The cult took Luna and her fellow princesses to the top of the high mountain that towered over Ilswich. There, she was greeted with a ghastly and grisly scene. Pony bones lay scattered over the snow, their bleached appearance matching the cold precipitation perfectly. Meat was roasting on a spit, carefully attended by two ponies dressed in black. Since she was vegetarian, Luna felt as though the contents of her stomach would not obey her commands to stay there. She gagged repeatedly. She just hoped that it wasn't pony meat. Are they cannibalistic, too? She asked herself.

Nightmane halted the procession and the three condemned princesses were tossed out into the open. They tried to loosen their binds, but to no avail. Their gags prevented them from communicating, and all they could do was offer helpless looks to each other and to Luna. The dark princess felt like crying. Here lay her sister and her friends in terrible danger and she was completely powerless to stop the proceedings. She had never felt more hopeless in her life. Yes, she was a princess and could very easily defeat the entire group with one magic blast. But the chair she was in carried a special magic crystal that negated all of her efforts. She was trapped just as much as her friends were.

The moon priest stepped over to where the meat was roasting and commanded the attendants to remove it from the spit. He picked it up on his back and carried it over to where the imprisoned royalty lay. He offered it to them to eat, but they refused. They were ponies, after all, and they didn't eat meat. It just wasn't natural. Then, Nightmane removed their gags and shoved pieces of the meat into each of their mouths. "Eat it!" He commanded sharply, "eat it, for the day of the wondrous Luna is here! Eat it, you foul demons! Eat it, in the name of Princess Luna!"

The princesses, seeing no other way out, reluctantly chewed and swallowed the meat. Nightmane laughed evilly as the princesses began weeping. They didn't know what type of animal they had just consumed, and it was completely freaking them out. The Moon Priest continued his laughing until they swallowed their forced meal. Then he reapplied the gags and stood before them.

"Tasty, wasn't it?" He asked both sarcastically and rhetorically, "you know, we get a lot of ponies that come through here. They want things. They want food, they want shelter, they want money. They want…but they never realize what they NEED." Here he gave a loving look to Luna and then cast scornful eyes on the princesses cowering at his hooves. "They NEED Princess Luna's love, guidance, and grace in their lives. They NEED to learn how to respect, honor, and worship the Great One of Old. They NEED to become part of us. But, you see, foul ones, ponies are weak creatures. They do not know how to be strong. They believe they need friends and individuality to be strong. But we know what it is to be strong."

He stopped and looked around with great pride at his group before continuing, "every pony that passes through our town gets a choice. They can either join us…or die. If they choose death, they are sacrificed to the most glorious Princess Luna, and we know that their shrieks of agony ascend to her as a sweet, befitting song. The aroma of cooked flesh satisfies her nostrils. The Book of Luna doth proclaim it to be so."

"AND SO IT SHALL BE," the crowd responded solemnly.

"So, you see, foul ones, your sacrifice shall not be in vain, for thou shalt appease the great Princess Luna, who raiseth the moon and causeth the evil sun to be shrouded in darkness. Praise be to the daughter of the night. Praise be to the creator of the stars. Praise be to Princess Luna."

"PRAISE TO THE MIGHTY PRINCESS," the crowd responded again.

Luna didn't know what to think. These ponies had her all wrong, but the shock of realizing just what was about to happen to her friends caused her brain to malfunction. She couldn't say or do anything, and the crystalline magic that kept her trapped there did the rest. She couldn't move, so she just sat there in wide eyed bewilderment. She felt completely helpless. All hope appeared to be quickly disappearing.

Meanwhile, a certain filly had been questioning her faith through all this. Moonlight, the very foal who had spoken so rudely to Celestia when they first arrived, had been pacing back and forth in her room. She refused to go and watch the sacrifice, and had hid in a small spot to avoid incurring her father's wrath. When they gave up looking for her and went off to sacrifice the princesses, she emerged and walked around her home. This can't be right, she told herself, I've seen Celestia, Cadance, and Twilight before. They're good ponies. This just can't be the way.

Her mother had taken her to The Crystal Empire the previous year, and they had watched a royal procession. Her mother had bowed low when Luna went by, but when the other three came, she sneered and mocked them. Moonlight herself had taken up the mockery, but had never felt all that good about it, especially after she snuck off and saw Celestia and Twilight caring for a sick foal.

"There's more here than meets the eye," she said out loud to the empty house, "I've got to find out what's really going on."

So, with that, she dashed downstairs. There was a certain room down there that her father always kept locked and under strict security. He had forbidden her from ever looking in there. Now that they were gone, she felt that this was a most opportune time to see what had been forcibly removed from her vision. There's gotta be something in here, she told herself, Cadance and Twilight and Celestia are good ponies. They don't deserve death! She thought if she found something in there, that she might be able to break the cult apart and rescue the condemned ones.

So she tried opening the door, but found it to be locked tight with 5 different deadbolts on it. Oh, well, time for plan B, she told herself. She turned around and reared up on her forelegs. Then, with a mighty kick, she bucked the door completely open. Her back legs had become very strong from working with her mother and father in the Moon Church. They would have her carry heavy loads while they sat idly by and did nothing, claiming that it was "the will of the mighty Princess."

Will of the mighty princess, my tail, she told herself as she went inside. When she got there, her mouth fell open in shock. There was a machine of some kind, with wires and gears running all through it. There appeared to be a receiving slot at one end and a returning slot at the other. Giant mechanical arms were in the middle of it, and they appeared to rotate around and around via a giant radial disc.

Little Moonlight's mouth fell open. "What is all this?" She asked out loud.

"Somewhere you aren't supposed to be, young filly!" A stern voice answered. She turned and saw the disapproving glare of her father. "Daddy!" She squeaked out, "but…you're supposed to be on top of Mount Luna!"

"I came back for my saw, to remove the wings of those putrid excuses for princesses. Now, tell me, Moonlight. Why did you come here after I specifically told you not to? You know Princess Luna doesn't reward disobedient little fillies."

"I don't believe in that rubbish anymore," the young one said defiantly. Her father gave her a murderous look. "What…did you say, Moonlight?"

"I said, I don't believe in that anymore."

Her father walked around her and pressed a green button on the machine and the thing roared to life. He fed some paper into one end and then walked back and sat in front of Moonlight. "I don't blame you," he said scornfully, "I don't believe it myself."

"What?" Moonlight asked in shock

"You don't really think that Princess Luna is a goddess, do you? Heck no! It was just so easy to dupe the citizens of this backwater town because they never get to see the sun! They only see the moon! When they see Luna as somepony to be worshipped, they are much easier for me to control. I run this town, Moonlight, and nopony, not even my own daughter, is going to stop me. With this machine, I can run off copy after copy of my Book of Luna. I can kill anypony who doesn't fall in line with what I say. To be frank…I AM A GOD!" Here, he stopped and laughed evilly, "oh, that line never gets old! Now, what to do with you…what to do with you…I certainly can't let you out of here…oh, I've got it! I think I'll just leave you in here and starve you to death."

With that, he ran out and slammed the door behind him. He used heavy chains to block her from escaping. She ran up and pounded on the door. "LET ME OUT! HELP! SOMEPONY!" She squeaked to the air, but nopony came. She tried bucking the door open again, but her father had used chains made from pony steel. It was the strongest metal in Equestria, and her legs, strong as they were, couldn't break it. It seemed Moonlight's fate had been sealed.