Twilight Sparkle couldn’t believe her eyes.
She beheld the sight of Astartes fighting Astartes. The scrambling of blue and gold against purple and black. Over the whistling of the cold snowy winds, Twilight could hear the battle cries of the Space Marines against the Chaos Space Marines. She heard the roaring of chainswords, the clashing of metal, and the splattering of flesh and blood. She could smell the gunfire and the blood.
Twilight studied numerous tomes on the Lunar Heresy. But to see it all right before her… Twilight wanted this to just be a nightmare; she wanted all of this to just be a bad dream. She could wake up back on Eques Terra. She could wake up from this mission. She could wake up from all of this.
But Twilight was trapped in the prison that was reality. This was real. And her hearts beat faster than ever before. Sweat streamed down her head as she looked on at the carnage in front of her.
“Twilight!”
Twilight snapped out of her trance as she was slapped in the muzzle by Spike.
“G’ah! Spike?!”
“Don’t just stand there, Twilight!” Spike called out. “We gotta help them!”
Twilight shook her head to reorientate herself and then looked on at the battle. She narrowed her gaze at the black and purple Astartes, the Shadowbolts. Twilight knew that Spike was right. She couldn’t just stand back and let these traitors live. They had betrayed the Goddess Empress of Ponykind! And Twilight had the power to bring retribution to them.
Twilight Sparkle spread her wings and began to take off, when she felt something pulling her back down by her tail. She was immediately pulled back down, and she saw Captain Flash Sentry next to her.
“Where do you think you’re going?!” Flash Sentry said with a mixture of worry and anger in his voice.
“Spike is right, Flash! We need to help them!”
“It’s too dangerous for you, Twilight!” Flash Sentry took off his helmet and looked at Twilight with stern eyes. They reminded Twilght of Shining Armor’s eyes. “I promised your brother that I would bring you back to Eques Terra alive. Yes, we can help the Wonderbolts fend off the heretics, but your safety is my priority!”
Twilight Sparkle looked away from Flash Sentry to see the carnage continue.
---
A five-pony squadron of Wonderbolts flew swiftly in a triangular formation. With the sergeant at the head and the rest on either side, the squad flew throught the cold air. They beheld their incoming enemy thanks to targeting relays in their helmets. The squad aimed their boltguns at the incoming traitors and fired. The loud rattling of the bolt guns sounded as the Wonderbolts fired at the traitors. Their targets were brutally decimated and then sent falling to the ground.
The Wonderbolts were organized in their attacks. Tactical Squads would fly in and unload bolt rounds on the Shadowbolts, and Assault Marines would engage in melee. The Shadowbolts, by contrast, were undisiciplined and unorganized. They attacked like a flock of savage birds. There were no organized squadrons; just a herd of animals. The Shadowbolts, however, were stronger in number. While there were only one hundred Space Marines in a company, there were thousands in an entire warband of Chaos Space Marines.
The Wonderbolts could see a massive army of Shadowbolts. They knew that they were outnumbered. But they did not care. The Wonderbolts would still fight, no matter the odds. For Firefly. For Hurricane. For the Empress.
“Die with shame, traitor!” one Space Marine shouted as he swung his roaring chainsword through the armor and into the flesh of a Chaos Space Marine. The chainsword’s teeth shredded into the traitor’s body, scattering blood and torn flesh into the air. The Chaos Space Marine cried out in pain as he felt his flesh being pulled from his body and grinded into pieces.
Using his free forehoof, the Space Marine shoved the traitor off of his chainsword and down into his snowy demise. As the Astartes looked down, he saw that the white snow was being covered in splatters of red. The Space Marine intended to rejoin his battle brothers and sisters, when he suddenly felt sharp metal pierce from his back, through his twin hearts, and out his chest.
Blood filled his throat. Electricity danced throughout his body from the four thin blades. The Wonderbolt strugglingly turned his head to see his attacker. He saw the black helmet and glowing yellow lenses of a Shadowbolt. The last thing the Astartes heard was the sadistic laughter of his treacherous counterpart. Then, he was kicked off of the blood-stained lightning claws, falling to join the rest of the dead in the snow.
The Chaos Space Marine smiled sinisterly under his helmet. He looked to the rest of his brethren and pointed towards the Fortress Monastery.
“For the Dark Gods!” the Heretic cried out before meeting his retribution at the end of a Power Sword.
Captain Soarin plunged his sword into the heretic’s neck before pulling out his boltgun. With a loud bang!, Soarin put a huge hole in the heretic’s head, thus punishing him for killing one of his battle brothers so dishonorably. Soarin hated how that Shadowbolt had the gull to attack from behind!
But he couldn’t stop now. Soarin unleashed a barrage of bolt rounds on incoming Chaos Space Marines. One by one, the Shadowbolts that dared to attack the Wonderbolts Captain were sent falling to the ground to join the rest of the dead. If a Chaos Space Marine got too close, Soarin would swing his power sword at them, slicing their armor and flesh.
But whenever Soarin and his brothers and sisters killed one heretic, five more would come to take their place. He watched as more and more of his brethren were butchered by claws and chainswords.
“Fall back to the Fortress!” Soarin commanded, pointing his Power Sword back to safety. One by one, the surviving Space Marines backed away from the fight and into the Fortress. Soarin knew that retreating was often looked down upon, but he valued the lives of his brothers and sisters more than a victory at their cost. Soarin wanted his brothers and sisters to live through the victory so that they could fight another day.
Soarin watched in horror as he saw several Astartes brutally butchered by the Shadowbolts. He saw one Space Marine in particular get impaled with a pair of lightning claws. As the the Space Marine screamed in pain, the Shadowbolt lifted her up over his head and started pulling her apart. Then there was bloody burst of gore as the Space Marine was torn in half. Soarin’s expression went from horrified to enraged. He would make that vile excuse of an Astartes pay dearly!
But what was important right now was getting back to shelter, so, regretfully, Soarin flew back to the Fortress Monastery, where the remaining survivors of his company awaited him. At a landing bay, Fleetfoot was waiting for Soarin.
“Are you alright, Captain?” Lieutenant Fleetfoot asked with concern.
“I’m alive… but livid,” Soarin growled. “I still don’t understand. How did these heretics find us?!”
Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Captain Flash Sentry, and a squadron of Celestial Guard Space Marines joined the Wonderbolts. Twilight in particular stepped forward.
“They must have been summoned by a sorcerer,” Twilight explained. “Chaos Space Marines dwell in the Warp. But a Sorcerer can open a portal up to invite residents from the Warp into the Material Realm. Somepony must have opened up a portal on the surface.”
“But why are they here?” Fleetfoot asked. “And why are they only attacking us now?”
“I don’t know,” Twilight answered with disappointment. “But right now, we should… G’AAAH!!!” Twilight Sparkle screamed as she felt a sudden burst of pain in her head. It felt like millions of needles were slowly piercing her horn and her brain. She fell to the floor and put her forehooves to her temples to try to ease the pain.
“Twilight!” Spike cried out as he rushed to Twilight’s side. “Twilight, what’s wrong?!”
Twilight struggled to speak, but the pain was too distracting. “I… I feel… something’s coming!”
Flash Sentry and Soarin stood around Twilight with concern. Flash Sentry put his hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Twilight, what’s going on? What’s happening?”
“Something… Something is emerging from… from the Warp!” Twilight said through gritted teeth.
The Wonderbolts and Celestial Guard Space Marines looked outside and down the mountain. They saw large vortex in the ground filled with swirling magenta and purple energy. Bolts of lightning emerged from the vortex, crackling with the booming sounds of thunder. The Shadowbolts landed around the vortex and knelt before it.
The vortex shot out more and more lightning, and Twilight screamed in more agony as the pain in her head increased ten fold! Suddenly, a large gigantic cloud burst from the vortex and began to take shape. It was a black thick cloud that took the form of a two legged monster. It had two glowing red eyes were its head presumably was. The cloud being then let out a loud, thunderous laughter.
The pain in Twilight’s head subsided, and she looked down to see the source of her splitting headache. She looked on in horror as she recognized the unholy abomination for what it was.
“A demon!”
The Space Marines couldn’t believe what they were seeing. They have had only heard of such things in stories of legend. But to see such a monster before them…
Then, there was a loud explosion from below. The Space Marines could feel the violent vibrations of the Fortress shaking.
---
Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo hurried through the halls of the Fortress-Monastery. They could hear the rumbling of the battle from outside, and hallway shook violently from the explosions.
“Rainbow Dash… what do we do?” Scootaloo asked with obvious fear in her voice.
Rainbow Dash sighed. “I honestly don’t know, Scootaloo… but we can’t just stand here and do nothing.” Rainbow Dash then pulled her chainsword from her saddle belt and revved it up. The chainsword’s engine roared and the teeth spun on the belt.
“Didn’t that alicorn tell us to get to safety, though?” Scootaloo asked.
Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened in realization, and she deactivated her chainsword. “Wait… that was alicorn?!”
Scootaloo’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t see her wings?”
“I…” Rainbow Dash tried to come up with an excuse for her obliviousness. After all, she had been in the Librarian’s presence for over ten minutes! She would’ve had to notice the wings at some point. But all she could say was, “I couldn’t see them behind her pauldrons…?”
Scootaloo deadpanned at Rainbow’s feeble excuse.
Rainbow Dash was embarrassed, but she shook her head to regain focus. “Look, that doesn’t matter right now. What does matter is helping our battle brethren!”
“But… I’m just a Cadet…”
“By the Throne, Scootaloo!” Rainbow Dash snapped. “How many times do I have to tell you to not talk like that?! You are stronger than you think, and this is what you’ve been training for.”
Rainbow Dash then calmed down and draped a wing on Scootaloo’s shoulder. “Listen to me, Scootaloo. I know you’re scared, and you know what…? So am I.”
Scootaloo blinked in surprise. She had always looked up to Rainbow Dash; hay, she idolized her. And whenever she would watch Rainbow Dash fight, she always looked so… fearless, as if she was the living embodiment of the Empress’s claim “they shall know no fear.” Scootaloo was stunned in disbelief.
“You… you are?”
Rainbow Dash confirmed with a solemn nod. “I’ve always been scared, Scootaloo, ever since I got recruited as a filly. Truth be told… there’s never a moment where I’m not afraid. But I learned that a Space Marine doesn’t simply know no fear. They have to fight fear, even before getting onto the battlefield. It’s the first enemy we face. And once we’ve beaten the Tartarus out of fear, the rest rest are to fall.” Rainbow Dash finished with an encouraging smile.
Feeling somewhat inspired by this, Scootaloo grabbed her boltgun and loaded it. The two pegasi then galloped down the hall, following the sound of battle. As they got closer, they could hear the sadistic laughter of the Chaos Space Marines and screams of pain from dying Wonderbolts. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo turned the corner to behold a squadron of Shadowbolts brutally butchering several Wonderbolts.
Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo froze for a moment, their twin hearts beating nervously. The two battle mares realized that this was not a simulation; these were not ponidroids made to replicate War Pigs. This was real. Those Chaos Space Marines were real. And they were killing their battle brethren. But the two mares looked at each other and nodded in determination. They had to fight. For their Chapter. For the Empress.
Rainbow Dash was the first one to act. She took to the air while Scootaloo remained on the floor. With her chainsword roaring, Rainbow Dash swung it at an incoming Shadowbolt. Then, she fired her plasma pistol at another Shadowbolt that tried to outflank her. All that Shadowbolt had achieved was a large searing hole in its head.
Rainbow Dash then swiftly charged at a Shadowbolt who was equipped with lightning claws. The Wonderbolt Reservist flew at the traitor Astartes and swung her chainsword at it. The traitor Astartes was ready, however, as it blocked with its lightning claws. The teeth of Rainbow’s chainsword grinded against the metal claws, scattering sparks everywhere. The heretic Astartes drew one claw back and lunged it at Rainbow Dash, who quickly propelled herself back with her wings to evade.
The heretic continued to swipe at Rainbow Dash, trying to slash her into pieces. Rainbow waited for the heretic to leave itself vulnerable. Once the Shadowbolt tried to lunged at her with both of its claws, she knew her window of opportunity was open. She pulled out her plasma pistol once more and fired a beam of prismatic plasma at the traitor’s head, burning its armor and flesh, killing it instantly.
Scootaloo shot bolt round after bolt round at incoming traitors. She would take cover behind the white pillars along the walls, but only for when she needed to reload. She would not fumble with her ammo clips this time. The young adult mare unleashed a barrage of bolts at incoming Shadowbolts. The bolt rounds would penetrate the armor and detonate explosive charges upon impact. Scootaloo’s targets would fall to the floor in a loud metallic thud and repaint the grey floor with their blood.
Scootaloo hid behind the pillar momentarily to grab a small black cylinder with a silver pin from her saddle belt. Scootaloo looked over her shoulder, but then turned her head back to bite down on the silver pin from the black cylinder. Then, Scootaloo got out from behind the pillar and lobbed the frag grenade at a five-pony squad of traitor Astartes. The grenade exploded in the air, creating a fiery explosion that unleashed fire and shrapnel at the Shadowbolts.
While their traitors’ armor was able to resist the explosion, their wings were not. The wings of the traitors were singed from the explosion, and some even received piercing pieces of shrapnel. The Shadowbolts tried to resist the seering pain from their wings, but they had no choice but to land. That was when Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash unloaded their firearms onto them. They had no chance. Five more traitors down.
But more traitors kept coming. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were in stunned surprise. How many Astartes did the Shadowbolts have?!
As Rainbow Dash revved up her chainsword once more, and as Scootaloo reloaded her bolter, bolts of lightning projected from behind and struck the incoming traitors. The Shadowbolts jolted and screamed in agony as lightning lethally danced all over them. After a brief moment, nearly 10 more Traitors were dead.
Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were in stunned surprise. They turned around to see the source of their salvation, and they saw Twilight Sparkle with her wings flared. There was a trail of smoke coming from her horn, as if somepony had just blown out a candle. Twilight looked at the traitors’ corpses with furious and righteous anger.
“Wow… you really are an alicorn!” Rainbow Dash said in surprise.
“You seriously didn’t notice that?” Twilight asked, her expression shifting from enraged to bemused.
“I… I couldn’t see them behind your pauldrons!” Rainbow Dash said defensively. “And what are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight walked forward, her fury partially returning. “I told you to stay safe!”
“Well, you’re not the boss of me,” Rainbow Dash retorted. “You’re not even from the same Chapter.”
Before Twilight could retort, she, Scootaloo, and Rainbow Dash felt incoming bolt rounds zoom past them. Twilight quickly held up a magenta shield that blocked even more bolt rounds from even more Shadowbolts.
“Seriously?! How many of these heretics are there?!” Scootaloo complained.
“Hundreds, Cadet,” Captain Soarin answered as he, Spike, Captain Flash Sentry and ten Astartes in gold and white armor joined the trio. “Maybe even thousands…”
Scootaloo looked to see the Celestial Guard Space Marines armed with large tower shields painted in gold. The Celestial Guard Astartes stood in a defensive line, covering the width of the hallway. Twilight Sparkle looked back to see them form a phalanx formation. They stood shoulder to shoulder as they placed their shields to the floor with a loud thud that echoed through the halls.
“Twilight! Lower the shield now!” Flash Sentry called out from behind the phalanx. Twilight dropped the shield. Then, in a burst of magenta magic, Twilight disappeared and then reappeared behind her battle brethren. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo also fell back behind the shields.
As Twilight’s shield dropped, incoming barrages of bolt rounds rapidly pelted against the shields like hail against glass. The Celestial Guard felt the full force of the explosive bolts ricocheting against their shields. The Astartes were pushed back, but they refused to yield.
“NOW!” Flash Sentry commanded once the Shadowbolts were within range. Then, the Celestial Guard aimed their boltguns through the holes of their tower shields and unleashed Tartarus open the traitors! One by one, the traitors began to fall. The Celestial Guard were no Imperial Hooves, but they took plenty of inspiration from the foals of Reargal Dorn, including defensive warfare.
Flash Sentry looked to Twilight. “We’ll hold them off! Get deeper into the fortress!”
Twilight wanted to argue with Flash, but she knew that he outranked her; he was a captain after all. So, in defeat, Twilight nodded and looked to Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo.
“You two, with me!” Twilight then ran in the opposite direction. Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, and Spike followed behind.
Soarin was about to follow, but he first looked at Flash Sentry and gave him a respectful smile. Flash Sentry was no Wonderbolt, that was for sure, but he was still a Space Marine. And Captain Soarin was proud to serve alongside him. He saluted the Celestial Guard captain, who smiled and saluted back.
“May the Empress protect you, cousin,” Soarin said.
“And may the Empress protect you as well, cousin,” Flash Sentry replied.
Soarin wanted to stay behind and aid his battle cousins, but he had faith in them as well as the Empress. So, Soarin left Flash Sentry to command his battle brethren.
---
Outside the fortress monastery, a contingency of Shadowbolts knelt before the cloud demon. The demon was a bipedal, muscular figure with a body composed entirely of dark clouds. The demon also had blood red eyes and sharp yellow teeth. The demon grinned sinisterly as he watched his disciples invade the fortress.
Another Chaos Space Marine walked in the snow towards the demon. Unlike the Shadowbolts, who were all Pegasi, this heretic Astartes was a unicorn. She was clad in black and turquoise-trimmed armor. She wore a midnight blue cloak that flapped against the icy wind, and her helmet had ram horns attached. She knelt before the cloud demon.
“Lord Erebus,” the Chaos Sorcerer said from behind her helmet. “We have graciously summoned you from the Warp.”
The Cloud Demon Erebus laughed. “Excellent! You have done well, Azure Shadow.”
“I am merely serving Nightmare Moon and the Dark Gods, Lord Erebus.” Azure Shadow said humbly. She then rose and motioned to the battlefield with her foreleg. “We have sacrificed our own brothers and sisters, as well as slain servants of the False-Empress for your freedom. Is it to your liking, my lord?”
“Oh, I can feel the bloodshed! I can almost taste the blood!” Erebus said with demonic glee. “But I still need a vessel! I still need a creature who is willing to submit themself to me!”
“And a vessel you shall have, Lord Erebus,” Azure Shadow said, smirking underneath her helmet. “I know somepony inside the Fortress-Monastery who is far too eager to serve the Dark Gods. Hehehehe.” Azure Shadow used her horn to teleport closer to the Fortress. Erebus smiled and floated through the wind, following Nightmare Moon’s faithful disciple.
---
The chapel of the Fortress Monastery was a large chamber. The walls were filled with engravings depicting the Empress in Her glory. The stained glass windows depicted Her along with Hurricane and Firefly. Normally, the chapel would be filled with dozens of Astartes in prayer to the Empress, and service would be led by a Chaplain. There would also be times when a choir would sing the praises of Celestia.
But now was not one of those times. The sound of choir was replaced with the distant rattling of bolt guns and the thundering of explosions. Inside the Chapel, Chapter Master Spitfire and Space Marine Veterans barricaded the Chapel’s entrances and exits. If they were going to make their last stand, they would do so here in the holiest chamber of their Fortress Monastery.
Spitfire looked over to see a Space Marine clad in white armor and equipped with medical equipment. The Space Marine Apothecary was wrapping bandages around the foreleg of one of its battle brethren. The Space Marine thanked the apothecary before slowly returning to its post.
The Chapter Master felt a sense of dread overwhelm her. Then she walked over to the Apothecary. “How many gene-seeds were you able to recover?” Spitfire asked, hoping for good news.
The Apothecary shook its head. “I am sorry, Chapter Master… I was only able to recover half a dozen gene-seeds.”
Spitfire sighed heavily. “By the Throne… Why is this even happening? We’ve always been at war with the Shadowbolts… but why are they attacking us now?! What do they have to gain from this?!”
“We still don’t know that, Chapter Master.” Spitfire looked to see Captain Soarin being escorted into the chapel by several Astartes. Spitfire also saw that Cadet Scootaloo, Reservist Rainbow Dash, and even that accursed alicorn were with him. Spitfire deliberately ignored Twilight and looked to Soarin.
“Are you alright?” Spitfire asked with concern.
“I’m fine…” Soarin said before sighing. “But I’m just as angry as you are, Spitfire.”
“That’s good to hear. You should channel that anger into fighting these traitors,” Spitfire said with a nod. Then, Spitfire turned to Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo. “And what are you two doing here? You’re supposed to be in the barracks with the other reservists and cadets!”
“With all due respect, Chapter Master, we couldn’t just sit back and do nothing,” Rainbow Dash answered respectfully. “We had to help.”
“And you even put your own wingpony at risk?!” Spitfire shouted, her voice echoing throughout the Chapel and earning the attention of everypony else inside.
Rainbow Dash narrow her eyes at Spitfire. “Scootaloo is capable of fighting, Chapter Master,” Rainbow said with venom rising in her voice.
Spitfire glared daggers at Rainbow Dash. “Mind your attitude, Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow Dash was about to retort when she and Spitfire were enveloped in magenta aura and were forcibly pushed away from each other. The two Wonderbolts looked to see that Twilight had a stern look on her muzzle.
Spitfire turned her glare from Rainbow Dash to Twilight. “And what are you still doing here?! Have you not found your recruit already?”
“As a matter of fact, I have,” Twilight said as she tilted her head to Rainbow Dash.
“Her?” Spitfire asked in disbelief. “You chose her over Wind Rider?!”
“You rejected Wind Rider?!” Rainbow Dash asked, also in disbelief. “First of all, are you crazy?! And second of all, I did not agree to being your recruit!”
“Enough!!!” Twilight shouted as she stomped her hoof, both her shout and stomp echoing throughout the Chapel. “Listen, we can argue about this later! Right now, we need to focus on fighting off the enemy.”
The two Wonderbolts sighed in unison. “For once, I have to agree with the egghead,” Rainbow Dash said bluntly, earning a bemused and slightly offended look from Twilight.
What did she just call her?!
“Rainbow Dash and the Librarian are right,” Soarin added. “The longer we argue, the less time we have to prepare to fight the real enemy.”
“Fine,” Spitfire said before looking at the Librarian. “Don’t you still have a battle barge up in orbit?”
“Yes, I do,” Twilight answered. “Unfortunately, we can’t contact them. I think whoever is behind this siege must have jammed your vox relay before the battle started.”
Spitfire groaned. “That explains why we can’t call for reinforcements either. Tartarus!” Spitfire stomped a hoof on the stone floor of the Chapel, creating small cracks in it.
“Then… we need to take back the Vox Relay, right?” Scootaloo asked. “There is a chance that the enemy may still be there.”
“She’s right,” Rainbow Dash added. “I don’t think the traitors would be dumb enough to leave the Vox Relay unguarded. And we do need help.”
Twilight then looked to her cyborg companion. “Spike, show us a map of the Fortress.”
“You got it, Twilight,” Spike said. Then, his cybernetic eye projected a holographic map of the mountain-shaped Fortress-Monastery’s interior. The map showed all of the chambers, from the barracks and the Chapel to the Apothecarion and Armory. Spitfire, Soarin, Fleetfoot, Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, and several other Space Marines gathered around the map. A red dot appeared on the map.
“So this right here is the Chapel,” Twilight said as she pointed at the red dot. “And we need to get to the Vox Relay.”
“That would be up here,” Spitfire said as she pointed towards the top of the Fortress. “It will be a hike to get up there.” As if on cue, another red dot was added to the Vox Relay’s location on the map, followed by a red dashed line from the Chapel to the Vox Relay. “If anypony is going up there, we’re going to need to find a path of least resistance.”
Twilight nodded before looking back down to Spike. “Spike, add the Shadowbolts onto the map.” The map then displayed purple arrows that started from outside the Fortress, breaching into the hallways, and splitting into smaller arrows as they spread throughout the map.
“It looks like the Shadowbolts have nearly taken half of the Fortress,” Soarin said with dread. “How many of our brethren have these traitors killed already?! This has to end now!”
“I feel the same way you do, Soarin,” Spitfire said sympathetically. “Too many of our brothers and sisters have died in this siege. And I fear more are going to be added to the body count…”
“Well, we have to do something now!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “We can’t just stand here and talk about doing something!”
“That would be reckless, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said firmly. “We can’t just rush in blindly without a plan. And like Spitfire said, we need a path of least resistance.”
“If I may,” one of the Chaplains spoke, entering the circle. This Chaplain Space Marine removed her helmet and revealed her white fur, magenta eyes, and yellow mane. The Chaplain had an optimistic and hope-filled smile on her muzzle. “I have an idea.”
The rest of the Space Marines lent their ears to Chaplain Surprise.
---
Meanwhile, a squadron of Veteran Space Marines fought against the Shadowbolts. These Veterans have fought for the Chapter for decades; they had plenty of experience and skill. And yet, the Shadowbolts were overwhelming them with ease.
Wind Rider shot at another Shadowbolt before leaping into the air and raising his Power Sword. The old Space Marine then descended upon another Shadowbolt, bringing his sword down and cutting into the traitor’s helmet. Blood splattered onto Wind Rider’s muzzle. He removed his blooded-covered Power Sword from the dead traitor and kicked him to the floor. Then, he continued to shoot at more incoming traitors.
Wind Rider looked to his brothers and sisters that were behind him. “Fall back to the Chapel!” He ordered.
“But sir--” one of the Veterans objected, only to be interrupted by three words that nopony would dare to object to.
“That’s an order!” Wind Rider hollered back, leaving the other Space Marines little choice but to retreat.
As Wind Rider watched his brothers and sisters flee, he continued to fight against the incoming traitors, knocking them down like dominios.
That was until the Wonderbolts were out of earshot. Then, Wind Rider sheathed his Power Sword and lowered his boltgun. The traitors then surrounded the stallion in a circle. For a brief moment, Wind Rider stared blankly at the Shadowbolts in silence. Then, another Chaos Space Marine entered the circle. Then, Wind Rider smiled.
“Good to see you again, Azure Shadow,” the Wonderbolt greeted.
“Well done, Espionage. And please… you may drop the disguise.”
“Oh… right,” Wind Rider said before green flames began to circle around him and engulf him. However, instead of burning the stallion to a crisp, the flames transformed him into a different being. “Wind Rider” began to transform into an equine with insect-like features, including a black chitin, a dark red carapace and translucent wings on its back, and red non-reflective eyes. It also bore carnivorous fangs, a curved horn, webbed mane and tail, and hole-ridden legs.
The creature that had once been Wind Rider a moment ago now revealed himself and his true nature. He was a Dark Changeling.
“It is an honor to serve the Dark Gods, Sorcerer,” Espionage said as he bowed his head before Azure Shadow.
“Is that so?” Azure Shadow asked. “Are you willing to fully commit yourself to their will?”
“Absolutely, Azure Shadow.”
Underneath her helmet, Azure Shadow slyly smiled. “Excellent. All you need to do is just… don’t move.”
Before the dark changeling could ask, the cloud demon Erebus turned into smoke and went directly into Espionage’s mouth and entered his lungs. That was when Espionage started to feel like he was being strangled. His body began to convulse, and he fell to the floor.
“Wh…what…what are you…d-doing?” Espionage tried to ask, but he felt like his lungs were on fire.
“My dear Espionage,” Azure Shadow said before chuckling sadistically. “You said that you were absolutely willing to serve the Dark Gods. And what better way to serve them… then through sacrifice?”
Espionage gasped and his eyes widened in horror. But it was too late. He felt his body begin to be covered in thick, dark purple smoke. The Dark Changeling screamed in pain as he tried to resist, but the searing pain throughout his body was too much for him to bear. His body violently shook as he began to transform. Unwillingly.
The equine-shaped cloud began to rise above the floor. It shifted from a quadrupedal to a bipedal shape. Its grew in size until it was now four times the size of an Eques Astartes. Bull-like horns grew from its head, and claws grew from the hooves. Its tail elongated into that of a reptile’s, and it’s wings grew into large draconic wings.
In a burst of dark purple magic, the being that had once been Espionage the dark changeling was now a bipedal demon. A sinister grin formed on the bovine muzzle. Upon looking at the demon, it looked like a minotaur had fused with a dragon. It had scales as black as obsidian. Its glowing yellow eyes looked down at the Chaos Sorcerer, who bowed before it.
“Lord Erebus, you may now feast upon the servants of the False-Empress!”