Chapter 17
“Called it. Those cultists brought me here while trying to summon a demon. How they took me instead, I have no idea. More importantly, how they can summon beings from another universe is a bigger mystery.
“Hmm... Even though it shouldn't be possible to pull beings across the multiverse, my best guess would be that whatever hellish dimension they tried to pull Potens Daemonium from, they missed, getting me instead. Well, it's probably difficult for a three-dimensional lifeform to see into the forth spatial dimension and pinpoint a specific object. Serves them right for screwing with physics.
“Anyway, those guys are going to try again, I feel things are going to get worse.”
With the news of the cultists' impending attempt to retry summoning Potens Daemonium, the castle was on high alert, to be ready for when the time comes. As Fred Walsh wandered the corridors of Canterlot Castle, he noticed that many of its inhabitants were frantically running about, attempting to prepare.
He passed some guards talking to Celestia and overheard some of their conversation.
“We didn't find anything, ma'am,” one of them said.
“What happened?”
Earlier, the princess sent a team to investigate the meeting place that was crashed the night before, to find anything that could be useful.
“When we got there, everything had either been taken or burned. We recovered nothing,” He summarised the mission results. “No ponies other than us were at the scene, they fled before we arrived.”
“So we didn't learn anything useful?” she asked.
“I'm afraid not.” he replied.
Fred kept walking.
Next, he passed the training grounds where the off-duty guards were practicing teamwork-based mechanics. Bullhorn was getting good use out of his sonic attacks, as his namesake implies.
'He could probably take out more than a few ears with those sound blasts... Isn't that a brand or something?' Fred continued onward.
The castle was taking the matter seriously, as they should. It was already proven the cult could alter reality across the multiverse, despite even Princess Celestia not possessing that kind of power.
As Fred Walsh traversed the castle corridors, watching everything happen, he questioned what he could do to help when the time comes. 'I have no idea where to get holy water, so that rules one thing out. How do you even fight a demon anyway?'
In thought, he wandered to the lab, where Jenga was busy with a bunch of wires and other parts as she attempted to create a second calculator.
“Hey, Fred.” She looked up from her work.
Fred waved in response. “It's rather worrying, these cultists.” he sat down
“How so?” she asked.
“I'm convinced they dragged me to this universe, they tried to kill the Princess, and we're expecting them to summon a demon. It's confusing how the hell they can even manage this.”
“How do you fight a demon anyway?” she asked.
“Shoot, I missed that lesson. I dunno, holy water?” 'That was how Van Helsing did it, among other things.' “I'm not going to just sit here and do nothing.”
Jenga responded. “I doubt anypony knows how to fight a demon.”
“So we're all flying blind... Great,” Fred commented. He unlocked his watch in a semi-random attempt to learn about fighting demons, but without an Internet connection, or knowledge on how big Potens Daemonium would be in the first place, he had no clue on what to look for.
Fred decided to do some vocal speculation. “Well, Potens Daemonium sounds like a large-sized bastard, so a one-on-one is out of the question. If that's the case, it'll take legions to bring it down. Guess that's why the guards are training that way.”
“I'm not versed in fighting, but I certainly want to help,” Jenga mentioned.
“I agree. I'm not about to just sit here, damned if I don't do something.” He banged his fist on his knee. 'Hmm... I do have that fear detector I discovered.' He unlocked the Scavenger Watch again to see if he could get any readings from the neuro-receptor. Alas, he could only see minor readings, which is a good thing, considering the correlation with the last time it spiked.
*Rumble*
With a heavy scent of magic empowering the building, the Cult of Daemonium, who had been working their hardest to achieve their goal, finally accomplished it.
In the centre of the room stood a ruby, situated on a pedestal. Everypony – unicorn, pegasus and earth pony – were feeding magic into it. The gem responded by glowing brightly in the same colour as all the robes they wore.
On an indoor balcony, an earth pony stood proudly. “It is time. I have spoken to our leader, and he is on his way!
The ruby shone brighter, and eventually shot a beam upward through the ceiling.
“Come to us, Potens Daemonium!”
A few kilometres out from Canterlot, a wormhole began to open. Despite the ruby's colour, the portal shone blue, similar to the one Fred Walsh entered Equestria in. The inter-dimensional gateway sparked and it even seemed to glow a fiery yellow-red colour from within.
The wormhole was massive, at least fifty metres (164 ft) in diameter. With a growling sound, a red claw emerged.
*Rumble*
“What the hell was that‽” Fred exclaimed.
“Oh Celestia, I think those cultists succeeded.” Jenga looked up.
“Filius a canis,” he muttered.
“I've gotta see outside.” she rushed out the door.
Fred stood up, quickly looked around, spotting the knife and holster. 'Screw it, I'm bringing this with me.' He grabbed the weapon and dashed out.