//------------------------------// // Chapter 16 - Meeting // Story: Fred Walsh's Adventures in Equestria // by Baguettedood //------------------------------// Chapter 16 “Accusing myself of being a demon is something I never really expected to do with my life. Sometimes, I need a reminder that normality stopped existing a few days ago. I don’t recall being a demon, though I do enjoy songs about them, such as Tribute or The Devil Went Down to Georgia. “Either way, it’s not like it matters. I’m still against this cult. They went against the very foundations of Equestria when they tried to kill the Princess! That’s like replacing the walls of a building with wet sand and expecting it to survive a kid with a spoon the next day or something!” One of the accolades that Princess Celestia had heard about Marquise Jewellery is that Prime Cut does his job very efficiently and effectively. In just over 24 hours, he had already completed his work. Princes Celestia entered the store to collect her jewellery and pay the stallion for his hard labour. Upon first looking at what he had crafted, Celestia knew it would be perfect for her. The jewellery came as a tiara and a torc; both of which were carefully crafted in magically hardened gold, with beautifully carved swirl patterns. Each was also adorned in a single deep violet amethyst in a diamond-shaped rose cut. With a smile, the Princess carefully placed the tiara on her head and the torc at the base of her neck. It was a perfect fit. She then levitated a sack full of bits over to the jeweller. “Thank you for this wonderful creation,” she beamed. “I’m glad you like it, your majesty,” Prime Cut smiled back. “Oh, would you like the remaining amethysts back?” ‘Whoops, I almost forgot, and they’re not entirely safe.’ “Yes, please.” “Here you go,” Prime Cut returned the bag of harmonic amethysts back to Celestia. “Thanks again.” She left. With the remaining harmonic amethysts not used in the construction of Celestia’s defensive and visually appealing jewellery, the castle’s science team had decided to test out their effectiveness against magical attack, with help from some of the royal guard. In the indoor training grounds, unicorn-shaped mannequin had been set up with a horn ring, carrying one of the gems. As soon as Doctor Green placed the harmonic amethyst on the pony stand-in, his magic stopped working on it and could no longer telekinetically lift it. He stood away from any potential destruction, and while holding a clipboard, gestured for one of the unicorn guards to attempt some magical attacks. The guard began with a basic stun spell that all military unicorns are trained in, including the non-combatants. He charged the spell and released it. The white blast rocketed toward the target, then suddenly disappeared, save for a brief, minute flash in the amethyst. Doctor Green scribbled some notes. As the guards are trained in more than simple defensive spells, the armoured unicorn charged a more powerful spell. While they are trained to avoid killing another pony if it can be avoided, injury is a preferable alternative. From the guard came a narrow beam of light and heat; it wouldn’t do much damage, but would hurt. The beam stopped short of the mannequin, with the amethyst again glowing. The scientist recorded some more observations. At this point, the test had begun amassing an audience of off-duty guards looking to get some practice in. Without words, some of the ponies joined in. They all cast a powerful yet slow blast, which normally had the power to send a pony flying. Alas, it did nothing but cause the crystal to glow brightly for a second. Doctor Green wrote a note on his clipboard: ‘Thermodynamics – Where is that magic going?’ The audience gave up their normal attempts to defeat the testing dummy. By then, it was getting late and it was near the time to prepare to infiltrate the meeting. Before the test was packed up, Lieutenant Bullhorn thought he would have a try. He inhaled before charging his horn. He held both the spell and his breath for a few seconds before discharging. At the same moment, a loud screech could be heard, and the mannequin toppled over. Green nodded in satisfaction as he jotted down his final notes for the examination: ‘Vulnerable to sonic attacks as well as physical.’ The amethyst was removed by hoof and the doll returned to the others in the training house before the scientist unicorn left to report his findings. Two of the castle’s guards, a pegasus and Bullhorn, were en route to the cult meeting. Both were out of their armour as they needed to be covert, and they also wore the harmonic amethyst jewellery, with a perception filter, in case things take a turn for the worse. As the two approached 13 Starswirl Street, they could see a few ponies entering the assembly. Neither party paid any mind as they entered. Inside, roughly thirty ponies, including the infiltrators, were comfortably housed. Right as the city's clock tower hit 8:30, the meeting began. An earth pony in red robes stood on a raised platform at the end of the house. “Gentlecolts,” he spoke very formally, “as you no doubt have become aware, our attempts to... remove opposition has led to failure. However, we must proceed with our plans.” Bullhorn and the other pegasus covertly looked quizzically at each other, both thinking the same thing. After a brief pause, the cultist continued his speech. “After our last unsuccessful efforts to summon our lord, we will try again soon, an-” he paused mid-sentence. “It appears that we have some... less than honest ponies in or midst; ones who would prefer to have our operation destroyed than bask in the glory of Potens Daemonium!” He points at the infiltrators. Right as all the cultists turned against the formerly disguised royal guards, they bolted out the door. Since the door was small, a bottleneck formed, allowing the two to gain distance. As they ran away toward the castle together, Bullhorn alerted a waiting strike team by way of a magically amplified shout. Within moments, the guards were backed up. The cultists realised it would be best to escape themselves in order to continue their mission. “Well that went horribly!” Fred Walsh exclaimed at debriefing. “It's not all a loss,” Celestia replied. “We did learn they attempted to summon their god once before and are going to try again.” “What's that even supposed to mean, anyway?” Bullhorn asked. “This is seriously starting to sound like they brought me here.” Fred shook his head. “If they're going to try again, we must be ready,” the Princess said as she looked toward everypony.