The Legion of the Damnedby Cobra of EnglandChaptersLast DaysThe WatchersTelepathyNo answers...But more questionsDamned RisingDay of the Thousand Pyres- Part 1Day of the Thousand Pyres- Part 2Day of the Thousand Pyres- Part 3Magnus's RageLast DaysSergeant Centurius strode onto the bridge, fully clad in his black power armour engraved with the symbols of the Legion. As he began to walk towards the command throne, which was currently occupied by Iphoan, one of the Legion's original librarians to survive and their fleets navigator, he asked the ancient marine- "Anything to report, Brother? Since He has forbidden us from joining Him in His last stand on Holy Terra, the Brothers have been uneasy." "The Emperor wills as He sees fit. Perhaps He has another plan for us?" "What could be more important than fighting alongside Him in His hour of greatest need?" Centurius began to pace in front of the vast windows that occupied the front of the bridge of the bridge. "The Warmaster's dogs are at the gates once more after ten millennia, the Tyranids are poised to overrun the Eastern Fringe at any time, yet He leaves us in the warp, unable to assist Him in His hour of greatest need? His finest warriors?" Centurius turned back towards the command throne. Iphoan suddenly spasamed violently in the command throne, coughing up blood. Centurius walked over to the command throne before asking "Are you alright, Brother?" Iphoan coughed, splattering more blood onto his armour. "I am fine, Brother. Holy Terra has fallen." Centurius stared into space for a few minutes. "He... He is dead?" "He is alive. He will always be with us, Brother. His physical form has perished, yet his psychic might now roams the galaxy, free of all mortal constraints." The Librarian was silent for a moment. "Ahh... So that is His plan. Set course for the center of the galaxy, galacticly south of the Gates of Varl. Sector 2, Subsector (++Inquisitorial permission required++). Damn database... Ahh, I'm in. Subsector Walls, the Citadel System." "Why?" "He says there may be a human colony there, built with levels of xeno- and archeo-tech defences even He couldn't dream of reproducing. " "So He thinks humanity may have survived on this world? Why did He not send us before?" "Do not doubt His word, Sergeant. He has a plan for us all... " "Warp coordinates locked. All hands, prepare for warp jump." A servitor announced in the emotionless voice that was common to all servants of the Omnisah. "This could get messy..." And with that, the ships of the Legion fleet one by one made the warp jump, vanishing in pinpricks of light in the blackness of space. The ships gilded through the oddly peaceful currents and eddies of the Warp, obviously the archeo-tech had some Warp-nullifying property. When the warp shoved them out at their destination, the Brothers stared at a odd reflection of Holy Terra when it was in its prime. "Brother, is that Holy Terra itself?" "No, the position of our ships relative to the Eye indicates that we are at the Citadel. Scanning the system... Ah... Intresting... This system, is, to all intents and purposes, invisible. Only those who know its there will see it. No psychic mirror in the warp, no Chaos taint, no Ork or Tyranid spores, Necron structures yet not a tomb world... Sergeant, it appears we have discovered the greatest fortress in the galaxy." "Any signs of humans?" Centurius pressed the easily-distracted Librarian. "Suprisingly, no. There are structures and what appear to be... I don't recognise these creatures but I could have sworn by the Throne I've seen them before..." "Dogs? Necrons? New Tyranid strains? Horses? Furies? Burger Marines?" "Ah! Horses!" Iphoan would have fist-pumped if not for the pipe connecting the throne to his gauntlet. "That's what they're called!" Centurius sighed. "We make planetfall, and establish overwatch positions. We will be as statues and we will observe these horses. Do not reveal yourselves unless I give the order. Relay this order to the other Brothers." And with that, the Damned would become guardians once more. A bolt of light suddenly shot straight past the Legion fleet before impacting violently on the moon. "What in His name was that?" Iphoan shouted out, hoping the horses didn't have surface to space missile silos. One of the Bridge marines answered "Internal dispute?" Centurius shrugged. "Another question that will be answered on the surface. Move, Brothers! For the Emperor!" ======================================================================= "What is it, Princess?" One of her Day Guard, Phalanx Spear, was that his name, asked. The 'it' in question was a very large number of black statues that had appeared in her Day Palace in Canterlot shortly after she had provided her younger sister with some thinking time on the moon. "I don't know, Phalanx Spear, but whatever they are, they are somewhat unique and well-crafted. Place them as ornaments in place of the statues of my sister and elsewhere where ornamentation is required. Put some on the walls and in the chapel and gatehouse as well. These black statues have a secret they are hiding, and I don't have the time to figure it out. Get your best stallions on it." "It will be done, my Princess." Phalanx Spear trotted away, leaving Celestia alone with the army of statues. She couldm't shake the feeling she was being watched, and why did such a event have to happen so soon after she had to banish Luna? Could they be connected? She walked up to a massive bipedal statue, one of its arms ending in a series of tubes while the other ended in a four- flat taloned-claw claw. On the front, the images of skulls of strange creatures, bones and fire were engraved while a single red glass window revealed only blackness. "Soon your secrets will be mine..." Celestia wasn't to know it would take a thousand years, the deaths of many ponies who wished to unlock the secrets of the statues and a full-on invasion of Equestria to cause the Damned to rise once again. The Watchers"You forgot about the Legion's condition, didn't you, Sergeant? You, of all of us, should know of it. You have been around the longest, after all." Iphoan's voice sounded through Centurius's still-working comm bead. "We would have lasted at best a few years down there, if not for the highly fortunate fact this planed is a complete warp blank.Which nullifies the warp-damned plague's effects on the mind, but not the body." "You... You mean the condition no longer affects us?" "Oh, it still affects me because I'm still sitting in orbit with the Legions fleet. Just don't ask me to make any warp jumps soon. The whole place is more of a mess than Armageddon and Cadia combined when they were at their height! The machines will keep me sane, Brother. Don't worry about me. As for you and the other Legionarries, your physical forms will still be devoured completely and utterly but, since your psychic energy can't leave your bodies because the warp doesn't touch this place and vice versa, well you'll just become walking metal boxes of warp energy with a physical form manifested inside through sheer force of will." "Great, Brother, just great. Now we all become walking metal boxes like the Thousand Sons, but at least we still have our sanity. Put the ships in the Eclipse orbit pattern, we will maintain watch." Centerius stared around the building these primitive horses had put him in. It was vaguely reminiscent of a Imperial chapel, what was obviously a platform for a altar or throne at one end, long rows of pews, except for the windows, it could have been a chapel to the God-Emperor. The windows were the most confusing. Some had scenes of the white horse which he guessed was their leader on her (judging by the voice) own while others had her paired with a similar horse that was dark blue. Her sister? he guessed. That means we have two rulers to contend with. He turned his helmet lenses on, causing them to glow a dull red which any horses in the room would have easily noticed if any had been in there. He spotted Brother Alphan stood in a alcove opposite him and leaned out of the alcove into the darkened room to see how many of his other brothers were in the room. He spotted Brothers Caldous and Neuros in their Dreadnoughts, standing sentinel behind the dais and the lone throne that had been added to it. Two other brothers, Savillias and Merallion were stood flanking the door. One way in, one way out, two Dreadnoughts and four Brothers. If things went bad, they could hold this room until the enemy came in through the windows. Centerius spoke into the comm-bead "Our wait will be long, Brothers. The day will come when we are needed once again. Your physical forms will have long turned to dust, yet the warp energy that sustains us will remain. The Damned watch once more." His optical sensors dimmed back to their orginal dark red, his arms fell limp, kept in place by the armour. He could feel his body being destroyed cell by cell. The Legion would watch, wait, and protect. =================================================================== 1000 or so years later-In Ponyville- Twilight was restless. She was expecting yet another test by Princess Celestia and this one was 'designed to get you to think outside the box.' She had looked over every topic in the library, and yet she still couldn't figure out what the test could be on. It was the middle of the night, and the test was tomorrow. Twilight had devoured the contents every book in the library, and then she found this one, battered, thin black covered volume lying at the bottom of the pile. She could have sworn she'd never seen it before. The cover read- The Black Statues of Canterlot-The truths behind the legends. There was no author. Twilight stared at it. She knew of the semi-legendary black statues of Canterlot and the various myths about them. Some connected them to the banishment of Nightmare Moon, citing that they appeared only after her banishment to the moon. Others said they were connected to 'The Spears', a group of spearhead shaped asteroids that drifted in a lazy figue-of-eight around the Sun and the Moon. Many had tried to study them and all who did had vanished mysteriously. She opened the book and began to read aloud. "The statues themselves have been described so many time in so many different texts that I will not do so again. All who read this volume should know of the basic legends behind the statues, yet there are hundreds of them few ponies know." Twilight stared at the book for a few seconds. Could this be what Princess Celestia would test her on? She eagerly turned the page, seeking more knowledge on the statues, yet all she found was blank page after blank page. Some even had blood-like stains on. At the end was a hastily scribbled note. "They've found me. They've killed everypony else who came close to revealing the statues secrets. They are not statues at all! These statues are magic in its pure, unrefin-" Twilight couldn't read the last word because it was torn brutally from the book. She was confused by this. Somepony didn't want the secret of these mysterious statues getting out. Where there was a secret, there was knowledge. And where there was knowledge, Twilight went. "Knowledge is power, guard it well..." A voice whispered into her ear. Twilight turned, startled, seeking the source of the voice. "Hello? Is anypony there?" she asked the darkness. There was no reply. Being thoroughly creeped out by the mysterious voice, Twilight placed the book back on her desk and trotted back to her room, eager for sleep. She didn't see the book suddenly combust into a small pile of ashes. TelepathyCenturius could feel where his limbs should be, yet there was a simple emptiness. Iphoan's hypothesis had proved correct and once again he questioned the decision to combine the mentally unstable Librarian with the metal half of a Tech-Priest to navigate the warp safely. "My turn again?" he grumbled to himself inside the dark reaches of his armour. The Legion had a set of 'watches' with each Marine staying awake for a few years before letting his soul's warp energy rest once again. "Fine, let's see what advances these pathetic equines have made since I was last awake. Hopefully their bastardised version of High Gothic has been replaced with bastardised Low Gothic instead... Centurius activated his optical sensors, bathing his soul in the warmth of light that came through them before the filters kicked in. He stared out at the same throne room, only this time there were two thrones." Ah, so the other ruler has returned from whatever lengthy sojourn she went on..." And both were occupied by the respective rulers. It hadn't suprised Centurius in the least to discover that the white horse was immortal. It seemed to be a thing among leaders. The God-Emperor, the C'tan, the Ruinous Powers, the Hive Mind, Gork and Mork. All were immortal or otherwise lived for a long time. That continued here. He turned his attentions to the large crowd of horses that crowded the other end of the throne room and was suprised when he saw another horse possessed of both wings and horn. Unlike the bright white one and the dark blue one who seemed to reflect day and night, the sun and moon, this one was a garish pink that reminded him of Slaaneshi cultists or Noise Marines. That sonic weaponry of theirs was one of the few things that would kill a Legionnaire now they were nothing but souls trapped in metal prisons. All the horses appeared to be talking or somehow clutching glasses of what he presumed was amasec or wine, as the nobility called it. A party. He spotted the pink one seemingly dancing with a white horned one, before they performed what would count as a horse version of a kiss. Make that a pre-wedding party. A pain blossomed where his head would have been, if he had a head. Instead, it manifested itself as a faint tingling in his soul, a feeling something was messing with reality, absorbing raw emotion. He shut his optical sensors down, aware that visual distraction would only hinder his efforts. Looking with his mind instead of his body, Centurius let his thoughts wander into the localised, calm, warp that pervaded the planet, feeling for the disturbances that would signal the usage of sorcery, or as these horses called it, magic. The disturbance was easily found, whoever was using sorcery wasn't very skilled at hiding their mind from others within the warp. The next issue was whether to simply leech the memories from the users body, attempt full telepathy or simply dominate the sorcerer's unshielded mind. Not being in a subtle frame of mind, Centurius elected to simply eject the mind currently occupying the body, take it over and deal with any unforeseen side effects. =============================================================== Celestia smiled at Cadence as she and Shining Armour. It was good to see family like her finally finding that special somepony, especially in Cadence's case, being the alicorn of love. That was when the spike happened. A powerful aura of magic, more powerful even than that the Elements produced, suddenly entered the room. Celestia winced, it was like somepony was trying to rip her mind from its rightful place inside her head. Several of the less-magically powerful or wilful unicorn nobles collapsed under the sheer magical weight of the force applied. Then the feeling vanished from Celestia's mind and she quickly followed the magical spike back to its source along the paths of magical residue that it would have left behind. She only followed it a short way before she was sure of it's orgin: the 'Leader' statue. Flinging her mind back to the here and now, she opened her eyes to find Cadence lying on the floor in Shining Armour's hooves, gently sobbing. Yet another mystery about the statues to be solved. Twilight would be arriving soon, hopefully she could assist in this investigation. I may need to modify the tests a bit... ============================================================== I have you now, Leech daemon. You may have fooled the horses, yet no daemon has fooled the Emperor's Finest. Centurius opened his mind up to his other Brothers, awake or sleeping. "Brothers, a daemonic threat has foolishly revealed itself to me. All of you are to remain on watch until I deem the threat has passed... ============================================================ The magical spike roared over the lands around Canterlot like a tidal wave. Unfortunately, Twilight and her friends were on the train when the magical wave erupted, right in the blast zone. For Twilight, as powerful as she was, it manifested as little more than a mildly painful migraine. For Rarity however... For Rarity the side-effects of the magical spike were somewhat catastrophic- in everypony's opinion, not just hers on fashion. She not only fell unconscious, ruining her mane completely, but the cuts under her coat that had been caused by the Diamond Dogs reopened and started to leak a strange, multi-coloured liquid that wasn't blood, but... Something else. Something far worse. ========================================================================== The spike woke many Legionaries from their long rest, and the warp residue that was soon littered throughout Canterlot began to slither towards the statues, seeking to rejoin the most concerntrated part of the warp nearby- which happened to be the Legionaries sealed inside their armour. The warp energy, unable to rejoin the pockets of warp energy contained inside the Legionaries, contented itself with coiling over their armour like snakes. =========================================================================== In space... Why do you resist me, foolish mortal? I know there is something there, some last bastion of un-ravaged lands and planets... "You will not have your way with me, foul daemon! Back to the warp with you!" Oh but I will. It's only a matter of time... No answers..."What even is this stuff anyway?" Rainbow Dash poked her hoof into the strange multi-coloured sludge that was beginning to pool around Rarity's knocked-out from on the floor. "You should know Twi, with all the time you spend in the library of yours..." Twilight shook her head, a puzzled look on her face. "I have no idea what this stuff is, unless its connected to that magical blast..." "Wait... What magical blast?" Dash looked up from the strange stuff. "I didn't see anything like a explosion..." Twilight sighed. "It was a mental shockwave, a after-effect of..." A shocked look appeared on her face. "Telepathy! But nopony has been able to do that since Discord's reign! Not even the Princesses would have attempted such a spell." "Telepathy? What in Celestia's name is that?" Rainbow Dash jumped into a low hover, flexing her wings inside the narrow confines of the train. "Reading somepony else's mind." "Mind reading? That is so cool! Now I can finally find out why the Wonderbolts haven't accepted me yet, and what makes Pinkie tick!" "I don't think anypony really wants to know what goes on in Pinkie's mind, Dash. Isn't there privacy to consider?" "I guess you're right... Still, mind reading would be awesome!" "Would you two mind shuttin up and do somethin bout Rarity?" Applejack shouted from the other end of the carridge, where she was trying to calm Fluttershy down. "Sorry AJ, my mind got the better of me...Again." Twilight turned back to Rarity and began to use the little healing magic she knew. "Would you mind getting Fluttershy? She's more experienced with treating injuries than me." ============================================ Centurius groaned inside the armour. Telepathy was a large and difficult psychic feat to perform at the best of times, yet that had been easy. No mental defences whatsoever and the calmest the Warp had ever been. That had certainly caught him unawares. Normally trying to use a psychic power was like directing a raging river, yet here the warp was so calm it was more like a placid stream. All the leftover power had simply exploded in what was one of the largest magical blasts ever known. "Brothers, how well are the horses coping with my... Telepathy? Centurius sent out into the telepathic grid that the Legionarries used to communicate in battle and when maintaining comms silence- when the comms were working. He heard Iophan's slightly manical laugh inside his mind. Not well. In fact, the psyker horses are all either out cold, trying to figure out what in His name happened, or otherwise complaining at the Princesses. Those two are rather angry at you too." "Great, Brother. Have the Spears been set on their return course yet?" "The Spears are making their return. No problems up here, demonic or otherwise. I'd recommend activating your opticals soon." "Roger that, Brother. Be prepared for anything, these daemons are unlike any I have encountered in Slaanesh's service before. Centurius activated his optics, revealing a blank grey ceiling. "Here we are again..." He muttered to himself. =============================================================== The group of mares almost immediately set to bickering as soon as they arrived in Canterlot. "No, Rarity needs proper treatment." Fluttershy added quietly into the group of arguing friends. "Yes, but the Princess called us here for a reason. And she can treat Rarity at the castle as well as telling us what in Celestia's name caused the blast." Twilight tried to reason with her. "We should split up. Me an Fluttershy 'ill take Rarity to the hospital, while you, RD and Pinkie find out what the buck happened." "Fine. RD, you and Pinkie are coming with me to the castle to meet the princesses. Everypony else, take Rarity to the hospital. I just hope she's alright." =================================================================== Twilight, with Dash and Pinkie in tow, walked into the castle where there were, oddly, no guards rushing around in panic due to the blast. "Where are all the guards? You'd expect them to be doing their job right now." "No idea? Maybe it's a suprise party?" Pinkie bounced along, ignorant of the fact something seemed seriously wrong. Twilight groaned. "Not everything is party related, Pinkie. Let's just find the Princesses so I can get rid of this feeling of being watched constantly. It's... Somewhat unnerving." Rainbow swooped in lazily over their heads before landing. "You sure you're not just getting paranoid, Twi?" "I also heard somepony tell me 'Knowledge is power and that I should 'guard it well'." Rainbow shook her head. "Definitly paranoia..." Twilight shrugged it off. "Let's go find the Princesses, maybe they can shed some more light on the situation." The trio of ponies headed off into the castle, looking for the Pincesses. The Castles interior, like the exterior, was also deserted the whole way to the throne room. They found Celestia and Luna, deep in conversation between themselves, none of the usual advisors or guards or royal hangers-on present which was pleasant. "Ah, the Elements have finally arrived. May I ask where are the others?" Celestia asked while lounging on her throne. "The others have taken Rarity to the hospital, she was somehow injured during the mental shockwave." Twilight replied to her mentor. Luna seemed to be sulking slightly for some unknown reason. "I hope she's alright. Cadence will be very disappointed otherwise." "Why would Cadence be dissapointed if Rarity were injured?" "I would have told you earlier via mail, but..." Celestia motioned outwards with her hoof. "Other matters arose. Princess Cadence was, and I hope is, going to marry Shining Armour. Rarity was to make her dress." "Wait... Cadence is marrying my brother? Thanks a lot Shiny... Letting the Princess tell me rather than coming and telling me yourself...." "Shining Armour has been very busy, my faithful student. First with the protection spell over Canterlot, and then trying to console Cadence." "What happened to the Princess?" "You remember the Black Statues?" All three of them nodded. "One of them, the 'Dei-Centurion' statue, launched a full-on mental assault on Cadence, smashing apart her mental defences like they didn't exist. Said assault also caused the magical blast earlier. Your test, Twilight, is to find out everything you can on these statues. My sister has-" Celestia gave Luna a heated look. "-somewhat reluctantly agreed to have you assist her in her studies of the Black Statues. As for the rest of you, you will be helping with various parts of the wedding preparations." But more questions"So where are we going?" Twilight practically bounced down the hall that led towards the Canterlot Archives, Luna trailing close behind and rather annoyed with her sister for having her pupil help her in her studies of the statues. She worked better alone, that's how it had been before her banishment, and how it was now. "The Archives, like I have told thou at least twice, Twilight Sparkle." Twilight really was beginning to get on Luna's nerves with her endless thirst for knowledge, she could understand why Celestia had sent her to Ponyville. "But there can't be that much on the Black Statues, can there? I mean, if nopony has bothered to research them for the last hundred years..." "All will be revealed in due time." The two ponies walked into the Canterlot archives before Luna made a sharp turn towards a stairwell. The Archives were organised by age on the various floors with relatively recent events like the 'Magic Barrier' that mysteriously appeared around Canterlot during Discord's escape and Luna's return on the top floor and older events on the floors below. The statues had appeared in Equestria at exactly the same time, to the hour if Celestia's accounts could be held reliable a thousand years later, as Luna's banishment. Which is why Twilight began to get confused as they passed the floor for events a thousand years ago. As they passed the floor for three thousand years ago, Twilight began to get worried. "Uh, Princess? Shouldn't the Archive section on the Statues have been a while back?" "The Statues are a lot older than you think, Twilight Sparkle." "Older than Discord himself?" Twilight questioned as they passed the four thousand year mark. "A lot older than that hastily assembled excuse for a creature." Five thousand, six thousand , seven thousand... How old were these statues? Luna stopped at the last door. The plaque on the door read Nine Thousand Years and Older- Access only with permission from the Princesses. Twilight gasped slightly at the statues age. They were quite probabaly older than a few of the mountain ranges that dominated North Equestria! "How... How do you know they are that old?" "Metal samples and a rather useful new magic technique which determines something's age through the magical residue it gives off. Shall we go in?" Twilight nodded vigorously and the two walked into the room. ================================================================= Centurius heard the sound of footsteps entering the chamber in the Archives he had been relocated to. Celestia had used it to store any loose artifacts related to them and as a storehouse of knowledge for anything related to the Legion. "So this is where all the knowledge has been hidden..." Centurius didn't recognise this voice, but it was obviously not Luna's as he could detect her psychic presence on his blindside as his head was rotated so it was facing the left wall. Still, this other presence was mildly powerful compared to the vast majority of the other unicorns he had observed over the decades. "Not hidden, more... Limited. Much of the knowledge contained within this room would be highly damaging to Equestria if it were released to anypony. I will be leaving you, I must take my watch over the city." Centurius sensed Luna's presence fading as the other presence began to read aloud. "The Black Statues of Canterlot- The Princesses guide (Updated). Note- Not to leave this room. Huh? That's odd... Why would a book not be allowed to leave a room? Well, I guess I should continue. Arrival- This should be good..." "The statues arrival coincides with a major event in Equestrian history- the banishment of Nightmare Moon. I do not know whether the two are connected. At the same time, the cluster of asteroids known as 'The Spears' also appeared. The Spears and the Statues are definatly connected, following Luna's recount of nearly crashing into them during her flight to the moon. According to my sister, the Spears looked like space-born castles, a mass of metal spires and various other gothic features. The statues actual arrival to Equestria itself... The voice droned on and on, talking about events Centurius had seen firsthand from his brothers memories. Centurius fell back into his dormant state after five minutes of the reading. ======================================================================= Twilight paced around the statue that was lying on a grey stone plinth in the centre of the room. She did not know, or really care, about how long she had been down here, all that mattered was uncovering the secret of the statues. "None of this makes sense!" A pile of books was loosely strewn across the desk in the room, all the knowledge inside them conflicted. The different parts of the statues had completely different ages- on this statue alone, the helm was two thousand years old compared to the breastplate that was closer to eight thousand years old. The statues had apparently arrived on the Spears, yet a translation of the strange writing on the banner read 'Legion of the Damned', implying these statues had some connection to the dead or cursed. They were hollow, which meant they would have once contained something, but whatever that was, had long been turned into dust. According to Cadence's recount of the telepathic attack, the statue had the strongest mental defences she had ever seen, and the only thing she could sense was a hatred so intense it breached the statues barriers as well as her own, with no help from the statue itself. What could only feel hate for the alicorn of love? Twilight looked around the room for the clock that was in here, and found it also had a date on it. At least I'm not the only pony that was obsessed with these statues... That was when she noticed the date. "Oh, buck, it's the wedding today!" She began to panic. "I better go get ready!" Twilight galloped out of the room. Centurius smiled, and for the first time in a thousand years, his power armours servoes ground slowly into action once again. The day of the wedding. The day of banishment. ======================================================================= "I know it is down there mortal, everything has its reflection in the material world. I have scoured every inch of the galaxy for it, and this is the one place I have not searched. You cannot hide the gateway to knowledge from me. And with the key to open it, I shall claim it all." Damned RisingThe servoes groaned, shaking off a layer of dirt and grime that had a thousand years to build up to its current state. His great armoured form sat up on the table and stood up, stretching his arm servoes from a long time of disuse. The daemon would make it's move soon, what that move would be puzzled the Sergeant. From what he had felt through the telepathic link, it felt like no other demonic presence he had encountered. It had none of the bloodlust of Khornate daemons, none of the repulsiveness of Nurglite daemons, none of the psychic abilities possessed by a daemon of Tzeentch. It was a shapeshifter which fitted with the Slaaneshi daemon he expected it to be, yet he felt no lust from it for anything. All he had felt was desperation for itself and it's servants. What were its servants? Centurius wondered to himself as he drew his chain sword and revved the toothed blade, shaking the decay off. Still, if that was the mental defences of their leader, he would have laughed at the defensive capabilities of its troops. Even that wannabe Lord of Change he and his brothers had to protect the Castle from had more powerful defences simply through his offensive powers and chaotic approach to psychic warfare. The door was locked from the outside and Centurius wasn't in the mood for dealing with a pathetic obstacle like that, not when there was a daemon to be banished. He revved his chainsword and swung it at the heavy wooden door, shearing clean through in a matter of moments. He kicked open the broken door, revealing a staircase. Any of the ponies in the Archives would have heard that, but there was no time to be lost. Centurius sprinted up the stairs, servoes groaning under the stresses placed on them from such long intactivity. He cast a false invisibility spell, meaning it convinced others to ignore him rather than providing 'true' invisibility. True invisibility involved the use of physical manipulation, which was never the Sergeant's strongest psychic discipline, so he used the telepathic version instead, blotting his appearance from registering in their weak, malleable minds. Chaos would have a field day if they got past the mass of psychic and physical defences that isolated this planet from the rest of the Galaxy. Centurius ran through corridors filled with those useless noble ponies that had always filled his audio receptors with such drivel that he had almost destroyed the entirety of Canterlot just so he could have peace and quiet, dodging out their way as they hurried towards the hall where the wedding would be held. He knew the exact positions of all his brothers through the telepathic web that linked them all, and the wedding hall had four Legionarries with the Emperor's blessed heavy flamers and a lone Dreadnought behind the place where the altar would be, if his guess was correct. Maybe the God-Emperor would show the daemon mercy, for he would not. =========================================================================== Twilight and the others shuffled into the hall, taking their positions as honoured guests right along the edge of the aisle after the army of Canterlot nobles had filed into the hall. Celestia stood at the end of the hall, one of the massive black statues the books that Twilight had studied called "Brutarii" after their massive size compared to even the other statues. She stared at the statue, a feeling of unease resting in her stomach. Maybe it hadn't been a good idea to have some of the statues in the wedding after what had happened. Rarity wasn't present, still recovering from the bleed out of the multicoloured liquid. She had still designed the dress and created it from her bed with the help of her suddenly more powerful magic, however, and would no doubt be expecting a complete description of the event down to the smallest detail, of which Twilight would happily provide. Rarity wasn't one to give away the chance to advertise the chance of advertising her wares in front of the nobles of Canterlot, either. Shining Armour stood to Celestia's left, eyes slightly glazed over like he was struggling to focus. Maybe the protection spell was beginning to tire him, after all, casting and sustaining a spell as taxing as a energy shield non-stop for well over a week couldn't be easy. The doors opened with a loud clang as Cadence walked into the room, beautiful in Rarity's dress, shame she wasn't here to see it while her bridesmaids walked in front before the Royal Guard shut the door. Twilight saw her smile faintly as she strode past, as if she was in a hurry to get to Shining Armour. There was no warmth in that smile, no love. It was a smile millions had come to fear in the form of a old man from Cadia, a smile that signalled 'Just as planned'. As Cadence approached the altar and the two ponies began to say their vows, Twilight couldn't help but shake the feeling something seriously wrong was about to happen. That was when the doors exploded in a shower of splinters. A low grinding of metal upon metal filled the silent hall as the statue strode forth from the wreckage of the doorway. Cadence and Celestia's horns ignited at once, Celestia's a sunny yellow, Cadence's was a sickly green, not the rosy pink Twilight remembered it to be. "What are you doing here? You, who attacked my niece, now have the gall to threaten me and her?" Celestia hovered a few feet off the ground, wings extended. The statue remained silent as it continued it's advance down the aisle, a low roar coming from a object clutched in one of it's hands. The statue halted. Celestia's horn suddenly stopped glowing, and she let out a silent scream as her magic was rammed back into her body. The statue withdrew a spherical object with it's left hand and extended it out towards Cadence as it began its advance once again. What happened next would go down as the most infamous day in Equestrian history, and it's bloodiest- the Day of the Thousand Pyres. =========================================================== In Spess... The two ships dropped out of the Warp on opposite sides of the system, each mirroring the other's actions. From one a one-eyed daemon gazed out, seeking to reclaim his Legions former glory and beat him who had ruined it by claiming the prize. From the other a gold, horned helmet stared out, the object of his dreams was finally within his grasp. Both had waited a thousand years to find this system in the warp, and both knew that the chances of the same alignment with the same Warp currents were slim, to say the least. There could only be one winner. Day of the Thousand Pyres- Part 1The strange object that the statue held out towards Cadence began to glow a bright, almost blinding, fiery light as faint tendrils of magic lanced out towards Cadence, ensnaring her. Everypony stared at the scene for a few seconds before realisation struck. The statue had defeated Celestia. It was now doing something to Cadence. The two Royal guard at the back of the hall charged forwards, horns lit, before the statue turned. The guards screamed as the magical glow from their horns vanished, and small cuts appeared on guard's sides, leaking the strange, multi-coloured liquid that Rarity had. The five ponies took one look at each other before they came to a horrorible conclusion- they couldn't do anything. The statue had beaten Celestia in a magical duel, so Twilight wasn't too eager to try her luck. Rarity was injured, so the Elements of Harmony were unusable. The only option left was brute force. "Rainbow, AJ, see if you can knock it down. Pinkie..." "Yes?" Pinkie piped up as she brought one of her trademark Party Cannons out of nowhere. "Hit it with that." "Okie doke!" Pinkie bounced around happily, ignoring the fact that a seven-foot monster was about to kill Cadence. "Fluttershy..." Twilight looked around the panic-filled hall, no sign of Fluttershy anywhere. "Leave her, Twi, let me an RD take this fella down." ===================================================== Centurius watched with satisfaction as the Animus began to strip away the daemon's illusion. Soon these foolish and gullible ponies would see what they had been harbouring in their midst. His audio receptors picked up the sound of movement behind him, but these ponies couldn't harm something that wasn't technically alive. A loud clang rang off the back of his skull helmet. If he could have, he would have smiled. These ponies had determination. He turned his head round, revealing a light blue pegasus and a orange regular pony battering away it various parts of his body, trying to slow him down. He watched as the pink began to slowly turn to a black, the wings becoming faint and green. Soon they would see the truth. =========================================================== Twilight watched as Rainbow and Applejack bucked away ineffectually at the statue while Cadence's pink coat was stripped away, revealing a... Black, insect-like shell. Wait, what? Twilight did a double-take on the situation. Instead of Cadence standing there, a hideous, insectoid pony stood there. "AJ, Rainbow, stop! It's trying to help us!" Twilight shouted but her words were lost in the panic of the crowd. "Oh, please. It can't do anything to me." The black pony strode forward. "It very kindly disposed of Celestia for me, and my army of Changelings will soon take over Equestria. For I am Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings, and they hunger for your love." "You can't! Shining Armour's protection spell will stop you!" Twilight shouted back at Chrysalis. "No, I think not." Her horn glowed green as she threw Shining Armour at the statue with her magic. "Easily dealt with." The statue dropped the spherical object so it could catch Shining in it's massive left hand before it layed the knocked out pony behind him. "You will not deal with me so easily, daemon. I have fought the Blood Crusade, the Great Devourer, the servants of the Ruinous powers. And I find your powers lacking compared to theirs." The words resonated throughout the mind of everypony in the room. "My powers lacking? How will you deal with my army?" Chrysalis laughed as a small group of Changelings burst in through the window behind her. "With the Emperor's holy fire." Pinkie ran out of the crowd, and layed her Party Cannon down, pointed straight at the statues face. The statue brought its foot back, before kicking Pinkie out the window with one massive sweep, Party Cannon following, while Pinkie shouted "Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee as she flew out into the city. Rainbow cursed under her breath before she set of in pursuit of the falling pony. "Still, statue, I do not see any dragons with you with which you can 'purge' me." Chryalis smiled thinly as a group of Changelings charged in through the door at the rear of the room. "Checkmate." "I think you underestimate me. Checkmate to you, daemon..." A loud roar sounded from behind Chrysailis as the Dreadnought's engine awoke. The armoured behomoth brought one fist down on Chrysalis's group, smashing several Changelings into a bloody pulp as Chrysalis hovered up. A stream of assault cannon fire from the dreadnought followed, adding more holes to her legs and wings. "You may have beaten me here, but what of the city?" Chrysalis flew out of the room with a laugh as she decended towards the streets of Canterlot. "Brothers, into the city. Purge these daemons from it with the Emperor's holy fire." "It will be done." Throughout the castle, Legionarries awoke, eyes ablaze with righteous fury. The sound of bolter fie echoed throughout the city as Legionarries began to exterminate the Changeling swarm. ====================================================================== Chrysalis stared from her tower perch as she watched her swarm being destroyed. She could feel her subjects dying, each death a pain in her mind, both literally and figuratively as her subjects were ripped out of the synapse web. Everything had been planned, down to the last detail. Yet still she was ruined. Flying off back towards the empty plains, she entertained herself thinking of schemes of revenge with the Changelings who she had had remain back at the Hive. She cut the rest off from her web. They could face the statues alone. ======================================================== In Spess... Iophan coughed up blood. The ships systems were failing after a thousand years of non-stop operation and no Tech-priest to bless the engines in the holy words of the Omnisah. And the ships systems affected the state of their controller. Looking up into the sensor readings that surrounded the command throne on decayed screens, two blips appeared. Two blips. Had humanity returned to salvage the Damned? Or had Chaos come to blight the system? He received his answer as nova cannon fire struck the ship's reactor, sending it into a plummeting trajectory towards Canterlot. ========================================================== Ahriman smiled under his gold helm as the Imperial ship began to plummet towards the planet. Magnus was already here, and the two of them would have a reckoning. No Imperial dogs would get in their way. Day of the Thousand Pyres- Part 2Day of the Thousand Pyres- Part 2 Magnus's lone eye tracked the spaceship as it began to fall towards the planet's surface, flames blossoming along its length as it entered the atmosphere. Ahriman may have made the first move, but this was a simple race between the two of them to find the Webway portal. Nothing would stand in either of their paths, be it Necron, Eldar, or whatever Space Marine chapter had taken this world first. Those black-armoured Legionarries had been most intresting to Tzeentch, their orgins a mystery even to the Lord of Change himself, along with their current location in the Warp or material universe. He just hoped that Kalidor Drago wasn't down there. That Grey Knight would prove a serious thorn to both his own plans and those of Ahriman. Power crackled in the air around him as Magnus cut a portal through the Warp to the planets surface. The mightiest sorcerer would come out of this alive, and Magnus did not feel like losing. The Daemon Primarch strode through the portal, intent on claiming his prize. ================================================================ Ahriman watched as the Space Marine battlecruiser plummeted down towards the surface. Magnus would be making planetfall any minute now, and he must be there to meet him. A flare of blue engulfed Ahriman's staff as he used it to rip open a portal to the surface. He didn't care what was down there. Nothing would stop him. Nothing. ==================== Ahriman found himself standing before a great stone wall, rising high above him with a grassy plain at his back. The wall would be no obstacle to one as powerful as him. His hand glowed a light shade of blue as he created three Doombolts and threw them at the wall. When the dust cleared, a gaping hole big enough to drive a Rhino through was left. Ahriman walked through the gap and out into the chaos-ridden streets of a city. He stopped for a while to analyse the situation. Black insects that resembled the horses of Terra were attacking ... Other horses? Multi-coloured horses? If Ahriman had a tiny bit of curiosity at that point, he might have stopped and wondered where in the Warp he was. But the Black Library awaited, and he could always investigate these things within its depths of knowledge. Disregarding the natives, Ahriman strode on into the city, a Doombolt held ready in his hand. ===================================================================== A small black crack formed in a wall, unnoticed by the mass of Royal Guard who were desperately trying to turn back the tide of Changlings that were mobbing the gatehouse. There was a loud crash as the Damned awoke from their sleep and stepped out from their alcoves. They turned as one mass to face the on-coming swarm and opened silently opened fire. Psychically-charged bolt shells tore through the Changeling horde and rank upon rank fell to the righteous fury that the bolters of the Damned had become. Magnus watched it all through the tiny crack of a portal he had made, silently wondering whether he would go ahead of Ahriman and risk being stabbed in the back by that traitor or wait for the sorcerer to pass and chance not getting to the Webway gate. Sensing that Ahriman had teleported onto the planet's surface, Magnus went for the bolder option, and stepped out of the Warp into the middle of the carnage. ======================== As he stepped out of the portal, Magnus slammed his cleaver into the ground, unleashing a torrent of blinding warpfire into the ranks of the Damned, melting their armour and their souls in a fiery flash as they disintegrated before him. Surveying the black shells of the Damned and the piles of ash where the ponies had stood, Magnus pulled his cleaver from the ground and looked upwards towards a castle-like structure. The gate to the Black Library would be his and his alone. ==================== Centurius snarled inwardly as two bright beacons lit up the previously dull Immaterium. Something that warranted his intervention had come after all, it seemed. Casting his gaze back to the Materium, he found himself standing before a group of three of the ponies, no doubt brimming with questions he did not wish to answer. Ever. Centurius felt for the telepathic web that bound them together and as he did so, he felt threads begin to slip away. Whatever Warp creatures had wound their way here were powerful, to say the least. Forgetting about the web for now, Centurius ran out of the room, leaping with surprising grace over the three ponies and forming a small crater on the other side where he landed. There were daemons out there, and these ponies were woefully unequipped both physically and mentally to deal with even a Lesser Daemon. ============= Ahriman smashed another Doombolt into yet another Legionary's head, cracking the armour and realeasing the trapped soul within. Pulling his gauntleted hand out of the shattered helmet, Ahriman surveyed the situation. The Damned were defending the city for a reason only Tzeentch could know, and he could sense Magnus advancing towards the castle where the Webway gate must be located. A lone Legionare strode out of the fire and smoke, hand extend clutching a skull and a chainsword. Ahriman raised his staff as Warp energy pooled around it as the skull began to glow faintly. ===================================== Magnus roared his anger into the sky as another blue bolt plinked off his armour. These bolts were nothing more than a minor annoyance to the Daemon Primarch, but their caster could be. Magnus gathered Warp energy into his free hand and threw it in a constantly shifting ball behind him over his shoulder, causing whoever had been firing the bolts to scream in pain. Content that the annoyance had been dealt with, Magnus strode on once more towards the castle. ================== Luna screamed as the ball of raw magic slammed into her wing, twisting it backwards to a horrorible angle where it was facing the wrong way. Gliding to the ground on her one good wing, she watched the massive biped/daemon walk off towards the castle. This could not be allowed. Gritting her teeth, Luna rose once more to her hooves, and determined to exact her revenge on the foalish thing that had destroyed her wing. Day of the Thousand Pyres- Part 3Magnus roared as he hacked another of the foolish ponies to pieces. They were stubborn, but ultimately ineffective in stopping his advance. He glanced up towards the castle where the portal presumably stood, wondering how a race this primitive could have built a city over one of the most valuable objects in the galaxy. Turning his attention back to the street from his mind's useless wanderings, Magnus noticed that the dark blue pest was continuing to follow him, but not attacking. I'll leave it alive, for now. Someone needs to witness my glories, after all. Pulling his cleaver from the corpse of the pony, Magnus continued his slow march towards the castle, and his prize. ================================================================= Ahriman sighed lazily. This lone Legionary thought he could stop him? The master of sorcery? The mortal must be taught a lesson, it seems. he thought as warpfire flickered along the black-hafted length of his staff. The Damned Legionary moved first, aiming to decapitate the Sorcerer with one great swing of his chainsword. Ahriman slammed the chainsword away with the head of his staff before conjuring a ball of fire in his right hand and slamming it into the Legionary's helmet. The ball of fire was met by a spear of pure force, slamming Ahriman's arm backwards and destroying the ball of magic. Ahriman growled beneath his helmet. Maybe I underestimated this one... If they were equally matched in psychic power on the physical plane, how would his opponent fare on the mental? Sending your mind out through the Warp was never a pleasant experience for any psyker, but Ahriman had learned to stomach the constant feeling that you were about to vomit violently. He immediately focused on the psychic light that was the Legionary and his mind began to slowly approach that of the Legionary as he swung his staff to block another attack by the Legionary in the Materium. His mental advance was soon halted when a chainsword butt smashed into his helm, disorientating him and bringing him crashing back to the material realm. Ahriman roared in anger and lashed out with a massive wave of pure force in front of him, ripping up stones and hurling them along with the Legionary up the road into a wall. He pushed himself up with the staff, using it like a crutch to get to his feet as he watched the cloud of smoke and dust settle on the ground, revealing... A dent. The growling of the chainsword firing up was the only warning Ahriman got before the blade slammed into the seam on his thigh armour, easily splitting the weaker armour and biting into his flesh. Ahriman swung the bottom of his staff into the Legionaries head as he turned before electricity began to course through his hand, waiting to be directed. The Legionary fell to the floor, chainsword knocked well out of reach as Ahriman placed the horns of his staff around the Legionarys neck, pinning him. "You were brave, lapdog. But ultimately trying to challenge me was foolish. One such as you can only aspire to defeat the likes of me..." Ahriman gloated. "Hey, mister!" Ahriman turned towards the direction the voice had come from, revealing a bright pink pony with something resembling a cannon. There was a small spurt of flame as the cannon's fuse was lit and various party objects were blasted at Ahriman, causing him to recoil in surprise and weaken his hold on the staff. Centurius took immediate advantage of the distraction, grabbing the staff with both hands and pushing back on the staff, slamming the gold-plated end into the back of Ahriman's head, sending him sprawling to the ground, face first. He leaped to his feet, placed one power-armour boot onto the Sorcerer's back and extended the skull towards Ahriman, who was trying in vain to push the Sergeant's boot off of his back. Faint tendrils of light snaked out from the glowing skull, weaving their way closer and closer towards Ahriman's prone form before they began to coil around him, trapping him. The tendrils began to pulse, faintly at first before growing larger and brighter as Ahriman began to scream louder and louder as his soul was devoured by the holy artifact. The skull flashed brightly, returning a Legionary to the realm of the living from the Warp. Centurius stepped back from Ahriman's body, mind reeling not from what he had done, but what he had to do. A Space Marine could never defeat a Primarch. The mass volleys of the entire Legion's bolters might stand a chance, but many of his battle brothers would have fallen before the Traitor Primarch. "Hey, Walking-Moving Statue thing! Are you even listening?" Centurius recoiled in surprise as the bright pink pony he had drop-kicked out a window earlier bounced up to his eye-level before falling. "You're not going to let a S10, T10 Gargantuan Monstorous Creature romp around the player's deployment zone are you?" "That made no sense, xeno." Centurius whispered into the pony's mind, before recoiling at what the levels of chaos he found within. If that pony were a psyker, this world would be immune to anything. By the Emperor, if it becomes one... "What's the fun in making sense silly? Did you never learn to never use combat squads? Just follow me and we'll save Equestria from whatever that blue giant thingy is called!" With that the pink pony bounced up the street towards the castle, occasionally glancing back to see if he was following. Thought for the day: heresy grows from idleness. Spurred on by faith, Centurius ran after the bouncing pony. The pony stopped, looked up into the sky and pointed a hoof at something. "What's that?" Centurius spotted the falling, dagger-like object and activated his helmet's zoom optics, zooming in on the hull of a falling battle barge. By the Emperor... Magnus's Rage"30 minutes to impact. No possible course deviations detected. May the Emperor have mercy on our souls." the Servitor announced over the wailing of alarms. Iophan spat out a large glob of blood before opening his eyes. His vision was still hazy, unclear. Pain shot up through his left arm, causing him to grit his teeth. He was a Astartes, one of the Emperor's Angels of Death. He would not succumb to his injuries until he had done his duty. He had stared death in the face many times before, both in the Fire Hawks and the Legion; now would be no different. Except this time, there would be no escape, no armoured support courtesy of General Creed, no deus ex Imperator. Turning his attention to the glass viewport, he gazed down at the planet below. So... Unlike the Imperium. Grass spread where there should have been craters, settlements where there would be ruins. "27 minutes to impact." He didn't know what warband the Traitors had come from or how they had found their way here, but they had. And he would... "Brother, what is happening?" Centurius whispered into his mind. "The Traitors took out the engines, set me on this course, I recommend you hurry, Brother. Our time is limited." "Reactivate the engines, try everything to slow the Battle Barge down. The foul traitors will not escape with their prize and destroy this city as well." "What do they seek? "I do not know, but whatever it is, it can't be good. The Emperor protects." If only he truly did... Iophan mused as he continued to stare at the approaching ground. "Servitors! Begin protocol Beta-Twelve-Nineteen. Overload the Warp drive, these Traitors will burn in the fires of the Emperor's Holy Engines." ==================================================================== "Where is it? Tell me where it is, mortals, or DESPAIR before my wrath!" Magnus screamed as he smashed one of the Royal Guard into the ground. "Tell me where IT is!" Magnus tossed the corpse out of his path. He observed the situation and the delightful chaos that had resulted. There were crowds of screaming... Ponies? Was that what they were called? Whatever they were, they were streaming through the corridors of the castle like fire through a forest, trying to avoid his wrath. The gate to the library was here, he could sense it. Ahriman had fallen, being beaten to death by small colourful ponies was a fitting end for the man that had damned his Legion, at least from Magnus's eyes. He cast his mind into the Warp, and began to trawl through the eddies and currents for the faint but highly distinctive warp signatures that Webway gates left behind. There was one through the door to his left, so he ripped the doors of their hinges and threw them behind him, eager to claim all the knowledge contained within, knowledge that would rebuild his Legion. He stared down a long gallery, stained glass windows displaying various scenes, presumably of these creatures history. "Hmmph." Magnus grunted as he strode down the gallery towards a door that he could actually walk through, before he stopped in front of the door. Six circles were engraved into the door, magical wards? Traps? It didn't matter to Magnus, as long as his prize waited beyond. Heaving his cleaver back in both hands, Magnus struck the door with a psychically-enhanced blow that would fell a Titan, pulverising the door into little more that a pile of wood shavings. Magnus roared in frustration as he saw what lay beyond that door. There was no delicate curved structure carved with the wisdom of the Old Ones, instead a lone blue wooden box sat inside. "Where is IT!" Magnus roared down the corridor, the force of the shout shattering the windows and spraying glass outside onto the gardens below. Below... That's where it is! Magnus realised. Whatever these xenos built, it must be above the work of the Old Ones. I need a way down... =========== "So where are we going?" Pinkie bounced alongside Centurius as they raced towards the castle. The sounds of bolter fire echoed through the streets as the Legionaries dealt with the remaining Changeling holdouts, oblivious to the greater threat. However, Cenutrius left them carrying out the purge rather than calling them to aid him- they would be more likely to be killed for good during the battle against the daemon, and if that happened the other daemons would no doubt return and finish what they had begun. "The castle, xeno. A traitor as lauded as Ahriman in the eyes of the Ruinous Powers would not have come here for the simple pleasure of killing. Something is driving him forwards, and I fear he may not be the only traitor in the service of the Dark Gods present upon this world..." "Oh, goodie! Some other blue meanie pants like the other statue?" "Yes, xeno." Centurius grunted. These strange and pathetic Xenos were beginning to wear on his nerves. He was a fighter, not a talker. Now be quiet, and let me be about my work... "Okie dokie loki!" Pinkie said as she bounced ahead of Centurius, who had already begun to run through the rubble strewn streets. "And now, little Xeno, we can get to the buisness of studying your insides, and those of these others." Magnus spoke as he cast his gaze across the ruined throne room. He'd been stumbling aimlessly through the Castle, turning the few remaining ponies who attempted to stop him into piles of ash when he hit this. He wasn't too sure what to make of the little blue pest from earlier, but she'd made a stand alongside a pair of the smaller ones; a purple horned one and a orange one. He could see a third yellow one cowering behind a pillar, nervously eyeing him. "No, Daemon." Luna spat. "We are a Princess of this land, and we will not see it despoiled by the likes of you." Magnus chuckled. "This world means nothing. You have a gate to a certain library, and I need a book from that library. You gain nothing by this stand, bar your own deaths and the feeling of satisfaction from trying. Move out of my way, and I might consider leaving all three of you alive." "No." The purple one spoke. "Princess Luna won't let you, and neither with Princess Celestia. And neither will I." Magnus watched with mild curiousity as a glow built up around the purple one's horn, before a beam of purple energy lashed across the room towards his exposed face. He didn't even flinch, and merely let the beam smash into his wards, causing a blue shimmer to cover his armour. Magnus smiled. "My turn."
Last DaysSergeant Centurius strode onto the bridge, fully clad in his black power armour engraved with the symbols of the Legion. As he began to walk towards the command throne, which was currently occupied by Iphoan, one of the Legion's original librarians to survive and their fleets navigator, he asked the ancient marine- "Anything to report, Brother? Since He has forbidden us from joining Him in His last stand on Holy Terra, the Brothers have been uneasy." "The Emperor wills as He sees fit. Perhaps He has another plan for us?" "What could be more important than fighting alongside Him in His hour of greatest need?" Centurius began to pace in front of the vast windows that occupied the front of the bridge of the bridge. "The Warmaster's dogs are at the gates once more after ten millennia, the Tyranids are poised to overrun the Eastern Fringe at any time, yet He leaves us in the warp, unable to assist Him in His hour of greatest need? His finest warriors?" Centurius turned back towards the command throne. Iphoan suddenly spasamed violently in the command throne, coughing up blood. Centurius walked over to the command throne before asking "Are you alright, Brother?" Iphoan coughed, splattering more blood onto his armour. "I am fine, Brother. Holy Terra has fallen." Centurius stared into space for a few minutes. "He... He is dead?" "He is alive. He will always be with us, Brother. His physical form has perished, yet his psychic might now roams the galaxy, free of all mortal constraints." The Librarian was silent for a moment. "Ahh... So that is His plan. Set course for the center of the galaxy, galacticly south of the Gates of Varl. Sector 2, Subsector (++Inquisitorial permission required++). Damn database... Ahh, I'm in. Subsector Walls, the Citadel System." "Why?" "He says there may be a human colony there, built with levels of xeno- and archeo-tech defences even He couldn't dream of reproducing. " "So He thinks humanity may have survived on this world? Why did He not send us before?" "Do not doubt His word, Sergeant. He has a plan for us all... " "Warp coordinates locked. All hands, prepare for warp jump." A servitor announced in the emotionless voice that was common to all servants of the Omnisah. "This could get messy..." And with that, the ships of the Legion fleet one by one made the warp jump, vanishing in pinpricks of light in the blackness of space. The ships gilded through the oddly peaceful currents and eddies of the Warp, obviously the archeo-tech had some Warp-nullifying property. When the warp shoved them out at their destination, the Brothers stared at a odd reflection of Holy Terra when it was in its prime. "Brother, is that Holy Terra itself?" "No, the position of our ships relative to the Eye indicates that we are at the Citadel. Scanning the system... Ah... Intresting... This system, is, to all intents and purposes, invisible. Only those who know its there will see it. No psychic mirror in the warp, no Chaos taint, no Ork or Tyranid spores, Necron structures yet not a tomb world... Sergeant, it appears we have discovered the greatest fortress in the galaxy." "Any signs of humans?" Centurius pressed the easily-distracted Librarian. "Suprisingly, no. There are structures and what appear to be... I don't recognise these creatures but I could have sworn by the Throne I've seen them before..." "Dogs? Necrons? New Tyranid strains? Horses? Furies? Burger Marines?" "Ah! Horses!" Iphoan would have fist-pumped if not for the pipe connecting the throne to his gauntlet. "That's what they're called!" Centurius sighed. "We make planetfall, and establish overwatch positions. We will be as statues and we will observe these horses. Do not reveal yourselves unless I give the order. Relay this order to the other Brothers." And with that, the Damned would become guardians once more. A bolt of light suddenly shot straight past the Legion fleet before impacting violently on the moon. "What in His name was that?" Iphoan shouted out, hoping the horses didn't have surface to space missile silos. One of the Bridge marines answered "Internal dispute?" Centurius shrugged. "Another question that will be answered on the surface. Move, Brothers! For the Emperor!" ======================================================================= "What is it, Princess?" One of her Day Guard, Phalanx Spear, was that his name, asked. The 'it' in question was a very large number of black statues that had appeared in her Day Palace in Canterlot shortly after she had provided her younger sister with some thinking time on the moon. "I don't know, Phalanx Spear, but whatever they are, they are somewhat unique and well-crafted. Place them as ornaments in place of the statues of my sister and elsewhere where ornamentation is required. Put some on the walls and in the chapel and gatehouse as well. These black statues have a secret they are hiding, and I don't have the time to figure it out. Get your best stallions on it." "It will be done, my Princess." Phalanx Spear trotted away, leaving Celestia alone with the army of statues. She couldm't shake the feeling she was being watched, and why did such a event have to happen so soon after she had to banish Luna? Could they be connected? She walked up to a massive bipedal statue, one of its arms ending in a series of tubes while the other ended in a four- flat taloned-claw claw. On the front, the images of skulls of strange creatures, bones and fire were engraved while a single red glass window revealed only blackness. "Soon your secrets will be mine..." Celestia wasn't to know it would take a thousand years, the deaths of many ponies who wished to unlock the secrets of the statues and a full-on invasion of Equestria to cause the Damned to rise once again.
The Watchers"You forgot about the Legion's condition, didn't you, Sergeant? You, of all of us, should know of it. You have been around the longest, after all." Iphoan's voice sounded through Centurius's still-working comm bead. "We would have lasted at best a few years down there, if not for the highly fortunate fact this planed is a complete warp blank.Which nullifies the warp-damned plague's effects on the mind, but not the body." "You... You mean the condition no longer affects us?" "Oh, it still affects me because I'm still sitting in orbit with the Legions fleet. Just don't ask me to make any warp jumps soon. The whole place is more of a mess than Armageddon and Cadia combined when they were at their height! The machines will keep me sane, Brother. Don't worry about me. As for you and the other Legionarries, your physical forms will still be devoured completely and utterly but, since your psychic energy can't leave your bodies because the warp doesn't touch this place and vice versa, well you'll just become walking metal boxes of warp energy with a physical form manifested inside through sheer force of will." "Great, Brother, just great. Now we all become walking metal boxes like the Thousand Sons, but at least we still have our sanity. Put the ships in the Eclipse orbit pattern, we will maintain watch." Centerius stared around the building these primitive horses had put him in. It was vaguely reminiscent of a Imperial chapel, what was obviously a platform for a altar or throne at one end, long rows of pews, except for the windows, it could have been a chapel to the God-Emperor. The windows were the most confusing. Some had scenes of the white horse which he guessed was their leader on her (judging by the voice) own while others had her paired with a similar horse that was dark blue. Her sister? he guessed. That means we have two rulers to contend with. He turned his helmet lenses on, causing them to glow a dull red which any horses in the room would have easily noticed if any had been in there. He spotted Brother Alphan stood in a alcove opposite him and leaned out of the alcove into the darkened room to see how many of his other brothers were in the room. He spotted Brothers Caldous and Neuros in their Dreadnoughts, standing sentinel behind the dais and the lone throne that had been added to it. Two other brothers, Savillias and Merallion were stood flanking the door. One way in, one way out, two Dreadnoughts and four Brothers. If things went bad, they could hold this room until the enemy came in through the windows. Centerius spoke into the comm-bead "Our wait will be long, Brothers. The day will come when we are needed once again. Your physical forms will have long turned to dust, yet the warp energy that sustains us will remain. The Damned watch once more." His optical sensors dimmed back to their orginal dark red, his arms fell limp, kept in place by the armour. He could feel his body being destroyed cell by cell. The Legion would watch, wait, and protect. =================================================================== 1000 or so years later-In Ponyville- Twilight was restless. She was expecting yet another test by Princess Celestia and this one was 'designed to get you to think outside the box.' She had looked over every topic in the library, and yet she still couldn't figure out what the test could be on. It was the middle of the night, and the test was tomorrow. Twilight had devoured the contents every book in the library, and then she found this one, battered, thin black covered volume lying at the bottom of the pile. She could have sworn she'd never seen it before. The cover read- The Black Statues of Canterlot-The truths behind the legends. There was no author. Twilight stared at it. She knew of the semi-legendary black statues of Canterlot and the various myths about them. Some connected them to the banishment of Nightmare Moon, citing that they appeared only after her banishment to the moon. Others said they were connected to 'The Spears', a group of spearhead shaped asteroids that drifted in a lazy figue-of-eight around the Sun and the Moon. Many had tried to study them and all who did had vanished mysteriously. She opened the book and began to read aloud. "The statues themselves have been described so many time in so many different texts that I will not do so again. All who read this volume should know of the basic legends behind the statues, yet there are hundreds of them few ponies know." Twilight stared at the book for a few seconds. Could this be what Princess Celestia would test her on? She eagerly turned the page, seeking more knowledge on the statues, yet all she found was blank page after blank page. Some even had blood-like stains on. At the end was a hastily scribbled note. "They've found me. They've killed everypony else who came close to revealing the statues secrets. They are not statues at all! These statues are magic in its pure, unrefin-" Twilight couldn't read the last word because it was torn brutally from the book. She was confused by this. Somepony didn't want the secret of these mysterious statues getting out. Where there was a secret, there was knowledge. And where there was knowledge, Twilight went. "Knowledge is power, guard it well..." A voice whispered into her ear. Twilight turned, startled, seeking the source of the voice. "Hello? Is anypony there?" she asked the darkness. There was no reply. Being thoroughly creeped out by the mysterious voice, Twilight placed the book back on her desk and trotted back to her room, eager for sleep. She didn't see the book suddenly combust into a small pile of ashes.
TelepathyCenturius could feel where his limbs should be, yet there was a simple emptiness. Iphoan's hypothesis had proved correct and once again he questioned the decision to combine the mentally unstable Librarian with the metal half of a Tech-Priest to navigate the warp safely. "My turn again?" he grumbled to himself inside the dark reaches of his armour. The Legion had a set of 'watches' with each Marine staying awake for a few years before letting his soul's warp energy rest once again. "Fine, let's see what advances these pathetic equines have made since I was last awake. Hopefully their bastardised version of High Gothic has been replaced with bastardised Low Gothic instead... Centurius activated his optical sensors, bathing his soul in the warmth of light that came through them before the filters kicked in. He stared out at the same throne room, only this time there were two thrones." Ah, so the other ruler has returned from whatever lengthy sojourn she went on..." And both were occupied by the respective rulers. It hadn't suprised Centurius in the least to discover that the white horse was immortal. It seemed to be a thing among leaders. The God-Emperor, the C'tan, the Ruinous Powers, the Hive Mind, Gork and Mork. All were immortal or otherwise lived for a long time. That continued here. He turned his attentions to the large crowd of horses that crowded the other end of the throne room and was suprised when he saw another horse possessed of both wings and horn. Unlike the bright white one and the dark blue one who seemed to reflect day and night, the sun and moon, this one was a garish pink that reminded him of Slaaneshi cultists or Noise Marines. That sonic weaponry of theirs was one of the few things that would kill a Legionnaire now they were nothing but souls trapped in metal prisons. All the horses appeared to be talking or somehow clutching glasses of what he presumed was amasec or wine, as the nobility called it. A party. He spotted the pink one seemingly dancing with a white horned one, before they performed what would count as a horse version of a kiss. Make that a pre-wedding party. A pain blossomed where his head would have been, if he had a head. Instead, it manifested itself as a faint tingling in his soul, a feeling something was messing with reality, absorbing raw emotion. He shut his optical sensors down, aware that visual distraction would only hinder his efforts. Looking with his mind instead of his body, Centurius let his thoughts wander into the localised, calm, warp that pervaded the planet, feeling for the disturbances that would signal the usage of sorcery, or as these horses called it, magic. The disturbance was easily found, whoever was using sorcery wasn't very skilled at hiding their mind from others within the warp. The next issue was whether to simply leech the memories from the users body, attempt full telepathy or simply dominate the sorcerer's unshielded mind. Not being in a subtle frame of mind, Centurius elected to simply eject the mind currently occupying the body, take it over and deal with any unforeseen side effects. =============================================================== Celestia smiled at Cadence as she and Shining Armour. It was good to see family like her finally finding that special somepony, especially in Cadence's case, being the alicorn of love. That was when the spike happened. A powerful aura of magic, more powerful even than that the Elements produced, suddenly entered the room. Celestia winced, it was like somepony was trying to rip her mind from its rightful place inside her head. Several of the less-magically powerful or wilful unicorn nobles collapsed under the sheer magical weight of the force applied. Then the feeling vanished from Celestia's mind and she quickly followed the magical spike back to its source along the paths of magical residue that it would have left behind. She only followed it a short way before she was sure of it's orgin: the 'Leader' statue. Flinging her mind back to the here and now, she opened her eyes to find Cadence lying on the floor in Shining Armour's hooves, gently sobbing. Yet another mystery about the statues to be solved. Twilight would be arriving soon, hopefully she could assist in this investigation. I may need to modify the tests a bit... ============================================================== I have you now, Leech daemon. You may have fooled the horses, yet no daemon has fooled the Emperor's Finest. Centurius opened his mind up to his other Brothers, awake or sleeping. "Brothers, a daemonic threat has foolishly revealed itself to me. All of you are to remain on watch until I deem the threat has passed... ============================================================ The magical spike roared over the lands around Canterlot like a tidal wave. Unfortunately, Twilight and her friends were on the train when the magical wave erupted, right in the blast zone. For Twilight, as powerful as she was, it manifested as little more than a mildly painful migraine. For Rarity however... For Rarity the side-effects of the magical spike were somewhat catastrophic- in everypony's opinion, not just hers on fashion. She not only fell unconscious, ruining her mane completely, but the cuts under her coat that had been caused by the Diamond Dogs reopened and started to leak a strange, multi-coloured liquid that wasn't blood, but... Something else. Something far worse. ========================================================================== The spike woke many Legionaries from their long rest, and the warp residue that was soon littered throughout Canterlot began to slither towards the statues, seeking to rejoin the most concerntrated part of the warp nearby- which happened to be the Legionaries sealed inside their armour. The warp energy, unable to rejoin the pockets of warp energy contained inside the Legionaries, contented itself with coiling over their armour like snakes. =========================================================================== In space... Why do you resist me, foolish mortal? I know there is something there, some last bastion of un-ravaged lands and planets... "You will not have your way with me, foul daemon! Back to the warp with you!" Oh but I will. It's only a matter of time...
No answers..."What even is this stuff anyway?" Rainbow Dash poked her hoof into the strange multi-coloured sludge that was beginning to pool around Rarity's knocked-out from on the floor. "You should know Twi, with all the time you spend in the library of yours..." Twilight shook her head, a puzzled look on her face. "I have no idea what this stuff is, unless its connected to that magical blast..." "Wait... What magical blast?" Dash looked up from the strange stuff. "I didn't see anything like a explosion..." Twilight sighed. "It was a mental shockwave, a after-effect of..." A shocked look appeared on her face. "Telepathy! But nopony has been able to do that since Discord's reign! Not even the Princesses would have attempted such a spell." "Telepathy? What in Celestia's name is that?" Rainbow Dash jumped into a low hover, flexing her wings inside the narrow confines of the train. "Reading somepony else's mind." "Mind reading? That is so cool! Now I can finally find out why the Wonderbolts haven't accepted me yet, and what makes Pinkie tick!" "I don't think anypony really wants to know what goes on in Pinkie's mind, Dash. Isn't there privacy to consider?" "I guess you're right... Still, mind reading would be awesome!" "Would you two mind shuttin up and do somethin bout Rarity?" Applejack shouted from the other end of the carridge, where she was trying to calm Fluttershy down. "Sorry AJ, my mind got the better of me...Again." Twilight turned back to Rarity and began to use the little healing magic she knew. "Would you mind getting Fluttershy? She's more experienced with treating injuries than me." ============================================ Centurius groaned inside the armour. Telepathy was a large and difficult psychic feat to perform at the best of times, yet that had been easy. No mental defences whatsoever and the calmest the Warp had ever been. That had certainly caught him unawares. Normally trying to use a psychic power was like directing a raging river, yet here the warp was so calm it was more like a placid stream. All the leftover power had simply exploded in what was one of the largest magical blasts ever known. "Brothers, how well are the horses coping with my... Telepathy? Centurius sent out into the telepathic grid that the Legionarries used to communicate in battle and when maintaining comms silence- when the comms were working. He heard Iophan's slightly manical laugh inside his mind. Not well. In fact, the psyker horses are all either out cold, trying to figure out what in His name happened, or otherwise complaining at the Princesses. Those two are rather angry at you too." "Great, Brother. Have the Spears been set on their return course yet?" "The Spears are making their return. No problems up here, demonic or otherwise. I'd recommend activating your opticals soon." "Roger that, Brother. Be prepared for anything, these daemons are unlike any I have encountered in Slaanesh's service before. Centurius activated his optics, revealing a blank grey ceiling. "Here we are again..." He muttered to himself. =============================================================== The group of mares almost immediately set to bickering as soon as they arrived in Canterlot. "No, Rarity needs proper treatment." Fluttershy added quietly into the group of arguing friends. "Yes, but the Princess called us here for a reason. And she can treat Rarity at the castle as well as telling us what in Celestia's name caused the blast." Twilight tried to reason with her. "We should split up. Me an Fluttershy 'ill take Rarity to the hospital, while you, RD and Pinkie find out what the buck happened." "Fine. RD, you and Pinkie are coming with me to the castle to meet the princesses. Everypony else, take Rarity to the hospital. I just hope she's alright." =================================================================== Twilight, with Dash and Pinkie in tow, walked into the castle where there were, oddly, no guards rushing around in panic due to the blast. "Where are all the guards? You'd expect them to be doing their job right now." "No idea? Maybe it's a suprise party?" Pinkie bounced along, ignorant of the fact something seemed seriously wrong. Twilight groaned. "Not everything is party related, Pinkie. Let's just find the Princesses so I can get rid of this feeling of being watched constantly. It's... Somewhat unnerving." Rainbow swooped in lazily over their heads before landing. "You sure you're not just getting paranoid, Twi?" "I also heard somepony tell me 'Knowledge is power and that I should 'guard it well'." Rainbow shook her head. "Definitly paranoia..." Twilight shrugged it off. "Let's go find the Princesses, maybe they can shed some more light on the situation." The trio of ponies headed off into the castle, looking for the Pincesses. The Castles interior, like the exterior, was also deserted the whole way to the throne room. They found Celestia and Luna, deep in conversation between themselves, none of the usual advisors or guards or royal hangers-on present which was pleasant. "Ah, the Elements have finally arrived. May I ask where are the others?" Celestia asked while lounging on her throne. "The others have taken Rarity to the hospital, she was somehow injured during the mental shockwave." Twilight replied to her mentor. Luna seemed to be sulking slightly for some unknown reason. "I hope she's alright. Cadence will be very disappointed otherwise." "Why would Cadence be dissapointed if Rarity were injured?" "I would have told you earlier via mail, but..." Celestia motioned outwards with her hoof. "Other matters arose. Princess Cadence was, and I hope is, going to marry Shining Armour. Rarity was to make her dress." "Wait... Cadence is marrying my brother? Thanks a lot Shiny... Letting the Princess tell me rather than coming and telling me yourself...." "Shining Armour has been very busy, my faithful student. First with the protection spell over Canterlot, and then trying to console Cadence." "What happened to the Princess?" "You remember the Black Statues?" All three of them nodded. "One of them, the 'Dei-Centurion' statue, launched a full-on mental assault on Cadence, smashing apart her mental defences like they didn't exist. Said assault also caused the magical blast earlier. Your test, Twilight, is to find out everything you can on these statues. My sister has-" Celestia gave Luna a heated look. "-somewhat reluctantly agreed to have you assist her in her studies of the Black Statues. As for the rest of you, you will be helping with various parts of the wedding preparations."
But more questions"So where are we going?" Twilight practically bounced down the hall that led towards the Canterlot Archives, Luna trailing close behind and rather annoyed with her sister for having her pupil help her in her studies of the statues. She worked better alone, that's how it had been before her banishment, and how it was now. "The Archives, like I have told thou at least twice, Twilight Sparkle." Twilight really was beginning to get on Luna's nerves with her endless thirst for knowledge, she could understand why Celestia had sent her to Ponyville. "But there can't be that much on the Black Statues, can there? I mean, if nopony has bothered to research them for the last hundred years..." "All will be revealed in due time." The two ponies walked into the Canterlot archives before Luna made a sharp turn towards a stairwell. The Archives were organised by age on the various floors with relatively recent events like the 'Magic Barrier' that mysteriously appeared around Canterlot during Discord's escape and Luna's return on the top floor and older events on the floors below. The statues had appeared in Equestria at exactly the same time, to the hour if Celestia's accounts could be held reliable a thousand years later, as Luna's banishment. Which is why Twilight began to get confused as they passed the floor for events a thousand years ago. As they passed the floor for three thousand years ago, Twilight began to get worried. "Uh, Princess? Shouldn't the Archive section on the Statues have been a while back?" "The Statues are a lot older than you think, Twilight Sparkle." "Older than Discord himself?" Twilight questioned as they passed the four thousand year mark. "A lot older than that hastily assembled excuse for a creature." Five thousand, six thousand , seven thousand... How old were these statues? Luna stopped at the last door. The plaque on the door read Nine Thousand Years and Older- Access only with permission from the Princesses. Twilight gasped slightly at the statues age. They were quite probabaly older than a few of the mountain ranges that dominated North Equestria! "How... How do you know they are that old?" "Metal samples and a rather useful new magic technique which determines something's age through the magical residue it gives off. Shall we go in?" Twilight nodded vigorously and the two walked into the room. ================================================================= Centurius heard the sound of footsteps entering the chamber in the Archives he had been relocated to. Celestia had used it to store any loose artifacts related to them and as a storehouse of knowledge for anything related to the Legion. "So this is where all the knowledge has been hidden..." Centurius didn't recognise this voice, but it was obviously not Luna's as he could detect her psychic presence on his blindside as his head was rotated so it was facing the left wall. Still, this other presence was mildly powerful compared to the vast majority of the other unicorns he had observed over the decades. "Not hidden, more... Limited. Much of the knowledge contained within this room would be highly damaging to Equestria if it were released to anypony. I will be leaving you, I must take my watch over the city." Centurius sensed Luna's presence fading as the other presence began to read aloud. "The Black Statues of Canterlot- The Princesses guide (Updated). Note- Not to leave this room. Huh? That's odd... Why would a book not be allowed to leave a room? Well, I guess I should continue. Arrival- This should be good..." "The statues arrival coincides with a major event in Equestrian history- the banishment of Nightmare Moon. I do not know whether the two are connected. At the same time, the cluster of asteroids known as 'The Spears' also appeared. The Spears and the Statues are definatly connected, following Luna's recount of nearly crashing into them during her flight to the moon. According to my sister, the Spears looked like space-born castles, a mass of metal spires and various other gothic features. The statues actual arrival to Equestria itself... The voice droned on and on, talking about events Centurius had seen firsthand from his brothers memories. Centurius fell back into his dormant state after five minutes of the reading. ======================================================================= Twilight paced around the statue that was lying on a grey stone plinth in the centre of the room. She did not know, or really care, about how long she had been down here, all that mattered was uncovering the secret of the statues. "None of this makes sense!" A pile of books was loosely strewn across the desk in the room, all the knowledge inside them conflicted. The different parts of the statues had completely different ages- on this statue alone, the helm was two thousand years old compared to the breastplate that was closer to eight thousand years old. The statues had apparently arrived on the Spears, yet a translation of the strange writing on the banner read 'Legion of the Damned', implying these statues had some connection to the dead or cursed. They were hollow, which meant they would have once contained something, but whatever that was, had long been turned into dust. According to Cadence's recount of the telepathic attack, the statue had the strongest mental defences she had ever seen, and the only thing she could sense was a hatred so intense it breached the statues barriers as well as her own, with no help from the statue itself. What could only feel hate for the alicorn of love? Twilight looked around the room for the clock that was in here, and found it also had a date on it. At least I'm not the only pony that was obsessed with these statues... That was when she noticed the date. "Oh, buck, it's the wedding today!" She began to panic. "I better go get ready!" Twilight galloped out of the room. Centurius smiled, and for the first time in a thousand years, his power armours servoes ground slowly into action once again. The day of the wedding. The day of banishment. ======================================================================= "I know it is down there mortal, everything has its reflection in the material world. I have scoured every inch of the galaxy for it, and this is the one place I have not searched. You cannot hide the gateway to knowledge from me. And with the key to open it, I shall claim it all."
Damned RisingThe servoes groaned, shaking off a layer of dirt and grime that had a thousand years to build up to its current state. His great armoured form sat up on the table and stood up, stretching his arm servoes from a long time of disuse. The daemon would make it's move soon, what that move would be puzzled the Sergeant. From what he had felt through the telepathic link, it felt like no other demonic presence he had encountered. It had none of the bloodlust of Khornate daemons, none of the repulsiveness of Nurglite daemons, none of the psychic abilities possessed by a daemon of Tzeentch. It was a shapeshifter which fitted with the Slaaneshi daemon he expected it to be, yet he felt no lust from it for anything. All he had felt was desperation for itself and it's servants. What were its servants? Centurius wondered to himself as he drew his chain sword and revved the toothed blade, shaking the decay off. Still, if that was the mental defences of their leader, he would have laughed at the defensive capabilities of its troops. Even that wannabe Lord of Change he and his brothers had to protect the Castle from had more powerful defences simply through his offensive powers and chaotic approach to psychic warfare. The door was locked from the outside and Centurius wasn't in the mood for dealing with a pathetic obstacle like that, not when there was a daemon to be banished. He revved his chainsword and swung it at the heavy wooden door, shearing clean through in a matter of moments. He kicked open the broken door, revealing a staircase. Any of the ponies in the Archives would have heard that, but there was no time to be lost. Centurius sprinted up the stairs, servoes groaning under the stresses placed on them from such long intactivity. He cast a false invisibility spell, meaning it convinced others to ignore him rather than providing 'true' invisibility. True invisibility involved the use of physical manipulation, which was never the Sergeant's strongest psychic discipline, so he used the telepathic version instead, blotting his appearance from registering in their weak, malleable minds. Chaos would have a field day if they got past the mass of psychic and physical defences that isolated this planet from the rest of the Galaxy. Centurius ran through corridors filled with those useless noble ponies that had always filled his audio receptors with such drivel that he had almost destroyed the entirety of Canterlot just so he could have peace and quiet, dodging out their way as they hurried towards the hall where the wedding would be held. He knew the exact positions of all his brothers through the telepathic web that linked them all, and the wedding hall had four Legionarries with the Emperor's blessed heavy flamers and a lone Dreadnought behind the place where the altar would be, if his guess was correct. Maybe the God-Emperor would show the daemon mercy, for he would not. =========================================================================== Twilight and the others shuffled into the hall, taking their positions as honoured guests right along the edge of the aisle after the army of Canterlot nobles had filed into the hall. Celestia stood at the end of the hall, one of the massive black statues the books that Twilight had studied called "Brutarii" after their massive size compared to even the other statues. She stared at the statue, a feeling of unease resting in her stomach. Maybe it hadn't been a good idea to have some of the statues in the wedding after what had happened. Rarity wasn't present, still recovering from the bleed out of the multicoloured liquid. She had still designed the dress and created it from her bed with the help of her suddenly more powerful magic, however, and would no doubt be expecting a complete description of the event down to the smallest detail, of which Twilight would happily provide. Rarity wasn't one to give away the chance to advertise the chance of advertising her wares in front of the nobles of Canterlot, either. Shining Armour stood to Celestia's left, eyes slightly glazed over like he was struggling to focus. Maybe the protection spell was beginning to tire him, after all, casting and sustaining a spell as taxing as a energy shield non-stop for well over a week couldn't be easy. The doors opened with a loud clang as Cadence walked into the room, beautiful in Rarity's dress, shame she wasn't here to see it while her bridesmaids walked in front before the Royal Guard shut the door. Twilight saw her smile faintly as she strode past, as if she was in a hurry to get to Shining Armour. There was no warmth in that smile, no love. It was a smile millions had come to fear in the form of a old man from Cadia, a smile that signalled 'Just as planned'. As Cadence approached the altar and the two ponies began to say their vows, Twilight couldn't help but shake the feeling something seriously wrong was about to happen. That was when the doors exploded in a shower of splinters. A low grinding of metal upon metal filled the silent hall as the statue strode forth from the wreckage of the doorway. Cadence and Celestia's horns ignited at once, Celestia's a sunny yellow, Cadence's was a sickly green, not the rosy pink Twilight remembered it to be. "What are you doing here? You, who attacked my niece, now have the gall to threaten me and her?" Celestia hovered a few feet off the ground, wings extended. The statue remained silent as it continued it's advance down the aisle, a low roar coming from a object clutched in one of it's hands. The statue halted. Celestia's horn suddenly stopped glowing, and she let out a silent scream as her magic was rammed back into her body. The statue withdrew a spherical object with it's left hand and extended it out towards Cadence as it began its advance once again. What happened next would go down as the most infamous day in Equestrian history, and it's bloodiest- the Day of the Thousand Pyres. =========================================================== In Spess... The two ships dropped out of the Warp on opposite sides of the system, each mirroring the other's actions. From one a one-eyed daemon gazed out, seeking to reclaim his Legions former glory and beat him who had ruined it by claiming the prize. From the other a gold, horned helmet stared out, the object of his dreams was finally within his grasp. Both had waited a thousand years to find this system in the warp, and both knew that the chances of the same alignment with the same Warp currents were slim, to say the least. There could only be one winner.
Day of the Thousand Pyres- Part 1The strange object that the statue held out towards Cadence began to glow a bright, almost blinding, fiery light as faint tendrils of magic lanced out towards Cadence, ensnaring her. Everypony stared at the scene for a few seconds before realisation struck. The statue had defeated Celestia. It was now doing something to Cadence. The two Royal guard at the back of the hall charged forwards, horns lit, before the statue turned. The guards screamed as the magical glow from their horns vanished, and small cuts appeared on guard's sides, leaking the strange, multi-coloured liquid that Rarity had. The five ponies took one look at each other before they came to a horrorible conclusion- they couldn't do anything. The statue had beaten Celestia in a magical duel, so Twilight wasn't too eager to try her luck. Rarity was injured, so the Elements of Harmony were unusable. The only option left was brute force. "Rainbow, AJ, see if you can knock it down. Pinkie..." "Yes?" Pinkie piped up as she brought one of her trademark Party Cannons out of nowhere. "Hit it with that." "Okie doke!" Pinkie bounced around happily, ignoring the fact that a seven-foot monster was about to kill Cadence. "Fluttershy..." Twilight looked around the panic-filled hall, no sign of Fluttershy anywhere. "Leave her, Twi, let me an RD take this fella down." ===================================================== Centurius watched with satisfaction as the Animus began to strip away the daemon's illusion. Soon these foolish and gullible ponies would see what they had been harbouring in their midst. His audio receptors picked up the sound of movement behind him, but these ponies couldn't harm something that wasn't technically alive. A loud clang rang off the back of his skull helmet. If he could have, he would have smiled. These ponies had determination. He turned his head round, revealing a light blue pegasus and a orange regular pony battering away it various parts of his body, trying to slow him down. He watched as the pink began to slowly turn to a black, the wings becoming faint and green. Soon they would see the truth. =========================================================== Twilight watched as Rainbow and Applejack bucked away ineffectually at the statue while Cadence's pink coat was stripped away, revealing a... Black, insect-like shell. Wait, what? Twilight did a double-take on the situation. Instead of Cadence standing there, a hideous, insectoid pony stood there. "AJ, Rainbow, stop! It's trying to help us!" Twilight shouted but her words were lost in the panic of the crowd. "Oh, please. It can't do anything to me." The black pony strode forward. "It very kindly disposed of Celestia for me, and my army of Changelings will soon take over Equestria. For I am Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings, and they hunger for your love." "You can't! Shining Armour's protection spell will stop you!" Twilight shouted back at Chrysalis. "No, I think not." Her horn glowed green as she threw Shining Armour at the statue with her magic. "Easily dealt with." The statue dropped the spherical object so it could catch Shining in it's massive left hand before it layed the knocked out pony behind him. "You will not deal with me so easily, daemon. I have fought the Blood Crusade, the Great Devourer, the servants of the Ruinous powers. And I find your powers lacking compared to theirs." The words resonated throughout the mind of everypony in the room. "My powers lacking? How will you deal with my army?" Chrysalis laughed as a small group of Changelings burst in through the window behind her. "With the Emperor's holy fire." Pinkie ran out of the crowd, and layed her Party Cannon down, pointed straight at the statues face. The statue brought its foot back, before kicking Pinkie out the window with one massive sweep, Party Cannon following, while Pinkie shouted "Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee as she flew out into the city. Rainbow cursed under her breath before she set of in pursuit of the falling pony. "Still, statue, I do not see any dragons with you with which you can 'purge' me." Chryalis smiled thinly as a group of Changelings charged in through the door at the rear of the room. "Checkmate." "I think you underestimate me. Checkmate to you, daemon..." A loud roar sounded from behind Chrysailis as the Dreadnought's engine awoke. The armoured behomoth brought one fist down on Chrysalis's group, smashing several Changelings into a bloody pulp as Chrysalis hovered up. A stream of assault cannon fire from the dreadnought followed, adding more holes to her legs and wings. "You may have beaten me here, but what of the city?" Chrysalis flew out of the room with a laugh as she decended towards the streets of Canterlot. "Brothers, into the city. Purge these daemons from it with the Emperor's holy fire." "It will be done." Throughout the castle, Legionarries awoke, eyes ablaze with righteous fury. The sound of bolter fie echoed throughout the city as Legionarries began to exterminate the Changeling swarm. ====================================================================== Chrysalis stared from her tower perch as she watched her swarm being destroyed. She could feel her subjects dying, each death a pain in her mind, both literally and figuratively as her subjects were ripped out of the synapse web. Everything had been planned, down to the last detail. Yet still she was ruined. Flying off back towards the empty plains, she entertained herself thinking of schemes of revenge with the Changelings who she had had remain back at the Hive. She cut the rest off from her web. They could face the statues alone. ======================================================== In Spess... Iophan coughed up blood. The ships systems were failing after a thousand years of non-stop operation and no Tech-priest to bless the engines in the holy words of the Omnisah. And the ships systems affected the state of their controller. Looking up into the sensor readings that surrounded the command throne on decayed screens, two blips appeared. Two blips. Had humanity returned to salvage the Damned? Or had Chaos come to blight the system? He received his answer as nova cannon fire struck the ship's reactor, sending it into a plummeting trajectory towards Canterlot. ========================================================== Ahriman smiled under his gold helm as the Imperial ship began to plummet towards the planet. Magnus was already here, and the two of them would have a reckoning. No Imperial dogs would get in their way.
Day of the Thousand Pyres- Part 2Day of the Thousand Pyres- Part 2 Magnus's lone eye tracked the spaceship as it began to fall towards the planet's surface, flames blossoming along its length as it entered the atmosphere. Ahriman may have made the first move, but this was a simple race between the two of them to find the Webway portal. Nothing would stand in either of their paths, be it Necron, Eldar, or whatever Space Marine chapter had taken this world first. Those black-armoured Legionarries had been most intresting to Tzeentch, their orgins a mystery even to the Lord of Change himself, along with their current location in the Warp or material universe. He just hoped that Kalidor Drago wasn't down there. That Grey Knight would prove a serious thorn to both his own plans and those of Ahriman. Power crackled in the air around him as Magnus cut a portal through the Warp to the planets surface. The mightiest sorcerer would come out of this alive, and Magnus did not feel like losing. The Daemon Primarch strode through the portal, intent on claiming his prize. ================================================================ Ahriman watched as the Space Marine battlecruiser plummeted down towards the surface. Magnus would be making planetfall any minute now, and he must be there to meet him. A flare of blue engulfed Ahriman's staff as he used it to rip open a portal to the surface. He didn't care what was down there. Nothing would stop him. Nothing. ==================== Ahriman found himself standing before a great stone wall, rising high above him with a grassy plain at his back. The wall would be no obstacle to one as powerful as him. His hand glowed a light shade of blue as he created three Doombolts and threw them at the wall. When the dust cleared, a gaping hole big enough to drive a Rhino through was left. Ahriman walked through the gap and out into the chaos-ridden streets of a city. He stopped for a while to analyse the situation. Black insects that resembled the horses of Terra were attacking ... Other horses? Multi-coloured horses? If Ahriman had a tiny bit of curiosity at that point, he might have stopped and wondered where in the Warp he was. But the Black Library awaited, and he could always investigate these things within its depths of knowledge. Disregarding the natives, Ahriman strode on into the city, a Doombolt held ready in his hand. ===================================================================== A small black crack formed in a wall, unnoticed by the mass of Royal Guard who were desperately trying to turn back the tide of Changlings that were mobbing the gatehouse. There was a loud crash as the Damned awoke from their sleep and stepped out from their alcoves. They turned as one mass to face the on-coming swarm and opened silently opened fire. Psychically-charged bolt shells tore through the Changeling horde and rank upon rank fell to the righteous fury that the bolters of the Damned had become. Magnus watched it all through the tiny crack of a portal he had made, silently wondering whether he would go ahead of Ahriman and risk being stabbed in the back by that traitor or wait for the sorcerer to pass and chance not getting to the Webway gate. Sensing that Ahriman had teleported onto the planet's surface, Magnus went for the bolder option, and stepped out of the Warp into the middle of the carnage. ======================== As he stepped out of the portal, Magnus slammed his cleaver into the ground, unleashing a torrent of blinding warpfire into the ranks of the Damned, melting their armour and their souls in a fiery flash as they disintegrated before him. Surveying the black shells of the Damned and the piles of ash where the ponies had stood, Magnus pulled his cleaver from the ground and looked upwards towards a castle-like structure. The gate to the Black Library would be his and his alone. ==================== Centurius snarled inwardly as two bright beacons lit up the previously dull Immaterium. Something that warranted his intervention had come after all, it seemed. Casting his gaze back to the Materium, he found himself standing before a group of three of the ponies, no doubt brimming with questions he did not wish to answer. Ever. Centurius felt for the telepathic web that bound them together and as he did so, he felt threads begin to slip away. Whatever Warp creatures had wound their way here were powerful, to say the least. Forgetting about the web for now, Centurius ran out of the room, leaping with surprising grace over the three ponies and forming a small crater on the other side where he landed. There were daemons out there, and these ponies were woefully unequipped both physically and mentally to deal with even a Lesser Daemon. ============= Ahriman smashed another Doombolt into yet another Legionary's head, cracking the armour and realeasing the trapped soul within. Pulling his gauntleted hand out of the shattered helmet, Ahriman surveyed the situation. The Damned were defending the city for a reason only Tzeentch could know, and he could sense Magnus advancing towards the castle where the Webway gate must be located. A lone Legionare strode out of the fire and smoke, hand extend clutching a skull and a chainsword. Ahriman raised his staff as Warp energy pooled around it as the skull began to glow faintly. ===================================== Magnus roared his anger into the sky as another blue bolt plinked off his armour. These bolts were nothing more than a minor annoyance to the Daemon Primarch, but their caster could be. Magnus gathered Warp energy into his free hand and threw it in a constantly shifting ball behind him over his shoulder, causing whoever had been firing the bolts to scream in pain. Content that the annoyance had been dealt with, Magnus strode on once more towards the castle. ================== Luna screamed as the ball of raw magic slammed into her wing, twisting it backwards to a horrorible angle where it was facing the wrong way. Gliding to the ground on her one good wing, she watched the massive biped/daemon walk off towards the castle. This could not be allowed. Gritting her teeth, Luna rose once more to her hooves, and determined to exact her revenge on the foalish thing that had destroyed her wing.
Day of the Thousand Pyres- Part 3Magnus roared as he hacked another of the foolish ponies to pieces. They were stubborn, but ultimately ineffective in stopping his advance. He glanced up towards the castle where the portal presumably stood, wondering how a race this primitive could have built a city over one of the most valuable objects in the galaxy. Turning his attention back to the street from his mind's useless wanderings, Magnus noticed that the dark blue pest was continuing to follow him, but not attacking. I'll leave it alive, for now. Someone needs to witness my glories, after all. Pulling his cleaver from the corpse of the pony, Magnus continued his slow march towards the castle, and his prize. ================================================================= Ahriman sighed lazily. This lone Legionary thought he could stop him? The master of sorcery? The mortal must be taught a lesson, it seems. he thought as warpfire flickered along the black-hafted length of his staff. The Damned Legionary moved first, aiming to decapitate the Sorcerer with one great swing of his chainsword. Ahriman slammed the chainsword away with the head of his staff before conjuring a ball of fire in his right hand and slamming it into the Legionary's helmet. The ball of fire was met by a spear of pure force, slamming Ahriman's arm backwards and destroying the ball of magic. Ahriman growled beneath his helmet. Maybe I underestimated this one... If they were equally matched in psychic power on the physical plane, how would his opponent fare on the mental? Sending your mind out through the Warp was never a pleasant experience for any psyker, but Ahriman had learned to stomach the constant feeling that you were about to vomit violently. He immediately focused on the psychic light that was the Legionary and his mind began to slowly approach that of the Legionary as he swung his staff to block another attack by the Legionary in the Materium. His mental advance was soon halted when a chainsword butt smashed into his helm, disorientating him and bringing him crashing back to the material realm. Ahriman roared in anger and lashed out with a massive wave of pure force in front of him, ripping up stones and hurling them along with the Legionary up the road into a wall. He pushed himself up with the staff, using it like a crutch to get to his feet as he watched the cloud of smoke and dust settle on the ground, revealing... A dent. The growling of the chainsword firing up was the only warning Ahriman got before the blade slammed into the seam on his thigh armour, easily splitting the weaker armour and biting into his flesh. Ahriman swung the bottom of his staff into the Legionaries head as he turned before electricity began to course through his hand, waiting to be directed. The Legionary fell to the floor, chainsword knocked well out of reach as Ahriman placed the horns of his staff around the Legionarys neck, pinning him. "You were brave, lapdog. But ultimately trying to challenge me was foolish. One such as you can only aspire to defeat the likes of me..." Ahriman gloated. "Hey, mister!" Ahriman turned towards the direction the voice had come from, revealing a bright pink pony with something resembling a cannon. There was a small spurt of flame as the cannon's fuse was lit and various party objects were blasted at Ahriman, causing him to recoil in surprise and weaken his hold on the staff. Centurius took immediate advantage of the distraction, grabbing the staff with both hands and pushing back on the staff, slamming the gold-plated end into the back of Ahriman's head, sending him sprawling to the ground, face first. He leaped to his feet, placed one power-armour boot onto the Sorcerer's back and extended the skull towards Ahriman, who was trying in vain to push the Sergeant's boot off of his back. Faint tendrils of light snaked out from the glowing skull, weaving their way closer and closer towards Ahriman's prone form before they began to coil around him, trapping him. The tendrils began to pulse, faintly at first before growing larger and brighter as Ahriman began to scream louder and louder as his soul was devoured by the holy artifact. The skull flashed brightly, returning a Legionary to the realm of the living from the Warp. Centurius stepped back from Ahriman's body, mind reeling not from what he had done, but what he had to do. A Space Marine could never defeat a Primarch. The mass volleys of the entire Legion's bolters might stand a chance, but many of his battle brothers would have fallen before the Traitor Primarch. "Hey, Walking-Moving Statue thing! Are you even listening?" Centurius recoiled in surprise as the bright pink pony he had drop-kicked out a window earlier bounced up to his eye-level before falling. "You're not going to let a S10, T10 Gargantuan Monstorous Creature romp around the player's deployment zone are you?" "That made no sense, xeno." Centurius whispered into the pony's mind, before recoiling at what the levels of chaos he found within. If that pony were a psyker, this world would be immune to anything. By the Emperor, if it becomes one... "What's the fun in making sense silly? Did you never learn to never use combat squads? Just follow me and we'll save Equestria from whatever that blue giant thingy is called!" With that the pink pony bounced up the street towards the castle, occasionally glancing back to see if he was following. Thought for the day: heresy grows from idleness. Spurred on by faith, Centurius ran after the bouncing pony. The pony stopped, looked up into the sky and pointed a hoof at something. "What's that?" Centurius spotted the falling, dagger-like object and activated his helmet's zoom optics, zooming in on the hull of a falling battle barge. By the Emperor...
Magnus's Rage"30 minutes to impact. No possible course deviations detected. May the Emperor have mercy on our souls." the Servitor announced over the wailing of alarms. Iophan spat out a large glob of blood before opening his eyes. His vision was still hazy, unclear. Pain shot up through his left arm, causing him to grit his teeth. He was a Astartes, one of the Emperor's Angels of Death. He would not succumb to his injuries until he had done his duty. He had stared death in the face many times before, both in the Fire Hawks and the Legion; now would be no different. Except this time, there would be no escape, no armoured support courtesy of General Creed, no deus ex Imperator. Turning his attention to the glass viewport, he gazed down at the planet below. So... Unlike the Imperium. Grass spread where there should have been craters, settlements where there would be ruins. "27 minutes to impact." He didn't know what warband the Traitors had come from or how they had found their way here, but they had. And he would... "Brother, what is happening?" Centurius whispered into his mind. "The Traitors took out the engines, set me on this course, I recommend you hurry, Brother. Our time is limited." "Reactivate the engines, try everything to slow the Battle Barge down. The foul traitors will not escape with their prize and destroy this city as well." "What do they seek? "I do not know, but whatever it is, it can't be good. The Emperor protects." If only he truly did... Iophan mused as he continued to stare at the approaching ground. "Servitors! Begin protocol Beta-Twelve-Nineteen. Overload the Warp drive, these Traitors will burn in the fires of the Emperor's Holy Engines." ==================================================================== "Where is it? Tell me where it is, mortals, or DESPAIR before my wrath!" Magnus screamed as he smashed one of the Royal Guard into the ground. "Tell me where IT is!" Magnus tossed the corpse out of his path. He observed the situation and the delightful chaos that had resulted. There were crowds of screaming... Ponies? Was that what they were called? Whatever they were, they were streaming through the corridors of the castle like fire through a forest, trying to avoid his wrath. The gate to the library was here, he could sense it. Ahriman had fallen, being beaten to death by small colourful ponies was a fitting end for the man that had damned his Legion, at least from Magnus's eyes. He cast his mind into the Warp, and began to trawl through the eddies and currents for the faint but highly distinctive warp signatures that Webway gates left behind. There was one through the door to his left, so he ripped the doors of their hinges and threw them behind him, eager to claim all the knowledge contained within, knowledge that would rebuild his Legion. He stared down a long gallery, stained glass windows displaying various scenes, presumably of these creatures history. "Hmmph." Magnus grunted as he strode down the gallery towards a door that he could actually walk through, before he stopped in front of the door. Six circles were engraved into the door, magical wards? Traps? It didn't matter to Magnus, as long as his prize waited beyond. Heaving his cleaver back in both hands, Magnus struck the door with a psychically-enhanced blow that would fell a Titan, pulverising the door into little more that a pile of wood shavings. Magnus roared in frustration as he saw what lay beyond that door. There was no delicate curved structure carved with the wisdom of the Old Ones, instead a lone blue wooden box sat inside. "Where is IT!" Magnus roared down the corridor, the force of the shout shattering the windows and spraying glass outside onto the gardens below. Below... That's where it is! Magnus realised. Whatever these xenos built, it must be above the work of the Old Ones. I need a way down... =========== "So where are we going?" Pinkie bounced alongside Centurius as they raced towards the castle. The sounds of bolter fire echoed through the streets as the Legionaries dealt with the remaining Changeling holdouts, oblivious to the greater threat. However, Cenutrius left them carrying out the purge rather than calling them to aid him- they would be more likely to be killed for good during the battle against the daemon, and if that happened the other daemons would no doubt return and finish what they had begun. "The castle, xeno. A traitor as lauded as Ahriman in the eyes of the Ruinous Powers would not have come here for the simple pleasure of killing. Something is driving him forwards, and I fear he may not be the only traitor in the service of the Dark Gods present upon this world..." "Oh, goodie! Some other blue meanie pants like the other statue?" "Yes, xeno." Centurius grunted. These strange and pathetic Xenos were beginning to wear on his nerves. He was a fighter, not a talker. Now be quiet, and let me be about my work... "Okie dokie loki!" Pinkie said as she bounced ahead of Centurius, who had already begun to run through the rubble strewn streets. "And now, little Xeno, we can get to the buisness of studying your insides, and those of these others." Magnus spoke as he cast his gaze across the ruined throne room. He'd been stumbling aimlessly through the Castle, turning the few remaining ponies who attempted to stop him into piles of ash when he hit this. He wasn't too sure what to make of the little blue pest from earlier, but she'd made a stand alongside a pair of the smaller ones; a purple horned one and a orange one. He could see a third yellow one cowering behind a pillar, nervously eyeing him. "No, Daemon." Luna spat. "We are a Princess of this land, and we will not see it despoiled by the likes of you." Magnus chuckled. "This world means nothing. You have a gate to a certain library, and I need a book from that library. You gain nothing by this stand, bar your own deaths and the feeling of satisfaction from trying. Move out of my way, and I might consider leaving all three of you alive." "No." The purple one spoke. "Princess Luna won't let you, and neither with Princess Celestia. And neither will I." Magnus watched with mild curiousity as a glow built up around the purple one's horn, before a beam of purple energy lashed across the room towards his exposed face. He didn't even flinch, and merely let the beam smash into his wards, causing a blue shimmer to cover his armour. Magnus smiled. "My turn."
