CHAPTER 1

It was late, the sun was setting. Sweetie Belle was walking through the streets of Ponyville. It would have been highly unusual to see the unease she was feeling displayed on her face. Not wanting to attract too much attention to herself, she tried to keep a neutral expression. She arrived at the Golden Oak library and, after some hesitations, knocked on the door.

“Coming!” a voice from inside said.

Sweetie heard hoofsteps approach until the door opened.

“Oh, hello Sweetie Belle.”

“Hello, Twilight,” Sweetie Belle said, looking down, as if not too keen on making eye contact at the moment.

Twilight Sparkle looked around, surprised. “Where are Apple Bloom and Scootaloo? It's not like you to come to the library without them.”

“Um…” Sweetie Belle hesitated. “I just wanted to come alone… without the Crusaders.”

Without a word, Twilight let the little filly in.

Sweetie Belle looked at the shelves, looking for a specific book. She finally found it and levitated it down to her level. She sat down and started reading it. Twilight glanced at the cover of the book.

“‘Exorcism’? I didn’t know you were into that kind of thing,” she commented.

Sweetie Belle didn’t respond. After skipping through some more pages, she asked. “Um, Twilight. Can I… borrow this book?”

“Of course! Just be sure to bring it back when you're done reading.”

“Thanks…” Sweetie Belle took the book with her as she left the library.

Twilight watched the young unicorn trot away, wondering what she was up to. ‘It's not like Sweetie to be so quiet,’ she thought. ‘…or even to borrow a book from the library, I guess. I hope she's doing okay…’

****

Sweetie Belle arrived at the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ clubhouse. She opened the door and saw a silver-coated filly who had been waiting for her alone.

“Have you brought the book?” Silver Spoon asked. She tried to sound level-headed, but Sweetie Belle could see that, under the surface, she was clearly stressed.

“I have,” Sweetie answered, placing the book on the floor between them. “I still have a hard time believing in this kind of stuff.”

“Magic comes in many forms, Sweetie Belle. You will have to believe in anything at some point.” Silver adjusted her glasses and walked up to the book. “Now let's see what kind of demon possessed Diamond Tiara.”

“You're still sure we shouldn't tell anyone else?”

Silver Spoon looked Sweetie Belle in the eyes. “They probably either wouldn't believe it or would be against us. We can't afford to take risks… I'm sorry…”

They sat together and silently read through the book for a while. Meanwhile, outside, the moon was rising.

****

Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle arrived at the gate of the Rich manor. Sweetie was wearing a long, dark gray cape with a hood to cover her face.

“Are you sure she won’t recognize me?”

“For sure. Demons like the ones possessing her aren’t smart enough to see through the thinnest disguises. This cape is more than enough.” Silver Spoon walked up to the intercom, but then stopped and turned toward Sweetie Belle. “Are you ready?”

“Y– yes…”

“Do you still have the key I gave you?”

Sweetie Belle reached for a silver key she was wearing on a necklace. “Yes, I have it.”

“Good… It is not only a familial treasure, but also your most important weapon as an exorcist, so don't lose it.” Silver Spoon pressed the intercom button. “Good luck…”

Somepony answered the intercom. “Hello? Who's this?”

“Hello, Mr. Rich. It's Silver Spoon. I was hoping I could see Diamond Tiara today.”

“Ah, Silver Spoon! I'm glad you're here. My daughter really needs a friend to cheer her up right now. Come in!”

The intercom beeped and the manor's gate opened. The two fillies walked in.

****

Filthy Rich arrived with Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle in front of Diamond Tiara's room, which was closed. On the door, there was a sign saying: ‘NO BLANK FLANKS ALLOWED (that means you)’.

“I'll let you two with her, now. I'll go back to counting my bits.” Filthy Rich said, as he headed back downstairs.

Once the fillies were alone, Silver Spoon cautiously knocked on Diamond Tiara's door.

“Who's there?” the voice from inside the room almost screeched.

“It's me, DT. I… wanted to check on you, to see if you're doing alright.”

After a brief moment, the room could be heard being unlocked. Diamond Tiara opened the door. “Hello Silvy.”

She let Silver Spoon inside, somehow not noticing Sweetie Belle's presence as the caped unicorn also came in.

“So…” Silver Spoon sat in the middle of the room. “Are you feeling good?”

“Of course I am,” DT sat down with Silver Spoon. “You're not going to bother me about it like those blank flanks did all day, are you?”

Silver Spoon gulped. She couldn’t read Diamond Tiara's expression. “If you don't want to talk about it, I'm fine with that.”

While the two friends were talking, Sweetie Belle was installing things around them. Diamond Tiara couldn’t see her, and Silver Spoon purposefully tried not to bring any attention to her. Sweetie first emptied a salt shaker around them, in order to trace a circle of salt.

“So… what do you want to do, then?”

“I don't know,” DT answered. “You're the one who came to see me uninvited.”

Then, Sweetie Belle put seven candles around the circle and lit each one of them up with her magic.

“Do you want to play ‘Monopony’, then?” Silver Spoon asked.

“Please! Father makes more money in real life in ten minutes than playing this game. It's so long and boring.”

“If you say so…” Silver Spoon said, seeing Diamond Tiara's veins becoming black, but trying to ignore it as best she could.

Sweetie Belle placed the book in front of her to read the instructions one last time. She then faced toward the salt circle surrounding DT and Silvy. She took a deep breath, and began focusing her magic on the candles.

Suddenly, the salt on the floor turned into flames. Silver Spoon jumped out of the circle just in time as the flames formed a wall surrounding Diamond Tiara.

Diamond Tiara finally noticed what was going on. “An exorcism? Really?” Her dark veins began pulsating heavily as the wall of flames shone brighter, burning something inside her. “Oh no, you won't.”

A black ooze came out of DT's mouth, then spilled on the floor in front of her. DT fainted unconscious while the ooze took the shape of a serpent.

“Um, Silver Spoon?” Sweetie Belle was worried. “I don't think the demon was meant to leave her body on its own.”

“Just stick to the plan! It's still in the circle!” Silver Spoon exclaimed.

The serpent demon's face was unreadable, but somehow the fillies could sense it smirking as it leaned toward one of the candles and just blew it off. The wall of fire around the demon then disappeared.

Before Sweetie Belle could say anything, Silver Spoon shouted at her: “Stop whining! That's why we have a plan B!”

Sweetie Belle nodded and immediately went back to the book. The demon tried to catch up to her, but Silver Spoon sprayed it with a bottle of holy water she had on her to stop it in its tracks. The demon was stunned long enough for Sweetie to find a spell in the book.

“Is this really what exorcism has come to?” The demon said, regaining its senses. “I've seen novices do better on their first day.” It turned to face Silver Spoon. “And you, I recognize your scent. You're from the Silver House, correct?” The demon giggled. “Too bad you're an Earth pony. You'd have made a pathetic successor to your ancestors.”

Silver Spoon stared at the demon's face, frowning. But then, to the serpent's surprise, she grinned. “Well I'm glad that you're even more pathetic. Seriously, I didn’t even need to do anything to distract you.”

Suddenly, magical chains appeared around the demon out of the blue. Sweetie was the one who summoned them. Her horn started glowing brighter while she focused all her strength into a large light beam that opened a portal underneath the demon. The chains slowly but surely pulled the demon into the portal.

“Also…” Silver Spoon continued. “Sweetie Belle isn't pathetic in the least.”

The demon grunted while the portal closed over its face. Sweetie Belle was out of breath, but Silver Spoon pointed toward the key necklace she gave to Sweetie, reminding her to use it. Sweetie Belle used her magic to grab the key, then turned it to the right. Somehow it made a click sound, as if Sweetie had just locked a door.

“Silver Spoon…” Sweetie Belle asked, while trying to catch her breath. “I recall you saying that exorcists are rare nowadays.”

“My family used to be the biggest house of exorcists… Demons killed most of them, while the rest simply abandoned this career…” Silver Spoon looked sorrowful, yet she didn't drop a tear, for she had already cried enough.

Diamond Tiara slowly woke up, grunting. “Ugh… I have one of those headaches… HEY! What is SHE doing here?” She turned her attention to Sweetie Belle.

“I think I'll just go home now,” Sweetie Belle said, taking the exorcism book with her. “Bye Silvy. Bye DT.” She left the room.

Diamond Tiara snarled, then she looked at the salt and burnt candles on the floor around her. “What in Equestria happened while I was asleep?”

Silver Spoon shrugged. “I'll clean it up.”

“Nah, I'll just fetch the maid.”

Author's Note

I know it isn't well written, but honestly it's better than nothing to me. Please keep in mind when critiquing that I am still very new at this and that nitpicking every minor flaw that don't make the overall reading experience bad would be useless at this point in time. Like I said I am new and am hoping to become better later.

August 25, 2024 update:
I added slight fixes to chapters 1-3, mainly removing the spaces before question marks and exclamation marks.