Velvet woke up in a cave. Her coat was wet from laying on the cold cavern floors. She quickly stood up and looked around to find she was in a corner, steel bars formed into a makeshift cell around her. Velvet trotted up to the bars and ignited her horn. Using every ounce of magic she could muster, she attempted to part the steel.
"C-Come on!" Velvet grunted, but the bars didn't budge. She sighed and her horn stopped glowing. Even if she weren't exhausted, she knew her magic wasn't strong enough to bend them. She looked around again and noticed a light source—a torch mounted to the cave wall burned outside her cell. She reached a foreleg out to grab it but it was too far. She took a step back and her horn began glowing again. Her magic aura surrounded the base and she pulled as hard as she could. Like the bars, the torch refused to move.
"Having trouble?"
Velvet froze and peered into the darkness outside her cell.
"I'm curious," the voice asked. "Do you know where you are?"
"N-No," Velvet replied sheepishly.
Silence.
"Where are my friends?" Velvet asked to the darkness. She heard steps, the sound of hooves hitting the cave floor. Whoever she was talking to was moving close. Finally, the figure stepped out of the darkness and into the light of the torch.
"Your name is... Twilight Velvet."
"H-How do you know that?"
"So many questions... come close." Velvet's mind went blank and she began walking. Every fiber of her being told her to stop but for some reason she couldn't. She was inches from the bars when she stopped and stood still., like a dog waiting for the next order from its master.
"D-Did you do that?"
"I did... through tribute I have gained many things," the pony told her. Velvet examined the pony in front of her. A stallion, but not as big as the one they encountered in the valley. Although, this one wore the same mask and cloak as the stallion that attacked them wore. He stepped closer.
"Look," he muttered, his mask slowly levitated off of him and falling to the ground. The stallion was old, much older than Velvet and even Granny Smith. His eyes matched his mane, grey with age. He may have even been blind. But the most recognizable feature the stallion sported was a broken horn—it looked like somepony snapped it off. Velvet gulped and remained silent.
"He took my horn, my sight... me," the stallion began. "But when we cast off all of what makes us who we are, we gain everything."
"You're insane..." Velvet said quietly.
"I am nothing. You are nothing. Here, only God exists. Soon, God will leave this place." Suddenly Velvet began to feel lightheaded.
"Wh-What are you doing?!" Velvet asked as she began to lay down. It felt like a massive weight was pressing down on her. It started off manageable but slowly began to crush her. She desperately tried to stand but fell to the cave floor.
"S-Stop! Please!" Velvet protested. The old stallion smiled down at her.
"You can feel his presence. Give in Velvet... give in and there will be no pain, only God's embrace."
Velvet tried to protest again but the weight had now forced her to the floor; she could no longer move and even breathing had become difficult.
"S...Stop..."
Velvet's vision faded and she lost consciousness.
"Velvet!" a voice sounded to her. "Velvet!! Wake up!" it said again in an urgent manner. Velvet's eyes opened to see she was in a dimly-lit room. She tried to move but she was bound to a wooden table.
"Thank Celestia you're awake!" the voice said. She recognized it this time—it was Silver. She turned to her left and saw him. He too was bound to a similar wooden table.
"Where are we? Where are Lily and Ebony?" Velvet asked him.
"I don't know..." Silver began. "Listen to me Velvet, this place, it's not right. There is something here...they worship it," Silver slowly looked away from Velvet and to the center of the room. Velvet followed and gasped when she saw it. In the center of the room was a hole. She couldn't see down into it thanks to the table's angle but somehow she knew what was down there.
"Silver... we need to get out of here." Velvet ordered.
"I know, but first I have to find Ebony!" Silver stated.
"Okay okay... how do we get out of-" Velvet stopped as she heard a door open behind her. Both the ponies went quiet. The only sound that could be heard was the faint clop of hooves hitting the wet cave floor as the other pony came closer. After a few moments the stallion from before presented himself once more. He gave Velvet a smile and raised a hoof to her face.
"Which would you like to give up first, Velvet? Horn? Cutie Mark? Sight? Speech? Or maybe you wish to join with God?"
Velvet was silent.
"How about you?" the stallion asked, turning to Silver. Like Velvet, Silver said nothing. The stallion's smile turned to a frown. "Perhaps you both need an... example of what happens when you defy God?"
The door opened again and two more ponies came in. They stood next to the old stallion, both wearing masks and cloaks. Velvet shuddered when she saw what, or rather who, they had with them.
"What did you do to her?!?" Silver screamed. One of the stallions was carrying a very familiar pegasus on their back. He dropped her to the ground with a thud.
"L-Lily..." Velvet said. Lily's mane and tail were a mess. She had dried blood painted across her face and ribs.
"God is accepting. He will take all under his wings. Lily Spring defied God. So we punished her," the old stallion stated with a grin. "God will take you both, you just have to accept Him as He has done for you!"
"Fuck your god!" Silver spat out. The stallion glared at him and the room went silent. The old stallion raised a forehoof to Silver. Silver felt a headache begin to set in almost immediately. Velvet turned to Silver. There was a twisted expression of pain that tore across his face.
"Stop!" Velvet screamed.
"This pony has defied God," the stallion stated. Silver let out a loud scream as the pain began to become more and more intense. He struggled against his restraints but could not escape them. Velvet began to hear a cracking sound and Silver's screams grew louder.
*snap*
Velvet gasped as Silver's horn was ripped off of his head. Silver collapsed on the table, his body completely shut down from shock.
"You both will accept God," the old stallion stated coldly, tossing the horn down into the hole with his magic before walking out of the room, the other two cloaked stallions following closely behind and leaving the three others alone. Tears rolled down Velvet's face. They were all going to die here.