The Astronomican
A bright light had enveloped the lone marine. He was dead. He was sure of it.
For once in his millennia of service, he was warm. Not the artificial warmth of his armor or the burning heat of the sun or flamers. His soul was warmed by the mere light of the Emperor’s love. He was in the embrace of the Lord of Mankind. He was Home.
But he still felt empty. He had lost his brothers. They had reached the Emperor’s embrace before he had, and he would never see them again. Or so he thought.
He felt his body begin to take a material form, still within the light of his Lord. His Armor gone, all that was left were his bare skin, warmed by the feeling of a radiant sun upon his skin. A cold form pressed against his shoulder suddenly.
“Hello, Garvel. It is great to… See you again.” A disembodied yet present voice sounded. It sounded familiar, yet too much so.
“Don’t you recognize us, Garvel? It’s us.” The realization hit like a meltabomb.
“We’re your brothers.”
Garvel turned around to face the apparition, but instead only saw a glimpse of light in the vague shape of an Astartes. Solid pieces of light made up the form of the body, but glittered around as easily as water.
“Brothers…?” Garvel choked out, finally gaining control of his mouth. “Is this really… You?”
The figure warmed their touch slightly. “Yes Garvel. All of us. We are in the Emperor’s embrace here, and we await you as well.” They chilled once again, their voices sounding solemn. But wait. He was supposed to be dead… Why hasn’t he joined with his brothers then? Garvel thought.
“Because I do not will it yet, my warrior.” An almost deafening voice called out. But yet, it sounded soft, caring, and warm. “You see Garvel, brother. You aren't dead yet. By some… Warp trickery, you STAND here before us. And of course…” He began to turn around, only to be scooped up in the arms of the largest man he had ever seen. “The Emperor of course.”
Garvel could not think of a word. Here he was, being crushed in a tight hug by his Lord and Emperor. So he did the one thing he could think of, something he used to do as a child. He wept. He wept unto the chest of the Emperor he had fought for his whole entire life, bled for millennia for, killed untold thousands for. “And you shall not stay for long, Garvel. Yes, I can read your thoughts. I see what all my children see, I feel what all my subjects feel, and I die a little more with every life extinguished.”
“And so, to see one of them approach me in full flesh and the spark of life still within them, it brings my heart joy.”
Garvel’s smile was easily absorbing the tears his eyes had just expunged. His voice finally returning, Garvel managed to croak out a few words, “But my Emperor… Why am I here...? My brothers say I am not yet dead, though I willingly ended my life for you…”
The Emperor’s smile melted away any reservations Garvel had, “Yes my son… And you did. And doing so, you saved THOUSANDS of other lives. You and your brothers are heroes this day.”
“But you being alive is due to something more… Sinister than Tyranids.” The Emperor exclaimed.
“Chaos has taken you, my son. They have plans for you.” Fear crept up Garvel’s spine; something tinkering with his life was something even an Astartes feared. “There is nothing I can do to save you. But what you are doing will aid the Imperium as well as Chaos.” His Emperor said with a cold malice and determined face of marble.
“But My Emprah-“ “Fear not, My Child. I protect all of my sons. All of my children belong to me.” As the last words crept through his ears, Garvel seemingly saw a different smile creep upon the Emperor’s face. But before he could comment, darkness consumed him.
“My Emperor…? Where are you…? Brothers?” The darkness was absolute. Not even his own enhanced senses could determine which way was which. Nothing but everlasting darkness and cold compared to his master’s overwhelming light and warmth. And once again, the super human wept. He had finally passed into the Un-life.
He knew it was his duty for the Imperium, but that did not make the task and feeling any easier. He was gone. And now he didn’t even have the embrace of the Emperor’s Light, like he had been told he would since he was born.
Garvel wept for what seemed like days, but in this realm, he wasn’t sure. His mind would conjure images of foul worlds. He saw worlds where physics held no meaning, worlds where oceans were filled with blood, beautiful garden worlds that inspired dread, and Hive Worlds of debauchery and sin.
The Warp actively assaulted his battle hardened mind. Images of Terra burning, his family ripped apart, and the various and abundant ways to torture him pass through his mind for ages. Unbeknownst to him, the dreams were not his alone.
For the third time that night, Twilight awoke in cold sweat and drenched sheets. A mane shriveled and defunct the only clues to her past sleep. Her nightmares had been increasing in intensity over the course of the last week and showed no sign of stopping. Though she did not understand them, she FELT like she did.
Images of distant places and different ponies (and non-ponies) filled her mind, obviously not her own thoughts. But she found herself looking beyond what she saw and seeing the true horrors. Her own family, her own friends, her neighbors. They burned and writhed in pain as their eyes popped, their bones snapped, their skin peeling back, and many other forms of torturous pain and sadistic devices.
All at her hooves. And she enjoyed their cries of pain and pleas for mercy, a cruel smile always upon her face.
She dared not tell anyone of these dreams, seeing as the might seem off to many. But she kept and extensive journal on the subject, going so far as to describe the emotions she felt during the dreams. As she picked up the journal once more to detail tonight’s feelings and images, she felt a cold sense of dread eased over her mind once more.
“This journal is getting fairly heavy…” A quick look in her bedside mirror made her giggle, “As well are the circles under my eyes… Maybe a Therapist is just what I need…” She said.
A strike of the clock made Twilight jump to near comical heights. With a loud THUMP later, the clock droned its six more dongs before returning to the eerie mechanical silence. “Oh sweet Celestia, it’s already seven?! I had plans with the girls this morning!”
The swirl of magic soon filled the tree house as Twilight rushed to finish any and all preparations needed before she left the library, “Books organized by color and author… Check. Mane brushed…Check. Breakfast cooking… Make that burning… Check.”
One by one, the number of chores needed for a day out and the length of her previously made checklists shortened. She finally wrapped up the final chore, preparing a nice early breakfast for spike before preparing to leave. She paused to write a letter to tell him where she was going and to give a slight nuzzle to her best friend in the world.
“I’ll be back later Spike” she whispered, “Enjoy your day off.”
The soft click emanated from the door as she closed and locked the simple door as she walked off to begin her day with her friends.