Traversing the Chaotic Shadows

Chapter 02: A Den of Demons

~Gore in this chapter; you’ve been warned~

Standard Disclaimers Apply, and not only to MLP.

Jet returned with four of the agents, having them take a perimeter around the entrance to the stairway. The Prince nodded once, before ordering the agents to make sure that nothing would follow him and Jet in.

Horn glowing, Blueblood then descended the dark stairway; Jet following him on the way down. As they went deeper into the secret path, the wall gradually began to change from smooth-cut stone to rough earth. Various floras were growing on the sides of the stairway, ranging from your basic daisies and vines all the way to plants found only within the mysterious depths of the Everfree Forest, such as Poison Joke or Heart’s Desire. All of these were at the back of both Blueblood’s and Jet’s minds though. They had noticed that every now and then, there would be unnatural grooves in the walls and on the floor. When these began to increase in number and frequency, the duo quickly tensed and prepared themselves for anything they might find.

Taking one last turn both stopped in their tracks as soon as they beheld the visage before them.

The chamber before them looked like a fusion of a place of worship, and a torture chamber. There were tiny cages with spikes protruding inwards, racks with dried blood, spears stuck into the ground blade up, and hooks everywhere. On the floor in the middle of the room, there was a small pool filled with dark red blood. The pool was connected to grooves that were coming from the doors and cages at the sides of the chamber, blood continuously flowing through them. To the sides of the pool were two columns of pews, with each being three rows long. At the back of the chamber, where the pews were facing, was a very simple stone altar. If it wasn’t for the cult insignia painted on the wall behind it in a strange black substance, said altar could have been easily mistaken for a simple block of stone.

Blueblood and Jet didn’t pay attention to any of these until much later though, because their eyes were drawn to the one thing that made this room even more sickening and horrifying: the bodies.

They were everywhere, and they were made up of all kinds of species. Young Drakes were skewered on the spears, most of the weapons running through the corpses from the groin area up towards the mouth. Diamond Dogs, Earth Ponies, and Unicorns were stretched out on the racks, some to the point that their arms and legs were already separate from the rest of the body. Headless and legless Pegasi were hanging from the ceiling via their wings, the hooks skewering the nerve bundles in between the wing and the torso as well as the holes where their missing appendages originally were. Griffins were stuffed into the tiny cages, most, if not all of them, having their bodies deformed from the lack of space along with being pierced by the spikes. In the corners of the room, Blueblood and Jet could even see bags made of rope filled to bursting with Zebra heads, Minotaur arms, Goat legs, and more.

The duo stayed in place for a while, before both of them suddenly ducked their heads downwards, vomiting in the same area. They had seen their fair share of brutality. They had seen their fair share of slaughter, of death. When you were in their business, seeing stuff like that was inevitable.

What they were seeing now could not be described with words such as those though, because to do so would be to completely underestimate the sheer horror and the disgust of the tableau before them.

Blueblood recovered faster than Jet, and so began patting the Sergeant on the back. After a while, Jet too got his act together and thus began looking around the room, his coat as pale as the pony next to him.

“Dear Celestia…what in all that is good and just is wrong with these ponies?!” Jet exclaimed, his voice a little weak, and his eyes trained on a small filly’s head.

Blueblood opened his mouth, and for a while, no sound could be heard from it, “…I don’t know, Mr. Black. I don’t know, but I do intend to find out. Search around. Find clues. Anything that can help us understand the meaning of this…this…tragedy…”

Jet nodded, and with one last look at the filly’s head, he stepped around the puddle of vomit and began scrutinizing the various objects along the left wall, making sure to not look too closely or for too long at the bodies. Blueblood did the same, but started at the altar at the back of the chamber.

It was a simple block of stone. Granted, it was smoother than anything he had ever seen, but it was still just a block of stone. Looking over the whole altar as carefully as possible, the Prince finally noticed something out of the ordinary: a small hole right in the middle of the entire thing. It was big enough to accommodate one drop of liquid without deforming the drop, and it was not deep at all.

Blueblood eyed the hole carefully, but could not discern any reason as to why there would even be a hole in the middle of the block of stone. Deciding to forgo searching the altar, as it had not yet turned up anything important of productive, he began to look within the altar's general vicinity. Finally, he spotted something that seemed useful: an old, gray tome on a book-stand. It was located in the only corner of the room that had no gore bag, or any other horrible instrument of torture.

How could I have missed that? Blueblood pondered, before trotting to where the book lay. Grabbing it with his magic, he noticed that there was a snarling face on the cover, almost as if it was part of the book itself. For a second, Blueblood was still, before slowly narrowing his eyes at the face, suddenly mistrustful of opening it. Bringing it with him to the altar, he set it on top of its surface and carefully began to open it. The tome wouldn't budge though, and the Prince thus slowly brought his hoof to the cover.

An inch away from touching it, a sudden yelp broke him out of his concentration. The hoof hovering over it stopped in its tracks, and its owner immediately looked up. The snarling face's eyes suddenly began to glow faintly with red, and the mouth twitched just a little bit.

Looking in the direction the yelp cam from, Blueblood saw that one of the corpses mounted on a spear tipped over near the area Jet was. The Earth Pony, not noticing until it was too late, had gotten hit by the body, and was currently trying to push it off of him.

Before Blueblood could react to the scene though, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his right hoof. Looking down, he saw that the book had suddenly come to life, and had bitten down on the hoof hovering over it. In quick retaliation, Blueblood used his magic to fling the tome away from him, in the direction of the cult insignia behind the altar.

Just as the book was going to hit the wall, it suddenly stopped and started floating in mid-air with an eerie demonic glow. Facing the Secret Service's Leader, it opened its mouth wide.

“You are not of my kin, nor are you one of my masters. Prepare to die, interloper.” It stated in a very no-nonsense and quaint tone. In fact, it sounded as though it was describing the weather, and stating how such a fine day it was.

The tome suddenly flipped open while in mid-air, opening up to reveal a purple portal smack dab in the middle of its pages. The portal quickly grew in size, until it was big enough for an alicorn to pass through easily. Nothing could be seen through the portal except for darkness, but if one strained his or her ears, they would be able to perceive the sound of something heavy repeatedly and speedily striking the ground. They would also notice that the striking noises seemed to be getting louder, as if something was approaching at high speed.

Eyes widening in realization, the Prince used his magic to throw Jet, who had appeared behind him, out of the portal's path, Blueblood throwing himself in the same direction, and not a moment too soon.

Charging from the portal was something that could be described as having the same body structure as a Diamond Dog, although that was where the similarities ended. It was thinner and more agile-looking, for one, easily explaining the speed at which it burst out of the portal. Instead of having a coat of fur, it was completely naked. Spines were jutting out everywhere, from the top of its bald head to the back of its ankles. What was really attention grabbing though was the massive wooden club it held in its equally humongous claws. It was a crude and blunt weapon, but it didn’t lessen its ferocity and sheer might at all.

Roaring at them, spittle flying from its mouth, the Demon Dog, for it could not have been anything else, charged. Behind it, the demonic tome closed shut, before teleporting itself away in a hazy wind.

Not having enough time to dodge, both Blueblood and Jet were knocked back. Luckily, none of the spines actually hit the duo, although a few came very close.

Crashing into the right side of the chamber, Jet quickly reoriented himself and took in the situation. His Leader had hit the opposite side of the room and was currently keeping the Demon Dog from devouring his face. Looking around, Jet espied a spear that didn't look so rusted. Grabbing it with his mouth and pulling it out of the ground, removing the changeling corpse on it as he did so, the Sergeant grimaced at the taste of old, dried blood, before steeling himself and, with remarkable agility, tackled the Dog.

The Demon Dog and the Earth Pony immediately began to exchange blows, Jet using the spear to devastating effect. Although Demon Dogs were known for their legendary offense and speed, they sorely lacked an equally important area in their style of fighting: defense. Normally, it would take at least three Ponies to effectively kill a Demon Dog, but thanks to the size of the chamber they were in, the Dog's speed was severely limited, thus greatly lowering its chances of defeating the duo.

Jet, finally getting the chance to aim at a vital area, thrust down with all his might. Centimeters before it penetrated the smooth skin though, a claw suddenly reached up and grabbed the head of the spear. Ignoring the pain it felt in its hand, the Demon Dog growled and reared back its other claw for a punch.

Not having enough maneuverability to dodge it at the moment, Jet was forced to take it as it was, and ended up hitting the side of one of the pews.

The Demon Dog, grinning victoriously, stood up and was just about to renew his attack on the Earth Pony Sergeant, when suddenly said Sergeant was lifted up into the air via magic, and carried over to Blueblood’s side, who was suddenly at the stairway leading up to the main building.

Becoming angered from losing the opportunity to kill yet again, the enraged Demon Dog quickly moved in to attack Blueblood.

Repressing the urge to smirk at his enemy’s folly, the Prince stealthily got the spear behind him ready, having pulled out another one after regaining his hoofing. The Demon Dog, snarling as it charged the duo and with its club held high, suddenly gained a look of surprise and confusion on its face as it slipped and fell on its back, the vomit it slipped on hitting its back and making it slide forward until it came to a rest at Blueblood’s hooves.

Not wasting any time with theatrical displays or gloating, the pure white stallion stabbed down with the spear with all his might, the spearhead breaking through the soft skin of the Demon Dog easily and stabbing its heart. Blueblood, not wanting the Demon to just suddenly begin attacking again even if it was hit in the heart, pushed extra hard, and so was able to get the spearhead buried into the earthen floor.

Sighing in relief as he finished, Blueblood helped Jet up, who was still a little woozy from being hit by a Demon Dog without being able to defend himself. There was a large but shallow wound on the Sergeant’s brow, and so was forced to keep his eyes closed to keep blood from touching them. Blueblood, having taken a little first aid, concentrated and was able to close the wound up.

“There,” Blueblood said, “that should help for now. Don’t put too much stress on the wound, and it won’t reopen. Mind you, you still need to have that checked on by our field medic, Mr. Black. Since I haven’t learned that much in the way of healing, the magic will only last for so long.”

Jet quickly replied, “Thank you anyway, sir. Now we-”

Whatever suggestion that Jet was about to put forward quickly died in his mouth as the Demon Dog suddenly began howling and writhing, a glowing purple mist emerging from its body. After an extra long howl, the Demon Dog’s spines suddenly began to retract back into its skin, and fur began growing all over. The entire body mass of the Demon shrunk down until, at the very end, Blueblood and Jet were looking at a normal Diamond Dog.

“Thank…you…”

With those words leaving the lips of the former Demon Dog, it gave a great big sigh, before finally falling limp and quiet.

The duo was stunned. They were not expecting that at all. First, they discover that the cult they were shutting down had the audacity to murder all those creatures in such horrible ways, and now said cult had the capability to turn Normal species into Demonic ones? And not only that, Blueblood recalled, they also seem to be in possession of demonic tomes. Tomes that were most likely involved in the turning of this Diamond Dog.

Bearing a grim look on his face, Blueblood turned to look at Jet. Both stared into each others eyes, and were about to begin debating as to how what they just witnessed could have been possible, when suddenly another agent appeared at the stairway. She was bleeding in multiple areas, and seemed to have just slipped out of a fight.

“A large number of Demon Dogs just appeared! We’re getting slaughtered out there, so we have to get you two out of here, sirs!” the agent quickly exclaimed.

Eyes widening in surprise, Blueblood and Jet quickly galloped up the stairs, the agent that had delivered them the news right behind them.

~TtCS~

AN: It’s been awhile, eh? Sorry about the really long time between the first chapter and this one, but that’s what happens when your laptop gets busted. I was finally able to transfer all my document files into my USB flash drive recently (two days ago), and so I was able to begin working on this again. I’ll do my best to make sure that the next update does not take too long of a time to get online!

This is n00b, signing off.