The fourth Aurelian crusade

by ThatRarityIsaSpy

Gathering the bearers

Twilight ducked down as the bolter rounds began to sail into her tree library. The bolter rounds breaking apart the tree as if they were wet paper. It was actually only a few moments, before nearly the entire structure collapsed and Twilight was left in the open, with about four chaos space marines running right for her with chainswords and bolt pistols.

She had been separated from Spike only moments before the attack had begun. It was solace to know that Spike had been able to get away to safety while her world began to fall apart. She wondered, a prayed if her friends were okay.

She thought for a moment herself, if she was going to die. She was trapped, with no way out, surrounded by heavily armed madman intent on nothing more than tearing her world apart. She allowed herself a final mental goodbye to her friends as she charged up her magic. And sent a large beam at the closest attacker. To no avail, her attack was hardly stopped, as the beam only caused him to lose his balance for a few moments, before he got up again and resumed his attack.

Taking her last few moments and looking back, Twilight wondered exactly how her brother managed to kill one of these fiends. She had seen the body, Shining’s spell had tore a hole in the chest of the chaos marine, and he died within moments. But now, even the most arcane of unicorn spells seemed to do little, if anything against these monsters. Sitting down, she allowed herself another attack, sending it straight at the face of one of her attackers as they closed in. They moved quickly, like all of their kind, and in only a few moments, Twilight could hear the roar of the chainsword.

There was then, an even louder roar. Not from the chainsword, but from a human. A human throat screamed in agony, and pain as one of the chaos space marines was lifted up into the air, and smitted to death by the hands of a librarian. Around him, three other space marines, easily defeated the chaos mad men, whose motions looked unusually sluggish and slow.

“Get up.” Solomon said quickly as he killed a Raptor. “Angelos and Celestia both want to see you.”
“At once!” Twilight said getting up. “But...”

“No buts... I went through an entire mob of them just to get here.” Solomon said. “I am not going to take no for an answer. I will take you back, even if I have to drag you back.”

Twilight seeing no alternative decided maybe it was best for her to listen. Nodding reluctantly, she went with Solomon and his men as they made their way through a ruined Ponyville.

“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity shrieked as the filly was attacked by a large hulking brute. “Back you ruffian! Back!” She started to throw various things at the crazed Khornate, which really... did nothing more than just to piss him off more. All the color of the boutique began to remind him of a certain enemy cult, which in turn, made him even more angry, and even more wanting to kill whomever resided in this home.

“KILL! KILL! KILL!” The maniac screamed as he swung his chainaxe wildly, hitting various objects that ranged from fine china to a chair.

“Stop that!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed as the berserker continued his rampage. Quick hilariously the berserker slowed down right as this happened, his movements began to grow slow, clumsy and even more mindless that your average berserker. After only a few seconds, did the Khornate collapse on his knees, hands at his chest as if he was suffering from a heart attack. Only a few moments later did he fall down, making gasping noises.

“Die, heretic.” Aramus said as he brought his foot down upon the traitor, thunderhammer in one hand as well as bolt pistol in the other, he quickly scanned the area for any more hostiles.

“Hurry, we must go to Canterlot at once.”

“You’re hair! It’s messed up!”

“Now’s not the time! We have to go. NOW!” Aramus raised his voice which promptly caused Sweetie Belle and Rarity to pack up and go with him. Quickly, he made his way out with the two ponies following him.

“Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash cried as she quickly swooped up and caught her friend, saving her from the oddly dressed human’s fireball.

“Amusing.........” The sorcerer rasped sending doombolts all over at the duo. Using her natural agility, Rainbow Dash evaded all of them, still clinging on to Fluttershy.

The sorcerer laughed and flicked his wrist. This sent the two careening to the ground. While not outright killed them as it should have, he was able to stun both of them, making them easy targets for him. Raising his power sword high above the head, the sorcerer aimed to cut both of the two in half.

Rainbow tried struggling, but the invisible grip had an iron fist, and she simply couldn’t get loose. She watched in terror as the sword was sent behind the sorcerer's head, so he could have the full momentum of the blade come crashing down.

Squinching her eyes, shut, the rainbow colored pegasus hoped her end would be painless, but instead, she would hear a roar, and a rather loud scream.

A few moments had passed, and considering she wasn’t dead, and neither was Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash opened her eyes. She saw that the power sword had found itself buried into the earth, and that sorcerer had a large chainsword buried rather deeply in one of his shoulderblades. Another lightning fast move, and a knife had found it’s way into the vile head of the traitor, slaying him instantly.

“He didn’t hurt you did he?” Thaddeus asked as he sent the body into a ditch.

“No.”

“No, we’re fine. Thanks I guess.” Rainbow said as she got up and breathed a sigh of relief as Fluttershy was okay.

“Well, no time for chitchat, Celestia wants to see you two.”

Nothing more was said, as the trio quickly made their way to Canterlot castle.

“Well, you boys sure are clumsy!” Pinkie Pie said as she watched the two chaos space marines bump into each other.
“I’ll stick my thumbs into your eyes and drown out your blood!”

“Whoa big guy! Getting cranky there, eat a cupcake!”

“You dare mock me?! ME?! I WILL HAVE YOU SKULL!!!”

Pinkie Pie suddenly jerked to a stop while being chased by the angry marines. For then, she begun to shake and spasm wildly.

“Watch out boys! My Pinkie sense says that things are about to fall!”

“What?”

“It’s a trick! Don’t believe her! Kill her!”

Before any of them could move a muscle, a loud scream cut the air. It was one of their own, who just gotten crunched to dust after Diomedes had jumped on him. Taking his Thunderhammer, Diomedes quickly smashed all his enemies to dust.

“See? I told them!”

“Thanks for distracting them for me.” Diomedes said ignoring the fact that Pinkie was talking to dead bodies. “Now then, let’s...”

“The Princess wants to see us? Well, what are we waiting for? Oh, and Applejack is already there.”

“Took the words right out of my mouth.” Diomedes answered. “Now, let’s go.”

“No need to worry.” Angelos said soothingly. “I sent my best men to go and retrieve these element bearers of yours.”

“I know... I know.” Celestia said pacing back and forth. “But... if just as much as one of them....”

“I understand. I know what it’s like to have every piece on the board to be vital. I’ve been there before.”

It wasn’t like Celestia to be panicking. But to face the truth, the worst that’s ever happened to Equestria was maybe Discord who in the end wasn’t half bad. Now, she was facing against chaos.The true face of chaos. Madmen and daemons who sought nothing more than destroy.

And of course, it wasn’t like Angelos to attempt to calm aliens down. His time spent in Equestria had taught him to be calmer in situations where he normally would of whipped out godsplitter, and more reasonable in situations where the air would of been cut with the a string of insults and threats. Now perhaps, he could teach this alien ruler, that being calm in the face of danger was the way to go.

“Princess Celestia! We’re here!” Twilight said as Solomon opened the door.

“Twilight! I am glad you’re okay! Where are the others?!”

“Ah’m here.” Applejack said. She’d been the first to arrive after all. “Ah think I just saw Rarity.”

A few moments later, and the white unicorn had also arrived, rambling to Aramus about how his hair was a mess and that it was a “crime against fashion” much to Aramus’ dismay. He remembered that ever since he was a normal person, he had spent an awfully long time to make sure his hair looked good.

As Aramus endured getting berated by Rarity about his hair, Thaddeus had arrived with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

“Angelos, Celestia, we are here.”

“Excellent. Now where’s.....”

“I am right here!” Pinkie said emerging right on top of Angelos which made him almost jump.
“Okay, now that we’re all here.” Celestia said. “I think it’s time we got down and discussed what just happened.”

“At approximately 0430 hours yesterday” Martellus said. “A large black legion warband descended upon sub-sector Aurelia. Due to the arrival of your planet into the subsector, Aurelia now has 3 habitable planets, all of which are under siege.”

“I have a ques...”

“Not now.” Celestia said. “Listen.”

“Thank you. Anyways, it appears that the black legion are mostly interested in this planet. As a result, they have sent large numbers of their men here. I estimate there is slightly over a thousand of the heretics. Now don’t let their numbers fool you, a single chaos space marine can cause grief to an entire planet if left unchecked. That is why we have deployed our entire chapter to defend this planet.” Much to the dismay of the Inquisition and many others who had kept an eye on the Blood Ravens.

“And of course, we got backlash from it. But I told them that you and your people are worth more than entire chapters of space marines if used against chaos. Something that was first observed merely moments after the first invasion, when we had gotten reports that random chaos space marines who went to attack anything native to this planet seem to have slower reaction times and fight worse than their usual clumsiness. others even claim a few had randomly dropped dead. Whatever the reason is for this, this information alone means your entire race is worth more than perhaps at least a dozen chapters when used against chaos.”

“You... want us to fight?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Do I get one of those things you’re using?!”

“Sure. First, pick it up.” Angelos took a bolter and threw it on the ground. Imagine how surprised he was when the pony managed to pick it up with hooves.

“Um.... alright.” Angelos said a bit amazed with all his officers. “Okay, pull the trigger.”

And not surprisingly, Dashie couldn’t pull the trigger, no matter how hard she tried. Her hooves just didn’t allow it. After a while, she gave up and returned the bolter.

“Anyways, what I wanted to you to do is merely to accompany my men into battle against chaos. All you really have to do is just stand there and don’t get shot.”

“S....s...shot?”

“Yeah. Remember, bolters can tear limbs off with just an indirect hit...... and maybe I shouldn’t of said that.” Angelos watched with a frown as Fluttershy hid behind Celestia.

“Okay.... yeah... so what’s the plan?” Diomedes asked.

“Eliminate their commanders.” Cyrus said. “Any form of organisation will be shattered and chances are, these fools will crawl back into whatever hole they came from or kill each other for us. But first, we must find out who is leading them.”

“Cyrus, I will leave that to you.” Angelos said.

“Very well. I will assemble a team and move out immediately.”

“What will we do then?” Tarkus asked.

“Sit tight. And make sure this city is still standing. I will have teams go out shortly to go and rescue any civilians.”

“Remember, try and find the elements of harmony!” Celestia said holding up a picture of the elements. “They will be essential in defeating chaos again.”

“Will do.” Angelos replied. “Everyone, you know what the drill is. While Cyrus gathers where the black legion’s leaders are, I will send a team to go and search for these artifacts.”

“If I may, I will do that with Tarkus and Martellus.” Solomon suggested.

“Do as you please, old friend.”

“May the spirit of harmony aid you on your quest, and may fortune travel with you on your task!” Celestia said wishing the best for these warriors from the stars.

Fools rely on their luck, while wisemen reply on the Emperor. I wonder if here they reply on their “elements.” Solomon pondered as he went on his scavenger hunt.

“So... now that we seen more than one type of human, you think THAT type will learn the secrets of harmony?” Luna asked. “I still have my doubts about the blood ravens, most of them seem reasonable enough after staying in Equestria for some time now, but it’s like... their entire race is so bloodthirsty! Whether or not they serve chaos or harmony.”

“They may use violence to accomplish their goals, but my understanding is they care for order and strive to accomplish harmony in their own special way.” Celestia replied, through the spyglasses, she and Luna both saw a blood raven beating a heretic to death with his bare hands, the look on his face saw a twisted joy in causing pain to the traitor.
“Traitors, villains, monsters or whatever their enemies are, nothing deserves that.” Luna said in disgust as the space marine finished killing the heretic.

“Hard to imagine their enemies are even more into murdering and are senseless killers.” Celestia commented. “When I saw those humans sit down, and speak to us for the first time, I had realized that they fought and killed for a purpose. A good purpose nevertheless, to banish chaos but who would know that they would enjoy killing so much? And... that’s just horrible how they find it just to torment their foes. Bad creatures they may be, but... it’s just.... I feel...”

“Wrong?” Angelos asked as he walked in on the two, making both the alicorns jump. “My apologies for sneaking up on you. I was able to hear you from literally a mile away. I was merely interested in your conversation of course.”

“I hope harmony is what one day humans are trying to achieve.” Luna said.

“We do. We try. The Emperor commands it.” Angelos said. “His dream was to one day send humanity into a golden age of prosperity.”

“And should this come at the expense of others?”

“If it’s chaos? I will gladly slay them by the billions if they stand in the way of the Emperor’s vision.”

“But... what about... the others?”

“As in.... non-humans? Or xenos as we’d call them?”

“Yes... you mentioned before we are the first race of non-humans that...”

“You know what’s funny?” Angelos asked not letting Luna finish her sentence. “I was born and raised by how every other human was born and raised. I was taught that chaos was the enemy to the Emperor, the imperium, all beings, living or non-living. As even it’s wielders will eventually be harmed by it. Though.... I was never taught that the Emperor had hated aliens. I was only taught that my fellow brethren did.”

Luna and Celestia looked at each other, not knowing what this meant. They thought Angelos a friend, perhaps what he says next will prove one or the other.

“So anyways, of course, I went along with the ideals of my friends and kin. As they had been brought up, most aliens I met were villains, always seeking to do some evil.”

Pausing for a moment, he dug into his memories of the Eldar.

“Then one day, I met a particular alien. She was in command of a group of aliens known as the Eldar. Although when we first met, things ended in blood, she had agreed to help me later on when things got out of hand. That was when I first wondered, was my family and friends really thinking the right thing? And then afterwards, I heard stories of some doing business with outsiders. This practice was frowned upon, but not banned. Which shows.. some subtly in the Emperor’s view. And then of course, that was when I met you and your people. I am glad to see that there are some out there, who truly wish for the good of all beings. Even foolishly wishing that for those that may not deserve it.”

“But.. all the people you’ve killed. Doesn’t that bother you? You are a great fighter after all, after all these centuries, have you learned to hate war?”

“My brothers and I were built to be bloodthirsty.” Angelos replied. “But, deep down, I know something. The greatest warriors are the ones who hate war. Dante, the oldest among us, is living proof of this. No matter how many enemies he has slain, he never seems to feel the joy of battle. I know many others secretly share my opinion, that one day, we can put down our arms after chaos has been defeated, and enjoy life as normal people. Becoming a space marine has granted me the abilities to do what the Emperor wills. When his will is carried out, I can one day rest. But if chaos still breathes, there can be no peace.”

Celestia smiled to see that even something as violent as a human, truly didn’t like war. When Luna saw her sister’s expression, she knew it read.

“I told you so.”
She felt her own confidence vindicated, maybe humans truly weren’t all there to go around and bashing everything in with a thunder hammer. Perhaps they can learn how to one day, resolve problems around a table instead of exchanging blows.

Comments

[Bronzer]

Awesome, it's here!

Btw, first upvote, first favorite, first comment! Woohoo!

but who would know that they would enjoy killing so much?

They don't enjoy killing. They enjoy punishing traitors and destroying monsters. They enjoy protecting people from insane abominations. You xenos cannot comprehend why such just things bring joy to the righteous.

Perhaps they can learn how to one day, resolve problems around a table instead of exchanging blows.

Canonically, the Imperium tries that, even with new xenos they meet. It doesn't work. Canonically, the Imperium has never broken a deal with xenos, it has always been the aliens who betrayed the Imperium and broke their deal. Is it any wonder the Imperium hates aliens?

[ThatRarityIsaSpy]

3292628
Let's just say, Celestia and Luna both don't know that.