ow! Why’d you do that?” complained Vrens.

“You bloody well know why.” Emil deadpanned. The group was so

distracted that they failed to notice the small bat that flew in and

hung directly above them from a carved stone Imperial eagle.

************************************************************************

Despoiler Class Warship Seed of Dissent: somewhere in the Warp.

She had searched far and wide across the planes of real space for the

place that she had been told of when she was a child: the place that

the corpse emperor had his colorful little pets. It had been made easy

by the massive burst of energy that she had detected four years ago

in the Imperium’s Segmentum Pacificus, which had been followed by

a second, massive release of energy. She had remembered the fairy

tales she had been told as a child as her mother and father tucked her

into bed, but now she had found it: but that was before the Word Bearers

had opened her Eyes to the truth. The servants of the corpse Emperor

had found it too, and more. She concentrated the eyes and ears of her

flesh puppet. The small bat’s ears picked up everything that the oblivious

inquisitor was reading aloud; and an involuntary smile crept onto

sorceresses’ flawless face as she saw his face go pale and heard him

call for the Techpriest.

She would have waited longer but the Inquisitor and one of his men’s heads

suddenly snapped up and looked directly at her. The inquisitor pointed and

the trooper brought up his shotgun: He had sensed her presence, what was

more, she recognized his psychic essence. The sorceress quickly detached

her soul from the creature she was possessing and it shot back into the warp

at the speed of light before reaching her body a few seconds later: she gave

a sharp gasp for air, the smile still on her face, she brushed her long raven

hair out of her eyes as she regained her wits and got to her feet from the

meditation mat on the floor of her quarters.

The sorceress opened the door to her chambers and began her walk down

the hall to her master’s quarters. The dark apostle was a source of inspiration

for her: it had been he who had sensed her worth when others had shunned

her for it; he had told her that the dark gods rewarded, rather than shunned

individuals such as her for serving them. She remembered the sweet feeling

of watching everyone who had shunned her or held her back be sacrificed to

the dark gods: yet, in that moment of her master’s triumph; it had all been

stolen away by that damndable inquisitor. Before the warp gate could be

opened and more hosts of daemons be released upon the world of Laureus

IX to finish the great sacrifice; he had burned the planet to ash. She and her

master had left in anger at the loss of souls that he had intended to deliver

to the gods.

Worse yet, the face of the inquisitor she had seen, had indeed been the face

of the man who had robbed her and her master of their triumph. Before she

knew it; the sorceress stood at the door to her master’s chambers. A scream

from within confirmed that he was just finishing with morning sacrifices. She

knew better than to interrupt: to do so would mean harsh punishment at the

best: an agonizing death at the worst. She did not however have to wait long,

as her master; the Dark Apostle Kol Agilor the Desolator, spoke; his powerful

and commanding voice entered her head.

“Come in, my child.” it said in a commanding yet almost kind voice. The door

opened and she stepped in bowing low; staring at her master’s massive

armored feet protruding from beneath his parchment colored robes.

“Have you found it my child?” asked Agilor.

“Yes master, I have found the false emperor’s little pets; their innocent

blood will make a fine sacrifice to the gods.” she said with a wicked smile.

A hideous grin decorated the strong face of Kol Agilor’s powerful shaved

head; revealing pearly white teeth that had been filed to fangs. The dark

apostle’s eyes no longer held irises or pupils, but glowed a constant milky

white: radiating with power gifted him by the gods. In addition to this, his

flesh had been monogrammed with passages from the Book of Lorgar itself.

“Anything else to report my faithful servant?” asked the apostle.

“Yes milord: it appears that they have discovered a teleporter that teleports

directly outside of the corpse emperor’s own throne room; but there were…

complications.” said the sorceress.

“What complications?” asked her master.

“The Imperium is there. They have a massive fleet in the sector and I have no

idea if the teleporter even works or if it can be salvaged. I was; discovered

before I could find out more.” she replied with a frustrated look on her face. No

one had ever found her out so quickly before, this had made her a bit sloppy

and flying into the chamber rather than simply observing longer had cost her

gathering more information.

“Who discovered you?” asked Agilor, his tone dripping with dangerous curiosity.

“It was him milord; that thrice damned Inquisitor who robbed you of your

ascension.” said the sorceress.

“Well, well, well; Ian Ludones: the little pest whose planet I should have given

to the gods had he not intervened and burnt it to a crisp.” growled Agilor.

The chaos lord had been challenged by him and refused to cross blades

with the young man, seeing him as a whelp that was undeserving of such

honor. He had ended up regretting it when the Imperial and Eldar fleets

began shelling the planet from high orbit, before launching a cyclonic torpedo

that turned the planet to ash. He and his young servant had barely escaped

the blast through the warp portal that he had been bringing his daemonic

armies through. From that day on, he had cursed the name of Ian Ludones

with every ounce of his black heart. Never again would he turn down a

challenge from any servant of the corpse emperor, no matter

how insignificant they may seem.

“Master; is everything alright?” asked the arrogant and beautiful voice of

his servant.

“Yes, of course my servant; you have done well little one. Even if the

teleporter does not work, the blood we will spill will please the gods. For

now however we go back to Sicarus.” said Agilor grinning.

“What for milord? Should we not attack them now?”

“To prepare little one; to prepare. We will need a fleet much larger than only

the Seed of Dissent and her escorts to take on an entire fleet of the Imperial

Navy. The gods may be with us, but stupidity is rewarded only with their

mocking laughter in our heads as we perish. Go now and rest little one,

for you have earned it.” replied Agilor with a grin before moving past her

and headed to the bridge.

As the sorceress walked down the hall back to her quarters, she took in the

massive ship’s baroque architecture; looking at the banners made of human

leather and the decorative walls carved in the likeness of leering and

snarling daemonic faces, while steel gargoyles sat atop arches holding up

the symbol of the eight pointed star, with the screaming daemon skull

wreathed in flame upon it. A few cathartes flew over her and perched

above the archway in the hall; the lesser daemons were a common sight on

the massive capital ship; she felt more at home here than she ever had on

Laureus IX, the thought of which made her blood boil. She swore right then

and there that she would make Ian Ludones pay for the humiliation he had

bestowed upon her master; or die trying. The fact that he had complimented

her scrying had filled her with a need to repay him; a compliment from the

dark apostle was difficult to get, and was prized more than the most

valuable medal or trinket.

***************************************************************************

Canterlot, Equestria: Canterlot dig site.

The barrel of Emil’s shotgun was smoking from the freshly spent round.

The slug had virtually obliterated the small bat, leaving very little left.

“Geez sarge! All that’s left are eyeballs and teeth!” said Vrens. Ian let it slide

as the man had a point. There was next to nothing left. Emil racked his

shotgun and the shell casing clattered about on the ground.

“Sir what was it that made you want a bat splattered all over the ceiling?”

asked Emil a bit confused.

“It was not the bat that bothered me; it was the presence that was possessing it

and listening in on us that did.” explained Ian while re-collecting the book from

the trooper he had handed it to.

“It was tainted milord?” asked Vrens with concern.

“Aye.” replied Ian turning and walking towards the doors. He was met by

Makuroe as he made his way out.

“You called Ian?" asked the Techpriest.

“That I did Jakob. There is an ancient teleporter in the other room; I need you to

check and see if its machine spirit is dead or merely dormant.”

“Of course.” replied Makuroe. Ian continued to walk towards the doors.

“So, what’s our next move sir?” asked Vrens.

“I need to speak with their majesties and send a report to Lord Coteaz;

we need boots on the ground fast, and LOTS of them. replied Ian.

“Do you want me to radio the Aurora?” asked Vrens.

“Affirmative. Tell Korsnetzov we need the full company of the storm troops

deployed now.” replied Ian. As soon as the three exited the cave, Princesses

Celestia, Luna, and a recently arrived Twilight approached them with

concern written on their faces.

“Is everyone alright? We heard a gunshot!” said Twilight with concern.

“Everyone is fine, but I must speak with you privately your majesties.” replied

Ian removing his helmet. Taking the hint, Emil walked off towards his tent

while Corporal Vrens went to radio the Aurora.

“What is wrong Inquisitor?” asked Celestia.

“Well your majesty, things have taken an unexpected turn here; and not

necessarily for the better either.” answered Ian. He then explained to the

princesses what they had found and the situation with the tainted bat.

Both Celestia and Luna had many questions on their minds, particularly

about the laboratory and where the Emperor had created them, however,

the fact that Ian had sensed the taint of Chaos and the discovery of the

teleporter made them think first and foremost about the safety of their

little ponies and their comatose father on Holy Terra.

“What do you suggest Ian?” asked Luna.

“We need boots on the ground and lots of them. I have already ordered

the rest of the storm troopers to be deployed to defend the cave and the

lab itself, but what we need are multiple regiments of Imperial Guard

with heavy armor and artillery. Deploy your military in the cities closest to

Canterlot; we need to set up an area denial around the city. Do not let

the press know anything about this.” said Ian. Luna nodded and took to

the air to make her arrangements.

“Princess Celestia, the Imperium will need military access to Equestria;

Need I remind you that most of my colleagues would not ask you at all,

but I am not them.” said Ian.

Celestia hated the idea of allowing such a large number of human

soldiers into her country, and also cringed internally at the shit

storm that the press would create and the possible backlash from

other nations; but she also knew well the horror that would ensue

without aid from the Imperium. Her army’s weaponry consisted of

percussion cap repeater rifles, muzzle loading rifled cannons and

experimental Gatling guns, while the Chaos Space marines and

their servants would be wielding boltguns, lasguns, sorcery and

other terrifying weapons. The princess nodded her head. She also

knew that Ian, while requesting permission from her to land an army;

was merely being polite. Even if she had refused, she knew that the

Imperium would force her to accept. She could also tell by the look in

Ian’s eyes that he was as upset as she was.

“Excellent, I also need you to call the leaders of the surrounding

nations together for a summit. If we can get a united front ready, and

the troopers get here on time, we will have a better chance against

these heretics should they show up.” said Ian. Once again Celestia

nodded before flying off to make the requested arrangements.

“What about me?” asked Twilight.

“I need you to relay this to the other element bearers. They must be

sworn to secrecy: no one else can know of this.” replied Ian.

"I’ll see to it right away!” said Twilight taking wing.

Ian sat down on the nearest stool and put his head in his hands: he

felt absolutely horrible. He had not wanted to bring an army here;

this planet was peaceful, and its inhabitants kind; but he knew that

without the Imperium here, Equis Prime would be doomed to the

same fate Laureus IX had should the forces of chaos arrive. The

thought made his chest tighten.

“You alright sir?’ asked Emil who had just come back from his tent.

“No Emil. No I am not.” said Ian hanging his head.

“Want to talk about it?” inquired the old Kasrkin.

“No, not right now old friend; perhaps later. I need some shut eye.”

replied Ian walking back towards the castle. As he neared the main

gate, more Valkyries came in low over the cities, each one carrying

a squad of inquisitorial storm troopers.

“So it begins.” said Ian sadly.