I Blame You, Too

by Whitestrake

Porn Stars and Legal Prostitutes have a Union

$%$%$% Taylor's POV $%$%$%

My armor registered ambient temperatures around negative ten degrees Celsius. To be fair, it was the dead of winter in the Empire; Cadence had never synchronized her empire's season's with Equestria's. The others were prepared for the frigid winds, but Amos and Dahl were still wearing their regular clothing, which, might I add, was meant for more temperate environments. They shivered as we made our way into the palace, not needing guards to look out for us. None of the locals would be outside during the night.

The Inquisition did not maintain a Temple in the Crystal Empire because they were our allies during the war, though we did have a small force present at all times. That force was a single griffin by the name of Jacques, who I fought against and alongside. I called him the Ripper as a joke during our battle because of his rather unique choice of weaponry. He had lost his bird-like talons as a chick, and had fully mechanized prostheses; at some point, another griffin had decided they were going to use magic sword to enhance his talons' ability to cut. Yeah, apparently they gutted a scavenged power weapon they found lying around an rigged the field generators to rest somewhere inside his palms.

He almost killed me, but we eventually had to call it a draw. Then, the next day, he just showed up in our camp and declared he defected to our side.

“I never liked this place,” Jay said, lugging his gigantic suit through the hall. He was, oh, about nine feet tall in that thing, and capable of lifting a truck. He actually sat in the chest compartment and let hydraulics and servos take care of the rest. The entire rig was piloted via game controller.

“At least you have a heater.” Chrysalis was shaking worse than anyone else, even though she had the most cloth wrapped around her body; changelings weren't very endothermic, so they only barely survived anything below forty degrees Fahrenheit naked. Local changelings lived in underground catacombs kept warm by the hot springs the Empire had grown famous for. Given we were in the area looking for genestealers, that was probably our best bet, to be honest.

“I haven't been to the Crystal Empire in months; I hope Shining and Cadence are doing well.” Twilight hardly bothered to shake in the brief moments we were outside; being an alicorn, she had the natural cold resistance of a pegasus.

“Darling, I'm sure they're fine.” Rarity, well, I'm actually not sure how to define how she'd changed over the ten years I'd lived in Ponyville. She still reads the same trashy romance novels she always has, but she's become a little more, shall we say, predatory in her search for a partner. She's probably the only cougar I've ever met who was in her thirties. “Things are peaceful here.”

“Yeah, it's not like this is the Russian winter we're talking about.” I was only saying the crystal ponies weren't a hardened people because of their lack of warmth and wonderful climate; they had plenty of that in the summer. None of the ponies understood what Russia was.

“Let's just get underground and sort this out in the morning.” Chryslais looked like she was ready to crawl in a warm, damp hole in the ground to escape the cold that somehow permeated the outer halls of the Crystal Palace.

$%$%$% Amos's POV $%$%$%

I sat on a small bunk in a dugout, cleaning my lascarbine. I took the liberty if cranking the powerpacks to full charge, even though I preferred to charge them on solar energy, but, I was in a cave. The insect ponies, Arachni and Chrysalis, were queens, or at least fulfilled the same role in changeling society. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of smaller drones bustled through the labyrinthine catacombs below what much have been the Crystal Empire's capital city. Taylor hinted at something involving a hive mind that kept them organized, like the Tyranids.

Each and every one of these changelings was a shapeshifter, and was connected to the hive mind, most likely led by the queens. But, again, Taylor kept saying things that made me think he was, in some way, connected to the massive collective. Perhaps he was, being a psyker, but I've also heard the horror stories about the unfortunate souls who tried to tap into the Warp when fighting 'Nids, so how was he unaffected? I asked Dahl as much, hoping he may have an answer.

“Sorcery of some sort, I'm sure,” Was all he said as he went about cleaning his heavy stubber. We had about six hours until sunrise, so we spent it performing weapon-cleaning rituals and resting without actually sleeping. Both of us took a stim shot to keep us awake and alert. “I'm more concerned with how he plans on taking care of these genestealers.”

“You aren't even the least bit curious? I mean, the man was asleep ten minutes after we came down here; he didn't even talk to this Chorion character.”

“We do not do the Emperor's work to understand heretics and xenos but to destroy them.” Dahl was a very pious man, and often prayed to the Emperor for guidance. Delphine didn't mumble her litanies as much as he did, and she claimed to the most faithful.

“I still do not understand why you're so certain Skully is in league with the Ruinous Powers.” Really, the man had done plenty for us, so why not at least hold off on accusing him of crimes he may or may not have committed. This wasn't even about the xenophilia, because Dahl didn't know beyond doubt, but about Taylor actually worshiping Chaos.

“I never said he is with them, merely that he is a heretic.” Yeah, here comes the the boss's explaination about his stance on heresy and Chaos worship. You'd be surprised how often this sort of thing has to be thrown around. Seriously, I wish you could have heard his justification of using Kroot mercs. “He does not praise the Emperor, which makes him a heretic; he also, as far as we know, does nothing to benefit the Dark Gods.”

“Except, in your mind, the two are exactly the same.”

$%$%$% Taylor's POV $%$%$%

It looked as though I was sleeping, but, in reality, I was merging part of my consciousness with the changeling swarm that surrounded me. Thousands of eyes, ears, hooves, and wings sent their sensory information through my brain, and it was only by the grace of my armor I was able to survive the onslaught. I could count exactly how many individuals made up Chorion's brood. It was a... powerful sensation.

So far, there had been nothing out of the ordinary in the last six months. Human traffic was the norm for this time of year, with only twenty residing within the walls, and no spikes in number. None of them were giants, either, but it always helped to look at every aspect. I could not draw up an exact image of the humans, but I was sure to find them around the city eventually. There seemed to be nothing strange about them, at least at first thought, which was good.

However, on that coin's opposite face, there were a total of eight kidnappings in reported today. This was the sort of thing I needed to talk to Cadence about come morning, as well as devising a method to gather the locals into a stadium or something like one in order to search their minds. Then they would have to stand still as every last infected pony was killed, and that was only if they could all die at the same time, otherwise, innocent ponies could get hurt.

Cadence would be tough to convince.

Author's Note:

You are now noticing this chapter and the previous one are the same length

Comments

[G S tol Kriaal]

crawl in a warmth, damp hole

I don't think you want that "th" there

but I've alos heard

You may "alos" want to fix that

[Inrix]

Lol...

[Whitestrake]

2632818 You realize I already answered what a genestealer is, right? Chuck Baleigh already asked.

[Cobra of England]

You think this chapter and the last one being the same length is creepy?

In my English assessment, every page had exactly 215 words on. And there were four pages. Wierd.

[Whitestrake]

2633017 Not creepy, just sort of odd. Back during the original, one of the chapters I posted had one word less than the previous. I thought it was funny because someone had complained about chapter length on the longer of the two.

[Cobra of England]

2633767

Heh. It might have been because of how I write.

And also, Chaos isn't actually black on the morality scale.

It isn't evil per se- the cultists are just crazy but the CSM are fairly logical and don't just kill maim burn (unless they're dedicated to Khorne)

Take the Word Bearers- they're just the Dark version of the Imperial Church. Or the Blood Gorgons, who led a feral world out from the Imperium and actually improved it. Or the Dark Mechnacius, who -gasp- actually do research, unlike their Imperial cousins.

If the Imperium wasnt so oppressive, people would have no reason to turn to Chaos- it offers a way out from the oppression.

[Whitestrake]

2633869 Dark is all in how you perceive it. The Imperium is a stagnant cesspool of corrupt government, oppressive bureaucracy, religious discrimination worse than anything on Earth today, and a number of human right's violations most people can't even comprehend. It is not without its good parts, however few they may be, and neither is Chaos.
Chaos, by definition, is the antithesis of stagnation, except for Nurgle. Hell, each of them has their own good charcateristics listed. Khorne has honor, bravery, and mercy; Tzeentch has knowledge, hope, and change; Nurgle has love, mercy, and survival; Slaanesh has pleasure, music, and perfection. Chaos and the Imperium both have their ups and downs, and way more downs than ups.
I have opposition to both of these, but, given the choice... I would head for the nearest Tau world and never look back.

[Chuck Baleigh]

'Nids? Hm, sounds close to the nickname I've given my cat. Regardless, what are they, and why is it bad to tap into the Warp while fighting them?
Also, is the Emperor God or something?

EDIT: Oh, and that video was funny.
What exactly was the marine wearing in it? Looks bulky and hard to move in.

[whizzball1]

I wonder what they'll think when they meet Discord.

-Spirit

[Razzy]

... That's the most metal griffin ever. And amazing that griffins can build stuff like that.

I now imagine him as a griffin Jean Reno.