A Thousand Son in Equestria Part 15 (Heresy in Grey)

>Time seems to slow for you, as it always does when in battle with Loyalists.
>As Celestia's headless body topples to the ground, you are already in motion, diving off of the parade float before the Knights can fill it full of bolts.
>As you predicted, the two melee weapon bearing Knights lift their arms and send a solvo of storm bolter fire flying at you, which you quickly block with a kine-shield.
>You rip chunks of stone from the street and hurl them at the Knights, trying to keep them from turning their fire on your friends.
>The Knights dodge the hurled stones near effortlessly, the Justicar even batting aside one stone with his sword.
>The Psycannon toting Knight raises his weapon for another shot, but flinches when a shrieking voice destroys his concentration.
>"SISTER! WHAT HAVE YOU....WHY ISN'T SHE...."
>Luna's utterances break off into feral growls, and darkness clouds the float as the Princess draws the night around her like a shroud.


>With a roaring shriek, Luna lifts up off the float and charges the psycannon-holding Grey Knight, lifting him off of his feet in a cloud of shadows.
>The Knight responds by firing bolt after bolt into the shadows and Luna's body, before abandoning the weapon and simply punching her.
>Luna shrieks in rage and agony, and the Night Mare and the struggling Knight soar off over Canterlot's skies, a shrieking battle-cloud.
>Leaving you and your friends to deal with the other two Knights.
>Two more than you would ever want to tussle with on your best day.
>Grey Knights. Creatures out of Chaos' darkest nightmare. Their bodies were inscribed with potent runes that made them immune to all but the most powerful of sorcery, and each of them was a psyker in and of themselves.
>You were a dead man.
>But you would die fighting.
>A Knight wielding a force sword charges his way towards you, his wrist-bolter spitting out bolt shells at high velocity. You harden your telekine shield and desperately hurl stone after stone at his advancing form.
>The Justicar watches his brother approaching you, moving to join the battle before a cupcake, a muffin, and a rock imbued with a purple aura slam into his helmet.


>The Justicar whirls and turns to face Pinkie, Twilight Sparkle, and Derpy.
>You can only watch in desperation as he lifts his halberd and strides towards your friends.
>You are too preoccupied with the sword-wielding maniac at your face.
>His blade flashes out like lightning, strikes aimed at your head, your arms, and your chest.
>You block them with brief flashes of telekinetic power, staying on the defensive, trying to trip him up so you could distract the Justicar from killing your friends.
>You pay for your distraction when the Knight in front of you cuts a groove into your helmet and draws blood from your eye.
>You stagger backwards as the Knight advances.
>"What's wrong, Heretic? Has your service to False Gods so unmanned you that you quake at the prospect of death? One wonders how the Emperor ever had faith in your kind."
"This one wonders how the quality of the Emperor's servants has fallen so far. I've fought Guardsmen with better sword form."
>He roars and lashes out with his blade, and you cross your arms, catching the strike on another kine-shield.
>You can't afford to worry about your friends right now. You've got your hands full.


>The Justicar charged at the three xenos still on the....parade float. The purple one must be a witch, so it had to die first.
>"You killed the Princess, you monster! Why!? What did we ever do to you!?"
>Words were wasted on the corrupt.
>The Justicar lifted his arm and sprayed the xenos with a quick burst of storm bolter fire, watching in satisfaction as the bolts slammed into a quickly erected purple kine-shield.
>Good, this would not be boring then. Purple bolts of magic flew out of the shield at the Justicar, sliding off of his armor like oil over water.
>He leaps onto the float, bringing his halberd down and around towards the shield.
>His blow shattered the field like a brick through glass, leaving the stunned purple unicorn vulnerable to his oncoming halberd strike.
>As his blade descended, the Justicar payed scarce attention to the pink xenos at his side, even as it pulled a large knife from it's mane.
>And jammed it into the cables of his power armor.
>The pain was a pinprick, at worst, but it surprised him enough that it gave the purple one time to recover.
>A flash of magic envelops the purple and pink xenos as they teleport away.
>The Justicar curses and turns to follow them, but a grey hoof taps him on the shoulder...
>....And fills his world with agony.


>A Pariah. Here, among these creatures?
>The Justicar cursed as two grey hooves slam into his helmet, doing little physically, but filling his mind with pain.
>Not so much pain that he has forgotten how to act.
>His arm comes up, moving in a silver-gray blur, as a mailed fist slams into the flying pegasus as his side.
>It croaks in surprise and pain as it is hurled to the ground by the Justicar's blow.
>He turns and leans over it, bringing up his halberd for a killing blow.
>"Your filth will be purged from this world, xenos. The Emperor wills it."
>As he brings the halberd down, a roaring noise fills his ears.
>Moments later, a massive, burning, daemon....scooter? slams into him, hurling him away from the fallen pony.
>A hiss of agony fills his ears as the daemonic pony riding the scooter contacts his wards.
>He gets slowly to his feet, spotting three daemonically corrupted horse-xenos in front of him, standing protectively over the fallen gray Pariah.
>"YOU AIN'T "PURGIN'" NOTHIN WHILE THE CHAOS CRUSADERS ARE HERE, JERK. WE PROTECT THA WEAK."
>The red one finishes her speech by lowering her head for a charge at you, followed up by the scooter-riding one and a burning white one.
>The Justicar spins his halberd and charges to meet them.


>You smile as you feel the Chaos Crusaders enter the fray. You hoped to Tzeentch it would be enough.
>The Knight lashes out with his blade again, and you weave to the side, jabbing at his head with a telekinetic thrust.
>It slides off of his wards like water, and you curse as he closes in on you, his blade dancing through the air around you.
>"Is this all the vaunted Traitor Legions can muster? A weak Sorcerer on a backwater xenos world, tricking the locals into worshipping him? Pathetic."
>His blade scores a cut along your rib-plate, and you curse, before lashing out, giving him a solid punch to the helmet.
>The blow rocks him and stops his ever-dancing blade.
"Better than a Chapter of deluded fools, tricked into worship by a corpse on a golden toilet."
>He roars and resumes the assault, his blade flowing like quicksilver as he struggles to score a hit on you.
>"Speak not his name, heretic! I am the hammer! I am the tip of his spear! The gauntlet about his fist!"
>He punctuates each word of the speech with a blow from his blade, scoring cuts on your chest and legs.
>"I am the end!"
>He lifts his blade and brings it down for an overhand blow on your head, his own weak warp-power flowing along the sword in a wave of white fire.


>As he lifts his blade and gathers his strength, you pool warp power of your own.
>Warp energy supplements your reflexes and strength, putting your entire body in it's own zone of 'warp-time.'
>You warp reality around your right hand, more than tripling it's mass, and agitating the molecules in your armor so that it seems as if a fire springs up around your arm.
>You red-armored hand burns with warp power, and you lash out just as the Grey Knight brings his blade down.
>Your fist slams into his helmet's chin, and the reckless uppercut staggers him, knocking him off his feet with the force of the blow.
"I am not a hammer."
>He regains his footing, and you slam your burning fist into his chest, crumping the ceramite with the warp-infused blow.
"I am not a tool. Nor a servant. Nor a slave."
>He brings his blade around for a swing, and you catch the nemesis force blade with your burning hand, ignoring the pain that flares in your warp-infused fingers as they bleed.
>He struggles to complete his swing, even as you struggle to hold the blade back.
>He brings his other arm up, storm bolter pointed at you, even as your free hand slams into his face again.
"Here on Equestria, slave of the False-Emperor, the only title granted me..."
>His bolter lowers from the staggering blow, and you grab his arm with your burning hand, before turning and slamming him into the ground.
>The paved road cracks from the force of your throw and the weight of his body, leaving a shallow crater where he impacted.
"...Is friend."


>He roars and struggles to rise, until you slam your knee onto his chest and kneel over him.
>You rain blow after warp-powered blow onto his helmet, denting the ceramite and cracking a blue eye-lense.
>You beat the Grey Knight savagely, exalting in the sense of power that flows through you at that moment.
>Warp energy, both the clean energies of Equestria, and the dark powers of Chaos, mix in your mind in complete harmony, granting you a sense of psychic strength you have never known before.
>The Knight's struggles weaken as you rain punches on his helmet, neck, and chest, until he lies insensate beneath you, too battered to move.
>You rise, breathing heavily, as you feel again the wounds he dealt you in your brief combat.
>You could kill him now. He lies there, weak, helpless. Another of your hated enemies.
>No. Your friends have taught you better than that. You concentrate, and the stone beneath the battered Knight flows like water, trapping him up to his neck in a cocoon of rock.
>A quick tug of the warp sends his nemesis force blade into your hand, and you turn, scanning the battlefied for more foes.
>Which gives you full view of the Justicar driving his halberd up to the hilt in Applebloom's neck.


>You watch in shock as Applebloom staggers backward, fire flowing from the wound in her neck.
>The Justicar takes another step forward, and his halberd lashes out again, this time across Applebloom's armored back.
>Fire envelops her like a shroud, and she shouts in surprise as warp energy envelops her, before exploding in a blood red aura as Applebloom is banished to the warp.
>Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo draw back from the Justicar, terrified and confused, as their friend disappeared.
>Scootaloo is first to act, lashing out with a ferocious buck that tosses the Justicar backwards even as it burns her hooves.
>She snarls and starts to go after him...
"Scootaloo, no!"
>She turns her skull-face to look at you.
>"ANON, WHA-"
"No. Let me...let me handle him. Get....Celestia's body to safety. She didn't...she wasn't banished like Applebloom. She can come back. Get the other ponies. Get them away from him."
>"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, LIKE APPLEBLOOM? WHAT ARE Y-"
"Explanations later! Get Twilight, Pinkie, Derpy, and Celestia's body to safety. Sweetie Belle, help the Princess. I'll handle this b-this jerk."
>Sweetie Belle nods. She already knew what you planned on doing. She also knew what happened to Applebloom.
>The two daemon ponies gallop to their tasks as the Justicar got to his feet, supporting himself on his halberd's haft.
>You raise your new sword and march towards the Knight.


>His helmet turns to look at the trapped body of his battle-brother, before looking back at you.
>He laughs.
>"You managed to slay a neophyte, did you, heretic? Good for you. So prideful you would send away your daemonic aid, eh? Makes purging you traitors even easier."
>He gets to his feet, lazily swinging his halberd through the air.
"He'll live. I cannot say the same for you. You just banished a child to the Warp. A daemon-child, but a child nonetheless."
>He seems even more amused at this.
>"What worth are children, Heretic? Their only value is in what they might become, and the daemon-tainted child of a xenos race is destined to become nothing but a corpse at my hands."
>You put your conversation with Pinkie at the back of your mind and wall it off. There will be no mercy here.
>You lift your hand and hurl doombolts at the Grey Knight, shrieking blue-black beams of dark energy.
>He ignores them, running straight towards you, halberd held low, relying on his wards to negate your magic.
>Which leaves him wrong footed when the first doombolt detonates on his chest and stops his charge in its tracks.


>It's not enough. Not nearly enough of the magical destruction you were used to. But it would have to do.
>Bolt after bolt slams into the Knight as you walk up to him. The purple explosions stagger him, sending him to his knees as you pour your hatred and cold, clinical anger into your magic.
>As you close within striking distance, the missles morph into a continuous stream of warpfire, dousing the grey knight in the substance until his armor glows white hot and the ground beneath him sizzles with heat.
"Die already, you deluded bastard. Die, and be forgotten!"
>"My faith is my shield, heretic. Your magics will not stop me."
>He slowly begins to rise, arm upraised against the stream of warpfire.
>You growl in anger, slamming the force sword into his shoulder before releasing it and casting with both hands.
>The force of the blow sends him back to his knees.
>You double the output of the fire, putting all of your hate, all of your sorrow, and all of your rage into your powers.
"Die, damn you, die! Die for what you did to her! Die, and may the Gods rend your soul to pieces!'
>He seems to curl in on himself as your magic pours over and past his wards. Oath papers on his armor burst into ashes. Inscribed prayers melt away as his armor liquifies and runs over the words.
>Yet he still lives. The Knight lets out a roar of rage and swings his burning arm.
>You feel a brief pain, and look down in surprise as you spy his force halberd, the blade piercing your stomach until it emerges from your back.
>"You...first....Traitor."



>Your warpfire dies away in a flicker as you feel your legs weaken underneath you.
>You sink to your knees, gasping in agony as the pain from your impalement floods in.
>You stay there, half kneeling, half standing, as the force halberd holds you upright, it's haft resting on the ground.
>The Grey Knight eyes you from his kneeling position, his armor still melting and running from the intense heat. He gasps for air as he boils in his suit, struggling to castigate you.
>"Such....is the fate....of all traitors...of all witches....of all who ply their sorceries beyond the Emperor's sight...your soul is d-"
>Both of your hands spring up, and you grasp his runny helmet beneath your red hands, ignoring the heat of his melting armor.
"For the love of the Gods, shut the fuck up."
>You concentrate, channeling warpfire, doombolts, and warp lightning in a conduit between both of your hands. The raw Chaos of the warp fills the space beteen your hands, and the space between the Knight's ears, overloading his barriers.
>His head detonates between your hands in an explosion of blood, warp energy, and melting metal.
>His armored torso remains in a kneeling position for a few moments before crashing to the ground across from you.
"That's....that's much....much better..."
>You cough, blood running from your lips before congealing.
>You grasp the force halberd embedded in your abdomen and heave, straining as you tear the weapon free.
>The pain wrenches at you, and you collapse on your back before tossing the blade aside.
>Your vision swims, and you feel blackness tugging at your consciousness, before you spot the familiar colors of pink, purple, and grey making their way to you.


>The pink blur moves closer as the other two hang back.
>Pinkie walks up to you slowly, undisturbed by the gore coming from your stomach.
>"Anon? You can live through this, right Anon? You're tough, aren't you? You got tosses through a palace wall and came out okay. A measly cut to your belly isn't enough to get you down, right?"
>Their are tears in her eyes, and she's nudging you gently as she looks at the gaping wound in your stomach.
>You feel death's grasp, and you know that this will be the end.
"Pinkie...Pinkie I need you to be strong right now, okay? I need you to keep...to keep the others grounded. This...this isn't over yet. Applebloom....I have...I have one pony left to save."
>She's crying now, beating hooves on your stomach, while Twilight and Derpy watch tearfully from a distance.
>"Stop talking like that, Anon! Get up! GET UP! I've seen you walk away from worse than this! Get up and walk! Don't let those grey meanies do this!"
>Her eyes narrow and she turns to look at the Grey Knight you trapped in stone.
>You don't like that look.
"Pinkie! Stop it! Remember what we talked about! Don't sacrifice that! Don't you dare, not for revenge, not for anything. When Luna...when the Princess is done, you give him justice, the pony way. Not the Astartes way."
>She looks back at you, still crying, but that murderous glare is gone.
>You hold out a hand, and she puts her hoof in it, crying.
>You smile sadly beneath your helmet, and turn your gaze to the sky. There's still one left to save.
>Warp energy gathers deep in your body, in your soul, sparking along your body and in your eyes.
>With a mighty psychic heave, your soul tears free of your body, and you ascend into the Warp, your goals clear.
>Not even in death does Friendship end.