A new faction

by Rub3r0n

The Dark Age: The Days of Pain pt.2

*Small disclaimer before starting the chapter:
Sunny's appearance is very different from MYM. She doesn't only have meaty horn and wings, she's also taller, almost as tall as Twilight was in The Last Problem. Her mane is ethereal too. Her coat and hair colors are still the same (rainbow lock included) and the feathers of her wings are red and yellow.

---

The sound of constant footsteps resonated with the ground. A sybarite, leader of one of the drukhari squads, approached the door, the one leading to the chamber of her Archon, Shalos Grieux, a somewhat cocky and arrogant guy (even by Eldar standards), but surely someone to fear. His tortures were fascinating to witness, or so she had heard.

The dark eldar finally entered, finding a dark room, she could barely make out the incubus acting as guard. In the center, on top of some steps, was a "throne" that the Archon had wanted to have. He had his back to the sybarite, he was pointed and tall, very elegant, plus the pieces of green skin, veins and deformed faces really gave him a touch.

"My Archon," She bowed. "I must inform thou that, despite being repelled by incoming Mon-Keigh reinforcements and that the losses and casualties have been greater than expected, our raid on these inferior beings has been a success. We have captured considerable quantities of new slaves, and due to the unique characteristics of the species that inhabit this planet, many of our warriors have already come up with very creative ways to enjoy their suffering," The drukhari could not hide her macabre smile, what's more, she seemed proud. "Some have even tried some of them on the streets of the Mon-Keigh settlements. I personally can't wait to get back to Commoragh to get started."

"Good," The voice echoed from the other side of the throne. To the sybarite it seemed more... less grave, but that didn't have to matter to her, surely it was nothing. "Send some ships back to Commoragh with the half of the captured slaves, the rest of the fleet stays here, I still have plans."

"My Archon..." She trembled. "I'd never doubt of your great take of decisions, but I don't think that would be a good idea. This kind have a great psychic power, and we surprised them now, but if we attack when they're prepared..." The drukhari tried to express her concern without seeming disobedient or traitorous, in her opinion, she was not doing very well. "I'm sure that as cautious as you are, you must imagine how that could end badly for us."

"Oh. There must have been a misunderstanding," The voice now seemed actually feminine, without the deep gravelly tone of Shalos, also somewhat... playful? funny? Something was wrong."You think Shalos still sits here, well, he technically does," The Archon's throne turned, bringing the drukhari sitting upon it out of the shadows. "But he is too unwell to give any orders."

The drukhari who revealed himself was not Shalos Grieux, but one of his Dracon, Khailara. In her right hand she carried the severed head of the previous Archon, using it as if it were a puppet and moving his features from within to make him make "funny" faces and gestures. The sybarite felt uncomfortable with the behaviour of the... Dracon? No, she was the new Archon now, she had overthrown the previous one by proving herself superior, that kind of thing was not unknown among the members of the Kabals, there's a reason in Commoragh you can't trust anyone. But still, she reminded her a little of the typical "jokes" of a harlequin.

The sybarite looked more closely at Khailara. She wore the ancient armor of Shalos, although deformed to fit her body and stained with blood. Her smile was mischievous, and her gaze was focused on her toy, whose incredible pain could be tasted just by looking at her empty sockets. It was not for nothing that Khailara had always been known among the members of the Kabala as one of her best torturers, although too impulsive and over-confident.

"Welp! As for your questioning about my orders..." Khailara addressed her sybarite severely, with a deceptive smile and almost brilliant emotion. The eldar's spine shook for a moment, not knowing what was going to happen. "Doesn't matter!" She continued sinisterly happy. "However, it IS a good point, the psychic thingis..." Khailara put a finger to her lips, emulating a thoughtful pose, after what she snapped her fingers with a response. She turned to the foodie and cheerfully replied, "Don't worry! It seems like they're pretty limited in that, they just throw those little rays and so on, bluahg..." The Archon gave a hip movement before sticking her tongue out in a gesture of disgust. "Besides, we are eldar! We surpass them in every way. We just had such a great success now, be a bit more self-confident!"

Slowly, the new Archon approached her servant, with slow but constant and equally elegant steps. She crouched down to the height of her head and raised one arm. "Now be a good girl and bring me our Haemonculi friends, I'll like to talk with them about... work," She said, giving a few pats on her sybarite's head.

Before the sybarite could respond, Khailara grabbed her face tightly with his sharp nails, scratching the flesh. "By the way..." She whispered. "I REALLY DON'T RECOMMEND YOU TO CONTRADICT ME AGAIN. EVER," The sinister and strong tone filled the air with threats and the pressure was very noticeable.

Then the Archon gave her servant a quick and soft kiss on the forehead. "Okay byeeeee!" She exclaimed with a repeated wave of her hand in a cheerful tone that clashed with the previous threatening atmosphere. Khailara stood up and turned toward her throne, walking toward her with an animated dance. She jumped up and sat down, making the throne spin around and around.

The sybarite was already heading towards the exit when her leader called her again. "Oh! And also bring me some slaves and a straw! I'm thirsty," she complained childishly.

---

The communications that the drukhari horrifically considered "entertainment" continued to echo through the radios. The Equusians had had to resort to an ancient letter-sending spell to communicate.

As for the search for those pale aliens, it was going badly. They had used all available means to locate them, but the only thing they had learned was that they were hiding in a network of tunnels and caverns in a mountainous area to the southeast of the planet (a network that was impressively large for a natural phenomenon). Although they found the ruins of a Raider crashed and split in two by a strong explosion. Metal remains belonging to Todarius Bond had been discovered, so it was believed that he had detonated a hidden self-destruct device. His sacrifice would be mourned, along with the sufferings of all the victims.

But there was someone who knew the truth, that the equusians couldn't find the Drukhari. At least not before they decided to strike again and unleashed the horror again.

Terror knew.

He managed to convince the rest to let him fortify a city, gathering ALL the forces present there to fight the drukhari. This city was Plainlod, located in a vast and empty steppe, making surprise attacks impossible. Plus, they would only have to defend one city, which would allow them to prepare incredibly well and give the Drukhari a hard time.

"The Drukhari will head here, soon or after, but it will be in not too long. However, this time WE are prepared. Our artillery rises, our ships keep watching, our defenses will give them nightmares, and our soldiers will fight with such bravery that-"

"Actually, they say they don't want to fight."

"Wha-WHAT?!" Terror turned to his recent new assistant, the last one was killed during the first drukhari raid, or he hoped so. She was an abada called Laun, with a great sense of humor, apparently.

"Yeah. They say, and I quote 'We're not crazy enough to go fight the masters of eternal torment.'" She explained.

"Ugh," Terror realized. "What cowards!" He shouted. "I mean, don't they want to... revenge the fallen?! Aren't they angry and furious?! Don't they want to free their hate against those pain-lovers?!"

"Aaahhh... I wasn't here, but wasn't it that hate, anger and the desire for revenge led to several defeats against the orks and, ultimately, did not bring us anything good?"

"Nooooo," Terror snorted. "Getting carried away by hate, anger and revenge and losing control in the battlefield led our troops to great mistakes and failures," He explained. "But those feelings are still a great source of motivation and strength that should be used correctly."

"Anyway, they say we should just bombard them with our greatest bombs and launch missiles."

"..."

"..."

"I see how that might seem like a good idea, but it's actually very stupid," Terror announced, indignant at the ineptness of the idea. "Tell me Laun..." He approached his assistant, his brow boiling with fury. "Have you ever seen an Ork ship?" He asked. Laun shook his head in denial. She had arrived in S.T.-s after the war against the orks. Terror then proceeded to make some gestures with her hoof, as if tracing a figure in the air. "They're big, clunky, and slower than our missiles. Plus, the orks liked a good explosion, so they didn't actively try to dodge them," Terror continued. "Now, think about one of those Drukhari ships, they're small, fast and have shields. If we throw something at them, they'll probably dodge it or it won't do anything to them," He finished.

"Uhh-" His assistant hesitated, trying to say something before this time, she was interrupted.

"And don't even start with the 'accelerating bullets with super speed, as well as ships' thing. That. Is. STUPID! You know how much damage that would cause if it goes wrong? An explosion of that magnitude would be catastrophic!"

"Whoa..." The abada seemed confused, but she understood her boss's reasoning, even so...

"What?"

"Well... you know you have this great reputation for being intimidating and scary. But now you seem like just a guy irritated because he thinks everyone else is a bunch of fools."

"First," He answered rising his hoof. "They are. Second, I am scary. On the battlefield, to distract our enemies. Now there's no necessity for that."

"But yeah. It irritates me. Because they say things like that without thinking. If they don't fight, I bet we lose. If we lose, they capture us. And if they capture us, we'll all wish we'd died on the battlefield."

"Oohhh...." Laun realized. "OH NO."

"Exactly, haven't you heard the retransmissions of their tortures?" Terror asked.

The assistant shuddered at the mention of those things. "I... I don't think I have the stomach for that."

"Anyway, go tell the soldier what I just told you," The umbrum continued. "Or I'll have to go there myself, and THEN I'll be scary."

---

Terror's strategy was followed and all equusian forces gathered at Plainlod for the fight. Everyone was ready and willing to give their lives if necessary (after a "talk" with Terror).

Finally, their ships were seen in the sky, Venoms and Raiders approaching to Plainlod, unleashing a shower of dark light from his dark lances, only for his shots to be stopped by a huge magical protective shield, which Sunny Starscout, along other 20 powerful magicians summoned to defend the city.

Then the cannons and turrets arranged at the edges of the shield began to attack the drukhari ships, firing volley after volley of explosive projectiles and magical spells. The soldiers were not far behind either, and they fired again and again with their weapons trying to take down the drukhari. Some ships also went down enough to defend the city, although they were lacking of the same protection as the equusian settlement, they were located further away.

But of course the dark eldar had plans to counter the magical shields, a wonderful idea from the new and more daring Archon of the Kabal.

On the inside, the group of magicians and sorcerers led by Sunny continued reinforcing the shield, although the task was arduous and it was increasingly difficult to stay on their feet, they had to continue with all their strength, or one of their greatest advantages would go to waste.

Sunny watched the group, each creature giving their best effort, sweat ran down their foreheads and she could see how their muscles were trembling, already 3 of them had fallen limply to the ground. They were still unaware of the situation outside, only that the attack continued and so should they.

But then, something big hit the shield, they could feel it. They didn't know what it was, but they knew it was dangerous. The noses and ears of some of them, whether unicorns, kirins or centaurs, began to bleed. Sunny began to use even more of her alicorn magic to maintain the shield, but after a while continuing to endure the pain, with her being the last one standing in the room, her last defense, she too gave in. And Plainlod was left at the mercy of the drukhari.

What the sorcerers in that chamber did not know was that it had not been the drukhari who brought down the shield with their advanced technology. No, it had been shattered with equusian magic, magic that came from outside and inside.

The drukhari had deployed not only the usual Kabalite warriors, but also hundreds of twisted monstrosities, their flesh presented horrendous mutations and unnatural growths, they were connected to metallic devices that bombarded them with drugs and other prohibited substances. These... thingswere none other than the victims of the drukhari. Equusians who, after being kidnapped and tortured, had been victims of the Haemonculi, who had turned them into those monsters called Wrat, crazy because of the pain and vomiting blood.

They had retained their magic, so they transported Drukhari troops into the shield, damaging it both inside and out until a final, devastating attack brought it down.

Killing orks was one thing, they were war loving aliens, but this... The dark eldar had once again demonstrated their infinite cruelty. Not only did they continue to broadcast at full volume the even more brutal torture of other creatures that had not yet been transformed into beasts, they had ensured that the beasts would retain their faces. Faces that did not reflect at all what those disgraced souls felt. Each and every one of them begged for death, but their faces seemed to beg for life. When a soldier saw them,...he simply could not shoot from deep sorrow.

I love their morality, it makes their suffering so delicious. And their deaths sooo enjoyable.

This caused the drukhari forces to advance further and further, taking considerable portions of Equusian terrain and also leading an attack on the ships. In fact, the fact that the settlement did not fall was because the combat drones (bless those things) continued doing their job, while many soldiers stood frozen in horror.

This was until Terror grabbed a megaphone and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"EVERYCREATURE STOP BEING SUCH A COWARDLY BUNCH OF STUPIDS AND KILL THEM ALL! NO MATTER HOW SORROW YOU FEEL FOR THOSE PLEADING FACES, THE ONLY WAY TO SAVE SOMEONE OF THE PAIN-LOVERS IS TO KILL THEM! GRANT THEM THE FINAL REST OF DEATH AND END THEIR ETERNAL TORMENT! NOW MOVE! THERE'S STILL SPACE ELVES WE MUST ELIMINATE!"

Of course, this didn't cause an instant reaction, but no one could deny that he was right. So the battle continued fiercely.

---

From elsewhere, more volleys of fire and ammunition were being fired at the Drukhari forces, which was damn difficult. Imagine, having to hit a moving target, not very large and at a great distance. The ships had descended as much as they could to help, but even then, they had to stay at a looooong height.

The Drukhari, for their part, had not ignored these aerial reinforcements, and decided to board the ships. A squadron of Kabalite warriors led by an incubus disembarked from their vehicles on the bow of Murderships Nightmare, accompanied by several Wrats. Among them, the largest of all, a prey that had been captured by the leading incubus.

Thunderwill had been a victim of the unspeakable tortures of the dark eldar, who tied him to their cubed giant, Thunder Jotnar. His flesh was fused to metal and circuitry, his bones shattered and his organs contaminated with machines and foreign substances. The dude managed to resist the torture good, demonstrating incredible, but not invincible, will. In the end he gave in, and the erratic movements, attacks and screams he made were proof. Not even a hero like him was spared.

But they found the ship's crew, out in the open, waiting for them and ready to fight to the end. Led by their captain, Volkano, who came to consider Thunderwill a good friend. It made him very sad to see him like this, and that's why he would release him.

The drukhari and equusian soldiers rushed madly into battle, ignoring any instinct for self-preservation. Cannons from other parts of the ship, usually pointed outward, fired across the deck, ignoring any damage that might be done to the ship and concentrating on the drukhari.

In an unexpected act of skill, Rousseff, the ship's cat sub-captain, managed to end the life of the several members of the squadron, although before dying they were able to poison him with one of his crystalline weapons. The incubus was finished off when it received a direct hit from one of the cannons, which unfortunately also took out the 5 crew members who were holding the dark eldar motionless. The rest of the Kabbalistic warriors and Wrats also fell until only the bestialized cubed giant remained.

The duel that followed between Volkano and Thunderwill was largely destructive, governed by silence and tension. The giant mecha screamed non-stop from the pain, letting himself be carried away by madness and throwing blow after blow like crazy. Volkano, on the contrary, remained silent, no longer making jokes or talking like he did at the beginning of the campaign. He dodged and dodged each of the cubed giant's punches, flying or jumping from side to side as he blasted his fire breath at him and unleashed lethal projectiles from his twin pistols.

But clearly, even if he dodged all the punches and sword blows, Volkano would not be able to take down his opponent, who was after all several times his size. The only thing that could really damage it was the shots from Murderships Nightmare's cannons. Although in a moment of distraction, Volkano took the opportunity to burn the cubed giant, causing it to burn without stopping, to which he seemed not to react at all.

But he did. He got even madder and crazier.

He charged Lightning Strike (which was grotesquely attached to the rest of the cubed giant), causing it more pain again, and slammed it into the ground, causing a large wave of electricity that drove away all nearby creatures. He took advantage of this to grab Volkano by the neck and repeatedly slam him into the ground. Finally, he got another hand on his wings and began to pull. He pulled and pulled, making the dragon scream, until his bones broke and his scaly wings separated from the rest of the reptile.

Volkano looked barely standing at the enormous Wrat, who pointed the magic cannon of his left hand at him. That same weapon was used to greatly weaken Plainlod's protective shield and would now take down the Murderships Nightmare captain surely destroying the ship as well.

What he didn't know was that Thunderwill still had a bit of sanity inside his head. Those damned dark eldar had made sure to use special chemicals that would take away the minotaur's ability to be driven from reality by madness, but his body would still act like any other Wrak's, forcing him to see.

Thunderwill had always wanted only to bring peace, just as his grandfather had taught him when he was a child. He didn't even care if he enjoyed that peace, just knowing that he would have it was enough for him. But now HE was a threat to peace, wreaking havoc and problems that OTHERS would have to solve. He. Didn't. Endure. That.

After much fighting, Thunderwill managed to regain control and divert the cannon. Just for a moment, but enough.

The laser slammed into the ship, causing huge explosions and spreading flames, also practically cutting off part of the ship. But it left Volkano intact, who leaned on his four reptilian legs and ran until he was behind the cubed giant. With a powerful blast from his pistols he managed to push him enough to make him fall into the large crack he had created, sinking into the fire and falling into the void.

However, despite the pilot's best efforts, Murderships Nightmare was falling towards the planet due to all the damages.

---

The central fortress of Plainlod, a bastion against the invading forces with a large tower in the center, rising several meters above the ground... was under attack. Several Drukhari warriors had managed to enter, although not soon after, every light in the building went out, and a shadowy monster began to slaughter any Eldar that stood in its way.

This was Terror, who was advancing through the fortress alone (he really likes going to the battlefield alone, don't ask). He had armed himself with a powerful arsenal that consisted of: a belt with various grenades strapped to it, a powerful assault rifle that fired round after round of magical rays, a few knives, and a sturdy (and heavy) shield. In addition to his "neck" hung a pair of glasses, or something like that, this was an artifact that the Umbrum had developed and that was meant to increase the power of his spells. Spells, which, being black magic, caused great devastation. (By the way, since the Umbrum are creatures of the shadows, they are not actually negatively affected by the use of this magic, which is also the only one they can use, so no strange mutations or voices in the head)

He fought his way through the pain-lovers that infected the fortress, using his smokey body to easily dodge their blows. Some he locked up with magic or petrified, and others he simply killed. Sometimes he would encounter too many drukharis to fight, if he too could not escape then he would use the "glasses" on him, petrifying everyone instantly, although this left him incredibly tired.

At one point he encountered a surprisingly skilled Kabalite warrior, whom he managed to imprison with dark crystals. The Umbrum really enjoyed monologuing with his enemies and making them feel terrified (or at least trying to), which he hadn't had the chance to do since the Drukhari attacked Green Hell a few days ago, so he decided to try it on his prisoner. The Drukhari are very brave, so it was not an easy task, but he finally thought he could make the alien feel a bit of fear. He was slowly petrifying him while, the eldar scoffed, belittling him for a quick death, but Terror decided to explain that he would do exactly the enchantment for him.

"Contrary to your beliefs, you damned degenerate, this spell will not end your life. I admit that it would be very satisfying, yes, but it is not what I want. In fact, I find you quite inspiring! I like my enemies to fear me, and torturing those you capture is a very effective method, but I consider all the excessive pain so barbaric... I have developed another way, for you specifically! When I finish turning you into a pebble, you will still be conscious, but you will see nothing, you will hear nothing, you will taste nothing, you will smell nothing, your touch will be useless, it will only be your mind and you, facing nothingness, forever. I know your kind love sensations and excess, so what better way to torture you than by taking all that away?"

After finishing off that space elf, Terror continued on his way, reaching the Wave-teleport cannon. A devastating weapon with brutal destructive capacity. The cannon was not the weapon itself, but rather its ammunition. Wherever it was aimed, the cannon would teleport a huge explosive that would destroy everything in the surrounding area.

It had been placed in advance in case the drukhari gave them a surprise by bringing a larger ship, but luckily that did not happen. Terror targeted a specific area of ​​Plainlod. Most of the raiding forces were gathered there and he was certain that the head of the attack was also there. If we manage to eliminate it, the battle would be practically won, because what would happen next would be"
A) The drukhari retreat and leave the city.
B) They kill each other trying to be the new boss.

Unfortunately, the shot would also take the lives of many soldiers, but he could not waste this opportunity. Terror quickly prepared to fire and...

"ERROR. REQUIRES OF A SECOND HIGH-COMMAND MEMBER."

Terror screamed internally and cursed himself for allowing them to do something that, being such a dangerous weapon, could only be activated by TWO creatures with sufficient authority. Desperation began to eat away at him, so much so that he couldn't think of anything else to do, until he saw a golden glow cutting through the air. A mare that flew from Raider to Raider, killing its crew and destroying the evil vehicles. The hope. Sunny StarScout.

"SUNNY! SUNNY COME HERE! SUNNY! SUNNYYYYYYYY!!!"

After screaming loudly some more, Sunny finally seemed to hear his friend's screams and flew towards him. As soon as she arrived, Terror told her the plan and why he needed her, but Sunny refused. She would not sacrifice the lives of his soldiers, betting instead on distracting the drukhari so that they would stay there while they evacuated the area.

"Bit that's impossible!" Terror shouted. "You can't get the attention of ALL of them. And even so, if we evacuate, they will notice and flee!"

Sunny took a firm step with her hoof, appearing determined in front of Terror.

"Don't leave me with an option I don't like..." Terror asked her, broadened his shoulders and rose into the air, his eyes fixed on Sunny and taking on a more intimidating shape, ready to pounce on the alicorn.

"I will NOT shoot that," She answered. Before Terror could do anything a golden bright surrounded Sunny, disappearing with a teleportation. The umbrum observed as the alicorn flew over the city, moving away from the cannon and heading right to the area he was going to shoot.

"You're going to get yourself killed!" He shouted. He shook his head in frustration before raising an eyebrow. "Ha... as if that actually matters."

---

Sunny was tired.

Not exhasuted, but tired.

She had spent the last few hours taking down drukhari after drukhari, showing zero mercy. For them. For her soldiers she was a beacon of endless hope and salvation, every time they were in danger, Sunny would appear, cast magic, save them from whatever was threatening them, and leave. To do the same thing over and over again.

She was hurt, of course, but one thing you should know about Sunny Starscout is that as long as she doesn't give up, she's going to continue to be a serious problem for you. And she NEVER gives up.

However, she had one main target she was searching for, the Archon. She knew Terror was right when he said that if they took out the head, the body would die, and that's why she was going to kill that degenerate with a bigger hat. Every time she met a drukhari she asked him: "Where is your leader?" On a way so menacing that would make Terror proud (if it weren't for the fact that according to him Sunny was being an idiot).

Finally, she found who she was looking for.

With just a hidden hearing of a Drukhari calling another "Archon" and knowing that this would be the Drukhari leader, he rushed into battle without thinking, at an extreme speed at which he learned to go millennia ago with Zipp.

She tackled the female drukhari, protecting herself with a magic bubble and leaving behind some grenades as a gift for the remaining drukhari and other strange creatures.

The onslaught caused both of them to pass through multiple buildings, but only one took damage from it. Then Sunny performed another teleport, causing both of them to appear many meters above the ground, but separated. The Archon was several meters above Sunny when she began to free fall.

Without wasting a second, the Archon spun in the air and aimed its blaster pistol at the alicorn, firing again and again without stopping. These shots were dark light, and could severely damage someone's retina if they were viewed directly. But Sunny was a millennia-old alicorn with incredible power. A few little lights weren't going to hurt her. She defended herself instead. Dodging the shots in the air or blocking them with shields and slashing energy blows that manifested when her wings flapped.

Sunny continued dodging, she just had to wait for the Archon to reach the ground. Khailara had another idea. She coiled her agonizer (a whip-shaped weapon capable of causing excruciating pain on contact, burning nerve receptors) into the top spire of a building, altering her trajectory. Various elegant acrobatics and somersaults followed, leaning on the walls to slow her fall. Upon reaching the ground, although she did not emerge intact, at least she hadn't died.

Soon Sunny also landed, raising a large wave of dust all over the place and coming face to face with the Archon, who proceeded to introduce herself.

"You look nice," The drukhari complimented her before extending her arm with her hand open. "Glad to meet you," She then put the hand on her chest"Khailara. Archon of the Kabal of the Long Jailers. Could I discover who you are?"

"Sunny Starscout. Sub-representantive of ponies and alicorn of hope. Besides your end," Sunny replied dryly.

"Hope... That is ultra dead in this galaxy. Like... totally," Khailara put her hands together while smiling. "Welp! Now I'm going to kill you."

Khailara lunged at Sunny like a predator lunges at its prey. Preparing her agonizer to deliver a lethal blow and finish off the pony. But as she approached, Sunny's eyes began to glow gold and sparks and lights began to flash from her alicorn. She frowned and gritted her teeth, launching a powerful dome-shaped wave of magic that spread across the plaza and sent the Archon backwards, who only let out a scream at the impact with a wall.

"You aren't the first to think that." The alicorn mocked.

Khailara recovered from the blow and stood up, raising her head to look at Sunny as she endured all her injuries. As fast as she could she aimed her blaster pistol at Sunny. "But I'll be the first to do it."

Sunny instantly hit the ground with her front hooves, which glowed with green magic. Large, thick, strong trees grew at impossible speeds, completely surrounding the alicorn and acting as a barrier. The shot of course vaporized the trunk of the tree she hit, forcing Sunny to reinforce her barrier by growing more plants around her.

Khailara was confused for a moment due to the pony's strange "psychic powers", but continued shooting. Sunny knew that the plants could no longer withstand the explosions caused by the dark light and she decided to change her strategy.

She summoned her axe and began to spin around, using her telekinesis to wield the weapon, which cut the plants from their base impeccably. Then Sunny lifted the logs and vines with her magic, spinning them at high speed, creating a small tornado of logs.

Sunny extended the radius of the tornado, causing it to grow closer to Khailara and threatening to drag her down. The drukhati tried to avoid it as much as possible, but there came a time when she simply had no room left. Not even her great agility was enough to get through the whirlpool and the logs rammed into her, bouncing her from one to another until she fell back to the ground.

"I think you would be the... third? Maybe fourth." Sunny replied to the previous commentar of the drukhari with a confident smile, looking at the fallen drukhari. This, of course, confused Khailara even more, but she hadn't time for games. And much less after being swept away by a log tornado. (Although it's not like receiving so many hits displeased him. You know, they're drukhari.)

The Archon stood up once more, ready to continue the "fight", if you could call it that way. Just then Sunny grew a new vine. It enveloped Khailara from her feet to her shoulders and immobilized her limbs.

The plant lifted Khailara and slammed her to the ground, causing her to let out a scream, not of pain, but rather of excitement and pleasure. The vine began to tighten more and more, exerting great pressure on the eldar's body, who blushed a little and bit her lip with a sickly pleasant look. "Mmhhhh... hot."

Sunny stared at the bound eldar with a look of shock, disbelief, but above all, disgusted and furious."Whata fu-AAHHH!"

Her curse was interrupted by a single blaster pistol shot, that ended up at her right shoulder and that damaged her neck with the explosion.

Khailara had managed with great effort to press the trigger of his weapon, which had been left fairly free of the vines. It didn't take long for her to free herself from it and stand up as Sunny fell backwards and screamed in pain. Blood flowed from her wound and she could see the bone and the semi-burned flesh.

"Ts-ts-ts. You should carry more armour," The drukhari reproched her.

That was true, Sunny only wore protectors on his hooves and joints, but he still exposed a large part of his body. (She always hated wearing armor. It itched a lot.)

With pure evil in her eyes and an irresistible desire to take maximum pleasure in causing pain to this unbearable little mare, Khailara approached Sunny, stomping on her back and causing her to scream again in pain.

Khailara pulled out a small knife and grabbed the alicorn's long horn, using the blade as a saw to cut it off. The pony could do nothing but scream as her horn was destroyed, though from the base of it on Sunny's forehead, powerful sparks emerged and potent magical rays were summoned. If they were aiming at her, they would have destroyed the Archon.

"Come on, don't cry," Khailara whispered, watching the tears of suffering well up in Sunny's eyes. "I told you I would kill you. And even if I hadn't, you think killing me would end the raid? Even so, you think we're the worst in the galaxy?" She asked sarcastically. "Poor, innocent fools.This galaxy is a place that burns in the incessant flames of war and where hope is..."

The drukhari laughed vilely as she spoke those words, lashed out at her enemy with her agonizer, causing her to scream in pure pain, and raised her pistol for one last shot.

"D E A D."

BANG!

---

The alicorn slowly opened her eyes, tired and sore, it was a voice that finally woke her up.

"Hi Sunny," The voice said.

"Ouch..." Sunny, still in pain, opened her eyes completely, seeing that she was in a strange but familiar place. It looked like a sparkling, azure blue space, with stars and lights floating around and giving a feeling of beauty and magic.

"Hey, hi," She answered to the entity the voice came from. This creature was difficult to describe. It was a skeleton, what exactly? Well, that's the hard part. It wasn't a pony, dragon or diamond dog skeleton, but all of them at the same time. An appearance that represented every creature of Equus at the same time. The entity was covered with a black cloak that gave it a mysterious air and a large scythe floated at its side.

"Sorry, everything hurts right now," Sunny apologized, she usually woke up faster when she went there.

"Yeaaah... this time it has been more..." The entity showed an expression of disgust and indignation with its non-existent facial features. "Anyway, " It broke its pause. "What has it been now? The last time they were bees." The entity laughed, just a bit.

"Come on! They were hundreds of millions of killer bees, you can't blame me for dying from THAT!" Sunny complained, remembering her most humiliating death. "An alien." She lowered his head and responded

"One of those?" It doubted. "Hhhmm... they're taking a lot of lives, aren't they?

"Yes they are," Sunny answered bothered. "Do you go for them too?"

"Nahh. Their souls are very weird and there's already something sucking them when they die. That will be their recollector," It concluded. "I only take equusians."

"Good to talk with you, but I have to go back now," Sunny raised her hoof on one of her shoulders, pointing behind her as if pointing to an exit. "The battle's still on," She explained.

"Understandable."

"Let's chat more the next time." The entity suggested.

"Of course! Although I hope it isn't soon," Sunny joked.

"Good bye."

---

Khailara was already walking away from Sunny's dead body when a very powerful purple light hit her back. She turned around, surprised and a little worried. That Mon-Keigh was dead, right?

She saw that, where a corpse previously lay roasted by the dark light, now stood a large purple five-pointed star surrounded by a tail that flashed blue and more purple sparks around it, all surrounded by an imposing golden aura.

When the light began to shoot, Khailara was shocked to see the same alicorn in front of her. With a frown and a slight smile, wings spread and horn and eyes shining. It also seemed that a powerful glow emerged from her side and the necklace she wore around her neck did not stop shaking.

"Impossible!" She shouted. "I killed you!"

"Indeed you did," Sunny answered. "But I told you. You aren't the first."

Khailara knew that it would no longer be worth trying to kill or capture this Mon-Keigh, her priority had to be escape. For this he pulled out a curious and exotic device that he had been saving for a time of need. A clone image. This device would project holograms clones of the Archon that would be indistinguishable from the original. They would give her time to escape.

The clones appeared everywhere and Khailara prepared to escape, but watched in horror as Sunny's heart-shaped necklace opened, releasing a... rainbow? The multi-colored beam swept across the square, annihilating the clones at overwhelming speed. Finishing with them she went to the dark eldar and wrapped her in her magical embrace, immobilizing her and placing her in front of Sunny.

The alicorn looked first in surprise at her necklace, and then with some annoyance. "Oh really?" She asked with an inquisitorial look. "THIS is a situation of greater need than when they were killing me?!" Sunny huffed and calmed down. "You work in a very strange way, necklace."

Sunny raised her head again, glaring angrily at the drukhari trapped by the rainbow. "You said that in this galaxy hope is dead, but when does hope die? When you have everything against you and things only seem to get worse?" [color]She held up a hoof and shook her head. "No. Hope only dies when you give up," she stated firmly. "And I NEVER give up." (And she's the alicorn of HOPE, so you can see how this works, right? It's the most near thing of an equusian perpetual.)

"Maybe in a battle things will go wrong, but if you give up, rest ASSURED that they will go wrong. Maybe you will lose, but at least you tried, and this way you show the universe that no matter what it throws at you, it won't be able to dominate your spirit."

Khailara couldn't believe what she was hearing, was this Mon-Keigh so innocent and gullible? That optimism and blind hope was not going to help them survive, it would only make them weak and kill them. The Archon yelled this at the alicorn (more in an attempt to buy time and not die than anything else), to which she responded:

"Not when that optimism and blind hope give you the greatest strength of all. With which you can overcome any adversity. When we have problems, we also have confidence and courage to face them, creativity to find a solution, kindness and hearth for those who have suffered, and all motivated by the hope of a better tomorrow. One without you." (Plus, they could LITERALLY turn those things that make others weak into super powerful rainbow lasers that desintegrates their enemies.)

The light emerging from Sunny became more and more intense, and the drukhari could feel her skin slowly burning. In a last desperate attempt to survive, she revealed to Sunny the truth of her species, their curse. She told her EVERYTHING about how Slannesh devoures the souls of the Eldar and tried to trick her, telling her that they didn't enjoy torturing other creatures, and that they would love to make friends, but they had to torture, or IT would devour their souls!

Sunny gave the eldar adrk a cold, blank look. She knew of course that the drukhari was trying to deceive her, but she also knew how to recognize the truth in her words about that demon Slaanesh.

"I have clearly seen how you, disgusting monsters, take great pleasure in bringing pain and agony, suffering and torture," She spat out the words in disgust, before giving the ultimatum sternly. "I can think of no better punishment than to put you on the receiving side. Say hello to Slaanesh for me."

Khailara was vaporized by Sunny's magic while with her last strength she hurled curses and insults. Until she sensed the monster that awaits all of her kind.

---

And that's it.

That's how the drukhari raid to the equusians went.

Terror was right. When the rest of the drukhari found out that Khailara died, they stab each other in the back to try to get the power. Until the rests of the Kabal had to flee and return to Commoragh. They never came back and no one really knows what happened with them. Maybe the Kabal was dissolved, maybe they went to raid other planets, maybe they're still planning a revenge. Time will tell (or will it?).

The remaining equusian forces gathered to recover. So I will give you a small summary of the situation.

• A great part of Plainlod was destroyed and the casualties were great too.
• Murderships Nightmare was destroyed, although his captain and great part of the crew handled to survive. Other ships were also damaged, and several support ships were taken down.
•The only "good" thing. Working together, Gorval and Construct managed to "rescue" some slaves from the evil hands of the Drukhari. Why hadn't they been taken to Commoragh? Why didn't they turn into Wrats? That will be important later. Especially for Gorval's sister. Although he was reprimanded when she learned that she had left some of the hostages behind to get out faster and not confront the drukhari.
• Psychological consequences. Yes, you can imagine. (Therapists are going to need therapists aaaand get rich at the same time.)
• Congratulatins! Now the equusians are definetely xenophobic! They won't trust anything coming from space after 3 DIFFERENT species tried to kill them during their first 5 years out in space (15 if you get technical).

After the raid, Sunny Starscout met Terror again and although she did not expose him for what he tried to do (the full weight of the law could fall on him), she made it very clear to him that something like this would NEVER even cross his mind again. Or he would have to face the consequences.

And so, with the total control of S.T.-s, an uncertain future due to the darkness of the galaxy and believing that there are no more threats (they forgot about the tyranids), the equusians were finally able to have a time of space tranquility.

For now... MUA HAHAHAHAHAHAAAA! AHAHAahahaHhahahaA! [more evil laughter] JAJAJUJUJU! AHHAHAUGHUGHUUUUUUHHH! [some intensified crying]

[preparing a dragonballesque scream]

KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!( vahr)

Author's Note:

With this the Dark Age ends, I hope you have enjoyed these chapters, and if there is anything you think can be improved, I would greatly appreciate it if you shared it, all criticism is welcome! As for the future of the story, there is going to be a change in how I tell it, since I think that other way will be better, more similar to the script of a video from one of those channels that explain things to you about lore, but still I'll try to keep it exciting. It may take a while (I also admit that writing this chapter has taken longer than I thought), but I hope you enjoy these future chapters as much as I enjoy making up these stories!

PD: If you see any grammatical mistake, say it! :) Thank you.