Twilight Shimmer was very good what she did. Some would say she was the best, but it was hard to tell at such a young age. Twice as bright, half as long, as they say. Still, it was hard to argue with results. At only twenty one years of age, the unicorn was one of the most successful Slingers of all time, having successfully completed over a hundred field missions since her official induction to the group at age eighteen. Most ponies would be proud of that number over the course of a decade, and she had done it in just three years. Now, she was on a mission.
There had been a dramatic increase in reports of cult activity in recent months, and the Slingers had been busier than ever attempting to stomp it out. The reports had lessened over the last week, though, and Twilight Shimmer was following up on her last lead.
Shimmer sat in a small booth in the corner of a small bar in the middle of a small town. It was the kind of bar where ponies went to wallow, a seedy joint that wouldn’t know a party if one bit it in the plot. She had a drink sitting in front of her, but she paid it no mind. She wore a downtrodden look, fitting in perfectly with the clientele, but it was a facade. A good disguise allowed you to move freely, seen but unseen. There were a few other ponies in the place, but her eyes were fixed on a pony at the bar. He was a tall, dark-brown earth pony stallion with a black mane and three bits for a cutie mark. He had ordered a drink too, but his attention was focused on the clock above the bar. Every few seconds he would glance up at it and shift uncomfortably on his stool. Even from here, Shimmer could see the nervous sweat forming on his brow. Shimmer went over everything she knew about the stallion in her head.
Name: Cornelius Bit. Occupation: banker. Wife, two kids, small dog, lives here in town, ten years sober. Cornelius Bit took a long draught of his beverage, grimacing at the taste. Scratch that. Known occult affiliation.
Cornelius’ eyes shot to the clock for the hundredth time. He downed the rest of his drink with another grimace and got to his hooves. He left a few bits on the counter and donned his saddlebags before heading for the exit. As soon as the door opened, Shimmer got up from her own seat and left a few bits on her table before following.
She stepped outside into the fading light of the sun, glancing both ways before following her target. She passed several small restaurants and knick-knack shops, most family-owned and operated, and shook her head. How could anyone want to live in such a dinky little place? These small towns were breeding grounds for abnormal behavior. Every witch and cultist she had ever busted came from or operated out of a little hamlet like this one. They were nothing but trouble.
Shimmer shook her thoughts away and focused on the task at hand. She looked ahead and noticed that Cornelius had stopped outside a house and was looking forlornly at the front door. Through the window, Shimmer could see a mare and two little fillies sitting down at a table for dinner. They were his family, she realized. Cornelius lingered for a moment before shaking his head and continuing his journey. Shimmer continued following at a safe distance.
The sun was now barely peeking over the horizon, causing every object to cast a long, ghoulish shadow. Shimmer silently cursed the fact that there were no other ponies out and about; if her mark turned around, she would surely be seen. Whether or not her cover would be blown, she didn’t know, but she would rather not risk it. Still, this had to be done, so she kept walking. She followed him through the square and toward the other side of town.
Once Cornelius reached the edge of town, he stopped. Shimmer had just enough time to hide her body behind a large bush as the stallion looked around, searching for any unwanted followers. Satisfied that he was alone, he started heading for the treeline. After a few moments, Shimmer risked a peek out from behind her hiding bush and saw that he was already halfway to the forest, as he had broken into a trot. Shimmer knew that if she followed him she across such flat land she would be easily discovered, rendering her mission pointless. So, she did the only thing she could.
“Hey!” she shouted, galloping full speed toward the stallion. Her shout startled him, leaving him stunned for the briefest moment, but it was enough. Shimmer pumped her legs, flooding her muscles with latent magical energy. She moved faster than anypony watching would believe, closing the gap in moments. She tackled the earth pony to the ground and lit her horn, casting a spell to pin him down. Small indigo loops formed around his hooves and held him in place.
“Please,” the stallion cried, his eyes wide with fear, “don’t hurt them! I didn’t tell them anything, I swear!” He started thrashing against his bonds.
“Calm down!” Shimmer commanded, but the stallion wouldn’t listen. “I’m not who you think I am. I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if you don’t get ahold of yourself.” She slapped him, hard, with a hoof. He looked shocked, but stopped thrashing.
“You mean you’re not with the cu—“ He cut himself off, realizing what he had almost let slip.
“No, I’m not. I’m here to stop them, so I need you to tell me where you were going tonight, and what’s happening there.”
Cornelius shook his head furiously.“No, no no no, I can’t do that. They said they would kill my family if I talked. Please, just let me go.”
“I’m sorry, Cornelius, but I can’t do that.”
“How do you know my name!? Who are you?” Panic was creeping back into his voice. Shimmer kicked herself for the slip. If he became hysterical, she would never get anything out of him. She slapped him again.
“I’m just somepony who’s trying to help.” She softened a bit. “Cornelius, I know you’re not a bad pony. You have a family who loves you and you love them back; I can see that.” Cornelius nodded. “I promise that if you tell me what I need to know, nothing bad will happen to your family. Okay?” Another nod. He was so focused on her words that he didn’t notice the soft glow around her horn, imbuing her words with calming magics. “Now, where were you going?”
Cornelius took a deep breath. “If you keep going straight into these woods, you’ll come across a path. If you follow it to the left, there’s an old abandoned cottage. That’s where I was supposed to meet them for the ritual.”
Shimmer grabbed his saddlebags and started rummaging around inside.
“Hey, what’re you doing?” Cornelius asked, but Shimmer didn’t answer him. Instead, she pulled out a long black cloak. In one swift motion, she spun the cloak around herself, completely enveloping her body in the soft, midnight fabric. No matter where she was, cultist ponies always wore the same black cloaks. She put on Cornelius’s saddlebags and pulled the hood over her head. Then she folded the top of the hood, hiding her horn in the ruffles. Disguises were always preferable to cloaking of the magical nature. Magical hiding was difficult and could drain a lot of power if you weren’t careful. She wouldn’t pass for Cornelius Bit up close, but it should be enough.
“I’m sorry, but I have to leave you here. I can’t risk you following me,” she told the brown stallion. She ignored his protests and walked into the woods, leaving him stuck to the ground.
Shimmer’s eyes quickly adjusted to the oppressive darkness of the forest. The moon was now rising, but it was nearly new, so it cast little light. Shimmer had never been afraid of the dark; she learned at a young age that as long as you were vigilant, nothing could surprise you. She listened closely to the sounds of the forest, ensuring that nothing would sneak up on her.
When she reached the path that Cornelius had spoken of, she turned left. From there, it wasn’t difficult to find the cottage. The small home looked completely abandoned; parts of the walls were missing, most of the roof was caved in, and mosses and vines were reclaiming the stone. Standing in front of the doorway was a pony wearing a black robe identical to the one Shimmer had. As Shimmer approached, she kept her head low, hiding her face.
“It’s about time, Corne—” He didn’t get to finish the thought. Shimmer used her telekinesis to force his head into the wall, knocking him out cold. She stopped outside the doorway and held her breath, listening for any other adversaries. No sound came, so she ventured inside the ruined building.
There was little room to move around inside due to the collapsed ceiling. Shimmer looked around, but the cottage was very small, only one room, and there were no other cult ponies inside. Her eyes looked up and focused on her horn as they often did when she was thinking. She paced back and forth, her hooves making a soft shuffling on the dirt floor. Then, there was a loud thunk as her hoof struck something solid.
Shimmer looked down. She could vaguely see the outline of a square, and she cleared the dirt away with her hooves. Underneath the grime, there was a small wooden trapdoor with a metal latch. Shimmer smiled, reaching her telekinetic grip out to the ring and grabbing it. She gave a firm tug and the door gave way. There was a tunnel beneath illuminated by a flickering light. The old wooden steps creaked loudly as Shimmer descended.
She winced and stopped, listening for any unwanted visitors, but heard nothing. Sighing softly, she safely dropped the rest of the way into the tunnel. As she landed, she felt a sharp sting in her neck. She slapped at it, but came up empty-hoofed. Shrugging, she turned back to her surroundings. It was a large tunnel that only led in one direction: forward. Shimmer made sure her disguise was intact before continuing. The tunnel sloped downward at a slight incline.
As Shimmer advanced, the hair on the back of her neck started to stand on end. She could feel a strange tingling sensation in her hooves and in her horn. There was magic in the air, and it only grew more prominent as she went further down the tunnel. Soon, she could see light ahead, and she hurried her pace.
Twilight Shimmer gasped as she emerged from the tunnel. She was in a massive underground antechamber. The ceiling vaulted forty feet in the air, and the room was nearly a hundred feet across. The walls were dirt, worn unnaturally smooth by the presence of magic, but the floor was stone. Carved into the ground were lines in the shapes of various symbols and designs, and they were glowing an unearthly blue color. In the middle of the room there was a raised dais surrounded by three ponies wearing the same robes as Shimmer. That was not what caught Shimmer’s attention.
On the dais was a pony. A pegasus mare, to be exact. She was a sea green color, and she was restrained by thick leather belts that bound her to the dais. She was flanked by two of the cultists, both unicorns. Their horns were lit, and large streams of blue energy were flowing from the magical appendages into the helpless pegasus. She was thrashing about, her face twisted in agony, but no scream escaped her lips. The two cultist’s lips were moving, no doubt chanting some vile incantation.
“Ah, Brother Cornelius, you have arrived at last.” Shimmer was startled by the voice. She looked up and saw that the third cultist, also a unicorn, was approaching her. She hid her face as best she could and went to meet the repulsive creature.
“I was beginning to think you wouldn’t show up after all that unpleasantness with your family. I really am sorry that I threatened them, but this event is simply too important to not have you with us. I’m sure you understand, don’t you?” His voice was smooth, like silk. His words wormed their way into Shimmer’s mind, every syllable seeming to put her more at ease. She bit her lip, trying to stifle the sensation. She only nodded in response to his question, not wanting to blow her cover until she was close enough to do some serious damage to this pony.
“Oh, and silly me; I forgot to tell you that you had a Slinger on your tail, but you seemed to have managed just fine.”
Shimmer’s eyes went wide and she raised her head, but she didn’t get the chance to fire off a spell. Her head slammed into the stone floor, making the world spin. She was raised into the air, caught in a magical grip, until she was face-to-face with the cultist. He was young and handsome, with piercing blue eyes and perfect white teeth, visible through his crooked smile. His coat was blood red, and his maroon-colored mane was slicked back. Shimmer thought back to the sting she had felt on her neck. It was a magical trigger, alerting the caster if anypony passed through it. How had she missed it?
Shimmer tried to cast a spell, but he tapped his horn to hers and she felt the magic slip from her grasp.
“Ah ah ah, wouldn’t want you to ruin the fun, now would we, Shimmer?” Her eyes went wide at the mention of her name. “Oh, how rude of me, I didn’t introduce myself.” He stuck out a hoof as if he expected Shimmer to shake it. “I’m Bloodflow. Nice to meet you.” He withdrew his hoof and turned back to the dais. “The ritual is almost complete. Your little club may have delayed my progress, but you have no idea what you have failed to stop. You are about to bear witness to the birth of a new god, and then Equestria will be mine.” He magically shoved Shimmer backwards into the wall and held her there, returning his body to the dais. She tried to reach her magic, but it was no use. Whatever that pony had done, she was powerless.
Bloodflow used his telekinesis to retrieve something from Shimmer’s saddlebags. As it floated across the room, Shimmer could see that it was a knife. It had a curved, dull-bronze blade that glinted in the ethereal light. He brought it to a rest, blade down, over the pegasus mare’s chest. She thrashed and squirmed, but it was no use. The blade plunged, and the room was filled with a blinding white light. Shimmer clenched her eyelids tight, but the light still hurt her eyes. Then, it was over, and the light retreated. Before she could open her eyes, Shimmer heard the knife clatter to the ground and felt herself fall, landing roughly on her knees.
Shimmer opened her eyes. Her brain was confused by what her eyes were telling it they were seeing. There were now only two ponies in the room: Shimmer and Bloodflow. The two other cultists were gone, along with the pegasus. They just weren’t there anymore. Instead, Bloodflow was leaning over the dais, breathing heavily. He slowly stood up and turned to Shimmer. He opened his mouth, but instead of words, all that came out was an ear-piercing shriek. The blood-red unicorn fell to the ground, writhing in pain, clutching his head in his hooves. Shimmer wanted to run, to escape as fast as her hooves would allow her, but she couldn’t tear her gaze away from this miserable creature.
Then, the screaming stopped. Bloodflow climbed unsteadily to his feet and glared at Shimmer, murder in his eyes. She hadn’t even made it two steps when she was flung against the wall. The breath was driven from her lungs, and she was sure she felt some ribs crack. She collapsed to the ground, waiting for the next blow, but it never came. She looked up to see Bloodflow on the ground again, but this time he wasn’t screaming. He looked straight at Shimmer.
“Go!” he said through gritted teeth. “I can’t hold him much longer!”
Shimmer didn’t take the time to be confused, instead sprinting for the exit. She raced through the tunnel and out the trap door, down the wooded path and back through the woods, not stopping until she was standing on the edge of town. She collapsed, exhaustion taking hold. As she lay on her back, staring up at Luna’s stars, her vision faded.
Her last conscious thought was whether or not she had just witnessed the beginning of the end of the world.