//------------------------------// // Chaos Rising // Story: Cutie Marks of Chaos // by Roadpony the Loud //------------------------------// It was a beautiful bright day in the town of Ponyville. The sun shone bright as can be, the birds were singing. And as far as Rarity, Ponyville’s own unicorn fashionista, could attest, not a hair seemed out of place on this nice quiet day. That is, until the sudden explosion came from within the tree library in the middle of the town. The sudden boom that accompanied a flash of light and sparks from within the Books And Branches Library was loud, thunderous, and more than enough to send a certain trio of florists into a panic. "The horror! The horror!” screamed the most vocal of the three, holding her hooves to her cheeks before galloping of with her co-workers in a panic. If the earlier explosion wasn’t enough, the trio of panicking planter ponies running through the town was more than enough to catch the attention of Applejack, who had been working at her apple stand at the time. “What in tarnation’?” she exclaimed, before galloping off towards the library, which now had smoke pouring out of the windows. With a hop, skip, and a jump, she landed at the building’s red door, faced away from it, and applebucked it off of its hinges. The door flew inward, hitting the floor of the library with a clatter. Smoke billowed out of the now open doorway, nearly blasting the Earth Pony full in the face. Taking a step back, she took her hat in hoof and placed it over her mouth. “Twi’, Spike?! You two alrigh’?!” the orange Earth Pony shouted as she galloped in. Thankfully, she didn't see any fire in the room, just an inordinate amount of smoke. Her call was answered by a series of coughs and hacks as a purple unicorn stumbled out of the smoke, her dark violet mane frazzled as she struggled to force the smoke from her lungs. Without a thought, Applejack returned her hat to its proper place, snagged the lavender unicorn's tail in her mouth, and pulled her friend out the door. Once free of the smoky library, she released Twilight's tail. Twilight Sparkle, magician extraordinaire and personal pupil of Princess Celestia herself, fell flank first to the ground, still coughing as she shook her head and wiped away the soot that covered her face. “Applejack—" the lavender unicorn coughed out, trying to form a sentence. A series of coughs crushed any hope of that. The orange farmpony took the brim of her hat in her mouth and fanned her friend with it, trying to blow away any remaining smoke. "Don't talk, sugarcube, breathe!" ordered Applejack as soon as she ceased fanning her compatriot with her hat. "Landssakes! What in the name of mah great-aunt happened in there!?" "Applejack! Twilight!" called a cycle of voices from behind Applejack. Turning to the clamor, the farmpony was relieved to see the rest of her friends rushing over to assist. Ahead of the entire pack was Rainbow Dash, who dropped to the ground before rushing to the duo. "What happened?!" she exclaimed, looking at the smoke billowing from the front door of the library. There was no visible open flame, but thick black smoke still poured from the tree's interior. Coming up right behind the speedy pegasus was a bright pink earth pony whose poofy, curly hair far out-shined her Cutie Mark of three balloons. Rather than running as Applejack had done earlier, this Pony had urgently skipped over to where everyone was gathering. "Omigosh, isTwilightalright?! IwasworkinginSugarCubeCorneronsomesweetswhenIheardaHUGE-" The rapid-fire speaking of the energetic Earth Pony was cut off by Applejack silencing her with a hoof to the mouth. "Pinkie, calm down. Twilight's fine, she just needs some air" she said, removing her hoof from the mouth of Ponyville's premiere party pony. As Pinkie rushed to Twilight to envelop her in a massive hug (blatantly ignoring Applejack's advice to give her some air), a pristine white unicorn with a luxurious purple mane and a trio of blue gemstones adorning her flank was the next to arrive. Her reaction was simple and to the point. "WA-HAHA!" she exclaimed, jumping up a bit as she took in the disaster before her very eyes. So much disarray! So much untidiness! So much unfabulosity! "Twilight dear! Are you alright?!" she said, galloping over to the coughing unicorn, much to Applejack's chagrin. ("Ah swear, yah tell some ponies to give another pony some air and they crowd her worse'n hogs 'round fresh slop.") "Pinkie, step aside." "Okie Dokey Loki!" the pink pony said, hopping away and giving the Unicorn fashionista access to the coughing Twilight. Screwing her face up in concentration, Rarity focused. She'd need to get every last bit of horrid, dirty, filthy smoke out of her friend's lungs. This was going to be a delicate move, so she couldn't afford to let her thoughts stray. Her horn glowed with a soft blue light, and Twilight's chest followed suit. "Twilight, dear? I need you to breathe out now." Rarity requested. As Twilight exhaled, the ivory Unicorn gently let her magic pull every last smoky molecule out of her friend's lungs. While she wasn't as mystically powerful as Twilight, she had a keen sense of detail that helped her in this effort greatly, gently securing the smoke in a wreath of magic and easing it out by riding along Twilight's exhalation. With Twilight's every breath, smoke that shimmered with Rarity's magic would follow. There was a considerable amount, no doubt because Twilight had been at the point where some spell or potion backfired. The moment Rarity released her concentration, the remaining smoke floated away and dissipated, allowing Twilight to take a breath without coughing. Rarity also began to pant, not being used to such intense magic use. Applejack approached the white unicorn, a confused, if relieved look on her face. "Rar', I thank yah for helpin' clear Twi's lungs, but did you really have to use magic?" Rarity sniffed. "Honestly Applejack. Twilight was most likely at the source of all this smoke when that rather raucous explosion occurred, and she inhaled a good deal of it. As you saw, there was a considerable amount of it still in her lungs." "Yeah... but wouldn't coughin' get rid of it all? You sure you weren't showin' off?" At this accusation, Rarity gasped. "Applejack, I'm insulted! Me, show off? I'd never do something so barbaric!" The white Unicorn turned, 'hmmph'ing before stepping away. Applejack shook her head before looking back to Twilight, who had finally caught her breath. "You alrigh' sugarcube?" she'd ask. "What in the hay happened in there?" Twilight shook her head in an attempt to clear it. "I was working on an alchemical formula, and I stepped away for a second to grab some powdered wormroot. That's when I heard Spike exclaim-" she stopped, her eyes widening in a mix of fear and shock. "Spike! Owlowiscious! They’re still in there!" "Oh my goodness!" a fourth voice suddenly piped up. Fluttershy landed, quivering in fear at the large cloud of smoke still billowing from the front door. "I got’em!" Rainbow Dash announced, before zipping inside the house, a prismatic blur showing the path she took. A moment later, she zipped back out, coughing. "The smoke's too thick; I can't see a darn thing. There's no fire, either!" "Open the windows for Celestia's sake!" Applejack exclaimed, running over to a ground floor window and opening it, ducking out of the way to avoid the smoke that billowed out. Normally, if there had been a fire, opening the window would cause air to rush in, worsening the fire; however, in this case, without the fear of a conflagration, opening the windows assisted in ventilating the house and clearing out the smoke. Fluttershy and Dash took to the air, opening the windows that were too high for their earth-bound fellows. As Fluttershy opened the balcony doors, a soot covered owl suddenly flew out. Twilight let out a small sigh of relief as she saw her nighttime assistant fly out, circling the library once before descending. She trotted over to the normally nocturnal avian, who was shaking himself and ruffling his feathers to clear the smoke and soot from him. "Owlowiscious! Did you see Spike?! Is he alright?!" Twilight inquired, getting in the owl's face with each panicked question. Hopping back a step, the owl took a moment to smooth out his ruffled feathers. "Hoo." he hooted, uttering the only sound he could make. If anyone could have understood Owl at that moment, they would have heard the simple hoot as "I saw him, he's alright." Unfortunately, nopony there was fluent in the language of nocturnal avians; consequently, his hoot was misunderstood as a question, one that Twilight didn't want to hear at all. "SPIKE! THE DRAGON WHO- AUGGH!" the lavender Unicorn bellowed, the momentary relief she felt a moment ago vanishing, before falling to the ground and sobbing. She was terrified of what might have happened to the one companion that she had had with her almost all her life. As Twilight's overactive imagination got the hold of her once more, the smoke within the library had diminished considerably; flowing out the open windows. Without a moment's hesitation, Rainbow Dash raced inside the library. "HANG ON SPIKE!" she'd bellow as she rushed inside, leaving the remaining five ponies outside. The interior of the library was now much easier for the sky blue Pegasus to navigate, save for the constant flow of smoke coming from a brownish gold liquid on the table; most likely the potion that caused this mess. At once, she spotted an all too familiar purple tail sticking out from under the table. Faster than Pinkie could say "Ten Seconds Flat" (which is quite a feat, considering how much of a motor mouth the pink pony could be), Dash zoomed down to the floor, grabbed the young dragon's tail in her mouth and began to pull! No cry of pain or any other reaction came from the dragon; that worried Rainbow. It meant he was either out cold or worse… no! With a shake of her head, the Pegasus would steel herself; there was no way Spike would die at all! He was a bucking dragon, no stupid smoke or weird potion was going to put him down! Rainbow Dash tightened her grip on Spike's tail, the hard scales being more than enough protection against the bite, and began to drag the young dragon across the floor. "Jeeze Spike! You need to lay off of the gemstones; you're heavier than I remember!" the prismatic Pegasus said as she dragged Spike along the floor, flapping her wings to assist in moving the dragon. Why was he so heavy? Before Dash could dwell on that thought anymore, a sudden gust of fresh, non-smoky air hit her lungs; she was no longer within the library. Still, she dragged the purple reptile a bit more till he was completely out of the library. "Spike!" Twilight screamed, before getting up and galloping over to Dash and the currently unconscious Spike. She nearly bowled over Rainbow, causing the Pegasus to grab her and hold onto her. "Twilight, clam down! You need to give him some air!" This statement from Equestria's Best Young Flier did nothing to assuage the Unicorn's fear. "What's wrong with him?! Is he sick?! Is he hurt?! Is he-" she yelled, trying to squirm out of her friend's grasp. "Twilight! Calm down NOW!" The sudden order from Fluttershy silenced everyone in the vicinity as the yellow Pegasus flapped on over to the panicking Unicorn and the Pegasus restraining her, pushing them aside as she began to look over Spike. All eyes were on Fluttershy now as she walked around the unconscious dragon, looking him over. Twilight looked away, sobbing into her hooves. The rest of her friends trotted over to the distraught Unicorn, trying to comfort her. Seconds turned to minutes, and to Twilight those minutes felt like hours. What felt like an eternity passed before Fluttershy looked up... and smiled. “He's just sleeping. A lump on the head knocked him out cold.” the yellow Pegasus said, trotting back over to the gathering of ponies. At once, they all let out a collective sigh; Twilight's tears returned, but out of joy rather than devastation. “Hey! You know what this calls for?!” Pinkie Pie suddenly exclaimed, before reaching into her obscenely poofy mane and extracting a noise maker and a small Alligator, its toothless mouth gripping her foreleg. “A PARTY!” the party pony bellowed, before blowing into the noise maker. A light trumpeting noise sounded out from the party favor, along with a cloud of confetti that flew off of the tip of the noisemaker. “…Pinkie dear, how long was Gummy in your mane?” Rarity asked; baffled at how Pinkie Pie used her mane, her mane of all things, as storage! It bordered on a crime against Fabulosity! “The whoo~ole time.” Pinkie replied, a smile on her face. Pinkie’s usual bout of randomness, along with the fact that Spike was safe, was more than enough to get Twilight to cease her tears, smile and then laugh. “Oh Pinkie.” The lavender Unicorn said, pulling all of her friends into a hug. “Thank you all so much; I don’t know what I would have done without you girls.” “You’d still be coughing up smoke like a dragon! RAAAAWR!” Pinkie piped up once more, doing a rather poor imitation of a dragon. All ponies present began to laugh. “You mean like Spike?” Rainbow Dash piped in, obviously meaning it as a joke. “No, he’s far too young to start breathing out smoke. His fire-breath isn’t that developed.” Twlight replied a matter o’ factly. “It says in Sarkhoof Vol’s Guide to Dragons that cesium fire dragons like Spike don’t have the ability to just breathe out smoke until they reach a certain age.” “What age might that be?” Fluttershy asked, looking back to the sleeping dragon. “Around 17 years of age, when their spines take on a sharper appearance. Why do you ask?” “Oh… well, it’s just…” Fluttershy squeaked, looking down to the ground and shuffling her left forehoof into the dirt. “What’s up Fluttershy?” Twilight would ask, getting closer to the timid Pegasus. A look of panic flashed across her face for a second. “Nothing’s wrong with him, is it?!” “N-no, not at all!” Fluttershy quietly explained. “It’s just that… well… did he shed recently?” Twilight racked her brains for a second, thinking… yes, Spike did go through a molt recently; no less than two days ago. You don’t forget cleaning up the old skin of your number one assistant that easily, especially when the empty eye sockets staring right at you dive right into the uncanny valley. “Why yes he did, no less than two days ago.” The lavender unicorn said, raising an eyebrow. “Why the sudden curiosity?” “Oh, um… it’s just that… you might want to open some windows soon…” Fluttershy replied, looking back down. “Spike’s spines are a bit… sharp.” “What? That can’t be right.” Twilight said, trotting over to Spike. “That’s completely ridiculous! He’s a few years younger than me, and even then he still has a number of years before his spines even become poi-” Twilight stopped, blinked twice, and before just staring at her unconscious draconic friend. Fluttershy had been right, his spines were sharp! But that wasn’t the only difference… “But, but… I don’t… WHAT?!” she cried, throwing her head back. "Great! First my library explodes, I nearly suffocate from smoke, and now this?! CAN THIS GET ANY WORSE?!" Unfortunately for Twilight, it was about to get worse. Much, much worse. ---------------------------------------------------------- The Warp: a swirling, psychic realm of non-space and raw energy. A dark reflection of the material universe. An ocean of chaos. Raw emotion given energetic form. The home of daemons and chaos itself. Some have likened it to the hell described in certain religions; they aren't far off. The souls of the dead are rumored to wander the Immaterium, meandering aimlessly until they are plucked up and devoured by daemons and the Ruinous Powers. It's not a nice place, not one bit; especially when the Chaos God of Blood and Rage is angry. “SLAANESH!!!” Khorne stormed into Slaanesh’s domain, seething with an anger that would give an Angry Marine pause. The warpborn manifestation of all anger, bloodlust, and martial prowess in the universe slapped aside a stray Daemonette that had gotten in his way, turning it into a bloody splatter on the wall. He hated coming into the domain of his fellow Chaos god, oh how it drove him to anger. The sheer amount of bright pastel colors, the silken cloth, the smell of incense, the pretentiousness of it all. Kicking open the doors to the innermost sanctum of the God of Excess’s part of the Warp, Khorne pointed accusingly at Slaanesh, bellowing its name once more. “Hello there, Khorne.” Slaanesh said, reclining into the excessively elaborate throne it had conjured up with a mere thought. “What brings you to my abode? Need a shoulder to cry on~?” the Prince of Pleasure teased as it toyed with the immaterial soul it held in its hands. Said soul was screaming in an agony that would drive a man mad as Slaanesh pulled a chunk off of it, giggling with childish glee. “Up yours, you pretentious excuse for a god!” Khorne bellowed, stomping over to the throne; another daemonette wasn’t quick enough to escape the Blood God’s angry steps, and was promptly crushed. It squealed in delight for a moment before its skull burst. “Your waste of space worshippers cost me an offering in the Materium! My followers had nearly finished spilling enough blood before yours interrupted!” Slaanesh raised an eyebrow, giving the war god a look that spoke volumes. “But everyone on that world was eviscerated by Kharn; surely more than enough blood was spilt?” She Who Thirsts questioned, a small smirk crossing its face. “Yes, blood was spilt, but the offering was completely fucking awesome, and your faggot worshippers completely ruined the mood!” Khorne shouted, getting right in Slaanesh’s face. “YOU KNOW I HATE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS; AND WHILE KHARN IS A HELL OF A GUY I SHOULDN’T HAVE TO PULL HIM AWAY FROM HIS OWN KILLING SPREES TO ENTERTAIN ME!” Slaanesh smiled a toothy smile; this unsettled the Blood God. “Oh please; if anything, I was enhancing that bloody sausage-fest with my daemonettes and cultists.” It answered, reaching up and trailing a finger along one of the bull horns that adorned the helmet of Khorne. The Blood God suddenly seized the Prince of Pleasure’s hand in a crushing grip squeezing hard. Slaanesh bit its lip, letting out an 'oooh' followed by a laugh. “Oooh…Not so rough, Khorne; we haven’t even started foreplay~.” “Touch me again and I will end you, you cocksucking faggot.” Khorne threatened, not wanting any of Slaanesh's bullshit. “I’ll just enjoy it.” Slaanesh smirked, lifting his other hand and gently tapped Khorne on his helm’s face plate, before vanishing in with in a cloud that smelled of incense appearing behind The Blood God. “Besides, need I remind you about that rather… interesting time you spent with a certain sal-?" And with that, Slaanesh had crossed the line. He broke the sacred Rule of What happens in the Warp, stays in the Warp. Khorne's angry meter went from 'Very Angry' to 'So Angry that Planets Explode'. “THAT NEVER HAPPENED! PATHETIC WRETCH I SHALL HAVE YOUR SKULL ON A PLATTER!” Khorne bellowed, turning on the Chaos God of Pleasure with his War Axe, conjured without a thought, and slashing at him. Slaanesh fell back, dancing just out of range of the Blood God’s swing, before opening its mouth and sticking out a rather long tongue, doing an epic tongue waggle. “Catch me if you caa~an~!” it teased before turning tail and running. Khorne followed in hot pursuit, screaming obscenities and describing, in graphic detail, just what he would do to Slaanesh if he caught him. Considering Slaanesh, even on his best day, couldn’t beat Khorne on his worst, the Chaos God of Excess made a smart move in running like hell. ____ Nurgle, the Chaos God of Pestilence, disease, and decay, sat in his gardens, watching his daemons plod about. How he loved them so. He loved his Plaguebearers, he loved his Nurglings, he loved his followers; they were all his children. Yes, life was good for Grandfather Nurgle. He loved how little changed, how everything stagnated and became rotten. The bloated avatar of disease and decay smiled as he watched one of the many moldering willow trees sprout a seed. Someone had become infected with Nurgle’s Rot, filling Papa Nurgle with glee; another Plaguebearer would be coming into existence soon! The God of Decay reclined, enjoying how little changed in the routine… “I’LL REND THE FLESH FROM YOUR BONES! THEN SEW IT BACK ON SO I CAN DO IT AGAIN!” “Oohooo, Khorne you devil~!” Slaanesh ran into the Gardens of Nurgle, laughing at how much rage he was causing for Khorne. The threats the Blood God was throwing at the Prince of Pleasure were also making him positively giddy! *SPLAT* Slaanesh stopped when it heard that noise; that sickening pop already filled it with a sense of revulsion. Looking downwards, it lifted its right foot. The rotted, pus-filled remains of a Nurgling were splattered across its foot; oh that was just nasty. "Disgusting! Foul! SO UNCLEAN!" She Who Thirsts would scream, wiping its foot on the ground in an attempt to get the remains of the miniature Nurgle daemon off of its foot. "Ugggh! Nurgle you fat, filthy slob. Don't you ever clean up around here?" Now if Nurgle was know for one thing besides his lack of hygiene, it was his patience. Everything eventually rotted, and decayed, so there was no rush to go anywhere. As such, because he had all the time in the universe, Nurgle was by far the most patient of the Chaos Gods; only Tzeentch had more patience, and that was because he planned everything beforehand. Nurgle had the patience to deal with Tzeentch's inability to treat his followers like family instead of faceless employees, he could tolerate Khorne's temper tantrums and spastic fits of rage, and he could tolerate Slaanesh's omniphilia to an extent. However, despite having nigh-infinte patience, he still had his limits. Stepping on a Nurgling he could handle, because they felt no pain and it wouldn't truly die. The insults he was used to, as Slaanesh never really got over Nurgle stealing away the Eldar Goddess Isha from him. But to even suggest, to even think of suggesting, the idea of cleaning up the Gardens of Nurgle; imposing a massive change on HIS realm... Well, let's just say that Slaanesh should be thankful Nurgle was not as outward with his anger as Khorne, because the Lord of Decay's patience with Slaanesh had run out. Rather than get up and punish Slaanesh himself, Nurgle simply called out. "Oh Khorne, Slaanesh is right here." he declared in a rumbling, fatherly voice. The sound of a enraged cry soon followed as Nurgle smiled, seeing Khorne charge straight at Slaanesh and tackling him. The force of the tackle would drive the pair of Chaos Gods into the bloated, disgusting gut of Nurgle; Slaanesh was the first to hit. It got a mouthful of the innards draping out of the Lord of Decay, before the force of Khorne's ferocious tackle would knock Nurgle off of his throne. The Trio of Chaos gods would then begin rolling down the hill, now becoming a big ball of violence. ---- Tzeentch, the greatest of the Ruinous Powers, the Changer of Ways himself, procured a clock out of thin air, grasping it in one of his talons and looking at it. "Three, two, one..." he muttered, before hearing the sounds of three Chaos gods fighting. He looked down from his platform, and saw the big ball of violence rolling up the hill. The mere sight of that would have driven a physicist insane. Tzeentch, however, could care less. In the Warp, especially his realm, the laws of physics simply shook their heads and walked out the door. "Good, right on time." The Changer of Ways watched as the ball of fighting Chaos Gods hit a ramp, launching them skywards and right up to his platform. Nurgle landed first, followed by Slaanesh, and finally Khorne, all of them landing in a heap. Tzeentch let out a rather humorous chuckle, loving the scene. "Fellow Gods, glad you could make it!" he called, now taking on the form of a gargantuan specimen of one of his birdlike Greater Daemons, the aptly named Lords of Change. Slaanesh stood up, covered in head to toe with Nurgle's filth, trying to get away from the Blood God and the Lord of Decay. Khorne was up next, growling in a gibbering rage, ready to eviscerate the Prince of Pleasure. "I'm going to MURDER YOU, Slaanesh!" Khorne bellowed, raising his axe up high. "Khorne, could you tone done the gibbering fuckwaddery for five seconds? I brought you all here to discuss something" Tzeentch said, dismissing the clock he had held a moment ago. Khorne didn't listen, ripping off Slaanesh's arm before wailing on the Prince of Pleasure with it. "Brought us here?" asked Nurgle as he pushed himself upwards. "These two bull rushed into my Gardens and knocked us to here." "Nurgle, Nurgle... you forget who I am sometimes." Tzeentch tsked. With a wave of his hand, he conjured up a walking stick, the twisted and distorted faces of tortured souls engraved in it. "I simply redirected the warp portal Slaanesh's cultists took to the planet where Khorne was having that fun little bloodbath with his followers. Knowing how much Khorne had been enjoying that little offering to him, it was obvious that he'd go and try to beat Slaanesh's head in with its own arms, Q.E.D." The avian form of the Changer of Ways shifted to that of a tall armored man with a riot of blue flames for a head. He strode about the room, ignoring the sounds of Slaanesh being beaten with its own limbs. "We all know Slaanesh will never, ever, beat any of us in a fight, so it would obviously decide that running was the best option. But because it doesn't think beyond screwing whatever it sees, it would end up not looking where it was going, run into your garden, and suggest cleaning it up. You would become angry and point out Slaanesh for Khorne, who would shove it into you, causing all of you to tumble here." Tzeentch's form wavered again, before shifting to that of a man in a suit, a beard on his face and shoulder length brown hair tied back. The Lord of Change sat down on a throne, smirking as he tented his fingers. "Just as Planned." he muttered, snapping his fingers to procure a martini glass before drinking from it. The other Gods simply stood there, staring at the Changer of Ways. Even Khorne had stopped beating Slaanesh with its own dismembered limbs. "...You're a dick." She Who Thirsts said, snatching its arm back from Khorne. "Why thank you." Tzeentch said, before returning to the avian form of his Greater Daemons. "Now, the reason you're all here..." Tzeentch began to pace, sighing. "...Is anyone even having fun with this universe any more?" he ask the other gods, looking at them. "I mean... this whole Grimdark thing is nice and all, but I feel it's time for a change in scenery." As expected, the other three let out roars of disapproval, with Nurgle being the most vocal. "We don't need a change of scenery! The same old things are perfectly fine!" Nurgle bellowed. "This is because you hate change." Tzeentch replied, before looking towards Khorne and Slaanesh. "These two however... they seem to be getting bored." "NO WE'RE NOT!" the two Chaos gods bellowed at the same time. Tzeentch raised a feathered eyebrow. "Oh Really?" he asked, "You both seem to lack interest in any events going on these days unless you're yelling at each other. Don't you want a break from that routine?" The Blood God and Prince of Pleasure both raised their hands to retort, but stopped half way. Tzeentch was right, it was becoming increasingly difficult to even entertain themselves. Slaanesh was constantly trying to get under Khorne's skin just so he could feel the sensation of fear; something he rarely felt. "You see, this Grimdark universe has next to nothing left to provide for us." Tzeentch said as he walked on over to a large, circular stone dais, a cloud of smoke and thunder atop of it. "We need what the mortals call a vacation... a new place to corrupt and bring a little Chaos to. And I have just the place." Tzeentch clapped his hands, the clouds on the dais began to part. "I was monitoring the cosmos one day long ago when this place caught my attention. Upon my first visit, I got a look at a rather interesting world. Bright, unworried, and orderly to the point where the inhabitants control the turn of the seasons and the rotation of a star and lunar object." The Changer of Ways spun on his feet, turning to face his compatriots. "I was cast out by a rather powerful individual, but I dragged her into the Warp with me. Unfortunately for myself, she escaped; eluding my grasp for quite some time. Apparently during the time before we managed to put the Big E on his golden throne, she got in contact with the Emperor of Mankind. After an undetermined amount of time, she managed to slip by me again, and get back to her own realm...” “Fellow Gods of Chaos, I give you...” Tzeentch turned away, muttering to himself. “Pause for dramatic effect...” With a wave of his arms, the clouds parted completely; exposing a bright, colorful sphere to the Ruinous Powers. “Equestria!” A very, very long moment of silence permeated the domain as the gods looked at the sphere on the dais up close, observing what they saw. The bright and colorful rural areas contrasted the duller (in comparison to the rest of the world) colors of cities that were spread across the entire planetoid. The inhabitants, however, caused a variety of reactions amoung the Ruinous Powers. “...Tzeentch, why are we looking at a planet full of sentient equines that are bright and colorful?” Nurgle would ask, scratching his head. Khorne's question was the same, but more blunt. “Why the fuck are we looking at-" "PONIES!" Slaanesh exclaimed. "Yes, Ponies." Tzeentch said, walking up to the globe. "It seems odd, really, but I've found that this planet may have something for us all." The Changer of Ways looked towards Nurgle. "A visit from us, suddenly appearing into their rather peaceful lives, would be more than enough to cause dispair. " The God of Decay and Despair now looked a bit interested. The Changer of then turned towards Slaanesh, who was still looking upon the globe with a hungry gaze only it could make. "I don't think Slaanesh here needs convincing, but there are snobby royals who would be prime for its influence." Finally, he turned to Khorne, who was fuming with rage. "This place has nothing for me! It's got mother fucking colorful ponies that Slaanesh enjoys. That's plenty of reason to hate it. the Blood God answered indignantly. "Au contrare, my bloody compatriot, these equines can (and have) show martial prowess and extreme rage in times of need. In fact, I have an example comming up soon." "Then what are we waiting for!?" Slaanesh shouted, before running at the sphere, laughing manicaly. "Slaanesh, don't-" Tzeentch began to say, only to have Khorne stop him. "I gotta see this." The Blood God said, before looking back up to Slaanesh. The Prince of Pleasure had taken a running dive at the sphere, a look in its eyes that pretty much said what was on its mind: it was going to have fun. And it would have, if not for the fact it struck an invisible barrier surrounding it before receiving a nasty electrical shock. The God of Excess screamed in what sounded like sheer ecstasy, a psychic scream that bellowed through the Immaterium and the Materium. In the Material universe, this had the unfortunate result of the heads of sentistive Psykers and Sorcerers serving Slaanesh to explode, violently. Khorne was laughing uncontrolably, enjoying the sight of She Who Thirsts being electrified. After a moment, Tzeentch figured that enough was enough, and pulled Slaanesh away from the barrier. The Prince of Pleasure had a blissful look on its face as it flattened its frazzled hair. ""Oh my... I haven't had a shock like that in forever~." Slaanesh said, stumbling away bowlegged from the Dais to the rest of the gods. "As you can see, there is a rather powerful shield. Designed specifically to keep us out." Tzeentch said, walking up to the sphere. "The shock it delivers is also very powerful, as it attacks our very essence; even Nurgle would feel it." Tzeentch gestured to the bloated Plague Lord, who stumbled back a bit. "So why the hell did you introduce this to us if we can't even get to it?! Khorne bellowed, his helmet rattling from the force of the shout. He leaned forward to Tzeentch, causing the Changer of Ways to lean back a bit. "First you introduce us to this faggot planet with fucking ponies as the inhabitants, saying how good it is. Now you're telling us that WE CAN'T EVEN GET TO IT?! A pause, ended by Tzeentch grinning with a smile that only an asshole could make. "I never said we couldn't get to it, only that this barrier impeded our progress. There is a weakness in the barrier, a small tunnel that we couldn't possibly fit through... but a greater daemon could." The other gods, hearing this, all spoke up at once. "Ooh! Ooh! Let me send a Keeper of Secrets! It'll show those ponies a good time~ Slaanesh said, its eyes sparkling with desire and glee to inflict horrid things upon the populace. "Ahhh, but one of my Great Unclean Ones would be far better; they have a sense of humor." Nurgle laughed; obviously wanting to share the love of Papa Nurgle. "I'm not wasting a Bloodthirster on this worthless planet." Khorne said, crossing his arms and looking away. Tzeentch waved his hands. "Gentlegods, Gentlegods. While your enthusiasm is appreciated, it's not needed. I already sent a Lord of Change to possess someone... or pony, in this case. In fact, I did it thirty five minutes ago..." The Changer of Way procured a clock once more, looking at the time. He grinned evily. "And the barrier should be down right... about..." With a sudden fizzle, crack and a pop, the barrier around Equestria shuddered, and then popped. "...Now." With a grin and a wave of the hand, he discorperated the clock once more. "Take a seat, fellows, there's one little show I want you all to see before we get started." Each of the god procured their own chair: Khorne's being a massive throne made of skulls, Slaanesh's was solid crystal, adorned with fine cloths and throwpillows, and Nurgle's was a rotted stump covered in moss and other filthy things. Tzeentch snapped his fingers, and his own throne pulled on up next to the other Gods; the screaming faces of tourtured souls covering it. All of them took a seat. "And here... we... go." The Changer of Ways said, flicking his fingers towards the globe; a specific area on it, to be exact. The spot he pointed to was mystically magnified, zooming in onto a mountain range; more specifically, a city on the side of the mountain, made alabaster stone and gold. However, something was amiss. The largest building on the edge of the cliffside, a palace, it looked like, had a large cloud of smoke drifting out of a huge hole in the ceiling of the innermost keep. Another zoom, and the Ruinous Powers were blessed with the inside of the tower. It was a massive throne room, and it was in complete disarray. The stained glass windows were shattered, banners and drapes torn to shreds, and singe marks covered the floor; a sign of powerful sorceries and magics. However, what was most interesting to the viewers at the moment, was the pair of ponies in the center of the room, one standing atop the other. The one standing victorious over its foe was a light gray Unicorn with a black mane who showed the signs of possession by Daemon of Tzeentch. Many eyes along his face, one deformed wing sticking out of his side, extra limbs that are not standard for a equine. It was also laughing with a deep reverb in it's voice; it was a laugh of victory, for it had defeated its foe. And that foe; unconsicous, bruised, and defeated... ... was Princess Celestia. "Just... As... Planned." Tzeentch said, summoning a martini once more and sipping from it. Thought for the Day:It is better to die for your friends than live for yourself.