"[SB] Conniving Cultists [Chapter 3]"
By Thy_Carpenter (https://pastebin.com/u/Thy_Carpenter)

URL: https://pastebin.com/RGAee8q1
Created on: Saturday 28th of January 2017 04:05:52 PM CDT
Retrieved on: Friday 30 of October 2020 12:58:11 PM UTC


CHAPTER 3: ON THE RIGHT TRACK

>The sisters watch as you uneasily make your way over to them. They look like they seem to regret the deal they just made.
"It's alright. New body is all, happens every time."
>The regret seems to leave their faces.
"Right. Take me to your armory, I need to gear up."
>Without a word, the sisters turn around and head to the door.
>You follow them, clambering around at first, but soon innate instinct takes over and walking is easy.
>They push open the door and you follow them through countless hallways.
>You pass by countless Royal Guards, each gives you a questioning glare, but they carry on their way.
>Soon enough, you're in front of two very thick and reinforced iron doors.
>The doors are pushed open to reveal the most well stocked armory you've ever seen.
>The armory was a long room, with shelves and weapon racks lining the walls and freestanding racks on the floor.
>"This is the armory, take what you need."
>You grab a saddlebag and awkwardly sling it onto your back.
>Walking up and down the aisles of weaponry is your idea of being in a candy store.
>Of course, you can't take every weapon you see, even though you want to.
>Eventually you settle on a razor sharp dagger.
>You firmly affix its sheath onto your saddlebag.
>You make your way to a different section of the armory, filled with equipment.
>You grab a map, compass, some rope, generally anything you might need.
>You turn to the sisters who had been watching you loot their armory.
"I will require a writ of high authority and for my map to be marked with where to go."
>You withdraw your map and present it to Celestia.
>A golden aura levitates it and it becomes infused with magic.
>"I've enchanted your map to be magically interactive. Anything you need to know can be found on it," Celestia informs.
"Anything, huh? Even what you're like in be-"
>A small card case flings itself into your face.
>"That," Luna says , " is a telepathic card. It'll change what it says to be whatever you want a reader to see.  Since you can presumably shape-shift, it's better than carrying many false identity cards around."
>You flip open the case and a blank card is visible inside.
>You think of an FBI card, and the card begins moving words and pictures around to form the imagined identity.
>You stop imagining it, and it fades, becoming blank once again.
>You close it up and place it in your bag.
>You unfold your map, and magic begins to create 3D blimps on the map.
>A golden heart-o-gram hovers above Canterlot Castle, showing where you are.
>An ominous looking eye hovers above The Everfree Forest.
>A trail connects the forest and the castle, just like a GPS.
>You examine a nearby town of Ponyville, and the map zooms in, showing the names of shops and points of interest in the town.
>Celestia levitates a bag and a train ticket in front of you.
>"The next train for Ponyville leaves in an hour. This bag has enough bits in it to buy you anything you need. It's time for you to go off and fulfill our contract now."
>She levitates the bits and ticket into your saddlebag.
>"Don't forget to take on a disguise. The last thing we need is for our little ponies to find out the fate of Equestria lays in the hands of a demon."
>You walk over to a large mirror and see your demonic form.
>Crimson red, goat horns, fiery eyes...
>There was no mistaking you, you were obviously a demon.
>A sexy one at that, but a demon nonetheless.
>You begin imagining your shape differently, and your body begins to take shape, sickening crunching and snapping accompanying the change.
>Soon you end up with a mare that's a less intimidating shade of crimson, slightly off-black mane and tale, feathery wings, warm yellow eyes, and without the horns and heart-o-gram butt mark.
>Your saddle bags cover up the lack of butt mark, and you admire your shape shifting handiwork.
>"You're forgetting that most ponies aren't as tall as that," says Luna, gesturing towards an equipment sizing poster.
>You resize to what the chart says is an average height mare.
>Instead of being at eye level, you're now at chest level with the sisters.
"If my disguise looks fair enough, then I'm ready to head out."
>The sisters eye you up and down, then nod.
>They lead you out of the armory and through the halls of the castle, ending up in a main chamber with several hallways and two grand looking doors.
>"Through these doors is the city of Canterlot. Follow your map and board the train to Ponyville." Instructs Luna.
>"Remember, the fate of Equestria lays in your hooves." says Celestia, using one of the biggest hero clichés ever.
>Right. Time to go save the world and by extension your own sexy ass.
>You make your way over to the door and push them open, making your way into a brand new world.
>You step into a courtyard with fine architecture, flower gardens, and patrolling guards.
>You make your way onwards, towards the large wall on the other end of the courtyard.
>You come to a gate, and its guards open its portcullis to let you through.
>Passing through, the portcullis shuts behind you and you see the lightly colored guards are rotated out by darker guards.
>You continue on your way and soon find yourself wandering the streets of Canterlot.
>Following directions from your map, you find yourself at the train station.
>"Last call for the overnight Ponyville Express!" you hear called out.
>You give your ticket to the ticket taker and board.
>You make your way through a few passenger cars and arrive at the caboose.
>Its empty, good. Right now you could use some solitude.
>Looking around, there's two benches at the rear of the car, and a few crates at the front.
>A door at the back no doubtedly leads to the balcony.
>The rest is empty floor space.
>A whistle is heard from the front of the train, and a bell begins ringing.
>A burst of two whistles are heard, and the train lurches forward.
>The train begins picking up speed and soon you're at a nice cruising speed, going through a series of dark tunnels.
>You look out a window and see several cities far off in the distance.
>The last rays of light disappear over the horizon and a plethora of stars litter the skies, complementing the softly glowing moon.
>A yawn escapes your mouth, err, muzzle?
>Heavy eyelids cut your pondering short, and you decide to heed their call.
>Sleeping on a bench looks awkward as fuck, so you put your saddlebags to the side and curl up in a ball beside them.
>The oh so sweet aura of sleep comes to you, and you feel yourself synchronize with a field of magic and draw from it.
>So this is how magicians feel when they sleep, huh?
>Feels warm and cozy.
>You drift off to sleep as you relax from the long day.
SCREEEEEEE
“What th- OOF-”
>Your vision blurs before your head collides with something and blackness overwhelms all of your senses.
...
“Mmhp…”
>Slowly you come out of your stupor, your eyes trying to rubber band shut.
>You seem to be heavily leaning against the side of the car, with something jagged digging into your shoulder.
>Your legs try to move you away, though the only traction you get is from the air.
>It takes a moment, but you realize this is because you’re laying down on the side of the car.
>Right. The train derailed.
>Clumsily you begin to right yourself when there’s a sharp pain in your shoulder.
>The scene gives you a shock; there’s a shard of glass sticking out, stained in crimson.
“Oh shit!”
>Do you leave it in or pull it out? You can’t remember, but the pain is most certainly becoming noticeable.
>Going with what you feel is the right choice, you pull it out with your teeth and stand, blood seeping from the laceration.
>You don’t know how much blood a pony has, but you’d better get that patched up soon.
>Eying the car, you look around for your saddlebag.
>It must have gone flying in the crash, because you can’t find it.
>With no reason to stay in the car, you make your way to the caboose’s door.
>Pushing, the door refuses to budge; from outside you can see a metal beam leaning against it, out of your reach.
>You ponder and recall that unicorns could manipulate objects with their horns.
>Feeling your head returns a ruffled mane; you’re still in disguise.
>Eying the beam again, something you feel something akin to energy collect in your lungs.
>An instinct urges you to turn that energy into words, and you do so.
“M??¸O???V???E???? ??A????T???? ????O?????N????C??¸??E??!???”
>The energy dispels itself from your lungs and the car shakes as the beam is sprung away, along with the door.
>Ha! For once, the world listened to what you had to say!
>The slash on your shoulder feels colder, so you clamber out of the car in search of your saddlebag.
>Quickly sighting it, you limp over and open it.
>A handkerchief is withdrawn and promptly tied over the cut with minor difficulty despite having no fingers.
>With that taken care of, you sling the saddle bag on and look to the other cars of the train, which are much more crumpled and shredded.
>A fire rages from the steam engine, which is located some distance from the rest of the cars.
>Shakily, you make your way to the nearest car and look inside.
“Hello? Is anyone still alive in here?”
>The car is empty, with only disheveled luggage and several smudges of blood.
>A quick search of the other cars reveals the same; no-one inside, a little blood, and anything of use left behind.
>The fire in the engine seems to have been raging for quite some time; the metal is red hot and if anything was in there, it’s been long incinerated by now.
>Gazing around, the sun is just past overhead and a city can just barely be seen in the distance.
>Taking a last glance at the train, you feel uneasy and decide to head towards the town, the wound on your shoulder slowing you significantly.