Cult of Luna

"The Order of the Moon?" Luna asked in confusion. Nightmane bowed low. "Yes, your most gracious and wondrous Majesty. Now, if it pleases you, we would like to bequeath on you a song written for this very occasion."

"You wrote a song because we came here?"

"No, most Holy one, we wrote a song because YOU came here. Thou, who answers our prayers and delivers us unto a peaceful sleep every night. Thou, who raiseth the moon. Thou, who forevermore shalt be. Amen and amen." "AMEN!" The crowd shouted in response.

Luna looked delirious. She didn't know what was going on. Frankly, she was rather concerned with the mental state of these ponies. She wasn't meant to be worshipped. She was just a princess! She wasn't divine! Yes, she rose the moon, but it took all of her strength just to do so, and it hadn't happened overnight. Yes, she visited dreams, but that had been a magic gift bestowed upon her by Star Swirl the Bearded! She wasn't born with these powers, she either grew into them or was given them.

"Excuse me," Celestia put in, "but we're here to…"

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH, FOUL DEMON!" Nightmane suddenly screamed. The ponies all stepped back and hissed and whinnied and pawed at the dirt. They were incredibly angry with Celestia's presence there, and they made it known. Their gestures spouted mountains of disrespect towards the Princess. She was infuriated at them. She was the ruler of Equestria, and she was used to being treated a certain way. While she believed strongly in friendship, and would defend it until her last breath, she also believed in the hierarchical structure of Equestrian law and order.

"SILENCE!" Celestia yelled in a voice that made Twilight go completely pale. "Now, see here," Celestia continued in a rage, "I am the co-ruler of Equestria! I will not tolerate rude behavior, either to myself or to my fellow princesses! Your belligerence speaks volumes about your own rebellious nature, and I won't tolerate that either. Now, either you shape up or I'm going to send you all to Tartarus for a few nights!"

The ponies all gasped and backed up further. "You…really are a monster," Nightmane said in shock, "The Most Holy Book of Luna proclaimed that you would be this way, and your actions this day confirm that!"

"Confirm what?!" Celestia said angrily, "your 'book' is full of lies! Luna isn't a goddess! NONE OF US ARE!"

"Oh, we know you aren't. Your sun has been hidden from us for such a long time. We never see it! We praise the mighty and holy Princess Luna for bringing us illumination each night."

"You never see the sun?" Celestia asked as her temper cooled off, "but I make sure that the sun's brilliance reaches every corner of Equestria!"

"Apparently, you don't care about our corner," Nightmane said. He then dared to spit on Celestia's hooves. The white mare gave him a look of shock that quickly transitioned into one of absolute poison. Her voice shook when she spoke. "How dare you question my authority and my leadership and MY SUN RAISING!"

With that, she leapt at Nightmane and knocked him down, pawing at him furiously. Her teeth ground together and there was a wild look in her eyes. Her pupils were completely dilated. They had grown so enormous, that the other three thought they would swallow up her irises. Her veins bulged and her wings flapped in anger.

But Nightmane held his own. He dodged her sharp hooves time after time and rolled away from her. "The Book of Luna, Chapter 9, Verse 27: 'and he shall smite the evil winged creature and plunge her to the fiery depths of hell!'" With that, he charged at Celestia and knocked her over. He got on top of her and began slamming her head back against the dirt. "HOW DARE YOU DEFILE AND BLASPHEME THE HOLY NAME OF PRINCESS LUNA!" He screamed as blood began flowing from the wounds he was creating.

Celestia fought back, using her horn to rip open gouges in the stallion's chest. He howled in pain and got off of her. She got back to her hooves and the two of them stood there panting, eyes deadlocked in a stare of malice and hatred. The other three princesses had stood by, too shocked to do anything about the happening. Is this happening? Twilight asked herself, does Celestia…hate somepony? Is she even capable of feeling that way?

Soon, the two of them broke away from each other and Nightmane walked over to where Luna was standing. "Your most holy Majesty," he said as he bowed, "I have fought off thine sister, who sought and still seeks to do ponies everywhere the greatest of harm. Surely now, thou wouldst accept our worship and praise, for thou alone art worthy of such high honor, laud, and glory."

"No!" Luna suddenly said loudly, "I don't accept any of this!"

"But, your Majesty, we have done everything your holy book commanded us to do!"

"I never wrote any holy book!"

"I know, but through your divine wisdom, you revealed it to your servant, my father, Star Flank. He had a dream that showed him exactly what to write, and behold, it hath come to pass this day. You, our glorious leader and creator, are here, and you have brought the three snakes with you as hostages. EVERYPONY, LISTEN TO MY VOICE! WE SHALL HAVE A GREAT FEAST AND CELEBRATE THE COMING OF OUR BELOVED AND MARVELOUS PRINCESS LUNA, THEN WE SHALL SACRIFICE THESE SNAKES TO APPEASE HER GREAT LUST FOR BLOOD! HAIL LUNA, AND HAIL THE MOON!" "HAIL LUNA!"

The crowd shouted before beginning to cheer loudly. Before any of them could do anything, the four princesses found themselves being transported to wildly different places. Luna was taken into a great house on the other side of town where she was given the finest of their food and drink to partake of. She couldn't help but enjoy the goings on just a little bit, and the food was delicious, but her mind rested with her sister and her friends. She wanted so much to know that they were alright. She knew she had to stop the sacrifice, but she didn't know how.

Meanwhile, the other three princesses were taken to a cave and tossed inside. One of the Order of the Moon's wizards came forward and ripped the magic out of all three of them. They were then tied to the wall and beaten savagely with whips until blood flowed and they all cried in agony. "There!" The evil pony who had beaten them said, "that's what you get for blaspheming the wondrous Princess Luna!" He untied them, posted some guards to watch them, and left.

The three sat in a daze. Their blood pooled around them as they did their best to stop the bleeding. "Oh…" Twilight groaned, "my back hurts!" "I know, Twilight," Celestia said soothingly, "but we must remain brave and diligent for Luna's sake. We've got to find a way out of here and solve this friendship problem."