Chapter 7: Doom Has Come
As Sanguine watched his brethren file one by one into position around the runic glyph carved deeply into the ancient stone temple floor, he enjoyed a feeling of immense satisfaction.
They had spent the two days since the arrival of Queen Myrrah's servant secreted away within the depths of their temple, tuning and perfecting the giant magical barrier projectors. Through their labors, the devices were capable of containing the immense magical energies need to sustain a tear between worlds long enough for larger numbers of soldiers to pass through. As the cultist ponies began chanting low and rhythmically, great tendrils of magical energy shot about spastically, accompanied by the smell of ozone. The projectors hummed to life, buzzing in time with the cultists' ceremony.
The tempo of their chant increased, and the cultists charged the glyph on the floor with their unicorn magic. Light flowed along the carefully placed grooves, and the air around the cloaked ponies raced in a whirlwind of excitement. Sanguine's lips spread in a wicked smile as a combination of twisted technology and sheer overpowering magical force ripped a hole through space and time. As the portal stabilized, a shock wave of pressure shot out, and the first Locust soldiers stepped through. Scores of bulky figures with strange weapons and crude armor marched into the temple. They were led by a dozen even taller creatures, clad in robes that appeared to be made of leather. As even more of the Drones began to pour in behind them, the tall ones knelt before Sanguine, and one spoke in a horrid, raspy voice.
“We are Kantus. Our Queen commands that we obey.”
"At last...” Sanguine thought to himself as his cruel grin grew even wider. So, these were the priests and field commanders of the Horde. Although it would still be some time before the larger portal devices were ready, allowing for the bigger and more powerful Locust to cross over, these warrior monks would prove to be quite an asset. He glanced back to his followers, and could see that they were already growing weary from the strain of maintaining the portal. Just over three hundred soldiers had already crossed, and though these were merely the first few drops of the ocean that was to come, they would be sufficient for what Sanguine had planned next.
“Signal your forces to halt,” He commanded the Kantus. “My brothers need rest. We will continue to bolster our numbers later.”
The flow of deadly monsters slowed to a stop and the cultist ponies breathed a sigh of deep relief, many nearly collapsing from exhaustion as they allowed the magical wormhole to close. Sanguine went to each of them, making sure they were still useful, then instructed them to rest and replenish their energy. As the cultists left the main chamber, the Kantus ordered the Locust Drones to form ranks and present themselves. The vile display of military might gave the lead cultist chills of anticipation. He stood atop a podium that had long ago been used as a throne's dais, and he addressed the pale, scaly soldiers.
“My new brothers-in-arms,” he began. His voice was an expression of pure force of will, and though he was by far the physically weakest being in the chamber, he had no trouble using his imposing charisma to establish his dominance. “We find ourselves on the precipice of great destiny. The union of our two peoples will soon prove to be an unstoppable force, ready and able to wipe out all who stand in our path! Together, we shall achieve a new prosperity, a new golden age in which our alliance shall dominate all! But, before we march towards this glorious new dawn, the opposition of our past must first be dealt with. Before our peoples can truly become one, we must eliminate the old guard, and their weak ideals of “peace”! Tonight, we shall open the floodgates, and let our presence be known. You shall be the vanguard of our wrath, and the world will tremble in your wake!
There was then a great deal of growling and hissing from the troops, and Sanguine took it to be a sign of their approval. Good. All was falling into place. Shouting now, his voice reverberated through the halls and could be heard by all in the ancient pyramid.
“Doom has come to Equis, and it's name is LOCUST!”
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“Sergeant Fenix?”
Marcus forced his eyes open, and groaned under his breath. Though there were many exciting and wonderful things to see in this alien capitol, Marcus had spent much of the last two days sleeping in his quarters. It had been absolutely fantastic to be able to sleep in for as long as he wanted, to not have to worry about scrounging together his meals, to have functional (if awkwardly sized) indoor plumbing. What's more, the ponies were, for the most part, content to let him be. It had been the most relaxing two days Marcus had known in decades. He rolled over and looked to the door, where stood the intruder on his serenity.
“Princess Luna, what brings you up here?” He asked, as he rose to stretch. He had once again slept in his armor, being unable to rest without it. It always made him feel more secure, even if he payed for it with stiff limbs when he woke. The dark indigo alicorn waited patiently for him to provide her with his full attention. The Gears had met the Princess of the Night at the feast in their honor the first night of their stay. Though she had a habit of speaking very properly, Marcus found her much easier to deal with than Celestia, and had spent much of his waking hours in the castle talking to her.
“We have come to fetch thee, our sister wishes your opinion on a matter of...some importance.”
“Alright, gimme a sec.” Turning to the figure passed out on the couch, he kicked the furniture hard enough to rouse its occupant. “Dom! Get up, we got a date with the Princess. Go round up Baird and Cole, then meet us in...”
“Celestia's private study” Luna finished. “Twilight Sparkle will know they way, and we last saw Corporal Baird with her in the astronomy tower."
“Right, on it...” Dom slurred sleepily as he rolled back over.
“That means now Santiago. This is important.”
“Right, right...just two more minutes...”
“You can sleep when you're dead, Gear.”
Marcus gave the sofa one more good kick and chuckled to himself as he and Luna began the trek to the study. Curiosity got the better of him as the began the decent down a large flight of stairs.
"So, what am I in for?"
"As thou may recall, my sister dispatched a squad of soldiers to deal with the remains of the fiends whom you slew in the forest. They were simply to bury the remains, scout the area to ensure that all of the beasts were in fact destroyed, before returning to Canterlot."
"So what's the problem?"
"They didn't return. After the first night, we dispatched another squad to investigate. Unfortunately, upon their arrival at the scene, all but one of the original contingent had been killed. They found the lone survivor nearby, wandering in the woods. He hath been rambling incoherently since, the only discernible word we have managed to decipher is 'Monster'. The Everfree forest is of course, full of dangerous creatures. Hydras, Basilisks, Manticores and the like, but the Royal Guard is well trained to deal with such beasts. Whatever foul creature did this was able to defeat seven of our most veteran soldiers, and traumatize another into insanity. My sister would like your consultation.”
Marcus paused in his stride. Had they missed one of the Theron Guards? Had he allowed such a tragedy to occur because of a careless mistake? No, he resolved. They had thoroughly swept that area. Whatever it was, it couldn't have been Locust. He silently mulled over what Luna had told him as the Princess of the Night led him to the Royal Study, leaving him to his thoughts just outside. Marcus quickly composed himself as he pushed the ornate door open.
The tension in the dimly lit room was palpable. Princess Celestia was seated at an large oak table just across from a brown unicorn pony wearing the sterile white coat of a medical doctor, who rose to leave just as Marcus entered the room. Another pony was seated on the floor in front of a grand fireplace just behind the Princess, his back facing the door.
"Sergeant Fenix, I'm relieved that you could join us. I assume that Princess Luna has apprised you of the current state of affairs?"
"Yes Ma'am, she has."
As Marcus took a seat at the table, the Princess turned to the pony staring into the fireplace. “I would like you to meet Private Regal Blade, one of the soldiers I sent to bury the Locust you left in the forest.”
Marcus got a good look at the stallion for the first time, and he was absolutely ragged. His coat was splotchy, he hadn't washed out the white dye used to make all guards uniform in color, but it was was wearing off in places. His eyes, illuminated by the flickering light of the fire, were frantic and bloodshot, he had obviously been losing sleep. There were several wounds on his forelegs that appeared to be self inflicted bite marks. He quivered slightly, almost imperceptibly, as the door opened and they were joined by Twilight Sparkle and the rest of Delta. Twilight and the others sat around the table, and Regal Blade twitched nervously.
"Christ, what happened to him?" Baird blurted as he claimed a seat of his own. "I've seen filthy Stranded bums who look better."
“Cut the chatter Baird. This is one of the Guards sent to clean up our little mess in the forest. Apparently he's the only one who came back.”
Twilight's eyebrow rose in confusion. “What mess? Where are the other guards?”
“You think we missed one?” Dom asked, ignoring the lavender unicorn and looking more intently at the emotionally scarred pony in front of the hearth.
Baird shook his head in earnest. “Nah, we couldn't have. We swept the area cleaner than Cole's bowl on chili night.”
“Maybe something else got the jump on them?” Cole proposed.
Now it was Celestia's turn to shake her head. “My soldiers are well equipped to deal with the dangers of the Everfree forest. Even if they had been attacked by one of the more dangerous creatures, my ponies would have simply evacuated magically.”
“Princess, what is this?” Twilight pled, her tone growing with concern.
The equine monarch sighed heavily. “Twilight, when our friends here came to this world, a number of 'Locust' came with them. Sergeant Fenix and the others...'dispatched' the fiends, and I sent some of my guard to bury the bodies. They were slain by something in the forest. Something extremely dangerous.”
“Hold on, lemme try something.” Baird said absentmindedly as he pulled his field notes from a pouch on his armor. He began flipping through the pages, past repair notes, requisition orders, and hastily drawn maps of mission locales. He stopped on a page full of sketches of Locust units and artifacts. Turning the notebook over carefully, he revealed the drawings to Regal Blade, who's eyes tore from the fire for the first time Marcus had seen since entering the room. Page after page, Baird flipped through, showing Regal the various Locust units. All the while, the traumatized guard began seething and sweating profusely. Baird turned one final page, and Regal Blade snapped. He began screaming and thrashing about, scrambling to escape.
“Be calm...” Celestia bade as her horn began to glow. The crazed guard went stiff for a moment before melting back to the floor. The princess signaled to a pair of armored ponies standing along the wall that Marcus hadn’t noticed before. They each wrapped one of Regal's forelegs around their necks, and walked him out of the study. Celestia watched them leave, a note of sorrow in her eyes, before she spoke again.
“He will be looked after. I have sedated him and will see to it that he is taken to our hospital immediately. A more pressing issue is at hand however, it would appear that one or more stray Locust are running free in my country. I already suspected as much, but his mind was too clouded for me to read properly. So Sergeant, now we get to the business of why I called you here. This is your enemy, and while I do not hold you responsible for what they did, I do need your help in dealing with them. I need to know how they will act, and what will they do. Will they remain confined to the forest? Or will they attack more of my subjects?”
“Marcus...” Baird said, a hint of worry betraying his normally level tone. The engineer flipped the notebook around to show him the page that had caused Regal Blade to ultimately lose what little composure he had. Marcus recognized the portrait immediately. Tall and slender, with wicked teeth and hateful eyes, the figure carried a long staff, capped on each end with the teeth of crude chainsaws.
“Fuck...”
“That's impossible, we killed Skorge ourselves outside of Jacinto.” Cole said, rejecting the notion that the Kantus High Priest had returned.
“Maybe so, but who's to say there aren't more where he came from?” Baird countered as he stowed his notebook.
“I...take it this is particularly bad?” the Princess interjected.
Marcus didn't want to admit the truth to the Princess, but he couldn't hide a danger such as this. “Ma'am, if what your guy saw is what I think it was, we've got a massive fight on our hands. We're dealing with a Locust General, or something on the same level. This is a threat that needs to be dealt with immediately, if he's killed already, he'll do it again.”
Dom shook his head, looking as confused as any of them, “Marcus, even if it is another Locust big shot, how did he get here? I didn't see anyone like that in the forest, or back at the drill.”
Marcus had a theory, but it would be almost too cruel to admit it. He had assumed that being dropped into a land of magical horses had just been a mistake, or a fluke...but maybe he had been wrong. Was it really possible? Did the Locust really intend to forgo the fight with the humans in favor of an easier target? Before Marcus could answer, an armored pegasus burst into the study, dread in his eyes and urgency in his tone.
“Your Majesty! There are intruders in the palace! Terrible creatures with strange weapons! They've bypassed our outer defenses, and we must evacuate you quickly!”
There was a flash and a thud somewhere outside the window, and Marcus heard the familiar staccato of gunfire. Rushing to the window and throwing it open, his fears were confirmed. Below him, Drones were swarming the castle, emerging from holes inside the perimeter of the walls.
The Locust had come to Equestria.
(a/n: Alrighty! Super giant props to my editor/pre-reader who took the time to help me out between dealing with a sick kid and losing sleep. While this hasn't been one of my favorite chapters, I'm still glad to get it out here. I'm super stoked to get goin' on the next one though, things are about to get good.)