Original Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Tqw5CZL0CsnqIQD_VE1hoGpCVL4W1pfLBxuLI-WUvX4/edit?usp=sharing

“Twenty on the first floor. Eighteen on the second. Twenty-three on the third...” Crystal counted quietly.

For about four days, the two reaper mares had been observing a tall penthouse from various, well hidden positions. Due to the high attentiveness of the cultists, they both had to stay far away, otherwise they would risk getting seen and the church getting moved.

As always, the observations did not bring up much so far. Since the BloodClaw Cult openly declared war against the government of Equestria, they started making it a lot harder for Twilight’s investigation team to gather information. All Fluttershy and Crystal Blossom could find out so far was that the cultists were constantly guarding every square inch of the Manehattan church and frequently exchanged watch shifts.

“They certainly are preparing for something,” Fluttershy commented.

“Compared to yesterday, they more than doubled the number of watchmen on each window. Triple the needed amount of guards on the entrance. Every single one of them is taking their task very serious. It must be happening very soon. Maybe even today,” Crystal stated.

“With all this caution, maybe it really is Black Widow they are bringing here,” the yellow mare spoke.

“That would be a surprisingly illogical decision from the cultists. Especially with demons helping to organize the cult. But whatever it is they are bringing here, it certainly seems to be extremely important,” Crystal replied.

Another hour of silence passed while the elder reaper mare kept observing the penthouse. Every once in a while, her focus jumped over to Fluttershy. Very often, she saw how her head was hanging low and she caressed the heart pin on her cloak.

“You are very absent-minded, apprentice,” Crystal finally commented.

“Apologies, elder...” the yellow mare responded and started observing the BloodClaw church.

Again, nothing happened for ten minutes. Then, Fluttershy sighed and hung her head again.

“I’m sorry... I just can’t focus...” she spoke.

“It is because of Obsidian, I guess?” Crystal wondered.

“Yes... I... I just can’t get over it. He gave up everything that was important to him. He forced himself to say farewell to me. All because he thought he needed to die to prevent Nightmare Moon’s resurrection. It all was for nothing... He turned into a red reaper and died for nothing...” Fluttershy spoke with a sad tone.

“He reached the end of his book of death. He would have only had a few days left to live anyway,” Crystal tried to reason.

“Elder... you don’t understand...” Fluttershy replied, black tears filling her eyes. “I was the one who killed him. I became a reaper just because of that. This cloak, this scythe and this curse... It all belonged to him. He died and I caused it because we both thought this would be the only way to prevent the prophecy... I... My very own hooves... killed the love of my life... for nothing.”

“You only let the sorrow speak out of you, Fluttershy. Back then, you did not even know he was the third corrupted star. That was not the main reason why you killed him. Remember: He was attacking your friends. He was the one who caused their permanent injuries. You killed him not with the intention to prevent the prophecy, but to save your friends and to prevent Obsidian’s soul from being claimed by Malice. You saved all of them, even him. Never forget that,” the light blue mare responded.

“Right... That’s right. But still... This is all so hard...” Fluttershy commented.

“Your grief is making you very emotional lately. Maybe you should go back and take a break. Collect yourself and meditate. Like this, I do not think you will be able to perform your duties,” Crystal suggested.

“No... I can’t. I am needed. I have to do this. No matter what, I just have to make all this mean something. I need to prove that I turned into a reaper for a good reason,” Fluttershy decided while wiping the tears out of her eyes.

“Obsidian would be proud of you. By the way, did apprentice Derpy Hooves ever tell you how she became a reaper?” Crystal wondered.

“Not really,” the yellow mare replied.

“I think you should ask her at some point. Perhaps her story would help you through your suffering,” the elder reaper mare suggested.

“I will keep this in mind. Thank you,” Fluttershy responded.

---

Two more hours passed by. Suddenly, a small convoy of cultists came around the corner close to the penthouse. In the center was a mare wearing a ceremonial dress and black cloth mask.

“Is that her?” Fluttershy wondered.

“It seems like it. So they really brought Black Widow here after all,” Crystal responded.

“I take Despair is challenging us by doing this. And since she is a skin-walker now, she must be disguising herself as one of the cultists,” Fluttershy analyzed.

“Now it is clear that this is a trap. They bait us with exactly what we want and prepared for a large-scale battle,” Crystal added.

“We should tell Twilight about this. She should decide if we go for it or not,” Fluttershy suggested.

“Of course. Let us go,” the light blue mare responded.

---

After Fluttershy and Crystal brought the news back to the group, Twilight gained a thoughtful expression and started walking up and down the living room in Bab’s apartment.

“This just seems to be too good to be true,” Twilight started. “It would suit Despair’s character to mock us like this and try to lure us out to fight, but she also knows how powerful I am. Risking the life of Black Widow, her protégé, in a battle that just might turn into a victory for her? Even if she really doesn’t care if the high priestess gets killed, she should know that this would be a fatal blow to the whole cult.”

“Despair seemed to be annoyed and very arrogant. Perhaps she just had enough and wants to settle this, once and for all,” Crystal figured.

“The whole church is full of cultists and they closely watch every step around the penthouse. She either is waiting for us to fight her, or she is preparing to attack us. What do you think, Twilight? What should we do?” Fluttershy asked.

The purple mare stopped. Slowly, her head lifted again and she watched the expressions of all her friends. They all looked worried, but determined.

“What would you say if I decided to give it a shot and attack the church?” she asked.

“Darling. No matter what happens, you have my support. I won’t leave,” Rarity stated.

“Ah just want this all to be over. I’ll come with ya if you allow me to this time,” Applejack spoke.

“Just for the faint chance to get Black Widow by doin’ this, I would go for it,” Babs Seed explained.

“It is your decision, Twilight. But if you decide to attack the church this time instead of trying to infiltrate it, Fluttershy and I will join you,” Crystal spoke.

“Yes. No matter what you decide, I will do it,” Fluttershy assured.

Again, Twilight’s focus lowered to the ground and she started rubbing her chin. After a minute, she came to a decision.

“Let’s go for it. Even if it is a trap, we might at least be able to drive the cult out of Manehattan if we round up enough support. And yes, AJ. We will need every help we can get, so you are very welcome to join in,” the purple mare spoke.

“Alright. I’m in for it then,” Applejack agreed.

“Can you contact the Manehattan police for us, Babs?” Twilight wondered.

“Sure! I think they’re all pretty fed up with the cultists around here, so they’ll give it their all to get rid of them,” Babs responded.

“Good. I will write to Princess Celestia and ask her for some royal guards in addition. Do you have any idea how many cultists we have to expect?” Twilight wondered, turning over to Fluttershy and Crystal.

“Over the last few days, I counted about one hundred individuals on watch shifts at the windows. It would be a good idea to assume that at least the same number is patrolling inside the building,” Crystal replied.

“Ok... a big troop of royal guards then. I think we should also get the reapers stationed in Manehattan to assist us. Can you inform them, Crystal?” Twilight added.

“Certainly. I will be back with them in an hour,” the light blue mare agreed.

“Okay then. You get on your way too, Babs. Everypony else, prepare for the fight,” Twilight announced.

---

A bit more than an hour later, several hundred ponies met up in front of Babs’ apartment. Among them many police ponies, royal guards and five reapers, including Fluttershy and Crystal Blossom. But one pony was missing.

“Where is Babs? Why didn’t she return?” Twilight asked in worry.

“Ah, right. I was supposed to tell you that she can’t come,” one of the police officers started. “When she informed us, we just got a notification that several colleagues got injured in a riot. She was ordered to assist and can’t partake in this assault. Gosh was she angry about that. Anyway, she promised to make this up at some point.”

“Great...” Twilight responded with a frustrated sigh.

“I think we will be able to do this without her, darling. Let us not waste any time!” Rarity stated.

“You’re right. Everypony, listen up! Today, we will attack a full church of the BloodClaw Cult! Expect a very hard battle against a lot of cultists! If we pull this off properly, we will free Manehattan from these mad ponies! Let’s go!” the purple mare announced and lead the way.

---

It did not take long for the troop to arrive at the penthouse where the cult was hiding. As soon as it came in sight, the reapers summoned their scythes and all others got ready to fight. But nopony came outside to stop them. Twilight couldn’t see any cultists at the windows. Were they too late already? Did the cult once again sense an upcoming attack and move the church before they could reach it?

The troop stopped in front of the main entrance, the police ponies going ahead. Then, they kicked the door open and stormed inside. A lot of screaming from the police officers followed, ordering everypony who might be inside to freeze and surrender. But they soon had to realize that the entire main floor was clear.

Next, the royal guards entered, followed by the keepers of harmony and the reapers. Everything was empty. There was not a single cultist in the main floor. Still, the police ponies advanced upstairs. But Twilight just hung her head and sat to the ground.

“Gosh... I am so stupid. What was I thinking? If even Princess Celestia can’t assault a church, then how am I supposed to?” she mumbled in regret.

“This is not entirely a failure, Twilight,” Crystal commented. “At least, we now know that the cult is playing defens-”

“You! Freeze!” a police pony suddenly shouted upstairs.

Twilight instantly shot back up and started running the stairs. As she arrived in an empty living room, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

Right there, completely unprotected and all alone, stood high priestess Black Widow in her ceremonial dress, wearing her black mask. She seemed to be injured in a way, since she hardly could keep herself upright.

The keepers of harmony felt like celebrating. Apparently, they caught Black Widow just before she could leave with the cultists. But to Twilight, this was extremely suspicious. Not even Despair remained here to protect her? Like the police officers, the royal guards and the reapers, the purple mare kept her guard up.

Two police ponies jumped Black Widow and pinned her to the ground. Then, they removed her mask. Beneath was the face of a green mare with orange mane. She immediately started grinning widely.

“The demon queen once again has judged you right. Heretics. You can not even begin to imagine what you have gotten yourselves into,” she started speaking.

Now, the cheer vanished from Rarity’s face and Twilight as well found confirmation that something was wrong. This voice was not the same they heard back in Fillydelphia. This was not the real Black Widow.

“What are you talking about?” Applejack wanted to know.

The mare started laughing lowly, followed by coughing. Then, her expression slipped into that of an insane pony.

“The Guillotine of Hope has a gift for you, keepers of harmony,” the mare commented while coughing.

While at first not sure what this meant, the group moments later realized that black tears started flowing out of the mare’s bloodshot eyes. They all instantly understood what this meant. The same thing happened to Twilight, three years ago. This mare was possessed by a fully developed, independent demon.

The mare’s coughing quickly got worse and worse, to the point where she started coughing blood. But the police officers held her tight. Neither them nor the royal guards had any idea what was about to happen in a few moments.

“Everypony! Step back from her!” Crystal Blossom ordered.

Now, the two officers let go and all understood that something was very wrong with this mare and started getting nervous. The cultist tried to get back up, but found herself unable to do so. Instead, she gathered her last breath for one final speech.

“You defiled our holy grounds. You dared to attack our high priestess. With this, you evoked the fury of Nightmare Moon. Now, you shall all tremble, for she sent you one of her children to destroy you all,” she spoke in a mixture of coughing and manic laughter, then collapsed dead.

The black tears kept flowing out of her eyes, mixing with the blood coming out of her mouth. Suddenly, both changed color into a radiant green, which seemed to evaporate into a fine mist.

Just a moment later, the cloud compressed into a small demon. She looked like a radiantly green filly with small wings and green clouds as mane and tail. Her eyes were colored entirely red and she grinned at the ponies with a set of sharp demonic fangs.

“Oooooh! So many ponies! This is great! I’m finally outside!” she spoke in a hyper tone and started bouncing around in excitement.

Nopony was too sure how to react. Only the reapers kept holding their scythes ready for use. After a while, the small green demoness stopped bouncing. She turned around to Twilight, tilted her head to the right and let her right ear hanging while the other stood upright.

“Hi! I’m Toxica! Want to play with me?” the demoness requested with a big grin.

The whole troop of ponies was deeply confused. None of them had been dealing with a demon before and it did not seem like she intended to harm them. They all just stood there, not knowing what to say or do.

“Did Despair send you?” Twilight wondered.

“Yep! Despy said that I could finally come out and play! I’ve been waiting sooooooooooo long for this day! What do you want to play?” Toxica replied, throwing a playful pose.

Now, some of the police ponies and royal guards started getting out of battle stance. It seemed like the playful and innocent nature of this demon made them judge her as no threat, but Twilight and the reapers kept on holding their guards up. Since Toxica did not get any answer, she started bouncing around again.

“I have an idea! How about we play tag? I’ll be first to catch! One. Two...” she suggested.

Before she even finished counting, Toxica started to inhale. This was the sign for Twilight to create an arcane shield around her friends and herself.

As Toxica finished inhaling, she pressed her eyes shut. A split of a second later, the little demoness suddenly caused a humongous green explosion, powerful enough to blow the whole penthouse into pieces.

The ponies and reapers got launched all across the city. Even the keepers of harmony flew through the air inside the sphere of arcane magic. But as they looked around in panic, they had to realize with a shock that every pony aside of them already died.

The reapers were the only ones still alive. Crystal and Fluttershy spread their wings and tried to recover from the blast midair while they observed the dead ponies raining everywhere around them. Both came to realize that they were all physically unharmed. It was not the explosion that killed them.

After the penthouse blew up, massive green clouds filled the air. As the green smoke rushed down the streets, everypony that came in contact with it instantly fell over dead. Whatever this stuff was, it must be a poison even a lot more deadly than Basilisk Tongue.

Fluttershy, Crystal and another flying reaper instantly flew over to the keepers of harmony, catching the sphere in the air. Then, they slowly lowered it on a tall building where the green clouds couldn’t reach.

Twilight was about to lower the shield when she saw another poison cloud rushing towards her. Like a green storm, it blew the reapers away, forcing them back into the air.

In the distance, Toxica levitated in the center of the green cloud, rapidly flapping her small wings and giggling while she held a hoof in front of her mouth. A moment later, she started flying towards Twilight.

Crystal lifted out of the poison cloud and flew towards the demoness. Yet, this only caused Toxica to spontaneously change her plan. She suddenly ignored the keepers of harmony and let the reapers chase after her.

“Catch me if you can!” Toxica shouted cheerfully.

It seemed like she rather took this as a game than an assault. The demoness aimed straight for large crowds of ponies, exhaling huge quantities of her lethal poison at them as she flew by. Within just the first minute of the battle, thousands of ponies were killed and more than half of Manehatten became shrouded in poison.

Another reaper jumped into the air, swinging his scythe at the demoness. She, though, aimed for the reaper and crushed him to the ground. As the bones snapped loudly, Toxica nearly instantaneously began to tear him apart. Even as Fluttershy came flying in and swung her scythe, Toxica just grinned and bounced aside.

“Oooh! Despy said I should be careful about you!” she spoke.

The little demoness quickly ran around the building next to her and started inhaling again. With the force of her poison breath, she somehow was able to push it over.

Fluttershy tried to help the fellow reaper back up. But as the ponies screamed in panic, she realized too late that the whole building came falling down on her. She could not react in time before she became buried beneath multiple tons of bricks while all ponies inside the building got squashed or fell right into the green smoke.

The sheer scale of destruction this one demon could cause was mind-blowing to Twilight. She had seen quite a few demons before, but none this powerful. Even her arcane magic would not help her right now. She and her friends were trapped inside the arcane shield, forced to just sit idly by and watch.

“Hihihi! This is so much fun! So many playmates! Where is the next? Where is the next?” Toxica commented in an ecstatic tone.

Even as two more reapers suddenly charged out of the green mist and towards the demoness, she kept on grinning and giggling the whole time. She just continued dodging the scythes and magic spells with playful jumps.

Crystal Blossom levitated high above the city. Somehow, she had to stop the poison from spreading. So she closed her eyes and started casting an ice spell. With a continuous light blue beam aimed to the ground, she tried to freeze the green clouds solid. It did not take much for her to cover at least a quarter of Manehattan into thick ice.

But then, she noticed that Toxica lifted into the air again and began to inhale. If she caused a second explosion, there would be next to no survivors in the entire city. In attempt to stop her, Crystal launched another ice spell on the demoness, aiming to freeze her as well. But Toxica dodged this attack swiftly.

“Hey! Was that a snowball? Come back!” the green demoness shouted and started flying away.

Crystal would have expected to be attacked now. Instead, Toxica chased after the ice spell. This demon was not just acting like a child. She really was absolutely unfocused and only wanted to play destructively.

---

Minutes passed by as Fluttershy slowly came back to her senses. Of course, the weight of the building was lethal and crushed her body. She could feel how the warm blood was running over her belly, face and front legs. But the reaper curse would not allow her to die. Her wounds slowly began to heal and her bones grew back together.

As she lay there, hardly able to move at all under the sheer weight of the rubble, she began to think. Crystal was right, she figured. She should have stayed in Babs’ apartment.

Fluttershy had been through so much training. She used to be so effective. How come she just allowed this building to crush her? Had she given up without even realizing it herself? Had her grief really consumed her that much? Would it even make sense to try and go on from this point?

Just as she thought that, Fluttershy saw something. It looked like a gray hoof, offering her to get up. It had the same appearance as that of the gray figure which kept following her. But this time, it was closer than ever. The hoof was right next to her, reaching down from just above.

Fluttershy tried to reach for it. But just as she was about to touch it, the hoof retreated a bit. The yellow mare tried to move and struggled against the rubble. She could reach further now, but yet again, the hoof retreated.

Without realizing it, the yellow mare slowly fought her way back up. Then, she started seeing light. The hoof kept guiding her towards it, until she finally could reach out of the rubble.

Just moments later, she became grabbed, pulled out and lifted into the air. Though it was not the gray figure who did this. It was one of the reapers.

“Can you fly?” he wondered.

“No... My wings are broken,” Fluttershy replied.

“I will bring you to that rooftop. We need your help. Crystal is doing everything she can to keep this demon busy, but we can’t stop her,” the reaper explained.

Yes. That’s right. She still was needed. She couldn’t let herself go like this. Not in the middle of a battle. She had to keep fighting. For her friends, for Equestria and for her mistress. After Fluttershy landed on the rooftop of another tall building, she started snapping her bones back in place and collected herself.

---

Crystal Blossom used all sorts of ice spells to keep Toxica occupied. This was about as much as even she could do. This demon clearly needed more than five reapers to be slain. But they still had a chance to win. They only needed to find Fluttershy again.

Finally, the other reapers gave the signal. Confirming with a nod, Crystal decided to fly by just in front of Toxica’s eyes.

As hoped, the demoness took this as an invitation to chase her. The elder reaper mare guided Toxica back into her own poison clouds and flew several sharp turns around the buildings. Toxica, though, had no issues to follow. Then, Crystal flew over a rooftop.

The little demoness followed, but as she lifted up, she was greeted by a pair of black eyes, staring down at her. An inexplicable sensation of shock blasted the smile out of Toxica’s face and paralyzed her. Next, she found herself getting pinned down by the same yellow mare staring at her.

Toxica tried to struggle, but before she could get anywhere, she saw a light blue beam hitting her. Ice started to rapidly grow around the green demoness’ body. She couldn’t move anymore. She was trapped.

Now, the reapers all came to the rooftop and gathered around the frozen demoness. She still had dread written on her face.

“This seems to be it,” one of them commented.

“Let us not waste any time. She must be consu-” Fluttershy started.

Before she could even finish, the yellow mare suddenly experienced a sensation of danger, along with all the other reapers. They tried to turn around, but suddenly were crushed down and held tight by countless black arms. As they lifted their heads, they saw Slendermane.

The faceless demon casually walked over to the group and lifted up the chunk of ice which held Toxica imprisoned. Then, he crushed it to let her free. The little demoness shook herself, then gained an upset expression.

“See, Slendy? That’s what happens when you don’t let me out to play!” she complained.

Slendermane turned his head over to her. Then, Toxica jumped on his back.

“I guess you are right. I really should have chosen better playmates. Oh well. Bye bye, ponies!” she spoke and waved all of Manehattan goodbye.

Directly after, Slendermane and Toxica fell through the shadow below them and vanished.