//------------------------------// // Chapter 15 - Jeweller and Interrogations // Story: Fred Walsh's Adventures in Equestria // by Baguettedood //------------------------------// Chapter 15 “That’s definitely the longest time I’ve held a conversation with the Princess since she started avoiding me after that discussion about universal signatures. I suppose she’ll prefer if I don’t talk about the depression, but I still think something must be done. Hopefully I can figure something out before I leave, assuming that can happen. “Well, the crystals certainly seemed to be what we all expected of them, but I don’t think any of us saw the Elements of Harmony being involved. I’m interested in learning how the cultists acquired these gems; it’d be best for the country if they didn’t get any more of them.” Due to the attempted assassination, the Canterlot Castle Guards were much more alert than they were previously. There were always at least two watching over Princess Celestia wherever she was today, which happened to be one of the city’s jewellers. The Princess, in possession of a bag containing the amethyst horn rings and necklaces confiscated from the cultists, entered the shop, flanked by two guards. At the desk, there was a unicorn stallion with a white coat and dark blue mane and tail, with a cutie mark of a Leo Diamond. He was deeply engrossed in carefully inspecting an uncut diamond, with a magnifying glass, and wouldn’t have noticed anypony entering if it weren’t for the bell mounted on top of the door. Alas, the stallion was too immersed to know who, exactly, entered his shop. “Welcome to Marquise Jewellery,” he stated with a distracted tone, “Prime Cut, how can I help you?” “What else does a customer come here for?” Celestia replied rhetorically. ‘Have I heard that voice somewhere?’ the jeweller looked up from his magnifying glass and was startled; he somehow didn’t notice the ruler-deity of Equestria entering his place of work. “P-Princess Celestia, I’m so-“ While the unicorn was busy apologising, Celestia remained nonchalant. “Calm yourself, please.” “Right, so uh… What can I do for you?” he attempted to regain his composure. “I thought I should wear something more suiting for myself,” the Princess thought it best to not mention the events of last night, “and I would like the amethysts contained in here,” she placed the bag on the counter, “to be included.” The unicorn began to contemplate what kind of jewellery would work best for the Princess. “I believe I have a good idea on what will suit you.” After the negotiations with the jeweller, Celestia and a few other guards headed down to the castle’s dungeons to begin questioning the cultists. Somehow, they thought it a good idea to attempt to assassinate the Princess, managing to get very close. It was time to figure out how and why. Times rarely called for interrogations, but Princess Celestia knew that aggressively demanding answers often only gets you false information. There had been an instance 150 years ago where somepony had even written an entire worded confession, which turned out to be a complete fabrication a few years later. He hadn’t even been involved in the crime he was accused of. The one who would most likely know anything was injured from a telekinetic blast, and impact with the ground, so the cultists were being selected randomly in hopes of finding some piece of information. Each of the ponies was in separate cells so they couldn’t interact and collaborate on a false story. Out of the five non-hospitalised ponies – 1 unicorn, 2 pegasi and 2 earth ponies – Celestia and the guards started with the remaining unicorn. “Let us start with the basics: Why did you attack us?” the Princess began the interrogation at the pony’s cell. “Because it is our duty!” he yelled back. “What do you mean your duty?” she was suspicious. “To the true ruler, Potens Daemonium!” The cultist mentioned the same demon that Leader had last night. “Who, exactly, is Potens Daemonium?” “Our lord and saviour; he will return us from the darkness!” ‘He’s either delusional or indoctrinated. Either way, this seems larger than just this group,’ Celestia thought before the unicorn continued rambling. “There are many subjects all throughout Equestria and we will prevail!” The interrogation continued for a few minutes, but no new useful information was extracted from him. Finished with one, they began questioning another. A pegasus was brought into the interrogation room. She looked a lot more passive than the last. “What is your cult about, exactly?” Princess Celestia asked the pony. “Well, my brother entered into this thing, I just thought it was a fad; eventually I decided to take a look at what he got himself into, and it seemed great.” She smiled. “So you also thought it a good idea to attempt to murder me?” “It seemed like a good idea at the time. I’m… having second thoughts now,” She frowned. Celestia looked at her suspiciously before asking her next question: “Who leads your cult?” “We are all but disciples of Potens Daemonium, we wish to summon him. Our lord’s messenger speaks to us but is never close to anypony.” The cultist fidgeted before she continued, “We’re summoning him, this I’m sure of. I’m not sure if I want to do this anymore.” “Where are they?” “It depends, but there’s a meeting tomorrow night, around eight o’clock, at 13 Starswirl Street." “Thank you.” The remaining cultists were interrogated for the next few hours, but no more useful information could be gathered. Celestia and some of her best guards, including Bullhorn, were gathered in the throne room to go over what they had learned in an open discussion. Fred Walsh was there also, due to his help last night. The princess summarised her recap: “The cult is bigger than just these assassins, they’re trying to summon a demon, and there’s a meeting on Tuesday.” “Does anypony else find it strange that I show up a few days before this happens?” Fred pointed out. “Now that I think about it…” one of the guards replied. “I hope I’m not a demon, or the Antichrist, for that matter.” Bullhorn rejected the idea, “If this cult is out to eliminate the Princess, then you can’t really be their lord, considering you helped thwart them.” “Either way, we have information on the cult that we can use,” Celestia interrupted. “We’ll investigate this meeting tomorrow.” ‘Ah, it’s a Monday.’