Chapters Many years prior. In the deeper circles.
From the screaming immaterial planes of the warp, where daemons spawn, champions battle, and souls are twisted on dark planes, came a decree of the highest importance to the mass of lowly heretics and cultists busily bloodletting and killing one another for their god's favor. An oddity indeed for the decadence of slaanesh, the fury of Khorne, the pestilence if Nurgle, and the unpredictability and madness of Tzeench to agree on anything, but not entirely alien.
The dark gods themselves, in their terrible grandeur issued an order to their subjects to claim a planet for the "honor" of the Chaotic legions, nothing more, nothing less. No soulstones to reap for she who thirsts, no Paladins or generals to corrupt, just a simple conquest and defilement for the darker powers.
And as any loyal pathfinder would scout for their cadre, or any guardsman would charge willingly toward an entrenched team of havoc gunners, the servants obliged with the greatest of haste. The hordes marched screaming and terrible from their dwellings, to war, or more specifically, their battle-barges and other transports, each zealot dreaming of building a grand and terrible cathedral in honor of their gods.
So, as one, they set out. Each ship tearing a wall in reality as it exited the warp, the hideous designs and decor of each ship's exterior enough to enduce vomit from a weaker man, and as one they sailed under the banner, the mark which had seen bloody victories and defeats on countless worlds, from Kaurava III to Cadia, the symbol of unity, and yet, of discord, the symbol which may strike a deep, sickening fear in the hearts of the most strong-willed commissar. The sharp, black, six pointed star of Chaos Undivided.
It had taken almost no time at all to reach their destination. The champions of Khorne however, with their grisly trophies clinging to sharp extensions of their red cast power armor, grew impatient on the journey, and as a result, had decreased the warhost's number by a few, meaningless dozens in a show of unnatural brutality and slaughter on their comrades, primarily out of boredom mind you. The champions of Tzeentch seemed lost in their own thoughts and schemes for the majority of the voyage. The plague bearers of Nurgle used the time to spawn new and devastating plagues for their target's unlucky inhabitants. And the followers of Slaanesh, well, they busied themselves in their own ways. Their own. Horrible. Ways.
But while the legions had their activities, few noticed the twisted servants of the machine spirit who toiled in the deep, dark, machinery pits of the assault's foremost largest ship, The Glory Of Fate , one in particular being, busy carving runes into the hull of a Chaos Dreadnought, would become of critical importance at a later time.
The world in question, meanwhile, had not heard the call of horns nor the drone of marching for ages, or at least since the Alicorn king Thunderous Might with his great bronze armor and mighty ivory horn had claimed dominance over the realm with his wife, Marvella Stealthshine, who would never be seen without her deep violet cloak and expensive black shoes, and their two beautiful daughters, (you know who they are).
All was well during the final days of their kingdom's very existence, the dragon smiths of the Anvil-strike mountains had finally signed a trade agreement with the alicorns, and the Diamond wars against the brutal mining clans of the soft valley diamond dogs had finally come to an end. And one night, while enjoying the peace and prosperity his actions had earned him, King Thunderous sat with his family and gazed at the night sky (as was their popular ritual) atop the palace's tallest tower, a young Princess Luna, who was only three years of age at the time, noticed something Very Wrong.
"Dada", she asked in a sweet tone, " what is that whale doing in the sky?" At this, Thunder let out a soft chuckle, it is simply your imagination my daughter, nothing more" He assured her. "Oh look!" A seven year old Celestia spoke with giddy enthusiasm, completely disregarding the king's response, "Luna's whales made babies!" At this Thunder looked skyward, only to have his heart fall into his deeper cavities at the sight he took in.
Ships, ships by the dozens, then by the hundreds, then to the point beyond counting descended from the "whales" in the night sky, the whales themselves being titanic versions of the smaller ships, each covered in awful decorations, strange symbols, and most of all... tubes. Thousands of tubes lined the exteriors of both the "whale" ships, and the "baby whale" ships. Thunderous was about to comment on the ridiculous nature of the design on the ships, until all of Tartarus broke free.
Each tube belched forth fire and smoke from within the ship, and where the shells hit, devastation followed. Towers crumbled, alicorns below we're screaming in fear and pain from such an unwarranted and surprising attack, but the worst of it had only just arrived. When the smaller ships had landed, hordes of bipedal creatures spilled forth from them, hacking the alicorns to pieces, while blowing his soldier's to literal pieces with strange devices almost all of them carried. Marvella burst onto the balcony, panic and sadness etched unmistakably upon her face, with her, the captain of the guard Gilded Phalanx, who informed the kind of the absolute hopelessness of a defense, upon hearing this, the king knew what to do.
The king wasted no time in unleashing his greatest weapon, but first, there was the issue of his daughters, young Celly and Lulu. "Dada please don't go!" Cried Luna and Celestia with tears in their eyes, they had been taken to a room etched with magical protection magic, unfortunately, their parents would not, and could not join them. "My daughters, I am sorry to leave you, but you must be strong for me, you must lead our people's out of this nightmare when we are gone." The king said with the greatest rarity of them all, a quivering voice.
"But Papa! Mama! Please!" Celestia cried, only to be cut off by her mother. " Lulu, Celly, we love you more than you could know, you are our sun and our moon, and will one day be the greatest rulers the land has ever known," the queen said between sobs and sniffs, and the occasional rumble of the alien weaponry hitting it's mark. "Which is why we must go my darlings, To save this world so that you might live on." Another explosion, accompanied by a strange alien battle cry. "Goodbye Luna, goodbye Celestia, we will always be with you." The royal couple said before journeying to the mage's tower, to put their plan into effect.
The court Mage wasted no time in readying the weapon, dark and powerful magics were to be used, to ensure the total demise of the enemy. The king and queen readied themselves, kissed one final time, and then went off to save their world.
Author's Note
First story! Dis stuph gon get dark real soon.
For The Greater Good
Many kings must see their lands burn. Many lords witness the butchering of their people by foreign hordes, and smell the foul stench of their proud defenders upon an undignified pyre. And after such awful occourances comes the worst experience a ruler can encounter, the rebuilding of a once great people, atop mass graves and ashen ruins. However, King Thunderous Might of the second age Alicornian era, would never experience the latter. The city of Canterlot was in a state of hopeless ruin, her people slain without mercy, and her buildings devastated without remorse by the daemons from the sky. If it were the last action of his rule, Thunder would damn these invaders back to Tartarus.
Meanwhile, within the city itself, the "battle" raged on. To say the battle in the streets was one sided would cause a stir from even the most zealous of Adeptus Astartes, being so gross an understatement. Chaotic heretics and their space marine superiors had pushed into the district nearest to the palace, killing all quadroped Xenos along the way. The champions of Khorne carving the way alongside the noise marines of Slaanesh, who together were literally melting the once invincible Alicorn royal guard. Heretics were the only real chaotic casualties. However, being chosen servants of the dark gods, the servants exploded upon death, accompanied only by the flying of bony shrapnel, and their victim's cries of agony.
And in the very middle of this chaos, was an item of nightmare. A sheer rolling desecration to all that the Imperium's Astartes chapters hold sacred, a true sign of the battle's total loss for the defenders. A Land Raider Defiler.
Now, at the helm of this monstrosity was a true servant to the dark powers, and machine spirit alike. His name was Parix, and he was thoroughly enjoying himself. His appearance was nothing surprising for a member of the tainted ordo; his robes were blood red and covered every inch of his form that wasn't machinery, and what was machinery appeared in the form of servitor tentacles, as well as a singular, piercing, red eye. And no follower of his order was complete without the chaotic ordo's ensignia hanging from his neck, as well as incense, in case of car trouble.. Parix had jumped at the opportunity to claim a world. To tear into harmony and taint the inner machinations of peace, for at heart, he longed for glory. Parix imagined each foal he crushed under the raider's treads as Aestartes corpses on the path to victory against the vast din of the Imperium, thoughts which were cut short by a wicked cackle atop his vessel.
The cackle's origin being found with a certain Tzeench sorcer by the name of Elegost the Everlasting. True to his name, Elegost turned from the Imperial Fist chapter of the Emperor's Astartes shortly after the Horus Heresy, and had continued to serve lord Tzeench ever since. Elegost stood atop the Defiler, casting off doom bolts and other such destructive warp energies at the quadropeds in question, destroying their bodies and minds. A certain guard attempting to flee was cast into the warp through a tear in reality, a toy for the daemons. Elegost did not enjoy the grand robes and armor of other sorcerers, choosing rather to dress in simple blue robes with a twisted warlock's helm atop his head (a trophy from the past).
At the sight of such hopelessness, King Thunderous and His loving queen amassed their collective power. Just as the gates of the palace fell under the horde, a bright light shone through the smoke and darkness of the besieged city. "Forgive me my people" the king said under his breath, and in a flash, the city was swept. The hordes of chaos were eradicated upon contact with such intense light and purity, and any remaining alicorns shared their fate.
When the dark gods saw the devastation of their combined armies, there were no similar reactions. Slaanesh threw what could only be described as a hissy fit while running back to his twisted palace, Khorne stormed off, screaming in rage as to his legion's defeat, and fusing anyone unlucky enough to cross his path into the walls. Tzeench sat stunned, wondering and secretly marveling as to this race's power. And as for Nurgle, he wept. Nurgle felt every death, and every pain of his beloved nurglings, and wept acidic tears onto the floor before running off.
Now, the god of change was alone at last, he noticed the eradication of his legions and the extinction of the new race. But more than anything, the Dark god noticed roughly 15 chaotic souls from the battlefield. Not near the ships and barges destroyed in the purity storm, not in the city, but underground, DEEP underground.
"What in the Immaterium was that?!" Elegost screamed while reeling from the shock. "Devastation lord" an unwise heretic put forth before becoming a mess of pieces from a doom bolt. The number of survivors now 14. "I suppose that on this day," Elegost eventually accepted, "chaos must reap what is sows" he said before collapsing into desperate prayer for an answer to his questions. Parix on the other hand, was screaming for forgiveness from the machine spirits, when he saw the destroyed state of his beloved land raider, which was missing it's top, it's treads, and the armor was partially melted. "Cease this weakness brother!" Cried a berserker, "we must be strong for the Dark Gods!"
Of the group, now only 13 strong, two were actual marines, there was Elegost and Parix, and the remainder were heretics, who were busy screaming and crying as to their prayers going unanswered. Elegost fearing of turning to such lesser behavior, chose to explore their surroundings, which entailed of a large cavernous space, with two small tunnels. One, they assumed to the surface, and the other apparently leading deeper. Elegost chose the lower road while the two remaining marines chose to scout the higher. However, upon seeing the total loss of their brothers, killed each other. For survival was a show of cowardice and failing to their gods.
Elegost meanwhile, had journeyed much deeper, and came across the strangest sight of his life.
And it was in that very moment, that Elegost knew. A temple, a massive chaos temple in the center of the cavern. Elegost could tell it had not been used for millennia, but there was still a faint sense of EXTREMELY powerful warp energy, with a strong sway in Nurgle's direction, indicating a few great defilers had roamed the halls. "So this was their wish, to reclaim the temple." Elegost thought aloud, only now pondering as to why the combined forces of chaos were marched straight to oblivion.
In a blink, the sorcerer had teleported back to the land raider's ruin and informed Parix as to the discovery. "A temple." The twisted servant to the Ommisiah said "we must investigate, we must contact the dark gods! They shall surely aid us." Elegost however, had more to say. "It is not so simple brother, the temple requires sacrifices to function. Otherwise, it shall remain but a husk of steel." At this, Parix pondered for a solution, before a malicious grin spread across his face. "Oh cultists! Come to your betters!"
It was a short and bloody affair. Most heretics handed themselves over willingly, while others had grown attached to their lives. But in the end, the temple was fully decorated with the skinned corpses of the servants of chaos, and Elegost wasted no time in contacting his gods. A rift opened above the menacingly glowing gap of the chaos portal, and within sat not the four dark ones, but one, equally menacing God. "Lord Malal? Why are you receiving this? This was meant for our quest givers." Elegost said curiously. "Ah Elegost, ever faithful to the Gods whom not only neglect you, but leave you for dead without contact. I am here because I desire it, I am a God of Chaos, I require no further reasoning." Malal said with slight offense riding on his words. "But more specifically, I am here to help. How long has it been since you saw the surface of this world?" Malal asked with excitement building within him. "About 11 hours I would assume lord" Parix said. And at this Malal laughed, a dark, menacing, and terrible echo sounding from his form, which was mostly composed of heavy armor, skulks, and a black/white pattern to it all. "Then allow me," he said before vanishing Parix and Elegost away, leaving a slowly-waking temple behind them.
On the surface, it was brighter than any warp storm, and too friendly-looking to accompany the three extremely menacing figures upon a far hill. "By the warp!" Cried Parix. "Indeed" said Malal in agreement. The land was happy, happy and peaceful, happy and peaceful and safe and foolish and ignorant, and overall anything chaos destroys. The information of the world entered the two human's minds immediately, causing Elegost to lift his helm and vomit afterwards, Parix would have done so too, if not for his lack of both stomach and esophagus. "Now you know the threat," said Malal, " now we return." And with that, the three were gone.
Back in the cavern, the three gathered themselves. "But now is not the time" the deity continued "and you both must wait." And with that, the temple's gates opened to reveal a Great Basin, into which the two "heroes" were pushed by an unseen force (Malal). "Little warriors, bring corruption to this pure world, and taint it's soul with chaos" Malal instructed. And with this, Malal vanished, leaving the two servants of chaos to slumber in their basin. Totally unaware that upon waking, millennia will have passed.
Author's Note
Short and all. But fairly long given my time available. Now we go present! And I can't wait.
-Bring Forth The Slaves-
To break a weakling's mind is a curious task. First one would have to isolate said being's fears and desires, and then exploit these to the point of mental destabilization. After this, one must gather the subject, who is hopefully by this stage, in total emotional disarray/meltdown. Next comes "comforting", the master of this situation must then assure the subject of the security servitude to the Chaos Gods provides. And usually by this stage, the weakling is a hapless slave to his new Gods. And in the case of a certain half-minded quadroped, this system worked without fail. Elegost had been torturing the xeno for positive hours now, his feeble little mind bombarded with insecurities, and feelings of unavoidable fear. Sunny saw flashes of his family suffering in innumerable ways, towns on fire, his coffers running completely dry, his home burning down, and other such things. And it was by this point that Parix awoke.
The heretical engineer had actually awoken hour earlier, it was only by this time however, that he had returned to the cave and attention of Elegost. "So. Where have you been?" Parix answered slowly, and with a voice devoid of all feeling or caring. "Scouting" Parix replied, "and if you would leave your newest toy alone for but a minute, I shall enlighten you." The tech priest then began to walk with Elegost in their spectral forms, telling him of all his interactions outside their shelter, Sunny meanwhile, was Lying in a pool of tears and ramblings.
"Something plays with the mind of their ruler, something dark indeed. However, their secondary and lesser ruler seems quite sound." Parix said, referring to we all know who. "Their rulers seem to have champions however, whom are dispatched to handle any form of problem their ruler doesn't feel like solving." At this, Elegost grew more interested with the prospect of guardians, reminding him terribly of the Emperor's primarcs. "We shall have to dispose of them immediately," Elegost said, referring to the little champions. "Especially the pink one" Parix chimed in, with an aggravated tone underneath all of his machinery. "I shall mount her head upon a pike personally" he said with untold malice. Elegost, who was quite lost decided to change their position. "My friend, let us forego this talk of later deeds, and focus on the task at hand." Elegost said directing to the weeping form on the temple's floor. "Let us break him now."
Sunny Day had completely lost his mind. All of his personal fears, referring to his life, had come true and were playing out like a series of pictures in front of him. His house ablaze, his job lost, his family dead, his friends abandoning him, and other such heart-wrenching thoughts, however, the newest torturer had anything but a heart, literally. Sunny screamed as a creature made almost entirely out of metal materialized before him, and began to shout at him with a awful, mechanical voice, the likes of which no pony has ever likely heard. "Do you see slave!? This is the fate which awaits you! A fate which may be avoided, given the proper incantation however..." Parix said, teasingly trailing off. "Anything please!" A desperate Sunnny Day cried from his spot on the floor. "Just stop this! These horrors! PLEASE!" He said once more before collapsing into more sobbing. "Anything?" Said Elegost, interest in his voice. "Then follow me."
Now, in the heart of the temple, beside the pit in which our two heroe's bodies resided, beneath an entire pool of blood, a certain pony was restrained in what appeared to be mid-air. In reality, Elegost had simply levitated him, and then summoned dark chains from the warp to bind him in mid-air, so that the procedure could begin. "I call upon the darker powers, to gift this undeserving xeno with the bounties of servitude!" The temple shook slightly, from sudden usage. Sunny, who was petrified at this point, witnessed in horror as the metal specter drew a wicked looking, terribly sharp device from the mesh of tools upon his back, and drew closer to him. "Parix, apply." Elegost said between ceremonial drones. "With the mark of our twisted faith, we give you! Our Gods! A new servant to fill your unholy ranks! Slave! Do you swear to serve the four gods of pestilence, blood, change, and pleasure?" Sunny could hardly compose an answer with all of the blind terror racking his brain, but he decided upon the most popular phrase his fellow ponies enjoyed, "Y-yes." He said, resigned. "Now Parix" Elegost said, Parix then trove his tool into the face of the pony, carving a horrific six-pointed star into the pony's face, the red-hot point cauterizing the wound as he went, all of this to Sunny's immense protest. Once it was done, Sunny could almost feel himself leaving, his memories drifting away, and his thoughts becoming more servitude focused. At this point the warp chains released him as well, and Sunny began to rise. Until of corse, Elegost kicked the pony into the waiting pool of blood, his terrified form immediately submerging, as something apparently pulled the panicked equine under.
"Poor little slave," said Parix, cleaning his tool. "They never do expect such pain" he said in a slightly softer voice. "It is not of our concern how they feel, as long as they serve!" Elegost said, his patience clearly depleted. "Now come, we shall monitor these so-called "champions" whilst our little one stews." And with that, the two specters vanished, leaving a suffering form thrashing at the bottom of a pool of blood, all that was once Sunny Day was being steadily eradicated, replaced with nothing but a sense of servitude, from his mouth he would utter one phrase to mark his new self, "F-for the D-d-dark Gods!"
To Watch With Twisted Eye
And So It Goes
Elegost and Parix felt strange to say the very least. They had just mentally raped, branded, and kicked a strange xeno family man into a vat of heretic's blood, all because it somehow felt... right, as though it was a step on the road to success. That, and being able to utterly destroy everything that obnoxious thing was, must have been the most wonderful feeling they had experienced in ages.
Back in reality of corse, the two heroes found themselves in a small village, the likes of which, seemed to scream to the sorcerer that it was ALL flammable. Parix however, had not even this feeling to sate himself, as he looked about the area, He started to grow enraged by the pathetically docile and simple lives of the townspeople, hating them for their stupidity-fueled simplicity, it felt to him as though anybody in this society could be king, because nobody would ever question.
The duo had been wandering for hours now, and eventually came across the six omni-important equine celebrities, who were sitting around a table discussing nothing in particular, until a pink blur came onto the scene, and stared at the two invisible specters as though they were opaque again.
"Pinkie, what are you looking at ?" Asked a purple equine with a book before her, " these guys, hello! Welcome to Pon..." Upon hearing this, Parix detached the over-plating on his facial region, exposing his blind, dead eyes, scars of countless surgeries, entire lack of facial skin, and tubes running down his throat. Needless to say, Pinkie screamed (and Parix chuckled) as she turned pure white, almost vomited, and bellowed an unnatural shriek. She rambled about the newcomers until a twisted scream came from the surprisingly dark forest. Easily becoming the center of attention, the scream drew almost all of the townsfolk to the very edge of the twisted, evil forest. Being near the crowd's front, Elegost and Parix heard snipits of "fillies" whatever the hell those were, and "timberwolves" again, whatever. "Well, this ought to be entertaining brother," said the sorcerer to his metallic friend, "haven't seen a good mauling since Kaurava III." And with this, the two compatriots followed the six heroines into the woods, directed by the screams of the "filly" things.
Unbeknownst to either Parix, Elegost, or anybody for that matter, back at the splendidly evil temple under the mountains, at the pool of blood, the liquid stirred until suddenly, an appendage burst forth.
Author's Note
Short I know, but I'll update VERY soon. I wouldn't leave you twisting in the wind would I?
When the foul abomination that was once Sunny day emerged from the offering pool, he darted, whimpering, to the darkest corner of the temple and wept openly. The very instant he arose, Sunny was bombarded with images of his past life and experiences, his family, his friends, his job, and even his past self appeared with very slight audio, just enough to make Sunny wonder and dispair. "PLEASE" he screamed, "who are they?! I know them, but I cannot remember why...." Sunny continued to choke out through sobs. "By Celestia... TELL ME!" And just as he finished his plea, he felt a strong force strike him hard beneath his ribs, forcing the new human to experience physical, as well as mental pain.
"Pathetic mortal." Said a voice from nowhere, "you dare worship your heathen god? In OUR temple?!" The voice, now consisting of a mischevios, but still enraged tone. "Are y-you Celestia?" The abomination asked, delirious with hope and pain, "here to s-save me from chaos?" The slightest hope used in his previous statement crushed by the appearance of his attacker, and tormentor. A massive form, with a strange-looking skull sporting two fang-like teeth appeared constantly upon his outfit, which appeared to be made of sheer steel, with shoulder pads large enough to build a nose cone on a rocket. This being, colored all over with white and black, seemed to emit an aura of sheer Malice. "Your servitude to the darker powers has only just begun" Said the figure as he levitated Sunny into the air, much to the new human's protest, and continued.
"I am he Malal, the fifth, and greatest of the Chaos Gods, and you mortal, shall aid us greatly..." Malal said with anticipation evident in his voice. "B-but-t h-how?" Said Sunny, fear and dread evident in his. Malal did not answer, but instead pulled another wicked-looking brand and gripped the now terrified heretic, while all that was Sunny day may have died in that pool, his memories and Independance still had to go. Malal then, applied the brand to Sunny's lower back, and marked him with his vile insignia. The flashes of memories faded and died, replaced with live for his merciful Gods. "Henceforth, you shall be he Vilek the Turner, heretic of my service." Malal said, full of pride. This eliciting but one response from Vilek. "Yes Lord" full of brain dead servitude.
Elsewhere, our two michevious little marmadukes arrived with the six pony celebrities at the "filly" location, their eyes meeting a... Strange sight. Three smaller horses (Called fillies, apparently) sat pressed against a tree, at the mercy of three snarling beasts, who were made entirely of wood and warp magic (again, the timberwolves idea became so clear) looking very angry. They had hardly arrived, when the orange member of the six kicked one of the wolves so hard it desintigrated into splinters, while the purple one, sporting both wings and horn (much to the nostalgia and infuriation of both Parix and Elegost) flew above the aggressors and blasted them with her warp energies. "Well, this seems hardly fair." Noted Parix with boredom evident. "Well then, why don't we even up the odds a little?" Elegost said, as he raised his casting hand and Parix searched his robes for something.
It was a good day for Twilight and her friends, they got some much needed exercise, and would appear as heroes for saving the crusaders... Again. Honestly, Twilight thought that if any pony were mentally challenged it would be those three, and Pinkie. She watched as Rainbow dove in to take out the last wolf, when something... Happened. For starters, the timberwolf seemed to fade out of reality through a crack in the earth. At first, it was a nice, convenient surprise, up until it reappeared, but now seemingly made entirely of bronze and some other red material, not to mention it was about twice as large as it was earlier.
You see, Parix had released some little entities of his own to aid Elegost, he fashioned them from the land Raider's scraps, and skulls, some human, some equine. He gave his creations legs and terrible, clawing hands, and released them upon the pony. Applejack shrieked and tried desperately to destroy the things, only giving their little claws a closer target. The remaining celebrity ponies put all of their focus into aiding in the destruction of the small robots, who had now torn a great deal of flesh from Applejack. Eventually, the mad tech priest, enjoying himself to no end, recalled his little creatures, only two of which were destroyed.
Once the little monsters had retreated, Twilight and company looked upon a heartbreaking scene. Rainbow had passed out from terrible pain, Applejack was wounded and losing blood, and all of her friends were in shock. But the worst were the fillies. In their efforts against the robotic things, the six had forgotten about the fillies entirely, and the gigantic creature tore them to shreds, body parts and organs littered the tree's blood spattered base, the creature wasn't even hungry. Twilight vomited, as did many of her friends, at the sight, Rarity, and applejack screaming with sorrow, and if she were not passed out, Rainbow would have joined them. Twilight recovered slightly when the caught a strange noise, it sounded like laughing, she concluded that whatever was laughing was the cause of all this. She was about to investigate, when Fluttershy noticed something, imprinted on the tree, outlined perfectly by the blood of the innocent, was a large, foreboding, six-pointed star.
Author's Note
Dark, yes. Needed, no. Wanted? Yes. Finals are comin up forme, so Imma takin a break, see you all later.
Let Me Preach Their Names
Elegost and Parix felt quite proud of themselves. Not only had they been able to discredit the false ruler's six champions before a great audience, but they had been able to kill three defenseless children to boot. After laughing at the weeping Xenos pitiful sobbing fits, the pair chose to return to their beloved cave, killing travelers, and burning homes along the way. "If only such spectral capabilities endured," Elegost thought to himself, "imagine how quickly the eternal war would end..." Elegost's thoughts were cut short upon bumping into the form of a halted, gawking Parix. "Brother, why do you..." Elegost began, "look" Parix said, cutting him off quickly. Following the twisted engineer's line of sight, Elegost was met with a strange, and confusing sight.
*earlier*
Malal's beatings wore poor Vilek raw. Hits seemed to come from all sides, and the heretic simply sat and prayed to his new Gods. Malal's spectral fist struck Vilek in the mandible hard enough to shatter his front teeth, which he spat unceremoniously upon the floor, it didn't matter, after each break Malal simply regenerated the servant's teeth, so that he might suffer continuously. Eventually the beating stopped, as did Vilek's prayers soon afterward. "He passes the test of the devoted.." Malal said to himself, "he truly is ready." And with that, the God stretched forth his armored gauntlet, and made appear before the slave an autogun of standard issue, a barbed sword which seemed to him with a foul, possibly caustic presence, and finally, a set of black robes with an armored sheet between the fabrics. "For you Vilek, now... Prepare this world through proper worship!" Malal spoke with just a hint of pride. "B-but my Lord, how?" Vilek responded. "Come" said the deity. Outside the cave now, Sunny looked down upon the fields of slightly ascending rock patches leading to the cave. Vilek heard them first, but his blood only began to truly boil at their sight. White pony guardsmen. They were searching for him, Sunny Day had been missing for four days now, it was only natural they would look, but "Sunny" hated their very presence, the Dark Gods having beaten hatred for his own race repetitively into him. All he wanted was to rip these troopers asunder and offer their corpses to his benefactors, his internal ravings cut short by a familiar tone.
Lt. Firemane was very cautious approaching the small building which had seemed to have just appeared. He and seven others were sent out to search for some dumbass missing hiker, but they may find their answer within the little structure, so like brave little troopers, they charged.- upon arriving, the pony guards spread out to cover all sides when a private say something worth noting. "Lieutenant!" He shrieked and sent his CO running, soon the entire company was staring at the two large, red, doors of the small structure. For each door had a six-pointed iron star bolted to them. "What does it mean lieutenant? And-and what is that noise?" Sure enough, every man in the troop heard a kind of weak murmuring coming from the other side of the door, and just as a nosy private decided to open the door by just a crack, a jagged, dark blade suddenly appeared jutting through the private's armored head, melting the armor and head away with each second of contact. The guards hardly had time to react before a strange bipedal creature, dressed all in black and bearing a wicked scar on his face erupted from the inside, extracting his sword and charging at the remaining guards. The blade swung again before they had a chance to react, severing and killing all but two guardsponies and the lieutenant, "FALL BACK!" The lieutenant shouted before his front legs were trimmed off by the sword, the two remaining guards did not need any convincing, as they fled at great speeds away from the mountain, one of them screaming in madness and terror as he went. "And just where are you going?!" The bipedal creature shouted before taking another strange device from his back. Lieutenant Firemane could only watch as the beast's strange weapon belched fire from one end, and caused the distant screams of his remaining troops. That was when the commander blacked out from the sheer pain.
Upon awakening, Firemane was met with the scent of burning flesh, looking around, he noticed a pile of clean white bones and armor scraps beside the hunched over form of the bipedal monster, and a small fire. IT WAS EATING HIS MEN. Looking around evermore, he noticed four of his other troops strung up on strange posts, which seemed to be jutting from the ground all around the small structure, undignified, he noticed he was upside down, and in the very same situation. "Y-you retched BEAST!" He shrieked, "You b-bucking BASTARD!" These comments falling upon deaf ears, for the thing only continued to chew on Pvt. Stormcry's tibia. "The princesses will END you! Wretched thing! Our armies have crushed the diamond dogs AND the Gryphons time and time again! You shall burn for all eternity for what you have done here!" This too was ignored by the feasting heretic. "Is, is this for some kind of sick worship!?" This finally caught the attention of the beast. "Then I spit on your Gods! Only Celestia, ruler of the sun, and her sister Luna of the moon are the truest Gods of all life! Praise be to her! And Fie upon your heretical G-" the guardsman's rant was cut short by an icy hand gripping his face, now looking into the twisted face of his captor, he noticed a wicked grin spreading on his features, and a demonic glint in his eyes. "There is a reason you live worm, and now, you seem ready." The beast now plucked the post holding Firemane from the earth and hefted it with great strength, carrying the lieutenant through the red temple doors, (recently painted) never to see his Goddess through his own eyes, ever again.
*present*
Elegost and Parix were at a total loss for words. They had left for not three hours, and had returned to... This! Dead equines brandishing military-like armor, pinned to posts of offering, whilst another piece of assumed trooper roasted over a fire. "The Heretic!" Elegost said, sprinting toward the bloodied doors of the temple while Parix stood in awe, "oh they grow up so fast" he said to himself before darting after his friend. Entering the temple, the duo had just enough time to witness a heretic cast the screaming form of the guard commander into the ceremonial pool of blood, the guard's lack of frontal limbs and screams of immense protest going unnoticed as he floundered and sank, if Parix didn't know any better, he could have sworn he saw something pull him under. But that was not important, what was important was the bloodied heretic walking towards them. A jagged, evil-looking sword in his belt, already covered in dried blood, a standard autogun on his back, and large black robes, already boasting two unicorn horns and a complete skull as trophies. But what put the daemon cherry on it, was the huge scar of chaos upon his face. As he approached, he bowed before the two and simply said, "I am he Vilek, heretic in service to the Dark Gods, what do you wish of me Masters?"
Author's Note
Another Chapter for all of you heretical readers. And remember, comments, criticisms, suggestions, all that good stuff is encouraged and appreciated in the comment section. Zubzubzubzub.
Glory Be
Preperations began immediately. While bound to an immaterial form, Parix and Elegost were still able to manipulate objects in the physical world, as well as summon or spawn entities. Parix was the first to begin work, using the damaged workings if his beloved Land Raider's hull, and the now ancient armor pieces of the two suicidal chaos space marines, Parix began to fashion a strong force of servitor troopers, as well as salvaging weapons from the raider's small armory.
Meanwhile, Elegost prayed. He simply sat, with Vilek at his side and worshipped any dark diety to bless his quest. The corpses of heretics past had all but rotted away, drawing less attention to this particular temple. New subjects would have to be gathered.
Eventually, Parix gazed at the pair. Seeing them doing nothing, while he slaved away creating slaves, he cried out in frustration. "Cease your rambling and aid me! Is it not clear that the Gods have forsaken us!?" This caught the sorcerer's attention, as he turned to shoot an irritated glare at his metallic friend. "YOU SHALL BE SILENT!" Elegost cried, releasing a wave of energy at the tech priest in question, tossing him into a wall of the titanic cavern. "The gods only ever aid us! It is by their hand alone that we survive, and are given our chance of retribution!" Elegost said, approaching the downed engineer. "Gods!?" Parix shouted from his position on the floor, "only one god aids us! And he chooses to watch us squirm like fools! While the others remain useless, silent, Cowards! Survival?! Ha! I would have welcomed death amongst my brothers, rather than life being saddled with you weaklings!" Elegost was very near the breaking (murdering) point. Nobody, loyalist, heretic, human, or xeno disrespects the Dark Gods and their wisedom, even the spectral form of a fair friend had their limitations. Ironically, it was by the grace of the very Gods he bismerched that Parix was saved, for a cry of distress distracted the sorcerer, and for good reason.
"M-master!" Vilek screamed from his place by the pool of offering, his form held aloft by a most terrifying presence. A tear in reality had opened, a direct gateway into the very maw of the warp, and from it, a massive blood-red tentacle grasped the squirming heretic, ready to capture him for some unholy purpose. "Release him daemon! Lord Malal commands!" Elegost shouted at the entity whilst rushing to aid the screaming Vilek. Just before the sorcerer drew a blade to battle the non- responsive beast, it gave a mighty tug, and Vilek was consumed by the tear, which sealed itself immediately after claiming it's prize. Vilek was gone, the two were alone again.
"Is that what you call aid sorcerer?" Parix asked in an angrily mocking tone. "Our only heretic is gone, and what does that leave!? Two ghosts?! Given the task of crumbling an entire empire!?" Parix now screamed as the utter hopelessness of the situation dawned on him. Parix however remained silent and unmoving, his hopes of unholy aid vanishing before his eyes, If he were a lesser man, he would have wept. "We still have our task" he finally said after his period of despair. The Gods put their faith in him to take this world for chaos, to corrupt it in vice and sin for their glory, even if he was a lowly specter, he would not abandon his crusade. "How are our forces?" Elegost asked sternly. Parix seemed confused, but still answered, "you know this, I have two servitors ready, one heavy flamer, and one storm bolter, one has bipedal attachments, the other, tank-like treads." Elegost considered this, they would have to strike outer reaches in order to cripple the empire, villages and the like. "They require further testing, but..." "Battle shall be their test" Elegost interrupted, gathering himself and walking toward the exit of the cave "for we leave now, prepare yourself Parix" he said before walking ever further away. "Now what in Khorne's glorious name, could we possibly do with an army of two servitors!?!?" Parix screamed in response.
At this, the sorcerer turned. "There is a village on the edged if this crystal empire... by the name of "stallbluf" if I'm not mistaken, we go there, and shall earn our favor in blood." Elegost said confidently before exiting the cavern completely. Parix grumbled something about suicide before instructing his servitors to follow him. And so they set out, to conquer in the the Dark God's unholy names.
The Gods however, were busy in the realm of Khorne, where a prisoner tied to a wicked looking torture device screamed. The rack was of Dark Eldar design, with knives positioned to maim and eventually kill the subject, as well as an apparatus to harvest the fleeing soul. After hours of torture, the Gods approached the crying mortal. At the presence of his Gods, the heretic immediately ceased his wails, and stared in awe.
"Heretic", said The Lord of change first "why have you come here? What is ever so important that you need our aid?" The constantly morphing diety said with an air of annoyance and intrigue melded with his strange tone. "Yessssss little one", the plague father said with a lazy tempo. "Why do you come here through the Theseus gate? A route closed even to us for millenia?" Curiosity brooding in the fetid mind of Nurgle, his calloused, blistered, and rotting hands growing horrid bacteria everywhere they touched. The other two Gods remained silent, uninterested in such trivial pursuits if a single heretic. "M-my Lords, I am he Vilek, servant to Elegost and Parix of the B-black legion!" Vilek cried with pain still evident in his voice. At the mention of these names, Tzeench's (eyes?) widened. The two survivors? From that miserable world, such things would need swift attention, for that world may yet be attainable.
Tzeench locked away Vilek in a cage which hung from the diety's belt. "Because brothers, and dear Slaanesh, he may hold the key to avenging those who fell on Theseus prime." At the mention of that disaster, the Gods recoiled, remembering their shameful defeat at the hands of such pathetic Xenos. "War room." The God said before vanishing with Vilek, the others following suit, shortly after.
Author's Note
Interesting? Yea? Nay? Prepping for some more action-oriented chapters, just for all you Khorne daemons reading
For Them
Tzeench unlocked the small cage upon his belt, and immediately Vilek the heretic flung himself onto the table before him, a table, in a room, unlike anything the being had ever seen. It was a large, domed, spherical room of many levels, and countless number of servitors and tech priests slaved away on catwalks which wound chaotically around the entire room's edges, libraries of texts adorned almost all space at their levels, several volumes of the codex aestartes laid about with slanderous adjustments implemented to them. seeing all he could of the higher areas, Vilek turned to his closer surroundings which were a sight in and of themselves. The vast table was surrounded by a series of thrones, Tzeench's was moderately sized and made of fine silver and constantly changing precious stones, sapphire, then emerald, then rubies and so on. The armrests were also morphed in the shapes of multiple creature's heads, from Imperial eagles to lictors, and all of them snarled or roared at Vilek in sheer loathing.
Khorne's was next, and by no means more appealing, aside from being entirely made up of skulls and positively titanic in size, the throne seemed to weep blood from each skull's eye sockets, bathing the clean white bones in a constant crimson tide. Surrounding the throne were multiple helmets of various soldiers, eldar banshee, and space marine paladin helmets were apparently favorites.
Next came the throne of Slaanesh, strangely, the most normal of the four. His/her throne was made up of fine leather dyed his symbol's shade of pink. Around the throne flocked an absolute horde of both male and female concubine daemonettes, and great statues of more concubines, from various body parts spewed what the thoroughly embarrassed heretic assumed was hopefully assumed was wine if some sort. Aside from this, just as the throne the last two Gods had emitted a feeling of unevenness and bloodlust in order, Slaanesh's seemed to emit feelings of regular lust, as well as sloth-like laziness.fucking alive . The throne not only had great tentacles lashing out and ensnaring any tech priest or concubine unlucky to wander in too close, but huge maws with which to devour any prey not rotted away by that point. Around the throne played little nurglings and plague bearers, completely ignored by the living chair, even a great unclean one slept Snorlax style on the chair's seat. In fact, the throne would occasionally give an unlucky individual to these little creatures as a plaything, while rubbing the bellies of some with it's appendages. What really got to Vilek, however, was the great bloodshot eye on the top of the throne. Always watching, never blinking, parasites crawling all over it, without it caring, all to watch him...
Author's Note
Christ my hand hurts. And for those who didn't catch on, blessings are the Gods giving troops and other benefits to a certain individual worthy of them... It's 3am here in the Midwest, like, comment, enjoy if you feel like it. Protect your precious bodily fluids, and I will see you all later. Goodnight.
And how foul they were
After the mere seconds of gripping shock passed through the crowd of ponies, everything went straight to hell. Ponies fled screaming in all directions, those too panic ridden to exactly tell where they were fleeing, were cut down by the hostile creatures. The slightly startled guardsmen jumped into the fray, using their comrade's death as a source of vengeful fury. By this point, most civilians had fled the immediate area, and the guardsmen were practically painting the town square with their blood. The first line met the blood letters and Vilek head on, hell blades tore through armor, flesh, and bone with terrifying ease, all the while, ranged support emerged for both sides. The space marines had good laugh at the antique flintlock firearms the enemy possessed, as their small lead balls bounced harmlessly off the cerimite plating of the invaders, who responded by blowing the guardsmen to literal pieces. The only problems the invaders encountered came in the form of the winged Xenos, who five bombed them relentlessly, and dropped small hand grenades of primitive design upon them, the most these would do was the separation of an unprotected limb, or shrapnel wounds. These strikes ended however, when the dreadnought was targeted by the Xenos attacks, lashing out with his mighty power fist, the walker would snatch fliers out of the air, cripple them, and then drop them to the "mercy" of the ground troops, whenever he didn't feel like tossing them into a building or simply crushing them to pulp with a wicked chuckle to accompany the acts.
As this went on, the defenders of Stallbluf were completely obliterated with only minor wounds and no casualties inflicted upon the invaders, who began to either defile the corpses of the dead, or pillage the surrounding homes and other buildings to gain their spoils. Pegasi began to flee the city limits, but were cut down by pursuing marines stationed upon the rooftops. Heretics, blood letters, and daemonettes immediately began slaying the innocent to reach their daemonic quotas, while done heretics began work establishing a forward command for their forces with summoned structures. Khorne berserkers began to travel in a Viking like horde throughout the streets, killing and destroying all they encountered. They arrived at the local town watch, where they caught a single unicorn speaking to a superior through a conjured portal, on the floor lay two incapacitated heretics, the guardsman apparently not wanting to kill them. Needless to say, the berserkers were thrown into an absolute rage at discovering this plea for reinforcements, and show of mercy. The unicorn was torn asunder by the marines, right before the disgusted superior in the portal, it began to close just as the marines engaged in an almost tribal rant in a circle, each sporting some body part, and catching the very smallest remark from the superior, "summon the Empress's armies!"
Author's Note
First part done, second will be better, more blood and offerings and good stuff, until tomorrow!
As the thoughts of Vilek quickly turned toward the memories of Elegost, he soon found himself in a dark forest, the clear path lost... However, he was amongst his masters in an incorporeal state very similar to theirs. He was walking alongside them, when more than twenty terrified-looking equines whom he recognized from the city (very careless of him to let them escape) he wouldn't have to worry about them for long, as his newly enhanced ears detected an audible click from behind, turning his head to find the terrifying outline of two servitors prepping their weapons behind his masters. Vilek's heart practically stopped as he saw shells fly not just through him, but through both of his masters! It wasn't really the bullets that frightened the newly formed ghost, nor the enjoyable screams of the dying Xenos, whose flimsy hides were torn to shreds by the servitor's bolter fire, no. It was the actual fire that terrified him. Both the heat of the liquid hot promethium, and the scents of cooked flesh convinced the specter against all rational thought that he was burning to death. But upon opening his clenched eyes he discovered that one of the servitors was simply clearing the way for it's creators, who marched on un phased by the death of the twenty villagers. They were Xenos after all.
A good distance away from the steaming pile of villager remains, the three ghosts and their cyborg buddies came to the moderate wooden palisades which surrounded the city of Stallbluf. Both the tech priest's and the sorcerer's eyes practically burst upon seeing both a black flag with the mark of chaos undivided in bronze flying from atop a ramshackle tower, and a Khorne berserker pouring milk on a bowl of very aggressive looking flakes, prompting both to dart inside the now ajar gates, followed by a now very proud Vilek.
Charging into the city, Elegost and Parix were greeted by even stranger sights. Heretics were summoning buildings of all different usages from warp gates in the ground, a dreadnought laughed hysterically as he toppled another building to make way for this new construction, and on top of all that, a horde of daemonettes just finished squealing and kissing a very surprised young warlord of the Black Legion, a warlord who looked surprisingly familiar... "Vilek?" Elegost said. At this point, Vilek was pulled from his vision and settled back into his own skin.
"Explain NOW." Elegost said with not irritation, but genuine curiosity in his voice. "Settle in then, I have much to say" and with that, he began. Vilek told them every detail of his torment, only ceasing momentarily to show scars and indicate certain units he was most proud of. By the end of his odyssey, Elegost's mouth was completely agape, Parix would be as well, if he had a mouth... "The Dark Gods... Favored you p-personslly?" Elegost said in a daze, Parix having to walk for a while after the story's conclusion "yes Lord!" Vilek cried, "they aid the true servants of Chaos so gloriously, come, there is but one place to yet take in this wretched village." Vilek and Elegost reunited with Parix and proceeded to the city's very heart, where stood the temple to Celestia, her sister, and these "element" things, all if which were immortalized in stone outside, or on stained glass inside. The dreadnought from earlier and many chaos space marines waited outside a great shield which had been erected around the temple, impervious to bolters, chainswords, and even the claws of an enraged dreadnought. While the shield may have been strong, it's invincibility was maintained only by the constant toil of fifteen Xeno psychers inside, one dressed in gold armor was within, trying to relay a message to... Someone. This simply would not do.
"Rabble! You waste your last moments in this pointless defiance!" Vilek shouted menacingly, "surrender now and your deaths will be swift, waste our time, and we shall take. our. time." Vilek concluded with as much malice as he could muster, only proving to steel the resistant nature of the Xenos, the one in gold turning to face them with but two words "last breaths." And with that, it began.
Author's Note
Third will be out soon. Goodnight!
The Ending of this Beginning
First to Fall
With a flick of his wrist, Vilek ordered the hordes to descend upon the shield with their full strength. Being the very same spell used at the royal wedding some time ago, spiderweb cracks began to cover certain areas of the great pink bubble, and eventually spread all along the barrier. At this, the commanding officer of the Xenos, and his personal guardians darted within the sanctuary, the blatant retreat of their formerly brave commander caused the shield bearers to falter, and were met with the horrible sound of a dreadnought's massive foot crushing a guardsman completely. Once the dreadnought charged at the already weakened shield, and crushed the xeno psycher underfoot, the remaining guardsmen fled in full panic to the sanctary's doors, only to find them barred from within by their undoubtably terrified leader, and were slaughtered without remorse by the frenzied horde. Blood ran down the marble steps of the large building like waterfalls, meanwhile Vilek stood back with his masters, pondering how they would breach this final stronghold.
Once the heads were salvaged from the fallen defenders and put to proper usage upon pikes, the ravenous horde of warp-fueled invaders were met with a dilemma. The dilemma being a vast pair of reinforced white doors separating themselves from their prey, the dreadnought tried punching them down, the space marines tried blasting them down, the Khornate berserkers even went as far as to fetch a chimney from a building's charred skeleton to use as a battering ram, but nothing worked. And from inside, the spectral forms of Parix and Elegost saw that the coward commander was calling for help through a small rift in the air, and that the doors, windows, and walls were magically reinforced by the five remaining guards, and numerous civilians who had taken shelter within the sanctuary when the siege started, force would not best it.
"What in Tartarus is that?!" Celestia screamed, only to be answered with howls of savagery from the horde of red clad bipeds rushing through the entryway, and what she saw and heard next made the ruler's blood run ice cold. The guardsmen stood to repel them, but their armor and bodies were torn to shreds by the axes the invaders carried, who bellowed numerous cries as they slaughtered the guards, but the most popular seemed to be "blood for the blood god!" Once the guards were reduced to nothing whatsoever, it was the civilians turn. However, what came next was unexpected, as a huge biped in black armor, sporting numerous heads upon his belt and shoulders ordered the horde to cease, saying that his masters have plans for them and that they were to be taken to the stronghold. At the very idea of her subjects being used for some sick purpose, Celestia cried out in zealous rage. "Animals!" She began, "Butchers! Savages! Why do you do this to my people!? Release them immediately!" Upon hearing the voice of their beloved ruler and diety, the surviving ponies began to either beam with joy, taunt the marines on the mistake they had made, or scream for aid, that all ended when one standard marine kicked a taunting mare in her forelegs, effectively snapping them. "Silence!" He yelled, as his leader approached the portal.
"Hear me false Empress! I am he Vilek! He who hath spoken to the dark Gods themselves, and used their servants to flatten this miserable village. Do not fear for your people, they shall live for as long as they are useful to us, and aid us in spilling blood all across the land!" Celestia thought to herself after hearing this outburst, "they shall share the fate of the diamond dogs then..."
"Your blaspheme will be punished savage. I am already assembling the pegasi needed to smite you from your little hovel." Celestia said with confidence, at which, Vilek laughed evilly. "Then they had best be more of a challenge then these welps! Take them to the pool," he directed to the four chaos space marines around the twenty villagers, "if any resist, break their backs and leave them behind." And with that the marines set out, not two minutes later a loud snap, and screams were heard. "I suppose that makes 19" Vilek said with a chuckle. "You shall pay for this" Celestia fumed, "you and your pathetic false Gods!" Vilek twitched for a second, and a broad smile covered Celestia's face, thinking she had broken him, only to be let down when she saw a cold smile form across his features. "If they are so false, worm. Then how do you find this? BLOODLETTER!" After that, Vilek left the scene, and what replaced him was what could only de be described as a daemon. It's crimson skin, elongated tongue, and large horned head terrified Celestia as he plucked the still living guard commander from the floor, and subsequently bit his horn off. Blood sprayed, and the picture faded with but the sounds of the daemon giggling, and the guard crying out for the princess to save him, Celestia was furious. She turned and trotted out of her quarters, and said but one thing to her guards, "summon my generals."
Worthy of a Black Crusade
It did not take long for Celestia's war leaders to assemble in the royal war room, representatives of her Army, Air Force, and numerous other sects appeared for this summit, including the shadowy rogues of the royal assassin's guild, and the pious stallions of Celestia's elite guard. The room they gathered in was massive inside, with gilded columns reaching high to support upper levels of bookshelves filled with strategy volumes and epics of historic conquests, in the center of the room was a great table occupied by all of the representatives, as well as a fuming goddess. Across this table lay numerous maps of Stallbluf, as well as records of imperial troop patrols in the immediate area around the village. Many of which had not sent reports of late...
Little did the Equestrian general know, the assailants had patrols if their own. Those not foolish enough to travel on the open road either, and as the Equestrians passed by in their gold and plumed helms, murderous eyes watched from the tree line. All of a sudden, the murderous eyes of heretical soldiers widened in extreme shock, as a loud crash gave sight and attention to a massive grey creature opposite the heretics with the guards stuck in between. The beast was slouched slightly, and carried a huge club in each hand as it tore the once tight formation to pieces. Once half of the guards were decimated, the chaotic hordes charged, catching those still fighting in the back. It was over in an instant, bolter shells, massive clubs, and sharp blades reduced the force to nothing in mere seconds, but it only became interesting when the tree line opposite the heretics and behind the now at peace creature exploded with small versions of the beast gushing forward, surrounding the heretics and snarling with their strangely canine faces. As they took position, a large creature stepped toward the chaotic patrol, and uttered but one word, "you'z gottah see da Boss."
Author's Note
Gone for three weeks! Gotta wait! Love you all and may Khorne bless you all to fall in righteous battle.
It did not take long for the survivors of Stallbluf to reach their destinations, they had been matching without rest from their sacked city all the way to the mountain ranges surrounding Canterlot, and had just reached the treacherous cliffs and gorges, where even the bravest of climbers fear to tread, and it was at this point that the life of a certain "Sour Dough" would become rather important. Miss Dough had lived in Stallbluf all her life, from filly to mare, and she had been a very popular baker (as one can assume) amongst her fellow villagers since her mark appeared. Now, her once bright fur was stained darker by countless tears, the first from having to watch her bakery burn, then from the deaths of her friends, but the most devastating blow came in the form of her family's fate. They marched for hours on end, the massive warriors watching their every move, waiting for an excuse, and none too soon, they got one. For you see, Sour's husband Risen, whispered "now" to Sour. Suddenly, and without any warning, Risen bolted from the line, carrying their month old foal Cookie upon his back. Now, Sour had always been tentative, and reluctant when dealing with sudden actions, even Risen's proposal to her shocked, and even terrified her to the extent that she declined in sheer panic, before accepting shortly after calming herself! Now, her tentative nature unfortunately kicked in, and she was frozen where she stood. Needless to say, the guards were all too eager to kill something, and darted after the fleeing father. Sour watched as her husband and only child were chased into the forested undergrowth lining their road by ravenous barbarians, she prayed to Celestia that they would find some asylum in the woods, she even began to convince herself that the pursuers had given up, that help had arrived, that the nightmare would all end, that she could return to a liberated and pure Stallbluf, rebuild her bakery, raise her foal...
She ran into the brush, screaming fruitlessly for her husband and child, and finding only pain. For another guard had caught her by her mane, and yanked her back in line. She screamed until the guard grew tired of her noise, and silenced her with a swift hit to the head. When she awoke, they were in a series of mountains, traveling along a thin road carved into the terrain,she also noticed that the party of 19 ponies had been reduced to a meager twelve, seven more dead, including...
"Who... who are you?" Sour asked in a mixture of disgust and awe. "It wants to know of us brothers," the being said to his fellow companions, who continued their paranoid observations of the prisoners. "I shall tell you whelp. We come from beyond the very stars, from a place which would shatter your pathetic little psyche at the slightest glance, we traveled hereby the will of of our Gods, who on this day deem your insignificant xeno lives as forfeit." Sour had no time to respond, as a marine cried out "there it is!" from the back of the column, and upon looking forward, Sour's heart shrank, and her stomach turned.
The entrance to the fabled cave was now utterly unrecognizable from its former state of simply being a gated doorway, and now took on the likeness of a complete fortress. There were massive black walls, still being constructed by hordes of warp-spawned serfs, and some pony slaves, as well as great bronze gates, sealing off the area from the rest of creation. Within these walls were countless horrors in the eyes of Sour and her fellow prisoners, she saw guardsmen being tortured and killed in horrible ways, she even saw a horde of laborers devouring a corpse just to the column's right. And then there were the heads, countless heads and skulks of ponies, be they civilian, military, colt, mare, or foal. Even some decaying torsos were still attached, and hung from great iron wheels along the path.
"You fear death here little ones?" A guard at the rear asked the column, receiving few responses, all of which were affirmative. "Do not despair quite yet, for we have plans for you..." And with that the guards screamed for the cultists. Some of the laborers darted over immediately, some wielding crude swords, but all wearing black robes covered in strange symbols.
Sour and the others marched down an agonizingly long tunnel, passing many odd sights along the way. The strangest of them all being what looked like a gigantic robot chained to the floor and walls of the cave, screaming about death and writhing against it's bonds. The troop soon entered a large stone building, beautiful and terrible in design, covered in designs and statues terrifying to the equines now trekking within its doors. At the center of this vile place lay what appeared to be a great pool, filled with what could only be assumed was blood, the very air around it seemed to hum with unsettling energy, Sour related it to a time when a unicorn friend levitated her at a local party, but behind this particular feeling was only a sense of madness, and despair, unnerving to all the other prisoners.
Due to the overall lack of light, Sour and her prisoners only remembered their captors when they heard a low hum coming from them, turning to see them in a ring around the pool, arms outstretched and voices screaming praise to the "Dark Ones" Sour immediately pictured Discord or Nightmare Moon, but knew immediately that darker powers were at work here, ones that would shrivel the schemes of both evils to nothing. Around this time, the cultists ceased their chanting, and the surface of the pool began to bubble and churn. At this point, the leader of these cultist stepped forward, directed the ponies to the pool, and uttered two words, "enter now".
The ponies, bless their stupid courage, tried to run for their very lives, they reached the doors of the dark cathedral, only to be caught by sword wielding cultists, and swiftly cut down. All but Sour Dough, she had been much too shocked and fearful to take such drastic action, and stayed frozen in place while her fellows were slaughtered, and now, she was approached by the cultist leader.
"Very impressive" he hissed, "it would seem Lord Vilek is indeed wise in his judgement, you will serve perfectly" he now planted his hands on her head, and began to guide her toward the pool. "BUT WHY?!" Sour screamed, "why do you want me?! What is it about me that you freaks like so much?!" She shrieked in sadness and confusion, only for the heretic's snake-like voice to worm it's way into her ears, while his hands guided her evermore toward the pool's edge. "Because you are a traitor my dear, a lowly deserter, a coward. You turned your back on your friends, and as I understand it, your own family! Oh you are just perfect for us." It then dawned on Sour, she had been a coward, she had stayed behind when those around her died, she had let her family die, had not even the slightest urge to die with them, to die with her lived ones, she wanted only to save herself, she betrayed the trust of all her friends and family in their times of greatest need. She betrayed them. She was a traitor.
"B-but why all this?" Sour asked with tears flowing at her depressing revelation, "why do you need me?!?!" She screamed in fear, sadness, and anger. "For the dark Gods" the heretic answered simply, before pushing the broken mare into the pool, she never did surface, she didn't want to. "A pure soul to you my Gods!" The heretic screamed to the ceiling, as his brothers began their chanting anew. "made foul, and treasonous by your servant's machinations. Take her, and in return, return to us those who lie in this dark pool!" And with that final note, the pool stopped all motion, and the surface was stagnant again. And then, from it's very depths, movement stirred the surface, movement and bubbles showing the heretics the fruits of their labor, for surface was shattered by the sudden presence from beneath of two arms.
Author's Note
Hello, back with a bloody long chapter for those watching. Remember to rate if you haven't, give me some feedback or suggestions, (I read a d appreciate every bit), and even favorite if your into that sort of thing. So I'll add more as soon as possible, but goodbye for tonight!
Escalation and Eradication
Escalation and Eradication
Elegost and Parix were busying themselves in the taken ruins of Stallbluf. Elegost aided their cultists in the construction of a new stronghold, having to pause every few moments to sacrifice a captured pony, the shade was given some time to think. He fondly remembered with pangs if depression the feel of driving an accursed blade into soft flesh, feeling the victim quiver in fear, shock, and pain before their very Essence was imprisoned within the hellblade's deepest sanctum. All around him, piles of used slaves and rebellious ponies were set ablaze in meager offering, not only that, but these creatures had also proven to be fair sustenance, butchers prepared unruly prisoners before their imprisoned comrades, effectively demoralizing any attempt of rebellious spirit. Food he could not bite, scents he could not appreciate, emotions that appeared only as faded versions of their former grandeur, the sorcerer, though hiding it under his calm demeanor, was ready to burn the galaxy to cinders to meet these desires.
To be fair, Parix was faring arguably worse. He stormed about in a state of not sheer anger, but if sheer, unrelenting, irritation. Both he, and Elegost felt their former emotions, which had been largely dulled in the process of their rebirth, explode that day. Hunger, thirst, bloodlust, zeal, all cascading in the minds of both specters, and like most other dark followers, Parix blamed it on others.
Parix thought he heard two prisoners feuding over plans for an uprising, when in reality, the two were simply expressing their frustrations aloud. They, along with fifteen other ponies, were tasked with tearing down the city hall of Stallbluf, including the grand statue of the elements, staring off ever triumphantly into the distance. Rainbow's head was already gravel, and they were working on Applejack, when the two disgruntled workers heard the ghostly, and yet mechanical shouts of their overseer.
"Scum! You delay?! You are already trying my patience Xenos, by merely existing! By stealing away precious oxygen! Now, twice as fast! The Great Gods demand it!" Parix was immediately brought down from his rant, however, when he heard the familiar sound of defiant spitting. And turned to see a singular pool of pony saliva sitting where his foot should have been,
"To Tartarus with your weak Gods..." The more broad of the two ponies said, "Celestia will make you all SO SORR-" he choked before being grabbed by Parix. The tech priest's robes issued a piercing red glow from each opening, and the mechanical hand of Parix was firmly clamped around the back of the poor horse's cranium. And yet, the pony still smiled.
"Work. Slave" Parix uttered, shortly before feeling more spit pass through his form. "Work" Parix repeated with a tone deep enough, and menacing enough to make a company of blood angels turn tail. "I've got a headache, looks like I'll just take a sick day, get out of here for a bit ya know?" The prisoner arrogantly said, and while his voice remained strong, his sweating and slight shaking made it clear to everyone, and especially to him, that his courage was swiftly melting away.
"A headache eh?" Parix asked with a slightly lighter tone, "I remember those, and more importantly, I remember an old cure for them!" Parix sounded half insane by this point, as he dragged the pony over to the rocky foundations of a destroyed building.
"You just have to... Pound Them Out!" Parix said, and before the pony could react, his head was rammed into the stone with horrible force, he could feel bones snapping at first collision, and cried out in newfound suffering. Another strike landed, and now the pony couldn't think straight, everything was slowing down, even the pain was subsiding, he still felt his injuries, but for some reason couldn't remember how he got them. With the next strike, and a powerful grunt from Parix, the pony's head burst, thoroughly painting the foundation.
"You see?" Parix said to the crowd which had gathered, primarily composed of now disgusted or weeping slaves. "No more headache!" Parix shouted almost gleefully, throwing down the broken corpse before the crowd, who dispersed immediately with screams and tears accompanying them. "Get this to the butchers." Parix said to the serfs, who had not fled with the rest of the crowd. The little spectacle had done nothing to distract him from his own struggle, and while prisoner morale was low and work output was high, he still burned with the desire to be whole again.
Elegost had just finished raising a second dark machine pit, and was already tired of his work. He wandered amongst the ruins of this newfound civilization, almost everything was made of wood and straw, which made demolition easy, but denied them any useable resources. Aside from the palisade walls and two of the once seemingly endless sweet shops, there still stood, untouched, a great library. The statues of their weak champion had been destroyed, but aside from that, the building had survived, and now the thousand son inside every sorcerer urged him to venture inside. Knowledge of their foe could aid in their conquest, as well as aiding Elegost's agonizing boredom.
Unfortunately for the sorcerer, he had just entered the room, when he felt an odd sensation in his feet. Looking down, he saw that they were no longer there, but were leading his entire lower body in a spectral trail out the door. In seconds, he felt like a thought flying through the air, he raised into the sky and began to move away from the city. Elegost also noticed a wisp similar to himself traveling in the same direction, for Parix too. Had been collected. The two flew over the entire countryside, noticing towns and cities belonging to their enemy, as well as patrols of their own marching around in the forested regions. They saw seas and creatures, and at one point what appeared to be a large craft flying through the air, and elevated by balloon. Suddenly, the two specters descended rapidly into the solid rock of a mountain, and traveled in darkness for several minutes.
Eventually, they arrived at the dark altar within their original mountain fortress, however, now the pool was practically overflowing with blood, and all kinds of chaotic followers and warriors were emerging from a dark portal adjacent to the pool. Sorcerers, plague bearers, berserkers, and even followers of the dark mechanicus emerged, and joined in a strange ritual taking place before the pool's edge, a ritual being led by a group of heretics, bearing the colors of Malal's cult. After a group if ponies had been thrown into the pool, the surface bubbled, and spawned waves from it's very center, the central force of these waves and tremors reached the pool's edge, where two forearms emerged. Parix and Elegost were immediately thrust by some unseen force toward the two arms, and upon reaching them, melded into their bodies and raised themselves from the bloody pool. Both were unconscious for a time, until Elegost awoke with horrible shaking, the process of rejoining his soul with his body had disturbed him horribly, and now arose, shivering like a frightened pup.
Almost immediately, he ran from the altar, full of dark and curious purpose. He had to read the contents of that library. He had to learn! He had much studying to do.
Years have passed since last we saw our heroes become whole again.
Celestia looks upon the dark stronghold so close to her own Capitol, a rage foreign to her manifests itself as she views the twisted land she once called hers. Celestia had one ally in this however, a specter that would often speak with her, and had even revealed secrets of the enemy to her, leading to successful (but costly) raids of her own. She believed that her long forgotten father was speaking to her from beyond oblivion, but in reality, it was simply the Ever-changing Tzeench.
"Take cover! Horseshoe formation on me!" One pony commander screamed to his forces, from the tree line, the enemy had cloaked themselves in foul worship, and fired upon them with their alien weapons.
From the tree line, and the opposing bank came howls of fury and zeal, as blood-red marines burrs forth, many brandishing cruel-looking axes, but their leader, who charged with a dark sword that seemed to crack with evil energies. Behind these came a beast of nightmares, who seemed to made entirely of metal, and yet, as ferocious as any living beast. Needless to say, some conscripts tried to run, and were swiftly cut down by the two commanders in the rear, no retreat in her name.
The dragon had already incinerated any marine who dare challenge it, and was thoroughly amazed when the blood crusher refused to burn away, as did its daemonic rider, and soon the two were locked in mortal combat. The dragon grasped the blood crusher in its huge jaws, but again, the beast only seemed mildly annoyed by the dragon's teeth breaking against his hull. The blood crusher's rider had taken painful stabs at the creature, and with this, the dragon used its final strategy. The blood crusher, and its rider were cast to the ground, and crushed beneath the dragon's great belly. The beast felt proud at this victory, and returned to burning marines alive, until he felt a sharp pain in his underbelly. He arose, ever so slightly, to see the blood crusher ironically crushed, but the daemon's blade wedged deeply within his soft underbelly. He immediately tried to crush the pest again, but only propelled the daemon into his body. Pain unlike any other was what the dragon experienced, as the rabid little daemon shredded his internal organs as if they were nothing. Eventually, the beast crumbled and fell, it's blood dying the entire river, a deep crimson as the Bloodletter emerged from a hole in the creature's neck.
With marines hacking away at their front, and now a daemon shredding the rear, the pony formation swiftly crumbled. "Fall back to defensive posit-GALKH!" The only remaining commander tried to order his men, before a hellblade appeared jutting from his mouth. Then chaos took hold, and all squads broke.
One conscript, who had fallen unconscious in the fight, awoke in its aftermath. Bodies floating down the river, he knew this river well, it led directly to Ponyville. The moment he tried to rise, he stumbled, n auxiliary's arrowhead was lodged deeply in one of his forelegs. With his new, half submerged position, the pony took in the horrors of the crossing. All of his fellows were dead, those wounded on the banks were being executed by the cultists. Heads were taken by the red champions, and the helmets if their fallen brothers were set upon the handles of their axes, which were embedded in the ground of the bank.
So the conscript went, away from the massacre and onward to his hometown, with his face above the water, he fell into dreams again. Not knowing yet of the wrath his actions would bring about.
-Designation: Cruiser Endymion's Glory of the 45th Styx
by a man who served under the legendary General Vance Stubbs
Dane gazed down at the planet, uninterested in the planet side visuals, a nauseating sneer had grown across his features.Everyone stood at attention when Dane entered the room. He stared them down, some of the very finest, imagining losing the army he inherited, Dane gritted his teeth, stared at the guard's lieutenants, and said his hollowed words.
-The Gray Tide-very important, and of course, more pony-parts than you could shake a stick at. His armor was covered in an awful lot of them as well...MY job!"DATS BOSS SKULLSNATCHA. YA PIMPY PONY-LOVIN GIT! " Wiping the projectile drool from his face, the champion continued. "My apologies, Boss, Skullsnatcha. We are simply here to trade..." He hinted. "We'z already got da best loots, plenty o' heads, an' a big forty place ere'. Wot could you give us?!" The champion calmly turned to a heretic in his company, raised his bolter, and blew him to pieces. Most of the boys cowered in fear of the alien weapon, but Skullsnatcha only grinned. "Oh ho ho, I gets yer plan...." The champion turned to face his speaker. "You's tryin' to threaten ol' Skullsnatcha, inta givin' up..." The massive dog said with a chuckle. "By no means," the champion began, "we want-" "SHUT YER GOB" Skullsnatcha screamed, "YA SEE DESE HEADS?! Alla Dese other boys, thought they could scare me, that they could beat me ,"The boss paused, but before negotiations even thought of continuing, the Dog shoved an assortment of heads in his face, all of them wearing some semblance of an important hat or helm, many pony, some griffon, and one very large dragon skull, which the boss pointed to. "LOOK AT EM' NOW! The champion screamed in frustration,"Trade! Trade you stupid bastard! You want our weapons?! We'll get you weapons!"At this, the boss got very close to the champion, and stared into his very soul. "Dats all well an' pretty, but what'll of Skullsnatcha be givin' to ya in return?" He said with a zeal-breaking grin. "An alliance." The marine said calmly, "keep killing the equines, but don't kill any of our... boys." He concluded, leaving the warboss scratching his chin, with his massive power claws. "On one condition." He finally said, at which the champion leaned in. "I gets his hat." Pointing at the Khornate berserker of the company, who was busy banging his head against the wall."Deal." The champion said, before ordering the others to restrain the berserker.
Little did they know, however, that at the very moment of their deal being struck, the sleek forms of Valkyries descended onto the planet. For an Imperial Guardsman's presence had been detected on the world, the presence of a guardsman not of their ranks. The presence of a guardsman, designated Alexander.
-Begin-
"HEEEEEEELLLLLLPPPPPP MMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEE!"
Back again in the forest, the ears of every guardsman present detected the shriek, and responded with confusion. That is, until the priest started up again. "You see soldiers?! They already fear us! Now, let us bring the wrath of the Emperor down upon these savage Xeno scum! FORWARD!" The Chimera came online, and it's plow easily decimated the trees in its way, followed up by fifty guardsmen, ready to spill blood.
"How is he Flutters?" Applejack asked Fluttershy, the two having just relocated the conscript pony to the town center.
"Kill the treasonous wretch"
The pony, the blood, and the Altar
Summon The Heretics
It had been many years since the hibernation of Parix and Elegost began, and much had changed. The only two survivors of what would come to be know as the night of suffering were the royal sisters themselves, who, using their combined powers attempted to rebuild what they once knew as home. However, they failed somewhat at this, instead creating three bastard races which were the alicorns, but through an ignorant, unadventurous, and altogether lesser state. One, the greater and more determined of the two sisters loved the new creatures, whilst the lesser hated their very existence, every time she looked at them she saw the events of that night, it was like she was looking at her people's mass grave. At one point, the lesser sister Luna was banished to the warp by her sister for "rebellion", it was simply the younger princess "Luna" asking her sister to retry cloning their race. At the very thought of losing her idle little followers, Celestia grew enraged and began screaming and raving of treason most foul. A complete slave to the little voice she allowed to penetrate her mind.
That little voice being none other than Tzeench, who had never truly stopped watching the two little rulers, anything powerful enough to destroy an entire chaos horde was VERY much worth his time, not that he didn't have fun mind you. He found their weak little struggles more entertaining than those of the humans. However, after one particularly fantastic evening of mind games with their ruler, he got to witness actual betrayal coming from a non-humanoid race, this WAS something special indeed. After all these years of torturing celesta to the absolute brink of collapse, perhaps it was time to awaken the little darlings in the cave.
-somewhere-
Elegost was at a total loss. Not only had Malal suddenly decided to save just enough followers to perform this strange ritual, but now, he had left both Parix (who was nowhere to be seen or sensed in a reality that made the warp look like heaven. And it was in this strange reality, where Elegost began to expand. It was a strange, deathlike state where Elegost seemed free to roam the xeno planet, observing all the bizarre happenings of the land, as well as the rapidly decaying mental state of it's primary leader, and from this state, for the first time in centuries, Elegost learned something new.
Sunny Day was a simple pony, he never dreamt of much aside from a quiet life in Ponyville without much difference. However, when curiosity struck, Sunny would always try to sniff out adventure. In hindsight, it was a terrible idea. Sunny was hiking around Canterlot's surrounding hills and cliffs on holiday, when he heard a soft whisper-like rush in his ear, which caused him to turn his head toward the strange sound's origin; a massive cave in the hillside, practically yearning to be explored. Sunny cautiously trekked into the dark of the cave, each step bringing more whispering winds to his attention. He had been walking for what felt like hours, when he entered a large atrium-like area. Sunny decided to continue on, until the putrid and unfamiliar scent of rotting flesh entered his nostrils, he looked upward to find the source, and was met with the partially decomposed corpses lining the walls of a hideous, black, pit. Sunny shrieked, and began to run away, until he heard the whispers again, much clearer this time however.
"I know what you desire..." Elegost said through his spectral form, taunting and tempting the terrified creature, "Power, security, faith, anything your heart desires..." just like the guardsmen. And as the stallion began to ramble off questions, Elegost smiled. He had plans for this one.
-sneak peek-
Parix and Elegost were at a complete loss. Here was the formerly pathetic equine, behaving as one could only expect from an aspiring champion of Khorne! This was truly remarkable, a fact to be celebrated, but such events would have to wait, as Elegost was struck by a sudden wave of thought. The sudden wave being none other than a telecommunication from their daemonic employer, Malal. Instead of speaking, the diety showed much to the sorcerer through images. The twisted psycher saw many things, the final hour's of Vilek's independent thought capabilities, the slaying of the equine guardsmen, but most importantly, he saw a most troubling sight. A city, seemingly drowning in it's own decadence, with a capital spire jutting from it's very center emitting a strange energy. Disgusting, the city had shrines to the princess "goddesses" every which way, and every building was seemingly made of precious stone. Snapping abruptly from the trance, Elegost was met with a confused Parix, and a concerned Vilek. "Malal?" Parix asked assuming correctly, the very name making Vilek wince from his memories. "Indeed" replied Elegost, placing a re-affirming hand upon Vilek's shoulders. "Read the rites, burn the incense, offer the blood!" Elegost cried as he approached the mouth of the cavern's entrance, "for we must build a dark force this day, AND CONQUER AN EMPIRE ON THE MORROW!" He screamed in a strangely prideful voice, before resuming his meditation beneath the pool's crimson waves.
Alexander felt the Pride, before he felt the pain. The company unleashed a full fury of flaming las gun fire upon their former comrade, and all of the Xenos nearby. Alexander felt himself lose something, but he didn't care. After two loyal guardsman had fallen to Alexander, a bolt finally destroyed the bones in his firing hand, and his story could be heard coming to a close.
Fluttershy and Applejack were the only two ponies left alive in the square, but when Alexander pleaded for help, the two darted off and into the town.
Abandoned by those he once saw as righteous and caring, and having just witnessed the brutal murder of some 20 ponies and their children, Alexander bawled, much to the disgust of his former comrades. He knew they wouldn't stop, not until the whole town was dead, Alexander could hardly hear the father, speaking of dishonor and treason before the bodies of 2 formerly loyal soldiers.
The sentence? Alexander was dragged (las bolts can sever limbs) on his one remaining foot to an abandoned house, where he was sealed in from the outside world. Then the nozzles of numerous flamer a made themselves known in the windows, and bathed the broken man in liquid-hot Promethium.
