An air of silence crossed the underground church. Changelings, ponies, Gryphons, all kneeling down in front of Luna and Mac, who looked at each other, unsure as to what to do next. They then looked back down at the cultists, motioning for them to stand up.

“Princess Luna...” one of them, a Gryphon wearing a robe, said as he stood up and approached them. “It is an honor to meet you in person, even under these... desperate times.”

Luna tilted her head to the side. “You... do not think I am a criminal?”

“We know what you are, just as we know what we are,” he said, a statement reaffirmed by multiple nods coming from the others. “We are of the few that know what actually happened in the Citadel.”

“How,” Mac said. The Princess glanced over at him, then back at the cultists.

“We...” the Gryphon began, interrupted by a young mareling.

“C-can we offer you something to drink? Eat? A seat?” she asked loudly, stepping over to the two and beaming up at them.

The apparent leader groaned. “Silence!” Then, he looked back up at Luna and Mac, clearly nervous. “Excuse her... I’m sure you have no time for such things.”

“Yes,” the android blurted out, still with his rifle in hand. “Now, do explain how you know so much, and tell us if you have any connections to GoldenTalon.” He raised his rifle, Luna raising an eyebrow in turn.

The cultists stepped back, startled by Mac’s action. “Oo-okay! Just settle down!” said their leader, reaffirmed by shaky nods coming from the others.

Luna looked up at the android and nodded, prompting him to lower his rifle. The Gryphon sighed in relief, “Alright, alright...”

“We’ve always worshipped the old world order and its leaders,” he began, “and have done our fair share of research and accumulation of data.” The old Gryphon adjusted his stance. “Ever since the end of the war, we have had a feeling telling us that you never died.”

“During our search for answers,” he continued, “we made ties with GoldenTalon, who promised to help us. It was... surprising, to say the least, that they gave us our answers so fast.”

He sighed, “You were not dead. In fact, you were healing up on the moon. What was more strange was how the company began to strengthen their bonds with us, and later we found that we were not the only cult under their watch.” He began to pace around Mac and Luna. “It turns out that they, like us, also aspired to return the world to its ‘original’ state.”

“Sir!” a stallion called. “The Guard has entered the pub! We need to get out of here!”

The Gryphon looked up at the two, wasting no time to give them directions, “Quick, there’s a hidden passage on the back! We’ll hold them as long as we can! Go!”

Mac and Luna hesitated, but began to follow one of the cultists, a mareling, over to the back of the church and into a passage that was just opened. Before going through it, the Princess turned, yelling out, “Thank you!” She then ran into the hallway together with Mac and the mareling.