Original Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kAoMxjtlPTaDTEYEsYqOYdDg_CyTFwss-547rNncl04/edit?usp=sharing

Throughout its history, Canterlot Castle had been the center of many events. These halls of white marble, gilded panels and red carpets had survived the red age, the assault of Tirek, the return of Discord and the changeling invasion, just to name a few. For hundreds of years, it had seen little alteration. But now, with the royal sisters gone, the appearance of this majestic palace has changed drastically. While still looking the same on the outside, the influence of the BloodClaw Cult was ever-present on the inside. Every statue and piece of art that once displayed the royal family was gone. Banners depicting the symbol of the cult, statues of Nightmare Moon and demonic stained glass had taken over their places. Instead of royal guards, demons were protecting every corner and corridor. Only the lack of corpses and blood made it clear that this was not in fact an oversized church, since the new ruler of Equestria wished his home to remain clean.

Once, this used to be the most regal place in all of Equestria. The home of royalty and a symbol of freedom. But now, it was the home of a selfish alicorn and his slaves. Like many of those who were so unfortunate as to be good-looking in the corrupted king’s eyes, a white pegasus mare of barely legal age was among his personal maidens. No other pony was able to get this close to the king of corruption, as some titled him secretly. But never would they dare thinking about harming or even assaulting him. As if his incommensurable might and legion of demon bodyguards were not intimidating enough, Blueblood did not take any chances when it came to his ‘playthings’. Like all of the other slaves living in the castle, the white mare had to wear a cursed shackle around her neck. Should she displease her king, or should anypony other than him attempt to remove the shackle, the curse would cause her head to fall off. Knowing this, it was in all the mares’ best interest to constantly make sure the piece of metal which kept them alive was tightly closed and nopony would attempt to touch it.

The young white mare stood next to the throne, fanning her master with a palm leaf. The others either had to feed him fruits or just keep him company. Blueblood himself struck a lazy, yet confident pose on his throne. The necklace which brought him into this position, Nightmare’s Eyes, was dangling from his neck while the animate eye-shaped red gem occasionally moved, looking around the throne room. As if it sensed somepony was coming, it started at the entrance. With her head lowered, an elderly light gray pegasus entered. Shock filled the young white one as she saw her approach the evil king.

“So? What brings you to me, my subject?” Blueblood asked casually.

“My… my king… I would…” she started, taking a short break to focus on the white mare and then raising her head in confidence. “I would like to request my daughter to be released.”

“That is all? Quite a shallow reason to request an audience with me, is it not?” Blueblood stated with a cocky smile, then turned his head to the side. “Snowflake. Come over here.”

Instantly, the white mare’s heart felt like it was about to jump out of her chest. Shakily and hesitant, she walked right next to the alicorn stallion.

“This is the one, yes?” Blueblood asked.

“Y-yes. That is her,” the mother replied.

“Now explain to me, why exactly should I let her go? That would mean I would lack a maiden and only ends up in me needing a new one. Do you know what nuisance this would mean? I would have to go through the trouble to order my demons to capture another twenty young mares and bring them to me so I could pick the one I like. The lucky one would then get a collar around her neck while the rest get fed to my demons as a reward for following my orders. Is she worth that much to you? Could you live with the thought that you would exchange the fate of your daughter with that of another and even being the death of nineteen young mares who never even had a coltfriend in their lives?” the corrupted king questioned.

Trying to guilt-trip the old mare caused her to get furious. She did not fall for this and instead started clenching her right front hoof and waving it at him.

“Well how about you stop doing these awful things to those poor young ladies altogether? I swear, you are the worst ruler Equestria has ever seen!” she shouted.

Snowflake’s heart skipped a beat and her expression of shock intensified. Insulting the king was never a good idea. If she could, she would tell her mother to just shut up right now. But if she would involve herself in this discussion now, she as well would be put under some form of punishment. Snowflake could just watch mutely as her mother brought herself in ever-increasing trouble.

“Do you even care about Equestria at all? Do you ever get your lazy bum off from that throne and look outside? The whole land is going down the drain and that’s your fault! The cultists destroy the homes of innocent families, the demons defile the farmlands, everypony is frozen in fear of doing anything wrong. But I won’t take this anymore! You better fix this mess right now, or you will get into some serious trouble, young man!” the old mare kept shouting.

The expression on Blueblood’s face became dead serious. He sat up and slowly lifted out of his throne. Now, the old mare stopped her speech, as she realized she made her king angry. She toyed with the idea to turn around and fly away, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. The situation might only turn out even worse if she did that now. So eventually, she squeezed her eyes shut and just waited for whatever Blueblood was going to do with her. But all that followed was that she suddenly felt a front leg being placed across her shoulders.

Slowly, the old mare opened her eyes again. Blueblood was right next to her, smiling down with an unexpected benevolence.

“See? I do get out of my throne from time to time,” he stated.

With a light push, he signalled the mare to walk over to a window with him. As they stopped in front of it, they could see Equestria. Large parts of the country were covered in thick clouds of red darkness. Small fires were burning everywhere.

“I think you misunderstand, milady. I am not a bad pony. The well being of my subjects is of immense value to me, otherwise I would have taken way easier methods to rise to power and would just have killed Equestria’s entire population. I want to rule a land that flourishes under my leadership, not crumbles. Just look at what I have accomplished so far! Thanks to me, the territory of Equestria has nearly doubled by now. So much more land for my subjects, no matter if demonic or equine. More and more ponies come to understand that the path of the BloodClaw Cult is the only true one. But you see, there is still resistance. Some just completely refuse to accept change. That is the only reason why there is this completely unnecessary bloodshed out there. If you would all just convert to the worshippers of Nightmare Moon and accept my reign, we could all live in a form of harmony Celestia and Luna never even came close to,” he explained.

The old mare did not know what to say. This almost sounded convincing. Was he truly just trying to do what he thought would be best for Equestria? But what about his methods? He was so cruel and selfish when it came to his own needs. Suddenly, the alicorn stallion lifted his other front leg and slowly moved it to point across the land.

“Demons and ponies going hoof in claw, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. This is my great vision. A world that learns to accept Nightmare Moon as part of it. All I need to do for that is to make my point clear across the entire globe. I do not wish to forcefully conquer every last empire in this world. But if that is what is necessary, then I have no choice. You should be thankful I am so kind to you, my subject. I freed you from a tyrant who brain-washed you all to not even realize you were living in a tyranny. Celestia has done so many horrible things over the centuries. But now I am here to undo all her faults. So, yes. I have no problem with releasing your daughter,” Blueblood explained with a gentle smile.

“Re… really?!” the old mare asked, speechlessly.

“Why of course! Also, I very much appreciate that you informed me of how much my dear subjects are suffering. After this meeting, I will take measures immediately to improve the living standards for all those who accept my rule. But… there is one tiny little thing I need to let you know before that,” the alicorn stallion spoke.

The old mare focused her king in confusion, only to slowly let her expression slide back into fear. The smile on Blueblood’s face widened a lot, now coming off as extremely smug and making it clear he was planning something awful.

“You see, I just can’t staaaand it when you lowly creatures insult me,” he spoke calmly.

After that, he gave the mare a hard push, tossing her back into the center of the room. Five demons instantly pounced her, starting to rip her apart.

“Mama!” Snowflake shouted, hyperventilating and shaking all over.

Screams of agony filled the throne room. The other mares turned their heads away and whimpered, but Snowflake could only stare with an open mouth, tears running down her face. Blueblood did not even have the time to angrily walk back to his throne before nothing but blood and bones were remaining of the old mare.

“Grapes!” the alicorn stallion shouted in fury as he tossed himself back on his throne.

The mares twitched in shock, but very quickly picked up a bowl of fruits. They could just react in time before Blueblood was finished leaning his head back and opening his mouth, waiting for a grape to fall inside it.

It was quiet again in the throne room. Only the whimpering and faint sobbing of a few enslaved mares could be heard. Blueblood took the moment he needed to eat five grapes to calm down again. After he swallowed the last one, he let out a frustrated puff.

“Stupid old piece of scum,” he mumbled, then focused his slaves. “Well, don’t just stand there! You, you and you! Clean up this mess! I don’t want to see even the smallest bloodstain once you’re done!”

Even though Blueblood did not look at her, Snowflake slowly got up, thinking her king expected of her to remove the remains of her own mother as well. But before she could even place the first hoof in her direction, the alicorn stallion stopped her.

“No. Not you. It is as I said: I am not a bad pony. You have been serving me well so far, so I don’t want you to be forced to watch this any longer. Go to my bed chamber. You will share it with me tonight,” Blueblood ordered.

Snowflake obeyed immediately and started running out of the throne room while crying audibly. This was easily the worst day of her life and the night would not be any bit better. Blueblood just expected of her to see it as an honor to be his mate. But after this, she could not be filled with more hate and disgust towards him. The other mares watched her run away for just a moment, condolence written in their faces. But then they quickly returned to the cleaning, since they knew what would happen if Blueblood would get upset about one of them now, too. Although they were deeply disgusted and had to battle with their stomachs to not make this mess even worse, they put all their effort into the cleaning. Partially in fear because of Blueblood, but mostly just trying to get this over with as quickly as possible. Before they were even half done, another entered the throne room. This time, it was a demoness. Despair, the advisor of the king.

“That was a swift one,” she commented while jumping over the corpse.

“Ah, you are back. So? What can you tell me about the rebels in my land?” Blueblood wanted to know.

“Cowards, all of them. But smart. They manage to hide from the BloodClaw Cult, even though they were masters of hiding these past few years themselves. It seems like now that we have Equestria under our control-” the demoness started.

“Under my control, Despair,” Blueblood interrupted.

“Under your control, master, the cultists have lowered their guards and became less attentive,” Despair finished.

“It seems they need a reminder of their duties. Send out the word that I will not tolerate any rebels within my kingdom any longer. Every cultist who can bring me the head of a confirmed rebel shall be rewarded,” the alicorn spoke.

“I have an even better suggestion, master,” Despair offered.

“Let me hear it, my advisor,” Blueblood accepted.

“Order us to attack the Crystal Empire with full force. Tartarus, Niflheim, Jahannam and Tuonela stand ready to attack,” the demoness suggested.

“Four demon strongholds at once? That is a bit excessive, don’t you think?” the alicorn asked in mild amusement.

“If you decide to strike them, then strike them hard. You would do good to make this as bad for them as thinkably possible. Show your might and no mercy by letting us completely obliterate their headquarter. The psychological damage we would cause to them, if any would even survive that attack, would be massive. Too massive for them to ever reform and try to dethrone you again,” Despair explained.

Now, Blueblood could not hold back a small laughter. She was so serious about this, it amused him.

“Dethrone me? That is your concern? And here I thought you were the smartest of the demons. That is never going to happen. This pathetic rebellion is hardly even worth my attention at all. I won’t need more than a single order to keep them out of my kingdom,” he stated.

“Master… this ‘pathetic little rebellion’ is not as small and weak as you may think it is anymore. Their number of allies increases every day. We need a preventative strike before they can even start thinking about sieging Canterlot Castle,” Despair argued.

“Really, Despair. A siege on my castle is completely out of question. My reign is eternal. I have Nightmare Moon’s favor on my side and as long as you keep your part of the bargain, which you will considering I am the one wearing Nightmare’s Eye, I won’t ever need to worry about my own protection. No rebel will ever even get close to Canterlot Castle, and you will be the one making sure of that,” the alicorn stallion spoke with an arrogant smile on his face.

The Guillotine of Hope lowered her head and sighed quietly. Blueblood was even more self-confident than she was, but for good reason. What he said was true. As long as this cursed necklace remained around his neck, no demon will ever be able to deny his wish. No demon will ever be able to harm him. His reign may very well last for all eternity, but that is what the demons had bargained for. He is the master in return for them being able to walk around freely. But still, Despair knew what she was talking about. She needed to get the message across.

“Master... Have I ever let you down? Do you not trust my advice anymore?” she wondered in a lowly tone.

“What’s this now? Taking it personal, Despair?” Blueblood asked back with a smirk. “Who knew demons were so easy to get frustrated. You don’t have to worry. Even though the only reason we get along is this necklace here, I still value your advice. Well, fine. If you are so convinced the Crystal Empire must fall as quickly as possible and with as much force as possible, then send the word to the four demon strongholds you mentioned. Make this a massacre of such grand proportions and brutality that it goes down into the history books. No one, not pony, not griffon, not even dragon, shall ever dare to oppose me ever again.”

“Very well. Thank you, master. By tomorrow, the rebellion will be no more,” Despair assured.

This caused Blueblood to laugh a bit in a sinister tone.

“You know what I like the most about you demons serving me? You mean what you say and you get the job done extremely fast,” he commented.

Without saying another word, Despair bowed down and left the throne room again.

---

For nearly ten minutes, Lady Truesight the reaper clairvoyant was gazing into space. She seemed completely absent-minded. But slowly, her eyes widened as her vision came to an end.

“Truesight? Are you seeing something?” Amber wanted to know.

What the reaper mare had just seen was not immediate, but definitely fatal. This information needed to be presented to the rebellion circle. Finally snapping out of her trance, she focused the little filly and signalled her to turn around.

“Sorry, Amber. We need to delay the training. This is something I must inform the rebellion leaders about right away,” she stated.

Both the clairvoyant and her fosterling began to run and aimed straight for the crystal palace.