Derpy Hooves, Ponyville’s own mailmare, stood at the counter in Sugarcube Corner, her crossed eyes pouring over the selection before her.

“Blueberry or cherry? Or maybe carrot?” Derpy wondered as she looked at the muffins arrayed before her. The store had a wide variety of muffin flavours, but Derpy had only enough bits on her for a single one. While she weighed her options, a small filly sat at her feet. The filly was the spitting image of her mother, save that in place of her mother’s wings young Dinky Doo had a unicorn’s horn.

“Mom, come on, I have to get back to school,” Dinky said, prodding the mailmare in the side. “Lunchtime’s almost over!”

“I know, Dinky,” Derpy said, her heartbeat picking up as her internal tension rose. “We’ll get there, don’t worry.”

It was just so hard a choice; so many flavours, so many kinds; how was a mare to choose?

Then a perpetually happy voice brought salvation. “Hiya, Derpy! Want to try out our new Supreme Muffins?”

Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter and Ponyville’s own premier party pony, appeared as though from nowhere, holding a tray of fresh-baked muffins. Derpy gave a great, open-mouthed smile as the warm, delicious smell of the muffins filtered into her nostrils.

“Oh, I’ll take one of those!” she said, hoofing over the bits. Already taking bites out of the muffin, Derpy turned to the door. “Come on Dinky, let’s get you back to school!”

Just as Derpy and Dinky left the building, Pinkie felt a strange but familiar sensation wash over her. It was well known in Ponyville that Pinkie Pie possessed a mysterious ability called the ‘Pinkie Sense,’ which gave her various, often oddly specific, premonitions. While this was most often used to avoid various instances of sudden slapstick, it also played a role in Pinkie’s ability to sense when she needed to prepare a party.

In this case, both uses rolled over her, though in a manner she had never experienced before.

“Well that was weird,” she said, shaking her head to dispel the momentary daze. “It’s like a lot of new people are about to be showing up, which means I need to get a really big party together really fast. But, it’s also like a bunch of really bad things are about to happen.”

For a moment Pinkie sat almost still, considering this strange premonition. Then the oven timer dinged, and she was back in action.

“Oh well!” she said, jumping back to her feet. “There’ll be time to worry about that later. Right now we’ve got a party to put together!”

With that she vanished just as she had appeared, her unique mind already alight with plans for a hasty party.
_____

On the edge of the Everfree Forest stood two ponies and a dragon, the trio taking a quick breather before venturing in.

Twilight sighed. It had been many moons since the Everfree had truly terrified her; regular visits to and from Zecora and the various adventures of the past couple years had seen to that. But there was still something about the Everfree that unnerved the alicorn whenever she had to travel through it. Maybe it was the plethora of monsters which called it home, or maybe it was the way that weather and plants seemed to be their own masters there. Whatever it was, however, it was not something that could keep her from completing the task at hoof.

“Alright, Starlight, Spike,” she said, shuffling her backpack into a slightly more comfortable position. “Let’s get going. We haven’t got all day.”

The trio entered the dark, foreboding forest, each in a slightly different condition. Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship and something of a veteran of adventure, trotted with her head held high, and her eyes warily watching the edges of her vision. Starlight Glimmer, an experienced unicorn mage and former, though now repentant, villain, was more nervous; she had done many things in her life, but the Everfree Forest was a place of dark legend and disturbing myth, enough to leave her wary and just a bit worried. For his part, Spike was, surprisingly enough, unfazed. He had passed through the forest several times over the years, usually in the company of others but once or twice on his own.

For somewhere around an hour they wandered, Twilight’s horn glowing intermittently as she tried to locate the source of the strange magic ripple. At times the trio bantered, though there were times when silence reigned. Thus it was until a small black cloud wafted into their view.

“So, you were all sucked into a comic book? How did that happen?” Starlight asked Spike.

Spike chuckled fondly at the memory. “Well, I bought the comic in Canterlot, and…”

“Quiet!” Twilight interrupted. She pointed with her hoof. “Look, smoke!”

Spike and Starlight followed Twilight’s hoof and gasped as they too saw the billowing smoke.

Starlight was the first to speak. “What do you think it means? Forest fire? Dragons?”

“Zecora!” Twilight shrieked as she realized the direction of the smoke. She vanished in a flash, teleporting several metres before leaping into flight.

“Wait, Twilight!” Starlight called out before teleporting herself. The moment she reappeared she teleported again, and so on, keeping pace just behind Twilight.

“Oh, come on!” Spike huffed while trying to catch up, running as fast as his short little legs could carry him.

Moments later Twilight arrived at the source of the smoke, followed closely by Starlight.

It was not a pretty sight.

The tree that had been Zecora’s home was little more than a smoking stump. Nothing remained of her possessions but ashes. The trees around were in poor condition as well; several were charred, as though they had been set on fire, and several looked dead and rotten.

“What happened here? Zecora! Where are you?” Twilight swooped down to the scorched ruins of the hut. “Zecora!”

“I don’t think she’s here anymore,” Starlight said, slowly approaching her mentor. She took a look around at the carnage. “Wow, what could do this? A dragon?”

“No, that isn’t right,” Twilight said as she prodded the ashes with her hoof. “This is too concentrated. A dragon would have destroyed a lot more than just the hut. Magic, maybe. But who would want to… Starlight? What?”

Twilight trailed off as Starlight prodded her with her hoof. The purple alicorn turned around and was struck silent at the sight.

Twilight had to fight the urge to vomit as she got a full look at the creature. It was tall, easily eight feet in height, and stood on its hind-legs like a minotaur. The general body type was, however, where those similarities ended. What stood before Twilight was an abomination, a monster right out of one of Spike’s comic books. The thing was bloated and misshapen, with putrid green flesh pushing through the many cracks and gaps in its stone-like skin. Its face bore a permanent expression of disturbing contentment, as though the creature were in some way happy to be in its unnatural condition. In its bloated hands the rotten thing carried the decaying remains of a strange box with a belt carrying strange cylindrical objects hanging from its bottom side.

Then it spoke, its voice wet and bubbly, as though a swamp had somehow gained a mouth. “Master! More creatures!”

The rotten thing began to slowly slop its way towards the ponies and Spike. It raised its box and then there was a flash of light. Twilight flinched as something screamed past her head. A second flash flared, and the tree just behind her exploded in a shower of splinters.

In that moment, two possibilities filtered through Twilight’s mind: first, the gut, instinctual response, to flee in the face of unknown danger; second, a response honed over her adventures and training, to respond to an attack with one of her own.

Just a year ago, when she was still just a unicorn, the former response would have won out every time. However, Twilight was now an alicorn princess, possessor of some of the mightiest magic in all Equestria, and an old hand at life-or-death adventures. She had faced monsters that could lay whole kingdoms to waste.

So she attacked. Her horn flared as she threw a bolt of magic at the rotten thing. The lavender beam struck the thing in the chest. The rotten thing grunted and stumbled back, stunned by the blast.

Starlight followed her mentor’s lead and fired off a blast of her own, driving the rotten thing back a step. The two ponies worked together, one firing after the other, driving the rotten thing back with every attack. It was slow and grueling, but it was working; the rotten thing had not been able to raise its box since the counterattack began. Chunks of the creature came loose and fell off, hitting the ground with wet smacks.

Starlight grew queasy as the barrage wore on, the rotten thing and its slow collapse sickening her to the core. It was utterly unnatural; nopony should have been able to survive in this condition. How is this possible?

Such questions were shelved, however, when two more monsters just like the first appeared, followed closely by a menagerie of similar, albeit less rotten, creatures.

Fear seized the hearts of Twilight and her pupil. One creature they could handle easily. Two could be a challenge but was still quite doable. The horde descending on them? This was beyond what either of them were prepared for. They both hesitated, their minds grasping for alternatives.

Somepony spoke, though neither would ever be sure who was the first to react. “Run!”

Starlight and Twilight turned and fled, both vanishing in separate flashes of light, only to reappear several metres away.

“Hey gals, wait up!” Spike called out as he rounded the bend. He stopped for a much-needed breather. “Hey, what’s…”

“Run now, explain later!” Twilight said quickly as she grabbed Spike and teleported again, narrowly avoiding another exploding flash.

The two ponies and their dragon cargo dashed away, their magic allowing them to keep ahead of their pursuers. Starlight sensed more of the strange projectiles flying towards her. Almost without thinking she threw up a magical shield. As the projectiles struck they shattered the shield in a great boom. Starlight cried out as she was flung forward.

“Starlight!” Twilight cried out, skidding to a stop and turning around.

The unicorn scrambled to her feet, a quick shake of her head shoving off the daze. “I’m fine! Keep running!”

Several more projectiles exploded around them as though to accentuate the statement. The mares resumed their flight.

“We have to warn Ponyville!” Twilight shouted. Starlight wasted no breath in responding, giving only a brief nod.

Running to conserve their magic, they both made a beeline for the edge of the Everfree, and Ponyville beyond. They ran with all their strength, not daring to look back for even a moment.
_________

Krev sighed as the ponies and their strange lizard escaped weapons range. As if that zebra escaping hadn’t been bad enough, now there were three more witnesses who might warn the locals of their impending doom. A cruel smile twisted across Krev’s disfigured lips as the next thought crossed his mind. Not that such pathetic creatures can do anything to stop it.

Iphotek walked up beside Krev, his crimson mage’s skirt brushing against his deep blue armour.

“What is it, Son of Magnus?” Krev asked without turning.

“The most fascinating of discoveries,” Iphotek answered. “These… creatures possess psychic powers in great abundance, but they do not draw much on the Great Ocean.”

Krev raised an eyebrow.

“It is a long explanation, and one you would not be able to appreciate,” Iphotek said. “But suffice it so say that I can sense when others are accessing the power of the Warp, and I sensed but a few ripples too weak to account for what we have witnessed here.”

“It is of no concern to us,” Krev said with a shrug. He gestured with his Power Claw, silently ordering his war-host forward. With his free hand he pointed towards the edge of the forest. “The village you sensed is there, is it not? Even if these creatures are psychic, their fear proves they are no match for us.”

The Chaos warband strode out of the forest, their destination at last in sight. Krev smiled as he caught sight of the ponies who had just escaped his grasp, running to the village, screaming warnings to any who would listen.

“Come now, my brothers!” Krev turned to his men. He raised his Power Claw to the sky. “Let us teach these fools the Truths of Chaos!”

An array of battle-cries resounded through the warband, but the strongest of them was the cry of the crimson-clad zealots. “For Lorgar and Chaos Undivided!”

“Now march!” Krev ordered, drawing his combi-plasma and pointing it at the town below. “Descend upon them and wreak havoc in the name of Chaos!”

Krev stood still for a few moments as thirty warriors of Chaos surged past him. Most of them were slow and steady in their advance, a testament to the faithful discipline of the Word Bearers and the cost of Nurgle’s blessings to his Plague Marines. The Berzerkers, however, had neither discipline nor rotten limbs, and so tore across the grassy fields with abandon, screaming to the skies.

“Blood for the Blood-God!” came the battle-cry. “Skulls for the Skull Throne!”

Close behind the Berzerkers were the two Noise Marines Krev had gathered to his cause, each carrying their signature sonic blasters. Both were shaking with anticipation; things would get loud soon, and their jaded senses would at last be able to know pleasure again, if only for a brief time.

Iphotek stood at Krev’s side, gripping his sorcerer’s staff tightly. He spoke, saying, “Lord Krev, a word.”

“What words matter now save the Holy Verses of Lorgar?” Krev said, taking a step forward to join his advancing host.

“These words,” Iphotek replied, grabbing Krev by the shoulder and pulling him around. “The Prophecy my Father wrote is coming to fruition. ‘To paradise they will descend, and Angels follow in their wake.’”

Krev’s features remained unmoved. “I know the Crimson King’s words well, sorcerer. What of it?”

“I have sensed a ripple in the Warp,” Iphotek said. “They have followed us here, through the hole we made in the Warp.”

“You mean…”

Iphotek nodded grimly. “The Blood Angels are here.”