++Astropathic Choir Intercept ZY018, Kyne’s Fury 3.725.873.M39++
++Message to Inquisitor Tas Rovini++
++ Transcript Appended++
Thought for the Day: The burden of failure is the most terrible punishment of all.
My Lord,
Per your orders, we have continued to try gentler means but added a greater sense of urgency to it. Banking on the creature's emotional bond to myself and our species, encouraging it to feel guilty if it fails to aid us with knowledge, seems to be an effective approach to this matter. By playing it thus, we shift the topic away from giving it more knowledge about ourselves and why it continues to be banned from leaving its cell. We will keep this method up until and unless it seems that this approach will do us no more good. Torture will be the last step, if necessary. My latest attempt at communication with the xeno proved more fruitful than the last – I have several insights on the nature of this enemy that may beset our Imperium. Without further ado, the transcript:
++Interrogation the Fifty Ninth++
Setting: Cell 59XBA. Cell continues to be brightly lit. Xenos is sprawled over the cot. Expression comparable to a bored human.
Kylara: Twilight.
Twilight Sparkle: Kylara? Can I help you?
K: Twilight, I need your help. Now.
TS: Yes?! What is it? [She sat up very quickly at this point, and seemed almost worried in her tone.]
K: Twilight, listen closely.
TS: Yes?!
K: Millions… No, billions of lives could depend on what happens in these next few minutes. [Her eyes widened and her ears flattened when I said this, signs of fear among her kind.]
TS: What can I do?!
K: The enemy you faced…
TS: Them... No… No… No… No No No No No-
K: SNAP OUT OF IT!!!
TS: Yes… You’re right…
K: You need to be strong, Twilight. For all our sakes. For the sake of my people.
TS: Yes… Got to….
K: For me. [I actually took her hoof in my hand when I said this, degrading though it remains.]
TS: Yea… Of course, Ky. What can I do?
K: What you faced… We don’t think that was the end of it.
TS: T-There are more?!
K: I have reason to believe as much, yes. Listen carefully, Twilight: My people have millions of worlds. Billions of humans on each of them. All of them people like me. Like you. [A disgusting but necessary lie.]
TS: Y-Y-Yes?
K: I have reason to believe that the same ones who destroyed your world want to do the same to ours.
TS: NO! … Not again…
K: Yes, again. Now, I want to save these people. Do you?
TS: How can you even ask that?! Of course I do!
K: Then I need you to reach back. Back to when this all started. I need to know everything about what happened. Can you do that?
[She was silent and staring at her hooves for some time before speaking again.]
TS: Yes. Yes, I’ll help you.
K: Good. I’m here for you. Now, please begin.
TS: A-A-Alright…. It s-started with Z-Zecora… She lived in the E-E-Everfree Forest. Where nopony else lived. Where thousands of wild magical c-creatures lived. Where all the weather… ran itself. [She said that as if it were the strangest thing in the universe.]
K: Go on, please.
TS: Right… Right… She only came to town ever s-so often. When she didn’t show u-u-up for a few days, we didn’t think anything weird was happening. She did that from time to time. B-But then a week passed… then two… then three… And nopony had seen hide nor mane of her. Applebloom was really worried… Applebloom… Applebloom…
K: Stay with me.
TS: Yes… Anyway, Applebloom was really worried. She w-went out into the forest by herself. She wanted to see if everything was alright. She came running back… Said that Zecora’s cottage was broken open, but nopony was there. Nothing was taken. The rest of us… Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and I went in to have a look. It was true. We spent hours looking through the Forest… I used all the magic I knew… But we couldn’t find her. I sent a letter. To Princess Celestia, through Spike… Told her what had happened… Had to sleep for the night. The next day… the next day…. the next day…
K: Focus!
TS: The next day… The Apples… It was horrible! Sweet Celestia, it was horrible!
K: Tell me what happened.
TS: They were dead! Skinned! Their pelts were… their pelts w-were in the town square! For everypony to see! Everypony… Granny Smith… Big Mac… Applejack… E-Even little Applebloom. Dead! Skinned! And somepony threw displayed their hides in the town square!
[She entered a prolonged period of hyperventilation at this point, going on for several minutes before I managed to calm her down.]
TS: Mayor Mare called a town meeting… I contacted the Princesses… Celestia, Luna, Cadence… Told them everything that had happened… They were f-f-far away… Diplomatic mission… Said they’d be back immediately…
K: And this meeting?
TS: Mayor Mare said we h-had to do something. We gave them a funeral… Best we could. Then everypony packed themselves in the town hall… Stationed guards outside… My friends and I, w-we searched for who had done this while we waited for the other princesses… Spent all day looking… Most of the night… Came back to the hall… Mayor Mare w-w-was skinned! She was skinned like the Apples! Nopony knew what had happened… She was alone in her office… Contacted the Princesses again…Tried to rally the ponies… Keep some order… Didn’t keep a close enough eye on him… No No No No NO NO NO N-
K: SILENCE! [I should mention at this point she was openly weeping as she spoke.]
TS: SPIKE VANISHED! THEY TOOK HIM!!! THEY’LL TAKE ME!! THEY’LL TAKE US ALL!!! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
[She continued on with repeating that word for a full hour. I gave up trying to get her out of it about fifteen minutes in and simply allowed her to tire herself out.]
++Interrogation Ends++
++Thoughts++
Lord Rovoni, though this evidently caused no small amount of mental stress to the xeno, this account tells us many valuable things about the enemy and their capabilities. The attackers obviously had done some reconnaissance prior to their opening gambit, understanding as they did the xenos psychology. It further seems to confirm my earlier analysis that they prefer stealth and terror attacks. The initial attacks served the purpose of demoralizing the enemy, as well as removing one of the potential obstacles in the form of one of the bearers of these Elements of Harmony. Notice how they then forced their targets to gather together for protection, then demoralized them still further by slipping through their security to graphically execute the local leadership within the very walls where they thought themselves safe. If war comes, we must alert our fortress commanders to always have bodyguards on hand and ready to fight.
Next, our mysterious invaders presumably acted to cut off communications, removing this “Spike” from the field and nullifying the link he provided to the distant rulers. Imperial communications should be ready for a repeat of such decapitation and isolation strategies in the event of war. Our astropaths, the precious psychic links that tie our worlds together, must be carefully guarded on any worlds that may be beset by this foe in the future. Their ability to observe and rapidly respond to xenos activity indicates they have some method for spying on their enemies. Granted, this could be simple benefit of high technology against primitive alien scum showing its hand. On the other hand, underestimating an opponent's capabilities is foolish, and countermeasures must be considered.
Though we do not at present have the exact specifications of the security measures the xenos took, it seems reasonably probable that the attackers had some means of either obscuring themselves from vision altogether or else a method of teleportation. The “Warp Spiders” of the Eldar have been known to possess the ability to enter and exit the Warp at short range to teleport. It is true that these beings are more associated with the Craftworld Eldar than with the outright piratical brand, but who are we to say that the technology is not shared between the various branches of that xenos filth? The Eldar are ever fickle, untrustworthy, and unpredictable, and the Emperor's servants must be diligent.
While the stealth and terror elements of this attack certainly fit with the modis apparendi of the Night Lords Traitor Legion, they tend to spurn the sorcery that would make such precise teleportation as demonstrated possible. And it seems doubtful that they would be able to slip past the xenos defenses totally unseen to kill one target and abduct another without massacring others along their way. Wanton butchery, not subtlety was ever the method of the VIII Legion, even in the days before the Great Heresy. And why they would choose to do so in any case is vague, though minds clouded by the Dark Gods cannot be called rational. Another factor worth considering is that the xenos buildings were not built for Astartes-scale beings, which would make such a stealthy approach even more difficult.
My earlier theories of daemonic incursion now seem less and less likely in my own mind. While certain daemons have been known to exhibit comparable behaviors, particularly on hive worlds or starships, they do not do so in number sufficient to overwhelm a world. Particularly not a world as filled with psychics as Equis III seems to have been. If daemons overran the planet, there should have been a far more active offensive on all areas of it over the course of hours. Simply put, this does not match the profile we have of Chaotic incursion, though as always the irrational and unpredictable nature of the enemy remains a formidable puzzle to wrestle with.
Finally, the possibility of some as of yet undiscovered enemy being the cause of these attacks must be considered. If this is the case, then we must know more about them. I hope to interrogate the xenos creature on what happened next tomorrow. I will send you anything more I learn, as always.
Your servant,
Interrogator Kylara
++Message Ends++
Terran Lord, I love this, keep up the great work.
We need a breakthrough with Twilight soon- this story is good but the last few chapters simply feel like repeats of each other. Twilight either needs to progress much further along in her tale, or maybe get exposed to the Imperium a bit and the 40k verse.
Still, glad to see this updated. Love the concept and execution; just wish we'd start making headway.
I'm guessing that your version of the imperium has yet to deal with the dark elder, as they seem to be a dead ringer for the ones who attacked.
4578530
Actually considering Kylara mentioned several time "piratical brand" of Eldar. That Imperium knows of Dark Eldar.
I am thinking this is rather Necron doing. But then again, I am not very familiar with all the W40k lore.
4578276
RL kept me busy for a while, but now I'm back and hopefully we can press forward at a reasonable pace.
4578530
The Imperium has met and tangled with all the varieties of Eldar there are. They just don't really see the difference between Craftworld, Dark, Corsair, and Exodite Eldar, despite these all being different factions. They're all xenos scum, after all. And, more specifically, they don't, or at least Kylara doesn't, really recognize that there is a difference between Eldar Corsairs and Dark Eldar at all. Blame the perpetual Eldar inability to give a straight answer to anything.
4578584
While it's important to keep a story going at a certain pace, I like how this one progressively sets the situation. The ponies have been struck, not by the most dangerous (in the galactic threat level), but by the most horrid and evil foe in W40k. Twilight sure needs time to recover enough for identifying the enemy after what happened.
10,000 words at this point are a good equilibrium between slow pace and rush, I think.
And I have seen other stories stalling.
This is getting better and better. You have become really good at creating a smooth blend of character exploration (the characters feel more 'natural' with each chapter), revealing the mystery and creating the atmosphere.
Now I'm wondering how many Equestrians the very likely Dark Eldars have kept as prisoners, and if Twilight is going back in the past to try and change it like in the recent X-Men film. Let's find out in the next chapters!
Yeah, I'm calling Necron Flayed Ones as the culprit, with a little bit of Illuminor Szeras on the side, because he always needs new test subjects.
Unless trolly ass Trazyn decided they were worthy of his displays in Solemnance.
Which would also fit in the 'unknown xenos', as not many of the Imperium know about the Necron threat.
All hail the Void Dragon, baby.
4579687
Now I have an image in the head, about Twilight and Illuminor Szeras doing some experiment together. For Science!
This could be the Necrons, I mean the Flayed ones are good when it comes to the skinning part, though they usually don't leave the skin there, but then there's the Deathmarks and wraiths who could easily slip through those defences without being seen to take down one pony, and Necron's do use complex strategies. And having no psykers themselves gives them rather legitimate reason to take a slow approach to dealing with the magic ponies.
Could also be the Dark elder, they certainly have the skills and sadistic desires to do this kind of thing. But this seems a bit to slow for them since dark elder are more about massive bloodbaths, and they wouldn't have much to gain from this slow approach when they could easily just stomp the ponies flat.
I don't know, maybe you've dug up some old race from the 40K lore, maybe it is one of the major races, regardless the suspence is killing me. WHO ARE THEY!
4579687 But Fayed ones usually take the skins with them, that's why they skin the beings in the first place, to wear those skins. But Illuminor Szeras, that's definitely a good possibility.
4579791
4566348
4579687
Seriously, has anyone read the Deathleaper lore!?!? Just read it and this will actually fit he description almost perfectly. Everyone rules out the Tyranids because they devour everything, but what do they do before that? THEY KILL!!! And in some cases they do this to planets, just please please please read the Deathleaper lore.
4579875 Could be, but if it was Tyranids then there would be no life whatsoever left on the planet, though I'll admit the Deathleaper did come to mind with these descriptions.
4579941
I know Tyranids devour everything, but it takes years for them to travel so far, Hive Fleet Leviathan arrived six months after Deathleaper had undermined St. Caspalen. Equestria could have been attacked by a normal lictor and this could have easily happened before the fleet arrived, I say Deathleaper because normal lictors are mindless assassins while Deatleaper used terror tactics added to that, and lictors don't devour the body, just suck the brains out, if all was left was the hide that eliminates standard lictors but Deathleaper would still be a possiblity.
4577457 If there are no normal rules whatsoever to judge by, how are we to interpret anything?
In that case, the argument that the oceans would not have evaporated becomes even stronger, because ANY circumstance can be justified via lack of any formal physics rules.
How can it be said that water would ever evaporate if no normal physics applies?
Simply put, if the rules are radically different, this must at least be implied; perhaps by this inquisitor being surprised by the lack of oceans. It doesn't state all the rules, but it clearly indicates much is fundamentally wrong with this solar system beyond the moon being stuck.
It might imply that this system doesn't even belong in their universe, since a world that operates outside the bounds of physics cannot have formed within a universe possessing a given set of properties.
4580294
Correction: Kylara is an Interrogator, that is, an Acolyte to an Inquisitor, rather than one herself. She is writing reports to her Inquisitor, Tas Rovini, who seems to be staying on the distant ship Kyne's Fury.
Now, why do you presume that Kylara is some sort of expert on postapocalyptic meteorology and climatology? The Imperium of Man is not known for its exceptional educational system, nor is the Adeptus Mechanicus known for liberally sharing knowledge. Kylara isn't particularly surprised by the lack of water because the idea that perpetual burning sunlight would dry it all up makes intuitive sense to her. Perhaps Magos Katravich's report, mentioned in the prologue, went into greater detail on all the ways in which this planet is utterly out of line with the laws of physics. Alas, I didn't write it up for her because it would be boring.
I suggest you stop complaining about why you think the dead world blatantly presented as not following the laws of physics should follow your exact ideas on climatology. Especially when you don't even know in what circumstances the oceans were dried up in the first place because I haven't told you. You are assuming a great many things, and you know what they say about assumptions.
4579991 But whoever attacked this planet clearly had the military strength to destroy every animal larger than the microscopic level, and I just don't think the deathleaper alone would have the strength to wipe out an entire planet.
4581537
These are Tyranids, capable of destroying life on a microscpic leval, and a lictor (after undermining the leading races), if the Hive Mind demands, can very well slauter everything big anough to be killed and do it ever so efficiently.
4580528
Less arguing with annoying readers, more writing the next update.
4582933
'Tis rude not to say please.
4582314 One lector, Really, even the deathleaper I just don't think only the Deathleaper could wipe out an entire planet, I mean celestia and luna would be incredibly high level psykers, and while the Deathleaper is an elite lector, he isn't that strong.
4582314
The thing you forget is that there where absolutely no remains outside of graveyards that means something must have done away with all the bodies. And that would have taken a tyranid hive fleet and they would never have left anything organic on this world.
4583916
We also know Tyranids are capable of making brooding pools on the planet, in reality, it would result in a Genestealer infestation but for the sake of the story mabye they just mass spawned lictors.
I've also realized that raveners (with the Hive Mind's influence) could also preform this.
4584116
It does not take an entire hive fleet to eliminate a single planet (some planets out there yes, but Equestria?!) and any creature, including lictors, can do away with the body's in various manners.
4584135
Yes but the scale is still off, if we take Equestria as a smaller then average planet it would take a significant amount of lictors or similar to kill off everything there is in such a short amout of time not even talking about bigger creatures such as dragons or others who could offer significant resistance to regular tyranid forces.
The style fits Deathleaper or a group of similar creatures but the scale is completely wrong you dont just wipe out every single living thing on a planet, including massive beasts such as dragons and ursas or massivley powerful psykers like the Alicorns, with a couple of lictors it would have taken several hundred thousand if not more of them to accomplish that without a hive fleet backing them.
4584325
As I said earlier, Tyranids are capable of making brooding pools on the planet, therefore the possibility of a complete genoside is possible
The more I think about this the more I feel we are all wrong and the author is going to pull something off.
4584121 But that doesn't explain why there was still plant life, if they could breed themselves like that then they would have already stripped much of the plant life in preparation for the hive fleet
I don't think any tyranid would drop bloody hides in the middle of a little town.
4584453
I don't know anymore
4584464
Deathleaper dropped bloody human body's in a cortyard, why it ponys.
There is still the Dark Eldar looking helmet on this story's picture... but well, we'll be fixed with it in the next chapters.
4584663 But that would be too obvious. SOO MANY MYSTERIES!!!
Huh, I can see how this is different from other warhammer stories. Most are about war, this is more like a murder mystery.
"threw displayed"
Probably should just pick one.
Should be modus operandi.
Calling it, Necrons. The Overlord hasn't awakened enough forces that he has deemed enough and is using flayers to demoralize the ponies before going terminator on their asses.
And the fact that the Interrogator is from Damnos thus giving her a psychological link to Twilight for MOAR hugz
Or it could be Dark Eldar. But I don't think Dark Eldar would do such a long, drawn out campaign. It simply isn't like them.
They're on the ship aren't they? Would explain why the author keeps putting orks at any planets they could've landed at <.<
7229326
Flayers WEAR the skins. They don't leave em about.
It is only a matter of time until they get into a fight and Twi heroically defends everyone.