Thunder of Celestia

by Cabochard

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

After the Luna Heresy, it was believed that Chaos was an extremely dangerous force that could corrupt anyone. To the end of ensuring that Chaos did not rise again as strong as during the Heresy, the Ordo Chaotic of the Inquisition was created.

They were an organization made primarily of ponies with a particular skill for interrogation and a resistance to the corrupting power of Chaos. Many unicorns were taken into the Inquisition and educated there, because of the danger that comes from their power to draw magic directly from the Warp. This would leave their minds wide open to the invading forces, causing madness and possession by the monsters that Discord created. These monsters were known as demons, and possessed immense power within the Warp. They were creatures of pure destruction, incapable of thinking of anything other than slaughter. They were twisted ponies, with spikes coming out of the stumps of their wings, eyes on their flanks instead of cutie marks, and extra limbs. Each one was twisted uniquely from the others, for that was the essence of Chaos.

When it was deemed that their power was far beyond the power of any real ponies, the Ordo Chaotic requested that Celestia grant them permission to create their own soldiers to deal with it. Through this was born the Magic Blades, an order of unicorns that had proved resistant to Chaos. They were given armor specially designed to ward against the powers of Chaos and warded by chaplains so that their minds would also be protected. These soldiers crusaded through the galaxy, destroying any and all demons they found, sometimes destroying entire planets to be sure of their success. Their greatest hope always has been and always will be to destroy the very source of Chaos: Discord himself.

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Thunder sat, watching the Royal Guard at their practice. He had to keep the Celestia in one place while he was waiting for the Inquisition ships to arrive. After it was revealed that a possibility of Chaos corruption existed, the Inquisition immediately decided to send some of their own, including a full company of Blades. It would be a very delicate situation, dealing with the four extra ships added to his fleet. On his ship, and for his escorts, he was the ultimate law, apart from Celestia herself. But the Inquisition was above the law, so Thunder would be unable to order them around as he did his other subordinates. This would mean some careful maneuvering to get them to do what he wanted. But that was a problem for the future.

Meanwhile, there were very few activities on board the ship. As a military ship, it was equipped with very few entertainment facilities. He had spent that morning playing games on his pulpit screen, but had quickly grown bored with that. Sleeping was out of the question, so he had decided to practice fighting hand to hand with the soldiers. After realizing he sucked at it and getting more than a few strange looks, he settled with watching the Royal Guard fight. The Royal Guard ponies were easily twice the size of an ordinary pony, horizontally and vertically. Their bodies were covered in tight bunches of muscle, and their wingspan was proportional to their bodies. Each one was wearing full armor. Their armor covered their entire bodies, and was colored gold with silver lining. The armor looked high-tech, and had enormous shoulder pads in the front, for some reason. There were clearly multiple types of squads down there, and every pony was either an Earth pony or a Pegasus. Unicorns were rare in the Royal Guard, and were only deployed on extremely difficult missions. There were the Pegasus flight squads, lightly armored pegasi with swords and pistols. They were the spearhead of any assault, diving out as soon as the dropships entered the atmosphere and dropping down into the midst of their enemies. There were only two of those, one led by Dash herself. There was the standard Earth pony Tactical Squad, prepared for any situation. They used Draconis flamethrowers, Shrieker rifles, and Dragonfire launchers. They were more common, with a dozen squads in the company. Then there were the extremely rare Terminator Squads. These squads were made of Earth ponies that were bigger than the rest. They wore enormous suits of armor, and used rifles that were basically two rifles fused together and hooked to one trigger. Needless to say, the Terminators were a terror on the battlefield, being the almost invincible heralds of death that they were.

Most of the Royal Guard ponies were on lower decks, practicing breaching techniques and combat in the closed-quarters of a ship, but some were up here, in their main hangar bay. In the upper right corner, some of them practiced their shooting using their handheld Shrieker rifles, scaled down versions of the enormous quad cannons on the sides of the ship, using duds so they didn’t blow out the side of the ship. Others were practicing hand-to-hand combat, weapon-to-weapon combat, and weapon-to-hand combat. Thunder watched as two veterans circled around each other, both using swords. One finally decided to attack, and swung in an arc over his opponents head. His opponent lazily blocked it and attacked himself. Then the fight as really on, and Thunder could no longer follow it as they blurred into movement at superpony speeds. Thunder turned instead to a fight a little easier to follow. A pair of scouts, young ponies aspiring to join the ranks of the Royal Guard but who were still adjusting to the bio-upgrades made to them when they were first inducted, were fighting under the watchful eye of their sergeant. They seemed clumsy, and were prone to falling over after their first swing. After their first clumsy attacks, the sergeant began bellowing at them, grabbing and pulling them into proper combat positions.

As Thunder began to get bored with the scouts, a pegasus in full Royal Guard with a golden mane walked up to him. Her sword was slung at her side, and the marks on the handle suggested a long history of battle. A heavily modified Slingshot pistol hung at her side, its handle marred with hundreds of kill markers. Her armor was cleanly polished and had the marks of a sergeant on the left shoulder pad: a white laurel with a skull at the center.

“Pitiful, aren’t they?” she asked, a look of nostalgia on her face, “Hard to believe I used to be one of them.”

“Yes, but the really pitiful thing is that they’re still better sword fighters than me.” said Thunder with a laugh. “Sergeant Frozen Sierra, I presume?”

“How did you guess?” she asked with a surprised look on her face.

“Well, there are only two Flight Squads in the 5th company; one is led by Rainbow Dash, the other by Frozen Sierra. Since you’re obviously not a half-crazy rainbow-colored lieutenant, you must be the other one.” he grinned as he said it, glorying in his deductive skills.

“Silly me, it’s so obvious.”

“So, why did you come to talk to me?”

“I felt it necessary to meet the captain of the ship I am currently living on. That, and…” but before she could finish her sentence, Thunders personal comm unit crackled. Harmonicas voice came through.

“Captain, we need you on the bridge right now. The Inquisition ships have arrived, and Lord Inquisitor Blueblood would like to speak with you. Immediately.” her voice disappeared, and the comm unit shut down.

"So soon?" asked Sierra, "It's only been a day."

"Actually, time is different in the Warp, so to them it was probably closer to a week or so."

“Ooooh. Well then, see you around.” said Sierra, walking away.

“Yeah, see you around, I guess.” said Thunder, watching her. He shook his head and walked to the elevator, pressing the button for the bridge.

Upon his arrival, he saw, standing in his place at the pulpit, a richly dressed unicorn with a white body and blond mane. The stallion turned around and stared at Thunder as if waiting for something. He tapped his hoof on the ground and then a pillow floated over from who knows where and he sat down on it.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” he asked, in an annoyingly haughty voice that spoke of years of pampering and spoiling.

“What do you mean?” asked Thunder, thoroughly puzzled by the pony’s statement.

“Well, aren’t you going to bow to me?” There it was again, that really annoying voice, like he was some sort of nobility. Which he was, of course, but that didn’t mean anything!

Lord Inquisitor Inportunus Blueblood, who used to be known as Prince Blueblood the Fourth, was from the noble Blueblood family, a long line that somehow claimed relation to the goddess-queen Celestia herself. He had earned a reputation as an annoying, spoiled, brat, which he kept even after he had reached the age of twenty-one. Because of this Prince Nobilis Blueblood, his father, gave him a choice. Join the Inquisition, with a huge advantage and an almost guaranteed high position, as well as tons of money, or be disowned and be forced to live on the squalor of the streets like some sort of vermin. Blueblood, of course, chose the former, believing he had chosen the lesser of two evils. Little did he know just how hard it really was. It was said that he had acquired a more dignified demeanor since joining. Thunder could now confirm for himself and all his friends that this was a lie. Blueblood was as much of an asshole as he had been before he joined up.

“No, of course not.” said Thunder with a snort. “You are no longer important enough for me to bow to you, Inportunus. You haven’t changed from your days at the SAC, you know that?” Thunder took a step forward and pushed him away from the pulpit, taking his rightful spot once more.

“Do I know you?” asked Blueblood with a look of absolute distaste and horror at being insulted by a mere commoner. Thunder could practically read the word Ewwww all over his face. Blueblood quickly cleaned the part of his leg Thunder had touched with a pure white handkerchief.

“Don’t you remember me? I was one of your cronies. You know, before you were put into the Inquisition?” It was a lie. Thunder had been one of the victims of his bullying, but if Blueblood thought him a fellow noble, he would be more likely to have at least a grudging respect for him. Thunder was relying completely on his inability to remember much that wasn’t important to his standing in society.

It payed off. Blueblood remembered nothing of his SAC days, and a look of recognition appeared upon his face, as well as several beads of sweat. “Yes, yes. Forge was it? I remember you. How is your sister these days?”

“She’s doing well. Almost of marrying age. My father was actually planning on presenting her to you to see if you would consent to marry her. It would be a great honor to my family.” Thunder knew how to play this game, the game of the nobility. It was almost too easy. “But enough about my family. You are here about the possible corruption, yes? Troubling isn’t it?”

“Yes, yes I am. Quite troubling, of course.” he cleared his throat. “I have brought four Inquisition frigates and a full company of Magic Blades to aid in the cleansing of the Segmentum Solaris. We will be adding our strength to the Celestia’s, and I will be assuming control of the fleet in the name of the Queen’s Inquisition.”

Thunder was incredibly angered by his statement. He had just gotten command of his ship, had graduated top of his class from the School for Aspiring Captains, and now he was expected to obey this…this…idiot?! Inportunus hadn't even graduated, he'd just dropped out in the middle of his fifth year!

But he swallowed his rage and simply said. “Of course. I live to serve the Queen. You shall have my fleet.” He'd have time to get revenge for this disgrace later.

Blueblood stood up, nodded once, then exited through the elevator with his guards, returning to his boarding shuttle. Thunder waited until he saw the shuttle leave the hangar bay before finally letting his emotions free. He cursed and yelled, having a mini temper tantrum. He ranted about Blueblood, the Inquisition, and anyone that had ever slighted him. He only stopped when he saw the terrified faces of his officers. He regained control of himself. He could have his outburst later, in the privacy of his room. He prepared to say something, but Harmonica spoke first.

“Sir? I was never informed that you were nobility.”

“Well, that’s good, because I’m not. If you had been, I would have been worried.” he changed his position and addressed everyone on the bridge. “You all know I’m not nobility. However, I would like you to act as if I am. It will make dealing with Prince Jackass much simpler. Thank you.”

Harmonica spoke again. “Sir, are we expected to obey his orders?”

“Yes and no. I am still the law on board this ship. If we give conflicting orders, you obey me. If he gives an order that seems illogical or suicidal, and you have a better idea, you go with the better idea.”

“Of course, sir.” Harmonica saluted smartly, finally understanding how this was going to work.

“Also, from now on, you will have someone check the ship for bugs every time the Lord Inquisitor visits. After he leaves, naturally. I will now be retiring to my rooms. If Blueblood calls, I’m not available. If anyone else calls, wake me up.” With that, Thunder departed through the elevator, and headed to his room. Once there he closed the door, double checked the locks… and had his temper tantrum. Once he was done, thoroughly exhausted, he fell in his bed and fell asleep thinking of more ways to undermine his new foe’s authority.

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Lord inquisitor blue blood... prepare for your death.