When war comes

by Drakstice

The Wrath of Angels

Libraries were sacred to Twilight, so she would not tolerate any treatment disrespect to her house of knowledge. However, she considered misplacing a book very disrespectful. This meant her book accountability was less than 100%. Sub-standard, unacceptable. She would not stop searching for the one missing book until she was back up to the standard. Sometimes she took this seriousness a little too far, like she was doing now.

She had searched the entire castle from top to bottom. Four times. Every room had been ransacked, even common areas, the kitchen and the underside of the balconies. Every time Twilight restarted her search, she grew steadily more agitated. One book left unaccounted for was not in her normal behavior.

“Does ANYpony have ANYthing yet?!?” Twilight cried out in frustration and panic. She had her friends along with several volunteers search. She even asked the Blood Angels outside to keep an eye open for it. However they were not concerned with such a matter. They were preoccupied with their equipment maintenance.

Twilight was starting her search for the fifth time when she passed one of her search party.”Fluttershy!” she called out in hope that some progress had been made. Wanting to know as quickly as possible, she teleported herself in front of Fluttershy just as soon as she called to her, “Any news? You have your animal friends searching, right? Oh, I hope it’s not stuck somewhere damp. Moisture is the bane of books everywhere. *Gasp* What if it’s submerged?!?” After this barrage of questions, during which Fluttershy couldn’t even get a word in edgewise, Twilight instantly teleported to other places to continue her frantic search.

“Um, Twilight,” Fluttershy finally said after Twilight’s voice was no longer dominating the hall, “I’m not even sure what I’m looking for.” No sooner than the end of her last word did Twilight reappear Inches from Fluttershy’s face and commence another rant.

“The Red Knight Incident!!” Twilight’s shouting was slowly mutating from a frustrated scream to an angry one, “It’s the ONE book I can’t find. Very distinct. Historical reference. Hardback. Brown leather binding. I forget what was on the cover, BUT IT’S SO DISTINCT YOU CAN’T POSSIBLY MISS IT!!!” Using up her entire lung capacity to scream this last rant, Twilight inhaled deeply before spiriting away once more. In her wake, she left Fluttershy stunned as still as a statue. She remained standing for a few seconds before falling onto her back, face still frozen in shock and her pose unchanged from the instant Twilight appeared. The tension slowly receded as a looming shadow appeared in Fluttershy’s vision. Coming into focus, it was Thane looking down on her. He was even calling her name.

“Fluttershy? Are you OK?” His voice undistorted by his helmet’s vox grill was a welcome sound for the frightened animal caretaker.

“Oh, hi Thane,” Fluttershy replied as she rolled onto her stomach.

“What was all that about?” he asked, referring to Twilight’s erratic behavior. The magical pops from the teleporting spell periodically echoed through the halls of the castle.

“Twilight’s been looking for a book that went missing,” Fluttershy explained as she flew up to Thane’s shoulder height, “She’s pretty particular about this sort of thing.”

It didn’t take a chief librarian to put the pieces together, especially since Luna had laid them all out in front of him. “It wouldn’t happen to be this, would it?” Thane presented the book he still had in his hand. The cover portrayed the crude image of the red armored figure, but it also had some of the ponies’ scribbly text beneath its feet. Fluttershy seemed like an intelligent pony. If the ability to read was common among these creatures, she should be able to tell right away.

Sure enough, it was less than a second before she recited the title of the book. “The Red Knight Incident,” her face lit up with happiness. “We should tell her right away,” she said as urgently as her meek voice allowed. She took the book from Thane’s hand and started down the hall to tell Twilight the good news. “Twilight,” she called out rather softly, “Twilight, I found the book you’re missing. Thane had it and-” Fluttershy would never finish her sentence.

In an instant, Twilight willed herself back inside Fluttershy’s personal space. “You found it?” Twilight so eagerly asked, her hopes sky high. She seized the book from Fluttershy’s grasp, startling the shy yellow pegasus. After a moment to confirm her claim, the lavender librarian let out a squeal of elation as she flew in circles around the room. She held the old tome close to her body as her high speed release of energy was nearly met with solid stone walls. Her cries of joy continued as she continued her flight down the halls to the book’s proper storage place. Fluttershy had lost her equilibrium tracking Twilight’s path around in so many circles. Instead of falling on the cold unforgiving floor, she found herself resting in Thane’s left hand.

“Does this happen often?” Thane asked, clearly perplexed by what he had just witnessed.

“Ugh,” Fluttershy replied as she fought through the motion sickness, “whenever there’s books involved.”

---

There was no need to stay inside. The rescue force would arrive in a matter of hours and Thane wanted to be with his brothers, lest he be left behind. As he stepped outside, he could not help but admire the scenery. The dragon carcasses had been carried away to Canterlot for study. Thane was impressed with how such a feat was accomplished. They had deployed dozens of lighter-than-air dirigibles equipped with nets, harnesses, platforms, anything to carry the monstrous beasts by air to the city. They were extremely well coordinated. Each air ship hovered over one dead dragon while as many as a dozen pegasi worked with military precision to secure the body to the ship’s carrying rig. Each time, without fail, the ponies would communicate with arm signals and verbal commands to prepare the carcass for extraction. The pilot worked a series of levers to maneuver the gigantic craft taking care to not damage the surrounding infrastructure or the aircraft itself. The four Blood Angels who were local made it very clear that the downed Thunderhawks were to be left alone. Techmarine Allentz was responsible for maintaining them and that also included recovering them as combat casualties. In a time of war, such rare, precious and powerful vehicles had to be salvaged whenever possible, but only by the Adeptus Mechanicus. These venerated techpriests and engineseers were the only beings in the galaxy capable of doing so.

Besides the dragons, the ponies were also busy clearing debris and rebuilding what had been damaged or destroyed. Medical tents were still lining the streets, but they had since moved aside to clear the streets for supplies, building materials and traffic in the hopes that the town would resume normalcy soon.

The sun was shining in the sky of a clear, nearly cloudless, day. The weather team had been ordered to keep the skies clear to keep watch for any additional threats to the recovering town. As the sun’s rays touched Thane’s face, he felt the heat and feelings of bliss started to fill his heart and mind. Was this an effect of the planet’s sun? It would certainly explain the overall cheerful mood from the locals despite recent events. The wide variety of fur colors sported by the ponies gave Thane a soothing sight to behold. It was certainly more enjoyable than the dull gray interior of a battleship or the rust red deserts of Baal.

“Thane, get over here,” a voice called out to him. It was Delk. He was with Dermek and Ulyss camping under a downed Thunderhawk for cover. He was beckoning Thane to come forth. Without a second thought, Thane started a light jog to regroup with his brothers. Of course, a light jog for a space marine was the equivalent of a mortal running at full speed.

“What is it?” Thane asked upon reaching his brothers.

“We got a response from Gureros,” Delk replied, “Open a data feed, I’ll show you the report.”

This was exciting news for Thane. All this waiting would finally be rewarded with some answers. He still resorted to asking the alien for them, but if the Librarius never learned of his little sin, nothing bad would ever come of it. Thane jammed his helmet over his head and immediately established a connection into his battle brother’s data net. What he received was a heavily redacted report, but it was just enough detail to answer a few of his questions.

[DOCSTART]

[HEADSTART]

Document ID: 159716384A-K44

Time of File: 12:45:23 0-556-792.M41

Transcribing Librarian: Codicier Gal Julias, Blood Angels V Company

[HEADEND]

[CONTENTSTART]

Blood Angels Chapter responded to Ork invasion of manufactorum Guyss-Almans II. Chapter Master Dante dispatched I, II, III, IV, V and VI companies to combat the incursion. Two standard terran days passed before the fleet made contact. Visual reconnaissance confirmed the Ork warband as that of the Fangz clan. The horde was estimated to be over 200,000 members strong led by a war chief known as “Da Big ‘Un”. The fleet started the attack with orbit-to-ground salvos where the warboss was confirmed to be hiding. The horde splintered and began infighting as a result newly created power vacuum. The horde parted into five major splinters and several minor ones. Dante led the I company to follow the largest splinter to a nearby planet, location <REDACTED>.

Upon planetfall, the orks had made hasty fortifications amidst ancient xenos ruins not of orkish origin. The terrain was too unstable for vehicular support, so Lord Dante led the charge into the enemy stronghold with veteran assault squads as his retinue. An Eldar Warlock was sighted engaging the orks and was categorized as a low-level priority. Mid battle, the Eldar made contact with Lord Dante and provided tactical information of the ruin’s layout and weaknesses. Dante leveraged this information to secure a decisive victory on the alien world. Tactical squads secured the front and flanks and eliminated any remaining enemy resistance.

Post battle, Lord Dante made contact with the Eldar warrior who aided in the Chapter’s efforts. Full transcription of the dialog between Lord Dante and the Eldar identified as <REDACTED> can be found in Imperial document ID <REDACTED>. Full account of Lord Dante’s observations can be found in Imperial document ID <REDACTED>. Concluding Dante’s exploration of the xenos ruins, he ordered the destruction of any ork fabrications. Once the area was cleared and secured, the entire chapter force, including combat casualties, was ordered off world and back to the Fortress Monastery of Baal for resupply and recovery of battle-damaged chapter assets.

[CONTENTEND]

[DOCEND]

The report Thane got was less than satisfying. He expected a very detailed account of what happened, even if it happened centuries ago. There were records of events that happened several thousand years ago and they survived all this time and were never touched by the censor, so why would this relatively recent event be shrouded in mystery? Lord inquisitors, chief librarians, even the high lords of Terra had the capacity to strike certain information from Imperial records, but something would have had to force their hand to do so. Was there some grand conspiracy at work, corruption or perhaps a deal so secret even the Emperor’s most faithful must be kept unaware?

“This is it?” Thane asked, quite disappointed by the underwhelming and vague report he had requested three days prior.

“This is everything Gureros could find,” Delk replied, equally dissatisfied by the utter lack of information, “He said he ran a dozen different queries, but got only this report each time.”

This experience with Imperial bureaucracy made Thane question how any amount of work ever got done in the Imperium. The information came three days later than he wanted it, it was lean on details, seemingly deliberately so, and worst of all, he didn’t even need to search the archives for the information. The ponies were kind enough to share what they knew, albeit somewhat reluctantly. Either way, he got what he wanted, even if he was uncertain of what he would receive.

---

It was a good thing this huge cavity existed already, otherwise, the hive would be spending precious weeks carving our enough space to grow before the attack. It was spacious and the cave walls were riddled with crevices to store eggs and food and for the drones to rest between working shifts. Major Fang was quite pleased with the progress of the splinter hive and would soon give the mobilization order. All that remained was Queen Chrysalis’ word and the bounty of loving ponies was as good as theirs.

Waiting for the Queen’s order would not be problematic, as the ground beneath their feet radiated a strange energy. It didn’t taste like love, but it was nourishing all the same. Not quite to the same extent, but it would supplement what meager supplies they had for at least another week. In fact, they could eventually adapt to a diet of nothing but this strange feeling if they were desperate.

“Major,” a messenger drone called out, “the Queen is ready to attack!” Almost instantly, every changeling within earshot was loudly buzzing with eager anticipation of a feast of emotions, love, most notably. The clicking and chittering of exoskeleton segments almost drowned out the buzzing of wings and hissing from gaping maws. Every individual was ready for the invasion, but they required the command to move out. They were akin to mindless working machines, after all.

The major was about to give the order to move, but a sudden and jarring tremor held his tongue. Almost as quickly as the hive roared to life, it was silenced. Another tremor broke the silence. Now the entire hive was agitated, not knowing how to react to this new stimulus. Stranger still to the panicked insectoids was the sudden appearance of a crack along the length of the cavern.

Fearing for the safety of the hive, the major shouted the order to attack in the changeling tongue. It was unfortunate timing, as a large section of the cave floor suddenly collapsed. All the changeling soldiers who had swarmed the floor were swallowed up by the sickly green glow emanating from below. A scant few were caught on the very edge of the divide, struggling to not become the next casualty of the quake. Thousands of changelings were still scrambling for the exit while strange forms started to emerge from the now gaping fissure in the middle of the cave.

The major only caught a glimpse of the frightening array appendages emerging. They looked like all diseased bone and claws. One of them peered its head above the ground to survey its surroundings. The only thing the major could see clearly was the hollow-looking eyes aglow with anger and pain. It was like looking at the thing personified nightmares would fear. Driven by enough desperation, every changeling still alive was able to break their state of spellbound fear and either retreat to the surface or back to the main nest, whichever was closer, but more importantly, away from the newest threat.

The scouts had explored the cave systems thoroughly beforehand and marked the most direct path to the surface with pheromones along the cave walls. The scent was easy enough to follow and besides, the major himself had traversed the caves and become familiar with the cave’s layout. What Fang did not expect was not a forgotten detail of the topography or a cave-in, but an explosion unlike anything he had ever witnessed before. A changeling drone was sprinting as fast as his little legs and wings could carry him when a stream of bright green light whizzed by. Fang’s vision was distorted for only an instant, but in that instant, the sprinting drone lost the left half of his head. It was simply gone, as if it vanished into thin air. The unfortunate drone was dead before he hit the floor.

Fearing the same would happen to him, Fang picked up the pace, as fast as his body could physically go. The same fate befell at least a dozen others before the hive reached a sharp turn that led to the mouth of the cave. The blinding sunlight was a jarring and a painful shift from the pitch-black caves, but it beat being killed, eaten or worse at the hands of this formidable and terrifying foe. Every changeling in what remained of the hive screamed in agony at the blinding light, but they all preferred the relative safety of the dense jungle to the destructive nature of the new enemy they faced.

The tree canopies did not block as much light as he wanted, but Fang felt safer and safer the more distance he put between himself and the attackers that just destroyed his hive. This reprieve did not last, however. Just as he started to calm down and refocus his thoughts, the bark from the surrounding trees started to splinter and vaporize. The green-eyed attackers were not far behind.

As he ran with the rest of the swarm, it started to scatter into many different directions, the hope being that they would not be able to follow in every direction. Unfortunately, hope was a rare commodity in the untamed wilderness of Equestria. Individuals rarely possessed enough to survive more than a day or so on their own. Fang found himself in just such a predicament. His hope for survival vanished when he was struck in the leg by the deadly green beams. Pain shot through his whole body as he lost feeling from the knee down. He slid on the ground and came to rest at the base of a tree, his vision blurred and reddened by the intense pain all over. When he came to, he could not help but scream his animalistic cries of panic at what he saw. The lumbering mass of gray bones with menacing green eyes was fixed on him. A long spear in its right hand was tipped with a sharp head that danced with bluish-green sparks and emitted chirping noises not dissimilar to the venomous soldiers of his own kind. The cloak it wore only amplified its large stature and intimidating facade.

It took three steps toward the gravely injured hive major before it crushed him beneath its heavy feet. For the major, the nightmarish visions had ended. The rest of the hive still fled, scattering in all directions, uncoordinated after the death of their leader. They still had to suffer through the onslaught of a force even more nightmarish than they. To be silenced so soon was a mercy. As for the rest of Equestria, their ordeal had yet to even begin…

---

Back in Ponyville, the impromptu squad of Blood Angels was waiting for a Thunderhawk extraction. The four marines took shelter near a crashed Thunderhawk and continuously emitted a distress beacon so the pilot could zero in on their location. Each brother faced a different cardinal direction so that they could see the approaching vehicle coming from any direction. Delk and Dermek still did not feel safe around the ponies, so they had their weapons at the ready, but not raised as if preparing for a fight. Thane and Ulyss had become as relaxed as the ponies were with their presence, so they simply took a knee while they watched their assigned sector, weapons locked in place, but ready to draw at a moment’s notice. Thane could not help but glance at his chronos-rune every few moments. His impatience had gotten the best of him yet again. Last he checked, only twenty seconds had passed.

He knew what was going to happen, yet it could not come soon enough. A Thunderhawk carrying a rescue party would arrive in just one hour. They had orders to hold fire while extracting the four stranded marines. ‘The xenos here are not worth the expense of holy rounds’ was Dermek’s excuse. To be fair, there were more ponies on this planet than the entire chapter had bullets, so in terms of raw numbers, that battle would be a foregone conclusion.

Besides, the populace treated them with much more respect than any other xenos race. It felt wrong to attack such hospitality, but even though all four marines thought this, none of them would confess it aloud. The ponies even tried to give parting gifts before the Blood Angels made their departure. Unfortunately, foreign objects would be destroyed before they got anywhere near Imperial worlds or vessels. Any living beings trying to go with them would be quarantined, rigorously decontaminated, cleansed, and painfully dissected before being written off as more xenos filth. Death was only granted when the trials were deemed unfruitful by the apothecary conducting the tests. It was better for the Blood Angels to return to their duty while the ponies stayed on their own world. It was doubtful these peaceful creatures would ever learn the turbulence of the rest of the galaxy in the near future.

Breaking the quiet of the small serene town was something of a low buzzing noise. It was almost inaudible, but each Blood Angel in turn took note of it. Either none of the ponies seemed to notice it or they considered it normal. The space marines had never heard this particular sound before, so it was a cause for investigation.

“Delk,” Dermek asked over the squad vox net, “What do you see to the west?” Delk was already facing west, so he had the best tactical view of that sector. He also asked west because that was the apparent source of the strange sound. Thane glanced over to see what was in that direction, but turned his eyes back south because that was his assigned sector to watch.

There was a short pause while Delk scanned west of the formation. “Mass numbers of insectoid-like creatures. Moving toward our position. Approximately two kilometers to the west-south-west. Unknown allegiance.” As Delk finished his report to the temporary squad leader, Dermek started formulating a plan, but before he could relay it to the rest of the squad, one of the ponies interrupted his thoughts.

“Changelings!” cried one of the relief workers. She was pointing with her hoof to the west where Delk was keeping watch. Her horrified expression told Thane all he needed to know about what she called ‘changelings’, whatever they were. Almost immediately, every other pony in the area looked in that direction, worried and fearful that what she said was true. Thane also looked once again to the west to see if he could see what got their attention. Indeed, small shapes started approaching from the west. These shapes came as a swarm and started to take form as vicious-looking insects. What came to mind was if flies of Nurgle took inspiration from Khorne’s imagery. These creatures must have had history with the ponies, for the entire town went into a state of panic upon sighting the swarm.

The civilian ponies retreated into whatever shelter was sturdy enough to stand between them and the greenish-blue-eyed fanged insects. As the swarm descended to ground level, the town guards went into combat mode, sergeants ordered the formation of battle lines. The pony soldiers brandished bronze colored spear tips which gleamed in the sunlight as they were directed toward the enemy. Throughout the aerial invasion, the Blood angels stood their ground, refusing to change locations for the rescue operation. Dermek ordered melee weapons only to the squad. Any changeling that strayed too close to them soon found himself an obliterated by crushing steel boots, cleaving blades or fists that hit like runaway trains. At first, the swarm was nice and thin, but just minutes into the battle, they started to appear by the hundreds. For every green blood stain and crushed shell that was once a changeling, ten more seemed to appear in its place. Neither side’s resolve wavered one iota.

The meager force stationed in Ponyville was quickly getting overwhelmed as the swarm started to secrete sticky sap from their mouths, effectively immobilizing the soldiers. The battlemages who were close to hand immediately employed a spell they had for neutralizing the gelatinous gunk trapping the otherwise able-bodied combatants. The ponies had quite the system for dealing with flying enemies from the ground. The unicorns would stun the changelings with magic beams, knocking them out of the sky. The ground forces would then pummel or impale the disoriented bugs, thinning out their ranks.

Still, the sheer numbers of the enemy meant that a tactical fallback was in order. The Blood Angels also saw this and decided to relocate, following the retreating mass of ponies. The mages continued to fire into the swarm of airborne changelings. If the fall didn’t kill them, a more focused magic beam, a sharp pike, a ceramite clad fist would find its mark. Despite the collective efforts of the equine and astartes, it didn’t seem like any amount of destroying the enemy was gaining any ground in the battle. There were simply too many to fight.

With the number of changelings filling the air, firing blindly and flailing their blades around was effectively as reliable for hitting targets as skillful strikes and shots. It was a hard-pressed effort, but some of the ponies managed to find defensible shelter in the still-wrecked houses and shops. The Blood Angels had been split up amid the chaos. Thane and Delk made a hasty barricade out of antique furniture and heavy timber beams inside what was once a quaint little shop. Delk’s two pistols were firing as fast as their mechanisms would allow, reloading only while Thane was firing his weapons and keeping the changelings from flooding their hiding spot.

From their spider hole of a wrecked building, the two Blood Angels noticed the swarm finally starting to drop in number. The heard a commander issue a ceasefire order to the unicorn squads. “Don’t hit the bats, they’re on our side,” one of the grunts shouted to his battle buddy. Out in the street, an unusual, but hopeful, sight. A changeling was grappling with a dark-colored pony in combat armor. The pair crashed to the ground, but one had a decisive advantage. The pony had leathery bat-like wings instead of the feathery bird-like ones of the regular ponies. Its jaundiced eyes were filled with dominance and an iron will to emerge victorious. What prevented any one, man or pony, from attacking him was the fact that he was slaughtering the changeling with just his teeth. His sharp fangs were enough to bite through the relatively weak plating behind the neck and at the base of the skull. The sound of flesh being ripped apart and the cracking of chitin would have sickened beings of lesser constitution, but the astartes warriors easily digested the gruesome image. After the bat-pony creature confirmed his kill by spitting out the changeling’s brain stem, he sprang back into the sky to pursue more targets.

Not long after, more changelings started to fall and litter the streets of the once peaceful town. These were killed mid-flight and bore the same wound as the first of its kin to fall. Thane hopped over the makeshift barrier and peered out the window to see a truly welcome spectacle. “Hey, Delk, you have to see this,” Thane said as he beckoned his battle brother out of cover. Up above, the changelings were now evenly matched against the forces of the ponies. It would appear that the elite forces of a different entity had made their way into the fray. They seemed to be allied with the ponies so far established, for they were fighting side by side, slaying the mindless-looking drone-bugs. However, the airborne fighting had nothing to do with the havoc being wrought on the ground. In fact, there was quite a fight going on just a block away and it sounded like the other two Blood Angels were involved. The familiar pops and bangs of bolter fire punctuated the changelings’ buzzing and hissing.

Closing the distance between them and their comrades, the pair of warriors’ motion trackers picked up a large hostile entity approaching their position. Looking up, it came from above. The sun’s glare obstructed Thane’s vision, but he could make out the shape of a thickly built object barreling toward him from above. It may be an enemy trying to ambush him or it may be a large piece of debris, but regardless, Thane’s first instinct was to evade and draw his weapons. The two Blood Angels split up and stood on either side of the street. Thane had his pistol and chainsword ready while Delk sported his new favorite configuration of two bolt pistols. As the Codex Astartes dictated in battle, they held their fire until they could identify the threat. No sense in wasting ammo on a large slab of rock.

As the object made impact, its many details came into focus. It was similar to the changelings in aesthetic, but it was bipedal in nature. The closest comparison that came to Thane’s mind was an astartes Terminator corrupted by chaos. It was almost as large as one and its thick torso carapace probably served as natural body armor. If it was trying to ambush the space marines, it certainly could have picked a more graceful way to land than flat on its face with one arm missing. It slowly picked itself up with the arm it still had and shook off the daze as it scanned its surroundings trying to get its bearings. As soon as it caught sight of the two Blood Angels, its blank green eyes widened in pure fear as it let out a shriek of panic from its broken jaw. The way it was running away from them resembled a wounded animal trying to escape from its natural predator. As it scrambled on what working limbs it had, the duo of marines let loose two dozen deadly bolt pistol rounds from a total of three vengeful weapons into its exposed back. The hulking mass of flesh and bony plates was poorly protected from the rear, much like Terminators, which is why it was so strange to see this creature behave this way, especially if it was aware of its own weakness. It wasn’t worth pondering as it was dead before the bolter casings finished raining to the ground. In fact, it was probably dead around the seventh or eighth shot, but it never hurt to be sure.

After the two marines reloaded and regrouped, a blood curling roar could be heard from a nearby source. Just on the other side of a row of houses, in fact. It was also where their remaining battle brothers were located, according to their retinal displays. A disheartening status symbol appeared over the icon representing Ulyss. This icon represented a brother in critical condition.

“We have to reach the others now,” Delk stressed as his mind raced to come up with a quick plan of action.

“How are we supposed to reach them?” Thane asked his brother, his question intending to be how they were supposed to arrive together. Both Thane and Delk were aware of the situation and the urgency of their arrival, but only Thane was capable of traversing the streets freely. Jump packs were powerful pieces of equipment, but they were only designed to carry the wearer and struggled to handle much more. Delk was constrained to the surface streets, only able to go where walls did not reach higher than his own jump height. These buildings were still intact and for hundreds of yards in either direction, it looked like one large, long structure, so passing through them was not an option. However, Thane still had his jump pack and its was still good for several more jumps.

“You go on ahead,” Delk replied, gesturing for Thane to go up and over the building, “I’ll go around and catch up.” As Delk took off down the street, Thane noticed a collapsed section of the mass housing structure far down the street. Thane realized that Delk already took note of this and formulated a plan that can still include him arriving to his battle brothers’ aid. Though the Codex warned against splitting up from a group, it also stated that ‘A skilled warrior’s judgement can mean the difference between winning a battle and losing it. To deviate from combat tactics is not criminal, but rather a risk. A skilled warrior knows how to balance risks, mitigate them and take chances worth taking to emerge victorious. This is the price of victory and all men must be willing to pay it.’ As long as Thane arrived as early as he could, Delk would make all haste to join them and reinforce the Blood Angels’ ranks.

One roaring leap later, Thane was atop the building, the roof surprisingly strong enough to support his weight. Just fifty yards away, a most disturbing sight was presented to Thane. Dermek was fighting ferociously against a pair of the changeling juggernauts. His weapons were nowhere to be seen and he appeared fatigued from the recent fighting. He had even lost his helmet in the violent scuffle. Four of the changeling behemoths had already fallen. Two were riddled with holes and scorch marks, likely from powerful hellfire rounds, and the others looked like they were bludgeoned to death, their bodies caved in as if from a heavy club or a similar blunt object. Dermek was using all the strength he could muster to keep the giant from laying its rending claws on him while the other was moving to flank him. Ulyss was flat on his back off in one area of the courtyard bleeding from his chest and left arm. A long set of claw marks marked where he had been struck. He was barely alive, which is probably why the alien giants were focused on Dermek. They would finish Ulyss after the one who could still fight back.

Without a second thought, Thane leapt into the fray, his jump pack propelling him toward the flanking one with all the grace and subtlety of an angry crimson rocket. He led his charge with the heel of his boot. His target saw his approach and took a wide stance as it braced for the tremendous impact. With a thunderous slam into the enemy, he could feel the armored breastbone flex and crack as it absorbed the energy of the collision of the two heavy warriors. The impact slid the pair of combatants back almost twenty feet, leaving deep tracks where the insectoids feet dug in and pushed back. What Thane didn’t notice until it was too late was the beast’s mighty arms grabbing his waist, then slamming him to the ground back first. The next thing Thane saw was the underside of the menacing goliath’s foot, poised to slam down and crush him. Thane had confidence in his battleplate, but he had not properly serviced it since his arrival on the planet. Field repairs would only stand up to so much punishment before the damage started to show again. It certainly wouldn’t stop a heavyweight force such as this. In an act of desperation, Thane activated his jump pack, hoping to put distance between him and his soon-to-be assailant. The twin turbines roared to life, dragging the downed warrior on his back, but more importantly, allowing him to evade a fatal blow.

It took the colossal creature a moment to realize what had happened, but in that interval, Thane had rolled back onto his feet and drew the two pistols at his side. Both fighters were determined to deliver the final blow, however long it took to land it. The changeling goliath had fists ready to strike and was charging at a speed that belied its hulking form. The enraged roar it let out was all the more proof it was determined to kill. As it made its charge, Thane opened fire with his pair of pistols. He fired each weapon simultaneously. The theory he had concocted on the spot was that two rounds striking at the same time carried twice the force of a single round. If his flying kick did not break this beast, perhaps a salvo of high explosive-tipped miniature rockets would have more of an effect. Sure enough, the beast stopped its charge, stunned by the incredible force it felt as its breastbone slowly cracked a little more after each hit.

The last rounds must have finally broken through the formidable carapace, because the trickle of blood down the alien’s chest told Thane that he was slowly gaining the upper hand. After all eight rounds from both pistols were spent, Thane discarded his side arms and charged the stunned creature with his shoulder, knocking it back a good six feet and flat on its back. Climbing atop his prone adversary, Thane raised his right foot and slammed it down on the point where he punctured the changeling’s armored front. His foot shattered the breastbone and drove through muscle, sinew, organs and what he assumed was a spinal column, but what precisely he hit was not his primary focus.

The beast let out as loud a wail of pain as its collapsed lungs would allow as it flailed around in agony. Thane had been given a golden opportunity to seize victory and he had no intention of letting it slip by. He raised his chainsword above his head holding it with both hands, the tip facing the creatures head. With one final, decisive thrust, he buried the roaring chain weapon into the abomination’s gaping mouth. As he ground the last ounces of life from his foe, bits of bone, teeth, brain matter and a shower of spit and blood sprayed from the whirring razor-sharp teeth of the chainsword. The rush of adrenalin and racing emotions was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. This is how victory tastes, Thane thought to himself, relishing the feeling, I could get used to this. Once he was certain the beast was dead, he refocused his efforts on his battle brother’s aid. He yanked his foot out of the changeling’s corpse and ran to Dermek’s aid. However, it would appear that the senior Blood Angel was wrapping up his own encounter already.

While Thane dealt with his changeling, Dermek was still grappling with his, but this space marine had over one hundred years of training and instinct under his belt, so had a clear edge over his opponent. Dermek executed a textbook leg sweep takedown from his standing position, getting the lumbering behemoth on its back. He still had control over one of the creature’s arms and took full advantage of it. With herculean amounts of strength that could contend with the Thunder Warriors of ancient times, Dermek ripped the beast’s arm from its socket. He tore muscle and ligaments away from solid exoskeletal anchor points, the claw went limp as the body to which it was once attached could no longer command it.

With a newfound weapon in hand, Dermek used the creature’s own dismembered limb as a club against its poorly guarded face. Each time, the arm swung in a different direction as the sickening cracks of bone against fractured bone echoed through the courtyard. Once the arm had been worn down enough, Dermek decided to get up close and personal. He mounted the monster’s chest and unleashed a furious punishing volley of punches, jabs and any strike he could think of to do damage. Its face quickly devolved into a mess of blood, spittle, bone fragments, brain matter and several other green bodily fluids that don’t naturally mix. His screams of primal rage almost completely drowned out the tenderizing of flesh and splitting of exoskeleton armor plates. Even as the creature ceased resisting and most certainly died, his onslaught did not let up. It was like Dermek was completely lost in the fury of battle.

Thane called out to Dermek three times before he got a response. However, the response he got was simply a cessation of obliterating its already destroyed face. Dermek stopped with one fist raised, as if to land yet another blow, but something brought him back to his senses. As he calmed down and lowered his fist, his gaze remained fixed on the kill he just made. His heavy breathing was now the only sound to be heard. Thane started to approach his agitated comrade, but was met with a raised fist and a face with rejuvenated anger.

“Woah, brother,” Thane said calmly as he could as he jumped back, hands raised to show he was unarmed, “It’s just me, Thane. You know, the new blood.” Thane removed his helmet to verify his assertion. This seemed to calm Dermek down back to his cool and collected demeanor with which Thane was familiar.

“Right,” Dermek said quietly as he lowered his arm and uncurled his fists, “Thane.” He was calm again, but something was off about him. He seemed distracted or disturbed by something. Finally, Delk entered the courtyard after crashing through a wooden gate leading into the area. Thane jumped and whirled around immediately to see what the trouble was. He relaxed once he identified it as friendly. Dermek gave no reaction whatsoever. He just slowly walked over to his discarded bolter, brushed off the dust and loaded a fresh magazine.

“What in His name happened here?” Delk asked. He heard the commotion come to a close and feared the worst, but could not conclude how the scene before him came to be. Before Thane could speak, Ulyss finished administering first aid to himself and rose to his feet.

“Brothers,” Ulyss called out as he approached the group, “How do you fare? Is anyone wounded?” Apart from Ulyss’ own flesh wound from earlier, which was now somewhat healed, the squad was still in good fighting shape. The astartes medic looked around to verify the health of his team, as was his sacred duty. His visual examination stopped when he noticed the look on Dermek’s face. He knew this look. He had seen it before and each time he did, he prayed it would finally be the last time. Only those who had nearly been lost wore this expression.

“Dermek?” he asked calmly, as if somewhat afraid of what he might say to enrage or offend his battle brother, “What about you?”

“I’m fine,” he replied quickly and sharply, hoping to shut down further discussion.

“Brother, if it happened again, you’re not fine,” Ulyss asserted as he put his hand on Dermek’s shoulder.

“I said I’m fine!” Dermek violently shrugged Ulyss off his shoulder as he started to form fists, but restrained his urge to lash out. He had made his point that he didn’t want to bring up this sore subject.

“Dermek, relax,” Delk interrupted before things got too heated. He was used to mediating between quarreling brothers and had settled several disputes before they turned violent or even destructive. “We still have ten minutes until we extract. Let us move back to the rally point. We will back on the Sanguine Saint soon enough.” This reassurance seemed to calm Dermek down. Delk escorted Dermek out of the open area strewn with bodies and collapsed walls. Ulyss waited for the pair to get some distance ahead before he and Thane started following. Crowding the agitated marine would only make the situation worse. As Thane and Ulyss stepped off, Thane’s need for knowledge surfaced again and this time, he decided to query a verified source of information.

“Is there something wrong with him?” Thane asked quietly to Ulyss. Both soldiers understood which ‘him’ Thane was talking about. It was a few moments before Ulyss spoke. He was trying to formulate a response that would explain the his brother’s behavior, but he could not avoid the subject of the chapter’s curse. Finally, Ulyss decided to expose Thane to one of the Blood Angels’ most shameful secrets.

“He suffers from the Black Rage. It’s a curse on our chapter.” The medic’s words were chilling, but Thane still had more questions. A curse? As in heretical sorcery? Do all Blood Angels carry this blight? Do I possess this flaw? Is there treatment or a cure? Ulyss was still talking, so perhaps some of his many questions would be answered.

“Whenever a Blood Angel is pushed far enough,” Ulyss explained, “he risks losing control of his emotions and going berserk.” Even at a distance of twenty paces, Dermek could hear the whispered conversation of the two behind him. If Thane did not know the dangers of the curse, there would be no better time to learn about it than now.

“The damaging effects get more pronounced as the warrior ages,” Ulyss continued, “There have been too many good brothers lost to their rage. Once overcome, it’s difficult to bring him back.”

“Am I at risk of being consumed?” Thane asked. For the first time in decades, he felt genuine fear for his life. Though he was categorically superior to any mortal man, he never thought that he, an adeptus astartes, could be so fallible.

“I wouldn’t dismiss the possibility,” Ulyss replied, choosing his words carefully, “but at your young age, it may not even be noticeable. When you walk the miles I have, you’ll learn to appreciate the calmer moments. I myself have been to the brink and back once, but that was enough.”

Space marines were renowned for their unflinching discipline and wills of tempered steel, but was that alone truly no defense against a genetically inherited curse? Was it just an unfortunate fact of Thane’s, and by extension his entire chapter’s, existence? How long would it be before the junior battle brother would taste this cursed wrath? Was even the venerable Lord Dante susceptible to this affliction?

Ulyss wished not to discuss such a grim topic any further. He decided that just the knowledge of the Black Rage was depressing enough. He would spare the details of the Death Company, brothers who were branded as lost to their curse. Chaplain Talmadge had a harrowing job leading the suicide missions of that company of lost souls. Even withholding this amount of information, Thane still had a lot to think about. He was beginning to see how even a god amongst men could be so vulnerable by design.

---

Back at the rendezvous point for the Thunderhawk extraction, Thane, Ulyss and Delk kept a vigilant eye open for the rescue ship, and the other on their disturbed battle brother. He was being unusually quiet, even for him. Still, he pulled his share of duty and watched the sky in case the rescue party approached from his field of view. The last vox communication they received indicated a pick up time of approximately two minutes. At last, Delk spotted the tell-tale figure of the heavy gunship making its approach, searching for the stranded marines.

“I see it,” he announced as he immediately opened a vox channel to the pilot. “Volaire, this is brother Delk. I have you at approximately twenty kilometers out, azimuth 165 degrees, over.”

“This is Volaire, I see you, brothers. Beginning my descent, over.” All four marines knew that in less than two minutes, their mission would be over. After a brief period of rest, they would observe their wargear rites, wash themselves, rearm and redeploy to their next assignment. Dermek was especially anxious to move out, as he was in dire need of treatment for his condition.

Unfortunately, as soon as aid seemed possible, it was wrenched away by an unforeseen force. Without warning, the approaching gunship was hit. Exactly what with was uncertain, as the only thing clearly visible was a green salvo of what could be either fast projectiles or powerful concentrated energy. Whatever it was, it was powerful enough to punch through the heavily armored fuel tanks and ignite the ship’s fuel reserves with just one hit. From so far away, their feeling of helplessness only grew as the flaming wreck spiraled to the ground. Even though the pilot and the rescue party were surely dead, Ulyss tried in vain to contact the ship, hoping that there was still a slim chance to complete the mission.

“What happened?” Thane asked frantically. Dermek’s heartrate skyrocketed and his breathing got ragged and more anxious than before. Ulyss had no response. He did not want to dash their hopes as his had been, but he couldn’t just stay silent. He wouldn’t need to reply, as the answer came sooner than any of them expected.

The answer came in the form of a shape flying over the tree line to the west. It was not just one, but a large fleet of crescent moon-shaped craft. Each one was accented with the same emerald shade that brought down the Thunderhawk. Their dull gunmetal silver wings were like twin scythes approaching to harvest their very souls. If the changelings’ very presence in Equestria terrified every pony in the town to their very core, then these new foes invoked a fear that was orders of magnitude worse. They were utterly alien, unlike any creature ever seen by any being on this planet, to include the space marines. The fleet moved with military precision, precisely five to a squadron, each formation a chevron exactly 120 degrees wide. Not one deviated from its flight path even slightly. The pony civilians and guards alike panicked and sought shelter, though it would not protect them from what this invading force had in store for them. The Blood Angels had a feeling of unease, but their cast iron discipline kept their feet planted in place.

“Delk, what do we do?” Thane asked Delk. As the most senior member of the squad, it was now Delk’s duty to lead them through the battles ahead. Thinking tactically, Delk wasted no time weighing all the possible options and outcomes, but all he got was defeat at the hands of this new enemy. They had more craft than the squad had remaining rounds of ammo and worse, he had absolutely no idea of the enemy’s capabilities. These could be troop transports, heavy attack vehicles, or even each one a weapon of mass destruction. A frontal assault was out of the question. They could not split up, for it would weaken them beyond their already underequipped force. Delk repeatedly concluded that retreat was the only feasible option.

“Fall back! Get away from them!” Delk ordered. The squad immediately ran as fast as they could wherever was away from the deathly shadows of the scythe-ships headed their way. They had no fallback point, but rather decided to follow the mass of retreating ponies. They seemed to favor one place above all else: the Castle of Friendship at the center of Ponyville. Perhaps it was a sacred place where the faith of hundreds could somehow protect them from harm. Unlikely as it was, the structure was still sound enough to withstand whatever firepower the enemy might field. How long this desperate strategy would last, no one could guess, but it was incredibly motivating knowing that shelter was at least a possibility. “Get into the castle!” Delk said as he changed the formation’s bearing to head to the center of town.

Amidst the screaming and hysterical panicking of the ponies, one small figure was frozen solid with fear flooding her face. She could only stare upwards, completely unable to do anything aside from cower and shiver at the incoming shapes and the stampede of others around her. It was a miracle she had not already been trampled to death by ponies more concerned about their own lives over hers. Whatever possessed Thane to do so, he scooped up the child pony as he charged by her position, saving her from a horde of others all too eager to run for their lives. He held her close as he barreled down the street with his fellow astartes brothers. By virtue of being the biggest beings running, they were among the first to reach the gates of the castle. Several guards had already reached the castle and were acting as ushers and crowd control, herding the incoming ponies into whatever space the castle had to offer for protection.

As the Blood Angels entered, they got some strange looks from the guards, but they quickly returned to their duty. The squad set up a somewhat defensible position near the base of a staircase. Ulyss tried to vox the company battle barge, but could get no response. Dermek had his boltgun at the ready in case anything more aggressive than a fly made moves in his direction. Delk was busy formulating a new plan of action, but despaired at the prospect of having nowhere to go and nothing that could be done against the adversary just beyond the gates of their temporary sanctuary. Thane looked around and watched the deluge of refugees flood the castle lobby scramble to find shelter and rest after exerting themselves running to safety.

It was now that Thane could get a good look at the small pony he had saved in the street just a minute ago. She was still curled up in terror, but now her eyes flowed with tears and she sobbed so heavily it sounded like she had difficulty breathing. Her body was small enough to fit into the palm of his oversized hand. She was so rattled by her recent ordeal she didn’t even notice Thane looking down on her, even if her mane wasn’t partially obscuring her vision. What was he to do with her now? Where he was ultimately going, there was no place for the little one. Did she have family or friends before this? Who should he ask for help?

“Hey, little one,” Thane said quietly, trying to get the small pony’s attention. She looked up slowly to see the scowling helmet of a space marine staring back at her. “Relax,” he told her, “you’re OK.” His reassurance seemed to calm her down at least a little.

“Muffin?” a voice asked from a distance. To this, she had quite a positive reaction. “Mommy!” she cried out as her hears perked up, her eyes widened and focused on an object at the far corner of the room. Looking in the same direction as the small one, he only caught a glimpse of a streak out of the corner of his eye. Following the trail of color back to his hand, the small pony was gone. Further tracing the trail lead to a gray mare with blonde hair now holding the small pony in her clutches. The duo resembled a mother reuniting with her lost child. Both had smiles of boundless glee, tears of joy running down their soft faces. They must have gotten separated in the mayhem.

“Thank you, stranger, thank you so much” the mother said as she turned back to Thane. She had such gratitude and praise in her voice.

“You’re welcome,” was the only response he could think to give.

Her teary eyes could not open all the way, but Thane could tell they were unfocussed. Was that a result of an injury from the panicked crowd, a birth defect, or was she so emotional that her eyes crossed? It seemed to be unique to her, as no other pony displayed this trait. As the mother carried her daughter to the safety of the ground, the small unicorn filly waved goodbye. She no longer wore a face of fright, but one of joy and gratitude, she appeared to approve of Thane. Whatever instinct was guiding Thane, he slowly waved back, giving the filly an even bigger grin of delight. For whatever reason, it felt unbelievably satisfying to behold this sight.

“It’s the Princess!” exclaimed one of the refugees, “And she has the Elements of Harmony!” another chimed in. Looking up to the top of the foyer’s staircase, there stood Twilight and her entourage. She and her friends wore neck pendants reminiscent of a rosarius. Each one was different in design, but they were clearly alike in significance. The only standout was Twilight and her crown-like artifact. In Thane’s mind, it was akin to an iron halo which was even more rare and powerful than the rosarius pendants.

“Listen up everypony,” Twilight announced, gaining everyone’s undivided attention, “Princesses Celestia and Luna are on their way with their armies to repel these new threats,” she announced, calming much of the fear and disorder that had once dominated the room. “In the meantime,” she continued as she made her way down the stairs, “remain calm while my friends and I erect a barrier around the castle.” As she led her fellow element bearers outside to raise the defenses of which she spoke, her horn was already aglow with the preparatory spell to defend the castle and all the people within.

After a few tense moments, a bright azure beam of light shot straight up into the sky and evolved into a dome-shaped shield which enveloped the entire castle in a corporeal-looking barrier. Ponies were once again calm and confident in their chances for survival. However, the more strategically minded, to include the Blood Angels, were looking past this and silently wondering just how long the shield would last before they would be slaughtered by the ever-increasing numbers of ships filling the sky. With this grim thought growing in the back of his mind, Thane returned to his squad mates, hoping they could provide some additional comfort for him. Ulyss was still trying to contact the company in orbit, but his vox caster simply could not reach his space bound brethren.

“They wouldn’t just leave us here, would they?” Thane asked his squad. His helmet hid his face of despair as he prepared to receive the worst answer he could imagine.

“Of course not, brother,” Delk replied as he placed his hand on Thane’s uneasy shoulder, “What’s the fourth core value of the Warrior’s Creed?” Why would he ask me that now, Thane wondered before giving his reply.

“I will never leave a fallen battle brother,” Thane repeated verbatim while simultaneously analyzing every possible aspect, context and hidden meaning for this phrase. He knew the creed by heart, but it took a moment for him to connect the dots. Every astartes warrior knew, lived, breathed and died by this code. His brothers in orbit were still in orbit and they would not leave without him. This set Thane’s fears aside and he relaxed his tense shoulders. Delk could feel it even through his young brother’s thick shoulder guard.

“The Emperor has not abandoned you, Thane,” Delk reassured, “Neither have the Blood Angels, nor I.” The resolve in his voice was almost palpable. Without another word, both warriors knew that they had only to hold out until the rest of the company could break through the enemy lines. They would not be left behind. Thane had all possible faith in his brothers, but despite this, rescue still seemed like a remote possibility. He secretly wished the ponies could somehow help, but despite his liking of them, he still found it hard to trust them to mount an effective counterattack to this new menace looming over them.

---

Far above the ground, much higher than any pegasus normally flew, drifted a massive lighter-than-air troop transport. It was but one of dozens deployed to the Everfree Forest air space. The original intent was to overwhelm the changeling presence with a deluge of air assault troops, but now the situation had changed. The last fragments of the swarm had been crushed by the time they reached Ponyville, but something was attacking them from behind. The generals in Canterlot who got the reports could see the writing on the wall. The changeling swarm was being flushed out of the forest by a greater force. Whatever it was, it was relentless in its slaughter and advance. It was also unified, for the scouts reported such precision and coordination it its movements. Thus, the 31^st airborne division, also known as Celestia’s Angels, took flight and readied themselves for battle.

The soft hum of the engines reverberated through the hull of the airship. An entire platoon of Equestrian Air Guard patiently waited for their cue to spring into action. Every single one of them was a pegasus. Their massive wings only made their musclebound bodies even more intimidating. The ten five-pony squads were lined up to jump out the back ramp, each one packed tightly into the low cargo hold. They would not jump until the ramp deployed and the ramp would not deploy until the unicorns finished their assault from a distance.

There was also a platoon of unicorns from the 75^th battlemage division on board. They were using their magical attacks to try to affect the enemy’s ranks. They were having some effect, for the enemy would not be firing back otherwise. From a narrow viewport, some of the pegasi caught glimpses of green beams whizzing past the ship. This wasn’t the battlemages, their attacks were bright red, violet and blue. Green was not one of the colors emitted by the most powerful attacks the military could field. The spells were highly taxing on the caster, but nothing less than devastating would do for this battalion of battle-hardened soldiers. Besides, they could endure for however long the battle would last. They had magic reserves to rival Princess Celestia herself.

Long before they were scheduled to arrive over the drop zone, the whole ship rocked with a violent shift to one side, then the other, throwing ponies all over the place. The squad leaders were shouting to the other members to reform. The engines whined as they compensated for the structural damage. Metal plates and panels rattled as the dirigible struggled to stay together. In an act of desperation, the pilot decided to unleash the soldiers inside early. Though they were not supposed to drop so soon, the latch on the ramp released, revealing the world from above the clouds.

Ponyville looked like a tiny settlement from up here. The individual houses were indistinguishable, but the landmark Castle of Friendship had already deployed a defensive shield spell. Just above the town was a mass of black and green objects slowly advancing, spreading north and west. Were they some type of bird or a strange craft? The fleet was almost two miles above the ground, so small details were lost on everypony this high up. The only thing that was certain was that they were a threat to Ponyville. The green beams from earlier were still flying around all through the fleet. They originated from the swarm of crescent moon-shaped enemies from below.

It seemed that these strange creatures considered the airborne fleet a threat and fired back, as would any fighting force. They also considered the shielded castle a target as well and bombarded its surface with the same deadly-looking bolts. They could shoot at the soldiers all day long, but when the citizens of Equestria are threatened, anything they do becomes unforgivable. Each and every soldier in the sky now had it in his mind to destroy these attackers so thoroughly that they couldn’t possibly come back for a second round.

The platoon sergeant led the mass of soldiers out the hangar, each one fearlessly jumping out and regrouping with their respective team as they dove at ludicrous speeds. The beams of light were still coming at them, but the individual squads were spread out enough such that the platoon was not just one big target. Each team dodged and weaved to present a moving target for the enemy. Each chevron of ponies was spreading out wider and wider from the main cluster to disperse the enemy fire.

The airship from which the platoon jumped was badly damaged by the salvo of shots fired. The thick canvas of the ship’s hot air envelope had been punctured. The ship could deal with small punctures and holes, but these quickly cascaded into large tears, rendering the envelope useless for keeping the ship aloft. It was clear that this ship could not continue the fight. The ship may not have been rigid in structure, however, but the captain and his crew inside certainly were. The gondola underneath deployed a set of wings for gliding to the ground. The captain ordered the release of the air envelope. As the gondola dropped like a stone in water, it stabilized and began its final duty: returning to its base to be repaired and redeployed. The immense leather sack fluttered away like a discarded paper bag. It was designed to be expendable, for the crew inside was certainly not.

The rest of the fleet unleashed their packs of vengeful Angels upon the enemy, like of a deluge of golden clad rabid dogs, only these dogs were trained killers and defenders of peace. Perhaps it was the glare from their golden armor or perhaps their aim was off, but the Angels were getting through the enemy’s suppressing fire with relative ease. As the battalion neared their targets, each soldier readied a special close combat weapon from their sides. A pair of rending claws enchanted with a powerful destructive spell. With this spell, the razor sharp blades wouldn’t actually be cutting, but rather the magic within the weapons would simply part whatever substance it was stabbed through. The energy field would do all the work and the metal would remain sharp so that even if the enchantment wore off, it was still a deadly weapon for a deadly warrior.

Working in groups of at least five, each team tackled a single craft. The sergeant targeted the most important-looking member of the apparatus: the pilot. The sight of this creature alone would have sent lesser ponies running in terror. It was only a torso, two arms tipped with claws and a tall skull that almost seemed diseased in its life and poorly maintained after death. It appeared only to be composed of bones of a creature not native to Equestria. Whatever magic gave it life must have been malevolent because its whole body gave off an unsettling iridescent green glow. The soulless skeleton and the indomitable section chief locked eyes as the two began to fight to the death.

Every pony else in the squad went hog wild, slashing the wings, any weapons bristling from the hull and the engines which seemed to propel the contraption forward. The sergeant had quite a hard time fighting the pilot. It seemed that this menacing-looking skeleton torso could multi-task, fighting in close combat as well as maintaining control of the ship. The two traded blows for several tense and adrenalin fueled moments that seemed like hours. As the ship lurched to one side, the sergeant noticed that his team had all come together to hack and saw one of the wings off the ship. The pilot took one last futile swing at the sergeant before he jumped clear of the craft now listing heavily to the left. Soon, it spiraled out of control and hit the ground, exploding in a brilliant emerald green, sending debris and fragments of the former ship in all directions. Without even pausing for a moment of celebration, the squad reformed and set their sights on a new target.

While many squads emerged victorious from each encounter no worse for wear, others were not so fortunate. Some of the mechanical pilots were able to overpower the squad, landing a killing blow or having a fellow pilot deal with the assaulting ponies. It was like these machines had a living being guiding them, for up close, they were deadly accurate with such heavy lumbering flying machines. Only a living creature could make such fine judgement calls in the heat of battle, yet there seemed to be no way to explain the behavior of the foes before them. To make matters worse, the flying crafts seemed to be able to regenerate. Those with dents, small scratches and other minor damage could heal and return to their former fighting condition in just minutes.

The green skeleton menaces continued to pour from the Everfree Forest just as quickly as the ponies’ defense forces could destroy them. Canterlot had deployed all of its active duty forces and was currently calling all reservists into action. A few honorable retirees heard the call and donned their old duty uniforms to once again protect and serve, however they could. Beyond Equestria, Griffonstone, the Crystal Empire, even the various dragon clans took notice of the mayhem taking place in the normally peaceful nation.

Regardless of whether they mobilized in self-defense or to come to the aid of an ally, nearly every kingdom, village, territory, tribe, gang and legendary fighting creature in the known land had taken up arms to take part in this unprecedented conflict. In the coming days, armies would clash and grind each other to dust. The very landscape would change before titanic forces. Heroes would be given the ultimate trial, wills would be tested and inordinate amounts soldiers and resources would be spent to reestablish the calm peace that Equestria had enjoyed for over a millennium. The current generations of ponies were largely unaccustomed to armed conflict, but a scant few were trained for just such a climate. They would survive, but as for the rest, big, pivotal questions remained to be answered. Would a thousand years of peace prove to be the complacency that spelled out the Fall of Equestria? How many innocents would pay the ultimate price? What would be lost even if victory could be claimed? Was peace and tranquility now a thing of the past? What would be their fate if they should suffer defeat? The dice had been cast, now the only thing left to do was await the results.

Comments

[dragstormer]

well crud necrons, i honestly did not see that coming. looking back i probably should have but i honestly though chaos since discords a being of chaos.

[FleetlordAvatar]

Necrons...not good. But that might explain the presence of an Eldar, if Equestria housed Necrons that this Eldar might have been guarding them.

8473085
Maybe the Chaos gods find Discord like an annoying cousin, so they just keep away from him.

[dragstormer]

8474707
you might actualy be on to something there. i mean discord is able to manipulte the material world as if it was the warp, thats some pretty insane levels of chaos powers there. and i mean he seems content there so instead of having another rival they may just be fine letting do his own thing. might also explaine why no other chaos forces try to attack the planet they dont want to give discord a reason to come back and be a potential rival. i mean you dont see korn or nurgal manifest in the material world and complelty screw with physics, so yeah someone that powerful might be best left alone.