"[SB] Conniving Cultists [Chapter 6]"
By Thy_Carpenter (https://pastebin.com/u/Thy_Carpenter)

URL: https://pastebin.com/P8QtL1ST
Created on: Sunday 26th of March 2017 08:59:13 PM CDT
Retrieved on: Friday 30 of October 2020 12:58:06 PM UTC


Chapter 6: Discerning Motives
>The two of you come to the edge of a short overhang leading to a small clearing and a decrepit castle, the moon seeming to watch over it.
“Woah, where are we?”
>”That’s the Two Sister’s Castle... whatever they’re doing here has to be end of the world scenario stuff!”
>Myst hops down the overhang and begins a light gallop, and after a second you follow, galloping hard in order to catch up.
“Hey! Slow down, what’s the plan here?”
>Coming beside her, but still in a gallop, the two of you soon come to a stop before two large caved in doors.
>”I’ve known that the castle exists, but how did they get here?”
“What’s so special about this pile of bricks?”
>She turns to you and gives you a raised eyebrow.
>”For someone who’s part of the royal guard, you sure don’t know much about it. The Castle of the Two Sisters is where Celestia and Luna ruled a thousand years ago, until Luna grew rampant from jealousy. The fight that ensued put the castle out of commission for good, and it was quickly left to rot, magical artifacts and ancient tomes left abandoned. The princess, however, put an enchantment on the area which would cause ponies to become lost and end up at the edge of the Everfree if they tried to find it. How they found it despite the enchantment is one more question to the list.”
“Alright, so, arcane artifacts and ancient tomes, kidnapping and dark magic. Any clue what they’re doing?”
>”That’s what we’re here to find out, remember? Now, follow me and keep quiet or you’ll blow the element of surprise.”
>Obliging, you follow her lead as she moves quietly past the door and into the ruins. In the moonlight that pours in through the holes in the roof, you see a grand hallway which at the end leads to two stairs, which in turn, lead to a large overlooking balcony.
>Lining the walls of the grand hallway are staircases that ascend into darkness.
>Myst leads the way as the two of you silently transverse the hallway, the both of you eying the staircases as you pass each one.
>The two of you reach the main staircases at the end of the hall, and Myst takes the one on the left as you take the one on the right.
>At the top the two of you find an open throne room, arches lining the sides of the room as two thrones, each decorated separately as the sun and moon, sit at the end.
“Where could they be?” you whisper, half to yourself, half to Myst.
>Crossing the room and nearing the thrones, you notice in the corner behind them is a heavily rusted door.
“Hey, check this out,” you whisper as you nod your head, “The floor is cleaner in front of this door than the rest. Looks like our cult has been through here a lot.”
>”Nicely spotted, It’s probably where they’re basing themselves out of the most.”
>The door leads to a crumbling stone staircase that descends into darkness.
>”Here’s the plan,” Myst whispers as the two of you pause at the top.
>”You’re going to lead, and I’m going stalk the shadows behind you. You’re going to be a distraction as I get into the best position to ambush them.”
“And remind me, why do I have to be the bait?”
>”Because you don’t fight cults for a living, you don’t know the most efficient way to take them down, and I doubt you know how to counter magic without using it yourself.”
“Alright, just so long as you do your part and save me before they stick a dagger in me... I’ll do it.”
>”After you,” she nods you on.
>Fighting the thought you’re the lamb walking to a sacrifice, you descend into the darkness, spiraling down and down until you reach a large stone room.
>The room, despite being abandoned for so long, is in remarkable condition. The glossy black marble walls seem as if they were polished just yesterday.
>Several tables with various tomes, notes, and scrolls are located along the walls, with lamps lighting providing a low amount of light to the center of the room, where there’s…
>What is-- Is that a pony?
>It’s sitting facing you, but its head is lowered as if it drifted off to sleep.
>Slowly, you make your way towards it, shaking in a mixture of anticipation and terror with each hoofstep.
>Your eyes have adjusted enough to see an intricate silver pattern of runes surrounding the pony, which you can now tell is purplish.
>Bright golden lines flash from the ground around you, creating a pentagram with glyphs at each point.
>Startled, you stumble backwards, your rump hitting a solid barrier as a sickening crunching is heard from your body.
>A terrible migraine forces your head to the ground as your hooves cradle it, trying to stop the agony.
>Then, just as soon as it started, it stopped.
>Your breath shudders out as your eyes blink a few times.
>Why does your body feel different?
>Taking a look back, you see your body is a more bloody shade of crimson, and the heart-o-gram is back on your rump.
>Your disguise is gone!
>You try to reimagine your disguise again, only to be met with another migraine.
>Discarding that idea, you clumsily get up and notice that without the disguise, you’re back to being big again.
>”I’ve been waiting for you,” flatly states an unfamiliar voice.
>Looking, it’s the purple mare from before.
>Now that she’s looking at you, you can clearly see a horn and a bluish-purple mane with violet highlights.
>Unique from most other ponies you’ve met, she has a set of wings in addition to her horn.
“W-who? Me?
>You begin to back away slowly.
>”I don’t sense anyone else in the castle.”
>Your flank bumps into a barrier, and looking behind you reveals nothing but the circle you’re in.
>”You’ve been contained within a magic circle. You cannot escape.”
“How did you know I’m a demon?”
>”I sensed you enter this world, and I’ve felt you getting closer. You have a large magical signature.”
>Hoofsteps are heard descending the stairs and five unicorns circle around you in unison, each stopping at a point of the pentagram.
“W-who are you? What are you doing?!” you ask as you begin to panic.
>The ponies speak in perfect unison, “I am not sure exactly what I am, but I do know I wish not to die.”
“What the hell is going on? What do you mean?!”
>The purple one talks again, “I don’t know where or when I came from, but I first found myself in the land you call Equestria. I started off… primitive… acting on instinct alone-- to grow. And so, I found myself a vessel from which to grow from. The pony you see here. Her knowledge has been a most valuable asset, along with,” they say in unison, “the knowledge of all those I’ve come in contact with.”
“Sso what, you’re a hivemind?”
>The pony stops for a second, seemingly pondering the word.
>”Hivemind. The word describes me better than any I’ve come across before.”
>The surrounding ponies levitate chalk and begin adding additional patterns to your pentagram.
“What are you going to d-do to me?” fear is building up fast as your look around for a way out of this.
>”The vessel I’ve hosted myself in has been most beneficial to me-- it has more knowledge and power than any other I’ve encountered, however, it has… protection… on certain parts of its mind. Your body and mind has even more power than this one. I’m going to use your body as a new vessel from which to unlock the rest of this one’s knowledge.”
>The scribing of chalk has stopped and a dagger levitates towards you, which you back away from the best as you can in your circle.
>It floats from side to side, as if watching you, before diving and slashing your arm, drawing enough blood to coat its edge.
>The dagger floats to the purple one and a drop of blood falls onto its magic circle, causing the chalk to glow red with a purplish tint as heat waves are seen rising from it.
>A different dagger floats to the pony, lightly cutting its arm and putting blood on the blade.
>It levitates to your circle and a drop of blood falls, creating an identical effect.
>The horns of the surrounding unicorns glow and you begin to lift from the ground as you flail and try to swim back down.
“N-NO! NOT LIKE THIS! YOU CAN’T! I-I WON’T LET YOU!”
>”It will be done,” they all chant.
>The purple one’s horn begins to glow and you start to feel cold as something prods into your mind and pulsates.
>You’re frozen in terror as your eyes glance over the unicorns restraining you in the air, and then to the purple one, likely the last face you’ll ever see.
>Her cold, emotionless face… twitches.
>A frown is seen, and then her eyes… they seem to become more vibrant.
>”I WILL NOT LET YOU DO THIS, PARASITE!” she states in a wavering, yet firm voice.
>Her horn glows a vibrant green, which spreads to the surrounding unicorns’ horns.
>A bright blast flashes before your eyes as the unicorns are thrust in all directions across the room, each hitting the walls with solid thumps.
>You fall onto your belly and the wind is knocked out of you as the magic circle is blown away.
>”G-GO! I caN’T keeP COntrol muUUuc--”
>You muster all your strength and hop to your hooves, turning 180 and galloping towards the exit.
>”THE TREE! YOu haVE TO C-c-cURe thE TReeeee!”
>In a blur you’re up the stairs and bursting into the throne room.
>A stallion is flung towards you, which you barely avoid as the body falls limp against the floor.
>Myst stands at the center of the throne room, staring at you with fiery eyes.
>”You.”
>She turns and runs before stumbling on a brick and hitting the staircase railing hard, her saddlebag sliding off as she gallops down the stairs.
“Wait!” you call as you run to the railing, “I can explain!”
>”You can explain with your dying breaths, demon!”
>With that, she disappears into one of the staircases lining the great hall.
>You open your mouth to shout a rebuttal, before realising she’d never hear it.
>Shaking your head, you walk to the saddlebag she left behind.
>Inside contains a plethora of occult paraphernalia, but what sticks out the most is your map.
>Unfolding and reading it reveals the interior of the castle.
>Just what was it that pony was talking about?
>Curing the tree? What tree? You don’t see a tree on the map.
>You’ve heard that before, though… with the princesses! What kind of tree was it?
>Wait a minute, it’s on your contract!
>Looking up and envisioning it, a scroll materialises and unrolls.
>Aha! There it is!
>[Anonymous shall secure and protect the Tree of Harmony, preserving its health until the aforementioned cult is no longer a direct threat to it.]
>The scroll rolls up and dematerialises as you look back to the map.
>The map begins to change into a vague network of… tunnels?
>There’s a large chamber with a crystalline tree drawn in the middle.
>Overlooking the flawed logic of a tree being in a cavern, you look for an entrance.
>The castle was built overtop of the cave system, and it seems a rift has formed somewhere in the castle that’ll allow access to it.
>The shortest route there is… It's the way Myst went.
>Hoping you don't run into the hunter again, you pack the map and descend the stairs, taking the saddlebag with you.
>Ascending the stairs brings you to a ruined hallway, which a missing piece of roof dimly lights.
>Navigating the hall, you soon find yourself in a large open room, brightly lit by the large, broken skylight that encompasses most of the room.
>Vines grow in through tall windows, and a dark crevice sits in the center of the room.
>Stepping over large growths of vines and trying your best not to get cut on the fallen glass, you navigate through the room, which you presume to have been a ballroom at one time.
>Arriving at the crevice you notice that there are three giant vines growing into it, as if they were purposefully invading it.
>Looking into it, you can just barely see the bottom.
>Seeing no better option, you awkwardly grab onto of of the nearby vines and slide down.