Original Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1k8GhwcJ0UnyepnlBrhU8MC2madJWpB7aLp5PIMdWzLA/edit?usp=sharing

The cultist had been sitting in his detention cell for not even a complete hour when he had already lost track of time. He kept sitting in the dark, not moving a muscle. He was waiting, but not for his trial. As he finally heard something approaching him from behind, he did not even dare to raise his head. He did not need to see to know who was behind him, gazing at him in hatred and disgust.

“I... sold out the cult...” he spoke.

“I know,” a strangely echoing female voice replied calmly.

Ten seconds of silence passed, the cultist still staring at the ground and sitting idly. As the creature behind him realized he did not know what to say, she continued speaking.

“How much did you tell them about the Trottingham church?” the voice asked.

“They know about its location and the dumbwaiter...” the cultist answered.

The creature behind him did not reply. Surely, this could be seen as a problem. But then again, this could also be turned to her advantage, she figured.

The pegasus stallion felt a front leg on his shoulder. As it wandered down to his chest, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath in.

“You know what is going to happen now, don’t you?” the female voice asked again.

“Yes... Please forgive me...” he spoke.

“Nightmare Moon does not forgive,” the echoing voice replied.

Now, the pegasus stallion could feel teeth coming from the leg and directly behind him ramming into his body. Moments later, he found himself drowning in a world of unimaginable pain, hearing his own flesh tearing and his bones breaking. Everything became red, followed by black moments later.

The stallion screamed so loud in agony that the entire police station became alarmed. But by the time the officers rushed over to the cultist’s cell, it was already too late. All they could find was a bleeding mush of fur, feathers and bones.

---

The moon was already high up when the keepers of harmony and their reaper bodyguards met up behind a building not far from the blue one which they had been informed was the cult’s church of Trottingham. Twilight, accompanied by Fluttershy, came several minutes earlier to the meeting point than the rest of the group in order to spy on the building. She was so lost in her observation that she became startled as the rest of her friends approached.

“Good gosh! Don’t sneak up on me like that!” she complained quietly.

“Terribly sorry, darling. So? What do you think? Are they still there?” Rarity whispered.

“I can’t tell for sure. I haven’t seen a single pony walk in or out. Actually, I’m starting to wonder if he told us the truth,” the purple mare answered.

“That would be a first. I never had a pony who dared to lie to me after experiencing my Stare,” Fluttershy commented.

“Yet, you also have not been dealing with a member of the BloodClaw Cult before, apprentice,” Crystal Blossom added. “We can not even begin to guess what they are capable of.”

Twilight kept observing the blue house for several minutes longer. Then finally, she saw something suspicious. A light blue unicorn mare stopped in front of the house and began to look around carefully. Twilight retreated back and used a small illusion spell to help her see around the corner without getting seen herself.

“Girls, I think they are still here. This mare here puts a lot of effort in making sure she is not being observed,” the purple mare spoke.

The entire group focused on the illusion. The mare continued carefully scanning the entire street before she eventually opened the door by magic and stepped inside.

“Ah think that’s reason enough for us to go in,” Applejack stated.

“Agreed,” Twilight spoke, letting the illusion disappear again. “Okay then. Fluttershy, Crystal: We need your help to get on top of the building unseen. Once we are inside, I want you to stay nearby. Everypony ready?”

“Ready,” Rarity spoke.

“Ready,” Fluttershy confirmed.

“Ready,” Crystal spoke.

“One moment. Before we do this, I have a question,” Applejack requested, then turned over to Rarity. “What in tarnation do you need that for?!”

She pointed at a necklace around the fashion diva’s neck. It was so completely overstuffed with gems to the point that you could not even see the chain anymore. The others noticed it too, but did not think about commenting on it. Rarity, though, just shook her head slowly and smiled.

“Oh Applejack. You don’t really think I would go on such a dangerous mission unarmed, do you?” the white mare wondered.

“Oh so that’s why your luggage is so darn heavy! Ya brought all yer gems with you! Okay, ah can live with that,” the orange mare commented.

“Now that we are speaking of it. I hope you do realize this is a stealth mission and any noise coming from you can risk your life,” Crystal wondered.

“Come on now. I may have a focus on looking fabulous, but I am certainly not an amateur!” Rarity spoke, shaking her head several times.

Although the jewel necklace moved around a lot, not a single sound could be heard from it.

“Not a peep... How did you do that?” Applejack wondered.

“All a matter of technique, my dear. All a matter of technique,” Rarity replied proudly.

“I think that’s settled then. Let’s go,” Twilight spoke.

The two reaper mares nodded in confirmation. While Fluttershy picked up Twilight, Crystal carried both Applejack and Rarity at once.

As they lifted into the air, they first flew half a mile away from the blue building, changing directions frequently between the streets and seeking shadow. This was in order to prevent any chance of being tracked down. Then after several minutes, they lifted high up into the air.

The reaper cloaks allowed them to stay completely unseen in the night sky, so they could finally aim straight for their target. Hovering closely above the roof, Fluttershy and Crystal Blossom looked for a place where they could let the mares down. It was the elder reaper who noticed that one of the windows was not locked properly and opened it by magic.

One by one, the keepers of harmony climbed through the window into an empty apartment. The wallpaper, the ceiling and the flooring were so new that they could still smell the adhesive. Nopony was nearby and after just a minute of sneaking around, they could find the dinner lift. It seemed like they really got the truth out of the cultist.

“Okay girls. No turning back now. Try to avoid getting seen or heard at any cost. Stick to the shadows and never walk into a light. I’ll go down first and see if its clear. You wait for my signal,” Twilight whispered.

After Applejack and Rarity nodded in understanding, the purple mare used her magic to quietly open the lift and slowly climbed inside. She barely fit in and had difficulties closing the door again. But eventually, she could position herself right and used her magic to slowly lower the lift.

A minute passed by and she still did not hit the bottom. Suddenly, Twilight heard hoof clattering. She instantly stopped the lift and tried to be as quiet as possible. It sounded like several ponies were just on the other side of the wall, speaking to each other. Although she could not understand what they were talking about, she could figure that she now reached the ground floor.

Fighting against the slowly rising claustrophobia, Twilight kept waiting for another minute until the voices finally vanished again. She let out an unhearable sigh of relief and continued lowering the lift.

Not much later, she finally hit the ground. The purple mare did not want to rush it now and make a fatal mistake, so she kept sitting in the lift for a moment longer, listening closely to what was going on outside. As she heard nothing, she opened the lift by a narrow gap and glanced outside. Nopony was there.

Very slowly, Twilight opened the door. She was surrounded by large removal crates in something that looked like it was meant to become a lavatory. The purple mare left her cover and started sneaking between the crates.

Everything seemed to be clear. Her friends could come down safely, so she made the food lift go back up, signalling the others to follow. A few minutes later, Applejack and Rarity arrived in the unfinished lavatory as well.

Twilight again lead the way, sneaking up to the only door out of this room and slowly opening it. As she glanced through the door slit, she could see a good dozen of ponies sitting together in a relatively small room. All of them were wearing red robes decorated with three black claw marks.

“So we praise you, Nightmare Moon, as queen of the gods! You, oh greatest of all punishers, are the undeniable true ruler of this world!” a male voice praised.

“All hail the demon queen,” the ponies chanted in response.

After Twilight made sure none of them were near their door, she waved Applejack and Rarity over to spy along with her.

“I can not believe what I am seeing here! This is just dreadful!” Rarity whispered.

“Ah know. Can’t believe how many those are and that they believe this rubbish,” Applejack replied.

“No. Not that! Look at the robes! They are so crudely made! And what a poor choice of color! It is so irritating to the eye! I think they should rather get arrested for poor fashion choice than for worshipping demons!” the white mare stated.

Both Twilight and Applejack just rolled their eyes and returned to their observation. By now, the whole room was filled with incomprehensible mumbling.

“What do ya think they’re doing?” Applejack wondered.

“I’m not sure, but it sounds like they are praying to that picture of Nightmare Moon over there... Oh, look!” Twilight spoke quietly.

One of the cultists entered with a pig on a leash. It was clearly in panic, but they still forced it up on something like a podium covered in sinister markings.

Three cultists at once held the pig immobile on the platform, turned sideways facing the crowd. Then a fourth approached with a strange looking dagger. Its blade was waved and the hilt showed demonic faces. The cultist stopped in front of the pig and held the dagger with both front legs into the air.

“In blood she was born and in blood it shall end. Another soul we offer to you, mistress of red shadows,” he spoke.

As soon as he finished speaking, he rammed the dagger into the pig’s throat. Directly after, the blade retreated to leave it squealing loudly in pain. But just moments later, the animal’s screams became drowned by its own blood running out of its mouth and neck. The red liquid flew into the gravure on the podium, creating red lines.

Rarity had seen enough. She became sick from the sight and retreated, placing a front hoof on her mouth in desperate struggle to not throw up. But she was not the only one disgusted by the sight. Twilight and Applejack as well had revulsion written in their faces.

“By all things that are good... This... This is just so wrong...” Applejack commented quietly.

“Well... good thing Fluttershy doesn’t have to see that. I bet she would still get enraged over seeing an animal getting killed for no reason,” Twilight replied.

The cultists kept mumbling while watching the death struggle. As the pig stopped moving, they just tossed it down from the table and stepped aside. Now, Twilight could see that the blood actually flowed along the lines down to a bowl, where it gathered up. Suddenly, the cultists returned with another victim. But it was not an animal this time.

Dragged out on sturdy chains around the neck, the cultists were pulling a reaper mare who seemed to be so drained of her strength that she couldn’t even move anymore. They just placed her on the same podium and slit her throat like they did with the pig, allowing her blood to mix in with the animals’.

“I get it... They are diluting the reaper blood this way...” Twilight commented.

“Ugh... Sorry, Twi... Ah can’t watch this anymore... I’m gettin’ sick...” Applejack announced quietly and retreated.

The purple mare also had to struggle with nausea, but she forced herself to keep watching. She needed to gather as much information as possible.

The reaper mare was next to unconscious when one of the cultists came up to her and lifted her head, making her look into his eyes.

“Today is your lucky day, traitor. You have run out of use for us,” he spoke, then turned around to the other cultists. “Bring her to the sanctuary along with the pig carcass.”

Without speaking another word, the cultists dragged the reaper mare and the dead pig into a room close to them. After that, all of the cultists suddenly went in a line. One by one, they grabbed a bowl, dipped it in the blood mixture and drank it.

Twilight flinched at the sight. To imagine they were all doing this on their own free will... Yet, something caught her curiosity.

“Sanctuary... What do they want with dead bodies in a sanctuary...” she whispered.

Rarity and Applejack had recovered by now, but still stood back and just shrugged in response. After every cultist had a bowl, they all sat back down except for one to stand behind the podium again.

“Maledictum Insania. The blessing of truth. The power of the demons, given to pony-kind. Embrace this gift just as you embrace the red darkness. Spill the blood of non-believers and serve our lords. Only then, they will deem you worthy of joining their ranks. Thank you all for coming tonight. Let us continue on our plans of taking over the orphanage,” he spoke.

“Good gosh! They want orphans?!” Applejack commented quietly in shock.

“More blood or possible followers I would assume... Such monsters...” Twilight replied.

For the following half hour, the cultists discussed a detailed plan of how to effectively position members of the cult in administrative bodies and bring Trottingham into a financial crisis, which would force the city to hand out the leadership of the local orphanage. This plan included assassinating several ponies, among them the current manager of the orphanage, who then would get replaced by an undercover cultist. Twilight could just sit there with an open mouth as she heard of how well they had thought this through.

“By Celestia... If they pull this off like they say, it would actually work...” she commented.

“We can not let that happen, darling. We need to get out of here and warn the city!” Rarity suggested.

“Not yet. I really want to know what’s inside that sanctuary. It seems to be very important to them from what I can make out of their glances. This might just be the biggest secret we can find here,” the purple mare replied.

So the keepers of harmony spent more than an hour in the lavatory, trying to be as quiet as possible and waiting for an opportunity to come out. Ultimately, the meeting of the cultists came to an end. They all stood up and went upstairs.

Twilight waited a few more minutes to make sure they truly were done down here before she decided to fully open the door and sneak outside. Now in the middle of this room, she had to admit it really looked like something that could be called a church. Rich red and black decor was hung on all walls, most of them featuring demons or Nightmare Moon herself. Yet, there was barely anything useful. The cultists did not take any notes and just discussed their plans verbally.

After the group made sure they had not missed anything down there, they went over to the black door leading to the room the cultists declared as their sanctuary. As Twilight opened it, she could instantly make out that this had to be the largest room in the basement. It was very dark and they could not see the other side.

“I’m getting the feeling that this whole building was actually made with the cult specifically in mind. Otherwise I would not find a logical explanation why anypony would need such a big basement,” Twilight commented.

“So the whole apartment part is just a disguise. The BloodClaw Cult has a lot of power... it is terrifying...” Rarity added.

“Well, if we have come this far, we might as well just go in there,” Applejack suggested and walked ahead.

Twilight and Rarity followed immediately and closed the door behind them. Now it was pitch black inside, so the purple mare used a light spell to illuminate the room. Though it barely had any effect. The darkness in the sanctuary seemed to be magical, trying to resist the light.

As the group started walking, they could hear the sound of a blade getting sharpened. Instantly, all three went into battle stance and slowed down their approach. Nowhere could they see the pig body or the reaper mare. Everything was just black, even the floor, walls and ceiling.

The closer they came to the metallic sound, the more they could hear another as well. A desperate whimpering. As they finally reached its source, they all instantly stopped.

The three mares were paralyzed with wide open eyes and mouths. They could not believe what they were looking at. In front of them was a blood stained torture rack, holding a pony they all knew.

“R... Rainbow Dash?” Twilight spoke.

The light blue pegasus mare kept her head hanging and cried the whole time. But as soon as she heard her name, she slowly lifted her head, gazing at her friends with an expression of complete desperation.

“Twilight... Applejack... Rarity... Help me...” she spoke with a voice suiting her expression.

The mares kept sitting in place idly, still trying to understand what they were looking at. The sound of blade sharpening suddenly stopped and instead, something clattering came towards them. Moments later, another pony stepped forth from behind the rack.

“Ah! There you are! I’ve been waiting for you! Ready for a little torture party? Dashie is the guest of honor after all!” a pink earth pony mare spoke with a knife in her mouth.

She was wearing a patchwork dress of cutie marks featuring pegasus wings on the back. Along with that, she was wearing a necklace made of various unicorn horns. At the sight of this mare, the group became shocked even much more.

“Pinkie Pie?!” they all spoke out at once, half yelling.

“Yep! It’s me! Your good old auntie Pinkie! I’m so glad I can see you guys again! I thought I would never get to be with you anymore. But now you are all here!” Pinkie replied with a giggle.

“And Ah am so glad Ah can be with you, mommy!” a young female voice spoke to the left of the group.

As Applejack, Rarity and Twilight turned, they saw another pony approaching them which they thought to be dead for years now. The sight of this teenage filly brought tears into Applejack’s eyes.

“Applebloom...” she spoke.

“Hi, sis’! Have ya come to let me down again? Ah can’t believe ya let me get killed! What kind of sister are ya?” the filly blamed.

“I... Applebloom... I...” the orange mare started, unable to put her feelings in words.

“Guys... Please... Get me down from here... Please...” Rainbow Dash kept pleading.

“Oh no no no no no! You stay right there, Dashie! This is your party!” Pinkie Pie commented while bouncing around the rack.

Suddenly, another voice could be heard screaming.

“Rarity! Rarity!” another teenage filly spoke while running towards the fashion diva and embracing her, crying loudly.

“S... Sweetie Belle... Oh my stars... Is... Is that really you?!” Rarity wondered with teary eyes and deeply shocked.

Twilight just sat there with an expression of complete disbelief as her eyes wandered all around her. More and more ponies they thought dead appeared: Scootaloo. Snails. Granny Smith. But the one which shocked Twilight the most was not a pony.

“M-Mommy?!” a young male voice spoke.

“Spike...” Twilight analyzed, her eyes instantly filling with tears.

The baby dragon stood just in front of her, his eyes as well full of tears as he glanced at the purple mare.

“Twilight... Mommy... You’re back... I’m... I’m so sorry...” he spoke while slowly approaching Twilight.

“Ah wouldn’t have thought Ah’d see ya back so soon, Jackie,” Granny Smith commented.

“Granny... Applebloom... Granny...” Applejack kept speaking, unable to move and crying heavily.

“Sis’... Please get me out of here. Please! I can’t take it anymore! Please, Rarity!” Sweetie Belle pleaded.

The longer this scene continued, the more overwhelming it became. Applebloom kept blaming Applejack. Rainbow Dash continuously cried in desperation and begged for help while Pinkie Pie toyed with her wings. Sweetie Belle cried her soul out while Rarity held her tightly and cried along. Both of Twilight’s friends had completely given up to even try to understand what was going on by now and just found themselves unable to handle the situation and the emotions it evoked in them.

Only Twilight kept observing. Only Twilight could bring her eyes off from those dear to her to watch her friends. Then, it suddenly became clear to her: They were slowly being surrounded.

The purple mare made a radical decision. Using her arcane magic, she blasted Spike away and used arcane shockwaves to separate Rarity and Applejack from their family members. The shock over her actions were clearly seen in everypony’s face.

“What in the name of Celestia are you doing, Twilight?!” Rarity shouted in anger.

“Wake up, girls! This is a trap!” the purple mare shouted back.

“A trap? What do ya mean Twi’? How can they be a trap? Applebloom... Granny Smith... Rainbow, Pinkie... Even Spike is here!” Applejack argued.

“That’s just it! Come back to your senses! You know they are all dead! How can they be here? It makes no sense!” Twilight stated.

“Twilight... You can’t be serious! Get me off here! Please! I’m begging you!” Rainbow Dash kept pleading.

Everypony was staring at Twilight while her purple arcane aura kept her floating in the air. Her white eyes lowered to the ground as she tried to come to a decision.

“Wait a moment... The cult is worshipping demons. It would only make sense if they would get in contact with them as well... A sanctuary... A holy place for holy beings... They need to be fed with flesh...” the purple mare analyzed. “Girls. Those are not our friends and family members. We are facing a group of demons here.”

A moment of silence passed, everypony staring at Twilight. Then slowly, the expressions of their dead friends and family members shifted to sinister smiles. Directly after, their eyes began to glow red.

“The keeper of magic is smart,” Spike commented in a different voice.

“She can see through our disguise,” Pinkie continued.

“We must not-” Scootaloo spoke.

“Let them escape-” Granny Smith continued.

“With this knowledge,” Rainbow Dash finished.

Suddenly, the pegasus mare began to change color and move around strangely on her rack, followed by all the other disguised demons doing the same. All of them started to suddenly grow additional limbs, mouths, eyes and heavily changed their appearance to nightmarish, abstract masses of black flesh and blades.

“Girls. Let’s get out of here. Let’s go! Go! Go!” Twilight shouted and turned around.

As Rarity and Applejack started running too, one of the demons screamed loudly while the others began to chase after the group. The three mares ran as fast as they could, but the demons were still a lot faster. Just as the first one was about to catch up, Twilight launched an arcane bolt behind her, sending it flying.

The three mares rushed out the sanctuary and aimed straight for the stairs up. But the cultists had heard the scream and explosions and were rushing down with blades in their mouths.

Twilight launched an arcane shockwave right at them, scattering them apart. But the cultists instantly formed back together and blocked the stairs.

Now forced to fight, Rarity used her magic to tear an aquamarine out of her necklace and launched it at the sanctuary door, sealing it with a thick layer of ice. While the demons tried all they could to break through, the first cultists started charging the group.

Applejack could dodge a few attacks and even land a hard kick on one of the cultists, but she could hardly keep up the fight with one leg missing. Twilight decided to play for time and raised an arcane shield around them, but the unicorn members of the cult instantly began to cast counterspells. Twenty seconds passed when several cultists on the stairs suddenly found themselves getting sliced in half. As the remaining ones turned around, they saw Crystal Blossom and Fluttershy fighting their way down.

With this support, Rarity decided to start a distraction. She gave Twilight a signal to remove the shield and used a ruby from her necklace to start a big fire, filling the whole basement with smoke. While the cultists were coughing and trying to see through the smoke, the group rushed over to the stairs, where they were picked up by the two reaper mares.

Finally, the demons broke through the ice. But before they could even reach the mares, Crystal decided to give a first impression of her special talent. With one quick spell, she froze the entire basement over, immobilizing every creature that did not belong to their group. This gave them just enough time to rush out of the blue house before the demons could break free from the ice again.

It was over. The keepers of harmony escaped. The demons did not want to reveal themselves in the middle of a city, so they just turned around and waited for the cultists to break free.

Nearly five minutes passed until they all were able to move freely again, shaking all over. The cultists grouped up in front of the demons and bowed down.

“My lords... We have disappointed you... Forgive us...” one of them spoke.

The demons mutely exchanged a few glances. Then they suddenly turned around. Behind them was another set of glowing red eyes, hiding in the dark.

“You did not disappoint. This is just-” one of the demons started.

“As we planned,” the figure with an echoing female voice hiding in the shadows finished.

“But... They escaped!” another cultist stated,

“Planned,” a demon spoke.

“Predicted,” another added.

“Executed,” a third finished.

“W... what do we do now?” one of the cultists wondered.

“The time has come for you to rise. If the keepers of harmony want war, they can have war. Now, the hiding ends,” the echoing voice in the dark explained.

“It is time... It is time! Finally!” another cultist commented.

Suddenly, the mood in the destroyed church changed entirely. Loud cheering broke out. Even the demons seemed to laugh quietly in satisfaction.

“I need to return. Black Widow will certainly want to hear the news,” the creature in the dark spoke.

The other demons nodded in understanding and began to walk back inside the sanctuary. Moments later, the pair of red eyes hiding in the shadows vanished again.