”...-other? Brother, can you hear me?”

You slowly become aware of yourself as a voice persistently calls out to you. The ceremite armor encasing your body begins to hum as it comes alive. The blackness of your helmet gives way to light as your heads-up display activates, thousands of lines of diagnostic readouts scrolling by. Finally the code stops and your sight is filled with roiling madness.

Suddenly you remember. The eldar, the battle, your wounds, your possession... It’s then that you remember the direness of your situation. Apophis’ spell failed! The daemon turned it against you and expelled you from your own body! But if that was the case then why are you still possessed of your body? Too many questions with too few answers circle your min-

”Brother!”

Your musing is cut off as a pallid face fills your view. The flesh is pale, the eyes are sunken and yellow, long locks of wispy white hair frame the haggard face lined with worry. It takes you a moment to get over your surprise, who is this? Why is he calling you broth- Yet again, information comes flooding back into your mind as you look up at the newcomer. You recognize him instantly.

“... Melkor?” A fierce grin splits your brother’s pallid features as you voice his name.

”Brother! You’ve survived! I’ve been looking everywhere for you, you know!”

With a grunt you roll over and push yourself to your feet, noticing for the first time the baked, red ground you stand upon. Once you get to your feet you give your brother a once over, he looks no different that when you saw him aboard The Dong of the Soul Eater.

“Brother... is it truly you? I thought you lost in the Warp!”

”Your stupidity never ceases to amaze me, Morgoth. Where is a traitor more at home than in the Warp?”

“What... did you just call me?”

Melkor cocks his head to the side curiously. “Did you hit your head? That’s your name, you idiot.”

“Is it? I... do not remember.”

”Well that’s what you told us it was when you came back from Istvaan III wearing old Saul’s skin.”

“To be honest, brother, nothing in that last sentence made any sense to me.”

”Slaanesh, you must have gotten banged up worse than I thought. Come, walk with me while we talk.”

Melkor about faces and starts to walk away and you sprint up to him and fall into step beside him.

“Alright, we’re walking, you gonna explain this to me or what?”

”You really don’t remember anything?”

“I remember quite a bit, but a few things feel inconsistent now that I think on it. Though my name is completely absent.”

Melkor lets out a long suffering sigh. “Am I really going to have to give you a fucking history lesson?”

“How long has it been in the Warp for you since the accident aboard the ship?”

”A few decades. Why?”

“Because it’s been barely a week in the Materium, and I tell you right fucking now, I’ve been through some fucking shit. There was a war, the Disco Marines showed up and I smoked some weed with that one sergeant that we always fight with, the dark eldar showed up too and cut my fucking arm off, and there were these two daemon-princesses that were totally into me too. Oh, and there were ponies, ponies everywhere.”

”Have you been snorting warp dust?”

“No more than usual. Now, I think after going through all that I’m entitled to a few answers. Now if you’d kindly just-”

”Did somebody say warp dust?!”

”Oh fuck.”

“OH FUCK!”

Before the two of you now stands a being out of your darkest nightmares. Clad in silvered armor that sets your skin to smoldering just by its proximity stands the single being in this universe or the next that sets fear into even the daemon primarchs.

“OH SWEET SLAANESH IT’S KALDOR DRAIGO!” you shout, panic lacing your voice.

Your brother just sighs in annoyance.

”Oh, yes yes yes yes, have you got any warp dust?” the Grey Knight asks.

“... Warp dust? Why would you want that? The only people who snort warp dust are heretics. And Matt Ward most likely.”

Your question is followed by a loud snorting sound as a line of purple dust disappears from the Grey Knight’s storm bolter into his ventilation grill. Then he just stands there for a moment and stares at you.

”I like your horn.” he says suddenly.

“Thank... you?”

You turn to your brother and, even through your helmet, you’re sure he knows the look of utter confusion written upon your face.

”You know Draigo, I’m sure Kar’voth over there has some warp dust for you.” Melkor says, pointing to a bloodthirster off in the distance checking its watch.

”Ah, excellent! Thank you, talking unicorn!” he says.

”No problem, definitely no need to kill me, right?”

”Sorry, can’t hear you! Purge you later, heretic!”

You just watch dumbly as what is likely the most powerful human in the entire universe sans the Emperor himself sprints off to go accost a bloodthirster for drugs.

Melkor turns to look at you again. “And you think you’ve seen some shit?”

“Well now I have.”

”That’s pretty regular around here, you know.”

“Wonderful. Now please tell me what the fuck is going on.”

”Ugh. Alright, fine, I suppose I owe you that much. Where should I start?”

“You said something about Istvaan?”

”Yes.”

“Then start there.”

”Dark Gods, are you serious?”

“That’s where I turned to Chaos, it’s a logical starting point.”

Melkor raises an eyebrow. “Turned? How could a daemon turn?”

“Daemon?”

Melkor stops in his tracks. ”You don’t... know what you are?”

“What does that mean?”

”... Perhaps it’s better I show you, then.”

Lightning claws extend from your brother’s gauntlet and, quicker than you can follow, he plunges them into your stomach. You stumble backwards, pulling yourself off of the blades and clutching at your stomach, unable to believe what your brother just did. You look down in a panic to assess the damage. But instead of blood flowing from your midsection, pure, roiling warp energy floats out, billowing gently in an unfelt breeze.

You look back up to Melkor is disbelief. “Brother, what is going on?”

”Something rather strange, I think.” he replies, moving onwards again.

“You’re damned right it is! If I’m a daemon why don’t I remember it?”

”Could be that curse the Fateweaver put on us. I’m sure getting cut off from your god would cause some serious shit for a daemon. And you did start acting a little weird after that, anyways.”

“Well then why do I look like I did back in the Materium?”

Melkor shrugs. “Probably because that’s what you envision yourself as. You’re a daemon and this is the Warp, you can be anything you want here.”

“Are you a daemon?”

Melkor let’s out a barking laugh. “I wish! I’ve been after daemonhood for millennia!”

You look down at your hands. “Daemonhood... well I can certainly say this comes as something of a surprise. Can’t wait to tell Celestia.”

”Who?”

Daemon-princess from Pony World.” you say as if it were obvious.

”Ah. Of course.”

"So I’m a daemon. What now?” you ask.

”You’re certainly taking this very well.” Melkor remarks.

“Oh no, I’m just in shock right now. I’ll probably start freaking out any minute.”

”Of course.”

“But until then, I have a few more questions.”

”Ask away then, brother.”

“Is the rest of the chapter still alive?”

”Aye, they all survived. The same can’t be said of the human crew though.”

“Does the curse still persist?”

”Not anymore!” Melkor says, proudly.

“You broke it?!” you exclaim.

”Not us, no. But we found someone who could.” he says with a toothy grin.

“Who?” you demand. “Who could be powerful enough to break such a curse?”

”That, my friend, is a surprise. You’ll find out soon enough.”

“Well then will you at least tell me where you’re taking me? All I can see is desolation.”

Your brother stops suddenly. “Here.” he says.

You look around. Nothing has changed. “We’re going here? Somehow this isn’t really what I had in mind, my love for desolate, unchanging wastelands aside.”

Melkor chuckles again, resting a hand on your pauldron. ”No brother. I’m taking you home.”

Before you can respond the world... falls away. Everything cracks like broken glass and just shatters, falling away into the void.

“...Huh.”

”Wait for it.”

“I’m waiting.” You don’t have to wait long. You look down and notice a small point of light below you. “Is that what I’m waiting for?”

”Wait for it... waaaaaaaait...”

The spec grows and grows and it takes you a second to realize that it’s actually getting closer. When it comes into focus more you’re able to make out that it’s a...

“Is that a planet?”

”Wait for i-”

“Gods damnit I AM waiting!”

The planet speeds closer to the two of you. You enter the planet’s atmosphere and you make out a sprawling city beneath you. Jagged towers rising up into the air like knives, structures belch multicolored smog into the roiling sky, and a great palace of gleaming crystal sits right in the middle of it all.

You strike the ground and incredible speed but feel no impact. A glance around the strange place almost makes you think your brother had taken you back to Commorragh. Not that you wouldn’t enjoy that, mind. All around you a multitude of humans is varying states of mutilation all freeze in their tracks, eyeing the both of you in almost reverent awe. As one they all drop to their knees in supplication, many screaming praises to Slaanesh as they bow.

You take a moment to gaze at your surroundings. Physics defying structures seem to be the norm in this strange place. No two buildings are alike. One made of jagged iron, one next to it seemingly carved from bone, another next to that which seems to be composed of pulsating, writhing flesh. Great statues of pink crystal line what pass for streets, each of some horrifically alluring monster. The throng of cultists surrounds you like any crowded hive city street, but many shamble about aimlessly, seemingly all at differing levels of intoxication.

A shrill scream and a wet splatter sound behind you and not a soul seems to take notice. A man sits huddled in a corner, gazing intently into a violet crystal, his eyes wide and unblinking. A woman slides a syringe into her arm, sighing as she does so. One man grabs another, seemingly at random, and drives a knife into his throat, then moves on as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. A pair fornicate openly in the middle of the street, not a soul paying them any mind. Sex, drugs, and murder. You could certainly get used to this.

You turn to your brother after taking in your surroundings. “Not that I mind or anything, but where the fuck are we?”

Melkor’s grin nearly splits his face in two. ”Why brother, we are home!” He walks off and you follow after him, taking in the amazing sights as you go.

“Home?” you ask, a slight inkling of what he might mean in the back of your mind.

”Yes brother. It took us ten thousand years, but we finally found it!”

“Found what, exactly?”

Melkor whirls around, spreading his arms out. “Welcome, dear Morgoth, to Paradise!”

“Paradise?”

And then it dawns on you. “This... this isn’t... is it?”

”Ah, but it is! Come and walk with me! See the sights!”

Melkor throws an arm around your shoulder and pulls you along as you gaze up at the wondrous city of vice and sin. ”Do you remember our brief sojourn into Commorragh, brother?”

“How could I not?”

”Well let me tell you right now, those fools only wish they could have built a city half as incredible as Paradise! Any vice, and desire, any pain, pleasure or wish you could ever possibly desire is here! And so are all of our friends!”

“Oh, like who?”

”Well there’s everyone from the chapter, N’Kari, Lucius, and even Doomrider was here a little while ago. Not really sure where he went...”

“Oh, I summoned him to fight some dark eldar who wanted their stupid soulstones back.”

”Ah well, so long as he’s having fun.”

“So this is where you’ve been this whole time? How did you even find it?”

”Complete accident. Sorcerers from our legion already on the planet found us in the Warp and brought us here. Truth be told I couldn’t tell you really where we are, just that we’re on Paradise.”

If you really are on Paradise then it seems that you’ve fulfilled the great pilgrimage that every slaaneshi wishes to complete. You’ve found the Holy Grail of hedonism and debauchery. You are home, forever, and you never have to leave.

But slowly, as you explore the city with your brother, you find your thoughts drifting back to Equestria. Could you really just... forget about it all? True it had only been a week or so, barely a footnote in the history of your long life, but you really feel like you’d had something there.

”Ah, but now here is the best part!”

“Eh?”

”Well you see, brother, there is someone here who has been very dearly wishing to see you. For quite a long time, might I add.”

“Oh really? And who might that-” You suddenly feel a great weight on your shoulder.

”My son...”

Your eyes widen as you hear the voice. No, not now, not again, not after Istvaan. Not after what he did. The weight on your shoulder, a hand, exerts barely any force, but you turn around at its insisting. Before you get a chance to do anything purple fills your vision. Armored coils and four great arms engulf you, pulling you into a loving embrace while two great wings fold around you protectively.

”My son, you have returned to us.”

Any resistance you may have had melts away. You return the embrace, feeling your eyes begin to water.

“Father...” you whisper, boiling Warp energy spilling from your eyes. “I have come home.”

”And home you shall stay. Forever here by my side.” Fulgrim says.