//------------------------------// // Frustration and Ideas // Story: The Dark Ones // by Snake Staff //------------------------------// ++Astropathic Choir Intercept ZX965, Kyne’s Fury 3.681.873.M39++ ++Message to Inquisitor Tas Rovini++ ++ Transcript Appended++ Thought for the Day: Sorrow awaits the foolhardy. My Lord, Several updates on xeno specimen #2891. The creature’s digestive system appears quite hardy, and it accepts the nutrient gruel we have prepared without complaint, which is more than I can say for several of our crewmen. Observation of the creature has at least partially confirmed its claims of psychic power. When left alone for an extended period, the creature began using telekinesis to juggle the furniture in an attempt to entertain itself. That it did so with such consummate ease aboard a ship in the Warp with the Gellar field up is quite worrying, showing as it does that the xeno's connection with the Warp is great enough to draw considerable psychic energy even through a barrier explicitly meant to keep such energies out. We lack the proper wards to contain such levels of power here, and I was forced to give it some puzzles and games in an attempt to keep it busy, and warned it in the harshest of terms to stop its psychic activities immediately. It appeared puzzled by this demand, but has thus far complied out of a desire to please me. I have ordered the guard outside its room doubled. In a further precaution, I have dimmed the lights in the surrounding corridors to almost nothing. My hope is that if the creature tries to escape, these darkened area will trigger a psychological breakdown and subsequent helpless cowering. Still, if this creature genuinely attempts to fight us and is able to overcome (or has somehow been faking) its psychological weakness, I am not entirely sure we would win. The armsmen aboard our ship are few in number since the Chaos reaver boarding incident related in our earlier correspondence. Our defenses were not created to repel a single psyker of great magnitude. I request orders: do we kill the creature in its sleep for being too dangerous, or do you feel the opportunities presented are too great for such a permanent solution? We were able to obtain blood and tissue samples from the xenoform, which we have been analyzing. The DNA sequences do not greatly diverge from the common equine species that exist within our blessed Imperium, which has lead me to form a hypothesis of the species’ origins. Due to their cultural similarities to certain human societies and identical language usage, it is my theory that these creatures are descended in some manner from domestic equines. Perhaps they are a remnant of a creation of some culture from the Dark Age of Technology, or perhaps they were twisted over the long years by the Warp. Either way, I theorize that these creatures, consciously or unconsciously, adopted much of the culture and tools of their former masters, even as they forgot their very existence. Until further proof is obtained, this remains merely a guess, but it is the best explanation I can conceive for the uncanny similarities displayed. I performed two more interviews with the xeno filth before sending you this. Sullying as it is to contact alien scum in any non-military manner, the creature still seems to respond positively to "friendly" behavior on my part, as is consistent with herding behaviors in equine species. Transcripts, amended by my notes, and conclusions to follow. ++Interrogation the Second++ Setting: Cell 59XBA. Cell remains brightly lit. Xeno is lying on cot, engaged in word puzzle. Still does no show discomfort at light levels. Kylara: Hello again. Twilight Sparkle: Oh, hello again Ms. Kylara. Have I done something wrong? [It refers to the prior incident in which I was quite vehement in discouraging its use of psychic power.] K: No, no. Nothing like that. I just wanted to ask you a few questions. TS: Sorry, I’m not used to doing things without magic. [It fumbled putting away a puzzle with just its hooves.] K: It’s quite alright. TS: I’d… I’d like to apologize for what I did last time we tried this. I should have been more helpful. You came all that way to get me and I can’t even answer a few questions for you. [The xenos has developed the belief that we knew it was there from the start and came to aid it. As this makes it more likely to divulge information, I have refrained from correcting it.] K: Please, just try to do better. TS: I will. K and TS assume seats at table K: Let’s try this again. What is your name? TS: Twilight Sparkle. K: Where are you from? TS: Canterlot, capital of Equestria. [As suspected, but not confirmed until now.] K: What species are you? TS: An alicorn pony. K: What other kinds of ponies are there? TS shivers noticably. K: Stay with me. TS: Earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns. K: How many other alicorns were there? [Trying to confirm or debunk my prior theories.] TS: T-T-Three. Princess Celestia, who raised the sun. Princess Luna, who raised the moon. Princess Cadence, who led the Crystal Empire. [Four. And all female. Not enough for a viable breeding population.] K: What about your parents? [Shouldn’t they have been alicorns too?] TS: They were called Night Light and Twilight Velvet. K: I mean, what species were they? TS: U-Unicorns... Mom… Dad… BBBFF… [So she was born a mutant? The xenos revered mutation?] K: Stay calm. You’re safe. TS: They took them! They took them! K: Not again. TS: They’ll take me! They’ll take me! We’re all going to die! K: Emperor dammit. TS: Please, have mercy! No! NO! K: Just stop the recording already. ++Interrogation Ends++ ++Interrogation the Third++ Setting: Cell 59XBA. Xenos is absently staring at the ceiling. Expression suggests deep thought. Twilight Sparkle: Hello, ma’am. Kylara: Hello again, Twilight. TS: Can I have a hug? K: What?! [The idea of affectionately embracing a xenos makes me want to undergo ritual cleansing on the spot.] TS: Did I offend you? Is that wrong in your culture? Please, I don’t know anything about you! I’m sorry! Please forgive me! K: No, it’s alright. I was just a little… surprised. TS: So… K: You can have a hug. TS: Yes! K and TS embrace. [I still can’t believe I did this. The things one sacrifices for the Imperium.] TS: T-T-Thank y-you. K: You’re very welcome. TS: I-It’s just… I’ve been alone for so long. My friends, my family, my teachers… It’s been so long since I’ve gotten a hug from anypony. Can we… can we be friends? K: Of course. [My skin crawls as I remember this.] TS: Oh thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou! *crying, nuzzles K in gesture similar to domestic cat* K: You’re very welcome. [Why me, Emperor?] TS: Oh, we’ll have so much fun! We can read books and play games and talk and… [I edited this for length, as the descriptions went on for several minutes. It has quite the vocabulary, my lord.] K: O-Okay. TS grins broadly. K: Wait here just a moment. I think I have just the thing. K exits cell, returns several minutes later with Regicide. TS: Ooooh, a strategy game! I love strategy games! K: Any questions? [Again, edited for length here. I explained how the game works.] TS: Nope, I’ve got it all in here. K and TS play three rounds of Regicide, TS losing all three. TS: You’re good at this. K: You weren’t bad for a first-timer. [I hate my life.] TS: Thanks! Care for another round? K: I’m sorry, but there is an emergency. I have to go. [Specifically, we’d arrived at an Imperial colony at last only to find it under attack by Ork pirates. Our transition from the Warp must have been exceptionally smooth – I didn’t even notice.] TS: Alright then. You’ll come back soon, right? K: Of course I will. ++Interrogation Ends++ ++Thoughts++ My Lord, I feel that I’ve hit on the tactic to coax information out of this xeno. It seems to desire companionship after the extinction of its race. Not surprising, given that equines are herd animals by instinct. It believes, at least on some subconscious level, that I will help it to return to a normal social state. Humans, even previous introverts, have been known to express similar sentiments when pulled away from their planet of origin. Or, in the event that their culture of birth was utterly destroyed, as seems to be the case here. I should know. I believe that, by offering the relationship it so plainly desires, I can psychologically stabilize the creature to an extent that it will divulge what I want it to know without having breakdowns. While there are risks associated with such a tactic, they pale compared to the risks involved in torturing such a power psychic in such an unstable state of mind. Particularly aboard a vessel separated from the source of all psychic power only by our Gellar field. Perhaps we can even find a use for the creature’s psychic powers after we are done interrogating it, assuming that it is able to normalize. With your permission, of course, Lord. Our knowledge of the creature's culture has expanded considerably. We now face the possibility that, knowingly or not, the xenos creatures of Equis III worshiped the Dark Gods of Chaos. More than one alien race the Imperium has exterminated over its lifetime has been so contaminated. A religious (or semi-religious) reverence for, rather than righteous rejection of, the mutation of their natural forms certainly seems to fit with that theory. And we do know that it is possible for worlds under their sway to temporarily appear as paradises, so as to trap the souls of the unwary. If this is the case, it would explain much about the world's sudden collapse from beauty to ruin, but not the curiously light footprint of the attackers. This is what keeps me from totally putting my confidence in this theory. If Chaos overran the world, where are the bloodstained alters, wild daemons, and warped landscapes they leave behind? Your servant, Interrogator Kylara ++Message Ends++